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diff --git a/31593-h/31593-h.htm b/31593-h/31593-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..30a9bed --- /dev/null +++ b/31593-h/31593-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,9565 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1" /> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland, Volume III, by Various</title> + <style type="text/css"> + +body { + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + +h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; +} + +p { + margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; +} + +hr { + width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; +} + +table { + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; +} + +.pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: .7em; + text-align: right; +} /* page numbers */ + +.sig {margin-right: 15%; text-align: right;} + +.blockquot { + margin-left: 5%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + +.center {text-align: center;} +.smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + + +/* Footnotes */ +.footnotes {border: dashed 1px;} +.footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;} +.footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 84%; text-align: right;} +.fnanchor { + vertical-align: super; + font-size: .8em; + text-decoration: + none; +} + +/* Poetry */ +.poem { + margin-left:10%; + margin-right:10%; + text-align: left; +} + +.poem br {display: none;} +.poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} +.poem span.i0 { + display: block; + margin-left: 0em; + padding-left: 3em; + text-indent: -3em; +} +.poem span.i2 { + display: block; + margin-left: 2em; + padding-left: 3em; + text-indent: -3em; +} +.poem span.i4 { + display: block; + margin-left: 4em; + padding-left: 3em; + text-indent: -3em; +} +.poem span.i6 + {display: block; margin-left: 6em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} +.poem span.i8 + {display: block; margin-left: 8em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + +.notes {background-color: #d3d3d3; color: #000000; + margin:auto; + width:60%; + padding: 1em;} + + hr.full { width: 100%; + margin-top: 3em; + margin-bottom: 0em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + height: 4px; + border-width: 4px 0 0 0; /* remove all borders except the top one */ + border-style: solid; + border-color: #000000; + clear: both; } + pre {font-size: 85%;} + </style> +</head> +<body> +<h1>The Project Gutenberg eBook, Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of +Scotland, Volume III, by Various, Edited by Alexander Leighton</h1> +<pre> +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 <a href = "http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre> +<p>Title: Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland, Volume III</p> +<p>Author: Various</p> +<p>Editor: Alexander Leighton</p> +<p>Release Date: March 10, 2010 [eBook #31593]</p> +<p>Language: English</p> +<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p> +<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WILSON'S TALES OF THE BORDERS AND OF SCOTLAND, VOLUME III***</p> +<p> </p> +<h3>E-text prepared by David Clarke, Joseph R. Hauser,<br /> + and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team<br /> + (http://www.pgdp.net)</h3> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> + +<h1>Wilson's<br /> +Tales of the Borders</h1> +<h2>AND OF SCOTLAND.<br /><br /><br /></h2> + +<h4>HISTORICAL, TRADITIONARY, & IMAGINATIVE.<br /><br /></h4> + +<h5>WITH A GLOSSARY.<br /><br /></h5> + +<h6>REVISED BY<br /> +<span style="font-size:200%;">ALEXANDER LEIGHTON,</span><br /> +ONE OF THE ORIGINAL EDITORS AND CONTRIBUTORS.<br /><br /></h6> + +<h6>VOL. III.<br /><br /></h6> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> + +<h5><span style="font-size:125%;">LONDON:</span><br /> +WALTER SCOTT, 14 PATERNOSTER SQUARE<br /> +AND NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE.<br /> +1885.</h5> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + + + +<h2>CONTENTS.</h2> + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="Table of Contents"> +<tr> + <td align='left'><span class="smcap">Widow Of Dunskaith,</span></td> + <td align='right'>(<i>Hugh Miller</i>),</td> + <td align='right'><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Whitsome Tragedy,</span></td> + <td align='right'>(<i>John Mackay Wilson</i>),</td> + <td align='right'><a href="#Page_20">20</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Surgeon's Tales,</span></td> + <td align='right'>(<i>Alexander Leighton</i>)—</td> + <td></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td align='left' style="padding-left:4em;"><span class="smcap">The Diver And The Bell,</span></td> + <td align='left'></td> + <td align='right'><a href="#Page_53">53</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td align='left'><span class="smcap">Autobiography Of Willie Smith,</span></td> + <td align='right'>(<i>Alexander Campbell</i>),</td> + <td align='right'><a href="#Page_85">85</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Professor's Tales,</span></td> + <td align='right'>(<i>Professor Thomas Gillespie</i>)—</td> + <td></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td align='left' style="padding-left:4em;"><span class="smcap">Phebe Fortune,</span></td> + <td align='left'></td> + <td align='right'><a href="#Page_117">117</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Royal Bridal,</span></td> + <td align='right'>(<i>John Mackay Wilson</i>),</td> + <td align='right'><a href="#Page_134">134</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Royal Raid,</span></td> + <td align='right'>(<i>Alexander Leighton</i>),</td> + <td align='right'><a href="#Page_166">166</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Experimenter,</span></td> + <td align='right'>(<i>John Howell</i>),</td> + <td align='right'><a href="#Page_198">198</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Young Laird,</span></td> + <td align='right'>(<i>Alexander Bethune</i>),</td> + <td align='right'><a href="#Page_230">230</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Rival Nightcaps,</span></td> + <td align='right'>(<i>Alexander Campbell</i>),</td> + <td align='right'><a href="#Page_263">263</a></td> +</tr> +</table></div> + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span> +</div> +<h2>WILSON'S<br /> +TALES OF THE BORDERS<br /> +AND OF SCOTLAND.</h2> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="THE_WIDOW_OF_DUNSKAITH" id="THE_WIDOW_OF_DUNSKAITH"></a>THE WIDOW OF DUNSKAITH.</h2> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Oh, mony a shriek, that waefu' night,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Rose frae the stormy main;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">An' mony a bootless vow was made,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">An' mony a prayer vain;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">An' mithers wept, an' widows mourned<br /></span> +<span class="i2">For mony a weary day;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">An' maidens, ance o' blithest mood,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Grew sad, and pined away."<br /></span> +</div></div> + + +<p>The northern Sutor of Cromarty is of a bolder character than even the +southern one—abrupt, and stern, and precipitous as that is. It presents +a loftier and more unbroken wall of rock; and, where it bounds on the +Moray Frith, there is a savage magnificence in its cliffs and caves, and +in the wild solitude of its beach, which we find nowhere equalled on the +shores of the other. It is more exposed, too, in the time of tempest: +the waves often rise, during the storms of winter, more than a hundred +feet against its precipices, festooning them, even at that height, with +wreaths of kelp and tangle; and, for miles within the bay, we may hear, +at such seasons, the savage uproar that maddens amid its cliffs and +caverns, coming booming over the lashings of the nearer waves, like the +roar of artillery. There is a sublimity of desolation on its shores, the +effects of a conflict maintained for ages, and on a scale so gigantic. +The isolated, spire-like crags that rise along its base, are so<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span> drilled +and bored by the incessant lashings of the surf, and are ground down +into shapes so fantastic, that they seem but the wasted skeletons of +their former selves; and we find almost every natural fissure in the +solid rock hollowed into an immense cavern, whose very ceiling, though +the head turns as we look up to it, owes evidently its comparative +smoothness to the action of the waves. One of the most remarkable of +these recesses occupies what we may term the apex of a lofty promontory. +The entrance, unlike that of most of the others, is narrow and rugged, +though of great height; but it widens within into a shadowy chamber, +perplexed, like the nave of a cathedral, by uncertain cross lights, that +come glimmering into it through two lesser openings, which perforate the +opposite sides of the promontory. It is a strange, ghostly-looking +place; there is a sort of moonlight greenness in the twilight which +forms its noon, and the denser shadows which rest along its sides; a +blackness, so profound that it mocks the eye, hangs over a lofty passage +which leads from it, like a corridor, still deeper into the bowels of +the hill; the light falls on a sprinkling of half-buried bones, the +remains of animals that, in the depth of winter, have creeped into it +for shelter, and to die; and, when the winds are up, and the hoarse roar +of the waves comes reverberated from its inner recesses, or creeps +howling along its roof, it needs no over-active fancy to people its +avenues with the shapes of beings long since departed from every gayer +and softer scene, but which still rise uncalled to the imagination in +those by-corners of nature which seem dedicated, like this cavern, to +the wild, the desolate, and the solitary.</p> + +<p>There is a little rocky bay a few hundred yards to the west, which has +been known for ages, to all the seafaring men of the place, as the Cova +Green. It is such a place as we are sometimes made acquainted with in +the narratives of disastrous shipwrecks. First, there is a broad +semicircular <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span>strip of beach, with a wilderness of insulated piles of +rock in front; and so steep and continuous is the wall of precipices +which rises behind, that, though we may see directly over head the +grassy slopes of the hill, with here and there a few straggling firs, no +human foot ever gained the nearer edge. The bay of the Cova Green is a +prison to which the sea presents the only outlet; and the numerous caves +which open along its sides, like the arches of an amphitheatre, seem but +its darker cells. It is, in truth, a wild impressive place, full of +beauty and terror, and with none of the squalidness of the mere dungeon +about it. There is a puny littleness in our brick and lime receptacles +of misery and languor which speaks as audibly of the feebleness of man, +as of his crimes or his inhumanity; but here all is great and +magnificent—and there is much, too, that is pleasing. Many of the +higher cliffs, which rise beyond the influence of the spray, are +tapestried with ivy; we may see the heron watching on the ledges beside +her bundle of withered twigs, or the blue hawk darting from her cell; +there is life on every side of us—life in even the wild tumbling of the +waves, and in the stream of pure water which, rushing from the higher +edge of the precipice in a long white cord, gradually untwists itself by +the way, and spatters ceaselessly among the stones over the entrance of +one of the caves. Nor does the scene want its old story to strengthen +its hold on the imagination.</p> + +<p>I am wretchedly uncertain in my dates, but it must have been some time +late in the reign of Queen Anne, that a fishing yawl, after vainly +labouring for hours to enter the bay of Cromarty, during a strong gale +from the west, was forced, at nightfall, to relinquish the attempt, and +take shelter in the Cova Green. The crew consisted of but two +persons—an old fisherman and his son. Both had been thoroughly drenched +by the spray, and chilled by the piercing wind, which, accompanied by +thick snow showers, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span>had blown all day through the opening, from off the +snowy top of Ben Wyvis; and it was with no ordinary satisfaction that, +as they opened the little bay on their last tack, they saw the red gleam +of a fire flickering from one of the caves, and a boat drawn upon the +beach.</p> + +<p>"It must be some of the Tarbet fishermen," said the old man, "wind-bound +like ourselves; but wiser than us, in having made provision for it. I +shall feel willing enough to share their fire with them for the night."</p> + +<p>"But see," remarked the younger, "that there be no unwillingness on the +other side. I am much mistaken if that be not the boat of my cousins the +Macinlas, who would so fain have broken my head last Rhorichie Tryst. +But, hap what may, father, the night is getting worse, and we have no +choice of quarters. Hard up your helm, or we shall barely clear the +Skerries; there now, every nail an anchor." He leaped ashore, carrying +with him the small hawser attached to the stern, which he wound securely +round a jutting crag, and then stood for a few seconds until the old +man, who moved but heavily along the thwarts, had come up to him. All +was comparatively calm under the lee of the precipices; but the wind was +roaring fearfully in the woods above, and whistling amid the furze and +ivy of the higher cliff; and the two boatmen, as they entered the cave, +could see the flakes of a thick snow shower, that had just begun to +descend, circling round and round in the eddy.</p> + +<p>The place was occupied by three men, who were sitting beside the fire, +on blocks of stone which had been rolled from the beach. Two of them +were young, and comparatively commonplace-looking persons; the third was +a grey-headed old man, apparently of great muscular strength though long +past his prime, and of a peculiarly sinister cast of countenance. A keg +of spirits, which was placed end up in front of them, served as a table; +there were little drinking measures of tin on it, and the mask-like, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span>stolid expressions of the two younger men showed that they had been +indulging freely. The elder was apparently sober. They all started to +their feet on the entrance of the fishermen, and one of the younger, +laying hold of the little cask, pitched it hurriedly into a dark corner +of the cave.</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">His</span> peace be here!" was the simple greeting of the elder fisherman, as +he came forward. "Eachen Macinla," he continued, addressing the old man, +"we have not met for years before—not, I believe, since the death o' my +puir sister, when we parted such ill friends; but we are short-lived +creatures ourselves, Eachen—surely our anger should be short-lived too; +and I have come to crave from you a seat by your fire."</p> + +<p>"William Beth," replied Eachen, "it was no wish of mine we should ever +meet; but to a seat by the fire you are welcome."</p> + +<p>Old Macinla and his sons resumed their seats, the two fishermen took +their places fronting them, and for some time neither party exchanged a +word.</p> + +<p>A fire, composed mostly of fragments of wreck and driftwood, threw up +its broad cheerful flame towards the roof; but so spacious was the +cavern that, except where here and there a whiter mass of stalactites, +or bolder projection of cliff stood out from the darkness, the light +seemed lost in it. A dense body of smoke, which stretched its blue level +surface from side to side, and concealed the roof, went rolling outwards +like an inverted river.</p> + +<p>"This is but a gousty lodging-place," remarked the old fisherman, as he +looked round him; "but I have seen a worse. I wish the folk at home kent +we were half sae snug; and then the fire, too—I have always felt +something companionable in a fire, something consolable, as it were; it +appears, somehow, as if it were a creature like ourselves, and had life +in it." The remark seemed directed to no one in particular, and there +was no reply. In a second <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span>attempt at conversation, the fisherman +addressed himself to the old man.</p> + +<p>"It has vexed me," he said, "that our young folk shouldna, for my +sister's sake, be on more friendly terms, Eachen. They hae been +quarrelling, an' I wish to see the quarrel made up." The old man, +without deigning a reply, knit his grey shaggy brows, and looked +doggedly at the fire.</p> + +<p>"Nay, now," continued the fisherman, "we are getting auld men, Eachen, +an' wauld better bury our hard thoughts o' ane anither afore we come to +be buried ourselves. What if we were sent to the Cova Green the night, +just that we might part friends!"</p> + +<p>Eachen fixed his keen scrutinizing glance on the speaker—it was but for +a moment; there was a tremulous motion of the under lip as he withdrew +it, and a setting of the teeth—the expression of mingled hatred and +anger; but the tone of his reply savoured more of sullen indifference +than of passion.</p> + +<p>"William Beth," he said, "ye hae tricked my boys out o' the bit property +that suld hae come to them by their mother; it's no lang since they +barely escaped being murdered by your son. What more want you? But ye +perhaps think it better that the time should be passed in making hollow +lip professions o' good will, than that it suld be employed in clearing +off an old score."</p> + +<p>"Ay," hiccuped out the elder of the two sons, "the houses might come my +way, then; an', besides, gin Helen Henry were to lose her ae joe, the +ither might hae a better chance. Rise, brither—rise, man, an' fight for +me an' your sweetheart." The younger lad, who seemed verging towards the +last stage of intoxication, struck his clenched fist against his palm, +and attempted to rise.</p> + +<p>"Look ye, uncle," exclaimed the younger fisherman, a powerful-looking +and very handsome stripling, as he sprang <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span>to his feet, "your threat +might be spared. Our little property was my grandfather's, and naturally +descended to his only son; and, as for the affair at Rhorichie, I dare +either of my cousins to say the quarrel was of my seeking. I have no +wish to raise my hand against the sons or the husband of my aunt; but, +if forced to it, you will find that neither my father nor myself are +wholly at your mercy."</p> + +<p>"Whisht, Earnest," said the old fisherman, laying his hand on the hand +of the young man; "sit down—your uncle maun hae ither thoughts. It is +now fifteen years, Eachen," he continued, "since I was called to my +sister's deathbed. You yourself canna forget what passed there. There +had been grief, an' cauld, an' hunger, beside that bed. I'll no say you +were willingly unkind—few folk are that but when they hae some purpose +to serve by it, an' you could have none; but you laid no restraint on a +harsh temper, and none on a craving habit that forgets everything but +itsel; and so my puir sister perished in the middle o' her days—a +wasted, heart-broken thing. It's no that I wish to hurt you. I mind how +we passed our youth thegither, among the wild Buccaneers; it was a bad +school, Eachen; an' I owre often feel I havena unlearned a' my ain +lessons, to wonder that you shouldna hae unlearned a' yours. But we're +getting old men, Eachen, an' we have now what we hadna in our young +days, the advantage o' the light. Dinna let us die fools in the sight o' +Him who is so willing to give us wisdom—dinna let us die enemies. We +have been early friends, though maybe no for good; we have fought afore +now at the same gun; we have been united by the luve o' her that's now +in the dust; an' there are our boys—the nearest o' kin to ane anither +that death has spared. But, what I feel as strongly as a' the rest, +Eachen—we hae done meikle ill thegither. I can hardly think o' a past +sin without thinking o' you, an' <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span>thinking too, that, if a creature like +me may hope he has found pardon, you shouldna despair. Eachen, we maun +be friends."</p> + +<p>The features of the stern old man relaxed. "You are perhaps right, +William," he at length replied; "but ye were aye a luckier man than +me—luckier for this world, I'm sure, an' maybe for the next. I had aye +to seek, an' aften without finding, the good that came in your gate o' +itsel. Now that age is coming upon us, ye get a snug rental frae the +little houses, an' I hae naething; an' ye hae character an' credit, but +wha would trust me, or cares for me? Ye hae been made an elder o' the +kirk, too, I hear, an' I am still a reprobate; but we were a' born to be +just what we are, an' sae maun submit. An' your son, too, shares in your +luck; he has heart an' hand, an' my whelps hae neither; an' the girl +Henry, that scouts that sot there, likes him—but what wonder o' that? +But you are right, William—we maun be friends. Pledge me." The little +cask was produced; and, filling the measures, he nodded to Earnest and +his father. They pledged him; when, as if seized by a sudden frenzy, he +filled his measure thrice in hasty succession, draining it each time to +the bottom, and then flung it down with a short hoarse laugh. His sons, +who would fain have joined with him, he repulsed with a firmness of +manner which he had not before exhibited. "No, whelps," he said—"get +sober as fast as ye can."</p> + +<p>"We had better," whispered Earnest to his father, "not sleep in the cave +to-night."</p> + +<p>"Let me hear now o' your quarrel, Earnest," said Eachen—"your father +was a more prudent man than you; and, however much he wronged me, did it +without quarrelling."</p> + +<p>"The quarrel was none of my seeking," replied Earnest. "I was insulted +by your sons, and would have borne it for the sake of what they seemed +to forget; but there was <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span>another whom they also insulted, and that I +could not bear."</p> + +<p>"The girl Henry—and what then?"</p> + +<p>"Why, my cousins may tell the rest. They were mean enough to take odds +against me; and I just beat the two spiritless fellows that did so."</p> + +<p>But why record the quarrels of this unfortunate evening? An hour or two +passed away in disagreeable bickerings, during which the patience of +even the old fisherman was worn out, and that of Earnest had failed him +altogether. They both quitted the cave, boisterous as the night was, and +it was now stormier than ever; and, heaving off their boat, till she +rode at the full length of her swing from the shore, sheltered +themselves under the sail. The Macinlas returned next evening to Tarbet; +but, though the wind moderated during the day, the yawl of William Beth +did not enter the bay of Cromarty. Weeks passed away, during which the +clergyman of the place corresponded, regarding the missing fishermen, +with all the lower parts of the Frith; but they had disappeared, as it +seemed, for ever.</p> + +<p>Where the northern Sutor sinks into the low sandy tract that nearly +fronts the town of Cromarty, there is a narrow grassy terrace raised but +a few yards over the level of the beach. It is sheltered behind by a +steep undulating bank; for, though the rock here and there juts out, it +is too rich in vegetation to be termed a precipice. To the east, the +coast retires into a semicircular rocky recess, terminating seawards in +a lofty, dark-browed precipice, and bristling, throughout all its +extent, with a countless multitude of crags, that, at every heave of the +wave, break the surface into a thousand eddies. Towards the west, there +is a broken and somewhat dreary waste of sand. The terrace itself, +however, is a sweet little spot, with its grassy slopes, that recline +towards the sun, partially covered with <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span>thickets of wild-rose and +honeysuckle, and studded, in their season, with violets, and daisies, +and the delicate rock geranium. Towards its eastern extremity, with the +bank rising immediately behind, and an open space in front, which seemed +to have been cultivated at one time as a garden, there stood a +picturesque little cottage. It was that of the widow of William Beth. +Five years had now elapsed since the disappearance of her son and +husband, and the cottage bore the marks of neglect and decay. The door +and window, bleached white by the sea winds, shook loosely to every +breeze; clusters of chickweed luxuriated in the hollows of the thatch, +or mantled over the eaves; and a honeysuckle that had twisted itself +round the chimney, lay withering in a tangled mass at the foot of the +wall. But the progress of decay was more marked in the widow herself +than in her dwelling. She had had to contend with grief and penury: a +grief not the less undermining in its effects, from the circumstance of +its being sometimes suspended by hope—a penury so extreme that every +succeeding day seemed as if won by some providential interference from +absolute want. And she was now, to all appearance, fast sinking in the +struggle. The autumn was well nigh over: she had been weak and ailing +for months before, and had now become so feeble as to be confined for +days together to her bed. But, happily, the poor solitary woman had, at +least, one attached friend in the daughter of a farmer of the parish, a +young and beautiful girl, who, though naturally of no melancholy +temperament, seemed to derive almost all she enjoyed of pleasure from +the society of the widow. Helen Henry was in her twenty-third year; but +she seemed older in spirit than in years. She was thin and pale, though +exquisitely formed; there was a drooping heaviness in her fine eyes, and +a cast of pensive thought on her forehead, that spoke of a longer +experience of grief than so brief a portion of life might be <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span>supposed to +have furnished. She had once lovers; but they had gradually dropped away +in the despair of moving her, and awed by a deep and settled pensiveness +which, in the gayest season of youth, her character had suddenly but +permanently assumed. Besides, they all knew her affections were already +engaged, and had come to learn, though late and unwillingly, that there +are cases in which no rival can be more formidable than a dead one.</p> + +<p>Autumn, I have said, was near its close. The weather had given +indications of an early and severe winter; and the widow, whose worn-out +and delicate frame was affected by every change of atmosphere, had for a +few days been more than usually indisposed. It was now long past noon, +and she had but just risen. The apartment, however, bore witness that +her young friend had paid her the accustomed morning visit; the fire was +blazing on a clean comfortable-looking hearth, and every little piece of +furniture it contained was arranged with the most scrupulous care. Her +devotions were hardly over, when the well-known tap was again heard at +the door.</p> + +<p>"Come in, my lassie," said the widow, and then lowering her voice, as +the light foot of her friend was heard on the threshold—"God," she +said, "has been ever kind to me—far, very far aboon my best deservings; +and, oh, may He bless and reward her who has done so meikle, meikle for +me!" The young girl entered and took her seat beside her.</p> + +<p>"You told me, mother," she said, "that to-morrow is Earnest's birthday. +I have been thinking of it all last night, and feel as if my heart were +turning into stone. But when I am alone, it is always so. There is a +cold death-like weight at my breast that makes me unhappy, though, when +I come to you, and we speak together, the feeling passes away, and I +become cheerful."</p> + +<p>"Ah, my bairn," replied the old woman; "I fear I'm no <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span>your friend, +meikle as I love you. We speak owre, owre often o' the lost; for our +foolish hearts find mair pleasure in that than in anything else; but ill +does it fit us for being alone. Weel do I ken your feeling—a stone +deadness o' the heart, a feeling there are no words to express, but that +seems as it were insensibility itself turning into pain; an' I ken, too, +my lassie, that it is nursed by the very means ye take to flee from it. +Ye maun learn to think mair o' the living and less o' the dead. Little, +little does it matter, how a puir worn-out creature like me passes the +few broken days o' life that remains to her; but ye are young, my Helen, +an' the world is a' before you; an' ye maun just try an' live for it."</p> + +<p>"To-morrow," rejoined Helen, "is Earnest's birthday. Is it no strange +that, when our minds make pictures o' the dead, it is always as they +looked best, an' kindest, an' maist life-like. I have been seeing +Earnest all night long, as when I saw him on his <i>last</i> birthday; an', +oh, the sharpness o' the pang, when, every now an' then, the back o' the +picture is turned to me, an' I see him as he is—dust!"</p> + +<p>The widow grasped her young friend by the hand. "Helen," she said, "you +will get better when I am taken from you; but, so long as we continue to +meet, our thoughts will aye be running the one way. I had a strange +dream last night, an' must tell it you. You see yon rock to the east, in +the middle o' the little bay, that now rises through the back draught o' +the sea, like the hull o' a ship, an' is now buried in a mountain o' +foam. I dreamed I was sitting on that rock, in what seemed a bonny +summer's morning; the sun was glancin' on the water; an' I could see the +white sand far down at the bottom, wi' the reflection o' the little +wavies running o'er it in long curls o' gowd. But there was no way o' +leaving the rock, for the deep waters were round an' round me; an' I saw +the tide covering one wee bittie after another, till at last the whole +was covered. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span>An' yet I had but little fear; for I remembered that baith +Earnest an' William were in the sea afore me; an' I had the feeling that +I could hae rest nowhere but wi' them. The water at last closed o'er me, +an' I sank frae aff the rock to the sand at the bottom. But death seemed +to have no power given him to hurt me; an' I walked as light as ever I +hae done on a gowany brae, through the green depths o' the sea. I saw +the silvery glitter o' the trout an' the salmon, shining to the sun, far +far aboon me, like white pigeons in the lift; an' around me there were +crimson starfish, an' sea-flowers, an' long trailing plants that waved +in the tide like streamers; an' at length I came to a steep rock wi' a +little cave like a tomb in it. 'Here,' I said, 'is the end o' my +journey—William is here, an' Earnest.' An', as I looked into the cave, +I saw there were bones in it, an' I prepared to take my place beside +them. But, as I stooped to enter, some one called me, an' on looking up, +there was William. 'Lillias,' he said, 'it is not night yet, nor is that +your bed; you are to sleep, not with me, but with Earnest—haste you +home, for he is waiting you.' 'Oh, take me to him! I said; an' then all +at once I found myself on the shore, dizzied an' blinded wi' the bright +sunshine; for, at the cave, there was a darkness like that o' a simmer's +gloamin; an', when I looked up for William, it was Earnest that stood +before me, life-like an' handsome as ever; an' you were beside him.'"</p> + +<p>The day had been gloomy and lowering, and, though there was little wind, +a tremendous sea, that, as the evening advanced, rose higher and higher +against the neighbouring precipice, had been rolling ashore since +morning. The wind now began to blow in long hollow gusts among the +cliffs, and the rain to patter against the widow's casement.</p> + +<p>"It will be a storm from the sea," she said; "the scarts an' gulls hae +been flying landward sin' daybreak, an' I hae <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span>never seen the ground +swell come home heavier against the rocks. Wae's me for the puir +sailors!"</p> + +<p>"In the lang stormy nights," said Helen, "I canna sleep for thinking o' +them, though I have no one to bind me to them now. Only look how the sea +rages among the rocks, as if it were a thing o' life an' passion!—that +last wave rose to the crane's nest. An', look, yonder is a boat rounding +the rock wi' only one man in it. It dances on the surf as if it were a +cork, an' the wee bittie o' sail, sae black an' weet, seems scarcely +bigger than a napkin. Is it no bearing in for the boat haven below?"</p> + +<p>"My poor old eyes," replied the widow, "are growing dim, an' surely no +wonder; but yet I think I should ken that boatman. Is it no Eachen +Macinla o' Tarbet?"</p> + +<p>"Hard-hearted, cruel old man," exclaimed the maiden, "what can be taking +him here? Look how his skiff shoots in like an arrow on the long roll o' +the surf!—an' now she is high on the beach. How unfeeling it was o' him +to rob you o' your little property in the very first o' your grief! But, +see, he is so worn out that he can hardly walk over the rough stones. +Ah, me, he is down! wretched old man. I must run to his assistance—but +no, he has risen again. See he is coming straight to the house; an' now +he is at the door." In a moment after, Eachen entered the cottage.</p> + +<p>"I am perishing, Lillias," he said, "with cold an' hunger, an' can gang +nae farther; surely ye'll no shut your door on me in a night like this."</p> + +<p>The poor widow had been taught in a far different school. She +relinquished to the worn-out fisherman her seat by the fire, now +hurriedly heaped with fresh fuel, and hastened to set before him the +simple viands which her cottage afforded.</p> + +<p>As the night darkened, the storm increased. The wind roared among the +rocks like the rattling of a thousand carriages over a paved street; and +there were times when, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span>after a sudden pause, the blast struck the +cottage, as if it were a huge missile flung against it, and pressed on +its roof and walls till the very floor rocked, and the rafters strained +and shivered like the beams of a stranded vessel. There was a ceaseless +patter of mingled rain and snow—now lower, now louder; and the fearful +thunderings of the waves, as they raged among the pointed crags, was +mingled with the hoarse roll of the storm along the beach. The old man +sat beside the fire, fronting the widow and her companion, with his head +reclined nearly as low as his knee, and his hands covering his face. +There was no attempt at conversation. He seemed to shudder every time +the blast yelled along the roof; and, as a fiercer gust burst open the +door, there was a half-muttered ejaculation.</p> + +<p>"Heaven itsel hae mercy on them! for what can man do in a night like +this?"</p> + +<p>"It is black as pitch," exclaimed Helen, who had risen to draw the bolt; +"an' the drift flies sae thick that it feels to the hand like a solid +snaw wreath. An', oh, how it lightens?"</p> + +<p>"Heaven itsel hae mercy on them!" again ejaculated the old man. "My two +boys," said he, addressing the widow, "are at the far Frith; an' how can +an open boat live in a night like this?"</p> + +<p>There seemed something magical in the communication—something that +awakened all the sympathies of the poor bereaved woman; and she felt she +could forgive him every unkindness.</p> + +<p>"Wae's me!" she exclaimed, "it was in such a night as this, an' scarcely +sae wild, that my Earnest perished." The old man groaned and wrung his +hands.</p> + +<p>In one of the pauses of the hurricane, there was a gun heard from the +sea, and shortly after a second. "Some puir vessel in distress," said +the widow; "but, alas! where can succour come frae in sae terrible a +night? There is <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span>help only in Ane. Wae's me! would we no better light up +a blaze on the floor, an', dearest Helen, draw off the cover frae the +window. My puir Earnest has told me that my light has aften shewed him +his bearing frae the deadly bed o' Dunskaith. That last gun"—for a +third was now heard booming over the mingled roar of the sea and the +wind—"that last gun came frae the very rock edge. Wae's me, wae's me! +maun they perish, an' sae near!" Helen hastily lighted a bundle of more +fir, that threw up its red, sputtering blaze half-way to the roof, and, +dropping the covering, continued to wave it opposite the window. Guns +were still heard at measured intervals, but apparently from a safer +offing; and the last, as it sounded faintly against the wind, came +evidently from the interior of the bay.</p> + +<p>"She has escaped," said the old man; "it's a feeble hand that canna do +good when the heart is willing—but what has mine been doing a' life +long?" He looked at the widow and shuddered.</p> + +<p>Towards morning, the wind fell, and the moon, in her last quarter, rose +red and glaring out of the Frith, lighting the melancholy roll of the +waves, that still came like mountains, and the broad white belt of surf +that skirted the shores. The old fisherman left the cottage, and +sauntered along the beach. It was heaped with huge wreaths of kelp and +tangle uprooted by the storm, and in the hollow of the rocky bay lay the +scattered fragments of a boat. Eachen stooped to pick up a piece of the +wreck, in the fearful expectation of finding some known mark by which to +recognise it, when the light fell full on the swollen face of a corpse +that seemed staring at him from out a wreath of weed. It was that of his +eldest son. The body of the younger, fearfully gashed and mangled by the +rocks, lay a few yards farther to the east.</p> + +<p>The morning was as pleasant as the night had been boisterous; and, +except that the distant hills were covered <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span>with snow, and that a heavy +swell still continued to roll in from the sea, there remained scarce any +trace of the recent tempest. Every hollow of the neighbouring hill had +its little runnel, formed by the rains of the previous night, that now +splashed and glistened to the sun. The bushes round the cottage were +well nigh divested of their leaves; but their red berries—hips and +haws, and the juicy fruit of the honeysuckle—gleamed cheerfully to the +light; and a warm steam of vapour, like that of a May morning, rose from +the roof and the little mossy platform in front. But the scene seemed to +have something more than merely its beauty to recommend it to a young +man, drawn apparently to the spot, with many others, by the fate of the +two unfortunate fishermen, and who now stood gazing on the rocks, and +the hills, and the cottage, as a lover on the features of his mistress. +The bodies had been carried to an old storehouse, which may still be +seen a short mile to the west, and the crowds that, during the early +part of the morning, had been perambulating the beach, gazing at the +wreck, and discussing the various probabilities of the accident, had +gradually dispersed. But this solitary individual, whom no one knew, +remained behind. He was a tall and swarthy, though very handsome man, of +about five-and-twenty, with a slight scar on his left cheek; his dress, +which was plain and neat, was distinguished from that of the common +seaman by three narrow stripes of gold lace on the upper part of one of +the sleeves. He had twice stepped towards the cottage door, and twice +drawn back, as if influenced by some unaccountable feeling—timidity, +perhaps, or bashfulness; and yet the bearing of the man gave little +indication of either. But, at length, as if he had gathered heart, he +raised the latch and went in.</p> + +<p>The widow, who had had many visitors that morning, seemed to be +scarcely aware of his entrance; she was sitting on a low seat beside the +fire, her face covered with <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span>her hands, while the tremulous rocking +motion of her body showed that she was still brooding over the +distresses of the previous night. Her companion, who had thrown herself +across the bed, was fast asleep. The stranger seated himself beside the +fire, which seemed dying amid its ashes, and, turning sedulously from +the light of the window, laid his hand gently on the widow's shoulder. +She started, and looked up.</p> + +<p>"I have strange news for you," he said. "You have long mourned for your +husband and your son; but, though the old man has been dead for years, +your son, Earnest, is still alive, and is now in the harbour of +Cromarty. He is lieutenant of the vessel whose guns you must have heard +during the night."</p> + +<p>The poor woman seemed to have lost all power of reply.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span>"I am a friend of Earnest's," continued the stranger; "and have come to +prepare you for meeting with him. It is now five years since his father +and he were blown off to sea by a strong gale from the land. They drove +before it for four days, when they were picked up by an armed vessel +then cruising in the North Sea, and which soon after sailed for the +coast of Spanish America. The poor old man sank under the fatigues he +had undergone; though Earnest, better able from his youth to endure +hardship, was little affected by them. He accompanied us on our Spanish +expedition—indeed, he had no choice, for we touched at no British port +after meeting with him; and, through good fortune, and what his +companions call merit, he has risen to be the second man aboard; and has +now brought home with him gold enough, from the Spaniards, to make his +old mother comfortable. He saw your light yesterevening, and steered by +it to the roadstead, blessing you all the way. Tell me, for he anxiously +wished me to inquire of you, whether Helen Henry is yet unmarried."</p> + +<p>"It is Earnest—it is Earnest himself!" exclaimed the maiden, as she +started from the widow's bed. In a moment after she was locked in his +arms. But why dwell on a scene which I feel myself unfitted to describe?</p> + +<p>It was ill, before evening, with old Eachen Macinla. The fatigues of the +previous day, the grief and horror of the following night, had +prostrated his energies, bodily and mental, and he now lay tossing, in a +waste apartment of the storehouse, in the delirium of a fever. The +bodies of his two sons occupied the floor below. He muttered, +unceasingly, in his ravings, of William and Earnest Beth. They were +standing beside him, he said, and every time he attempted to pray for +his poor boys and himself, the stern old man laid his cold swollen hand +on his lips.</p> + +<p>"Why trouble me?" he exclaimed. "Why stare with your white dead eyes on +me? Away, old man! the little black shells are sticking in your gray +hairs; away to your place! Was it I who raised the wind on the sea?—was +it I?—was it I? Uh, u!—no—no, you were asleep—you were fast asleep, +and could not see me cut the swing; and, besides, it was only a piece of +rope. Keep away—touch me not; I am a free man, and will plead for my +life. Please your honour, I did not murder these two men; I only cut the +rope that fastened their boat to the land. Ha! ha! ha! he has ordered +them away, and they have both left me unskaithed." At this moment +Earnest Beth entered the apartment, and approached the bed. The +miserable old man raised himself on his elbow, and, regarding him with a +horrid stare, shrieked out—"Here is Earnest Beth come for me a second +time!" and, sinking back on the pillow, instantly expired.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span> +</div> +<h2><a name="THE_WHITSOME_TRAGEDY" id="THE_WHITSOME_TRAGEDY"></a>THE WHITSOME TRAGEDY.</h2> + + +<p>When our forefathers were compelled to give up the ancient practice of +crossing the Borders, and of seizing and driving home whatever cattle +they could lay their hands upon, without caring or inquiring who might +be their owner—in order to supply their necessities, both as regarded +providing themselves with cattle and with articles of wearing apparel, +they were forced to become buyers or sellers at the annual and other +fairs on both sides of the Border. Hence they had, as we still have, the +fairs of Stagshawbank, Whitsunbank, St. Ninian's, St. James's, and St. +Boswell's; with the fairs of Wooler, Dunse, Chirnside, Swinton, and of +many other towns and villages. Of the latter, several fell into disuse; +and that of Whitsome was discontinued. Whitsome, or White's home, is the +name of a village and small agricultural parish in the Merse, which is +bounded by the parishes of Swinton, Ladykirk, Edrom, and Hutton. Now, as +has been stated, Whitsome, in common with many other villages, enjoyed +the privilege of having held at it an annual fair. But, though the old +practice of lifting cattle, and of every man taking what he could, had +been suppressed, the laws were not able to extinguish the ancient Border +spirit which produced such doings; and, at the annual fairs, it often +broke forth in riot, and terminated in blood. It was in consequence of +one of those scenes, and in order to suppress them, that the people of +Whitsome were deprived of a fair being held there; the particulars +whereof, in the following story, will be unfolded.</p> + +<p>About the middle of the seventeenth century, there <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span>resided on the banks +of the Till, and a few miles above its junction with the Tweed, a widow +of the name of Barbara Moor. She had had seven sons; but they and her +husband had all fallen in the troubles of the period, and she was left +bereaved, desolate, and without a comforter. Many said that affliction +had turned her brain; but even before she was acquainted with days of +sorrow or with nights of lamentation, there was often a burning wildness +in her words, and her manners were not as those of other women. There +was a tinge of extravagance, and a character of vehemence, in all her +actions. Some of her neighbours sympathised with her, because of the +affliction that rendered her hearth desolate; but the greater part +beheld her with reverential respect, or looked upon her with fear and +trembling, believing her to be leagued with the inhabitants of the +invisible world, and familiar with the moon and stars, reading in their +courses the destinies of nations and of individuals as in a book. The +character of a being who could read the decrees of fate, and even in +some instances control the purposes of men, was certainly that which she +seemed most pleased to assume; and its wildness soothed her troubled +thoughts, or directed them into other channels.</p> + +<p>In her youth, and before her father had been compelled to bow his head +to the authority of the wardens of the marches, she had resided in a +castellated building, of greater strength than magnitude, one of the +minor strongholds on the Border, and which might have been termed towers +for the protection of stolen cattle. But, when the two nations came +beneath the sovereignty of one monarch, and the spear of war was +transformed into a pruning-hook, there went forth a decree that the +strongholds, great and small, along the Borders should be destroyed; and +amongst those that were rendered defenceless and uninhabitable was the +turret which, for many generations, had been <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span>occupied by the ancestors +of Barbara Moor. During the life-time of her husband, she had resided in +a comfortable-looking farm-house, the appearance of which indicated that +its inhabitants were of a more peaceful character than were those who, a +few years before, had occupied the prison-like houses of strength. She +now resided in a small mud-built and turf-covered hovel, which in winter +afforded but a sorry shelter from the "pelting of the pitiless storm."</p> + +<p>But Barbara was used to bear the scorching sun of summer and the cold +and storms of winter. She walked in the midst of the tempest, and bowed +not her head; and she held converse with the wild lightning and the +fierce hail, speaking of them as the ministers of her will. For nearly +nine months every year she was absent from her clay-built hovel, and +none knew whither she wandered.</p> + +<p>It is necessary, however, for the development of our story, that we +here make further mention of her husband and her sons. The elder Moor +had been a daring freebooter in his youth; and often in the morning, and +even at dead of night, the "fray of support," the cry for help, and the +sudden summons for neighbours and kinsmen to rise and ride, were raised +wheresoever he trode; and the sleuth-hounds were let loose upon his +track. It was his boast that he dared to ride farther to humble an enemy +than any other reiver on either side of the Border. If he saw, or if he +heard, of a herd of cattle or a flock of sheep to his liking, he +immediately "marked it for his own," and seldom failed in securing it; +and though the property so obtained was not purchased with money, it was +often procured with a part of his own blood—and with the blood, and not +unfrequently the lives, of his friends, followers, and relatives. And +when law and justice became stronger than the reiver's right, they by no +means tamed <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span>his spirit. Though necessity, then, compelled him to be a +buyer and seller of cattle, he looked upon the occupation and the +necessity as a disgrace, and he sighed for the honoured and happier days +of his youth, when the freebooter's might was the freebooter's right. +His sons were young men deeply imbued with his spirit; and it was their +chiefest pleasure, during the long winter evenings, to sit and listen to +him, while he recorded the exploits and the hairbreadth escapes of his +early days. He frequently related to them strange adventures and +contests which he had in his youth with one Walter Cunningham, who +resided near Simprin, in Berwickshire, and who was not only regarded as +a wealthy man, but as one of the boldest on the Borders. He had often +boasted of the number of his herds, and defied the stoutest heart in +Northumberland to lay hand upon their horns. The elder Moor had heard +this defiance, and being resolved to prove that he had both a hand and a +heart to put the defiance to the test, the following is one of the +adventures which he related to his sons in connection therewith:—</p> + +<p>"It was about the Martinmas," he said, "when the leaves were becoming +few and blighted on the trees; I was courting your mother at the time, +and her faither had consented to our marriage; but, at the same time, he +half cast up to me, that I had but an ill-plenished house to take home a +wife to—that I had neither meal in the press, kye in the byre, nor oxen +in the court-yard. His own mailing was but poorly provided at the time; +and had he looked at hame, he hardly would have ventured to throw a +reflection at me.</p> + +<p>"'Weel, sir, said I to him, 'I dinna deny but what you say is true; but +I have supple heels, a ready hand, a good sword, and a stout heart, and +I ken a canny byre where there are threescore o' sleak beasties, weel +worth the harrying.'</p> + +<p>"'Now ye speak like a lad of sense and mettle,' said the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span>old man; 'and +on the first night that ye bring them hame, the plumpest and the fattest +o' them shall be slaughtered for the marriage-feast of you and Barbara.'</p> + +<p>"Then up spoke your mother's brother, and a winsome young man he was as +ye would have found between Tweed and Tyne; and 'Jonathan,' says he to +me, 'when ye gang to drive hame the herd, I shall go wi' thee, for the +sake of a bout with the bold, bragging Cunningham, of Simprin—for I +will lay thee my sword 'gainst a tailor's bodkin, it is him ye mean.'</p> + +<p>'It is him, Duncan,' said I—for your uncle's name was Duncan—'though +weel do I ken that he keeps them strongly guarded, and blood will flow, +and weapons be broken, before we get them into our possession. But gie +me your hand, my lad—we two shall be a match for him and a' his +backing. What ye take shall be your own, and what I take, your sister's; +and your faither shanna cast up my toom bink and my ill-stocked +mailing.'</p> + +<p>"'Weel spoken, bairns!' cried your grandfaither, who had been a first +hand at such ploys in his young days; 'weel spoken! I'm glad to see that +the spirits of the young generation arena gaun backward; though, since +King Jamie gaed to be King in London, as weel as at Edinburgh, our laws +are only fit for a few women, and everything is done that can be done to +banish manhood, and make it a crime.'</p> + +<p>"'Go upon no such an errand,' said your mother to both of us; 'for there +is blood upon baith your brows, and there is death in your path.'</p> + +<p>"'Havers, lassie!' cried her faither angrily; 'are ye at your randering +again?—what blood do ye see on their brows mair than I do, or what +death can ye perceive in their path? All your mother's Highland kinsfolk +were never able to throw their second-sighted glamour into my een, and +my own bairn shanna.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span>"'Call it randers, or what ye will,' answered she; 'but I see it plain +as I see the grey hairs upon your head, that death and lamentation are +gathering round my father's hearth, and are hovering and screaming owre +it, like vultures round a desolate place.'</p> + +<p>"Her words made my flesh to creep upon my bones; for, both before that, +and a hundred times since, I have heard her say dark and strange things, +which sooner or later have owre truly come to pass. However, the foray +across to Simprin was delayed till after our marriage; and your mother +almost persuaded me to give up all thoughts of it, and instead of my +former habits of life, to cultivate the bit ground which my forefaithers +had held for two hundred years, for the consideration of an armed man's +service. But her brother taunted me, and said I was no better than +Samson lying wi' his head on the lap of Dalilah, and that I had not only +given his sister my heart to keep, but my courage also. A taunt was a +thing that I never could endure, and that I never would put up wi' from +any man that ever was born—and I hope none of ye ever will, or, as I am +your faither! ye should be no longer my sons!</p> + +<p>"'Weel, this night be it,' said I to your uncle, 'The Tweed will be +fordable at Norham—I will have my shelty and weapons ready precisely at +eleven, and get two friends to accompany us that I can trust. Do ye the +like, and we shall see whose courage will stand firmest before morning.'</p> + +<p>"We gave each other our hands upon it, and said it was a bargain, and +immediately set about making preparations for the excursion. Before the +appointed hour, he rode up to my door, accompanied by two of his +faither's servants; and I with my two friends were in readiness waiting +for him. Your mother was very bitter against our purpose, and her words +and her warnings made my very heart to shake within my breast. Her eyes +flashed, as if they had <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span>been balls of fire, and her very bosom heaved up +and down wi' agitation.</p> + +<p>"'Husband!—brother!' she cried, 'listen to me, and give up the mad +errand on which ye are bent; for the bloodhound is snuffing the air and +gnashing its teeth, and the hooded crow clapping its wings for a feast, +and the owl has looked east, west, north, and south, from the auld +turret—it has screamed wi' joy, and its eyes are fixed on Simprin! Be +wise—be warned—or the moon will set and the sun rise upon unburied +bones. Cunningham of Simprin is strong and powerful; he is strong wi' +men, he is strong wi' money; and his herds and his hirsels are strongly +guarded. Again I say to ye, be wise—be warned—desist!—or auld men +will tear their grey hairs, and wives mourn; and those only that live by +the gibbet, rejoice wi' the bloodhound and bird of prey!'</p> + +<p>"Her words made us both uncomfortable; but we had often been engaged in +such exploits before the expedition was determined on; and we couldna, +in the presence of the four men that we had engaged to accompany us, +abandon it. They were fearless and experienced hands at the trade; but +the new laws on the Borders had reduced them to great privations, and +their teeth were watering for the flesh-pots of bygone days, no matter +at what risk they were to be obtained.</p> + +<p>"It was a delightful moonlight night—almost as bright as day; the +moon's brightness put out the stars, and not aboon a dozen were visible, +though there wasna half that number of clouds in the whole heavens, and +they were just like white sheets, that spirits might be sleeping on in +the air! We proceeded by way of Twisel to Norham, where we crossed the +Tweed to Ladykirk; and as at midnight we passed by the auld kirkyard, I +believe I actually put my hands to my ears, lest I should hear the +howlets flapping their wings and screaming in the belfry, and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span>turned my +face away from it in a sort of apprehension of seeing a spirit, or +something waur, upon every grave; for your mother's prophecies were +uppermost in my mind, in spite of all that I could say or strive to +think. And I believe that your uncle's mind was troubled wi' the same +sort of fears or fancies; for we were both silent the greater part of +the road, and spoke very little to each other.</p> + +<p>"However, just about one o'clock, and when the moon was beginning to +edge down upon the Lammermuirs, we arrived at an enclosure, in which +Cunningham had sixty head of cattle penned. The six of us had but little +difficulty in breaking down the gate that opened to the enclosure; and +just as we were beginning to drive out the cattle, a man started up on a +sort of tower place that was built upon the wall that surrounded them, +and hurled a kind of instrument round his head, that made a noise like a +thousand corn-craiks crying together in concert, and trying which would +craik loudest and fastest. At the unearthly sound, the cattle also +commenced a louting that might easily have been heard at two or three +miles off.</p> + +<p>"It at once struck me, as the best and wisest step for us to take, that +we should put spurs into our horses, and gallop back to Tweedside; for I +kenned it would be impossible for us to secure a single cow, surrounded, +as we were sure to be in a few minutes, by sixty or a hundred men; and +though I was no coward, I was aware that there could be but little +bravery in six men attempting to give battle to sixty. But, before I had +time to come to a determination, or even to speak, I saw your uncle's +pistol flash; and even, I may say, before I heard the report, I +perceived the man tumble down headlong from the turret on the wall, +among the horns of the cattle.</p> + +<p>"'Ye have done wrong in shooting the lad,' said I; 'ye have raised the +whole country side; and presently Cunningham and all his host will be at +our heels.'</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span>"'No fear,' said he; 'there is small danger of that—a dead tongue tells +no tales. And Cunningham and his host, as you term them, may be at our +face, but never shall they be at our heels, unless it be marching or +fighting against a common enemy.'</p> + +<p>"We began, therefore, to drive out the cattle; but scarce had we driven +them from the enclosure, and turned their heads towards the Tweed, when +we heard the baying of Cunningham's blood-hounds, and the shouts of his +people.</p> + +<p>"The sounds of their horses' feet became audible, and every moment they +gained ground upon us. It was apparent that, if we persisted in keeping +possession of the cattle, and attempting to drive them before us, within +two minutes, and we would be within swords' length of each other.</p> + +<p>"'Brother,' said I to your uncle, as I turned and perceived that the +number of our pursuers could not be under thirty, and was conscious that +that number would soon be doubled—'Brother,' said I, 'let us spur on +our horses, and leave the cattle to cover our retreat. It is no disgrace +for six men to flee before sixty.'</p> + +<p>"'Be it so,' he said; but it was too late. The cattle, scared by the +shouting of our pursuers, the howling of their blood-hounds, and the +flashing of their torches (for they had lighted fir branches to pursue +us, as the moon was setting), tossed their horns in the air, and ran +wildly to and fro; so that the horses, in their turn, were scared to +pass through them, and we were so hemmed in between thick woods, that +there was no riding round them.</p> + +<p>"The followers of Cunningham surrounded us with a wild shout, and a cry +for revenge. But we drew close together—we formed ourselves into a +little circle—and waiting the attack of our antagonists, we contended +with them hand to hand. Ten of them lay writhing on the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span>earth, or had +retired, wounded, from the contest; while our little band remained +unwounded, unbroken. For more than a quarter of an hour, we maintained +the unequal fight. But victory, on our side, was impossible, and escape +all but hopeless. Your uncle was the first of our number that fell. The +sword of an enemy had pierced his bosom, and I heard him shout to me, in +a voice rendered dismal with agony, never to yield!—to fight to the +last! as he lay bleeding on the ground.</p> + +<p>"I was then contending, hand to hand, with Cunningham. In our rage, we +had closed by the side of each other, and each grasped the other by the +throat. He shortened his sword, and, with a triumphant laugh, was +lunging it at my side, when, with a sudden and violent effort, I hurled +him from the saddle. As he rose, he thrust his sword into the breast of +the horse on which I rode, which reared, sprang forward, and fell, and I +was thrown upon the ground, in the midst of enemies.</p> + +<p>"Two of the four who accompanied us were also wounded, and disabled +from continuing the fight; and the other two, upon seeing your uncle and +myself upon the ground, surrendered. In my fall, my hand quitted not my +sword. I sprang to my feet, and smote around me to the right and to the +left, with the fury of a wild beast. My object was to cut my way through +my adversaries to the woods. I at length succeeded; but not until I had +been thrice wounded. I rushed forward among the trees, until the sound +of my pursuers died away; but the moon had gone down, and I knew not in +what direction I ran, but pressed onward and onward, until exhausted, +through loss of blood, I fell upon the ground. A sleep that was nae +sleep came owre me, and a dream that was nae dream stealed owre my +senses; while the blood continued oozing from my wounds, and my soul was +creeping away. Something was growing owre my faculties, just like the +opening of a starry night, as the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span>gloaming dies away, and star after +star peeps out. I at first felt happy; just steeped, as it were, in a +sensation of pleasantness; and there were sounds like sweet music in my +ears. But the feeling of happiness was changed, I kenned not how, for +one of pain—the feeling of pleasantness for one of horror—and the +sweet sounds into dismal howls. I started up—I grasped my sword firmer +in my hand; but the howls departed not wi' the disturbed sleep from +which I had been startled; but they broke upon my ear, louder and +nearer—the howls of the savage sleuth-hound, that had been sent to +track me. I heard the horrid beast snuff the air, and break into short, +hurried, and savage howls of delight, within a few yards of me. I had +not strength to fly; and if I had had strength, flight would have been +impossible. My pursuers seemed to have lost trace of the animal; for I +could neither hear their footsteps nor the sound of their voices. I made +no attempt at flight, but stood waiting its approach, with my sword +uplifted to smite it. Loss of blood had brought a dimness over my eyes, +which, added to the darkness of the wood, made me that I had rather to +grope and listen for the animal, than perceive it, as it might attempt +to spring upon me. I would rather have met ten enemies than, in +darkness, and in my then fainting state, have waited the attack of that +savage beast. It sprang upon me—I struck towards it with my sword, and +wounded it; but the weapon came in contact with the tangled branches of +the underwood, and the force of the blow was broken. In another moment +and I felt the paws of the monster upon my breast. I grasped it by the +throat, and we fell upon the ground together—my enemy uppermost. Its +teeth were in my shoulder. After several vain attempts, I drove my sword +through its body. The howls of the fierce beast were terrible. It +withdrew its teeth from my shoulder, and struggled to escape; but I +still held it by the throat—with the grip of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span>death I held it—and +still, still strove to pierce it again and again. I held it till it was +stiff, cold, and dead!</p> + +<p>"Wounded, faint, and weary as I was, I ventured from the woods before +morning broke, and crossed the Tweed at Kersfield. The sun rose at the +very moment that I turned the corner of the hill which conceals our +house from the public road, and revealed to me your mother, sitting on +the blue stone at the door, as cold and frozen-like to appearance as if +she had sat there the livelong night (as I afterwards understood she +had.) Her hands were clasped together, her eyes were raised upward, and +her lips were moving, as if she were repeating a prayer, or muttering a +charm. When she saw me approaching the door, she rose from the stone, +and, striking her hand upon her brow, cried—'Jonathan Moor! ye cruel +man! ye disregarder of the warnings of her whose life is as the shadow +of your life! said I not that the hound was howling, and the raven was +flapping its wings for a feast?—yet ye would not listen to my voice! +And my brother!—where is my brother?—the son of my mother—more +headstrong and foolish than yoursel'! Ye daurna answer, and ye needna +answer. He is dead! The horse of Cunningham have trampled on his body, +and he lies unburied.'</p> + +<p>"I didna ken how to find words to speak to her, and, indeed, I was +hardly able to speak; for the pain and stiffness of my wounds were +terrible to endure, and there was a sickness about my heart that made me +that I could have been willing to have lain down and died; and even +welcomed death, as a weary man would welcome sleep.</p> + +<p>"I was almost recovered from my wounds before we were exactly certain +as to your uncle's fate; and that was when three out of the four that +had accompanied us were permitted by Cunningham to return home, the +other having died of his wounds a few days after the unlucky foray. From +their account, it appeared that the person shot by <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span>your uncle, while +watching the cattle against the inroads of an enemy, was none other than +the only brother of Cunningham. He was not aware of his brother's death +until after the affray, when he was found lying in the enclosure, into +which the cattle were again driven. He was offering a free pardon to all +his prisoners, save him by whose hand his brother fell, upon condition +that they would betray him, when your uncle, starting up from the +uncouth litter of branches, rudely torn from the trees, and upon which +he was carried, cried out—'I did it!—my hand brought him down from his +watch-box, like a crow from its roost!'</p> + +<p>"'To the turret wi' him!' exclaimed Cunningham wildly; 'and fling him +from its pinnacle to the yard below.'</p> + +<p>"The fierce command was fiercely and willingly obeyed. Your uncle was +borne to the top of the tower over the wall, and hurled headlong to the +ground; and he lay there, with the cattle trampling upon him, and the +dogs licking his sores, until he was dead.</p> + +<p>"Your mother heard the tidings in silence; but, from that day until +this, she has never been as she used to be. Her anger is awful in a +woman; and she vows and says the day will come when she will have +revenge upon the name of Cunningham. She has spoken little of her gift +of second-sight since ye were born; but she is often subject to long and +gloomy fits of silent melancholy, as ye have all been witnesses; and I +attribute it all to our foray to Simprin. But" (the old man would add in +conclusion), "would that the good old times were come back again, when I +could meet Cunningham in the field; and he should find the hand that +unhorsed him five and twenty years syne has lost but little of its +strength."</p> + +<p>Now, the eldest sons of Jonathan and Barbara Moor were twins, and the +youngest were also twins, and they had no <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span>daughters living. The two +eldest were seven and twenty, and the two youngest seventeen, when the +civil war between the King and the Parliament took place. Walter +Cunningham and three sons, with several of his dependants, joined the +royal army, and he had but another son, who was then but an infant of a +few months old, and whose mother had died ere his infant lips drew from +her breast the nourishment of life. That infant he regarded as the +Benjamin of his age, and loved him with a double love for his mother's +sake. But, deeming that his duty to his King called him to arms, he, +with his three eldest sons and followers, took the field, leaving the +infant in the charge of a tried nurse.</p> + +<p>Now, when Jonathan Moor heard that his old enemy had joined the King's +standard, although he was too much of an ancient Borderer to care aught +for either one party or another, or for any cause save his own hand; +yet, to know that Cunningham had joined the King's party, was enough to +induce him to join the army of the Parliament. He knew nothing about the +quarrel—and he cared nothing; neither did he understand anything of the +religious disputes of the period; for, generally speaking, religion upon +the Borders in those days was at a very low ebb. In Berwick, and other +places, John Knox, the dauntless apostle of the north, with others of +his followers, had laboured some years before; but their success was not +great; the Borderers could not be made to understand why they should not +"take who had the power," even though kings and wardens issued laws, and +clergymen denounced judgments against the practice. It was of no use to +tell them "Thou shalt not steal;" the difficulty was to convince them +what was theft. It was, therefore, merely because his former adversary +and his sons were in the King's army, that Jonathan Moor, with his sons, +joined the army of the Parliament.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span>Barbara protested bitterly against the departure of her husband and her +sons to take part in the wars. "Wherefore, Jonathan," she cried, +"wherefore will ye sacrifice yourself, and why will ye gie up my winsome +sons to the jaws of death? Is there not enough provided for the eagles' +and the ravens' banquet, without their bonny blue een to peck at? Bide +at hame, and, with my bairns, plough up the green fields, that the earth +may provide us with food, as a fond mother, from its bosom. But go ye to +the wars, and your destiny is written—your doom is sealed. The +blackness of lonely midnight hangs owre me as my widow's hood, and, like +Rachel, I shall be left to weep for my children, for they will not be! +Turn again, my husband, and my sons lay down your weapons of war. +Hearken unto my voice, and remember that ye never knew one of my words +fall to the ground. If ye go now, ye rush upon the swords that are +sharpened for your destruction, and ye hasten to fatten the raven and +the worm; for the winds shall sing your dirge, as your bonny yellow hair +waves to the blast, and the gloaming and the night fling a shroud owre +your uncoffined limbs. Ye go, but ye winna return. Ye will see the sun +rise, but not set—and these are hard words for a mother to say."</p> + +<p>But her husband and her sons were men of war. They loved its tumult and +its strife, as a hound loveth the sound that calls it to the chase, or a +war-horse the echoes of the bugle; and, though they at times trembled at +her wild words, they regarded them not. Taking their route by way of +Coldstream, Greenlaw, and Soutra Hill, in order to avoid the army of +General Leslie, which then occupied the eastern part of Lammermuir, they +descended towards Dunbar, where they enrolled themselves as volunteers +in the army of Cromwell. A few days after their arrival, they joined a +skirmishing party, and, in a wild glen, near to Spot, they encountered a +similar company that had <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span>been sent out by General Leslie. In the latter +party, were Walter Cunningham and his three sons, and he, indeed, was +their commander.</p> + +<p>It was with a look of ruthless delight that Jonathan Moor descried his +old enemy at the head of the opposite party; and he said unto his +sons—"Yonder is the murderer of your uncle—Cunningham of Simprin, with +his three young birkies brawly mounted, and riding sprucely at his back. +But, before night, the braw plumes in their beavers shall be trampled on +the earth, and the horse will be lame that carries one of them back. +Stick ye by my side, and ride ye where I ride; for it will be music to +your mother's soul to ken that her brother's death is avenged, and by +the hands of her own flesh and blood."</p> + +<p>The two parties rode forward and met each other. The Cunninghams and the +Moors were face to face. The two fathers sat as if fixed upon their +saddles for a few seconds, eyeing each other with looks of deadly hatred +and ferocity, and recalling the days and the strife of other years.</p> + +<p>Though neither party mustered fifty, the onset was fierce and +furious—the struggle long and desperate; and, on each side, more than +half their original number lay dead or wounded on the ground. Amongst +the former were the seven sons of Jonathan Moor, and the three sons of +Walter Cunningham. The old men maintained a desperate combat with each +other, apart from the rest, until breathless and exhausted, both for a +few minutes paused, each holding the point of his sword towards the +other's breast; and they now looked once more in each other's face, and +again upon the ground, where they beheld the dead bodies of their sons. +Grief seemed to seek expression in redoubled rage—again their swords +clashed against each other, and gleamed in the sunbeams, rapid as the +fitful lightning. After a long and sore contention, in which both had +given and received wounds, they fell upon the ground together; <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span>but Moor +received his death-wound on the ground, and he fell to rise no more.</p> + +<p>"I die!" he gasped, still grasping his antagonist by the breast—"I die, +Cunningham—with my children, whom I have led to death, I die! But, +remember, there is one left to avenge our deaths, and she will avenge +them seven-fold!"</p> + +<p>Thus saying, his head fell back upon the ground, and he spoke not again. +Cunningham, disengaging himself from the dead man's grasp, went towards +the bodies of his children, and throwing himself upon the earth by their +side, he kissed their lifeless eyeballs, and mourned over them. His +grief was too intense, and his wounds too severe, to permit him +continuing with the army, and he returned to his estate near Simprin, to +watch over and protect his infant and only surviving son.</p> + +<p>When the tidings were brought to Barbara Moor, that she, in one day, had +been bereaved of her husband and seven sons, and that the former had +fallen by the hand of Cunningham, the destroyer of her brother, she sat +and listened to the bearer of the evil tidings as one deprived of the +power of speech and motion. Her cheeks, her eyes, manifested no change; +but she sat calm, fixed, and entranced in the apathy of death. Her hands +remained folded upon her bosom, and her head moved not. The messenger +stood wondering and horror-struck, and twice he repeated his melancholy +tale; but the listener took no outward note either of his words or his +presence, and he departed, marvelling at the silent sorrow of the widow.</p> + +<p>"I knew it, man," she exclaimed, starting from her death-like trance +after the messenger had departed—"I knew they would not return to me. I +told them, but they believed me not—they would not hearken to my words. +Miserable, deserted being that I am! wherefore should I live to mourn +with the winter winds, or make a companion of the fearsome echoes that +howl in the dark glens? Has <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span>not my husband, and have not my seven +winsome sons, than whom there were not in Northumberland seven comelier +lads—not to say brothers—oh, have not they, in one day, been snatched +away, and swallowed up from me, as a jewel that is flung into the deep +sea! But I will live to be avenged of their deaths, and my brother's +death; and their destroyer shall not dandle a bairn upon his knee, or +kiss its cheek, while mine are <i>all, all</i> dead, and in a strange grave, +and even wi' no one near to pull up the noxious nettle that may be +waving ower their once bonny and snow-white bosoms!"</p> + +<p>Thus raved the wretched and childless mother; and from that day she was +as one who had no fixed abode or resting-place; but, throughout the +greater part of the year, wandered to and fro, no one could tell +whither; and when she was found near the scenes of happier years, it was +as a lonely dweller in the clay-built hovel of which mention has been +made. She was a woman of a strong, perhaps it might be said a strange +mind; but her imagination was stronger—it was fevered, and early +tinctured with gloomy superstitions, until they became like a portion of +her creed and her existence; and her afflictions tended to increase its +morbidness.</p> + +<p>The life of Walter Cunningham now became wrapt up in that of his only +son—the child was ever before his eyes, and he watched over his growth +as over a tender plant. His sole "care was to increase his store," and +lay up treasure for the child of his age, the youngest and the only +survivor of his flock. The number of his flocks and of his herds +increased greatly, and he was in the habit of attending the fairs upon +the Borders, to dispose of them. It was Whitsome fair; and he sent there +many of his cattle and his sheep for sale. He also attended it, and he +took with him his son, who was then a boy of from three to four years of +age.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span>It was drawing towards evening, and Mr. Cunningham, in concluding a +bargain with a person who had bought a number of his cattle, was +separated from his child. He had not been absent from the spot where he +had left him for ten minutes; but the child had disappeared; and search +was made for him throughout the fair, but he was nowhere to be found, +neither could any one give tidings of him. The anxious father sought his +lost child from booth to booth; and, with his friends, he also searched +the adjoining woods. He called his son by name, till, from far amidst +the trees, it was echoed back; but that cheerless echo, or the scream of +a startled bird, was the only reply. The disappearance of the child was +a mystery which no one could unriddle. His father, during the few +minutes that he was to be absent, had left him in charge of a servant, +who confessed having entered a drinking booth, and as the liquor went +round, he perceived not that the child had left his side. For many days +his father sought him sorrowing; but all search proved vain.</p> + +<p>Mr. Cunningham returned to his house, a heart-broken and miserable man. +The last, the only being that he loved on earth, had disappeared from +his fond gaze, even as a beautiful vapour of strange shapes and gorgeous +colours, which we gaze upon in the heavens, and turning from it but for +a moment, we look for it again—but it is not. He refused to listen to +words of consolation, or even of hope; and for several years he left not +his house, but sat in loneliness, making a companion of his sorrow.</p> + +<p>Now, it was on a dark and dismal winter night, seven years after the +disappearance of his son, when the hail rattled fiercely against the +narrow casements of his habitation, and the wind howled wildly over the +earth, tearing the branches from the naked trees, and causing the cattle +to crowd together for shelter—that a wild voice was heard singing a +wilder dirge, as if to the measure and music of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span>the storm. The sound +came from an open shed adjoining the house, where the cattle had been +placed for shelter.</p> + +<p>The servants informed their master that a strange woman, whose wits +seemed disordered, had crept into the shed, where, before morning, from +the fury of the storm, she would doubtless perish. They took a light, +and he accompanied them to the shed.</p> + +<p>Before them a wretched being sat upon the straw, and the hail dashed +bitterly against her unshrinking, but time-worn and storm-beaten +features. Her grey hairs waved loose and wildly in the wind. Her hands +were clasped together upon her breast; and, as she sat, she sang the +wild and melancholy dirge that has been mentioned. The burden of the +strain was "Childless!—childless!—childless!" And again it waxed +louder, and a prayer for vengeance was wildly sung. She sat and +continued her dirge, regardless of their presence, and appeared as +though she saw them not. The tears gathered in the eyes of Mr. +Cunningham, as he listened to her dark words, and his limbs shook with a +trembling motion.</p> + +<p>"Take her into the house," said he, "and give her food and shelter for +the night. If my poor boy yet live, he may be now perishing, with none +to shelter him."</p> + +<p>At his mention of his lost son, her wild strain suddenly ceased. She +started to her feet; and, as she fixed upon him her haggard features, +while her grey hairs and the many-coloured rags that covered her waved +in the stormy wind, she seemed as though she were not an inhabitant of +the earth, but rather the demon of the storm.</p> + +<p>"Ha! ha! ha!" she cried, with a hideous laugh, that made the beholders +and the hearers shudder; "shelter from you!—the murderer of my +brother!—of my husband!—of my children!—of my seven fair sons!—you +that have made me childless! Back to thy dwelling, dog; and, if it will +add another drop of torturing anxiety to your soul, to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span>know that your +son lives, and that you shall see him, but never know him—learn that he +does live! He lives!"</p> + +<p>"Where, woman?—where?" exclaimed the wretched father.</p> + +<p>She hastily dashed a sort of lantern from the hand of the servant who +held it, and, rushing from the shed towards the open fields, again +laughed more dismally than before, and cried, "Where? She whom you have +made childless, leaves that <i>where</i> to torture you for ever!"</p> + +<p>The wretched father rushed after her; but, in the darkness, the noise, +and tempest of the night, it was impossible to trace in what direction +she had fled. As every reader must be already aware, the strange and +fearful-looking woman was Barbara Moor, the widowed and childless +mother. The words which she had spoken, regarding his son being yet +alive, increased the anxious misery of Walter Cunningham. It caused his +wounds, the anguish of which time had in some degree abated, to bleed +afresh. At one time he doubted, and at another he believed, the words +which the seeming maniac had uttered; and he made journeys to many +places, in the hope of again meeting her, and of extorting from her a +confession where he should find his son, or of obtaining some +information that might throw light upon his fate. But his journeys then +were as fruitless as his former inquiries.</p> + +<p>We must here introduce another character to our readers, in the person +of Sandy Reed. At the period at which we introduce him, he was a +widower, between forty and fifty years of age, with an only daughter, +named Anne, a child of five years old; and his house was kept by a +maiden aunt, who was on the aged side of sixty. Sandy was a farmer near +the Reed water, in Northumberland, and as fine a specimen of the ancient +Northumbrian farmer as could be met with—a distinct race, a few samples +of whom were here and there to be found within the last thirty +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span>years—free, careless, hospitable, happy, boisterous, unlettered, and +half-civilized. Sandy was one of these in their primitive state. He was +in truth—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"A fine old English farmer,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">One of the olden time."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>He was as hardy as the hills on which his sheep fed. He was ready at all +times either to shake hands or to break a head—to give or to take. No +one ever entered his house and went out hungry. He had a bed, a bite, +and a bottle for every one; and he was wont to say that he would rather +treat a beggar than lose good company. He was no respecter of rank, nor +did he understand much concerning it. He judged of the respect due to +every one by what he called the "rule of good fellows." Burns makes the +wife of Tam o' Shanter say—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Ilka horse ye ca'ed a shoe on,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The smith and you gat roarin' fu' on."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>But Tam had been but the degenerated shadow of Sandy Reed; for every +time he had to pay a visit to the smith with his nag, they would have</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">'Been fu' for weeks thegither!"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>When he had business at Morpeth market, his journey home never occupied +less than a fortnight, though the distance was not quite thirty miles; +for the worthy farmer had to stop three or four days at every hostelry +by the way, for the sake of company, as he affirmed, and the good of the +road; but he cared not much for going half-a-dozen miles out of his way +to add another house of entertainment to the number; and it mattered not +to him whether the company he met with were Roundheads or Cavaliers, +provided they could show the heel-taps of their bottle, and in the +intervals of bringing in a new one, wrestle, run, leap, or put, or +quarrel in a friendly way, if they preferred it.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span>But we shall record a portion of Sandy's adventures, so far as they are +connected with our story, in his own words. The following was one of his +favourite anecdotes of himself:—</p> + +<p>"It was about three years after my wife's death, poor body," (he began) +"that I had been owre at Morpeth market, wi' four score o' ewes and six +score o' hogs. I was at least comfortable when I left Morpeth, but +noughts aboon comfortable; for I had only had twenty queghs<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> o' +English gin (which, thou must understand, in our part o' the country, +means Cheviot-made whisky), and seven o' them were public-house ones, +which wouldna count aboon three or four guid ones—so thou seest that I +had had noughts in the world to make me onything but sober. Hoos'ever, I +just thought to mysel', thinks I—drat! I'll away round by Elsdon, and +see what a' my cronies there are about. So, 'To the right, Dobbin, my +canny fellow,' said I to my nag—and it was as wise an animal as ever +man had to speak to; it knawed every word I said, and understud me +whether I was drunk or sober, mony a time, when ne'er a one else could +make out what I said. But the poor beast had had sae meikle experience +wi' me, that it knawed what I meant by a wink as weel as a nod. So I +said to it—'To the right, Dobbin, my canny fellow; thou shalt be +foddered at awd Betty Bell's t'night, and if a' be as it shud be, thou +shalt hae a rest t'morrow tee, into the bargain.' So Dobbin took away +across the moor to Elsdon, just as natural as a Christian could hae +done. Weel, when I reached Elsdon, and went into Betty Bell's, there +were five o' my cronies sitting. They were a' trumps, and they gied me +three cheers when I went in, for they knawed that I was out and out a +gud 'un.</p> + +<p>"'Ha! Sandy!' said they, 'thou'rt welcome, my canny <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span>lad—we just wanted +you to make the half dozen. Hast thou been at Morpeth?'</p> + +<p>"'Yea,' said I, 'and hae just come round by Elsdon to hae a boot wi' +thee.'</p> + +<p>"'So be it,' said they; and we sat down in gud earnest, and three +glorious days we had, and would have had mair, but that we drank Betty +Bell's cupboards dry. The stars were just beginning to wink out as I got +my feet in the stirrups, and to confess the truth, I was winking far +worse than the stars. However, Dobbin took across the moors, and I was +in the high road for my home. How it was I dinna knaw; but I rather +think that I had fallen asleep, and that something or other had scared +the nag, and I had slipped out o' the saddle. I mind o' lying very cauld +and uncomfortable, half-dreaming, half-waking, and I daresay, more than +three parts the worse o' drink. I mind, tee, o' calling to my aunt as I +thought, 'Auntie!—do thou hear?—bring another blanket to throw owre +me, and put out that light—I canna get a wink o' sleep for it.' Then I +thought I found something upon my breast, that was like my little Anne's +head, and I put my hand out, and I said, 'Is that thee, Anne love?' But +there was no answer; and I gied the head a shake, when, my conscience! +there was such a frightened squall got up, that I sprang right upon my +feet, and, to my astonishment, there had I been lying upon the moor, wi' +Dobbin at my side, and the light which I wished to have put out was +neither more nor less than the moon! But what surprised me most of all, +and put me about what to dow, was, that what I had taken for my little +Anne that had creeped to my side, as she often did when I came home, was +nowther more nor less than a wee, ragged infant laddie, that had been +lying fast asleep, wi' his head upon my bosom! There wasna a living +creature in human shape upon the moor but our two sells; and how he came +there was a miracle to me! 'Laddie,' says I, where <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span>dost thou come frae? +What be thy faither, eh?—or thy mother? Be they alive?—or who brought +thee here? Come, tell me, and I will gie thee a penny.'</p> + +<p>"But the poor bairn seemed more bewildered to find itsel' where it was +than I did, and the more I offered to speak to it, it cried the louder.</p> + +<p>"'Why, thou needna cry,' said I, 'I winna eat thee; but how came thou +here?—and where be thy faither and mother?'</p> + +<p>"However, I could get nought but screams and cries o' terror out o' the +little innocent; so I cried all round the moor at the very pitch o' my +voice,—'Holloa!—be there any one within hearing that has lost a +bairn?' But I am thinking that I might have cried till now, and nobody +would have answered, for it is my belief the bairn came there by magic! +I canna say that I have seen the fairy folk mysel', though I have heard +them often enough, but I am inclined to believe that they had a hand in +stealing away the infant laddie frae his parents, and laying his head +upon my breast on the moor. I declare to thee, though I couldna stand +steady, I was at a stand still what to do. I couldna leave the infant to +perish upon the moor, or I shud never hae been able to sleep in my bed +again wi' the thoughts on't; and whenever I had to go to Morpeth, why, I +should hae been afeared that its little ghost would hae haunted me in +the home-coming; and, if I would hae been afeard o' it, it is mair than +I would hae been o' meeting the biggest man in a' Northumberland. But if +I took it hame, why I thought again there would be sic talking and +laughing amang a' wur neighbours, who would be saying that the bairn was +a son o' my awn, and my awd aunt would lecture me dead about it. +However, finding I could mak naething out o' the infant, I lifted him up +on saddle before me, and took him home wi' me.</p> + +<p>"'Why, what be that thou hast brought, Sandy lad?' <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span>asked my awd aunt, +as she came to the door to meet me.</p> + +<p>"'Why, it be a bairn, aunt, that I found on the moor, poor thing,' said +I.</p> + +<p>"'A bairn!' quoth she—'I hope thou be na the faither o't, Sandy?'</p> + +<p>"'I'll gie thee my hand and word on't, aunt,' said I, 'that I knaw +nowther the faither nor mother o't; and from the way in which I found it +upon the moor, I doubt whether ever it had owther the one or the other.'</p> + +<p>"My aunt was easier satisfied than I expected, and, by degrees, I let +out the whole secret o' the story o' finding him, both to her and to my +neighbours. Nobody ever came to own him, and he soon grew to be a credit +to the manner in which I had brought him up. Before he could be more +than seventeen, he was a match for ony man on Reed water or Coquet side, +at ony thing they dared to take him up at. I was proud o' the laddie, +for he did honour to the education I had gien him; and, before he was +eighteen, he was as tall as mysel'. He isna nineteen yet; and my +daughter Anne and him are bonnier than ony twa pictures that ever were +hung up in the Duke o' Northumberland's castle. Ay, and they be as fond +o' each other as two wood pigeons. It wud do thy heart gud to see them +walking by Reed water side together, wi' such looks o' happiness in +their eyes that ye wud say sorrow could never dim them wi' a tear. Anne +will be a year, or maybe two, awder than him; but, as soon as I think he +will be one-and-twenty, they shall be a wedded pair. Ay, and at my +death, the farm shall be his tee—for a better lad ye winna meet in a' +Northumberland, nor yet in a' the counties round about it. He has a kind +heart and a ready hand; and his marrow, where strength, courage, or a +determined spirit are wanted, I haena met wi'. There is, to be sure, a +half-dementit, wild awd wife, they ca' Babby Moor, that gangs fleeing +about wur hills, for a' the world <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span>like an evil speerit, and she puts +strange notions into his head, and makes a cloud o' uneasiness, as it +were, sit upon his brow. When I saw that I would have to keep him, I +didna ken what name to gie him; but after consulting wi' my friends and +the clergyman o' the parish, it was agreed that he should bear the +surname o' wur family, and my faither's Christian name; so we called him +Patrick Reed. But the daft awd wife came upon him one day amang the +hills, and she pretended to look on his brow, and read the lines on his +hand, and tald him, frae them, that Patrick Reed wasna his real name, +but he would find it out some day—that he was born to be rich, though +he might never be rich—and that he had an awd grey-haired faither that +was mourning for him night and day, and that he had adopted the son of a +relation to be his heir. When he came home he was greatly troubled, but +he was too open-hearted to conceal from me, or from Anne, the cause of +his uneasiness; and when he had tould us a' that the mad awd wife had +said, I tried to laugh him out o' thinking about it, and bade him bring +the bottle and take a glass like a man, and never mind it. But Patrick +was nae drinker; and he gravely said to me, that the face o' the +half-daft woman came owre his brain like a confused dream—that he had +something like a remembrance of what she had said; and he also thought +that he remembered having seen her. I wish the witch had been in the +bottom o' the sea ere she met wi' him; for ever syne then—though Anne +and he are as kind and as loving as ever—he isna half the lad that he +used to be; and there is nae getting him now to take a game at +onything—though he could beat everybody—for either love or money."</p> + +<p>Such was one of the stories which rough, honest, fear-nothing Sandy +Reed told, in relating his adventures. Now, it came to pass, when +Patrick, the foundling of whom he has spoken, had been sheltered beneath +his roof for the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span>space of seventeen years, that Sandy, having introduced +the cultivation of turnips upon the lowlands of his farm, proposed to go +to Whitsome fair, to purchase cattle to fatten with them, and also sheep +from the Lammermuirs to eat them on the ground. He was now more than +threescore, and he was less capable of long journeys than he had been; +and he requested that his adopted son Patrick, who was also to be his +son-in-law, should accompany him; and it was agreed that they should set +out for Whitsome together.</p> + +<p>But, on the evening before their departure, as the maiden Anne was +returning from a visit to the wife of a neighbouring farmer, she was +intercepted within a mile of her father's house. The sibyl-like figure +of Barbara Moor stood before her, and exclaimed—"Stand, maiden! Ye love +the young man whom ye call Patrick—whom your father has so called—and +who resides beneath his roof. He loves you; and ye shall be wed, if I, +who have his destiny in my hand, have strength to direct it! And yet +there must be more blood!—more!—for I am +childless!—childless!—childless! We are not even yet!" She paused, and +pressed her hand upon her brow; while the maiden, startled at her +manner, trembled before her. But she again added—"Yes! yes!—ye shall +be wed—the bauble wealth shall be yours, and ye deserve happiness. But +hearken, ye maiden, for on the obeying of my words depends your fate. +When your faither and Patrick set out for Whitsome fair, request ye to +accompany them—insist that ye do, and ye shall return here a wealthy +and a wedded wife; for she says it whose words were never wasted on the +wind. Swear, maiden, that ye will perform what I have commanded ye."</p> + +<p>"Woman!" said Anne, quaking as she spoke, "I never swore, and I winna +swear; but I give thee my hand that I will obey thee. I will go to +Whitsome fair wi' my faither and Patrick."</p> + +<p>"Go! go!" cried the sibyl, "lest the dark spirit come <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span>upon me; and he +whom ye call Patrick shall die by his father's hand, or his father by +his. But speak not of whom ye have seen, nor of what ye have heard—but +go and do as ye have been commanded. Be silent till we meet again."</p> + +<p>Anne bent her head in terror, and promised to obey; and the weird woman, +again exclaiming—"Go!—be silent!—obey!" hastened from her sight.</p> + +<p>When Anne entered the house, her father, and her adopted brother, or +lover, were making ready for their journey. She sat down silently and +thoughtfully in a corner of the apartment, and her half-suppressed sighs +reached their ears.</p> + +<p>"Why, what in the globe, daughter Anne," said her father, "can make thee +sigh? Art thou sad because Patrick is to leave thee to go to a fair for +a day or two? I suppose thou wouldn't hae troubled thy head, had thy +father been to be absent as many months. But I don't blame thee; I mind +I was tender-hearted at thy age, too—but Patrick knaws better what to +say to thee than I do."</p> + +<p>"Dear Anne," whispered the youth, taking her hand, "what ails thee?"</p> + +<p>"Ask my father," she rejoined, hesitatingly, "that I may accompany you +to Whitsome fair to-morrow."</p> + +<p>"Nay, thou canst not go, dear," returned Patrick; "it is a long ride and +a rough one; and the society thou wilt meet with will afford thee no +pleasure, and but small amusement."</p> + +<p>"I must go," she replied—"a strange being has laid a terrible command +on me!"</p> + +<p>"A grey-haired, wild-looking woman?" ejaculated Patrick, and his voice +trembled as he spoke.</p> + +<p>"Ask me no more," was her reply, "I must—I will accompany you."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span>"A dead dream," said the youth, "seems bursting into life within my +brain. There are once familiar words ready to leap to my tongue that I +cannot utter; and long forgotten memories haunting my mind, and flinging +their shadows over it as though the substance again were approaching. +But the woman that ye speak of!—yes! yes!—there is something more than +a dream, dear Anne, that links my fate with her! I remember—I am sure +it is no fancy—I do remember having been at a fair when I was a +child—a mere child—and the woman ye allude to was there! Yes! +yes!—you must accompany us! I feel, I am certain, that woman hath, +indeed, my destiny in her hands!"</p> + +<p>"Gudeness me!" exclaimed Sandy, "what is it that ye twasome are saying +between ye? Is there ony light thrown upon the awd story; or, is it only +the half-crazed randy—(forgie me for ca'ing the poor afflicted creature +by ony sic name)—but, I say, is it only some o' the same nonsense that +Babby Moor has been cramming into Anne's ear wi' which she has filled +thine, lad? Upon my word, if I had my will o' the awd witch, I would +douk her in the Reed till she confessed that every story she has tould +to thee was a lie from end to end."</p> + +<p>"Well, father," said Patrick—for he always called Sandy father—"let +Anne accompany us to the fair—she requests it, and I will also request +it for her."</p> + +<p>"Ou, ye knaw," said Sandy, "if ye hae made up yer minds between +yourselves that ye are determined to gang, I suppose it would be o' no +use for me to offer opposition to owther o' the two o' ye. So, if thou +wilt go, get thee ready, Anne, my dear, for it will take us to be off +frae here by twelve o'clock t'night, for it is a lang ride, and a rugged +ride, as thou wilt find it to thy cost, ere ye be back again. I was +never there for my own part; but I hear that the sale o' feeding cattle +is expected to be gud—and there I maun <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span>be. So, get thee ready, +daughter, if ye will go, and hap thysel' weel up."</p> + +<p>At midnight, Sandy Reed, his daughter, and his adopted son, with three +or four farm-servants, all mounted on light, but strong and active +horses, accustomed to the character of the country, set out for Whitsome +fair.</p> + +<p>They arrived at Whitsome before noon on the following day, having +crossed the Tweed at Coldstream. There was one individual in the fair +who had some hundred head of cattle exhibited for sale, and that was old +Cunningham of Simprin. He himself was present; but he took but small +interest in the transactions, for he was becoming old, and was in +general melancholy; and a nephew, whom he intended to make his heir, +accompanied him, and in most matters made bargains for him and in his +name.</p> + +<p>Now, Sandy Reed, after walking through the market, said the only lot +that would suit him was that of Cunningham of Simprin. We may here +observe that, throughout the day, young Patrick became thoughtful and +more thoughtful. Even the presence of Anne, who leaned upon his arm, +could hardly summon up a passing smile into his features.</p> + +<p>After much disputing and sore bargain-making, Sandy Reed, at a good +round sum, became the purchaser of all the stock that old Walter +Cunningham exhibited in the fair. And when the bargain had been +completed, the seller, the buyer, and their servants, retired to a booth +together; the former to treat his customer with a bottle, and the latter +to spend the "luck-penny," which, on such occasions, he was wont to say, +would burn a hole in his pocket before he got home.</p> + +<p>Both were men who were accustomed to drink deep—for old Cunningham had +sought to drown his sorrows in the bottle; and what would have been +death to another man took no effect upon him. Sandy saw him swallow +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span>glass after glass, without his countenance betraying any symptom of +change, with vexation; for he had never before met with a superior, +either at the bacchanalian board, or at aught else. But, as the liquor +went round, the old men began to forget their age (and for a time, for +the first time, Walter Cunningham forgot his sorrows), and they boasted +of what they had done; and forgetful that each was above threescore, +they were ever and anon about to profess what they could still do; but +on such occasions, Anne Reed, who sat by her father's elbow, gently and +unobserved, admonished him.</p> + +<p>Now, when Sandy found that he might not speak of what he could do, he +thought there could be no harm in saying what his adopted son Patrick +could do. He offered to match him at anything against any man in +Berwickshire, yea in all Scotland. The blood of old Cunningham boiled at +the bravado. He said he had had three sons—yea, he hoped to have said +four—any of whom would have stopped the boasting, and taken up the +challenge of his Northumbrian friend. But he said he had still a nephew, +and he would risk him against Sandy's champion.</p> + +<p>"A bargain be it," cried Sandy, and the young men proceeded to various +trials of strength; but the nephew of Cunningham, though apparently a +strong man, was as a weaned child in the hands of young Patrick. Their +countrymen, on both sides, became enraged, and it soon became a national +quarrel. Scores were engaged on either side—knives were drawn and blood +spilt: and headmost in the fray, but unarmed, was Sandy Reed, striking +to the ground every one on whom his hand fell. But at length he fell, +pierced by a knife, by the edge of a pool of water; and his last words +were—"Revenge me, Patrick—protect my Anne—mine is yours!"</p> + +<p>When weapons were exhibited, young Patrick drew one also, and he dealt +a wound at every blow. Just as he heard <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span>the voice of his foster-father, +he held the aged Cunningham by the throat, and his hand was uplifted to +avenge his protector's death by the sacrifice of the old man's—when a +loud, a hurried, and a wild voice cried aloud—"Hold, parricide! +hold!—he against whom your hand is raised is your father!"</p> + +<p>It was the voice of Barbara Moor. The young man's arms fell by his side +as if a palsy had smitten them. He remembered the voice of the sibyl.</p> + +<p>"What say ye!" cried the agonised old man—"who is my son?—how shall I +know him?" For he, too, remembered her and well.</p> + +<p>"He whose hand has been raised against your life," she cried, "and on +whose bosom ye will remember and find the mark of a berry! +Farewell!—farewell!" she added—"I am childless—ye are not." She had +been wounded in the conflict as she rushed forward, and she sank down +and died. We might lengthen our story with details; but it would be +fruitless. In young Patrick old Cunningham found his long lost son; with +her last breath Barbara Moor acknowledged how she had decoyed him from +the tent, at the fair, where his father had left him; and how, when she +saw Sandy Reed asleep upon the moor, she had administered to the child a +sleeping draught, and laid him upon his breast. Vain would it be to +describe the joy of the old man, and as vain would it be to speak of the +double chagrin of the nephew, who lost not only his laurels during the +day, but also his hope of riches. Anne sorrowed many days for her +father; but gave her hand to him who, in compliance with her request, +his father continued to call Patrick; the fountain by the side of which +her father fell is still known in the village of Whitsome by the name of +<i>Reed's Well</i>; and, on account of the life lost, and the blood shed on +that occasion, Whitsome fair has been prohibited unto this day.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> The wooden quegh, used as a drinking vessel in those days, +contained rather more than would fill a wine glass.</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span> +</div> +<h2><a name="THE_SURGEONS_TALES" id="THE_SURGEONS_TALES"></a>THE SURGEON'S TALES.</h2> +<h3>THE DIVER AND THE BELL.</h3> + + +<p>I have witnessed various states of the mind and body of the wonderfully +constructed creature, man; and have written down those cases where the +two mutually operate upon each other, in such a manner as to bring out +startling characteristics, which, by many, are scarcely believed to +belong to our nature. I am now to exhibit a case, where an extreme love +of mental excitement produced by extraordinary sights and positions, +gave rise to a species of disease, which we have no name for in our +nosology. The individual was a Mr. Y——, a gentleman of fortune, who +came to reside in the town where I practise. When I first visited him, I +found him a poor emaciated creature, sick of the world, dying of +<i>ennui</i>, thirsting after morbid excitements, yet shuddering at the +recollection of what he had witnessed. I saw at once that he was a +victim of some engrossing master passion, that had fed upon the natural +feelings and sentiments, till his whole soul was under the power and +operation of the presiding demon; and got him to give me an account of +the manner in which he became enthralled.</p> + +<p>Even now, he began—and he trembled as the thoughts he was to evolve +recurred to him, even now, though it is fully two years since I was +placed in one of the most extraordinary situations in which man was ever +doomed to be, I cannot call up again the ideas and sensations which then +occupied my mind, without trembling, and endeavouring to fly, as it +were, from myself, and, by seeking <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span>for natural thoughts among natural +appearances and converse, rear up again the belief that I am a regularly +organized being, capable of again becoming happy among the sons of men. +But the thought still haunts me as a spectre, that I may be once more, +by some other cause not less fortuitous than that which then took me out +of the region of experience, precipitated, in spite of all my care, into +some new position, where the feelings which we are led to consider as a +part of our nature, may be so entirely changed that no new world we are +capable of conceiving any notion of, could possibly produce a more +extraordinary disruption of all the old workings of the brain. Oh! it is +a fearful thought, but one seldom entertained by the slaves of +experience. Changes occur daily to all men; but, in the general case, +each mere worldly position of ever-changing circumstances, possesses so +much of the form and character of some prior one, that we are very soon +reconciled to the idea of a variety composed of a mere mutation of the +mixture of old elements. The mind, looked upon as a microcosm peopled by +the representations of things that be—of the past and possible, of the +future and probable—is held to be our own little world, with which, and +all its inhabitants, we are or may be familiar; we forget that there are +recesses in it, or capabilities within it, that may contain or produce +things as new as striking, as horrible as if they were the creations of +an unknown power, out of elements we never saw or heard of. A sane +person, living and acting in the world, may be for a time mad, but with +the difference, that, while ordinary maniacs know not their condition, +he may be conscious of a thinking identity, while all his thoughts seem +to be imposed upon him by other powers than those that regulate this +sphere, and he is himself, what he was, but placed in a new world, and +acted on by new impulses at which he shudders, but which he is sternly +bound to receive and feel. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span>What a view does this open up to the state of +man in this lower world!—how much is there in it of a cause of +humiliation and trembling. I am myself, from what I suffered, altogether +a changed being; having no faith in the stability of things; conceiving +myself placed among dangerous rocks and precipices, from which, in the +next moment, I may fall, I know not where; and eyeing with doubt and +dismay even the most composed and settled of all the circumstances of +life. He is a happy man who is doomed to pass from the cradle to the +grave, without having cause to <i>experience</i> the faithlessness of +experience, who has only read of those dreadful disruptions of the mind +and feelings, that scatter the old elements, in order that some new +consolidating power may throw them into forms and combinations a +thousand times more horrible than all the creation of dark brooding +incubus.</p> + +<p>Like most other men of an ardent and imaginative temperament, I was +dissatisfied with the dull routine of ordinary things. I used to feed my +fancy with creatures of the possible, and, without the aid of artificial +stimulants of the brain, often conjured up imaginary beings and +predicaments which had a charm for me, I cannot very well explain or +account for. I cared little for dreams, or the artificial combinations +produced by narcotics; they had too little of reality for me: I never +was satisfied with a mere effort of the fancy, where the judgment was +entirely in abeyance, or at least mocked by what it had no control over. +In the world around me, I found food for my appetite; whatever I saw or +heard of the <i>real</i>, I wrought upon in my solitary moments, till I +produced creations, that, being actually within the limits of the +possible, I could survey with the satisfaction that I was contemplating +what might or would be actually experienced in some future stage of the +world. Yet it is a fact—and no one who knows anything of morbid +indulgences of this kind <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span>can doubt it—that it is questionable, even to +myself, whether, upon the whole, I ever derived any real pleasure from +these moods of the mind. The imaginary positions I loved most, were +generally of the painful kind: the greater the sufferings of the +personages concerned in my various plots of combined circumstances, the +more was my propensity gratified. From this morbid state of excitement, +I was, of course, often precipitated, by the mere decay of the cerebral +energy that fed it; and when I was forced again to contemplate and mix +with the common affairs of life, I felt the contrast operate to the +disadvantage of even the most stirring incidents that are daily +befalling mankind. I was, indeed, much in the position of those who +stimulate the fancy by extraneous applications; all the boasted efforts +of judgment I tried to mix up with and control the workings of my fancy, +I found were but a species of delusive energies, to take myself out of a +class of dreamers I heartily despised. I was, in fact, just as complete +a visionary as they—with this difference,—I thought I required to +satisfy the condition of a waking judgment, which, after all, had very +little to do in the matter.</p> + +<p>There was, however, one peculiarity of my character not found among my +class of visionaries. I was always anxious to throw myself into +situations that, being new and wonderful, might supply my mind with a +species of experience, from which, in my after moods, I might draw, as +from a real source, all the <i>substrata</i> of my creations. I visited +asylums, executions, and dissecting-rooms; accompanied Mr ——, the +aeronaut, in his ascent from Manchester; when on the Continent, I stood +below the falls of Terne, and descended into that hell upon earth, the +mines of Presburg; yet I must avow that I was a coward; the very +experiences I courted, I often trembled at, not only at the time when +the objects were busy with my senses, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span>and sending their influences +through my nerves to my brain, but afterwards, when I called up the +images to my mind, and threw them into the forms that obeyed the +creative power of my fancy. I was also, in some degree, peculiar in +caring little for the works of fictioneers; if I were to try to account +for this, I would trace the cause to the same disposition of mind that +led me to despise all artificial modes of stimulus. The fancies of other +men roused my scepticism; my own, founded always on experience, and +never going beyond the province of the possible, seemed to me to possess +a reality sufficient to satisfy the conditions of my deluded judgment. +It had been fortunate for me had I been less exclusive in my resources +of gratification; and oh, how dearly I paid for these my imaginative +flights, may too soon be made apparent to those who follow me in my +narrative, to be benefited, I trust, from my errors.</p> + +<p>I had nearly exhausted all my stock of real perceptions, and was +beginning to be forced to recombine my old thoughts, so as to produce +new associations of the strange and wonderful, when I accidentally met +with Mr W——, a gentleman well known in the world of experimental +science by the improvements he made on the diving-bell, in addition to +the contributions of Rennie and Spalding. I was then living at E——, +and he was on his way to Portsmouth, to superintend the workings of a +bell that had been sent thither for the purpose of recovering the specie +contained in the ship A——, which had been sunk on her return from +South America. He described to me the construction of the bell, the +manner in which it was worked, and the many extraordinary sights that +the divers saw in the course of their submarine operations. I told him +that I had accompanied Mr ——, the aeronaut, in his ascent from +Manchester, and had often felt a strong desire to reverse my former +flight, and descend into the great <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span>deep, to see its wonders, and compare +my sensations with those I had already experienced in the air. He told +me that my wish might easily be gratified; adding that, although he had +never been beyond the top of a steeple, he could take it upon him to +assure me, that the feeling of vastness and sublimity induced by an +aerial ascent, was almost in direct contrast to the sensations of the +diver—the one being comparable to the effects produced by the enlarged +views of generalization, indulged in by speculative ontologists—the +other, to those that result from the inductive process of searching into +the physical arcana of nature. He was not aware of the bent of my mind, +or his comparison might have been made more suitable to the feelings of +one who cared far less for science than the monstrous things of +thaumatology; but he had said enough, or rather the mere mention of the +subject was sufficient to fire my fancy; and, after he left me, I +brooded continually on the subject of the bed of the great deep—that +world unexplored by man, where strange creatures obey laws unknown to +us, and feed on the dead bodies of those who relentlessly pursue them; +where the bones of the men of distant nations meet and cross each +other—those of the sons of science and those of the unlettered negro, +bound together by tangled sea-weed—orbless skulls, the receptacles of +unclassified reptiles, lying on the treasures that the living man sighed +to bring home, as the reward of his toils in foreign lands; and where +the very mystery of the unexplored recesses throws a green shadow over +the strange inhabitants and things of the earth, buried there for +countless ages, that makes the whole watery world like a vision of +enchantment. I had found a new source of unthought of reveries, that +would supply my enraptured hours with aliment according to my wishes. +The objects to be seen within the short space circumscribed by the bell, +or comprehended within the range of its lights, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span>could not be many; but +there was the new mode, as it were, of existence—the breathing under +water, the living in the element of the creatures of the deep, all the +multifarious sensations that would spring up in the mind and body, as if +some new power of life and feeling penetrated to the very well-springs +of existence.</p> + +<p>A letter from Mr W—— soon afterwards invited me to Portsmouth, from +which I was then not far distant. The divers had been for some time +busy; a great part of the wreck had been laid open, and some curious +discoveries been made, and treasures recovered, which inspired the +workmen with ardour. On the following day, I was at the scene of +operation. When I went on board of the lighter, from which the bell was +suspended, I examined the apparatus. The bell was then down, the men +stood holding the crane, and listening attentively to hear the signals +that were, every now and then, coming from the divers. At a little +distance was the apparatus of the air-pump, which several other workmen +were busily engaged working. The whole scene was calculated to produce +an extraordinary impression on a beholder. The sky was hazy; the air +thick and oppressive, from the heat of the sun acting upon the dense +medium of a mist that hung on the water; there was not a breath of wind +to ruffle the surface of the calm deep; the only sound heard was the +whizzing of the air-pump, and the clang of the apparatus by which it was +worked. There was nothing seen of the bell; it was far down in the bosom +of the deep. The chain, by which it was suspended, dipped into the sea +and disappeared, carrying the mind with it down to the grim recesses +where living, breathing men were buried. Clear as the waters were, the +eye could not reach the depth to which the huge living cemetery had +descended; a recoiling feeling, which made the heart leap, followed the +effort to trace the chain down, down through the translucent sea. The +red sun, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span>struggling through the mist, was reflected in a lurid glow from +the surface of the deep. As the air-pump ceased for short intervals, and +absolute silence reigned around, a clang, unlike any sounds of earth, +came upon the ear—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"As if the ocean's heart were stirred<br /></span> +<span class="i0">With inward life, a sound is heard."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>It was a signal from those in the bell; it seemed as if the sea +trembled, and old Ocean spoke from the deeper recesses of his soul. The +sound struck the ear as something unnatural, or what might be conceived +to issue from a sepulchre when the spirits of the dead hold converse in +the still night. The signal was answered; and, in a short time +afterwards, there were heard three successive strokes quickly +repeated—clang, clang, clang. The quickness of the strokes, and the +strangeness of the sound, coming whence such sounds are never heard, +seemed the doom-peal of these men.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"The sea around me, in that sickly light,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Shewed like the upturning of a mighty grave."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>But the sound told other things to the workmen: the wheel began to +revolve; after many revolutions, the waters began to boil as if moved by +a ground swell, and the large black engine appeared rising up like a +mighty monster of the deep.</p> + +<p>When the bell was fairly suspended above the water, the crane was +pulled round, and the heavy appendage was wheeled over the deck of the +lighter. There were three individuals in it, seated high and dry upon +the <i>vis-à-vis</i> seats. There were instruments of various kinds hung +round the inside, the uses of which were explained to me. The men told +me that a storm, a few days before, had so broken up and removed the +wreck, that it would be necessary to pull the lighter a little farther +to the eastward. It came out, too, with some indications of terror which +they attempted <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span>to conceal, that the dead bodies of those who had +perished in the cabin were beginning to make their appearance, now that +the hull was broken. Mr W—— looked at me askance, as if to ascertain +whether that circumstance would have any effect in making me forego my +purpose in descending; and, doubtless, he observed me shudder. But he +knew me not: the expedition possessed greater, perhaps grimmer charms to +me on that account: the horror that passed over me, as I heard the +statement of the men, was only an indication that my zeal was stirred by +the expectation of food for my depraved appetite.</p> + +<p>"Dead men are not the most dangerous enemies of divers," said Mr W——, +with a grim smile. "We have sometimes greater reason to be alarmed from +inroads of the living inhabitants of the waters. It is not a week yet +since the fearful <i>tenth</i> signal rung from the deep; and, upon the +machine being raised in great alarm by the workers of the crane, it was +ascertained that a shoal of finners (some of them fourteen feet long) +had passed close by the mouth of the bell, with a noise like the rushing +of a mighty army. But the alarm was greater on the side of the creatures +themselves: on observing the bell with the men in it, they lashed their +tails with fearful fury, till the waters seemed to boil in the midst of +them, and the whole host were enshrined in a thick muddy medium that +prevented the divers from seeing an inch before them. The sound, +meanwhile, was like that of thunder—snorting, lashing, and shrill +cries, produced by some action of their breathing organs, were mixed +together; and the confusion into which they were thrown precipitated +many of them on the sides of the bell, which being at the time suspended +from within five feet of the ground, swung from side to side in such a +manner as to rouse the fears of the workmen above before the signal +reached their ears. In a short time afterwards, when the bell was +raised, we saw the shoal making with great speed <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span>to the westward, +blowing, as they careered onwards, with a loud noise. I never knew of a +circumstance of the same kind before; and to-day you will not, I trust, +be alarmed by such visitors."</p> + +<p>This statement roused my fears, already excited by what I had heard of +the dead bodies that lay on the wreck; but I adhered to my purpose. The +lighter was moved about twenty feet eastward, and the bell was again +swung round to be let down, it being resolved that I should accompany +the divers in their next descent. I watched the operations with an +interest derived from my expected position in the same circumstances +with these fearless men. The huge mass hung in the air, dangling over +the smooth surface of the sea; and the signal being given, was plunged +down. In a moment it had disappeared, and a heavy mass of waters rushed +on, swelling and boiling in the abyss, that seemed to have entombed the +daring adventurers. The rolling off of the chain in a long succession of +coils, and the disappearance of link after link, filled the mind with a +shuddering impression of the depth to which they were attaining. The +signal was again given; the air-pump began to play and whiz, and my +thoughts, burdened with the superstitious fear produced by the +narratives I had heard, took a new direction, picturing the men among +the floating bodies of the dead mariners, which, among the green lights +of the sea, would appear invested with additional horrors—the monsters +of the deep playing round them, or feasting upon the decayed +limbs—numberless crabs, sea urchins, and centipedes, crawling on +members once consecrated to beauty. The silence on board the lighter +aided my fancy in its gloomy revels; and when the clang of the hammer on +the bell announced the wish of the divers to rise again, I started from +a seat on a coil of ropes which I had in my musings taken possession +of—having been oblivious of the intervening half hour, during <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span>which I +had been shadowing forth the secrets of the green charnel-house, with +its surface lying smiling before me in the lurid glare of the still +enshrouded sun.</p> + +<p>At last, I was called to take my seat in the bell. One of the men came +out to make room for me; but, before I entered, the crane was swung +round to the west side of the lighter, as the men reported that a more +likely field of investigation lay in that direction, where they had +observed a bright body which they took for a mass of glittering specie, +probably rolled out of the packages, and lying there from its greater +specific gravity. On mounting up into the bell, where the two remaining +workmen were refreshing themselves with brandy to recover the play of +the lungs, which, in the last descent, had suffered from a deficiency of +oxygen, I felt a creeping sensation pass over me, in spite of my efforts +to be calm and firm. This I attributed to the already excited state of +my fancy, from the long train of musings I had indulged in over the +green deep. In my ascent with the aeronaut, I experienced a sensation in +some degree similar to that feeling of lofty awe which accompanies the +expectation of the grand impulse of sublimity—<span title="ton sphodron kai +enthousiastikon pathos">τον σφοδρον και +ενθουσιαστικον παθος</span>; but now the action of the heart seemed tending +towards a collapse rather than a swell: I felt already the chilling +effect of the cold element before I had descended into its womb. I +looked round me with a nervous eye, and threw the colours of my fancy on +even common objects. The dull yolks of glass placed round the sides to +give light, pale and lustreless—the iron tools, wet and brown with +rust—the black leather flasks of spirits—the big hammer used for +signals of distress—were all strange and invested with new characters; +and the two men, Jenkins, an Englishman, and Vanderhoek, a German, with +sallow countenances, rendered paler than usual by the effects of the +confined air, seemed rather to belong to the watery <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span>element from which +they had emerged, than to the fair and smiling earth. I attempted to +look unconcernedly; but the German, as he was lifting his flask to his +head, scanned me with a ludicrous gaze, and, whether it was that the +brandy had, in some degree, inclined him to a merriment that in my eyes +seemed like the grin of a demon, or that he wished to let me hear the +<i>ringing</i> sound of the bell when the human voice echoed within it, I +know not; but he accompanied his potations with a stanza of Burger's +famous Zechlied:—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Ich will einst, bei ja und nein<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Vor dem Zapfen sterben<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Alles, meinen Wein nur nicht<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Lass' Ich frohen erben."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>And, finishing the verse, he looked again at me, to notice the effect +produced on me by the reverberation of the tones, which, reflected from +all sides, mixed as it were in the middle, and loaded the ear with a +confused ringing noise, similar to what I once heard when nearly drowned +in the Thames. If the man had had any intention to increase my alarm, he +could not have taken a more effectual way of compassing his intention; +for his language—the true and natural diction of spirits—responded to +by the confused ringing echoes of the bell, and acting upon a mind +already enervated by the weight of the genius of superstition, appeared +to be all that was necessary to complete the alarm which I in vain +attempted to conceal.</p> + +<p>"All ready, Vanderhoek?" cried Mr W——.</p> + +<p>"Ja, ja, herr," responded Vanderhoek. "Pull away, Crane-meistern."</p> + +<p>And as the men began to work, he dashed carelessly into another stanza +of his favourite ballad. I know not if you are acquainted with German; +but I cannot resist the desire of gratifying my own ears with a +repetition of the sounds of the thrilling consonants which produced so +great <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span>an effect on me on that occasion. His voice was rough and +guttural:—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Wann der Wein in Himmelsclang,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Wandelt mein Geklimper,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Sind Homer, and Ossian,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Gegen mich nur Stumper."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>I would have called out to the man to cease his singing, had I not been +afraid of being set down for a coward. The continued sound within +prevented me from observing the motion of the bell, as it gradually +swung off the deck; but the increasing novelty of my situation, as I saw +myself suspended over the calm sea into which I was immediately to be +plunged, fixed my attention, while it increased my nervousness. I would +now have retreated, had it been in my power. The calculated knowledge of +the process of submersion, and of my absolute safety under the laws of +hydraulics, lost so much of its power under the reigning influence of +the natural instinctive horror of being plunged into the womb of the +ocean, that I thought myself on the eve of being drowned; and the same +feeling I had experienced when struggling half-dead with the waters of +the Thames took hold of me by anticipation. Meanwhile, the German +started broken snatches of his song; the bell was gradually descending; +the space of pure light between the rim and the green surface of the sea +was growing every minute less and less. It was upon that decreasing +circle of air that my eye was most intensely fixed; it grew brighter as +the inside of the bell grew darker, till in a moment it appeared like a +bright line of gold-coloured light.</p> + +<p>"There," said Jenkins to me, in a loud tone. "That is the last glimpse. +This is the most trying moment for inexperienced divers, when the last +beam of day is extinguished."</p> + +<p>I could not reply to him. The circle had disappeared; the water was +below our feet; we were partially submerged. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span>I looked up to the yolks of +glass, but the light that struggled through them was so pale and sickly +that I turned my eyes to the sea below me as a relief to my confined +vision. We were now fast descending—one by one the gas lights were +changed from their dim paleness to a green hue, the same as that of the +sea below us, and, in an instant after, I heard a loud whizzing, which +was produced by the displaced body of waters rushing impetuously into +the void made by the descending bell. The sound made me instinctively +turn my head upwards, as if I had been in the attitude of addressing the +King of the heavens, whom I had left in the regions of upper air. I grew +dizzy, and thought I would have fallen from the bench, down into the +bottom of the sea. My nervousness made me grasp firmly the plank, as my +only means of safety from what I conceived to be impending destruction. +Whether that sound then ceased, or my hearing became more obtuse, I know +not; but the first thing, after a few minutes, that I was conscious of +was the grasp of the hand of Jenkins, who held me firm by the arm, and +the guttural sounds of the German, as he still carelessly sung detached +lines of his ballad. On looking up, the green lights swam in my eyes; +but the whizzing sound had greatly ceased; and I directed again my gaze +to the apparently bottomless element below, which was as calm as glass, +and through which I saw, flying past the mouth of the bell, innumerable +fishes, reflecting, as they darted off, a thousand varied hues, in the +midst of the green medium through which they hurried.</p> + +<p>The continued descent was made apparent to the eye by the progress of +the rim of the bell through the water, and indicated, in another form, +by the creaking sound of the crane on the lighter, which, rendered +indistinct by the medium of the water, seemed to come from miles +distant. Though partially recovered from the first effects of the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span>submersion, I had no proper idea of time, and there was no mode of +measuring the depth. It seemed to me as if we had descended many +furlongs, though we had not got beyond ten fathoms: I could not get quit +of the idea, though I arranged my thoughts in the process of +calculation. Jenkins had now let go my arm, as he saw that I was able to +sit without danger of falling; and the German was busy peering through +his bushy eyebrows down into the deep, as if he expected soon "to see +the land." I almost instinctively gazed down for the same object, and it +was not without an effort at discrimination by the power of my judgment +that I discovered myself seeking a vision of the bottom of the sea, as +if it had been a haven for a shipwrecked mariner in distress. While my +eyes were thus fixed on the waters—in which I could see nothing but the +swarms of fishes flying past, or reeling in the confusion of terror—I +was startled, almost to falling off the bench, by a loud reverberating +clang on the side of the bell. My first impression was, that the bell +had struck on a rock; and I turned fearfully to seek the eye of Jenkins. +He held the large hammer in his hand with which he had given the stroke. +He told me that he wanted more air, and that this was the signal to the +workers of the air-pump. His eye was fixed on the air holes, with which +the pipes communicated. I thought he appeared alarmed; he exchanged a +look with Vanderhoek, and the eye of the latter was soon also fixed on +the same spot. We were yet still descending, and the German, turning +round, pointed down. I followed his finger, and saw a thick, hazy-like +appearance, as if the waters were troubled, and masses of long sea-weed +brushed against the rim of the bell. Vanderhoek immediately seized the +hammer, rang two loud peals, and the motion downwards ceased. We hung +suspended in the sea, I know not how many fathoms down. A loud hissing +sound came from the air-valves; but it was <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span>every moment interrupted, as +if some part of the apparatus failed in its continuous working. The eyes +of both Jenkins and Vanderhoek were again intensely fixed upon the +holes; it was too manifest to me that they both saw something wrong in +the working of the air pumps, though they said nothing to me; and, +indeed, I was so much affected by their ominous looks that I could put +no question to them.</p> + +<p>"Is there not an under current here, Karl?" said Jenkins, attempting to +appear composed.</p> + +<p>"Ja," replied Vanderhoek; "see, there is von gut sign. The meer-weeds +are drifting to the east; and see, there is von piece of the wreck +moving from the west."</p> + +<p>I looked down, and saw the edge of a piece of black timber making its +appearance within the verge of the rim of the bell; but, in consequence +of the small angle afforded by our pent-up position, we could not +observe more than two inches of it. Large bushes of confusedly entangled +sea-weed were brushing past, and, as they stuck about the rim, darkened +the interior so much that we could scarcely see each other. These seemed +of but small importance to Jenkins, who was evidently still unsatisfied +with the working of the pumps, and got upon his feet to examine into the +cause of their irregular and interrupted action. It struck me, at this +time, that Jenkins' question about the current had more meaning in it +than was made apparent to me: I suspected that he entertained fears that +the air tubes had got entangled in some way with the bell chain. His +efforts did not seem to produce any greater regularity of action in the +tubes; the whizzing noise continued every now and then to be +interrupted; at one time, it stopped altogether for about a minute. The +machinery was working reluctantly, and with a struggling difficulty that +was apparent to the eye and ear; but other proofs of a more decided and +fearful kind were awaiting us. I felt a painful load at my breast, as if +I wanted air; my respiration <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span>became quick and unsatisfactory; a swimming +of the head came over me; I could scarcely see my companions without +great effort to fix my wavering vision. The darkness at the mouth of the +bell continued to increase; the piece of the wreck was moving slowly +under us; the weeds were increasing. I could perceive that Vanderhoek +was also labouring for breath; Jenkins, relinquishing his efforts at the +air tube mouths, turned, looked wildly at his neighbour, and, staggering +down upon the bench, struggled to get hold of the hammer, which, when he +grasped it tremblingly, fell out of his hands down into the bottom of +the sea.</p> + +<p>"In the name of God! what is the meaning of all this, Jenkins?" I cried, +in a voice that was choked for want of air.</p> + +<p>He lay upon the bench, and gasped, apparently unable to speak; he looked +to Vanderhoek, and pointed to an instrument in the shape of a +mattock—shaking his hand, and muttering indistinctly, "Haste! haste!"</p> + +<p>The sign and words were perfectly understood by Vanderhoek as well as +by myself. I looked on, with the intense agony of fear and impeded +lungs, and added some irregular and confused signs (for my voice died in +my choking throat) to the German to obey the request of his +neighbour—but these were unnecessary: the man himself saw the fearful +position in which we were placed, with as keen a perception of the +danger, and as anxious a wish to remove it, as either of us. He was, +however, struggling for want of air to a greater extent than either +Jenkins or myself. His face was swollen and blue, his mouth open, his +eyes protruding from his head, his breast heaving like one under the +weight of the angel of death. Yet he tried to combat the antagonist +powers of cruel fate; and, raising his body from the bench, he bent +forward to clutch the mattock, with which to give the clangs that formed +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span>the signal to raise us from our water-bound prison. He had to reach over +the body of Jenkins, who lay coiled up, almost lifeless from +suffocation; then, in his efforts to get at the instrument, he fell down +through the mouth of the bell, and stuck fast among the tangled weed. At +this very instant, I heard again the sound of the air-pump whizzing in +my ears: it came like the music of angels; and, while Vanderhoek hung +fast by a rope that was attached to the bench, I felt the inspiring +power of the oxygen coming through the air tubes: my breast rose—my +lungs inhaled the sweet aliment—I felt strength infused into my blood +and nerves—and, raising myself, laid hold of Vanderhoek; but my energy +failed in the effort that exceeded my powers; he fell from my grasp, and +plunged overhead among the waters and loose weeds by the side of the +dark piece of the wreck, that still seemed to move, though almost +imperceptibly, to the east. It was a little time before he came to the +surface again, which satisfied me that we were still a considerable way +from the bottom, notwithstanding of the accumulation of algæ that had +deceived us into a contrary opinion. When his head again appeared within +the bell, I was struck fearfully by the horrid expression of his face, +which, pale before, now looked green and hideous through the wreaths of +weed that hung round his hair. The influx of atmospheric air partially +revived his energies for self-preservation; then laying hold of the +rope, he got a clutch of the bench, and clambered up. He seemed shocked +by some cause of terror, even greater than the danger to which we were +yet exposed.</p> + +<p>"Shrecken! shrecken!" he muttered, with difficulty. "There is von corpse +of a woman there—there—down in the wreck!"</p> + +<p>And he pointed to the black fragment of the broken ship that lay below +us.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span>"That is nothing, man," said I. "Give the signal, if you can. See, the +air-pump has stopped again. The men in the lighter know not our peril."</p> + +<p>He attempted again to seize the mattock, and succeeded in grasping it; +but the small supply of air that had been sent us by the temporary +opening of the impeded tube, had been only sufficient to revive us +slightly; and the suddenness with which his powers were again +prostrated, by the recurring weakness that succeeded the cessation of +the supply of the natural aliment of the lungs, prevented him from +imparting strength to the signal. He gave one weak blow on the side of +the bell, and the instrument fell out of his nerveless hands upon the +bench. In a few moments more he was stretched beside Jenkins. I myself +now tried to lift my arms to seize the instrument. I succeeded only in +placing my hands upon it—I was unable to grasp it, and fell, with my +back on the side of the bell, powerless, and struggling, with open mouth +and heaving sternum, for what came not—a breath of living air.</p> + +<p>We must, at this time, have been fully twenty minutes under water; and, +as it was our intention to have been an hour, there seemed to be no +chance of our being drawn up until we had all expired. I saw plainly, by +the noises that came from the tubes, that the men conceived they were +working regularly; and, so long as no signal was heard, they would work +on, ignorant of the dreadful situation in which we lay. I cast my eyes +on my companions. They lay like dead men; my only wonder, now that I can +calmly think of the subject, is, that they still kept upon the seats, +and did not tumble into the deep. I had scarcely any power of thinking. +I sat, writhing under the spasmodic action of suffocation, my eyes fixed +in the sockets, my brain swimming, and a burning sensation, like that +which attends a paroxysm of brain fever, shooting through the recesses +of thought. The recollection of that <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span>moment is even yet madness. The +bell was almost dark, and the green light that came through the yolks of +glass, fell faintly on the blue swollen faces of my companions, who I +thought were dead. I had still power to observe that there was a new +feature rising in that unprecedented situation of man's sufferings. Was +it possible, it may fairly be asked, that fate had it in store to add to +these agonies?</p> + +<p>While thus I sat fixed immovably by weakness and despair, I observed +that the waters were rising visibly upon us, probably from the +absorption of the small quantity of oxygen that remained in the tainted +air around us. It had risen up half way between the rim and the seats, +and was gradually gaining upon me. A foot more would bring it to the +level of where I sat. My feet were already immersed, and the coldness +produced by the water operated in combination with the spasms in my +labouring chest to destroy vitality. The black fragment of the wreck +rose with the waters, and raised obliquely the side of the bell, which +may have been an additional cause for the rising of the sea within. +Through my glazed eye I saw, lying in a hollow of the broken raft, a +white figure—probably that seen by Vanderhoek when he fell into the +sea. By and by, it became more visible as the waters rose, and I saw +that it was the body of a female who had perished in the vessel. The +image of the apparition has haunted me to this hour, and shall do till I +die. A part of the dress which she had worn when she perished, still +clung to her—about the half of the skirt of a silk gown that had been +of some light colour, but had changed to a greenish hue. It was bound to +the waist by a sash or belt of a darker shade. Her bosom was bare, and +bore the same sickly hue of pale green; her face was placid; the eyes +were open; but one of the balls had been extracted by some reptile of +the deep; her long hair <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span>flowed among the weeds; and, hanging from the +lobe of the left ear, I saw a clear gem that shone with the brightness +of the stone called <i>aqua marina</i>. One of the arms had been taken off a +little above the elbow; the flesh at the end of the stump appeared +bloodless, and bleached to the colour of the skin; and limpets and other +kinds of small shell-fish lay on or adhered to the cuticle. My feelings +recoil from the recollections of the horrors of that apparition; and I +fear I may incur the charge of endeavouring to produce an effect by the +vulgar mode of harassing the mind with a minute description, too easily +effected, of what, for the sake of humanity, should be concealed.</p> + +<p>There the body lay in all its green horror. It was rising gradually to +my side, within the bell, through the gloom of which the pale skin and +light robes sent a sickly gleam. I had no power to move myself away from +it. My body was bent so that my face was within a few inches of it; and +a slight undulation of the waters that were rising into the bell inch by +inch, imparted to the corpse a motion that made it dodge upwards and +downwards, as if it made efforts to touch my countenance. All was as +silent as death; for the slight agitation of the sea produced no noise. +I was gasping for breath; a short period would have put an end to my +sufferings, had not the air tubes again begun to send forth slight +hissing sounds, and a small portion of the food of the lungs came to +afford me sufficient power to contemplate, with greater distinctness and +increased agony, all the circumstances of my situation. I felt the small +boon instinctively as a relief: my breast again opened; I was able to +raise my head so as to be more beyond the touch of the floating corpse; +and as I lifted it, my eye fell on the flask of spirits that hung within +reach on the side of the bell. I now struggled to seize it, and +succeeded; but it was with many painful efforts that I got a portion of +the liquor poured <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span>into my mouth. The half-dead physical powers of my +system were, by this application, stimulated into something like +vitality, and I listened attentively, while my eye was still riveted on +the corpse that lay at my side, to the sound of the tubes. A motion of +the right limb of Vanderhoek attracted my attention, and raised a hope +that, if the air still continued to be supplied, he would recover; I +knew, too, that as the bell filled again with the atmospheric supply, +the waters would recede. But all my hopes were again prostrated; the +valve ceased; the entrance of the air was again stopped; I applied the +flask hastily again to my lips before the spasms of suffocation came +again upon me, but the power of the spirits seemed to have fled, having +no more influence over my system than a draught of water.</p> + +<p>Thus was I again precipitated into my former condition of weakness and +helplessness—the choking symptoms of suffocation increased again in +intensity, and I was under the necessity to lie down on the seat, with +my head again on a level with the corpse of the female, that still kept +moving and dodging by my side. I was now as powerless to push it away as +I was before to remove myself from it. I felt it touch my skin. Its face +was close to mine—the pale cold cheek rubbed upon my chin and lips. The +glazed eye seemed fixed upon me, and the stump of the torn arm struck +upon me as the body moved. A higher undulation sometimes threw her +flowing hair over my eyes, where it lay till another movement of the +corpse took it off. I would have shut the lids of the protruding orbs +that stood fixed in my head, if I had had any power; but I could not—my +whole face being swollen, and the muscles as rigid as if in death. I was +thus compelled to receive the vision into my mind; and the touch seemed +to cling to the decaying sensibilities, as if it formed a part of them. +It is impossible that my sufferings could have <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span>lasted many minutes +longer if the air tubes had been entirely closed; but, as if it had been +determined by the stern fates that I should be suspended for a length of +time between life and death, there were kept up, at almost regular +intervals, two or three whizzing sounds of the entangled and obstructed +apparatus—an indication that small supplies of air were at these +moments thrown in upon me. It was only these sounds, the dodging of the +pale-green corpse, the touches of its cold skin, the light of its glazed +eye, the dark figures of my two companions, and the general gloom of the +bell, relieved slightly by the greenish-hued yolks of glass, that I was +sensible of perceiving. The internal workings of my mind seemed to have +ceased. I had scarcely any consciousness of a conception—the whole +cerebral functions concerned in thought and feeling being limited to +undefined sensation, that had only some connection with the power of +external perception.</p> + +<p>Even this partial state of consciousness had died gradually away, for, +during a short period, I was totally beyond the reach of the power of +any external object. There is a blank in my recollection of these +touches and visions, which, though scarcely at the time coming within +the province of mind, have since been the most vivid perceptions ever +treasured up in my memory. Yet that period of all but total death was no +relief to me. The dim hazy vision of all around me dawned again, like +the shadowy renovations of a fearful dream that has sunk in sleep, and +risen again as the troubled fancy regained a portion of its activity. +These indistinct shadows of consciousness, as they came in the wake of +the physical power that felt the quickening influence of another draft +of air, carried more insufferable sensations in their dark forms than +had accompanied my more distinct perceptions. They were mere filmy +traces, broken and unconnected—exhibiting to me sometimes <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span>only the +darkness of the bell, sometimes the mere face; occasionally limited to +the eye alone, the stump of the arm alone, the ear-ring alone; sometimes +merely the two stretched-out forms of the men; sometimes the green deep +and the tangled sea-weed. Then the array of all the things around me +would suddenly flash upon me with a unity and a vividness that produced +one gleam of almost entire consciousness—in another moment +extinguished—and succeeded by another period of all but death—to be +again followed by a succession of the broken fragments of vision, when +the living powers were in a slight degree revived. I leave it to +physiologists and psychologists to account for these sudden exertions of +the reluming powers of the mind in the very lowest state of the dying +faculties. We see something of the same kind in the physical +economy—moments of strength in the most exhausted weakness—bright +glows of the taper of life in the socket of death—a collected unity of +power in moments of dissolution, as if the spirit made a last struggle +to assert its lost authority over the great archangel. I can speak at +least to their effects—a wretched boon of nature to miserable man, +where he can say no more than that he feels—that the boasted energies +of the soul seem to be all rolled up in one sensation of undescribable +pain.</p> + +<p>I was awakened from this state of stupor by a loud clanking of chains +upon the top of the bell; and I heard the sound at the very moment when +I felt myself drawing a long breath. I had been unconscious of the +working of the air-pump, which must have been going on for some time, +though I cannot tell how long. The bell was replenished. I breathed +again freely, and became sensible. I looked round me, and saw all things +in the same position as formerly. The corpse was still by my side, and +my newly awakened horror made me struggle to rise. I succeeded so far as +to lean upon my arm, whereby I removed <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span>myself some space from the dead +body. The rattling of the chains still continued, and I had the power of +thinking so far, as to conjecture that efforts were being made to draw +up the bell. But new incidents were now in progress. The air had revived +Vanderhoek. I saw him stretching out his arms, as if to relieve his +chest, which was heaving violently. He drew long inspirations, and +struggled to turn himself on the seat. He succeeded, and I saw his face, +which was dreadfully swollen, and of a dark livid colour. His eyes were +wide open, and the light of life and returning vision seemed to be +illumining them. The first perception he was conscious of was the vision +of the corpse. His eye-balls turned, fixed upon it, and recoiled from +it; and strange guttural sounds, with half-articulated +words—"Shrecklich—shrecken!"—were wrung from him. He looked wildly +around him, shuddered, and grasped convulsively the bench. Meanwhile, +the rattling of the chains on the bell continued, and a sudden jerk +almost precipitated me into the sea. The bell had clearly moved; the +next moment it shook violently, from another effort to raise it; it +appeared to me to revolve; another sudden jerk followed; it rose +perceptibly; the water rushed in to fill up the void; the corpse of the +woman whirled round in the eddy; and I saw Jenkins' body fall from the +bench into the sea, and disappear.</p> + +<p>Vanderhoek, who had now recovered his consciousness, uttered a loud cry +as he saw his companion sink. The continued fresh air seemed to +strengthen him far more rapidly than it did me, and I perceived that he +now made violent struggles to lay hold of the mattock. He succeeded +beyond my expectation; despair nerved his arm; he clutched the +instrument, and rung three successive clangs on the side of the bell. +These were probably unnecessary, as it was manifest now that those on +the lighter were doing everything in their power to rescue us <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span>from our +perilous situation. The chains still clanked, and we had ascended +perceptibly, though how far I had no means of ascertaining. There was +another stoppage, the German sat with the instrument still in his hand, +and his eye fixed on the body of the woman, which, from the continued +whirling of the water, span round and round, as if it had been placed +upon a pivot. After looking thus for a few moments, he started suddenly, +then reaching up his hand, seized wildly another flask that hung near +him, drained it to the bottom, and flung away the empty vessel. Some +time passed before I felt any further motion upwards; and the large +quantity of strong liquor that Vanderhoek had thrown into his still weak +body, operated upon him with a quickness that surprised me. He began to +get furious, talked incoherently, swung the iron mattock backwards and +forwards, and sung stanzas of the "Zechlied." This was a new source of +terror to me. He looked wildly at me as if he did not know who I was; +swore the oaths of his country, in which the words "teufel, donner, +blitzen," rang pre-eminently; used threats against me, as the cause of +all that had occurred to him and his companion. Then he looked at the +corpse, and, in a paroxysm of madness, struck the mattock into its white +bosom, accompanying his action with wild oaths. I expected every moment +that the next stroke would be on my own head, and sat in readiness to +seize the weapon, and, if possible, debilitated as I was, to wrench it +from his hands. My efforts to calm and pacify him were unavailing. I +pointed to the side of the bell, and, in broken accents, for I could yet +scarcely speak, told him to ring again; but he did not seem to +understand; giving me wild looks, showering broken oaths upon me, and +holding up the mattock in a threatening attitude, as if he would cleave +my head in twain.</p> + +<p>During all this painful period the air was regularly supplied; <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span>but the +efforts of those on the lighter had not been able to raise us further. +In the midst of Vanderhoek's ravings, I thought I heard a sound above, +unlike that of the apparatus by which the bell was wrought. It was a +creaking, crashing sound, as if the bell were forcing up some heavy +piece of wood with which it was encumbered. The thought struck me +instantly that the cause of all our misfortunes lay in the drifting of +some large piece of the wreck over the top of the bell, which had got +entangled with the air-tubes and chain, and defied all the efforts of +the workmen to raise us. The creaking sound continued, and, mixing with +the whizzing of the air-tubes, the grating of the chain, and the +roarings and yells of Vanderhoek, made the scene more dismal than it had +yet been. I was in danger of my life—but momentarily redeemed, as it +were, from the precincts of eternity—every minute, from the fierceness +of the raving being beside me; and I could scarcely hope that all those +protracted efforts of the workmen would ever raise us from the immense +depth at which we were thus fixed by some great cause. I looked in the +placid face of the corpse, and wished that I were as far removed as her +spirit was from these complicated evils of the lower deep, and the +scarcely less remediable ills of the upper world. But I was soon roused +from my dark reverie: a louder crash than I had yet heard sounded over +the bell, and produced such an effect upon the excited mind of +Vanderhoek, that he roused his body suddenly, and struck a fierce blow +at me with the iron instrument he still held in his hand. He had +over-calculated his partially-recovered strength, and tumbled into the +sea alongside of the corpse. I hesitated whether I should aid him in +getting up. I saw him struggling and clinging by the garments of the +body, which he tore—so tender was the material—into shreds. As his +hold gave way, he clutched the body itself, which, sinking with his +weight, disappeared, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span>leaving him to clamber for support round the lower +part of the benches. I could not see him drown, though I shuddered at +the danger which awaited me when he might recover his position. At that +very moment I distinctly felt the bell ascending; and a fierce whirling +and boiling of the waters rushing into the void, would in an instant +have sucked him down to rise no more, if I had not seized him by the +bushy hair of the head. In that position I held him as firmly as my +impaired strength would permit. The bell still ascended, and the buoying +power of the water kept him swimming, and made him obey my slightest +impulse. The submersion and the contact into which he had come with the +corpse had manifestly removed the effects of the liquor, and his +imploring eye was eloquent in its appeal to me to continue my grasp. +This I did while the bell continued to ascend; the light began to +increase in the yolks of glass; and the voices of the men in the lighter +greeted my ear. In a moment afterwards, I saw the light of the sun +shining red through the windows; in another moment the circle of bright +effulgence between the bell and the sea met my enraptured eye. A loud +cry of terror came from the workmen as they saw the body of Vanderhoek +swimming in the sea. They ceased their process of raising; and swinging +the bell to a side, some one got hold of the German, and I let go the +grasp of his hair. Two or three more turns of the crane brought the bell +on a level with the lighter. I sprung down upon the deck, and fell back +in a swoon.</p> + +<p>When I recovered, I saw several people standing round me, among whom +there was an individual who claimed, for a time, my undivided gaze. He +was a tall, handsome individual, dressed in deep mournings. He had a +white pocket handkerchief in his hands, which he applied frequently to +his eyes; and he looked at me anxiously as he saw me recovering from the +effects of the syncope into <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span>which I had fallen. He was proceeding to put +some questions to me, when Mr. W—— interfered, and stated that I ought +to be allowed time to collect my energies before my mind was led again +into the subject of what I had suffered during the time we were in the +deep. I was, accordingly, assisted on shore; and, having been put to +bed, slept for several hours so soundly that I do not think a single +image of what I had seen and heard during that dismal scene occurred to +my fancy; but, when in the act of wakening, a confused influx of ideas, +all derived from the source of my sufferings, rushed into my mind, and +for a few minutes I conceived that I was still in the bell, that I heard +the sound of the air tubes, saw Jenkins fall, the corpse lying beside +me, Vanderhoek hanging by my grasp of his hair, and all the minutiæ of +horrors that then encompassed me; a commotion which comes over me often +yet, like a species of monomania, when I will start up, and cling to the +bedposts, and scream for terror. It being known that I was awake, Mr. +W—— and the stranger came to me. It was their object to get an account +of all that had occurred during my descent. I gave it as nearly as I +could recollect, and, when I came to describe the appearance and figure +of the corpse of the female, I saw the stranger change colour, his frame +trembled, his lips turned pale, and he rose and walked through the room +as if afraid to listen to my narrative.</p> + +<p>"What means this?" said I to Mr. W——, in a low tone.</p> + +<p>"The female whose body you saw in the bell," he replied, "was the wife +of Mr. G——. He stands before you.</p> + +<p>He was saved from the wreck, and she perished."</p> + +<p>"Good God! and I have already given a part of the shocking detail," I +responded.</p> + +<p>The stranger heard me, as he paced the room, returned, and sat down by +my bedside.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span>"I am not satisfied that it was my Agnes," he exclaimed, in broken +accents, while the tears flowed over his cheeks. "There was a +waiting-maid along with us—describe her more particularly. <i>I can +listen.</i>"</p> + +<p>As he uttered these words, I could perceive that he contracted his +nerves, his hands were clenched, and over his frame there passed a +shiver that seemed to mock the resolution to confirm the mind by a mere +physical action. I proceeded to give a fuller account of her dress and +ear-ring, the character of her face and figure, so far as I could +discover them. Every word seemed to enter his very soul. He turned round +again. There was something he wished to say, but he hesitated, trembled, +and stammered.</p> + +<p>"Was that fair form mutilated?" he asked, at length, "O God! I picture +my Agnes torn by monsters of the deep, and hideous urchins resting on +her bosom. Yet, why do I ask knowledge that must sit for ever on my +heart, and engender visions that in the hours of night must torture my +soul, to the end of my pilgrimage in this dark world?"</p> + +<p>I hesitated to say more; the orbless socket—the torn stump of the +arm—the limpets that clung to her skin—the bosom pierced by +Vanderhoek's mattock, were all before me, and shook my soul. But why +should I have added an artificial misery to wretchedness like his? I +would not dwell on the subject. The stranger imputed my disinclination +to satisfy his morbid desire for information to its true cause. A +paroxysm of sorrow seized him. He rose suddenly, took his hat, and, +covering his pallid face with his handkerchief, rushed out of the room. +How often have I thought of that individual! I never saw him again; but +his image is for ever associated with the vision of that corpse, shining +in the sickly green hue of the medium in which it lay. The body was +never found; he never saw it. And was it not well for him? What would +have been his <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span>agony, to have seen the beloved of his bosom as I saw her, +to have treasured up in his mind the lineaments of that face, the +harrowing minutiæ of her mutilated form?</p> + +<p>I got an account from Mr. W—— of what took place on board of the +lighter while the bell was down. It was a long time, he said, before +anything was suspected to be wrong, as the men often remain down for an +hour without a single signal coming from them. The difficulty of working +the air-pumps first roused their suspicions; and when they found that +the bell would not respond to the action of the crane, they knew at once +that it had got fixed among some part of the wreck. I need not detail +their efforts to relieve us; they are possessed of no interest; the +result is known; but who shall know, as I experienced, the horrors of +that period?</p> + +<p>My patient, when he had finished his narrative, put his hand over his +eyes, and shuddered. I could do little for an individual thus situated; +but I visited him often, more with a view to the benefit of science, +than from any hope of rescuing him from the dominion of the power he +had, like Frankenstein, created, to satisfy a diseased craving of the +mind, and trembled at after it was formed, as he found himself helpless +and weak in his energies to exorcise it. The continued brooding of his +sick fancy over all the strange forms he had seen, produced, in a still +greater degree, a weakness of the mind itself, that is, a weakness as +regards the sane condition of the mind; for his imagination, drawing a +morbid <i>pabulum</i> from his disease, grew stronger and stronger in its +capacity to invest the images he gloated over with more fearful +characteristics, till often, as I was informed, he started up in the +middle of the night and screamed out that he was in the present act of +suffering again all he had already experienced. But what struck me as +still more remarkable in this victim, was, that any change that took +place upon him for the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span>better, in respect of his physical economy, was, +while accompanied by a partial release from the domination of his old +fancies, generally attended by a kind of new-born desire for another and +a new supply of his stimulant visions. This discovery I made one day, +when, as I felicitated myself on having effected a confirmation of his +nerves, by the application of a course of tonics, I told him that I +myself was on the eve of encountering all the unpleasant feelings +attendant upon the performance of a painful operation on a very +beautiful patient, whose life might too likely fall a sacrifice to her +desire to get quit of a mortal disease. His eye brightened, he held out +his hands, and supplicated me to allow him to be present, under the +assumed character of a surgeon. My refusal produced disappointment and +chagrin; and he often afterwards harped on the cruelty of my resolution +to discomfit him. He afterwards went to another part of the country to +reside with his relations; and the last notice I had of him was, that he +was seen bending his skeleton body over the blackened corpses of several +individuals who had been burnt to death in the conflagration of a large +dwelling-house in the town where he resided.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span> +</div> +<h2><a name="AUTOBIOGRAPHY_OF_WILLIE_SMITH" id="AUTOBIOGRAPHY_OF_WILLIE_SMITH"></a>AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF WILLIE SMITH.</h2> + + +<p>If I thocht the world would tak the least interest in the matter, I wad +tell it the where an' the when o' my birth, in conformity wi' auld use +an' wont in the case o' biographical sketches; but, takin it for granted +that the world cares as little about me as I care about it—an', Gude +kens, that's little aneuch, thanks to the industry o' my faither, that +made me independent o't!—I shall merely say, wi' regard to the +particulars above alluded to, that I was born in a certain thrivin, +populous bit touny in the south, an' that I am, at this present writin, +somewhat aulder than I was yesterday. I dinna choose to be mair +particular on the point, because I dinna see that my age has onything +mair to do wi' my story, than the ages o' witnesses hae wi' their +evidence. Bein born in the usual way, in the usual way was I +christened—(<i>Anglice</i>, baptised); but hereon hangs a tale, or rather a +dizzen o' them. My faither's name was Willie Smith, my paternal +grandfather's name was Willie Smith, I had an uncle whase name was +Willie Smith, an' twa cousins whase names were Willie Smith; an' it was +determined that I should be a Willie Smith too, in order, I suppose, to +mak sure o' perpetuatin that very rare an' euphonious family name. But, +oh, that they had ca'ed me Nebuchadnezzar, or Fynmackowl, or +Chrononhotonthologos, or ony name in the sma'est degree distinctive, an' +no that confounded ane, that seems to me to belang to every third man I +meet. It wad hae saved me a world o' misery, an' disappointment, an' +suffering o' a' sorts. It's just incredible the mischief that simple +circumstance has wrought me—I mean, the ca'in me Willie Smith. It may +appear, I dare say, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span>a harmless aneuch thing to you, guid reader, but, my +feth, ca' ye yersel Willie Smith just for ae twelvemonth, an' ye'll find +it's nae such joke as ye may think, especially if there be half-a-dizzen +o' Willie Smiths leevin in the same street wi' ye; whilk is a' but +certain to be the case, gang to where ye like. I ken I could never get +oot o' their neighbourhood, an' mony a shift an' change I hae made for +that express purpose. I maun confess, however, that the name's no +a'thegither without its advantages. Mony a scrape I hae got skaithless +oot o', when I was a boy, in consequence o' its frequency. In the first +schule I was at, there war three Willie Smiths, besides me, an' it was +thus almost impossible, in many cases, to ascertain which was the real +delinquent when mischief had been perpetrated; an' the result was, that +the wrang Willie Smith was as often punished as the right ane; but as I, +of course, was frequently in the former predicament, I am no sure that, +if the account were fairly balanced, I wad be found to hae been a great +gainer after a'. Latterly, however, I certainly was not; for the +maister, finding the difficulty o' distinguishing between the Smiths, +an' that the course o' justice was thus interrupted, at last adopted the +sure plan o' whippin a' the Willie Smiths thegither, whenever any one o' +the unfortunate name was charged wi' ony transgression. We were thus +incorporated, as it were, rolled into one, and dealt wi' accordingly, in +a' cases o' punishment.</p> + +<p>My schule days owre, I began the world in the capacity o' shopman to +my faither, wha was a hosier to business, and carried on a sma', but +canny trade in that line. He wasna to ca' wealthy, but he was in easy +aneuch circumstances, an' had laid by a trifle, which was intended for +me, his only son an' heir. I was now in my twentieth year, the heyday of +youth; an', why should I hesitate to say it, a sensible, judicious, +well-meanin, an' good-lookin lad, but <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span>(I hesitate to say this, though) +wi' a great deal mair sentiment in my nature than was at a' necessary +for a hosier. How I had come by it, Heaven knows; but so it was. I was +fu' o' romance, an' fine feelin, an' a' that sort o' thing, an' wi' a +heart most annoyingly susceptible o' the tender passion. It was just +like tinder, as somebody has said—I think it was Burns—catched fire in +an instant. For some time, however, as is the case with most youths, I +dare say, my love was general, and was pretty equally divided amongst +<i>all</i> the young and good-lookin o' the other sex whom I happened to see +or meet wi'; but it at length concentrated, an' dwelt on one object +alone—(this was a case o' love at first sicht)—a beautiful an' amiable +girl, wha attended the same kirk in which I sat. I hadna the slightest +personal acquaintance wi' her, nor ony access to her society; but this +didna hinder me adorin her in my secret heart, nor prevent me puttin +doon stockins to customers when they asked for nightcaps. In short, +before I kent whar I was, I was plump owre head an' ears in love, +distractin love, wi' my fair enslaver, an' rendered useless baith to +mysel an' every ither body. Never did the tender passion so engross, so +absorb the feelins an' faculties o' a human bein, as it did those o' me, +Willie Smith the hosier, on this occasion. I was absolutely beside +mysel, an' felt as if livin and breathin in a world o' my ain. This +continued for several months; an' yet, durin all that time, I had +remained content wi' worshippin the object o' my adoration at a +distance, an' that only on Sundays, for I rarely saw her through the +week. Whan I said, however, that I was content wi' this state o' +matters, I am no sure that I hae said precisely what was true. Had I +said that I lacked courage to mak ony nearer advances, I wad, perhaps, +hae expressed mysel fully mair correctly. This was, in fact, the case; I +couldna muster fortitude aneuch to break the ice, an' yet I didna want +encouragement either. My fair captivator soon <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span>discovered the state o' my +feelins regardin her, as she couldna but do, for my een war never aff +her, an' my looks war charged wi' an expression that was easily aneuch +interpreted. She therefore—at least I thocht sae—kent perfectly weel +how the laun lay; an' if I didna mak a guid use o' the impression I had +made in my turn—for this I thocht I saw too in sundry little nameless +things—the faut was my ain, as I didna want such encouragement as a +modest and virtuous girl could, under the circumstances, haud oot to a +lover. She looked wi' an interest on me, which she couldna conceal +whanever we met, an' I frequently detected the corner o' her bright blue +eye turned towards me in the kirk. Often, also, have I seen her sittin +in melancholy abstraction when she should hae been listenin to the +minister; but could <i>I</i> blame her, whan she was thinkin o' me? Of +<i>that</i>, from all I could see an' mark, I was satisfied.</p> + +<p>At length, unable to endure the distraction o' my feelins langer, and +encouraged by the wee symptoms o' reciprocal affection which I had +marked in my enslaver, assurin me o' my bein on pretty safe ground, I +cam to the desperate resolution o' makin a decisive move in the +business. I resolved to <i>write</i> my beloved; to confess my passion, and +to beg that she would allow me to introduce myself to her. This +resolution, however, I fand it much easier to adopt than to execute. +There was a faint-heartedness aboot me that I couldna get the better o'; +and a score o' sheets o' paper perished in the attempts I made to +concoct something suitable to the occasion. At length, I succeeded; that +is, I accomplished such a letter as I felt convinced I couldna surpass, +although I wrought at it for a twelvemonth.</p> + +<p>Havin faulded this letter, which I did wi' a tremblin hand and +palpitatin heart, I clapt it into my pocket-book, whar it lay for three +days, for want o' courage to dispatch it, and, in some sort, for want o' +opportunity too; for if I <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span>sent it by the post, there was a danger o't +fa'in into the hands o' Lizzy's faither—Lizzy Barton bein the name o' +my enthraller; and there was naebody else that I could think o' employin +in the business. At length, however, I determined to dispatch it at a' +hazards. There was a wee bit ragged, smart, intelligent laddie, that +used to be constantly playing at bools aboot oor shop-door, and whom we +sometimes sent on bits o' sma' messages through the toun; and on him I +determined to devolve the important mission of deliverin my letter. +Accordingly, ae day when my faither was oot, and naebody in the shop but +mysel—</p> + +<p>"Jock," cried I, waggin the boy in, "come here a minnit." Jock instantly +leaped to his feet—for he was on his knees, most earnestly engaged in +plunkin, at the moment—and, crammin a handfu o' bools into his pocket, +was, in a twinklin, before me; when, wipin his nose wi' the sleeve o' +his jacket, and looking up in my face as he spoke—</p> + +<p>"What's yer wull, sir?" said Jock.</p> + +<p>"Do ye ken Mr. Barton's, Jock?" said I.</p> + +<p>"Brawly, sir," replied Jock.</p> + +<p>"Weel, Jock, my man," continued I, but wi' a degree o' trepidation that +I had great difficulty in concealin frae the boy, "tak this letter, and +go to Mr. Barton's wi't, and rap canny at the door, and ask if Miss +Barton's in. If she's in, ask a word o' her; and, when she comes, slip +this letter into her haun. If she's no in, bring back the letter to me, +and let naebody see't. Mind it's for <i>Miss Barton</i>, Jock, and nae ane +else. Sae ye maunna be paveein't aboot, but keep it carefully hidden +under yer jacket, till ye see Miss Barton hersel; then whup it oot, and +slip it into her hand that way;"—and here I fugled the proper motion to +Jock. "Noo, Jock," I continued, "if ye go through this job correctly and +cleverly, I'll gie ye a saxpence." Jock's eyes glistened wi' delight at +he magnificence o' the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span>promised reward, so far transcendin what he had +been accustomed to receive. He wad hae thocht himsel handsomely paid wi' +a ha'penny, and wad hae run sax miles ony day for a penny.</p> + +<p>Having dispatched Jock, after seein the letter carefully buttoned up +inside his jacket, I waited his return wi' a painfulness o' suspense, +and intensity o' feelin, that I wad rather leave to the reader's +imagination, than attempt to describe. It was most distressin—most +agitatin. At length, Jock appeared—I mean in the distance. My heart +began to beat violently. He bounced into the shop; my trepidation became +excessive; my knees trembled; my lips grew as white as paper; I could +hardly speak. At last—</p> + +<p>"Jock," said I, wi' a great effort, "did ye see her?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Jock, "and I gied her the letter."</p> + +<p>"And what did she say?"</p> + +<p>"She asked wha it was frae."</p> + +<p>"And ye tell't her?"</p> + +<p>"Ay."</p> + +<p>"And what did she say then?"</p> + +<p>"She just leugh, pleased-like; and her face grew red, and she stappit it +in her bosom, and said, 'Vera weel, my man:' and syne shut the door."</p> + +<p>Oh, what pen could describe the feelins o' joy, o' transport, that were +mine at this ecstatic moment! She had smiled wi' delight on hearin my +name; she had blushed when my letter was put into her hands; and she had +put that letter—oh, delicious thought!—into her bosom. The proof o' +her love was conclusive. There was nae mistakin what were her feelins +towards me. Jock's artless tale had put that beyond a' doot. I was noo +put nearly distracted wi' joy. But, if the merely gracious reception of +my letter was capable o' inspirin me wi' this feelin, what degree o' +happiness could be imparted by a reply to it, and that o' the most +favourable kind? (It could be ascertained <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span>by the Rule o' Three.) That +degree o' happiness, whatever it is, was bestowed on me. In the course +of the ensuing day, I received the following sweet billet by the +postman, written by Lizzy's own dear hand:—</p> + +<p>"Miss Barton presents her compliments to Mr. Smith, and will be happy of +his company to tea, to-morrow evening, at six o'clock."</p> + +<p>Oh, hoo I noo langed for the "to-morrow evenin at six o'clock!" And yet +I trembled at its approach, wi' an undefined, but overwhelmin feelin o' +mingled love and shame, and hope and fear. It was just what I may ca' a +delightfully painfu' predicament. Regardless, however, o' my feelins, +the appointed hour cam round, and whan it did, it saw me dressed in my +best, and, wi' a flutterin heart, stan'in at Lizzy's faither's door, wi' +the knocker in my hand. I knocked. I heard a movement o' the sneck +behind. The door opened, and my angel stood before me. I smiled and +blushed intensely, without sayin a word. Miss Barton stared at me wi' a +look o' cauld composed surprise. At length—</p> + +<p>"Miss Barton," I stammered oot, "I am come, according to your +invitation, to"——</p> + +<p>"My invitation, sir!" said Miss Barton, noo a little confused, an' +blushin in her turn. "What invitation? I haena the pleasure o' ony +acquaintance wi' ye, sir. Ye're a perfect stranger to me."</p> + +<p>"I houp no a'thegither, Miss Barton," replied I, makin an abortive +attempt at a captivatin smile. "I took the liberty o' addressin a letter +to ye yesterday; an' here's yer invitation on the back o't," continued +I, an' noo puttin her ain card into her hands. The puir lassie looked +confounded, an', in great agitation, said—</p> + +<p>"Oh, sir, it's a mistak! I'm so sorry. It's an entire mistak on my +part. Yer'e no the person at a' I meant. I thocht the letter was frae +anither gentleman—a different <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span>person a'thegither. It's the name has +misled me. I am really so sorry." An' she curtsied politely to me, an' +shut the door.</p> + +<p>Ay, here, then, was a pretty dooncome to a' my air-built castles o' luve +an' happiness! It was a mistak, was it?—a mistak? I wasna the person at +a'! She thocht the letter was frae anither gentleman a'thegither! An', +pray, wha was this gentleman? A' that, an' a deal mair, I subsequently +fand oot. The gentleman was a certain Willie Smith—a young, guid-lookin +fallow, who sat in the same kirk wi' us, an' between whom an' Lizzy +there had lang existed the telegraphic correspondence o' looks an' +smiles, an' sighs, an' blushes—in fact, just such a correspondence as I +had carried on mysel, wi' this important difference, however, that it +wasna a' on ae side, as it noo appeared it had been in my case. The +other Willie Smith's returns were real, while mine were only imaginary. +I needna enlarge on the subject o' my feelins under this grievous an' +heart-rendin disappointment. It will be aneuch to say that it pat me +nearly beside mysel, an' that it was amaist a hale week before I tasted +a morsel o' food o' ony kind. I was in a sad state; but time, that cures +a' ills, at length cured mine, too, although it didna remove my regret +that a name so unhappily frequent as Willie Smith had ever been bestowed +on me.</p> + +<p>Havin already described mysel as bein o' a susceptible nature, and bein +at this time in the prime o' youth, it winna surprise the reader to +learn that I soon after this fell in love a second time. The object o' +my affections, on this occasion, was a pretty girl, whom I met wi' at +the house o' a mutual freen. She was a stranger in oor toun, an' had +come frae Glasgow—o' which city she was a native—on a short visit to a +relation. The acquaintance which I formed wi' this amiable creature soon +ripened into the most ardent affection, an' I had every reason, very +early, to believe that <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span>my love was returned. The subsequent progress of +our intimacy established the delightful fact. We eventually stood on the +footin o' avowed, an' all but absolutely betrothed lovers. Soon after +this, Lucy Craig, which was the name of my beloved, returned to Glasgow, +but not before we had settled to maintain a close and regular +correspondence.</p> + +<p>The correspondence wi' Lucy, to which I hae alluded, subsequently took +place; an', for several months—durin which I had made, besides, twa or +three runs to Glasgow, to see her—mony a sweet epistle passed between +us—epistles fu' o' lowin love, an' sparklin hopes, an' joy. I may as +weel here remark, too, that, on the occasions o' my visits to Lucy, I +was maist cordially an' kindly received by her mother—a fine, decent, +motherly body, an' a widow—Lucy's father havin died several years +before. Aweel, as I said, our correspondence went on closely an' +uninterruptedly; but I maun noo add, wi' a restriction as to time, an' +say for aboot five months, at the end o' which time it suddenly ceased, +on the pairt o' Lucy, a'thegither. She was due me a letter at the time; +for I had written three close on the back o' each other, which were yet +unanswered. In the greatest impatience an' uneasiness, I first waited ae +week, an' then anither, an' anither, an' anither, till they ran up to +aboot six, whan, unable langer to thole the misery which her seemin +negligence, or it micht be something waur, had created, I determined on +puttin my fit in the coach, an' gaun slap richt through mysel, to +ascertain the cause o' her extraordinary silence. To this +proceedin—that is, my gaun to Glasgow—I was further induced by anither +circumstance. There was a mercantile hoose there, wi' which my faither +had dealt for twenty years, an' which had gotten, frae first to last, +mony a thoosan pounds o' his money—a' weel an' punctually paid. Noo, it +happened that, twa or three days before this, my faither had dispatched +an order <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span>to this house for a fresh supply o' guids, whan, to oor +inexpressible amazement, we received, instead o' the guids, a letter +plumply refusin ony further credit, an' demandin, under a threat o' +immediate prosecution, payment o' oor current account—amountin to aboot +£150. To us this was a most extraordinary affair, an' wholly +inexplicable, an' we resolved to know what it meant, by personal +application to the firm. This, then, was anither purpose I had to serve +in gaun to Glasgow, to which I accordingly set out, wi' the folks +hunner-an'-fifty pounds in my pocket.</p> + +<p>On arrivin in the city just named, my first ca', of course, was on Lucy. +But this wasna accomplished withoot a great deal o' previous painfu +feelin. It was twa or three minutes before I could rap. At length I +raised the knocker, an' struck. Lucy opened the door. She stared wildly +at me, for a second, an' then, utterin a scream, ran into the house, +exclaimin, distractedly—"O James, James! mother, mother! here's Mr. +Smith's ghost!" And she screamed again more loudly than ever, an' flung +herself on the sofa, in a violent fit o' hysterics.</p> + +<p>Here, then, was a pretty reception. I was confounded, but stepped +leisurely into the hoose, after Lucy, whom I found extended on the sofa, +an' her mother an' a strange gentleman beside her—a stranger to me at +least—endeavouring to soothe her, and calm her violence. On the mother, +my presence seemed to hae nearly as extraordinary an effect as on the +dochter. Whan I entered the room, she, too, set up a skirl, and fled as +far back frae me as the apartment wad admit, exclaimin—</p> + +<p>"Lord be aboot us, Mr. Smith! is that you? Can it be possible? Are ye in +the body, or are ye but a wanderin spirit? Lord hae a care o' us, are ye +really an' truly leevin, Mr. Smith?"</p> + +<p>"Guid folks," said I, as calmly as I could, in reply to this strange +rhapsody, "will ye be sae kind as tell me what <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span>a' this means?" An' first +I looked at the dochter, wha was still lyin on the sofa, wi' her face +buried wi' fricht in the cushions, and then at the mother, wha was +sittin in a chair, starin at me, an' gaspin for breath, but noo +evidently satisfied that I was at least nae ghaist.</p> + +<p>"Means, Mr. Smith!" said she, at intervals, as she could get breath to +speak; "oh, man, didna we hear that ye were dead! Haena we thocht that +ye were in yer grave for this month past! Dear me, but this is +extraordinar! But will ye just step this way wi' me a minnit." An' she +led the way into another room, whither I followed her, in the hope o' +getting an explanation o' the singular scene which had just taken place; +an' this explanation I did get. On our entering the apartment, my +conductress shut the door, an', desirin me to tak a seat, thus +began—"Dear me, Mr. Smith, but this is a most extraordinar, an' I maun +say, a most unlucky affair. Werena we tell't, a month ago, that ye were +dead an' buried, an' that by mair than ane—ay an' by the carrier frae +yer ain place, too, at whom Lucy made inquiry the moment we heard it? +An', mair than a' that," continued Mrs. Craig, "here's yer death +mentioned in ane o' the newspapers o' yer ain place." Saying this, she +took an auld newspaper frae a shelf, an', after lookin for the place to +which she wanted to direct my attention, put it into my hands, wi' her +thoom on the following piece o' intelligence:—"Died, on the 16th +current, at his father's house, ——, Mr. William Smith, in the 23d year +of his age."</p> + +<p>"Noo, Mr. Smith," said Mrs. Craig, triumphantly, "what were we to think +o' a' this, but that ye were really an' truly buried? The place, yer +name, yer age, a' richt to a tittle. What else could we think?"</p> + +<p>"Indeed, Mrs. Craig," said I, smilin, "it is an odd business, an' I +dinna wunnur at yer bein deceived; but it's a' easily aneuch explained. +It's this confounded name <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span>o' mine that's at the bottom o' a' the +mischief. The Willie Smith here mentioned, I need hardly say, I suppose, +is no me; but I kent him weel aneuch, an' a decent lad he was—he just +lived twa or three doors frae us; an', as to the carrier misleadin ye, I +dinna wunnur at that either—for he wad naturally think ye were inquirin +after the deceased. But there's nae harm dune, Mrs. Craig," continued I.</p> + +<p>"I'm no sure o' that," interrupted my hostess, wi' a look an' expression +o' voice that rather took me aback, as indeed, had also the <i>triumphant</i> +manner in which she had appealed to me if they could be blamed for havin +believed me dead. This she was aye pressin on me, an' I was rather +surprised at it; but it was to be fully accounted for.</p> + +<p>"No!" said I, whan Mrs. Craig expressed her uncertainty as to there bein +ony mischief dune; "isna there Lucy to the fore, lookin as weel an' as +healthy as ever I saw her, an'"——</p> + +<p>"Lucy's married!" interposed Mrs. Craig, firmly and solemnly.</p> + +<p>"Married!" exclaimed I, starting frae my seat, in horror an' +amazement—"Lucy married!"</p> + +<p>"'Deed is she, Mr. Smith, an' yon was her husband ye saw; an' ye canna +blame her, puir thing! I'm sure mony a sair heart she had after ye. I +thocht she wad hae gratten her een oot; but, bein sure ye were dead, an' +a guid offer comin in the way, ye ken, she couldna refuse't. It wad hae +been the heicht o' imprudence. Sae she juist dried her een, puir thing, +an' buckled to."</p> + +<p>"Exactly, Mrs. Craig—exactly," said I, here interruptin her; "I +understan ye—ye need sae nae mair." An' I rushed oot o' the door like a +madman, an' through the streets, withoot kennin either what I was doin +or whar I was gaun. On recovering my composure a little, I fand mysel in +the Green o' Glasgow, an' close by the river side. The clear, calm, deep +water tempted me, in the desperation <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span>o' my thochts. Ae plunge, an' a' +this distractin turmoil that was rackin my soul, an' tearin my bosom +asunder, wad be stilled. In this frame o' mind, I gazed gloomily on the +glidin stream; but, as I gazed, better thochts gradually presented +themsels, an' finally, resentment took the place o' despondency, whan I +reflected on the heartless haste o' Lucy to wed anither, thereby +convincin me that, in losin her, my loss was by nae means great. So +then, to mak a lang story short, in place o' jumpin into the Clyde, I +hied me to a tavern, ate as hearty a supper as ever I ate in my life, +drank a guid, steeve tumbler o' toddy, tumbled into bed, sleepit as +sound as a caterpillar in winter, an' awoke next mornin as fresh as a +daisy an' as licht as a lark, free frae a' concern aboot Lucy, an' +perfectly satisfied that I had acted quite richt in no droonin mysel on +the previous nicht.</p> + +<p>Havin noo got quit o' my love affairs, my first business, next day, was +to ca' on the mercantile firm alluded to in another part o' the +narrative; and to their countin-hoose I accordingly directed my +steps—and thae steps, when I entered their premises, were a wee +haughty, for I felt at once the strength o' the money in my pouch, and a +sense o' havin been ill-used by them. On enterin the countin-hoose, I +fand the principal there alane, seated at a desk.</p> + +<p>This gentleman I knew personally, and he kent me too; for I had +frequently ca'ed at his office in the way o' business, and on these +occasions he had aye come forrit to me wi' extended hand and a smilin +countenance. On the present, however, he did naething o' the kind. He +sat still, and, lookin sternly at me as I approached him—</p> + +<p>"Well, Mr. Smith," he said, "are ye come to settle that account? Short +accounts make long friends, you know," he added, but wi' a sort o' +ferocious smile, if there be such a thing.</p> + +<p>"I wad like first to ken, sir," I replied, "what was the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span>meanin o' yer +writin us sic a letter as we had frae ye the ither day?"</p> + +<p>"Why, Mr. Smith," said Mr. Drysdale, which was the gentleman's name, +"under the peculiar circumstances of the case, I don't see there was +anything in that letter that ought to have surprised you. It was a +perfectly natural and reasonable effort on our part to recover our own."</p> + +<p>"A reasonable effort, sir, to recover your own!" said I indignantly. +"What do you mean? My faither has dealt wi' ye these twenty years, and I +don't suppose ye ever fand it necessary to mak ony effort to recover +your money oot o' his hands. I rather think ye were aye paid withoot +askin."</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, yes," replied Mr. Drysdale, doggedly; "but I repeat that +recent circumstances have altered the case materially."</p> + +<p>"What circumstances do ye allude to, sir?" said I, wi' increasin +passion.</p> + +<p>"What circumstances, sir, do I allude to?" replied Mr. Drysdale, +fiercely. "I don't suppose you required to come here for that +information; but you shall have it nevertheless, since you ask it." And, +proceeding to a file of newspapers, he detached one, and, throwing it on +the desk before me, placed his finger, as Mrs. Craig had done on another +occasion, on the bankrupt list, and desired me to look at <i>that</i>. I did +so, and read, in this catalogue of unfortunates, the name of "William +Smith, merchant, ——. Creditors to meet," &c. &c.</p> + +<p>"Now, sir," said Mr. Drysdale, with a triumphant sneer, "are you +satisfied?"</p> + +<p>"Perfectly, sir," I replied; "but you will please to observe that that +William Smith is not my father. He's a totally different person."</p> + +<p>"What!" exclaimed Mr. Drysdale, "not your father! Who is he, then? I +didn't know there was any other <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span>William Smith, of any note in trade, in +your town. I did not, indeed, look particularly at the designation; but +took it for granted it was your father, as, to my certain knowledge, +many others have also done."</p> + +<p>"Indeed!" replied I; "why, that is mair serious. Some steps maun be taen +to remedy that mischief."</p> + +<p>"Without a moment's delay," said Mr. Drysdale, who was already a changed +man. "Your father must advertise directly, saying he's not the William +Smith whose name appears in the bankrupt list of such a date. Lose not a +moment in doing this, or your credit'll be cracked throughout the three +kingdoms. It has already suffered seriously here, I can assure you."</p> + +<p>Having paid Mr. Drysdale his account, which he wasna noo for +acceptin—sayin that, if we had the sma'est occasion for the money, to +use it freely, without regardin them—and havin thanked him for his +advice as to counteracting the evil report that had gane abroad +respectin us, I hurried awa to put it in execution; and thinkin it very +hard to be subjected to a' this trouble sae innocently, and to hae, at +ane and the same time, a pair o' such calamities sae oddly thrust upon +me, as my ain death, and the bankruptcy o' my faither. However, sae it +was. But my business noo was to remedy, as far as possible, the mischief +that had been done by the unfounded rumour o' oor insolvency. Wi' this +view I hastened awa to a newspaper office, to begin the cure by an +advertisement; and, in doin this, I had occasion to pass the +coach-office whar I had landed the day before. Observin the place, I +thocht I micht as weel step in and secure my ticket for the following +day, when it was my intention to return hame. Accordingly, into the +office I gaed; and, whan I did sae, I fand the clerk in earnest +conversation wi' twa men, ane o' whom was busily employed in lookin owre +the way-book or register o' passengers' names. They didna at first +observe me enter; <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span>but, whan they did, there was an instant pause in +their conversation; and I observed the clerk, after he had glanced at +me, tippin a significant wink to ane, and gently punchin the other wi' +his elbow. Then a' three glanced at me. I couldna understand it. +However, I said nothing; thinkin they were settlin some private business +thegither, and, oot o' guid nature, wad rather wait a minute or twa than +interrupt them. But my waiting wasna lang. Before I had been an instant +in the office, ane o' the men cam roun to whar I was stan'in, and, +lookin me fiercely in the face, said—</p> + +<p>"What's your name, sir, if you please?"</p> + +<p>"My name, sir!" replied I, as angrily—for I thocht the fellow put the +question in a very impertinent sort o' way—"what business hae ye wi' my +name?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, mair than ye're aware o', p'raps," says he. "An' it's a bad sign o' +a man whan he'll no tell his name," says he. This touched me to the +quick, an' I dare say the vagabond kent it wad, an' did it on purpose. +It was a wipe at my character which I could by nae means submit to. So +says I to him, says I—</p> + +<p>"Freen, ye'll observe that I'm no denyin my name—I'm only disputin yer +richt to demand it. I'm no ashamed o' my name, sir, although it +certainly has cost me some trouble in my day. My name, sir, is William +Smith—sae mak o't what ye like."</p> + +<p>"I should mak a couple o' guineas o't, at the very least," said the +fellow, wi' a smile; and at the same time catchin me by the breast o' my +coat, and sayin that I was his prisoner.</p> + +<p>"Prisoner!" exclaimed I, in amazement, "prisoner! what do you mean?"</p> + +<p>"I mean just exactly what I say," said the fellow, quite coolly; and, +thinkin he saw in me some show o' a spirit o' resistance, whilk there +really was, he touched me wi' a bit thing like a wean's whistle, and +winked to his neebor to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span>come to his assistance, which the latter +immediately did, and catched me by the ither breast o' my coat.</p> + +<p>"Come along," said baith, now beginnin to drag me wi' them.</p> + +<p>"No a fit," said I, resistin, "till I ken what for I'm used this way."</p> + +<p>"Oh! ye don't know, Mr. Innocence!" said the fellow wha first took hand +o' me; "not you—you're amazed, an't you? You can't suppose there's such +a thing as fugæ warrants out against you! And you can't believe I should +have such a thing in my pocket," added the scoonril, takin' a piece o' +paper oot o' his pouch, and haudin't up before my een, but oot o' my +reach. "There, my lad, are you satisfied now? That's the thing I walks +by."</p> + +<p>Then, havin replaced the paper in his pouch, he went on, but now, +apparently, more for the information of the bystanders (of whom there +was, by this time, a considerable number gathered together), than for +mine.</p> + +<p>"You're apprehended, Mr. Smith, by virtue of a fugæ warrant, obtained at +the instance of Messrs. Hodgson, Brothers, & Co., on the evidence of two +credible witnesses—namely, Robert Smart and Henry Allan—who have +deponed that you were going beyond seas; you being indebted to the said +Hodgson, Brothers, & Co., in the sum of £74. 15s. 9d. sterling money. +There's cause and ground for yer apprehension, Mr. Smith," continued the +fellow; "so, no more about it, but come along quietly, and at once, or it +may be worse for you."</p> + +<p>"I'll see you shot first," said I. "I ken naething aboot your Hodgson, +Brothers—never heard o' them before. I owe them nae money, nor onybody +else, but what I can pay; and I haena, nor ever had, ony intention +whatever o' leavin my ain country."</p> + +<p>"A' quite natural statement'; these, Mr. Smith," said <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span>the man wha first +took haud o' me; "but ye'll observe we're no bound to believe them. All +that we have to do, is to execute our duty. If you are wronged, you may +have your redress by legal process. In the meantime, ye go with us." And +again the two commenced draggin me oot o' the office.</p> + +<p>"May I be hanged if I do, then!" said I, passionately; for my blood was +noo gettin up. It wad hae been far better for me, in the end, if I had +taen things calmly—for I could easily hae proven my identity, and, of +course, the messengers' error in apprehendin me; but my prudence and +patience baith gave way before the strong feelin o' resentment, which a +sense o' the injustice I was sufferin had excited.</p> + +<p>"May I be hanged if I do, then!" said I; and wi' that I hit ane o' the +fellows a wap on the face that sent him staggerin to the other side o' +the office. Havin done this, I turned roun', quick as thocht, and +collared the ane that still held by me, a proceedin which was +immediately followed by a wrestle o' the most ferocious and determined +character. I was the stouter man o' the twa, however, and wad sune hae +laid my antagonist on the breadth o' his back, but for his neebor, who, +now rendered furious by the blow which I had gien him, sprang on me like +a tiger; and, between them I was borne to the groun', the twa fa'in on +the tap o' me. Here, again, however, the battle was renewed. I continued +to kick and box richt and left, wi' a vigour that made me still +formidable to my enemies; while they, to do them justice, lent me kicks +and blows in return, that nearly ca'ed the life out o' me. There, then, +were we a' three rowin on the floor, sometimes ane uppermost an' +sometimes anither, wi' oor faces streamin o' blude, and oor coats a' +torn in the most ruinous manner. It was an awfu' scene, and such a ane +as hadna been seen often in that office before, I dare say. As micht be +expected, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span>we had a numerous audience, too The office was filled wi' +folk, the door was choked up wi' them, and there was an immense crowd in +the street, and clusters at the window, a' tryin to get a sicht or a +knowledge o' what was proceedin within. Baith the commotion and the +concourse, in fact, was tremendous—just appallin to look at. But this +was a state o' matters that couldna last lang. My assailants havin ca'ed +in the assistance o' a couple o' great, big, stout fallows o' porters, I +was finally pinned to the floor, whan my hauns bein secured by a pair o' +handcuffs, I was raised to my feet, again collared by the twa officers, +and a cry havin been made to clear the road, I was led oot o' the office +in procession; a messenger on each side o' me, the twa porters ahint, +and ane before, openin a passage through the crowd, whose remarks, as I +gaed alang, were highly flatterin to me:—</p> + +<p>"What an awfu'-like ruffian!" said ane. "What a murderous-lookin +scoonril!" said anither.</p> + +<p>"What's he been doin?" inquired a third.</p> + +<p>"Robbin the mail-coach," answered a fourth; "and they say he has +murdered the guard an' twa passengers."</p> + +<p>"Oh! the monster!" exclaimed an auld wife, whom this piece of accurate +information had reached; "the savage, bloody monster! Was ever the like +heard tell o'! The gallows is owre guid for him."</p> + +<p>In short, I heard mysel, as I was led alang, charged wi' every crime +that human wickedness is capable o', although I perceived that the +robbery o' the mail, and the murders o' the guard and passengers, was +the favourite and prevailing notion; a notion which, I presumed, had +arisen frae the circumstance o' the row's havin had its origin in a +coach office. Some reports hae been waur founded. As to the reflections +on my appearance, I couldna reasonably quarrel wi' them: for, really, it +was far frae bein prepossessin; and o' this I was quite sensible. My +coat was <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span>hingin in tatters aboot me; my hat was crushed oot o' a' shape; +and my face was hideously disfigured wi' blude, and wi' unnatural +swellins frae the blows I had gotten.</p> + +<p>Wi' the reflections on my appearance, then, as I hae said, greatly +improved as it was by the display o' my handcuffs, I couldna justly fin' +faut. By-and-by, however, we reached the jail; and into ane o' its +strongest and best secured apartments was I immediately conducted. Havin +seen me fairly lodged here, my captors took their leave o' me; ane o' +them sayin, as he quitted the cell, and shakin his head as he spoke—</p> + +<p>"If ye don't rue this job, friend, my name's not what it is—that's +all."</p> + +<p>The door bein noo closed on me, an' a fine opportunity bein thus +presented me for indulgin in a little reflection on my present +circumstances an' situation, I accordingly began to do so; but I fand it +by nae means a very agreeable employment. Amang ither things, it struck +me that I had exposed mysel' sadly, and very unnecessarily, since I +could easily, as I believe I hae before remarked, hae shown that they +had put the saddle on the wrong horse; but I had allowed my passion to +get the better o' me, an' instead o' takin the richt and prudent course +o' establishin this by a quiet procedure, had resisted, an' foucht like +a thief taen in the fact. However, the business was noo hoo to mend the +matter, an' it was some time before I could discover precisely hoo this +was to be done—at least wi' a' that expedition I wad hae liked. At last +it struck me that I couldna do better than intimate my situation to Mr. +Drysdale, an' request o' him to come an' see me. This, then, I +immediately did—the jailor furnishin me wi' paper, pen, an' ink, an' +undertakin to have my letter delivered as directed, which was faithfully +executed; for, in less than half-an-hour, Mr. Drysdale, laughin' like to +split his sides, entered my cell.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span>"What's this, Mr. Smith?—what's this has happened ye, man?" said he, +when the laughing would let him speak. "Ye see what it is to hae a bad +name. I tell't ye there was mair than me mistaen aboot this affair. It's +a most unlucky name yours."</p> + +<p>"Confound the name, sir!" said I. "It's like to be baith the ruin an' +the death o' me. But what can I do? I canna get quit o't, an' maun just +fecht oot wi't the best way I can."</p> + +<p>I wasna at first a'thegither in such a laughin humour as my visitor, yet +I couldna help joinin him in the lang run, whan we took twa or three +guid roun's o't, an' then proceeded to business. Mr. Drysdale said he +wad bail me to ony amount, if that were necessary to my immediate +liberation; but proposed that he should, in the first place, call on +Hodgson, Brothers, whom he knew intimately, an' state the case to them. +This he accordingly did; an', in aboot a quarter o' an hour, returned to +me in the jail, wi' ane o' thae gentlemen alang wi' him. Mr. Hodgson +expressed the utmost concern for what had happened, an' offered me ony +reasonable recompense I might name for the injury an' detention to which +I had been subjected. This, however, I declined, but expressed a wish +that the messengers wha had apprehended me micht be keel-hauled a bit +for the rashness o' their proceedins.</p> + +<p>"As to that, Mr. Smith," said Mr. Hodgson, smilin, "I think you had as +well 'let a-be for let a-be' there. They have been sadly mauled by you, +I understand, and it strikes me to be a drawn battle between you."</p> + +<p>"Weel, weel," said I, laughin, "e'en let it be sae, then; but the +scoonrils ocht to be mair carefu' wha they lay their hands on."</p> + +<p>"They ought, no doubt," said Mr. Hodgson; "but, in this case there was +really some excuse for them. Our debtor, whom I dare say you know very +well, is a young <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span>man of the name of William Smith—a grocer in your own +town, who began business there some months ago. Now, he has failed, as I +dare say you know, also—has shut shop—swindled his creditors—and fled +the country. This was the fellow we wanted to catch; and, you being from +the same place, of the same name, and of, as I take it, about the same +age, it is really no great wonder that the men were deceived."</p> + +<p>I allowed that it was not; but said it was rather hard that the sins o' +a' the Willie Smiths in the country should be visited on my shouthers. +"There's no a piece o' villany done by, nor a misfortune happens to a +Willie Smith," said I, "but it's fastened on me. It's really hard."</p> + +<p>My twa visitors laughingly admitted the hardship o' the case, but +advised me to be as patient under't as I could—a wishy-washy aneuch +sort o' advice; but it was a', I dare say, they had to offer.</p> + +<p>I need hardly say that the jail doors were noo instantly thrown open to +me, nor that I lost nae time in availin mysel' o' the liberty to which +they invited. The first thing I did on gettin oot was to provide mysel +wi' a new coat and hat; for, until this was done, I wasna in a fit state +to be seen, an' couldna think o' walkin the streets in the torn-down and +blackguard lookin condition in which my captors had left me. Havin, +however, improved my outward man a little, and brushed up my face a +bit—but on which, notwithstandin a' I could do, there continued to +remain some ugly traces o' my late adventure—I thocht I couldna do +better, as I had noo a lang idle evenin before me, than ca' on twa or +three auld and intimate acquaintances o' our family that resided in +Glasgow. In pursuance o' this resolution, I began wi' some decent folks +o' the name o' Robertson, distant relations o' our ain, and from whom I +had, on the occasion o' former visits, o' which I had made twa or three, +met wi' the most kind an' cordial welcome; <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span>and o' this I naturally +expected a repetition in the present instance. What was my surprise and +mortification, then, whan I fand it quite the reverse—most markedly +sae!</p> + +<p>"Oh, William, is that you!" said Mrs. Robertson, drily, and wi' a degree +o' stiffness and cauldness in her manner which I couldna understan'. +"<i>Will</i> ye stap in a bit?" she added, hesitatingly and evidently wi' +reluctance. Weel, she used to fling her arms aboot me, and pu' me in. +But it was noo, "<i>Will</i> ye step in?" I did, but sune saw there was +something wrang; but what it was I couldna conjecture. I overheard her +husband and dochters <i>refusin</i> Mrs. Robertson's request to them to come +ben and see me. They used to a' rush aboot me, like a torrent. In short, +I perceived that I was a very unwelcome visitor, and that a speedy +retreat on my part wad be highly approved of. Amongst other hints o' +this, was Mrs. Robertson's scarcely speakin three words to me a' the +time I sat wi' her, and no makin ony offer o' the sma'est refreshment. +Her behaviour to me was a'thegither exceedinly strange and mysterious; +but what struck me as maist singular, was her aye speakin o' my faither +wi' a compassionatin air. "Puir, puir man!" she wad say; "Gude help us! +it's a weary warl' this! Ane canna tell what their weans are to come to. +Muckle grief and sorrow, I'm sure, do they bring to parents' hearts." +These truths bein obvious and general, I couldna deny them, although I +was greatly at a loss to see ony particular occasion for advertin to +them at the time. Wearied oot at length wi' Mrs. Robertson's truisms, +and disgusted wi' her incivility and uncourteous manner to me, I took up +my hat, and decamped, wi' as little ceremony as I had been received. I +was, in truth, baith provoked and perplexed by her extraordinary +treatment o' me, and couldna at a' conjecture to what it could be owin.</p> + +<p>But let the reader fancy, if he can, what was my surprise <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span>when I fand +mysel' treated in almost precisely the same way in every ither hoose at +which I ca'ed subsequently to this. There was, in every instance, the +same astonishment expressed at seein me, the same cauldness exhibited, +and the same mysterious silence maintained durin my visit. I was +perfectly confounded at it; but couldna, of course, ask ony explanation, +as there was naething sae palpably oot o' joint as to admit o't. Havin +made my roun' o' ca's wi' the success and comfort I hae mentioned, I +returned to my quarters, and, orderin a tumbler o' toddy, sat down +amongst a heap o' newspapers, to amuse mysel' the best way I could till +bedtime. The first paper I took up was a Glasgow one, published that +day. I skimmed it ower till I cam to a paragraph wi' the followin takin +title—"Desperate Ruffian." This catched my e'e at ance; for I was aye +fond o' readin aboot desperate ruffians, and horrible accidents, and +atrocious murders, &c. &c. "So," says I to mysel', "here's a feast." And +I threw up my legs on the firm on which I was seated, drew the candle +nearer me, took a mouthfu' oot o' my tumbler, and made every +preparation, in short, for a quiet, deliberate, comfortable read; and +this I got, to my heart's content. The paragraph, which began wi' +"Desperate Ruffian," went on thus:—</p> + +<p>"This morning, a scene, at once one of the most disgraceful and +ludicrous which we have witnessed for some time, took place in one of +the coach-offices of this city. A fellow of the name of William Smith, a +young man of about twenty-three or twenty-four years of age, from ——, +who is charged with various acts of swindling, and is well known as a +person of infamous character, was apprehended on a fugæ warrant, by our +two active criminal officers, Messrs. Rob and Ramage, in the —— +coach-office, just as he was about to take out a ticket for Greenock, +whither he intended to proceed for the purpose of embarking <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span>for America +with his ill-got gains. The ruffian, on being first apprehended, denied +his name; but, finding this not avail him, he violently assaulted the +officers in the execution of their duty, and, being a powerful man, it +was not until those very deserving men had suffered severely in their +persons, and obtained the aid of the bystanders, that he was finally +secured. This, however, was ultimately accomplished, when the fellow +being securely handcuffed, was conducted to jail, and lodged in one of +the strongest cells, where he will, of course, remain until brought to +trial. There is a rumour that Smith has been concerned in some late +coach robbery; but we have heard no particulars, and cannot vouch for +its truth, although, from his appearance, we should suppose him to be +perfectly capable of anything."</p> + +<p>Weel, guid reader, what do ye think o' that? Wasna that a pretty morsel +for me to swallow? It is true that I needna hae felt very uneasy aboot +the description o' a character that didna belang to me; but it maun be +observed that there was here that mixture o' fact and fiction which, in +cases o' rumour, it is sae difficult to separate. Moreover, I was +certainly the person spoken o', however erroneously represented; there +was nae denyin that. I was mingled up wi' the business, and the very +process o' establishin my innocence was certain to gie me a most +unpleasant notoriety; and was likely, besides, no to be in every case +successful. In short, I fand, tak it ony way I liked, that it couldna be +reckoned otherwise than as a most unlucky affair. It was noo, too, that +I began to smell a rat regardin the treatment I had met wi' frae the +different acquaintances I had ca'ed upon. They had either seen the +paragraph which I hae just quoted, or had heard o't. The same belief +explained to me the cause o' Mrs. Robertson's reflections on the risin +generation o' mankind, and her extraordinary sympathy for my father. +There <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span>could be nae doot o't—and thus was the mystery solved. Of this I +was still further satisfied, when, on takin up anither Glasgow paper o' +the same day, I fand that it also contained an account o' the mornin's +affair. The twa paragraphs were, on the whole, pretty much alike in +substance; but, in the second ane, there were twa or three incidental +circumstances mentioned that added to the interest o' the story +considerably.</p> + +<p>Such, then, was the readin wi' which I beguiled the time on the evenin +o' which I am speakin; an' I leave it to the reader o' thae pages to +judge hoo far it was calculated to soothe my previously harassed +feelins, an' to afford me the relaxation an' amusement I sought, an' o' +which I had sae much need. At first, I resolved on takin every possible +public an' private measure that could be commanded to counteract the +evil reports, o' ae kind an' anither, under which baith mysel personally +an' my family were labourin. I thocht on gaun roun to a' the +acquaintances on whom I had just been ca'in, an' explainin to them the +real state o' the case; an' then followin up this proceedin wi' ca'in on +the editors o' the twa papers in which the injurious statements had +appeared, an' requestin, nay, insistin, on their puttin in a true +version o' the story, at the same time carefully markin my identity, an' +separatin me frae a' discreditable transactions, of every kind, degree, +an' character whatsoever. A' this I thocht o' doin, I say; but, on +reflection, I changed my mind, an' determined no to gie mysel ony such +trouble, but just to let things tak their course, an' trust to my ain +conduct, an' the weel-kent respectability o' my faither, for the guid +opinion o' the warld. Anent the rumour o' oor bankruptcy, however, I +thocht there could be nae harm in puttin in an advertisement or twa, +contradictory o't; an' this was accordingly done, in the following brief +terms:—</p> + +<p>"William Smith, hosier, ——, begs to inform his friends <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span>and the +public, that he is not the same person whose name appears in the +bankrupt list published in the —— newspaper of the 15th inst. All +claims on the advertiser will be paid, on demand, at his shop."</p> + +<p>This advertisement I handed into the offices o' twa Glasgow papers that +same nicht, an' next mornin saw me safely perched on the tap o' the +coach for oor ain place, glad that a' my misadventures were owre, an' +that I was soon to be at hame again; for I was sick o' Glasgow—an' the +reader will allow no withoot some reason. The coach on which I was +mounted was just aboot to start, the driver had taen the reins in his +hand, an' the guard was strugglin to get up the last trunk, whan the +waiter o' the inn in which I had been stoppin, an' which was at the head +o' a prodigiously lang close, just at the startin-place, cam rinnin up, +an' cried, lookin at the same time at the passengers—</p> + +<p>"Is there a Mr. Smith here?"</p> + +<p>I expected that half-a-dozen at least wad hae owned the name; but, to my +surprise, there was no Mr. Smith amang them, but mysel.</p> + +<p>"They ca' me Smith, my man—what is it?" said I, wi' a suspicious look; +for I noo stood greatly in awe o' my ain name—no bein sure what +mischief it micht lead me into.</p> + +<p>"There's a gentleman up in the hoose wants to see you directly," said +the lad.</p> + +<p>"But I canna go till him, man—ye see the coach is just gaun to start," +said I.</p> + +<p>"Ay, but he says that's o' nae consequence. Ye maun come till him. He +has something o' importance to say to ye."</p> + +<p>Thinkin it wasna advisable to slight a message o' sae pressin a nature, +an' curious to ken wha it was that could be wantin me, an' what he could +be wantin me for, I leaped down, resolvin to mak my legs, which were gay +an' <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span>lang an' souple anes, save my distance, an' havin nae doubt they +wad, critical as the case was. I up the close like a shot, an' into the +hoose; but, though <i>I</i> was in a hurry, the waiter wha had come for me +was in nane. He didna appear for five minutes after; an', as he was the +only person wha kent onything aboot a message bein sent after me, I had +to wait his return, before I could find oot the person wha wanted me. +This, however, he noo effected for me; but not before a good deal mair +time was lost. The gentleman who wished to see me was dressin; so I was +shewn into a room, while the waiter went to inform him o' my arrival. In +a minute or twa after—durin which I was dancin aboot in a fever of +impatience, for fear o' losin the coach—the door o' the apartment flew +open, an' a laughin, joyous-lookin fellow, with a loud "Aha, Bob!" an' +extended hand, rushed in; but he didna rush far. The instant he got his +ee fairly on me, he stopped short, an', lookin as grave's a rat, bowed +politely, an' said he was exceedingly sorry to perceive that he had +committed a gross mistake.</p> + +<p>"The fact is, my dear sir," he said, becomin again affable, to +reconcile me, I suppose, to the unfortunate blunder, an' speakin wi' +great volubility, "my name is Smith, which, I suppose, is yours too, +sir. I'm from London. Now, you see, my dear sir, my brother Bob, who +lives in Ireland, and whom I haven't seen for some years, was to have +met me here last night, agreeably to arrangements made by letter, and we +were to have gone this morning, as it were, by the same coach in which +you were going, to visit some friends in that part of the country to +which it runs. Well, you see, I arrived here only this morning early; +but the first thing I did was to inquire if there was a Mr. Smith in the +house, and I was distinctly told by the rascal of a waiter that there +was no person of that name. Well, what does the fellow do, but come +running to my bedside, a little <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span>ago, and tells me that there <i>had been</i> +a Mr. Smith in the house over night, and that he was at that moment on +the top of the —— coach. Well, my dear sir, did not I immediately and +very naturally conclude that this Mr. Smith must be my brother! And thus +has this unlucky mistake happened. 'Pon my honour, I am most sorry for +it—exceedingly sorry, indeed."</p> + +<p>Bein naturally o' a very placable disposition, I didna say much in reply +to this harangue; but, mutterin something aboot there bein nae help +for't, rushed oot o' the hoose, an' down the confounded lang close, as +fast as my legs could carry me, and that was pretty fast; but no fast +aneuch to catch the coach. It was aff an' awa, mony a lang minute afore.</p> + +<p>"Aweel," said I, on discoverin this, "but this does beat cock-fechtin! +What, in heaven's name, am I to do wi' this unfortunate patronymic o' +mine? It's crossin me wi' mischief o' ae kind or anither at every step. +I suppose I'll be hanged in a mistake next. That'll be the end o't. I'll +change't, if I leeve to get hame—I'll change't, let what like be the +consequence, or I'll hae an <i>alias</i> added till't, before waur comes o't; +for this'll never do."</p> + +<p>In such reflections as thae did I expend the impatient feelin that the +loss o' the coach, an' the recollection o' certain ither sma' incidents, +with which the reader is acquainted, had gien rise to. But little guid +they did me; an' this I at length fand oot. Sae I just gied a bit smile +to mysel, an' made up my mind to wait patiently for the next coach, +which started the same nicht, though at a pretty late hour. Late as that +hour was, however, it cam roun, an', whan it did, it fand me, withoot +havin met wi' ony ither misfortune in the interim, mounted again on the +tap o' a coach. This time I was allowed to keep my seat in peace. The +coach drove awa, an' me alang wi't; an', in twal hours thereafter, I +fand mysel in my faither's hoose, safe and soun', after a' that had +happened me.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span>Shortly after the occurrences which I have just related, my puir faither +departed this life, and I, as his only son and heir, succeeded to a' his +possessions—stock, lock, and barrel; and I now only wanted a wife to +complete my establishment, and fix my position in society. This, +however, didna remain lang a desideratum wi' me. A wife I got, and as +guid a ane as ever man was blessed wi'; but it was rather a curious sort +o' way that I got her. Ae nicht, pretty late, in the summer o' the year +1796, a rather smart rap comes to our door. We were a' in bed—mother, +servant lass, and a'; but, on hearin't, I bangs up, on wi' my claes, +lichts a cannle, and opens the door. On doing this, then, I sees a +porter loaded wi' trunks and bandboxes, and behint him a very pretty, +genteel-lookin young woman.</p> + +<p>"Here's a frien o' yours come to see you, frae Edinburgh," says the +porter, whom I kent weel aneuch; and wi' this the young leddy comes +forward, wi' a licht step, and ane o' the prettiest smiles I ever saw; +and, says she, haudin oot her haun to me—</p> + +<p>"Ye'll no ken me, Mr. Smith, I dare say?"</p> + +<p>"No, indeed, mem," says I—"I do not."</p> + +<p>"I'm a cousin o' yours," said she—"Margaret Smith, and a dochter o' +your uncle William's."</p> + +<p>"Frae Edinburgh," said I, takin her cordially by the haun, and leadin +her into the parlour.</p> + +<p>"The same," said she smilin again; "and I'm just come doun to spend a +day or twa wi' ye, if ye hae room for me, and winna think me owre +troublesome."</p> + +<p>"Room!" said I—"plenty o' room; and, as for trouble, dinna mention +that." And I assisted my fair cousin to remove her shawl and other haps. +This cousin, I may mention by the way, I had never seen before; and +neither had she ever seen ony o' us, although we knew perfectly weel o' +each other's existence. But this within parentheses.</p> + +<p>Havin seen my pretty cousin—for she was really a bonny-lookin <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span>and +modest creature—made so far comfortable, I ran joyfully to my mother, +to inform her o' oor acquisition. My mother, who had never seen her +either, was delighted wi' the intelligence, and instantly rose to +welcome her. The servant was roused oot o' her bed, a little supper +prepared, and some delightful hours we spent together. I was charmed wi' +my fair cousin; so intelligent, so lively, so sensible, so +accomplished—so much o' everything, in short, that was captivatin in a +young and beautifu' woman. Nor was my mother less delighted wi' her than +I was. There were, indeed, some things spoken o' in the course o' +conversation between my mother, and oor guest, and I, relatin to family +affairs, in which we couldna somehow or other come to a distinct +understandin. There was something like cross-purposes between us; and I +observed that my fair cousin was extraordinary ignorant o' a' matters +concerning us, and o' the circumstances o' a number o' oor mutual +relations. But this neither my mother nor I thought much o', either. It +was just sae like a bit lively thochtless lassie, wha couldna be +expected to hae either the genealogy of a' her friends, or their +particular callins or residences, at her finger ends. However, as I said +before, we spent a pleasant evening thegither; and this followed by +eight as pleasant days, durin which time our fair guest continued to +make rapid progress in the affections o' baith my mother and me; +although, of course, the regard she excited was somewhat different in +its nature in the twa cases. In mine it was love—in my mother's esteem. +But a' this was to hae a sudden and curious termination. At the end o' +the eight days above alluded to, happenin to tak up a newspaper, I was +attracted by an advertisement bearing the following highly interesting +title—"Young Lady Missing." I read on, and found, to my amazement, that +the young lady was no other than my fair cousin. The notice stated, that +she had gone down to ——, to visit <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span>some relations; had left Edinburgh, +by the —— coach, on the mornin of the 10th, and had been safely set +down at ——; but that her relations there had seen nothing of her, and +that no trace of her could since be found. The advertisement concluded +by offering a handsome reward to any one who could give any such +information as might lead to a discovery of the young lady, either to +Mr. William Smith, haberdasher, ——, or to Mr. William Smith, No. 19, +Lavender Street, Edinburgh.</p> + +<p>Here, then, was a queer business. But, bein now somewhat accustomed to +thae things, I was at nae loss to discover the meanin o't. The young +lady wasna my cousin at a'—she had come to the wrang shop. She was a +niece o' Willie Smith the haberdasher's—and there was the mystery +solved at ance. It turned oot precisely sae. There was an awfu kick-up, +and an awfu rejoicin, and shakin o' hands, and writin o' letters, and +sae forth, after I had announced to the different parties how the matter +stood, and brocht them thegither. But I wasna gaun to lose my fair +cousin this way. I followed her to Willie Smith's, whar I was a welcome +aneuch guest, and availed mysel to the full o' the advantages which a +curious chance had thrown in my way, by eventually makin her my wife; +and, as I said before, a most admirable one she made, and still maks, as +she is sittin by my elbow at this present writin.</p> + +<p>Noo, guid reader, sae far hae I brocht the story o' my life, or +perhaps, rather o' my unfortunate name, (no a'thegither so unfortunate +either, since it helped me to sic a wife,) and I maun stop; but it's for +want o' room, and, I assure you, no for want o' matter. What I hae +tell't ye is no a tithe o' the sufferings I hae endured through this +unhappy patronymic o' mine. In truth, it was but the beginnin o' them. +The rest I may relate to ye on some future day. In the meantime, guid +reader, I bid ye fareweel, wi' a sincere houp that yer name's no Willie +Smith.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span> +</div> +<h2><a name="THE_PROFESSORS_TALES" id="THE_PROFESSORS_TALES"></a>THE PROFESSOR'S TALES.</h2> +<h3>PHEBE FORTUNE.</h3> + + +<p>I have now been upwards of forty years minister of the parish of C——. +Soon after I became minister, I stumbled one morning upon a small parcel +lying in a turnip field adjoining the manse. It appeared to me at first +to be a large hedgehog; but, upon further investigation, I found that it +was a seemingly new-born infant, wrapt carefully up in warm flannel, and +dressed in clothes which indicated anything but extreme poverty. There +was a kirk-road through the turnip field—my wonted passage to my glebe +land every morning; and the infant had manifestly been deposited with a +reference to my habits. I could not possibly miss seeing it—it lay +completely across my path—a road almost untrod by anybody save myself.</p> + +<p>As I happened to have a young, and a pretty large—or, in other phrase, +small—family of my own, I hesitated at first how to proceed; but a +moment's reflection taught me the necessity of acting rather than of +thinking; and I gathered up the little innocent in my arms, and hastened +back, with all possible speed, to the manse. The little hands of the +helpless existence were moving backwards and forwards, up and down; and +its lips plainly indicated a desire for its natural beverage.</p> + +<p>"Bless me!" said my dear wife, as I entered; "bless me, my dear, what's +that you are bringing us?"</p> + +<p>"It's a child," said I; "an infant—beautiful as day—only look at it."</p> + +<p>"None of your nonsense," said spousie, looking somewhat <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span>archly in my +face. "I'm sure, ye ken, we hae mae weans than we hae meat for already. +But where in all the world did you pick up this sweet little +darling?"—for, by this time, my wife had opened the flannel coverings, +and examined the features of the young stranger carefully.</p> + +<p>My second youngest girl, about four years of age, had joined us, and, +falling down on her knees, kissed the foundling's cheeks all over. In +fact, the news spread all over the manse in less than no time; and I had +my two eldest boys—then preparing for school—my eldest daughter, and +the two maid-servants, all tumbling into the parlour in a world of +amazement. My wife, however, having recovered from her first surprise +and burst of natural affection, began, very naturally, to speculate +about the parentage of the uninvited visitant. She examined its dress; +and, amongst other discoveries, found a piece of paper attached to the +body of the frock, inscribed with these words, in a plain printed +hand—"I am not what I seem. My name is Phebe." On searching a little +more particularly, a hundred-pound note was found stitched into a small +purse or bag, suspended from the infant's neck. We were all amazement. +My wife was all at once persuaded that the infant must be the offspring +of some lady of high quality, and that, by keeping her in our family, we +should be absolutely enriched by presents of hundred-pound notes every +other morning. She seemed to look upon poor Phebe as the philosopher's +stone, and thought that gold would, in future, be as plentiful in our +house as brass coinage had hitherto been. But who could be the mother of +this pretty, sweet, dear, darling, lovely child? Could it be—and she +whispered me knowingly in the ear; but I shook my head, and looked +equally knowing. Could it be Lady M——? I looked incredulity, and my +wife pushed her speculations no further. By this time <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span>my oldest daughter +had arranged Phebe's dress, and made all snug; and the poor little +infant gave audible intimation of a desire for food. What was to be +done? This question occupied us for about a quarter of an hour, when we +at last recollected that Lord C——'s gardener's wife had yesterday +buried her infant. She was immediately sent for, and, having no children +of her own, agreed, after some persuasion and the promise of a handsome +reward, to suckle poor Phebe. It was, indeed, beautifully interesting to +observe how Phebe's little hands wandered over the source of her +sustenance, and seemed to say, as plainly as hands could speak it, "I +have you now, and will not part with you again." Phebe grew—opened her +sweet blue eyes—smiled—and won all hearts in the course of a month. +But she was still a heathen, or, in other words, unbaptised; and, after +consulting the session, whom I advertised of all the circumstances, it +was agreed that the gardener's wife should take the vows, and name the +child. We all wept at the christening; there was something so unusual +and overpowering, so mysterious and exciting, in the whole transaction. +My wife suggested that she should be called "Phebe Monday," that being +the day on which she was found; but, somehow or other, I disliked the +combination of sounds exceedingly; and at last, at the suggestion of the +nurse-mother, we affixed Fortune to her Christian designation; and, +after the ceremony, which was performed in the gardener's house, we +drank a glass of ginger wine to the health and long life of little Phebe +Fortune, the foundling. Through the kindness of Lord C——, I had the +privilege of walking when I chose in his extensive gardens and +pleasure-grounds, which were in my parish, and adjoining to the manse; +and it was on one of the smooth-rolled grass walks of this garden that I +conducted little Phebe's first steps, when she put down her little foot +for the first time, and stood almost erect on the grass. Oh, how the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span>little doll screamed and chuckled as she tumbled over and rolled about; +ever and anon stretching out her little hand, and asking, as it were, my +assistance in aiding her inexperience and weakness. However, "<i>Tentando +fimus fabri</i>," by effort, frequently repeated, success is at last +secured; and Phebe at last flew off from me like an arrow, and, like an +arrow, too, alighted head foremost on the soft sward. Phebe won all +hearts when she began to syllable people's names. Me she called +"minny-man;" my wife, "minny-man-minny;" and her own nurse, "mother, ma, +ma, bonny ma! guid ma!" Year rolled on after year, and little Phebe was +the talk of all the country round. People passing on the highroad +stopped and spoke to her. Phebe used often to visit the manse, and to +play with my youngest daughter, only a few months younger than herself, +whilst I have often sat in my elbow chair, called in the family "Snug," +and said to myself, "I am sure I cannot tell which of these children I +am most attached to." All the features and properties of little Phebe +were aristocratic: beautiful feet and anckles; small, little plump +hands, and finely-tapered fingers; an eye of the purest water and the +most noble expression, beaming through a curtain of deep blue, under a +canopy of the finest auburn; a brow, nose, lips, and chin, all +exquisitely formed and proportioned. No child in the neighbourhood could +be compared with Phebe. Even my wife, prejudiced as she naturally was in +favour of her own offspring, used sometimes to say—"Our Jessie looks +well enough; but that child Phebe is a pear of another tree." To this I +readily assented, as I had no inclination to hint either the identity of +the tree or the affinity of the fruit.</p> + +<p>One day I was walking with little Phebe (who had now attained her +seventh year, and exhausted the last penny of the hundred pounds) in my +own little garden—we were quite alone, when the girl all at once +stopped her playfulness <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span>(for she was now a very lark), and, taking a +hold of my hand, pulled me gently, nothing loath, into an adjoining +little arbour: after I was seated, and Phebe had taken her wonted +station betwixt my knees, reserving either knee for future convenience, +the little angel looked up in my face so innocently and so sweetly, +saying—</p> + +<p>"You are Jessie's pa, are not you?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," I replied, "my dear child, I am."</p> + +<p>"But where is my pa? have I no pa? Gardener says you know all about it."</p> + +<p>I regretted exceedingly that anything should have passed betwixt the +foster-parents and their charge upon the subject; but, since it was so, +I judged it best at once to tell the child the truth, the whole truth, +and nothing but the truth. Phebe looked me most intently in the face as +I proceeded; and when I had finished by kissing her, and assuring her +that whilst I lived she should never want a pa, the poor dear burst into +tears, exclaiming, in an accent of complete misery—</p> + +<p>"No pa! no ma! Everybody has pa's and ma's but Phebe. Dear, dear +minny"—a term by which she still addressed me—"can you not tell me +anything about my own ma?"</p> + +<p>I assured her that I could not, having not the least information on the +subject.</p> + +<p>"Maybe she's dead"—and here again her feelings overcame her, and she +laid her head on my knee, with all its luxuriant tresses; and I felt the +tears warm on my person.</p> + +<p>From this day Phebe Fortune became a different child. Even at an +early age she had learned to think; but had been hitherto very averse to +learning, or school education. She was henceforth diligent and +attentive, making rapid progress in reading, writing, and accounts. Her +foster-mother taught her sewing; and little Phebe, by the time <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span>she was +eleven years old, was quite accomplished in all the necessary and useful +parts of a female education. But, alas! the instability of human +affairs!—poor Phebe caught a fever, which she communicated to her +foster-mother, and which occasioned <i>her</i> death in a few weeks, whilst +Phebe slowly recovered. The gardener's heart was broken—he had long +been subject to occasional fits of low spirits. Whether from accident or +not was never fully ascertained, nor even closely investigated; but he +was found one morning drowned, in a pond of water which ornamented the +east corner of the garden ground. As my own family was numerous, and my +stipend limited, I behoved to endeavour to place Phebe in some way of +doing for herself—still hoping, however, that time ere long would +withdraw the veil, and discover the sunny side of Phebe Fortune's +history. Seldom did a carriage pass the manse by the king's highway, +that my wife did not conjecture that it might perhaps stop at the bottom +of the avenue, and emit a fine lady, with fine manners and a genteel +tongue, to claim our now highly interesting ward. But the perverse +carriages persevered in rolling rapidly along, till at last, one fine +sunny afternoon, one did actually stop, and out stepped the lady, +middle-aged, splendidly attired, and advanced towards our habitation. My +wife's heart was at her mouth—she ran through the house in a few +seconds, from bottom to top, had Phebe put into her best attire, and all +diligence served upon the dusting and cleaning of carpets and chairs. +The lady appeared; but, to my wife's great disappointment, proved to be +no other than an old pupil of my own, who, in passing, had heard of my +residence, and wished kindly to renew an acquaintance interrupted by, +perhaps, not less than thirty years. Still my wife would not give up the +notion that Phebe resembled Lady D—— exceedingly, and that Lady D—— +seemed to eye her with more complacency than any of the rest of the +children. In the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span>course of conversation, I had occasion to acknowledge +that the beautiful being whom Lady D—— admired above all the rest of +my fine family was a foundling. This led to a detail of the whole +matter; and Lady D——, having conversed for a little with Phebe, took +such a liking to the girl that she proposed having her continually about +her person, as a kind of superior waiting-maid, half menial and half +companion, and to remove her from under our roof on the instant. +Although this was an offer too good and too opportune to be negatived, +yet we could not think of parting with our darling Phebe on so short a +warning; and, after some remonstrances on both sides, it was agreed that +the carriage should be sent for Phebe and me on a future day, which was +named, and that I should spend a few days with my old pupil, in her +recently acquired and lately inhabited mansion-house of Rosehall, little +more than thirty miles distant. The interval which took place betwixt +this proposal and its accomplishment was spent in needlework and other +little feminine preparations; and, as the day approached, we all felt as +if we could have wished that we had rejected the proposal with disdain. +Phebe was often seen in tears—but she was all resignation, and rejoiced +that I was to accompany her, and see her fairly entered. At last the +dreadful carriage, with its four horses, came into view at the foot of +our avenue (which, though possessed of a sufficiently imposing +appellation, was nothing more nor less than a very bad and nearly +impassable cart road), and we all began our march to meet the vehicle. +Promises of future visits were spoken of, and made, and solemnly sworn +to—a home, house, or manse was declared to Phebe at all times; but, +particularly, should she find herself unhappy in her new position; and +it was with difficulty that I got the now truly lovely, and all but +woman, Phebe, torn from the grasp and cling of my daughters, and handed +into the splendid and richly-lined chariot.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span>In the family of Lady D——, Phebe's duties were at once easy and +agreeable. She waited upon her mistress's bell in the morning, and was +soon taught how to assist at the toilet. During the day, she either read +aloud, whilst her Ladyship reposed after her forenoon's walk or drive, +or looked after the health and comfort of two favourite lap-dogs. At +night, again, she renewed her closet assistance, reading aloud some +paragraph which she had marked in a newspaper, and detailing such little +domestic incidents as came within the range of her somewhat limited +sphere of observation. Lord D—— was much engaged in public business +(being lord-lieutenant of the county), and in carrying on some +agricultural speculations by which he was much engrossed. There were two +young Honourables of the fair sex, and an only son—then attending his +studies at Oxford—children of the family. Phebe Fortune was now +fifteen, and seemed to increase in loveliness, and the most kindly, +intelligent expression of countenance, daily. Her eyes were heaven's own +<i>blue</i>—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"The little halcyon's azure plume<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Was never half so blue."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>And then, when she spoke or smiled, her countenance was altogether +overpowering; as well might you have attempted to look steadfastly upon +the sun in his midday radiance. Of <i>her</i> far more truly and forcibly +might it have been said or sung, than of the "Lassie wi' the Lint-white +Locks"—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"She talked, she smiled, my heart she wiled,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">She charmed my soul, I wat na hoo;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But aye the stound, the deadly wound,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Cam frae her een sae bonny blue."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Phebe, by my own arrangement with Lady D——, was not exposed to any +intimacy with the servants, male or female. She had her own apartment +and table; and all the menial duties were performed to her as regularly +as <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span>to any branch of the family. It was soon after my return from a three +weeks' visit at Rosehall, that I received the following letter from +Phebe. I got it at the post-office, unknown to any of my family; and I +kept it, as was my custom when I had anything agreeable to communicate, +till after dinner. The board having been cleared, and a tumbler of warm +toddy made, my wife's single glass having been filled out, and my +daughters having turned them all ear, I proceeded to read the following +maiden epistle of Phebe Fortune:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Dear, dear Papa, and ever dear Mamma, and all my own Sisters +dear—I am happy here; Lady D—— is so kind to me; and Lord D—— +looks very kind too, though he has not spoken to me yet—but then +you see he is always engaged; and the honourable young ladies—but +I do not think they are quite so kind; and they are so pretty too, +and so happy looking! Oh, I wish they would like me! If they would +only speak to me now and then as they pass me on the stair; but +they only stop and laugh to one another, and then they toss their +heads; and I can hear them say something about 'upsetting,' and +'mamma's whim, and papa's absurdity.' I'm sure—I'm sure, my dear +parents—(for, alas! I have none other, though I dream sometimes +that I have, and I feel so happy and delighted, that I always awake +crying)—but what was I going to say?—you know I never wrote any +letters before, and you will excuse this I know—I could not, I am +sure, speak of whim or absurdity in regard to you, my dear +benefactors. But I will try never to mind it. Lady D—— is so very +kind. I sometimes go out with the little dogs, Poodle and Clara; +they are such dear pets, I could take them, and do often take them +to my bosom. And then, the other day, when I was sitting playing +with Clara and Poodle, beneath the elm tree, the gardener's son +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span>passed me, and—no he did not pass, that is to say not all at +once—but he stopped, and asked me to take a flower, which he had +pulled for me, which I did, and then he offered to show me through +the hot houses, but I did not go. My dear mamma, do you think I +should have gone? And then he left me; but yesterday a little boy +gave me the following letter. And all that the letter contains is +this—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"If you love me as I love thee,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">What a loving couple we shall be!"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Love him!—oh, no—no—no—I will never, never walk that way +again—I will never, never speak to him more. I love you, my own +dear papa, and mamma, and my sisters, and Lady D——, and the two +little dear doggies; but I never could love Donald M'Naughton; not +but that he is good-looking, too, and young, and respected in the +family; but he never can be a father or mother to me you know, as +you have been. Oh! do write me soon, soon—and tell me all about +the garden, and the ash-tree, and the arbour, and the flowers, and +old Neptune, your favourite, and everything. I remain, most +affectionately, yours,</p> + +<p class="sig"> +<span class="smcap">Phebe Fortune.</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>"P.S.—But Fortune is not my name. Oh, that I had a name worth +writing!—such a name as Lindsay, Crawford, Hamilton, Douglas. Oh! +how beautifully Phebe Douglas would look on paper, and sound in +one's ear!"</p></div> + +<p>Such was the state of Phebe's mind and feelings at that interesting +period of life when the female is in the transition from the mere girl +to the real woman; and it was about this very period, when all the +feelings are peculiarly alive to each fine impulse, that it fell to +Phebe's lot to be severely tried. Day after day, and week after week, +Lady D—— missed some valuable article of dress, some Flanders lace, +some costly trinket, a ring it might be, or a bracelet. At last Lady +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span>D—— thought it proper to inform her lord of the fact, who, upon +obtaining a search warrant unknown to any one save his lady, had the +trunks of the whole household establishment strictly searched. Poor +Phebe's little chest, "wi' her a' int," discovered, to the amazement of +all, the whole lot of the missing articles. Lady D——looked as if she +had been suddenly struck with lightning; whilst poor Phebe regarded the +whole as a jest, a method adopted by her lady, or his lordship, to try +her character and firmness. She absolutely laughed at the denouement, +and seemed altogether unconcerned about the matter. This, to his +lordship in particular, appeared to be a confirmation of guilt; and he +immediately ordered her person to be secured, evidence of her guilt to +be made out, and a criminal trial to be instituted. When the full truth +dawned upon poor Phebe, she sat as one would do who is vainly +endeavouring to recollect something which has escaped his memory. Her +colour left her; she was pale as Parian marble; her eyes became dim, and +her ears sang; she fainted; and it was not till after great and repeated +exertion that she was recovered, through the usual painful steps, to a +perception of the outward world. She looked wildly around her. Lady +D—— was standing with her handkerchief at her eyes—she had wept +aloud.</p> + +<p>"O Phebe," said her ladyship, "are you guilty of this?"</p> + +<p>Phebe repeated the word "guilty" twice, looked wildly on Lady D——'s +eyes, and then, in an unsettled and alarmed manner, all round the room.</p> + +<p>"Guilty!" she repeated—"Guilty of what? Who is guilty? It is not he. I +am sure he could not be guilty. Oh, no—no—no—he is my father, my +friend, my protector, my minny, my dear, dear minny—he could not do it! +he never did it! You are all wrong!—and my poor, poor, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span>head, is +odd—odd—odd." Thus saying, she clasped her forehead in a frenzied +manner, and nature again came to her relief in a second pause of +insensibility, from which she only recovered to indicate that her +remaining faculties had seemingly left her. Time, however, gradually +awakened her to a perception of the sad reality; and it was from a +chamber in the castle, to which she was confined, that she wrote the +following letter to her original and kind protector:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<span class="smcap">Oh, my ever dear friend</span>—Your Phebe is accused of—I cannot write +it, I cannot bear to look at the horrid word—of stealing. Oh, that +you had let me lie where the wickedness of an unknown parent +exposed my helplessness to the random tread of the passenger! Oh, +come and see me; I grow positively confused; your Phebe is +imprisoned in her own chamber; but my poor head is swimming +again—there—there—I see everybody whirling about on the chimney +tops—there they go—there they go! I can only see to write</p> + +<p class="sig"><span class="smcap">Phebe.</span>"</p></div> + +<p>There was no date to this sad scrawl; but it needed none; for in +twenty-four hours after it had arrived at the manse, I had set out on my +way to Rosehall. The meeting betwixt the foster-father and the child +was, of course, exceedingly affecting. Investigations into the whole +matter were renewed, but no other way could be thought of for accounting +for the presence of the missing property in Phebe's locked trunk, than +the supposition which implied her guilt.</p> + +<p>"I could stake my life, my salvation," said I, "on Phebe's innocence." +But Lord D—— doubted; his Lady could not have believed it possible; +but still there were, she said, similar cases on record—one, quite in +point, had <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span>just occurred in her neighbourhood, where the guilty party +had, up to the dishonest act, borne a very high character. The circuit +trial came on in about ten days, and Phebe, accompanied by the minister, +and the best legal advice, was seated at the bar on her trial. Witnesses +were examined, who swore that they saw the trunk opened, and Lady +D——'s property discovered; others, particularly the lady's maid, swore +that she all along suspected Phebe, from seeing her always shutting, and +often locking her door inside. She once looked through the key-hole, and +saw Phebe busied with her trunk; she saw something in her hand that +sparkled. Phebe had no exculpatory evidence but her simple averment that +she knew not how the articles came there—she never brought them. The +king's advocate having restricted the sentence, and the jury having +brought in unanimously a verdict of guilty, the judge was on the point +of pronouncing a sentence of banishment, when the poor pannel fainted. +It was a most affecting scene to hear the sentence of banishment +pronounced over a piece of insensate clay. All wept—even the judge; and +Phebe was carried out of court, apparently quite dead.</p> + +<p>Next morning I was found sitting with a cheerful countenance by Phebe's +couch, in the prison-house. I had good news I said to impart to her:—</p> + +<p>"The girl who has been the principal witness against you, has been +suddenly seized, during the night, with an excruciating and evidently +fatal disease; in the agonies of death she has confessed to me, and in +the presence of Lady D—— too, that she had sworn to a lie; that she +herself with her own hand, and by means of a false key, placed the +articles—which she had originally stolen with the view of retaining +them—in your chest. This she had done from jealousy, having observed +that her lover, the gardener's son, had fixed his affections upon you."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span>All this was solemnly attested in the presence of witnesses, and all +this was conveyed in a suitable manner to the judge; in consequence of +which, and through the usual preliminary steps, Phebe was set free, and +again admitted into the full confidence and the friendship of the +family.</p> + +<p>It so happened, that a young nobleman had witnessed the whole trial +from the bench, and had taken an exceeding interest in Phebe, whose +beautiful and modest demeanour and countenance not even despair could +entirely disfigure. Having made some inquiries respecting her history, +he was led to make more, and discovered considerable emotion when I +unfolded the whole truth to him. Still he said nothing, but took his +departure, with many thanks for the information given. In a few days, +this same young nobleman, of remarkably fine features, and pleasing +expression, returned to the Manse of C——, having an elderly gentleman +in the carriage along with him. He requested a private interview with +me; and, in the presence of his friend, I travelled over again the whole +particulars of the foundling's story, comparing dates, and investigating +seeming inconsistencies. At last, he declared, at once, and in tears of +amazement and joy—"Phebe Fortune is my own—my only <i>sister</i>!" I looked +incredulous, and almost hinted at insanity; but the young nobleman still +persevered in his averment. His father, a nobleman of high rank, far +south of the Tweed, in order to gratify a passion which had driven him +almost mad, had consented to <i>pretend</i> to marry privately (his own +father being still alive, and set upon his son's marrying his cousin the +Honourable Miss D——), a most beautiful girl, the daughter of a Chester +yeoman of high respectability. The lady was removed from her native +home, and lodged in a remote quarter of the town of Liverpool. A report +was fabricated, and spread abroad by means of the newspapers, that a +lady, who was minutely described, had jumped one <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span>evening into a boat, +and, being rowed, at her request, to some distance, had plunged into the +sea, and perished. Phebe's parents investigated the matter, as far as +the boatman's evidence was concerned, and were satisfied from his +description of her person, that their dear Phebe, who, for some time +past, had appeared troubled and even dispirited, had adopted suicide as +a refuge from all her earthly cares. Phebe and the Honourable Mr. L—— +met frequently in secret, and a daughter was the fruit of their +interviews. This daughter the young nobleman proposed to put out to +nurse; but, in reality, to put beyond the reach of being ever recognised +as his. A confidential person was obtained, herself a Scotchwoman, to +carry the child into Fife, and there to expose it, under the +circumstances and with the provision already mentioned. This person +chanced to be a parishioner of mine, and the consequences were as +already described. Having executed her task, she married a soldier, with +whom she soon after sailed for our West India settlements. Phebe's +second birth proved to be a male; and the boy was about to be removed in +a similar manner from the mother, when she absconded from her now +tyrannical husband, and her concealed home, refusing to be again +separated from her own offspring. Her parents, who had regarded her as +dead, were sufficiently surprised, but by no means gratified, when Phebe +appeared again with the child in her arms. In the meantime, Lord +L——died, and the Honourable youth became Baron L—— of Houston-hope. +Poor Phebe's averment respecting her previous marriage was regarded, +even by her parents, as somewhat suspicious; and not being able to +command the testimony of the person who married them, she was compelled +to remain silent. The effort, however, soon cost her her life; and the +boy, by his acknowledged father's interest, was placed in the army, and +sent out to the West Indies. There he accidentally met with the woman +his <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span>mother had often mentioned to him, who had carried off his sister. +She confessed the whole truth to him; and, after a year or two, they +both returned in the same ship to England. By this time, the noble +husband being free to dispose of his hand in matrimony, proposed, not +for his cousin, as his father had contemplated, but for the daughter of +an exceedingly wealthy Liverpool merchant. This person happened to be +the near relative of him who had called what was deemed only a pretended +priest to perform the marriage ceremony; and, seeing the danger which +his relative would run, should he give away his daughter, in hopes of +her offspring heiring the title and property, when a legitimate heir +probably existed, he divulged the secret to his relations. This +naturally led to a denouement; and Lord L—— being thus frustrated in +his object, and being at the same time a person governed more by passion +than reason, shot the person who had deceived him through the arm; and +then, thinking that he had committed murder, he blew out his own brains.</p> + +<p>The brother of Phebe, after a long and complicated legal investigation, +was declared and served heir to the title and vast property. Taking the +clergyman who had married his mother along with him, he had gone into +Scotland, partly to visit his uncle, Lord D——, and partly, by the +assistance of the priest and the Scotchwoman, to discover what had +become of his sister. Her likeness to himself and his mother had struck +him forcibly in court, and the investigation and discovery followed.</p> + +<p>To describe the interview betwixt the brother and sister is far beyond +my power. Every heart will appreciate it more than ink and paper can +possibly express. It was a pure—a long—a terrible embrace; but it +spoke volumes, heart met heart, and lips were glued to lips, till +breathing became inconvenient. All parties rejoiced. Phebe, on her way +south along with her brother, spent a whole day <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span>at the Manse. I was +absolutely insane with joy; and my wife told me privately—"My dear, our +fortune is made; we'll get all our boys out to India now." My daughters, +too, kissed and fondled their sister, "and all went merry as a marriage +bell."</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"How sweet is pleasure after pain!"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>The contrast of Phebe's fortune greatly enhanced the enjoyment; and, in +the space of a few short months, Phebe Fortune was married to her own +cousin, the son of Lord and Lady D——, her kind protectors. The old +couple are still alive; but their children, with a numerous offspring, +live upon one of their estates in Ayrshire, and exhibit to all around +them the blessings which a humane and generous aristocracy may +disseminate amidst neighbours and dependents. The brother of Phebe, Lord +L——, still remains a bachelor; but has proved to his mother's +relatives, as well as to the parties who befriended her by deceiving his +dishonourable parent, that he feels the obligation, and rewards it, by +making them one way or another entirely independent.</p> + +<p>I go my weekly rounds amongst those now happy families, and have +experienced the truth of my wife's prophecy; for both my boys are +advantageously disposed of, and, on the marriage of my eldest daughter, +Phebe Fortune made her a present of one thousand pounds.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span> +</div> +<h2><a name="THE_ROYAL_BRIDAL" id="THE_ROYAL_BRIDAL"></a>THE ROYAL BRIDAL;</h2> +<h5>OR,</h5> +<h3>THE KING MAY COME IN THE CADGER'S WAY.</h3> + + +<p>Early in July, in the year of grace 1503, Lamberton Moor presented a +proud and right noble spectacle. Upon it was outspread a city of +pavilions, some of them covered with cloth of the gorgeous purple and +glowing crimson, and decorated with ornaments of gold and silver. To and +fro, upon brave steeds, richly caparisoned, rode a hundred lords and +their followers, with many a score of gay and gallant knights and their +attendant gentlemen. Fair ladies, too, the loveliest and the noblest in +the land, were there. The sounds of music from many instruments rolled +over the heath. The lance gleamed, and the claymore flashed, and +war-steeds neighed, as the notes of the bugle rang loud for the +tournament. It seemed as if the genius of chivalry had fixed its court +upon the heath.</p> + +<p>It may be meet, however, that we say a word or two concerning +Lamberton, for though, now-a-days, it may lack the notoriety of Gretna +in the annals of matrimony, and though its "<i>run of business</i>" may be of +a humbler character, there was a time when it could boast of prouder +visitors than ever graced the Gretna blacksmith's temple. To the reader, +therefore, who is unacquainted with our eastern Borders, it may be +necessary to say, that, at the northern boundary of the lands +appertaining to the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and about three miles, a +furlong, and few odd yards from that oft-recorded good town, a dry stone +wall, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span>some thirty inches in height, runs from the lofty and +perpendicular sea-banks, over a portion of what may be termed the +fag-end of Lammermoor, and now forming a separation between the laws of +Scotland and the jurisdiction of the said good town; and on crossing to +the northern side of this humble but important stone wall, you stand on +the lands of Lamberton. Rather more than a stone-throw from the sea, the +great north road between London and Edinburgh forms a gap in the wall +aforesaid, or rather "dyke;" and there, on either side of the road, +stands a low house, in which Hymen's high priests are ever ready to make +one flesh of their worshippers. About a quarter of a mile north of +these, may still be traced something of the ruins of the kirk, where the +princess of England became the bride of the Scottish king, and the first +link of the golden chain of UNION, which eventually clasped the two +nations in one, may be said to have been formed.</p> + +<p>The gay and gallant company were assembled on Lamberton, for within the +walls of its kirk, the young, ardent, and chivalrous James IV. of +Scotland was to receive the hand of his fair bride, Margaret of England, +whom Dunbar describes as a</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Fresche rose, of cullor reid and white."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>The wild heath presented all the splendour of a court, and the +amusements of a crowded city. Upon it were thousands of spectators, who +had come to witness the royal exhibitions, and the first durable bond of +amity between two rival nations. Some crowded to behold the tourneyings +of the knights with sword, spear, and battle-axe; others to witness the +representation of plays, written "expressly for the occasion;" while a +third party were delighted with the grotesque figures and positions of +the morris-dancers; and a fourth joined in, or were spectators of, the +humbler athletic exercises of wrestling, leaping, putting the stone, and +throwing the hammer.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span>All, too, were anxious to see the young king, whose courage and +generosity were the theme of minstrels, and of whom one sayeth—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"And ye Christian princes, whosoever ye be,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">If ye be destitute of a noble captayne,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Take James of Scotland for his audacitie<br /></span> +<span class="i2">And proved manhood, if ye will laud attayne."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>But the young monarch was as remarkable for his gallantry and +eccentricity, as for his generosity and courage; and no one seemed able +to tell whether or not he lodged in the magnificent pavilion over which +the royal standard of Scotland waved, or whether he intended to welcome +his royal bride by proxy.</p> + +<p>But our story requires that, for a time, we leave princes, knights, and +tournaments, and notice humbler personages, and more homely amusements. +At a distance from the pavilion, the tourneyings, the music, the plays, +and other exhibitions, was a crowd composed of some seven or eight +hundred peasantry engaged in and witnessing the athletic games of the +Borders. Near these were a number of humbler booths, in which the +spectators and competitors might regale themselves with the spirits and +tippeny then in use.</p> + +<p>Amongst the competitors was one called Meikle Robin, or Robin Meikle. He +was strength personified. His stature exceeded six feet; his shoulders +were broad, his chest round, his limbs well and strongly put together. +He was a man of prodigious bone and sinews. At throwing the hammer, at +putting the stone, no man could stand before him. He distanced all who +came against him, and, while he did so, he seemed to put forth not half +his strength, while his skill appeared equal to the power of his arm.</p> + +<p>Now, amongst the spectators of the sports, there stood one who was +known for many miles around by the appellation of <i>Strong Andrew</i>. He +was not so tall, by three inches, as the conqueror of the day; nor could +he measure <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span>with him either across the shoulders or around the chest; +and, in fact, he was rather a thin man than otherwise, nor did he appear +a powerful one—but his bones were well set. His sinews were all +strength—they were not encumbered with flesh. He was as much a model of +activity and suppleness, as Meikle Robin was of bodily power. Now, +Andrew was a native of Eyemouth; he was about three and thirty years of +age, and he united in his person the callings of a fisherman and cadger; +or, in other words, Andrew, being without mother, sister, wife, or +servant, sold himself the fish which he had caught. His domestic +establishment consisted of a very large and a very wise water-dog, and a +small pony; and with the last-mentioned animal he carried his fish +around the country. For several days, and on the day in question, he had +brought his store for sale to the camps or pavilions at Lamberton, where +he had found a ready and an excellent market. There, as Andrew stood and +witnessed the championship of Meikle Robin, his blood boiled within him; +and, "Oh," thought he, "but if I had onybody that I could trust to take +care o' the Galloway and my jacket, <i>and the siller</i>, but I wad take the +conceit oot o' ye, big as ye are."</p> + +<p>Andrew possessed his country's courage and its caution in equal +proportions; and, like a wise man, he did not choose to trust his money +by risking it to strangers. In such a motley company it would not be +safe to do so now a-days; but it would have been much less so then. For, +at that time, and especially on the Borders, the law of <i>mine</i> and +<i>thine</i> was still imperfectly understood. But Andrew's determination to +humble the champion was well-nigh overcoming his caution, when the +former again stepped into the ring, and cast off his jacket for a +wrestling bout. He stood looking round him for a minute; and it was +evident that every one was afraid to enter the lists against him. Andrew +could endure it no longer; and he was <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span>saying—"Will ony person tak +charge o' my Gallow-way?"——</p> + +<p>When a young man of middle stature, and whose dress bespoke him to be a +domestic of one of the noblemen who had come to witness the royal +festival, and grace it with their presence, entered the lists. Without +even throwing off his bonnet, he stretched out his arms to encounter the +champion, who met him—somewhat after the fashion that Goliath met +David—with contempt. But the first grasp of the stranger, as he seized +his arms above the elbows, instead of throwing them round his waist (as +was, and is the unscientific practice of the Borders), informed Robin +that he had no common customer to deal with. Robin, as a wrestler, in a +great measure trusted to mere strength and tripping. He knew nothing of +turning an antagonist from his centre of gravity by a well-timed and +well-directed touch. He therefore threw his arms around the back of his +opponent (so far as the grasp which the other had got of them would +permit), with the intention of giving him a "Hawick hug," but he found +he could not join his hands together so as to effect his purpose, and +his strength could not accomplish it. Ignorant of his antagonist's mode +of attack, he had allowed him an advantage over him; and when he +endeavoured to gain it by tripping his heels, the other suddenly changed +his feet, favoured Robin with a "Devonian kick," and suddenly dashing +his bended knee against his person, Robin lost his footing, and fell +upon his back, with the stranger above him.</p> + +<p>The spectators shouted; and Andrew, mounting his pony, exclaimed aloud—</p> + +<p>"Weel dune, stranger—I'm as glad as though I had gotten a gowden coin."</p> + +<p>Now, it is but justice to Andrew to say that he had repeatedly defeated +Meikle Robin, both at wresting, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span>cudgel-playing, and every athletic +exercise; but I shall give the reader an account of his having done so +on one occasion in his own words, as it is necessary for the forwarding +of our narrative.</p> + +<p>Andrew went to Lamberton with his fish on the following day, and again +he found a profitable market; and some words had again passed between +him and Meikle Robin; but, as he was returning home, he overtook the +stranger by whom Robin had been defeated.</p> + +<p>"Losh, man!" said Andrew, pulling up his pony, "is this ye? I canna tell +ye hoo glad I am to see ye, for I've dune naething but thocht o' ye ever +since yesterday, when I saw ye tak the brag oot o' Meikle Robin, just as +easily as I would bend a willy-wand. Now, I hope, sir, although ye are a +stranger, ye no think ill o' my familiarity?"</p> + +<p>"Think ill, comrade," said the other, "why should I do so?"</p> + +<p>"Why, I watna," said Andrew, "but there seems to be sae mony kind o' +butterflies getting about the court now, wi' their frills and their +gold-laced jackets, from what I can judge o' their appearance for some +days past on the Moor, that I wasna sure but it might be like-master +like-man wi' ye, and I was uncertain how to speak to ye. I didna ken but +that, in some things, ye might imitate your superiors, and treat a +cadger body as though they hadna been o' the same flesh an blood wi' +yoursel."</p> + +<p>The stranger laughed, and repeated the adage—</p> + +<p>"Why—the king may come in the cadger's way."</p> + +<p>"Very true, sir," said Andrew, "and may find him a man mair like +himsel than he imagines. But, sir, what I was gaun to say to you—and it +is connected wi' your defeating o' Meikle Robin yesterday—(at least I +wish to make it connected wi' it). Weel, just five days syne, I was at +Lamberton—it was the very day after the royal party arrived—and Robin +was there. Perhaps you was <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span>there yoursel; but the tents were there, and +the games, and the shows, and everything was going on just the same as +ye saw them yesterday. But, as I was telling ye, Meikle Robin was there. +Now, he gets the brag o' being the best cudgel-player, putter, and +wrestler, in a' Berwickshire—and, between you and I, that is a +character that I didna like to hear gaun past mysel. However, as I was +saying, on the day after the royal party had come to the Moor, and the +games were begun, he had the ball fairly at his foot, and fient a ane +durst tak him up ava. He was terribly insulting in the pride o' his +victoriousness, and, in order to humble him, some were running frae tent +to tent to look for Strong Andrew—(that is me, ye observe; for they ca' +me that as a sort o' nickname—though for what reason I know not). At +last they got me. I had had a quegh or twa, and I was gay weel on—(for +I never in my born days had had such a market for my fish; indeed, I got +whatever I asked, and I was wishing in my heart that the king's marriage +party would stop at Lammerton Moor for a twelvemonth)—but, though I had +a drappie ower the score, Robin was as sober as a judge; for, plague tak +him! he kenned what he was doing—he was ower cunnin to drink, and laid +himsel out for a quarrel. It was his aim to carry the 'gree' ower a' +upon the Moor at everything, that the king, who is said to be as fond o' +thae sort o' sports as onybody, might tak notice o' him, and do +something for him. There was a cowardliness in the very idea o' such +conduct—it showed a fox's heart in the carcase o' a bullock. Weel, +those that were seeking me got me, and clean off hand I awa to the tent +where he was making a' his great braggadocio, and, says I to him, +'Robin,' says I, 'I'm your man at onything ye like, and for whatever ye +like. I'll run ye—or, I'll jump ye—I'll putt the stone wi' ye—or, +<i>I'll fight ye</i>—and, if ye like it better, I'll wrestle ye—or try ye +at the cudgels—and dinna be cutting your <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span>capers there ower a wheen +callants.' Weel, up he got, and a ring was made aback o' the tent. He +had an oak stick as thick as your wrist, and I had naething but the bit +half switch that I hae in my hand the now, for driving up the Galloway. +Mine was a mere bog-reed to his, independent o' its being fully six +inches shorter—and, if ye ken onything about cudgelling, that was a +material point. 'Od, sir, I found I couldna cope wi' him. My stick, or +rather switch, was nae better than half a dozen o' rashes plaited +together. 'Will ony o' ye lend me a stick, gentlemen?' cried I to the +bystanders, while I keepit guarding him off the best way I could. Aboon +a dozen were offered in an instant. I gript at the nearest. Now 'Heaven +hae mercy on ye!' said I, and gied him a whissel beneath the elbow, and, +before ye could say Jock Robison! cam clink across his knee. I declare +to ye, sir, he cam spinning down like a totum. He talked nae mair o' +wrestling, or cudgelling, or onything else that day. I settled him for +four-and-twenty hours at ony rate. Weel, sir, I was perfectly delighted +when I saw you lay him on the broad o' his back yesterday; and I had nae +mair words wi' him, frae the day that I humbled him, until about four +hours syne, when I met in wi' him on the Moor, amang three or four o' +his cronies, at his auld trade o' boasting again. I had nae patience wi' +him. But he had a drop ower meikle, and, at ony rate, I thought there +could be nae honour in beating the same man twice. But, says I to him +'Ye needna craw sae loud, for, independent o' me bringing ye to the +ground at cudgelling, and making ye no worth a doit, I saw a youngster +that wrestled wi' ye yesterday, twist ye like a barley-strae.' And, to +do him justice, sir, he didna attempt to deny it, but said that ye wud +do the same by me, if I would try ye, and offered to back ye against ony +man in the twa kingdoms. Now, sir, I looked about all the day in the +crowd, just to see if I <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span>could clap my een on ye, and to ask ye, in a +friendly way, if ye would let me try what sort o' stuff ye are made o', +but I couldna fall in wi' ye; and now I'm really glad that I hae met wi' +ye—and as this is a gay level place here, and the ground is not very +hard, what do ye say if we try a thraw, in a neighbourly way; and after +that, we can cut a bit branch frae ane o' the allers, for a cudgelling +bout. Ye will really very particularly oblige me, sir, if ye will."</p> + +<p>The stranger readily replied, "With all my heart, friend—be it so."</p> + +<p>Andrew cast off his jacket and bonnet, and, throwing them on the ground, +his large water-dog, which was called Cæsar, placed himself beside them.</p> + +<p>"Dinna thraw till I get a grip," cried Andrew, as the stranger had him +already lifted from his feet—"that's no fair—it's no our country way +o' thrawing."</p> + +<p>The request was granted, and only granted, when Andrew measured his +length upon the ground, and his dog sprang forward to attack the victor.</p> + +<p>"Get back, Cæsar!" shouted its master—"It was a fair fa', I canna deny +it! Sorrow tak me if I thought there was a man in ten parishes could hae +done the like! Gie's yer hand," said he, as he rose to his feet; "I'll +thraw nor cudgel nae mair wi' you; but, as sure as my name's Andrew, I +would bite my last coin through the middle, to gie ye the half o't, +should ye want it. I like to meet wi' a good man, even though he should +be better than mysel—and, in the particular o' wrestling, I allow that +ye do bang me—though I dinna say how we might stand in other respects, +for they've no been tried. But it was a fair fa'. 'Od, ye gied me a jirk +as though I had been touched by lightning."</p> + +<p>Before reaching Eyemouth, they came to a change-house by the wayside, +which was kept by a widow, called Nancy <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span>Hewitt; and who was not only +noted on account of the excellence of the liquor with which she supplied +her customers, but who also had a daughter, named Janet, whose beauty +rendered her the toast of the countryside.</p> + +<p>"I am always in the habit," said Andrew, "o' stopping here for +refreshment, and, if ye hae nae objections, we'll toom a stoup +together."</p> + +<p>"Cheerily, cheerily," answered his companion.</p> + +<p>The fair daughter of the hostess was from home when they entered, and +Andrew inquired after her with a solicitude that bespoke something more +between them than mere acquaintanceship. The stranger slightly intimated +that he had heard of her, and, after a few seemingly indifferent +questions respecting her, for a few minutes became silent and +thoughtful.</p> + +<p>"Hoot, man," said Andrew, "I am vexed to see ye sae dowie—gie cauld +care a kick like a foot-ba'. This is nae time to be sad when the king is +merry, and the country's merry, an' we're a' happy thegither. Cheer up, +I say, man—what's the matter wi' ye?—care has a strange look on a +body's shouthers at seven or eight and twenty; and I dinna think ye can +be mair. I am on the wrang side o' three and thirty, and I would snap my +fingers at it, were it blawing its breath in my face as snell as a drift +on an open moor! Losh man! what ails ye? Ye would say I had met wi' a +friar in orders grey, lamenting owre the sins o' the world, and the +poverty o' his pocket, instead o' a young bang fellow like you, that's a +match for onybody. Come, here's to the health o' bonny Jenny Hewitt."</p> + +<p>"With all my heart," said the stranger; and, pronouncing the name of the +fair maiden, quaffed off his liquor.</p> + +<p>"Now, that's wiselike; there's some spirit in that," said Andrew, +following his example; "let's be merry while we can; that's aye my +creed. The ne'er a grain o' guid, as I <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span>used to say to my mother, comes +out o' melancholy. Let's hae a sang—I see you hae a singing face—or +I'll gie ye ane mysel, to mak a beginning."</p> + +<p>So saying, with a voice like thunder broken into music, he sang as +follows:—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i8">In our young, young days,<br /></span> +<span class="i8">When the gowany braes<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Were our temple o' joy and glee,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Some dour auld body would shake his head,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And tell us our gladness away would flee,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">And our hearts beat as heavy as lead.<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Stupid auld body—silly auld body—<br /></span> +<span class="i6">His mother spained him wi' a canker-worm.<br /></span> +<span class="i4">In our auld, auld days, the gowany braes<br /></span> +<span class="i6">Are memory's rainbows owre time and storm.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i8">In our proud young days,<br /></span> +<span class="i8">When the gowany braes<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Kenn'd the feet o' my love and me,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Some ill-matched carle would girn and say—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">"Puir things! wi' a twalmonth's marriage, and ye<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Will find love like a snaw-ba' decay."<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Stupid auld carle—leein' auld carle—<br /></span> +<span class="i6">His mother spained him wi' a canker-worm.<br /></span> +<span class="i4">In our auld, auld days, like gowany braes,<br /></span> +<span class="i6">Our love unchang'd, has its youthfu' form.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i8">In our grey-haired days,<br /></span> +<span class="i8">When the gowany braes<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Are owre steep for our feet to climb—<br /></span> +<span class="i2">When her back is bowed, and her lovely e'e,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Once bricht as a beam frae the sun, is dim—<br /></span> +<span class="i2">She'll be still my bit lassie to me.<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Stupid auld body—wicked auld body—<br /></span> +<span class="i6">Love, like the gowan's a winter liver.<br /></span> +<span class="i4">The smile o' a wife is the sun o' its life,<br /></span> +<span class="i6">An' her bosom a brae where it blooms for ever.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>A few minutes after Andrew had concluded his song, the fair daughter of +their hostess entered the house. Andrew's <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span>first glance bespoke the +lover, and the smile with which she returned it showed that the young +fisherman and cadger was not an unaccepted wooer.</p> + +<p>"By my sooth, fair maiden," said the stranger, "and thy sweet face +doesna belie its fame; admiration fails in painting the loveliness of +thy glowing cheeks, and thine een might make a moonbeam blush!"</p> + +<p>He seemed practised in the art of gallantry, and poured into her ear +other compliments in a similar strain. She hung her head, and turned it +aside from him, as a woman will when flattered, or when she wishes to be +flattered, but she did not rise to depart; and he felt that the incense +which he offered to her beauty was not unacceptable. But the words and +the attentions of the stranger were as daggers in the ears, and as +wormwood in the heart of Andrew.</p> + +<p>"The mischief rive his smooth tongue out o' his head!" thought Andrew; +"but though I hae nae chance in speaking balderdash wi' him, and though +he did thraw me (and it was maybe by an unmanly quirk after a'), I'll +let her see, if he has the glibest tongue, wha has the manliest arm!"</p> + +<p>Neither love nor liquor, however, can allay the cravings of a hungry +stomach, and the stranger (who evidently beguiled Andrew to drink more +than the portion that ought to have fallen to him) called for something +to eat, by way of a relish.</p> + +<p>"O sir," said Nancy Hewitt, their hostess, "I'm verra sorry an' vexed +that I hae naething in the house that I could gie ye—naething o' +kitchen kind but the haddocks which Andrew left this forenoon; an' I hae +been sae thrang wi' folk gaun back an' forret to Lamberton, that they're +no gutted yet. But if ye could tak them, ye are welcome to them."</p> + +<p>"Gut two, then, good dame, and prepare them," said the stranger.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span>"I doubt, sir, twa winna do," said she, "for they're but sma'—I had +better gut thrie."</p> + +<p>"Certainly, <i>gut thrie</i>," said Andrew; "I brought the stranger in—and +what is a haddie, or what are they worth?" for Andrew was anxious that +the attention of his companion should be turned to anything, were it +only withdrawn from Janet's face.</p> + +<p>"You are a generous-hearted fellow," said the stranger, "and <i>gut thrie</i> +shall I call you, if we meet again."</p> + +<p>Having therefore partaken of his repast, he proposed that they should +again fill the stoup to friendship's growth; and although Andrew was +wroth and jealous because of the words which he had spoken, and the +attention he had shewn to fair Janet, he was not made of materials to +resist the proposition to have another cup. But while they were yet +drinking it, Andrew's pony, which had repeatedly raised its fore foot +and struck it heavily on the ground, as if calling on its master to +"come," being either scared, or its patience being utterly exhausted, +set off at a canter from the door. He had rushed out without his bonnet, +but, before he reached the road, it was fully forty yards a-head of him, +and the louder he called on it, the nearer did the pony increase its +pace to a gallop.</p> + +<p>Andrew had scarce reached the door, when the stranger drew out a +well-lined purse, and, after jerking it in his hand, he again replaced +it in his pocket, and more boldly than before renewed his gallantries to +fair Janet. Emboldened, however, by what he conceived to have been his +recent success, he now overshot the mark; and, as Andrew again reached +the house, he was aroused by the cries of—</p> + +<p>"Mother! Mother!—O Andrew! Andrew!"</p> + +<p>Old Nancy's voice, too, broke upon his ears at its highest scolding +pitch; but he could only distinguish the word "Scoundrel!"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span>He rushed into the room, and there he beheld his own Janet struggling in +the embrace of the stranger.</p> + +<p>"Villain!" cried Andrew, and the other started round—but with our +fisherman at all times it was but a word and a blow—and his blood, +which before had been heated and fermenting, now boiled—he raised his +hand and dealt a blow at his companion, which, before he could parry it, +laid him prostrate on the floor.</p> + +<p>"Base loon!" cried the stranger, starting to his feet, "ye shall rue +that blow." And he flung off his bonnet as if to return it.</p> + +<p>"Hooly, billy," said Andrew, "there is as little manliness in fighting +afore women as there was in your conduct to my bit Janet. But naething +will gie me mair satisfaction than a round wi' ye—so wi' a' my +heart—come to the door, and the best man for it."</p> + +<p>Blood was issuing from the lips of the stranger, but he seemed nothing +loath to accompany his quondam friend to the door. Janet, however, flung +her arms around Andrew, and the old woman stood between them, and +implored them, for her sake, to keep the peace towards each other.</p> + +<p>"O sir!" cried she, "let there be nae such carryings on in my house. My +dochter and me are twa lone women, and the disgrace o' such an +on-carrying, and at such a time, too, when the king an a' the gentry are +in the neighbourhood, might be attended by there's nae saying what +consequences to me and mine. Andrew, man, I wonder that ye haena mair +sense."</p> + +<p>"Sense!" returned Andrew, "I hae baith sense and feeling; and had it +been the king himsel that I saw layin a hand upon my Janet, I would hae +served him in the same way that I did that man."</p> + +<p>"Ye brag largely and freely, neighbour," said the stranger; throwing +down a noble upon the table to pay for his <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span>entertainment; "but we shall +meet again, where there are no women to interfere."</p> + +<p>"Tak up your gowd, sir," replied Andrew, "for though I can boast o' nae +sic siller, coppers will pay for a' that we have had. I brought you in +here to treat ye, and our quarrel shall make nae difference as to that. +Sae put up your gowd again; and as to meeting ye—I will meet ye the +night, the morn, at ony place, or at ony time."</p> + +<p>"I shall ask ye to meet me before ye dare," said the stranger; and +leaving the coin upon the table as he left the house, "the gowd," added +he, "will buy a gown and a bodice for the bosom of bonny Janet."</p> + +<p>"I insist, sir, that you tak back the siller," cried Andrew.</p> + +<p>"Dearsake, Andrew," said old Nancy, "he's no offering it to you! It's no +you that has ony richt to refuse it." And taking up the piece, she +examined it with a look of satisfaction, turning it round and round in +her fingers—wrapped it in a small piece of linen rag, which lay in a +corner of the room, and mechanically slipped it into her pocket. But it +was neither every day, every week, nor every year, that Nancy Hewitt saw +a coin of gold.</p> + +<p>On the third day after the encounter between Strong Andrew and the +stranger, the last and great day of the festivities on Lamberton took +place; for on that day the royal bride was to arrive. The summer sun +ushered in a glorious morning—its beams fell as a sheet of gold on the +broad ocean, melting down and chaining its waves in repose. To the south +lay Lindisferne, where St. Cuthbert had wrought miracles, with the Ferne +Isles where he lived, prayed, and died, and the proud rock on which King +Ida reigned.<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> They seemed to sleep in the morning sunbeams—smiling in +sleep. To the north was gigantic St. Abb's, stretching out into the sea, +as if reposing on its breast; amidst their <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span>feet and behind them, +stretched the Moor and its purple heather; while, from the distance, the +Cheviots looked down on them; and Hallidon, manured by the bones of +slaughtered thousands, lay at their hand.</p> + +<p>Yet, before sunrise, thousands were crowding to the gay scene, from +every corner of Berwickshire, and from Roxburgh and the Eastern Lothian. +The pavilions exhibited more costly decorations. Fair ladies, in their +gayest attire, hung upon the arms of brave knights. An immense +amphitheatre, where the great tourneyings and combats of the day were to +take place, was seated round; and at one part of it was a richly +canopied dais, where the young king, with his blooming queen, and the +chief peers and ladies of both countries, were to sit, and witness the +spectacle. Merry music reverbed in every direction, and the rocks and +the glens re-echoed it; and ever and anon, as it pealed around, the +assembled thousands shouted—"Long live our guid king James, and his +bonny bride." Around the pavilions, too, strutted the courtiers with the +huge ruffles of their shirts reaching over their shoulders—their +scented gloves—flat bonnets, set on the one side of their heads like +the cap of a modern dandy—spangled slippers, and a bunch of ribbons at +their knees.</p> + +<p>Amongst the more humble followers of the court, the immortal Dunbar, +who was neglected in his own day, and who has been scarce less neglected +and overlooked by posterity, was conspicuous. The poet-priest appeared +to be a director of the intellectual amusements of the day. But although +they delighted the multitude, and he afterwards immortalised the +marriage of his royal master, by his exquisite poem of "The Thistle and +the Rose," he was doomed to experience that genius could neither procure +the patronage of kings nor church preferment; and, in truth, it was +small preferment with which Dunbar would have been satisfied, for, after +dancing the courtier in vain <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span>(and they were then a race of beings of +new-birth in Scotland), we find him saying—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Greit abbais graith I nill to gather<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But <i>ane kirk scant coverit with hadder,</i><br /></span> +<span class="i0"><i>For I of lytil wald be fane</i>."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>But, in the days of poor Dunbar, church patronage seems to have been +conferred somewhat after the fashion of our own times, if not worse, for +he again says—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"I knaw nocht how the kirk is gydit,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But benefices are nocht leil divydit;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Sum men hes sevin, and I nocht ane!"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>All around wore a glad and a sunny look, and, while the morning was yet +young, the sound of the salute from the cannon on the ramparts of +Berwick, announced that the royal bride was approaching. The pavilions +occupied a commanding situation on the heath, and the noble retinue of +the princes could be observed moving along, their gay colours flashing +in the sun, a few minutes after they issued from the walls of the town. +A loud, a long, and a glad shout burst from the Scottish host, as they +observed them approach, and hundreds of knights and nobles, dashing +their glittering spurs into the sides of their proudly caparisoned +steeds, rode forth to meet them, and to give their welcome, and offer +their first homage to their future queen. There was a movement and a +buzz of joy throughout the multitude; and they moved towards the ancient +kirk.</p> + +<p>The procession that accompanied the young princess of England into +Scotland drew near; at its head rode the proud Earl of Surrey, the Earl +of Northumberland, warden of the eastern marches, with many hundreds +more, the flower of England's nobility and gentry, in their costliest +array. In the procession, also, were thousands of the inhabitants of +Northumberland; and the good citizens of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span>Berwick-upon-Tweed, headed by +their captain, Lord Thomas Darcy, and the porter of their gates, Mr. +Christopher Clapham, who was appointed one of the trustees on the part +of the king of England, to see that the terms of his daughter's jointure +were duly fulfilled.</p> + +<p>There, however, was less eagerness on the part of the young monarch to +behold his bride than on that of his subjects. We will not say that he +had exactly imbibed the principles of a libertine, but it is well known +that he was a <i>gallant</i> in the most <i>liberal</i> signification of the term, +and that his amours extended to all ranks. He had, therefore, until he +had well nigh reached his thirtieth year, evaded the curb of matrimony; +and it was not until the necessity of his marriage, for the welfare of +his country, was urged upon him by his nobles, that he agreed to take +the hand of young Margaret of England. And of her it might have been +truly said, that his</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Peggy was a young thing,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Just entering in her teens,"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>for she had hardly completed her fourteenth year. But she was a +well-grown girl, one on whom was opening the dawn of loveliest +womanhood—she was beautiful, and the gentleness of her temper exceeded +her beauty. Young James was the most chivalrous prince of his age: he +worshipped beauty, and he could not appear coldly before one of the sex. +And having come to the determination (though unwillingly) to give up his +bachelorism, or, as he called it, liberty, he at length resolved to meet +his bride as became one whose name was chronicled on the page of +chivalry. He accordingly arrayed himself in a jacket of black velvet, +edged with crimson, and the edgings bordered with a white fur. His +doublet was of the finest satin, and of a violet colour; his spurs were +of gold, his hose crimson, and precious stones bespangled his +shirt-collar. The reiterated shouts of the multitude announced the +approach of the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span>queen, and, thus arrayed, the young king rode forth to +greet her.</p> + +<p>He entered the kirk, at the further end of which stood his fair bride +between the Earls of Surrey and Northumberland. He started, he seemed to +pause as his eyes fell upon her, but in a moment they were again lighted +up with more than their wonted lustre. He had heard of her loveliness, +but report had failed in doing justice to the picture. He approached to +where she stood—he sank upon his knee—he raised her hand to his lips. +The English nobility were struck with admiration at the delicate +gallantry of the Scottish king.</p> + +<p>I need not enter into the particulars of the ceremony. The youthful +monarch conducted his yet more youthful bride and her attendants to his +pavilion, while the heralds summoned the knights to the tournament, and +prepared the other sports of the day. He took his lute and performed +before her, and he sang words of his own composition, which related to +her—for, like others of his family that had gone before, and that came +after him, James had a spark of poetry in his soul.</p> + +<p>"And dost thou understand this instrument, my own love?" said he, +handing her the lute.</p> + +<p>She blushed, and, taking it in her hand, began to "discourse most +eloquent music," and James, filled with admiration, again sinking on his +knee, and clasping his hands together, remained in this attitude before +her, until the trumpets of the heralds announced that the knights were +in readiness for the tournament.</p> + +<p>Thousands were crowded around the circle in which the knights were to +exhibit their skill and prowess. The royal party took their seats on the +dais prepared for them. Several trials of skill, with sword, spear, and +battle-axe, had taken place, and the spectators had awarded to the +successful competitors their shouts of approbation, when <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span>the young king, +who sat beside his queen, surrounded by the Lords Surrey and +Northumberland, and the nobles of his kindred, together with the ladies +of high degree, said—</p> + +<p>"Troth, my lords, and whatever ye may think, they play it but coldly. +Excuse me, your Majesty, for a few minutes," continued he, addressing +his young bride; "I must put spirit into the spectacle."</p> + +<p>Thus saying, the young monarch left the side of his bride, and, for a +time, the same breaking of swords, spears, and battle-axes continued, +when the chief herald of the tournament announced the <span class="smcap">Savage Knight.</span> He +entered the lists on foot, a visor concealing his face, arrayed as an +Indian chief. He was clothed in a skin fitting tightly to his body, +which gave half of it the appearance of nudity. In his left hand he held +a javelin, in his right hand he brandished a spear.</p> + +<p>"Who is he?" was the murmur that rang through the crowd; but no one +could tell, and the knights in the area knew not. He walked towards the +centre of the circle—he raised his spear—he shook it in defiance +towards every knight that stood around—and they were there from England +as well as from Scotland. But they seemed to demur amongst themselves +who should first measure their strength with him. Not that they either +feared his strength or skill, but that, knowing the eccentricity of the +king, they apprehended that the individual whom he had sent against +them, in such an uncouth garb, and who was to hold combat with them at +such extravagant odds, they being on horseback, while he was on foot, +might be no true knight, but some base-born man whom the monarch had +sent against them for a jest's sake. But, while they communed together, +the <i>Savage Knight</i> approached near where they stood, and, crying to +them, said—</p> + +<p>"What is it ye fear, Sir Knights, that ye hold consultation <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span>together. +Is it my mailed body, or panoplied steed?—or fear ye that my blood is +base enough to rust your swords? Come on, ye are welcome to a trial of +its colour."</p> + +<p>Provoked by his taunt, several sprang from their horses, and appeared +emulous who should encounter him. But, at the very onset, the Savage +Knight wrested the sword of the first who opposed him from his hand. In +a few minutes the second was in like manner discomfited, and, after a +long and desperate encounter, the third was hurled to the ground, and +the weapon of the wild knight was pointed to his throat. The spectators +rent the air with acclamations. Again the unknown stood in the midst of +the circle, and brandished his spear in defiance. But enough had been +seen of his strength and his skill, and no man dared to encounter him. +Again the multitude shouted more loudly, and he walked around the +amphitheatre, bowing lowly towards the spectators, and receiving their +congratulations.</p> + +<p>Now, in the midst of the motley congregation, and almost at the point +farthest removed from the dais of royalty, stood none other than Strong +Andrew, with bonny Janet under his arm; and it so happened, that when +the Savage Knight was within view of where Andrew stood, his visor fell, +and, though it was instantly replaced, it enabled our sturdy fisherman +to obtain a glance of his countenance, and he exclaimed—</p> + +<p>"'Od save us, Janet, woman, look, look look!—do ye see wha it is! +Confound me, if it isna the very chield that I gied the clout in the lug +to in your mother's the other night for his good behaviour. Weel, as +sure as death, I gie him credit for what he has done—he's ta'en the +measure o' their feet, onyway! A knight!—he's nae mair a knight than +I'm ane—but it shows that knights are nae better than other folk."</p> + +<p>There was a pause for a short space—again the monarch <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span>sat upon the +dais by the side of his blooming bride. The great spectacle of the day +was about to be exhibited. This spectacle was a battle in earnest +between an equal number of Borderers and Highlanders. The heralds and +the marshals of the combat rode round the amphitheatre, and proclaimed +that rewards would be bestowed on all who signalized themselves by their +courage, and to the most distinguished a purse of gold would be given by +the hands of the king himself. Numbers of armed clansmen and Borderers +entered the area. Andrew's fingers began to move, and his fists were +suddenly clenched, relaxed, and clenched again. He began to move his +shoulders also. His whole body became restless, and his soul manifested +the same symptoms, and he half involuntarily exclaimed—</p> + +<p>"Now, here's a chance!"</p> + +<p>"Chance for what, Andrew dear?" inquired Janet, tremulously—for she +knew his nature.</p> + +<p>"To mak a fortune in a moment," returned he, eagerly—"to be married the +morn! The king is to gie a purse o' gold!"</p> + +<p>Now, the only obstacle that stood between the immediate union of Andrew +and Janet was his poverty.</p> + +<p>"Oh, come awa, Andrew, love," said she, imploringly, and pulling his arm +as she spoke; "I see your drift!—come awa—come awa—we have seen +enough. Dinna be after ony sic nonsense, or thrawing awa your life on +sic an errand."</p> + +<p>"Wheesht, Janet, hinny—wheesht," said he; "dinna be talking havers. +Just stand you here—there's not the smallest danger—I'll be back to ye +in ten minutes or a quarter of an hour at the utmost—ye may tak my word +upon that."</p> + +<p>"Andrew!" cried she, "are ye out o' yer mind a'thegither—or do ye want +to put me out o' mine! I really think it looks like it! O man, would ye +be guilty o' murdering <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span>yoursel, I may say!—come awa—come awa, +dear—for I'll no stand to see it."</p> + +<p>"Hoot, Janet, hinny," returned he, "come, dear, dinna be silly."</p> + +<p>Now, the number of the Highland party was completed, and they stood, a +band of hardy, determined, and desperate-looking men; but the party of +the Borderers was one deficient.</p> + +<p>"Is there not another," cried the herald, "to stand forth, and maintain +with his sword the honour and courage of the Borders?"</p> + +<p>"Yes! here am I!" shouted Andrew, and drawing Janet's arm from his; +"now, dearest," added he, hastily, "just hae patience—just stand here +for ten minutes—and I'll let ye see what I can do."</p> + +<p>She would have detained him; but in a moment he sprang into the +amphitheatre, and exclaimed—</p> + +<p>"Now, Sir Knights, ye that hae been trying yer hands at the tourneyings, +will ony o' ye hae the guidness to obleege me wi' the loan o' yer sword +for a wee while, and I'll be bond for ye I'll no disgrace it—I'll try +the temper o' it in earnest."</p> + +<p>Andrew instantly had a dozen to choose upon; and he took his place +amongst the Borderers.</p> + +<p>When he joined them, those who knew him, said—"The day is ours—Andrew +is a host in himsel."</p> + +<p>The marshals gave the signal for the onset; and a deadly, a savage +onset it was. Swords were shivered to the hilt. Men, who had done each +other no wrong, who had never met before, grasped each other by the +throat—the Highland dirk and the Border knife were drawn. Men plunged +them into each other—they fell together—they rolled, the one over the +other, in the struggles and the agonies of death. The wounded strewed +the ground—they strove to crawl from the strife of their comrades. The +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span>dead lay upon the dying, and the dying on the dead. Death had reaped a +harvest from both parties; and no man could tell on which side would lie +the victory. Yet no man could stand before the sword-arm of +Andrew—antagonist after antagonist fell before him. He rushed to every +part of the combat; and wheresoever he went, the advantage was in favour +of the Borderers. He was the champion of the field—the hero of the +fight. The king gave a signal (perhaps because his young queen was +horrified with the game of butchery), and at the command of the marshals +the combatants on both sides laid down their arms. Reiterated shouts +again rang from the spectators. Some clapped their hands and +cried—"Eyemouth yet!"—"Wha's like Andrew!"—"We'll carry him hame +shouther high!" cried some of his townsmen.</p> + +<p>During the combat, poor Janet had been blind with anxiety, and was +supported in the arms of the spectators who saw him rush from her side. +But as the shouts of his name burst on her ear, consciousness returned; +and she beheld him, with the sword in his hand, hastening towards her. +Yet ere he had reached where she stood, he was summoned, by the +men-at-arms, who had kept the multitude from pressing into the +amphitheatre, to appear before the king, to receive from his hands the +promised reward.</p> + +<p>Anxious as he had been to obtain the prize, poor Andrew, notwithstanding +his heroism, trembled at the thought of appearing in the presence of a +monarch. His idea of the king was composed of imaginings of power, and +greatness, and wisdom, and splendour—he knew him to be a man, but he +did not think of him as such. And he said to those who summoned him to +the royal presence—</p> + +<p>"Oh, save us a', sirs! what shall I say to him? or what will he say to +me? How shall I behave? I would rather want the siller than gang wi' +ye!"</p> + +<p>In this state of tremor and anxiety, Andrew was conducted <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span>towards the +canopied dais before the Majesty of Scotland. He was led to the foot of +the steps which ascended to the seat where the monarch and his bride +sat. His eyes were riveted to the ground, and he needed not to doff his +bonnet, for he had lost it in the conflict.</p> + +<p>"Look up, brave cock o' the Borders," said the monarch; "certes, man, ye +would hae an ill-faured face if ye needed to hide it, after exhibiting +sic a heart and arm."</p> + +<p>Andrew raised his head in confusion; but scarce had his eyes fallen on +the countenance of the king, when he started back, as though he beheld +the face of a spirit.</p> + +<p>"Ha! traitor!" exclaimed the monarch, and a frown gathered on his brow.</p> + +<p>In a moment, Andrew perceived that his victor-wrestler—his crony in +Lucky Hewitt's—the tempter of his Janet—the man whom he had felled +with a blow, and whose blood he had drawn—and the King of Scotland, was +one and the same person.</p> + +<p>"Guid gracious!" exclaimed Andrew, "I'm a done man!"</p> + +<p>"Seize him!" said the king.</p> + +<p>But ere he had said it, Andrew recollected that if he had a good right +hand, he had a pair of as good heels; and if he had trusted to the one a +few minutes before, he would trust to the latter now, and away he +bounded like a startled deer, carrying his sword in his hand.</p> + +<p>A few seconds elapsed before the astonished servants of the king +recovered presence of mind to pursue him. As he fled, the dense crowd +that encircled the amphitheatre surrounded him; but many of them knew +him—none had forgotten his terrible courage—and, although they heard +the cry re-echoed by the attendants of the monarch to seize him, they +opened an avenue when he approached, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span>and permitted him to rush through +them. Though, perhaps, the fear of the sword which he brandished in his +hand, and the terrible effects of which they had all witnessed, +contributed not less than admiration of his courage, to procure him his +ready egress from amongst them.</p> + +<p>He rushed towards the sea-banks, and suddenly disappeared where they +seemed precipitous, and was lost to his pursuers; and after an hour's +search, they returned to the king, stating that they had lost trace of +him, and could not find him.</p> + +<p>"Go back, ye bull-dogs!" exclaimed our monarch, angrily; "seek him—find +him—nor again enter our presence until ye again bring him bound before +us at Holyrood."</p> + +<p>They therefore again proceeded in quest of the unfortunate fugitive; and +the monarch having conducted his royal bride to the pavilion, cast off +his jacket of black velvet, and arrayed himself in one of cloth of gold, +with edgings of purple and of sable fur. His favourite steed, +caparisoned to carry two, and with its panoply embroidered with jewels, +was brought before his pavilion. The monarch approached the door, +leading his queen in his hand. He lightly vaulted into the saddle—he +again took the hand of his bride, and placed her behind him; and in this +manner, a hundred peers and nobles following in his train, the King of +Scotland conducted his young queen through the land, and to the palace +of his fathers. The people shouted as the royal cavalcade departed, and +Scotch and English voices joined in the cry of—"Long live Scotland's +king and queen." Yet there were some who were silent, and who thought +that poor Andrew the fisherman, the champion of the day, had been +cruelly treated, though they knew not his offence. Those who knew him, +said—</p> + +<p>"It bangs a'! we're sure Andrew never saw the king <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span>in his life before. +He never was ten miles out o' Eyemouth in his days. We ha'e kenned him +since a callant, and never heard a word laid against his character. The +king must hae taken him for somebody else—and he was foolish to run for +it."</p> + +<p>But, while the multitude shouted, and joined in the festivities of the +day, there was one that hurried through the midst of them, wringing her +hands, and weeping as she went—even poor Janet. At the moment when she +was roused from the stupefaction of feeling produced by the horrors of +the conflict, and when her arms were outstretched to welcome her hero, +as he was flying to them in triumph, she had seen him led before his +prince, to receive his praise and his royal gifts; but, instead of +these, she heard him denounced as a <i>traitor</i>, as the king's words were +echoed round. She beheld him fly for safety, and armed men pursuing him. +She was bewildered—wildly bewildered. But every motion gave place to +anguish; and she returned to her mother's house alone, and sank upon her +bed, and wept.</p> + +<p>She could scarce relate to her parent the cause of her grief; but +others, who had been witnesses of the regal festival, called at Widow +Hewitt's for refreshment, as they returned home, and from them she +gathered that her intended son-in-law had been the champion of the day; +but that, when he had been led forward to receive the purse from the +hands of the king, the monarch, instead of bestowing it, denounced him +as a traitor; "and when he fled," added they, "his majesty ordered him +to be brought to him dead or alive!"—for, in the days of our fathers, +men used the <i>license</i> that is exemplified in the fable of the Black +Crows, quite as much as it is used now. The king certainly had commanded +that Andrew should be brought to him; but he had said nothing of his +being brought <i>dead</i>.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span>Nancy lifted her hands in astonishment as high as her ceiling (and it +was not a high one, and was formed of rushes)—"Preserve us, sirs!" said +she, "ye perfectly astonish me athegither! Poor chield! I'm sure Andrew +wadna harm a dog! A <i>traitor!</i> say ye, the king ca'ed him? That's +something very bad, isn't it? An' surely—na, na, Andrew couldna be +guilty o't—the king maun be a strange sort o' man."</p> + +<p>But, about midnight, a gentle knocking was heard at the window, and a +well-known voice said, in an undertone—</p> + +<p>"Janet! Janet! it is me!"</p> + +<p>"It is <i>him</i> mother! it is Andrew! they haena gotten him yet!" And she +ran to the door and admitted him; and, when he had entered, she +continued, "O Andrew! what, in the name o' wonder, is the meaning o' the +king's being in a passion at ye? What did ye say or do to him?—or what +can be the meaning o't?"</p> + +<p>"It is really very singular, Andrew," interrupted the old woman; "what +<i>hae</i> ye done?—what <i>is really the meaning o't</i>?"</p> + +<p>"Meaning!" said Andrew, "ye may weel ask that! I maun get awa' into +England this very night, or my life's no worth a straw; and it's ten +chances to ane that it may be safe there. Wha is the king, think +ye?—now, just think wha?"</p> + +<p>"Wha <i>is</i> the king!" said Nancy, with a look, and in a tone of +astonishment—"I dinna comprehend ye, Andrew—what do ye mean? Wha can +the king be, but just the king."</p> + +<p>"Oh!" said Andrew, "ye mind the chield that cam here wi' me the other +night, that left the gowd noble for the three haddies that him and I had +atween us, and that I gied a clout in the haffets to, and brought the +blood ower his lips, for his behaviour to Jenny!—<i>yon was the king!</i>"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span>"Yon the king!" cried Janet.</p> + +<p>"Yon the king?" exclaimed her mother; "and hae I really had the king o' +Scotland in my house, sitting at my fireside, and cooked a supper for +him! Weel, I think, yon the king! Aha! he's a bonny man!"</p> + +<p>"O mother!" exclaimed Janet; "bonny here, bonny there, dinna talk +sae—he is threatening the life o' poor Andrew, who has got into trouble +and sorrow on my account. Oh, dear me! what shall I do, +Andrew!—Andrew!" she continued, and wrung her hands.</p> + +<p>"There's just ae thing, hinny," said he; "I must endeavour to get to the +other side o' the Tweed, before folk are astir in the morning; so I maun +leave ye directly, but I just ventured to come and bid ye fareweel. And +there's just ae thing that I hae to say and to request, and that is, +that, if I darena come back to Scotland to marry ye, that ye will come +owre to England to me, as soon as I can get into some way o' providing +for ye. Will ye promise, Jenny?"</p> + +<p>"Oh yes! yes, Andrew!" she cried, "I'll come to ye—for it is entirely +on my account that ye've to flee. But I'll do mair than that; for this +very week I will go to Edinburgh, and I will watch in the way o' the +king and the queen, and on my knees I'll implore him to pardon ye; and +if he refuses, I ken what I ken."</p> + +<p>"Na, na, Jenny dear," said he, "dinna think o' that—I wad rather suffer +banishment, and live in jeopardy for ever, than that ye should place +yoursel in his power or in his presence. But what do ye ken, dear?"</p> + +<p>"Ken!" replied she; "if he refuses to pardon ye, I'll threaten to tell +the queen what he said to me, and what offers he made to me when ye was +running out after the powny."</p> + +<p>Andrew was about to answer her, when he started at a heavy sound of +footsteps approaching the cottage.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span>"They are in search o' me!" he exclaimed.</p> + +<p>Instantly a dozen of armed men entered the cottage.</p> + +<p>"We have found him," cried they to their companions without; "the +traitor is here."</p> + +<p>Andrew, finding that resistance would be hopeless, gave up the sword +which he still carried, and suffered them to bind his arms. Jenny clung +round his neck and wept. Her mother sat speechless with terror.</p> + +<p>"Fareweel, Jenny, dear!" said Andrew—"fareweel!—Dinna distress yoursel +sae—things mayna turn out sae ill as we apprehend. I can hardly think +that the king will be sae cruel and sae unjust as to tak my life. Is +that no your opinion, sirs?" added he, addressing the armed men.</p> + +<p>"We are not to be your judges," said he who appeared to be their leader; +"ye are our prisoner, by his Majesty's command, and that is a' we ken +about the matter. But ye are denounced as a traitor, and the king spares +nane such."</p> + +<p>Poor Janet shrieked as she heard the hopeless and cruel words, and again +cried—</p> + +<p>"But the queen shall ken a'!"</p> + +<p>Jenny's arms were rudely torn from around his neck, and he was dragged +from the house; and his arms, as I have stated, being bound, he was +placed behind a horseman, and his body was fastened to that of the +trooper. In this manner he was conducted to Edinburgh, where he was cast +into prison to await his doom.</p> + +<p>Within two days, Janet and her mother were seized also, at the very +moment when the former was preparing to set out to implore his +pardon—and accused of harbouring and concealing in their house one whom +the king had denounced as guilty of treason.</p> + +<p>Janet submitted to her fate without a murmur, and only said—"Weel, if +Andrew be to suffer upon my account, I <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span>am willing to do the same for +his. But surely neither you nor the king can be sae cruel as to harm my +poor auld mother!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, dear! dear!" cried the old woman to those who came to apprehend +her—"Was there ever the like o' this seen or heard tell o'! Before I +kenned wha the king was, I took him to be a kind lad and a canny lad, +and he canna say but I showed him every attention, and even prevented +Andrew from striking him again; and what gratification can it be to him +to tak awa the life o' a lone widow, and a bit helpless lassie?"</p> + +<p>But, notwithstanding her remonstrances, Nancy Hewitt and her beautiful +daughter were conducted as prisoners to the metropolis.</p> + +<p>On the fourth day of his confinement, Andrew was summoned before King +James and his nobles, to receive his sentence and undergo its +punishment. The monarch, in the midst of his lords, sat in a large +apartment in the castle; armed men, with naked swords in their hands, +stood around, and the frown gathered on his face as the prisoner was led +into his presence.</p> + +<p>Andrew bowed before the monarch, then raised his head and looked around, +with an expression on his countenance which showed that, although he +expected death, he feared it not.</p> + +<p>"How now, ye traitor knave!" said the king, sternly; "do ye deny that ye +raised your hand against our royal person?"</p> + +<p>"No!" was the brief and bold reply of the dauntless fisherman.</p> + +<p>"Ye have heard, kinsmen," continued the monarch, "his confession of his +guiltiness from his own lips—what punishment do ye award him?"</p> + +<p>"Death! the traitor's doom!" replied the nobles.</p> + +<p>"Nay, troth," said James, "we shall be less just than <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span>merciful; and +because of his brave bearing at Lamberton, his life shall be +spared—but, certes, the hand that was raised against our person shall +be struck off.—Prepare the block!"</p> + +<p>Now, the block was brought into the midst of the floor, and Andrew was +made to kneel, and his arm was bared and placed upon it—and the +executioner stood by with his drawn sword, waiting the signal from the +king to strike off the hand, when the fair young queen, with her +attendants, entered the apartment. The king rose to meet her, saying—</p> + +<p>"What would my fair queen?"</p> + +<p>"A boon! a boon! my liege," playfully replied the blooming princess; +"that ye strike not off the hand of this audacious man, but that ye +chain it for his life."</p> + +<p>"Be it so, my fair one," said the king; and, taking the sword of the +executioner in his hand, he touched the kneeling culprit on the shoulder +with it, saying—"Rise up <span class="smcap">Sir Andrew Gut-thrie</span>, and thus do we chain +your offending hand!"—the young queen at the same moment raised a veil +with which she had concealed the features of bonny Janet, and the king +taking her hand, placed it in Andrew's.</p> + +<p>"My conscience!" exclaimed Andrew, "am I in existence!—do I dream, or +what?—O Jenny, woman!—O your Majesty!—what shall I say?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing," replied the monarch, "but the king cam' in the cadger's +way—and Sir Andrew Gut-thrie and his bonny bride shall be provided +for."</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> Bamborough.</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span> +</div> +<h2><a name="THE_ROYAL_RAID" id="THE_ROYAL_RAID"></a>THE ROYAL RAID.</h2> + + +<p>Among the promoters of the wars and disturbances which so long +ravaged the Border counties, authors have been anxious to class +prominently the tender sex; not, however, in the way in which it was +imputed to these fair assuagers of man's misfortunes, that they shed the +blood of knights, in the times of Froissart. A whole book has been +penned—and another might follow it—on the wars and dissensions +produced by beautiful women; and, without mounting upwards to Eve, it +has been thought very well to begin with the maiden of Troy, who +produced the most spirited piece of knight-errantry that ever was acted +on the stage of the world. But, in almost every case on record, it was +the beauty of the fair disturbers, that, inflaming the spirit of +rivalship, set men a-fighting with so much zeal; and true it seems to +be, that, when beauty went into disrepute, and gunpowder came into +fashion—both much about the same time—we have never had what may be +called a <i>bona fide</i> heroic battle. But the part which the Border fair +ones had in the bloody scenes of that distracted section of the country, +is represented to have been very different. The housewife, in those +times, served up to her hungry lord, under an imposing dish, a pair of +spurs; and this is represented as having been the gentle mode by which +the dame intimated that it was necessary for her lord to supply the +larder. The Flower of Yarrow herself did not disdain to stimulate, in +this way, the foraying spirit of old Harden. But we have good authority +that there were beautiful exceptions from this barbarous practice; and, +among these, we may safely place the unfortunate <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span>lady of Cockburn of +Henderland, the fair subject of the pathetic ballad of "The Border +Widow"—a strain which, so long as poetry shall hold any influence over +the heart of man, will continue to draw "soft pity's tear." If every +Border chieftain's wife had been like this lady, we would have heard and +read less of raids and robberies: the dish of spurs, that sent their +lords to the foray, would have been exchanged for the soft embracing +arms of affection, applied to keep them at home; and the blessings of +domestic peace would have harmonized with and softened the spirits which +a love of riot and rapine inflamed into excesses so often ending in +death. We have wept over her grave; and who that has seen the old stone +in Henderland churchyard—now broken in three pieces, but bearing still +that epitaph which Longinus would have pronounced sublime, "Here lies +Parys of Cockburn, and his wife Marjory"—and looked on the old ruins of +their castle, now scarcely sufficient for a resting place for the grey +owl—could resist the rising emotion, or quell the heaving breast of +pity? There lie Parys of Cockburn, and his wife Marjory! How little does +that simple chronicle tell! and yet how much. The eloquence of that +pregnant negative of ultra-simplicity, is felt by those who know their +fate; but how many have trod on the three parts of the broken tombstone, +deciphered the divided syllables, and walked on, and never inquired who +was Parys of Cockburn, or Marjory his wife! Their bones have long +mouldered into the dust that now feeds a few wild alpine plants; their +tombstone is a broken ruin, and will soon pass away; their castle, at a +few paces' distance, is also a ruin of a few black weathered stones; and +the land they were proud to call their own, dignifies another name. The +sculptor has failed, but the poet has succeeded; and time may flap his +dark pinion in vain over the deserted churchyard of Henderland.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span>The Cockburns of Henderland were an old family of Selkirkshire. Long before +the estate passed into the hands of strangers, we find the name and +title holding a respectable place among the lists of chieftains that +held a divided rule on the Borders. Those who have gratified themselves, +as we have done, by a view of St. Mary's Loch, and the classic streams +of the Ettrick and Yarrow, cannot fail to have seen the old property of +Henderland, situated on the Megget, a small stream that runs into the +loch. That was once the seat of the Cockburns; but there is a sad change +there now. In the time of Lesly the historian, the whole of the country +round Henderland, and the property itself, were covered with wood, that +afforded shelter to the largest stags in Scotland; and now, there is +scarcely a single tree that rears its head for miles around. Not distant +from the mansion-house of the present proprietor, the ruins of the old +castellated residence of the Cockburns may be seen; and, in the deserted +burying-ground that surrounded the chapel, there is the broken +tombstone, recording the deaths of the last members of the family, in +the simple terms we have already mentioned. These are the appearances +presented now; but, in the beginning of the sixteenth century, +Henderland was a close retreat, surrounded by wood and water. The family +castle stood in the midst of a dense wood of firs, mixed, in those parts +where the soil supported the king of the forest, with large oaks. The +Megget, rolling along its brattling stream, to St. Mary's, was, when in +its calm moods, made available for the ends of picturesque beauty; and, +when swollen by the mountain rills, served as a defence to the grounds +and residence. In building their strengths, all the Border chiefs had +particular reference to the natural advantages of the situation: the +middle of a morass, the edge of a precipice rising from a mountain +torrent, or a small island in the midst of a lake or river, were held to +be favoured <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span>localities; and Selkirkshire, in curious accordance with the +habits of the people, had and has no want of these natural strongholds. +Henderland had, perhaps, less to boast of, in point of natural strength, +than Tushielaw, Mangerton, and some other of the Border residences; but, +in the beauty of its wooded scenery, and the picturesque effect of +sleeping lochs and roaring torrents, it might not be excelled in all the +Borders.</p> + +<p>In the minority of James V., Henderland Tower was occupied by Parys +(supposed to be a corrupted orthography of Paris) Cockburn. He was then +comparatively a young man, and inherited, with the property of a Border +chief, all the usual characteristics of that class of lairds—a natural, +inborn valour being looked upon as the principal of all the qualities of +the heart; and yet, unfortunately, applied, by a habit that had assumed +the strength of an instinct, to the strife of contending families, the +enterprises of pillage, and the contentions of a circumscribed ambition. +There was no peculiarity of the Borderers more remarkable than the union +of a high valour that would have immortalized many a knight within the +palisades, and the habit of overturning the rights of +property—descending even to the grade of petty larceny. Now-a-days, +theft and cowardice are generally supposed to be nearly allied; but, in +those days, the chief of a large clan, inhabiting a stately castle, and +famous for a noble courage throughout the land, could pause, in the +progress homewards, with half-a-dozen of his neighbour's kine; look, +with a furacious eye, on a bundle of hay, and regret, in his heart, that +it had not four legs like a cow, by which he could make it steal itself +home to his semi-baronial residence.<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> These apparently inconsistent +and opposite qualities were possessed by the laird of Henderland. There +was not in all Liddesdale a nobler champion of the rights <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span>of war; and +few there were that entered more keenly into the spirit of enterprise, +to take from his neighbour a fat steer, and then fight, as nobly as ever +did King Robert for a lost kingdom, in defence of his horned prey. The +riever in Cockburn was, however, a character of mere habit; for he +possessed qualities of heart and mind which raised him far above the +Border chiefs with whom he was usually ranked. He could fight to the +effusion of blood that came from within an inch of the coronary veins of +his heart, for the property of a cow, that, next day, he would divide +among the poor; and he was often heard to say, that, if Henderland had +been among "the Lowdens," he would have been a gay courtier, a supporter +of the throne, and a friend of the poor, if not the king's almoner +himself. In addition to these qualities, he carried a noble figure, and +an open, intelligent countenance, that expressed the feelings of a heart +as susceptible of the social affections as it was of the emotions that +produced his lawless enterprises.</p> + +<p>The interior of Henderland Castle, at this time, was graced by the +presence of one of the fairest of women, and the most dutiful and +affectionate of wives. The lot of Marjory Scott, the wife of Cockburn, +was, indeed, in all respects, save in the possession of a husband she +loved devotedly, unfortunately cast; because, in person, mind, and +heart, she was formed for gracing the polished drawing-room of refined +and civilized life, and imparting to the nursery the charm of a soft, +kind, and doting mother, whose love of strict moral discipline was only +one phase of her maternal affection. Become the wife of a Border chief +from the force of an irresistible early passion, she was as much the +domesticated lover of in-door enjoyments, the cultivator of the social +affections, and the admirer of love and tranquillity, as if she had +occupied a retreat in Arcadia. She had brought her husband three +children, all as fair as herself, one girl and two boys, whom she, in +playful kindness, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span>declared she would rear in the fear of God, the love +of man, and the hearty hatred of Border rieving in all its gradations, +from the laird's enforcing of blackmail, to the prowess of the laird's +Jock, whose depredations extended to the minutiæ of Laverna's +sacrifices:—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Baith hen and cock,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And reel and rock,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The laird's Jock<br /></span> +<span class="i0">All with him takes."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>She had early entertained the expectation that she would cure her +husband of his Border practices; and, though she had not as yet +succeeded in that hope, she had placed before him such a picture of +domestic bliss, in the working influences of all the finer and higher +sentiments, seen and heard in the acts and speech of every member of his +little family, that he became daily more reconciled to her views of the +happiness of life, at the same time that he could not resist the +heart-stirring stimulus of a raid, to give him, as he said with a smile, +a higher relish for his domestic enjoyments.</p> + +<p>A fine family picture, preserved as a legend of the house of Henderland, +represents Cockburn and Marjory sitting beneath an immense elm, the only +tree of that kind near the castle, and rendered curious on another +account, with their three children beside them, engaged in swinging from +its branches, and other gambols of innocent childhood. The anxious wife +had, for a time, succeeded in her endeavours to keep her husband at +home; but, latterly, some indications, on the part of the chief's +retainers, having been caught by her vigilant eye, she dreaded another +outbreak of that daring spirit which she had not yet been able +effectually to quell.</p> + +<p>"It will not conceal, Parys," said she, "that there are yet in this +bosom, where your Marjory's head has sought the refuge of love, +frightened by war, some embers of your <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span>old spirit ready to flame again. +Is it not so? Love hath sharp eyes. It is not for stag hunting that your +followers are stringing their bows. The love of your old pastime, like +that of an old concealed passion, will act in such a manner as defieth +all the art of concealment. I noticed, last night, as you spoke to +Scott's John, who was booming his bow to show the power of the cord, +that the sound went to your heart. Tushielaw oweth you a debt of +vengeance. Is it not so? Come, now, confess that it is not for nothing +that the old sword points have been risped on the sharping-stone on the +ballium?"</p> + +<p>"Tush, Marjory!" replied Cockburn, "you alarm the ear of the watchful +Helen, who suspendeth her play to listen to her mother's fears. Such is +thy training, that our young Hector will lose Henderland before the sods +have grown together over his father's grave, in that small burying +ground around our chapel. And you have unmanned me too, Maudge. You have +much to answer for to the manes of the old Cockburns, who lie sleeping +in their quiet beds there, after a jolly life of sturdy stouthrieving +from Yarrow to the Esk. What would the laird of Gilnockie say if he +heard that Cockburn's bairns were taught to read—ay, and to play on +harpsichords, and teylins, and dulcimers. By my faith, Maudge, but he +would laugh a good laugh."</p> + +<p>"And yet," answered she, "I have seen the clear drop shining in her +father's eye as Helen touched the strings to the soft melodies of Auld +Scotland. Come, now, Parys, was not that sweet dream dearer to ye than +the fever of the strife of Border foray?"</p> + +<p>"Ay, Maudge," responded he, "I confess that you have taught me that +there is more in man's heart than he himself dreams of. I once thought +that the highest of human enjoyments was a victory lost and won, with a +hundred head of cattle driven before the returning host, in triumph, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span>to +Henderland; but, in yon withdrawing-room in the west wing, in which your +cunning hands have placed the seductive couch, where one may lie and see +roses blooming so near that he may smell their odours, and hear witching +strains stealing from these musical things of wood and wire, the charm +of the foray is broken, and the riever's spirit overcome. I wish I saw +old Mangerton twisting his leathern cheeks under these arts of domestic +peace. Every tear would have its avenging oath. He would trow old +Henderland turret bewitched."</p> + +<p>"But you have cunningly led me away from my subject, Parys. Is it not +true that you are to cut through my silken bands with the restless +sword? Are you not again to turn the fearless eye of the eagle on the +cliff where Tushielaw hangs like a beetling crag? Is Helen's song to be +changed for the raven war-cry; and the blessings of our peaceful +household, for the curses of revengeful war?"</p> + +<p>"How high mounteth Hector on my grandfather's elm!" responded Cockburn, +playfully, evading her question. "The fearless rogue will hang himself, +and realize the prophecy of Merlin the wild, regarding our house—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">'On Cockburn's elm, on Henderland lee,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">A Cockburn laird shall hangit be.'"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>"God forfend!" ejaculated Marjory. "Hector, undo that cord, and descend. +My ears ring with old Lailoken's prophetic rhyme, when I look on that +swing. I shall have it removed."</p> + +<p>"Ha ha!" cried Cockburn, laughing, and glad to get rid of the original +topic. "Don't you know, Maudge, that my grandsire was a dabbler in +prophetic visions; and, think ye, he would have been fool enough to +plant and water, as he is said to have done, his descendant's wuddy? But +I have a good mind to cut down the tree, and make Lailoken's prophecy a +physical impossibility."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span>As Cockburn spoke, he cast his eye wistfully to the sky, as if he felt +an anxiety as to the state of the weather, an act which did not escape +the observation of his wife, on whom the allusion to Merlin's prophecy, +generally current at that time, had produced an effect not remarkable at +a period when this species of soothsaying still retained the credit it +had acquired by the success of the poet of Ercildoun. At another time, +her strong mind would not have acknowledged the power of the rhythmic +ravings of a wandering maniac; but she had got some obscure hints of the +wrath of the young King James V. against the Border chiefs; and the +tender solicitude of a doting wife traced, by a process perhaps unknown +to herself, some connection between Merlin's saying and the proof she +now had of a concealed intention, on the part of Cockburn, to disregard +all her efforts to reclaim him, by imbuing his mind with a perception of +the pleasures of domestic happiness, from his old habits of rieving and +fighting with his neighbours.</p> + +<p>"It is—it is, Parys," she exclaimed, with a trembling voice—"It is too +true that you are bent on the execution of your old threat against +Tushielaw. I have an accumulation of proofs against you, and can read it +even in your countenance. Do you love me, Parys?—say if you have any +love for your Marjory—say if your affection is changed towards those +dear pledges of our happiness, who, enjoying the sports of their age, +are unconscious that their father is meditating that which may, ere the +morn's sun gild those woods, render them fatherless, and bring sorrow +o'er the house of Henderland? There are two dangers awaiting you: +Tushielaw's arm, that has incarnadined the waters of Ettrick with the +blood of many a proud foe; and the vengeance of King James, whose +youthful fire his nobles, they say, cannot quell."</p> + +<p>"This is not the cry of 'houghs in the pot,' Marjory," replied he, +still laughing—"the hint of the Border chieftains' <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span>wives, when they +want more beef for the larder. But calm ye, love. Young James will not +travel hither to fulfil old Lailoken's rhyme, and Tushielaw's arm hath +no power over Cockburn. Truly, I do intend to weed thy pretty arbours, +Maudge; and, peradventure, I may even essay to sing a bass to thy sweet +ballad of "Lustye May, with Flora Queen;" and such a domesticated +creature shall I be that, like Hercules, you may see me, ere long, ply +the distaff—a pretty sight for Adam Scott's warlike eye."</p> + +<p>Cockburn's merriment fell with a lurid glare over the heart of his +wife, who, seeing him determined to cover his designs by light raillery, +replied nothing; but, calling to her her three children, kissed them, +and bade them set aside their sports, and return with her to the Castle. +As they passed along, Cockburn still cast a wistful eye to the skies, +which wore a threatening aspect—the sun having been surrounded in his +setting with large folds of clouds, whose bellying forms came dipping +near the mountains; while the pale form of the moon, scarcely +distinguishable in the falling gloaming, seemed to be sailing through +broken masses of vapour, like a labouring bark in a stormy sea; and, now +and then, a deep hollow moan among the woods came on the ear, like the +far echo of dying thunder. About the Castle, the followers of Cockburn +were observed, by the anxious eye of Marjory, to be all secretly +employed in repairing their arms or habiliments—an occupation they +threw aside, stealthily, when they saw their mistress; but not until she +had observed what they had thus endeavoured to conceal. Their +countenances exhibited that mixture of repressed joy and affected +seriousness which the expectation of being gratified by a luxury from +which the heart has long been debarred by some external power, produces +in the presence of one hostile to the gratification. So strong was the +desire of marauding and spoliation in that distracted part of the +country, that an expedition was then <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span>looked upon in nearly the light in +which a fair, or maiden-feast, or penny-wedding, would be contemplated +by more civilized revellers. These indications Marjory noticed; and, +turning up her eyes in the face of her husband, she sighed heavily, and +sought her apartment. Soon afterwards she proceeded to put her children +to rest, making them offer up to heaven a prayer to avert from the head +of their father a danger they did not understand, but enough to them, if +they saw it in the face of their mother, whose looks were their laws, +and whose smiles were the sunlight of their young hearts.</p> + +<p>"This is a prettier sight," muttered she, in soft accents, as she looked +upon the faces of the beautiful and innocent supplicants—"this is +surely a fairer sight, and better calculated to fill and delight the +heart of mortal, than what my Parys is now, I fear, preparing to behold. +How different is the expression of the faces of these innocents, +upturned to heaven in supplication and thankfulness, from the +torch-flared countenances of blood and revenge which these retainers +will turn on the heights of Tushielaw, in the presence of their master! +Nor is my Parys insensible to this difference; but, wo for the force of +education and habit over good hearts! Ask, my little Hector, of your +Father in heaven that, if you live to be a Border chief, you may be +loyal to your king, and a promoter of peace in the castle, and +contentedness and happiness in the cottage."</p> + +<p>The little embryo chieftain obeyed the words of his mother; and all +looked up in her face anxiously, as they saw the tears stealing down her +cheeks. Each asked the cause of her grief, and volunteered an +assuagement, as if their little swelling hearts contained the power of +the instant amelioration of her sorrow. She looked upon them in silence; +and in a little time they were consigned to rest and sleep, and utter +oblivion of all the cares of this world.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span>After these maternal cares, Marjory sat and listened to the proceedings +in the ballium of the Castle. Cockburn did not come up, being either +occupied in preparations for his expedition against Adam Scott, or +unwilling to expose his designs again to the danger of defeat, by the +expostulations or entreaties of his anxious wife. Meanwhile, as she +listened, every whisper or accidental sound of sword or spear went to +her heart, and stirred up, in confused array, the fears of love. One +hope remained to her, that the moon would hide her head, and leave the +world to the empire of darkness—so unfavourable to the designs of the +riever, that the moon's minions would not fight under another power. +There were clear indications in the heavens of a coming storm; for the +moon still toiled on through the clouds, and the booming of the low, +sullen wind in the woods was getting higher and higher. These sounds she +hailed with hope; but, the next moment, the clang of a falling spear +consigned her to her fears. At a late hour, Cockburn came up to his +sleeping-room, and silently retired to pretended rest; while she, with +her solicitude increased, retired also to her couch, but with no +disposition to become oblivious of the fatal operations of her husband, +though her tender nature forbade further efforts in a cause that seemed +hopeless. Resigning herself to the powers of fear, and the other +disquieting influences of the solemn hour of midnight, she lay quiet, +and submitted to the current of inauspicious thoughts that flowed +through her mind. A disturbed slumber fell over her, sufficient only to +make a slight division between the world of dreams and that of reality, +and to allow her waking thoughts to pass in new and changing forms +before the eye of the dreaming fancy, which again, in its turn, invested +them with attributes suitable to the complexion of her waking sorrows. +During this interval, Cockburn rose; and, dressing himself, went quietly +out of the chamber—his movements having only tended <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span>to give some new +impulse to her half-dreamy sensations, ineffectual as they were to +recall her to the cares of a night vigil. A loud crash was the first +sound that awoke her; and opening her eyes, and becoming collected, she +recognised, in the sharp sound, the grating fall of the portcullis. A +shrill horn now winded among the woods, though its sound was scarcely +distinguishable among the repressed bellowings of the night winds that +seemed to have risen considerably since she had been overcome by her +slumber. She was satisfied that the whole retinue, with her husband at +their head, were off to the beetling Castle of Tushielaw, from whose +heights so many a riever had been precipitated into the Ettrick.</p> + +<p>This conviction, coming, as it did, on the back of a disturbed slumber, +in which her dreams had partaken of the dire nature of a nightmare, +increased her fears. She could rest no longer, and rising and dressing +herself, she sat down at the casement, and listened to ascertain if any +of the sounds of the cavalcade could be distinguished. She could satisfy +herself of enough to indicate the route they had taken—away over the +hills that separate the vales of Ettrick and Yarrow, and by the path +that has since got the name of the King's Road, leading directly to the +Tower of Tushielaw. But a quick and threatening change in the weather +soon attracted her attention. The booming of the wind seemed to cease, +and, shortly after, the clouds, through the openings of which the moon +had been seen labouring during the previous part of the night, appeared +to run rapidly together, so as to conceal the face of the night queen, +and to present a homogenous mass of dark vapour over all the heavens. A +flash of vivid lightning now flared in her eyes, and left her for a +moment in suspense whether she had not been blinded by the bright fluid; +then on came the peal of thunder, which reverberating among the +mountains like discharges of artillery, filled her <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span>with that peculiar +awe which the speaking clouds throw over the hearts of mortals. The rain +came down in torrents, and had scarcely begun to pour, when the +speat-rills of the high lands were heard dashing down like angry spirits +to swell the Henderland Burn and the Megget, and raise the fury of these +mountain streams. The sound of the thunder had awoke the children, who, +leaving in terror their beds, came running to their mother, to seek that +protection which could alone allay their fears. Circling round her +knees, they hid their heads among the folds of her clothes, or clambered +to her bosom, and twined their arms round her neck. It was in vain she +asked them to return to bed; they conceived themselves safer on the +breast of their mother, though she still sat at the casement, and the +lightning glanced in their eyes, than they could be in their beds, +muffled up in the bedclothes, and listening to the successive peals of +thunder. As she sat in this attitude, with the children cowering into +her bosom, like little chickens under the wing of their mother, she +observed that the thunder approached nearer and nearer, as the period +between the flash and the peal diminished gradually to a second; and a +sudden flash among the trees, accompanied with a crackling noise, +connected with some destructive operation of the bolt, indicated that +mischief had been done in that quarter of the wood. It was where the elm +stood, the subject of Merlin's rhyme; and this circumstance sent the +current of her thoughts in that direction, where there was so much +aliment for her excited fancy. She silently prayed that the tree might +be destroyed; and its towering top, above all others of the wood, held +out some hope that her strange wish might be realized.</p> + +<p>The sound of a man's voice—that of Dick of the Muir, as he was +styled—the individual who kept the gate of the Tower—was heard +shouting to some one without, in reply <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span>to some request made by the +latter. It was now about two in the morning, and Marjory could not +conceive what could be the purpose of the stranger's visit at that +dreary hour.</p> + +<p>"What want ye wi' my Leddie at this time, man?" said Dick. "My master's +frae hame, and my commission doesna extend to opening the gate to +strangers on night visits."</p> + +<p>"But I'm nae stranger, Dick," replied the other. "I served the Cockburns +before ye was born, and hae wandered many a weary step, in the midst o' +this storm, to speak a word to the ear o' my Leddie. The time o' my +visit is a good sign o' the importance o' my counsel. For God's sake, +open, man! or ye may rue this hour to that o' your deein struggle, when +Laird and Leddie may be in the moil there, ahint the auld chapel, and a' +through the laziness o' their warder."</p> + +<p>"Raff i' the mire!" cried the warder—saluting him after the custom of +the times, when every man had a distinctive appellation, in the absence +of sirnames. "I took ye, man, for ane o' Tushielaw's scouts."</p> + +<p>The creaking of the hinges of the gate was now heard.</p> + +<p>"What brings ye frae Peebles, man?" continued the warder, "in sic a +night as this, when a witch wouldna venture on the Skelf Hill, far less +owre North Berwick Law."</p> + +<p>"It's no to tell ye that Merlin's elm has fa'en," rejoined Ralph; "but +three oaks on three sides o't are lying on the earth, and that stately +tree may be a gallows still. You say, Henderland's frae hame. I'm glad +o' the news. It's his leddie I want to see: an' she maun be roused frae +her couch to speak to her auld servitor. Time bides nae man; neither +does King James."</p> + +<p>Another peal of thunder drowned the conversation of the man: and +Marjory, rousing her little refugees, urged <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span>them to return to their +beds, that she might be left to hear the intelligence of this midnight +messenger, whose words already, so far as she had heard them, carried +tokens of evil. His reference to the king struck a chord that prior +solitude had made sensitive; and even the remark as to the tree that had +escaped the bolt, had in it a peculiar power over her shattered nerves. +Her fears operated upon the children, who, even to the youngest, put +strange questions to her.</p> + +<p>"Why are you here, mother, in the lightning?" cried Hector.—"And where +is my father?" inquired Helen.—"See that flash again!" said Margaret, +as she buried her head in her mother's bosom.</p> + +<p>"Poor, helpless, little ones!" ejaculated she. "How little know ye that +that which fears ye most, is to me the smallest of my terrors! If man's +wrath were quenched, heaven's would be easily averted. This messenger's +intelligence may seal your fates, and be felt in its consequences to the +last term of your lives. Come, loves, to bed. Hear ye that foot in the +stair?"</p> + +<p>The allusion to a mysterious visitor accomplished what the lightning of +heaven could not effect—such is the secret power of mystery over the +young heart. Rising from her lap, they hurried away to their beds, and +left the not less terrified mother to hear the intelligence of the night +messenger. The door opened, and Ralph stood before her.</p> + +<p>"God be thanked, my Leddie Cockburn," said he, in a repressed voice, +and with fearful looks—"God be thanked, for Henderland's absence! The +king, wi' his nobles, are at Peebles, on their way to Liddesdale, to tak +vengeance on the chiefs o' the Borders, wha hae been foremost in the +foray and the rieving raid. They whisper yonder that there's a hangman +in the train, wi' ropes, to hang the ring-leaders on their castle +buttresses; and Henderland is to be their first victim. O my Leddie! +dispatch, quick as thae <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span>flashes o' levin, a messenger to the master, and +tell him to flee to England, till the king's wrath has blawn owre. I hae +braved this awful storm, auld as I am, to save my master; and, if I but +saw him safe frae the king's ire, I could lay my banes at the foot o' +the grave o' the Cockburns."</p> + +<p>"I have been looking for this Ralph," answered Marjory, as she lifted +her hands to seize her hair, in her distress. "Even now, God be +merciful! my husband is in the very act of rieving and rebellion. But +what said ye of Merlin's Elm, man? Is it not skaithed? Speak, no secrets +now; are the trees beside it blasted, and does it stand?"</p> + +<p>"I hae heard yer Leddieship laugh at that auld rhyme," replied the +servitor. "Fear naething for a madman's freak. But it's true that three +oaks by its side are blasted, riven and laid on the earth, and yet it +stands."</p> + +<p>"Strange, strange are the ways of heaven," cried she, wringing her +hands. "Ralph, you must be the messenger to my husband. Haste and saddle +my grey jennet, and flee by the Riever's Road, to Tushielaw. Tell +Henderland and Adam Scott, that King James comes, with a halter, to +avenge the rights of royalty and peace. Cry it forth in the midst of +their battle. If he will not flee, take his horse's head, and lead him +to England. Away, away, for mercy and Henderland's sake, good Ralph, and +whisper in his ear—hark ye, man, 'tis no woman's dream—whisper the +fate of Lailoken's tree. The thunder may drown his laugh."</p> + +<p>The faithful servant obeyed the command of his former mistress; and, +hastening as fast as his old limbs would enable him, mounted Marjory's +grey jennet, and was soon out in the midst of the storm. The only +remaining servant left in the tower, besides the warder, was, at the +same time, despatched, by his half-frantic mistress, to proceed on the +road to Peebles, and reconnoitre the king's company, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span>and convey to her +what intelligence he could learn in regard to its movements. By this +time it was now about three o'clock; but the morning was still dark, the +storm had not abated, the rain still poured, the lightning flashed, and +the neighbouring streams rolled over their rugged channels with a noise +that equalled the thunder which yet shook the heavens. Marjory again +took her seat on the casement; and her fancy, stimulated by her fears, +became again busy in the conjuration of images which, however fearful, +unhappily stood too great a chance of being realized. The substratum of +indisputable facts was itself a good foundation of fear:—The king, +angry, and breathing revenge against his rebellious subjects of the +Border, was at hand—even within a few miles of her husband's residence; +and the ensign of his authority and punishment was borne by the common +executioner; then he would detect her husband in the very commission of +that rebellious act against which the royal vengeance was to be +directed; and, above all, she feared—nay, she was certain, from her +knowledge of Henderland's free, bold spirit, that he would disdain to +fly, and would at once commit himself into the hands of a young incensed +monarch, who had travelled forty miles for his blood. These were +fearful, incontrovertible facts, and they were contemplated by a +solitary female in the dark hour of night, in the midst of one of the +fiercest storms that had ever visited that part of the country, and +under the blue lights of a fancy that, in spite of the appeals of +judgment, reverted to an old prophecy of a wonderful being, which seemed +to have been respected even by the lightning of heaven: the elm still +stood; its brethren of the forest had fallen; and the rope to be +attached to it was on its way to Henderland. Fearful forebodings took +possession of her mind; and, as her fears rose higher and higher, she +looked out in the dark, while the gleams of lightning played round her +couch, and every <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span>sound that differed from the roaring of the storm +arrested her ear, and kept her on the rack of painful anxiety. Her +little children, meanwhile, who had caught sympathetically her fears, +and could not divine the cause of their mother's vigil by the window in +a thunder storm, had renounced sleep; and, disregarding her efforts to +restrain them, must see her at intervals, and question her again and +again; and even from their sleeping apartment they sent their +exclamations of fear, and aggravated, by their sorrows and terror, the +misery of their mother.</p> + +<p>In this condition Marjory remained for another hour. There was no stir +in the tower, where a female domestic or two lay, or slipped about, +under the weight of a fear, the cause of which had not been explained to +them. The silence internally, broken at times by the cries of the +restless children, formed a strange and awe-inspiring contrast to the +turmoil without, where darkness and the storm still held sway over the +earth. Oppressed by the sight of the black heavens, she yet trembled to +look for the first glimpse of dawn, which might be soon expected to be +seen struggling through the vapours of the storm. Light would bring the +king and the executioner; and she prayed that she might have an +opportunity of seeing her husband before the arrival of the royal +cavalcade, that she might fall on her knees, and implore his instant +flight into England; but her ears caught no sounds in the direction of +Tushielaw, save the thunder and the rain, and, at intervals, the scream +of the drenched owl or frightened hawk, or the wheep of the restless +lapwing, driven from the morass by the overwhelming torrent. Then came +the cry again, of "Mother, mother!" from her sleepless children, +responded to by her own, "Hush, hush, my darlings! your father cometh!" +when her pained ear sought again the direction of Peebles, and she +trembled as her fancy suggested the sound of hoof or horn.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span>Thus another hour passed, and her racked feelings were still uncheered +by a glimpse of hope. The strength of her soul seemed to have passed +into the physical organs of the eye and ear; and every change, from +darkness or silence, produced exacerbations of her fear, and painful +apprehension. The faint shade of light in the eastern heavens, which +gave tokens of the approaching dawn, might be a precursor of the king +and his retinue; and as her eye fell upon it, she listened again for the +coming tread. A very faint sound was now heard, and it was too evident +that it came not from Tushielaw; it was from the direction of Peebles, +and it sounded as if it were the tread of a horse. It must be, she +instantly thought, the scout of the king's cavalcade; for, in her +painful anxiety, she had forgotten her own messenger. The step +approached nearer and nearer; and more intense, in the same degree, grew +her apprehension, till the sound of her messenger's voice, calling the +warder, struck her ear—and she imagined she never heard a voice so +hollow and ominous of death. The man was admitted, and his heavy step up +the spiral stair, flustering in the toil of a vain precipitude in the +dark entrance, declared the impatience of his intelligence.</p> + +<p>"Ah! my Leddie," said he, as he ran forward, breathlessly and fearfully, +"Ralph spoke truth. The king's party will be at the castle in less time +than an eagle may flee frae Dunyon to Ruberslaw. I hae seen them. They +carry torches to shew them the hill-paths, and keep them oot o' the saft +bogs. The light shone fearfully on the hill-sides, and the clatter o' +their horses' hoofs rang in my ears. I had seen enough, and made the +greatest speed to bring the ill news."</p> + +<p>"Cockburn, Cockburn," ejaculated the disconsolate wife, "what power may +now save ye from thy fate? His proud spirit will disdain flight—ay, and +prompt a meeting with his executioner. What has become of Ralph? +Everything <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span>conspires toward the ruin of my hopes. You must to Tushielaw, +Thomas, and give a second warning to your master. Tell him of this +torch-light progress of the royal executioner, and warn him again to fly +for his life, and the life of one who lives through him. Yet, +stay—shall I not go myself? One messenger hath failed already—shall a +wife fail in the cause of her husband's life?"</p> + +<p>"The mountain torrents are swelled, my Leddie," replied Thomas of the +Woodburn, "an' will be noo sweepin owre the Riever's Road, carryin baith +man an' horse to the howes; an' nane but an auld hill-roadster may ken +the richt tract frae that to ruin in the midst o' the darkness. Ye micht +as weel try to pass the Brig o' Dread, my Leddie. Yer bonnie body wad be +fund a corpse wi' the mornin's licht, an' Cockburn, pardoned by the king +maybe, micht greet owre't. Besides, ye should be here. A woman's voice +turns awa meikle wrath."</p> + +<p>"Away, then, yourself, good Thomas!—I believe your counsel is good. +Heaven speed the message! Cockburn's delay gives me a glimmer of hope, +that Ralph hath already turned his head to England. If so be it, you +will report to me privately, and away from the ear of the king's +followers. If not, and if he cometh to meet the king, heaven look down +in mercy on these poor children, who still cry for their mother, and +will not rest!"</p> + +<p>Thomas obeyed; and, as she turned to comfort her children, before she +again betook herself to her weary station, she heard the clatter of the +horse's heels over the gateway. The restlessness of her little ones +pained her: she imagined she saw, in their instinctive anxiety and fear, +some presage of coming evil, whereby, before another night, they might +be orphans; and all her efforts to remove the impression only tended to +confirm it—thus strangely and fantastically prophetic, is the +apprehensive heart. After again assuring them that their father was +coming, she sought her seat <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span>at the casement; and saw, now, the grey +dawn, throwing a stronger light over the bleak hills, and exhibiting the +white, foaming cataracts, dashing from brae to brae! Any hope of seeing +Cockburn, now, before the coming of the king, had gradually dwindled +away, and was extinct; and she as much feared to hear a sound from the +direction of Tushielaw, as she, an hour before, was anxious for that +indication of her husband's approach. Every instant she might expect to +hear the tramp of the king's horses; nothing could avert that sound from +her ear, or prevent it beating upon her heart. It came at last; she +heard it audibly, mixed with the discordant jingle of armour, and +striking her ear at the same time that a horrid glare of torch-light +pierced the deep wood, and arrested her eye. In a few minutes more, a +trumpet sounded a shrill blast; the feet of many restless horses raised +a confused noise, that was mixed with broken, under-toned ejaculations, +and clanking of swords and bucklers, and, after a minute or two of +comparative silence, came the high tones of a herald's voice, demanding +admittance in the name of King James. The warder repaired to his +mistress, and got his answer. The gate was opened, and Marjory saw the +cavalcade enter the base court surrounding the castle; while two large +bodies of soldiers, coming up about the same time, took their stations +on each side of the entrance. A circle was now formed by those who were +within the court; and the grim faces of the nobles, as they reflected +the glare of the torches, were revealed clearly to her gaze. In the +middle stood the young king, in close and secret counsel with his +confidential advisers, and, at last, the warder was called before his +Majesty, to account for the absence of his master, tell where he had +gone, and record his proceedings. The man reluctantly obeyed the call.</p> + +<p>"Where is thy master, sirrah?" inquired the king.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span>The warder was silent, and the question was repeated in sterner tones.</p> + +<p>"I keep only this castle, your Highness," replied the warder; "my master +is his ain keeper—an' a better there's no between the twa Tynes."</p> + +<p>"Thou art a good keeper of thine own tongue, at least," said James, +angrily; "but we come not from court unprepared with remedies for +opening the mouths of close-hearted seneschals. Let Lithcraig attend."</p> + +<p>An opening was now made in the circle of nobles, and a man, dressed in a +long black doublet, came forward, holding in his hands a rope, ready to +be suspended, and to suspend, in its turn, the disobedient warder.</p> + +<p>"Throw thy cord over the buttress, there," cried one of the nobles; +"give the noose mouth enough to tell its own tale, and I will answer for +it bringing out his."</p> + +<p>The man proceeded forward to a buttress of the castle completely +exposed to the eyes of Marjory, by the gleams that flared from the +torches; and she saw him deliberately go through the operation of making +the projection available for the purpose of a gallows, by binding the +cord to it, and suspending a running noose, which seemed to gape in grim +gesture for its victim. The moment the rope was suspended, James pointed +to it, and asked the warder to proceed and answer his questions. The +terrified man cast a wild eye on the relentless crowd around him, and +then on the engine of death that dangled before him, and, with faltering +tongue, told the king that Cockburn had gone on a midnight raid against +Adam Scott of Tushielaw, who, some time before, had made an assault on +Henderland, and carried off twenty head of cattle, besides wounding +several of Cockburn's men; he stated, farther, that there had been many +raids of late in Liddesdale; but that his master had had, until +Tushielaw roused him, scarcely any share in these struggles, preferring +the society of his lady, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span>the fairest and the kindest woman of the +Borders, to the pleasures of rieving. This statement was received as +evidence against Cockburn.</p> + +<p>All these transactions had been narrowly watched by Marjory, who was +now more and more satisfied that the doom of her husband was sealed, if +he made his appearance before the king in the humour he now exhibited. +She saw them bind the warder with ropes until their trial was over, that +he might remain in pledge for the truth of his statements; and the heads +again held counsel on the next step they should take in the unexpected +event of the "traitor," as they called him, not being found at home, +notwithstanding of their attempted surprise by a night visit. These +doings had occupied as much time as allowed the glimmer of early dawn to +pass into a grey light, that, while it did not render the torches +unnecessary, exhibited in strange and grotesque shades the group of dark +figures, their changing faces, moving heads, and inauspicious gestures, +on which the gleams of the torches flickered faintly, in struggles with +the rising morn. Above them, the dangling noose claimed her averted eye, +and sent through her nerves shivers that seemed to make the blood run +back in the veins, and stagnate about the heart. In any other position +but that in which she was placed, she would have made the castle ring +with involuntary screams; and it was only the intense anxiety with which +she watched every sound in the distance, in the struggling hope that +Cockburn would not make his appearance, that bound her down in the +silent, breathless mood which she now exhibited. Neither could she have +borne the extraordinary spectacle below her casement, had it not been +that her wish to watch every indication in the direction of Tushielaw, +overcame the feelings inspired by the moving tumult of fierce men that +waited there for the blood of her husband. Sometimes the thought found +its way through her anxiety<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span>—why did they not call for or visit her? But +the solution was not difficult; for she knew that men bent on purposes +of cruelty, do not court the mediation of women. And then again she +meditated, for a moment, a descent to them, and an attempt, by throwing +herself at the feet of the king, to secure, by anticipation, mercy to +her husband, when he might, if ever he should, be found. This last +thought was passing through her mind, and she had intuitively drawn her +clothes around her bosom, as a preparation for her rising resolution, +when her husband's horn, in all its well-known windings, struck her ear. +That sound had hitherto inspired the pulses of a living heart, and sent +through her veins the delightful tumult of a gratified hope; it had been +the prelude to the close embrace of affection; the flourish of joy on +the meeting again of separated hearts. It was now the death-knell of +both. She would have sunk to the ground as the sound fell on her ear, +but that the recess of the casement sustained her powerless frame. After +a few moments of insensibility, she again opened her eyes; and the first +vision that presented itself to her, was her husband marching into the +castle between two rows of the king's troops. He came nobly forward, +with a free, erect carriage, and a look undaunted by the scowls that +fell on him from every side. On coming up to the king, who stood in a +haughty, indignant attitude, he was prepared to throw himself at his +feet, when his eye caught the rope, with the noose at the end of it, +hanging from the buttress. He started, and threw a hurried look up to +the casement, where Marjory sat watching his every movement; but his +fortitude returned again, and making a step forward, he threw himself at +the feet of the king.</p> + +<p>"Here doth an humble subject," he said, "deposit the loyalty he oweth to +his lawful king."</p> + +<p>"On the eve, or in the midst of rebellion," cried James, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span>in ironical +anger. "Seize the rebel! One caught in the act, maketh a good beginning. +Four reigns of Jameses have been merely borne or suffered, by beggarly +tolerance, by these Border sovereigns, and the best part of a kingdom +made an arena for the strife of the contention of petty kings, who rob, +and steal, and kill on all hands, heedless whether the victim be king or +knave. This shall be ended—by the faith of Scotland's king it shall! +'Habit and repute,' is good evidence by our old law against common +thieves; and I ask my nobles, too good a jury for such caitiffs, what a +common thief deserves?"</p> + +<p>"To be strung up to the buttress," replied several voices, in deep +hollow sounds, that rung fearfully round the recesses of the ballium, +and reached the ear of Marjory.</p> + +<p>"Parys Cockburn of Henderland," cried James, "hath, by a jury of our +nobles, been deemed worthy to die the death of a thief, and a rebel +against our authority. Let him be forthwith hanged till he be dead, on +the buttress of his own tower, as an example to evil doers in time to +come."</p> + +<p>A quick movement of simultaneous, and, in many cases, intuitive +agitation, followed this order. Two men seized the unfortunate +gentleman, and proceeded to bind his hands behind his back, while the +executioner proceeded to let go the end of the rope, so as to bring +within his reach the noose, which had previously been purposely +elevated, so as to be more exposed to the eyes of the beholders. Every +step of these proceedings was observed by Marjory from her seat at the +window; and it was not till she saw the men lay hold of her husband, and +the executioner proceed to adjust the rope, that she ceased to be able +to watch the details of this extraordinary mock trial and real +condemnation. At that moment she uttered a loud scream, and fell on the +floor in a state of insensibility, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span>from which she was roused by her +little daughter, Helen, who had come from her bed to ascertain her +mother's illness. Rising in a state of frenzy, she sought the door of +the apartment, with a view to throw herself between the king and her +husband; but the door was locked in the outside—a precaution, +doubtless, taken by the king's orders, to prevent a scene of a woman's +unavailing grief. The prospect, now, of being forced to remain in a +chamber a few feet above the gallows on which her husband, and the +object of her strongest and softest affections, was to be suspended, and +hanged like a common malefactor, rose on her bewildered view. Though she +might place her hands over her eyes, the <i>sound</i> of his death would +reach her ear—the jerk of the fatal cord, the struggle of the choking +breath, the last sigh of her beloved Parys, would come to her, and +reason might remain to bear it. If she could close up both eyes and +ears, her fancy would exaggerate the acts performing around her, and +fill her mind with shapes and forms, if possible more hideous than the +dread spectres of the waking sense. Breaking loose from Helen, and also +from Hector—who had joined his sister, and had from the window got some +glimpse of the dire operations in progress in the court, and thus +ascertained the cause of his mother's scream—she ran round the +apartment, in the way of unfortunate maniacs, till her brain became +dizzy with the quick circumgyrations, and then stood ready to fall, +staring wildly at her children, who had followed her in her progress +with loud screams. Meanwhile, the buzz of the preparations for the +execution fell on her ear, and, running to the window, she held forth +her extended arms, and implored the king, in wildly pathetic words and +moans, to spare her husband. The king never moved his head; but many of +the men turned up their grim, embrowned faces, fixed their eyes on her +beautiful countenance, and saw her white arms wildly sawing the air, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span>without showing any indications of being moved. Cockburn himself, who +stood with his arms bound behind his back, his armour off, and the neck +of his doublet rolled down on his shoulders, could not trust his eye in +the direction of his wife and children, but stood with a look fixed on +the grey walls of his tower. The voice of the king was now heard, +crying, "Is everything prepared?" and, "Yes, my liege," rolled forth +from the mouth of the rough-toned executioner. The unfortunate Marjory, +in this extremity, turned from the window, and rushed into a +neighbouring room, from which a few steps of descent led to a window not +so far removed from a broken part of the wall as to prevent her getting +to the ground. In this, by a mighty effort, she succeeded, hearing, as +she hastened away, the shrill cries of her children following her, and +imploring her to return. Her brain was fired beyond the capability of +sane thought. The soldiers, who saw her fall on the ground, lifted her +up, and then pushed her rudely away from the ground they were ordered to +guard, confronting her otherwise impossible efforts to get forward by +their swords, and threatening to do her bodily injury if she dared to +resist their authority.</p> + +<p>At this moment she heard a voice commanding some one to seize and +confine the wife of the culprit; and, getting more confused by the +occurrence of new and more harrowing incidents—the cries of her +children sounding from the window—the noise of those forwarding the +execution, if not at that very time, binding her husband to the gallows, +filling all the air with a confused buzz—and the coming of the men to +seize and secure her—she sprang forward out of a postern, and, with the +rapid step of flying despair, endeavoured to get beyond the dreadful +sounds which haunted her ear. In her flight—the consequence of the spur +of frenzy, as much as of a wish to lessen pain which was +insufferable—she came to the Henderland Linn, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span>a mountain stream, that +falls rolling down the heights with a loud noise. It was much swelled, +and the waters were gushing and roaring over a ledge of rock that +crosses its course, and forms in that quarter a cascade—beautiful in +certain states of the river, but frightful when the spirit of the storms +has sent down the red stream to dash over the height. The noise was +welcome to her; and, exhausted, she threw herself down on a seat by the +side of the linn;<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> yet, so quick is the ear to catch, through other +sounds, that of the cause of a pregnant grief, that she heard the +increased noise of the crowd at the Castle, consequent on the execution +of the sentence of condemnation of her husband—a swelling shout, as of +a completed triumph, came on the wind; and, unable to bear this +consummation of all her woes, she ran forward, and threw herself down +with her head in the line of the cascade, that the roar of the waters +might drown the dreadful sound.</p> + +<p>How long she lay in that extraordinary predicament, she was never able +to tell; but the sound of the roaring waters rang in her ear for many an +after day. When she ventured to raise her head, everything seemed quiet +at Henderland Tower; and the silence now appeared to her more dreadful +than the former excitement. The storm, which had been gradually ceasing, +was lulled, and the morn had now attained to a grey daylight. She knew +not what step to pursue. She would remain, and she would not remain; she +would return to the Tower, and she trembled at the thought. Starting up, +she began to retrace her steps slowly back through the wood, stopping at +every interval of a few moments, to listen if she could hear any sound. +Looking around, she saw, disappearing from an old road that led away to +Tushielaw, the last of the king's troops; and she omened sadly that they +had completed their work. She hesitated again, whether she should +proceed to a place <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span>where she would inevitably behold a sight that might +unsettle her reason. But whether could she fly? What could she do? Her +little children were there; it was still her home, and the dead body of +her beloved husband was also there. But judgment might vacillate +according to its laws; her feet had an impulse forward, which philosophy +might not explain. She was hastening towards the Castle, and she +scarcely knew that she was occupied in that act, in the absence of +distinct volition. Looking up, she saw an old domestic running towards +her; who, on coming up, wished her to relinquish her determination to go +towards the Castle, and requested her to sojourn for a time in the +woods, or wait till she sent for a jennet, to carry her to some house. +She would give no explanation of her reasons for this advice; but looked +terrified and confused when Marjory put to her some broken words of +interrogation. Marjory could abide no parley, and, gently pushing the +old attendant aside, hurried forward to the Castle, and entered the +postern. The ballium was empty; the retainers of her husband had been +marched off before the forces of the king; and any domestics that were +left had fled to the woods in terror. She lifted her eye to the +buttress, and saw suspended there the dead body of her husband. At the +window of her apartment were her children, looking on the dreadful +spectacle. The two elder had cried till their throats were dried and +paralysed; and the youngest, who understood nothing of these +proceedings, laughed when it saw its mother, and clapped its little +hands for joy.</p> + +<p>A knife, that lay alongside the place of execution, was seized by the +unhappy wife; and, through a loophole that was opposite to the rope, she +stretched her hand, and severed the fatal cord. The body fell with a +crash upon the ground. Life was extinct; but who would convince the +frantic wife that her beloved Parys was gone for ever? <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span>She hung upon the +dead body till, as the day advanced, the terrified domestics came in, +and took her away from the harrowing spectacle. Force had to be applied +to effect the humane purpose; and, for many a night, the screams that +came from the west wing of Henderland spoke eloquently the misery of +this child of misfortune. Cockburn was buried in the chapel ground near +the Tower. Some time afterwards, when her grief could bear the recital, +she wished to know what took place between her husband and the two +messengers on that dreadful night—and she was gratified by the +intelligence. Scott of Tushielaw had got intelligence of Cockburn's +intentions, and was upon the watch to defend his property. A severe +conflict ensued, in which several men on both sides were severely +wounded. In the very midst of the fray, Ralph rode up to Cockburn, and +delivered his message; but the proud chief replied, that he would face +King James if he were the Prince of Evil himself; but that he could not +pay his respects to his king till he first humbled the proud Tushielaw. +A like effort was made by Thomas, and with a similar result. In fact, it +appeared that Cockburn entertained no fear of danger from the visit of +the king, and treated the story of the gallows' rope as a mere vision of +some terrified mind; at least, if he had any doubts on that subject—and +reports of the fiery temper of the king might have roused his +suspicions—he conceived that a bold bearing would do him more good than +a pusillanimous demeanour; and, as for flight, he despised it, as well +as disapproved of it, on grounds of fancied prudence, seeing that he +would thereby admit his guilt, and prove his pusillanimity, while it +might ultimately turn out that the king's intentions were not hostile, +whereby he would be exposed to the ridicule and scorn of both king and +subjects. Having beat off Scott's retainers, and secured in this way, as +he thought, a fancied victory, he marched direct on to his own Tower; +and, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span>as he approached, sounded his horn in his usual way, to tell his +wife that he entertained no fear, and to impress upon the mind of the +king the boldness of the innocence of a man who had only been performing +an act of self defence, in teaching an old enemy that he would not +commit an assault upon him again with impunity.</p> + +<p>In the course of time, Marjory Cockburn recovered slightly from the +effects of these terrible visitations, and often she expressed her +surprise that Lailoken's prophecy about the elm tree had not been proved +by the events of that night; but some people thought that King James, +who knew the prophecy well, wished to reduce the credit of soothsaying, +and therefore hanged Cockburn on the buttress of the Tower, instead of +the tree. Her little children played, as usual, round her; and, if a +relenting fate had had in reserve any means for alleviating her grief, +surely they might have been found in the prattle of innocence, and the +hopes of a mother; but it was not ordained that she should be thus +relieved. Every day saw a change on her; she gradually declined, till +she took on the appearance of a skeleton. About three years after the +death of Cockburn, Marjory died, doubtless, of that disease which +(though discredited by many altogether) kills more mortals than typhus +itself—a broken heart. The property had previously been escheated to +the king, and the name of the Cockburns of Henderland never flourished +again. She was buried in the grave of her beloved Parys; and some +relation, who knew the loves and misfortunes of the pair, caused the +foresaid stone to be erected, with the inscription we have copied, and +shall copy again—"Here lie Parys of Cockburn and his wife Marjory."</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> The old story of Scott of Harden and the hay sow, is well +known.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> Few travellers on the Borders have passed unnoticed the +"lady's seat."—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span> +</div> +<h2><a name="THE_EXPERIMENTER" id="THE_EXPERIMENTER"></a>THE EXPERIMENTER.</h2> + + +<p>No one who has escaped an imminent danger can resist the impulse that +compels him to look back upon it, although the recollection harrows up +his soul. It is now nearly thirty years since the events of which I +write occurred; still they are as indelibly impressed upon my memory as +the felon's brand upon his brow. It has rarely been the fortune of those +miserable beings to whose number I had a narrow escape from adding one, +to retain so lively a recollection of a long train of mental anguish. +Even at this lengthened period from the occurrence of the events +referred to, in my solitary walks, or when sleep forsakes my pillow, +they will embody themselves, and pass in vivid succession over my mind; +tears unbidden fill my eyes, and my heart melts in gratitude for my +deliverance from so sad a fate—carried out under the cloud of night, +buried like a dog, within sea-mark, or in the boundary of two +proprietors' lands—entailing disgrace upon my family, and a horror of +my memory, even scaring the simple husbandman from the neighbourhood of +the spot where my ashes lay.</p> + +<p>I was the only child of an aged father, the last of a family who had, +in former days, been of no small consequence in that part of the country +where he resided; but before his day, the numerous acres of land his +forefathers had possessed owned other lords. All he inherited was the +respect of the old people, and the tradition of former grandeur. His +elder brother, of a more enterprising turn of mind, at their father's +death had sold off the wrecks of a long train of mismanaged property, +divided the proceeds between <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span>himself and my father, and, after an +affectionate adieu, set off for the West Indies. My father, less +enterprising, remained where all his affections were fixed, and farmed a +few acres from one of the new proprietors—void of ambition, content to +glide down the stream of life unknowing and unknown by the busy world, +all his cares concentrated on me, whom he intended for the church, and +educated accordingly. For several years, and until misfortunes pressed +so heavily upon him, he maintained me at college. When his means failed, +I returned to my disconsolate parents, to consult how I should now +proceed—whether to go out to Jamaica to my uncle, or commence teacher. +My father had applied to his brother for aid in his difficulties, and +been refused. The fears of my mother, and the wounded pride of my father +determined my fate—I commenced teacher, and succeeded equal to my +ambition.</p> + +<p>My income was small; but my habits were simple and temperate, and my +means supplied my wants abundantly. From the first dawnings of reason, +my mind was of a studious, inquisitive turn; I thirsted after knowledge +of every kind; and, while ardent in all my pursuits, I was of a joyous +and hoping disposition. All was sunshine to me; even the blighting of my +prospects at college affected not a mind which felt a consciousness of +being able to soar to any height; a thousand projects floated through +it, each of which, for a season, seemed sufficient to rear me to the +pinnacle of fortune and fame. Thus had I dreamed on for three years. One +of my many objects of study engrossed the greater portion of my +thoughts—the mysterious tie that united soul and body. Could I untie +this Gordian knot—and I was vain enough to hope I might—then would I +rank amongst earth's brightest ornaments, and fill a niche with Newton +and Bacon. This extraordinary subject had even when at school, engaged +the greater part of my thoughts. Often have I left my fellows at play, +and stolen <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span>to some distant part of the churchyard, to muse and commune +with myself, not without a boyish hope that some kind tenant of the tomb +would reveal to me his mighty secret. Void of fear, I have implored the +presence of spirits under the cloud of night. The feeling that filled my +mind was an enthusiasm, which, though years and changes have rolled over +my head, is still remembered with a sensation of pleasure.</p> + +<p>I had kept my school for three years, to the satisfaction of the +parents of my pupils and my own. My cup of enjoyment was full to +overflowing. I had proceeded so far with several works of science; every +one of which, ere I began, was to establish my fame, but each was +quickly abandoned for some new idea. I had resumed again the first +object of my inquiry, and was busily arranging materials for effecting +the glorious discovery, when I was seized by an epidemic fever that was +committing fearful ravages in the parish. All after this, for several +weeks, is a blank in my memory, a hiatus in my consciousness. Contrary +to the expectations of all that attended, I became convalescent. My +strength slowly returned; but my mind had undergone a complete change: +its buoyancy had fled, and no longer, like a butterfly, fluttering from +one flower of fancy to another, it was fixed on the one engrossing +object; yet I was conscious that the faculties of which I had once felt +so proud, were now weak as those of an infant; and, dreamy and listless, +I began to wander into the fields. My school had broken up. The greater +part of my pupils were with a successful competitor who now supplied my +place. This deepened my gloom; and I often returned with a feeling that +my task on earth was accomplished—that all that remained for me was to +die—that I was a cumberer of the earth. I never complained, but bore +all in silence. I cared not for myself; but when I looked to my parents, +I resolved to struggle on, and did <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span>struggle manfully. I felt as a +drowning man, who sees an object almost within his reach, that, were he +enabled to grasp it, would secure his safety. He struggles and plunges +towards it in vain, every succeeding effort only serving to diminish his +hopes of escape, while, by allowing himself to sink in the stream, he +would cease to suffer in a moment. To the eye of a casual observer, I +had regained my wonted health, neither was there any strong indication +of the change that had come over my feelings; yet to speak or act was +painful to me, and I could not endure to be looked at with more than a +passing glance—shrinking like a criminal, and fearing lest the thoughts +that were passing in my mind might be discovered.</p> + +<p>A strange sensation had, for some time, taken possession of me. I felt +as if in a false position, by some means or other, to me +inscrutable—that I had, at some former period of existence, either on +this earth or some other planet, lived, acted, and witnessed, as I was +now doing. Nothing appeared new to me: every incident of unwonted +occurrence produced a dreamy effect of memory, as if I had experienced +it before. This frame of mind was more annoying than painful, for I even +at times felt a faint pleasure in it, and strove to anticipate events +that were lodged in the womb of futurity: but my efforts were vain; I +could not penetrate the mist; I could only recognise the objects as it +cleared away.</p> + +<p>At this time I was so fortunate as to procure the situation of +amanuensis to a literary gentleman, who was employed upon a work of +great extent, but of little interest. My labour was entirely mechanical. +The confinement and the sedentary nature of my employment wrought still +greater change on me; for hours I have sat, like an automaton, copying +passages I felt no interest in, held only to my task by the +consciousness of being no longer burthensome to my parents. An entire +new train of ideas began to pass <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span>through my mind in rapid succession; +some of them so fearful and horrid that I trembled for myself. I felt as +if impelled to crime by some power almost irresistible, and a strange +pleasure in meditating upon deeds of blood took possession of me. My +favourite subject, the mysterious connection between soul and body, was +again strong upon me, and I longed to witness the last agonies of a +person dying by violence. It was necessary to elucidate my theory, and +the desire to obtain the knowledge, increased. The crime and all its +horrors never occurred to me as any thing but a great, a magnanimous +action, a sacrifice of my own feelings for the benefit of mankind.</p> + +<p>One evening my employer detained me much later than he was wont. We sat +as usual—he at one side of the table, I at the other. I had, all the +afternoon, been much stronger than I had for some time before, and felt +more confidence in myself than I had done for several weeks. No +sensation gave indication of the misery that was to fill my heart. All +at once my mind was hurled, as if by a whirlwind, from its calm. My +employer stooped over a book, in which he was deeply engaged—his head +was towards me. I was mending my pen with a stout, ivory-handled +desk-knife. The temptation came upon me, with hideous force, to plunge +the knife into his head, and obtain the great object I so long had +desired. In this fearful moment I even reasoned—if I dare use the +often-abused term—that the wound would be small, and hidden by the +hair, so that no man could ever know, far less blame me for the act. I +grasped the knife firmly in my hand, changing it to the best position to +strike with effect. My mind felt pleased and happy. I actually exulted +in the opportunity. My arm was raised to strike the unconscious victim +of my madness, when he raised his head, and looked me in the face. I +sank into my seat, with a faint scream, and wept like a babe. The +impulse had passed away, like a hideous <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span>nightmare. I shook in every +limb, and raised my eyes to heaven, imploring pardon, and sighed forth a +mental prayer of thanks; while the intended victim of my madness, +unconscious of the danger he had escaped, did his utmost to soothe the +agitation and distress which I could not conceal. I could no longer look +upon his benign and placid countenance without a shudder of horror, such +as the wretch must feel who is dragged to the spot where the body of his +murdered victim lies witnessing against him. I felt that he was a victim +snatched from me by a merciful God—a victim I had murdered in my heart. +That same night I gave up my situation, much against the desire of my +kind employer, and returned to my parents' roof, the most to be pitied +of living men.</p> + +<p>For several days I never left my bed, and scarcely took any food. My +mind felt, at times, quite confused; at other times, strange ideas shot +transitorily through it, with the vividness of lightning; but they were +only coruscations, and left no impressions. I forgot them as quickly as +they arose, and sank again into gloom. My malady began gradually to +assume a new turn. Phantoms began to visit me; the sages of antiquity +were my guests. I hailed them, at first, with pleasure, and enjoyed +their presence, but soon grew weary of the voiceless, fleeting +communion. In vain I spoke to them, or put questions in the most +impassioned tones. No sound ever met my ear save my own. Yet there was a +strange community of sentiment—an intercourse of soul between us; for +they would shoot their ideas in through my eyes—smile, or look +grave—and nod, assent, or shake the head, as various thoughts passed +through my mind. After the first visits, I ceased to use articulated +language; it was a joyless communion, a languid inanity, and I felt as +if my own soul was no longer a dweller in its earthly tabernacle, but +held a mysterious middle state between life and death. In vain I +endeavoured to exert <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span>my energies. I left my bed, and began to move +about; still this new torment clung to me. I possessed a strange power. +I had only to think of any event in history, and the whole was present +before me, even the scenes around becoming changed to the places where +the circumstances happened. I wished my memory annihilated; I strove not +to think. My very endeavours called up more vividly new and strange +ideas; wherever I was, the place seemed peopled by phantoms. Wherever I +turned my eyes, a moving pageant of gorgeous or hideous figures, +strangely real, were before me.</p> + +<p>Oh, how I loathed my situation! Yet I complained to no one—not even to +my parents; enduring all in secret, and hearing the bitter taunts of +friends and acquaintances, who passed their heart-cutting remarks upon +my indolence, and strange way of passing my time. To the eye of a casual +observer, I was in good health, and shrunk from making known my painful +and unheard-of state, lest I should be considered insane, and treated as +such, by being placed in confinement—an idea that made me shudder. I +often doubted my own sanity; yet I felt not like ordinary madmen. I had +a consciousness that I was under some strong delusion, and what I saw +could not be real; still, my visions were not the less annoying and +painful. The only intervals of rest I enjoyed, was when the desire to +witness the last expiring throb of a person dying by violence haunted +me, which it did at times, if possible, with more overwhelming force +than ever. This was the more unaccountable to me, for I am naturally of +a humane and benevolent disposition; and, when not overpowered by a gust +of passion, timid and averse to acts of strife and violence of any +kind—shuddering and becoming faint at the sight of blood. My mental +sufferings, from these conflicts between my natural turn of mind and its +morbid state, became so great, that life grew a burden more than I <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span>could +long endure. Still, I shrunk from self-destruction; or, more properly +speaking, the thought never occurred to me; for, had it come with half +the force of the others by which I was enslaved, I would have, in a +moment, obeyed the impulse. I had no idea of any crime, or a wish to +witness the sufferings of the individual. I felt as a patriot might feel +who sacrifices all for the good of his country—immolating my own +feelings at the altar of science, and deeming the realization of my +dreams of vital importance to mankind, who had hitherto been unable to +discover the mysterious link that bound soul and body together.</p> + +<p>At length, the thought came into my distracted mind that I might be +able to try the great experiment upon myself; and a sensation near akin +to joy came over me, as I turned over the various ways in which this +might be accomplished. My whole invention was at work, contriving the +safest mode in which I could approach nearest, without crossing "that +bourne from whence there is no return;" and I felt, for days, all the +pleasures and disappointments of a projector, adapting or rejecting the +various schemes by turns. Bred at a short distance from the beach, I +swam well. To fasten a weight to my body, sufficient to sink me, with a +knife in my hand, to cut the cord as the last pang came upon me, and +then rise to the surface, often presented itself, and was as often +rejected. I might be so weak, as not to rise, or, in my confusion, I +might stab myself in my effort to cut the cord, and the secret would be +lost. At length, I fixed upon the following mode. Unknown to my parents +or any one, I prepared the little room I had occupied from childhood, +and, with a feeling of pride, called my study, by carefully securing +from it all access of air, as far as was in my power; then, attaching a +cord to the door and window, so contrived that the slightest pull would +throw them wide open, I placed a chair in the centre of the room, and a +chaffer of burning <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span>charcoal by its side. With a feeling of exultation, I +sat down to complete my experiment. The cords were fixed to my arms, so +that, when I fell from my seat unconscious, the door and window would +open, and restore animation by the access of vital air. I would thus +attain my object, without exposing myself, or becoming the subject of +public remark, which at all times was most hateful to me. I watched +every mutation of feeling. For the first few minutes, I felt no change, +except that the room became warmer and more agreeable. Gradually my +breathing became more quick; but not in the least laboured. A gentle +perspiration came upon me, accompanied by a luxurious languor, such as +if I had ate a plentiful dinner, and stretched myself upon a sunny bank; +an irresistible desire to sleep was stealing over me. My feelings were +highly pleasing; but a stupor gradually came over me, and banished +thought. My next sensation was a thrill of agony, which no words can +express. It was more intense than if thousands of pointed instruments +had been thrust into every muscle of my body—plucked out, and again +thrust in, with the rapidity of lightning. Thrilling coruscations of +vivid light flashed across my eyes. I attempted to shriek—only a faint +groan escaped; my organs of voice refused to obey their office. Human +nature could not continue to suffer as I suffered. Again I sank into +unconsciousness, and again my agony came on me, though not so intense as +before. Faint glimmerings of thought began to visit me. The first was +that the agonies of death were upon me; that I was in danger of sitting +too long; and, with a convulsive effort I attempted to throw myself from +the chair, but felt I was restrained. Opening my eyes, I found them dim +and visionless; a dull and benumbing sensation made me feel as if my +brain was bursting my head; whether it was day or night I could not +distinguish; my ears were filled with confused sounds, mixed with a +hissing and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span>booming that distracted me; I felt faint and sick, so as I +never felt before or since. That I was dying, I firmly believed; and +again I attempted to sink from off the chair. As consciousness returned, +I found myself stretched upon my bed. Still, all was darkness and +confusion, I fell into a lethargy or sleep, which lasted for hours.</p> + +<p>When I awoke, my mother sat weeping by the side of my bed; her +suppressed sob was the first sound that fell upon my ear. Never can I +forget that moment!—her melting woe, as she sat stooping towards me; +the anguish expressed in my father's countenance, as he stood supporting +himself upon the back of her chair, his eyes bent on my face. I turned +myself upon my pillow, and gave vent to a flood of tears.</p> + +<p>Before a word had been exchanged, the surgeon, to whose exertions I was +indebted for my restoration to life, entered. To his inquiries after me, +my mother answered, that, for the last few hours, I had been in a quiet +sleep, and had just moved and turned as if I had awakened; but that, +agreeable to his desire, she had not spoken to me. Without answering +her, he stooped over the bed to feel my pulse. I turned to him, and +inquired what had happened. A mutual explanation took place. That I had +attempted suicide, both he and my parents believed, until, to vindicate +myself, I gave them a minute account of the object I had in view in what +I had done. He listened with intense interest, not unmixed with +astonishment, as he gradually drew from me an account of my long train +of mental anguish. I could at once perceive that he did not ridicule me, +but rather sympathised with me, and blamed me much for not making my +case known long before, as it was not, he hoped, beyond the reach of +medicine. He told me of several cases in which he had been successful, +nearly similar to my own, although not to the extent of duration and +variety of change. The <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span>following, which had nearly been as fatal, and +would have been as inexplicable, made the greatest impression on me.</p> + +<p>The subject of his narrative was the wife of a near neighbour of ours, +who had been dead for some years. At the time both were well stricken in +age, and remarkable both for their piety and walk in life. Their family, +the greater part of whom were alive, had all reached manhood, and were +engaged in active duties in different parts of the country. The old +couple themselves were living on the fruits of their early industry and +economy, in a small solitary cottage, calmly closing the evening of a +well-spent life. The first attack of the malady was sudden and severe, +its approach being unperceived by any one, even by the sufferer. Both +had spent the day at church, and returned, conversing with their +neighbours, until they reached their own cottage, where they sat reading +their Bible, or conversing on subjects derived from it, until the +herd-boy brought home the cow from the common pasture. On looking up, +the woman saw the cow standing and lowing at the byre door. She rose +from her seat, and went to admit and attend to the welcome guest. She +did not return to the house after an unusually protracted stay; and her +husband, beginning to be uneasy, and fearful lest the cow might have +kicked or hurt her, went to ascertain the cause of her tarrying. Struck +with horror, he found her talking in a fearful strain to an imaginary +second person, the cow still uncared for, and the milking-pail upside +down, she standing upon the bottom, busy adjusting a halter to one of +the beams, and imploring the ideal person not to go until she could get +all ready to accompany him to that happy land of which he spoke, and to +which he showed her the way. Her distressed husband, rushing forward, +clasped her in his arms as she was putting the noose over her head. She +screamed and resisted with all <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span>her energies, calling upon the phantom to +rescue her from her cruel husband. For several weeks she remained in +this state, confined and strictly watched. The surgeon succeeded in +subduing the disease; and when reason returned, she had no consciousness +of anything that had happened during the interval; but, with a grateful +heart, returned thanks to God for preservation and recovery.</p> + +<p>My pride was wounded to observe that the surgeon thought I was insane, +for he quoted the above case as a parallel to mine. This I remonstrated +against; and, although I could perceive a credulous smile upon his +features, I at once cheerfully agreed to put myself under his care. When +he retired for the evening, I found that I was indebted for my escape +from death to a strange circumstance—the death of my uncle, my father's +brother, who had returned from the West Indies some years before with +considerable wealth and a broken constitution. We had never seen him +since his return. Prosperity had brought to him no pleasure, riches no +enjoyment. From being one of the most joyous and liberal of lads before +he left home, he had returned to his country sullen and avaricious; with +all his wealth, a poorer man, in mind, than when he left it—suffering +from a continued dread of poverty, and the victim of hypochondria.</p> + +<p>"Poor John!" my father would say, "how I pity you! Your money is not +your own; you are only the gatherer for some other person. You dare not +enjoy a shilling; neither can you take it with you when you die." My +father had just received an intimation from a lawyer, requesting his +immediate attendance in Edinburgh, where his brother had died suddenly +the evening before, to make arrangements for his funeral, and look after +his effects, as he believed he had died intestate. My mother had +hastened up stairs with the intelligence, and to request me to come +down, when she found me seated upon the chair, with my head sunk upon <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span>my +breast, as if I had been in a profound sleep. Overcome by the vapour, +she sank upon the floor; the noise of her fall brought up my father, +whose first task was to rush to me, give me a gentle shake, and then +look in agony at me and at his wife. When he took his hand from me, I +fell to the floor by the side of my mother, and the window opened as I +had contrived. Uttering a cry of anguish, he seized the wife of his +bosom in his arms, hurried out of the fatal room, sent the servant girl +for the surgeon, and returned for me, who was lying as if dead, my eyes +open and fixed, dull and void of expression. My mother soon recovered; a +few neighbours came to her aid; and the surgeon was, fortunately, soon +found. Their utmost efforts were for long, to all appearance, of little +avail. The surgeon had almost despaired of success; at length his +patience and skill were rewarded by my returning animation. The rest is +already known.</p> + +<p>So violent was the shock my constitution had sustained, from the action +of the noxious gas, that it was several weeks before I was enabled to +leave my room. The skill of my surgeon was evidently operating a +beneficial change upon my mind. The languor and heaviness, mixed with +restless anxiety, which had so long oppressed me, began to yield to the +powers of his prescriptions; my hallucinations became less annoying and +more distant in their attacks, until they entirely ceased, and I was +restored to the full enjoyment of existence. Change of scene was his +final medicine; and this I most cheerfully agreed to take, for my +circumstances were now affluent, and enabled me to live or wander where +I might choose. My restless mind would at times dwell with peculiar +pleasure upon some one favoured project or other; and, fearful lest I +should fall again into some new philosophical dream, I resolved to +travel. With a stout horse and a heavy purse, I bade adieu to my parents +for a short time, and rode out of my native <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span>valley, accompanied by +Malcolm Dow, a stout lad who had been reared in the family, as my +servant.</p> + +<p>I would have gone to the Continent, and visited the banks of the Rhine, +Switzerland, and Italy; but I bethought me of the delightful and +romantic scenery of our own dear land, with its infinitely varied +beauties; the endless pleasure I would have in viewing them, in all +their bearings, from the dark frowning passes in the Highlands, where +rock rises piled upon rock, and the impetuous cataract makes the +stoutest eye reel in looking on it, to the wimpling stream that glides +through some bosky dell, where wild flowers spangle the banks, driving +some village mill, whose distant clack, mingling with the murmur of the +stream and the song of birds from the woods, forms a concert so sweet to +the lover of nature. Without an object further than amusement, Malcolm +and I jogged on for the Falls of the Clyde. Early in the afternoon, we +arrived in Lanark, where I resolved to stop for a few days; and leaving +Malcolm at the inn, looking after the horses, I walked out by the West +Port, to visit the Falls of Stonebyres. I descended the steep brae to +the old bridge, where I sat for some time, enjoying the sweep of the +river, which was considerably swollen at the time, and the falls were in +great magnificence. I could hear the roar of the waters as they dashed +over from fall to fall, and perceive the grey mist that rose from the +abyss. As I sat absorbed in the scene, a venerable personage, evidently +of the class of farmers in the neighbourhood, came to me, and, after the +salutation of strangers, he seated himself upon the parapet by my side, +and joined in conversation and anecdote of the scenes around. He agreed +with me that Clyde was a lovely stream; but added, it was a bloody one. +I felt shocked at such an epithet being applied to the object of my +present admiration, and requested his reason for it.</p> + +<p>"O sir," he said, "my reason is too good for giving it <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span>that name; it +has been the grave of thousands, and will yet swallow more in its greedy +bosom. My only son, the hope of my declining years, perished in its +waves; and even here where we sit, before this bridge was built, a scene +of heroic fortitude and resignation was exhibited to sorrowing numbers, +who could render no aid—a scene indeed not surpassed in ancient or +modern history."</p> + +<p>Struck by his manner, I requested him to give me the account as he had +heard it.</p> + +<p>"You shall hear it," said he, "as I had it when a boy, from my +grandfather, who was one of the sorrowing witnesses of the event. There +lived, in a cottage on the banks, some distance up the stream from where +we are at present, a pious and industrious man, who had a very small +farm attached to the ferry, which he rented; the boat that plied across +the river for the accommodation of passengers was his principal support. +He was very poor, and had a numerous family—very young—to provide for +by his exertions. The river was much swollen by heavy rains which had +fallen for some days. It was the day of the fair at Lanark, and he +rejoiced in the gains he should acquire. He was resolute and athletic, +and, from long practice, knew the ferry well. The labours of the day had +passed off with cheerfulness; the river had continued to rise rapidly, +the evening was coming on, and the last boat-load, among whom was my +grandfather, were embarked. He pushed out into the stream, and, +skilfully as he manœuvred his boat, the river carried them down +considerably below the usual landing place. The steady boatman, of all +that were in danger, was alone collected, and free from alarm. His wife, +who stood on the side with an infant in her arms, mingled cries and +prayers with the roaring of the swollen river. At length he neared the +side at an eddy, and the passengers waded to the green banks. His wife +and all called to him to step out also, and haul the boat out of the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span>stream; but they implored him in vain, for he relied too much upon his +own skill and strength, and heeded them not. Two or three passengers +stood on the opposite bank, wishing to cross also; and the temptation of +a few more pence induced him to push again into the angry stream, after +a kind assurance to his wife, and those with her, that there was no +danger. Scarce had he spoke, when it was evident that he and the boat +were as much the sport of the swollen Clyde, as a withered leaf. The +skiff shot along like an arrow towards the fall. A wild scream arose +from both sides of the river; all aid was out of human power, yet no cry +for help escaped him; he sat down with calm resignation, pulled his +bonnet over his eyes, and, muffling his face in his plaid, cried—'Jesus +have mercy!' and, ere the sounds died away, he was swept over the +tremendous fall, and perished."</p> + +<p>The scene seemed to pass before me, as I listened to him, and gazed +upon the stream. We parted, and I proceeded to view the fearfully +majestic spot, where the river on my right, increasing its angry +roarings, gushed over the awful rock. Descending the footpath on my +right, the whole scene of terror and grandeur burst upon me. The evening +was approaching apace, and slowly and reluctantly I began to ascend, +after having scrambled to almost every accessible spot on the side where +I was. So much did the noise and sublimity affect me, that I felt one of +my unsettled fits stealing over my mind. Strange thoughts began to +arise. I quickened my pace until I reached the top of the height; and +the glorious view—the beautiful sloping braes of Nemplar, and the +village gilded by the beams of the setting sun—burst upon me. I again +longed for a view of the magnificent fan-looking cascade from a new +point; and so imperative was my desire that I never thought of the +danger. Stepping to the brink of the chasm, where the fearful tumult +raged many feet below, I could <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span>only catch an angular glance; and, to +extend it, I caught a bush, and leaned forward upon one hand and my +knees. Dreadful moment! horrid recollection!—I felt the bank giving +way. A convulsive effort to regain my equilibrium, and a stifled cry for +mercy, are all I recollect—my heart collapsed, and all consciousness +ceased.</p> + +<p>How long I continued in this state I have no means of ascertaining; my +first sensation was a sickness that almost made me again relapse into +insensibility, accompanied by a feeling of pain in all my limbs. +Languidly I opened my eyes; all was dark as midnight. The roar of the +waters stupified every sense. The horrors of my situation chilled my +soul, and annihilated all my courage. How I retained, by the energies of +despair, unaided by reason, my half pendulous position, I cannot +explain. I was, for a time after consciousness returned, incapable of +reflection; my mind, a chaos of fear and horror. I felt wet to the skin, +from the thin spray, which fell upon and enveloped me like a cloud; a +profuse sweat stood upon my forehead, and rolling down in large drops, +made my eyes smart. I grasped something that sustained me, yet I +scarcely knew how. Gradually the sickness left me, and cool thoughts of +my perilous situation began to occupy my mind; my energies and native +desire of preservation began to strengthen. My first care was to +ascertain if any of my bones were broken. My legs hung over a ledge of +the rock, upon which the rest of my body lay supported by my hands, +which still clung to the small object I had grasped; cautiously I moved +my legs, the one after the other: no bone was broken; but I found them +painful in many places. Still clinging to my hold, on which I felt my +whole chance of escape from being plunged into the gulf below depended, +I, for some time, and by many useless efforts, attempted to get my knees +upon the ledge of rock; my position was becoming every minute more +painful, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span>and I less able to retain it; my arms were benumbed, and my +hands powerless, from being so long above my head. I dared not pull +myself up, for the falling of stones and earth, when I first made the +attempt, gave fearful note of the feeble tenure by which I was +sustained. My left hand began to cramp; the fear of instant annihilation +seized me; I could hold by it no longer. I grasped still more firmly by +my right, and, stretching my left, found relief, by moving it gently +about, to restore the circulation. I dared not bring it down, lest the +other had failed; and, stretching farther than I had yet done, it +touched something hard and erect; it was the stem of a stoutish bush, +that grew out of a crevice in the rock. A ray of hope darted through my +mind. I grasped it, still keeping my first hold, and got my knees on the +ledge. To stand on my feet was now an easy effort. The joy of that +movement, in the midst of my sufferings and despair, I shall never +forget. I felt as if snatched from the roaring abyss. My nearly +exhausted strength began to be renewed; I felt comparative comfort; yet +I would have given all I possessed for my deliverance; my escape was not +yet more certain, or my situation much less perilous. I found that I +still held clutched in my right hand the bush that had given way, and +been the cause of my disaster; but how far I had fallen, or at what part +of the hideous chasm I had been mercifully arrested, I had no means to +ascertain; for I stood, like a Russian peasant ready to receive the +knout, with my face to the wall of rocks. I looked to the right side and +to the left; all was the most impenetrable darkness. My arms, now that +the weight of my body was taken from them, felt if possible more +benumbed. I groped with my feet as far as I could, and found my standing +very narrow, but inclining rather into than from the rock. I loosened +one hand, and with an effort, that I thought would have dislocated my +shoulder, brought it to my side. The tingling sensation <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span>I felt from the +returning circulation, almost made me cry aloud. As I found that I still +stood firm, I undid the grasp of my left hand, but not before I had +turned my face from the rock. I now stood facing the raging flood; but +its roaring was all I could distinguish. I now looked towards the +Heavens, and thought I could perceive the stars dimly, through the thick +cloud of spray in which I was involved. I leaned against the rocks, but +my legs began to fail me, and trembled under the weight of my body. I +was imperatively compelled, while strength remained, again to change my +posture, and at length succeeded, and seated myself upon the ledge, my +legs dangling over the edge.</p> + +<p>Now, for the first time, I felt as if I were at ease, and began to +calculate on the chances of my escape—feeling that my situation was so +much improved that there was every reason to hope I should be able to +sit out the fearful night, be once more snatched from death, and witness +the dawn usher in the glorious orb of day, when I felt assured every +effort would be made for my rescue. I gazed intensely down the roaring +void, in hopes to see some indication that I was sought after. Malcolm I +knew would strain every nerve, nay, peril his own life, to save mine. I +thought I now could perceive first one dark red ball or light upon the +edge of the stream, quickly moving, followed by others. The blood-red +glare, as they approached, gradually became more bright, surrounded by a +lighter halo; but they threw no ray where I sat, anxiously watching +them. Their bearers were invisible from where I was. At length they came +nearer the whirling pool, and cast a red shade on the water, where it +shot over the last shelf. I could look no longer—my brain whirled, I +closed my eyes, I felt as if I would have fallen, even after they were +shut with all my force. I shouted with all my might, in hopes they might +hear my voice. Vain effort!—no sound less <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span>loud than the thunders of +Heaven could be distinguished amid the turmoil of waters.</p> + +<p>Again I ventured to open my eyes. The lights had disappeared. I felt, +if possible, more forlorn than I had yet done; my heart began to sink; I +laid myself along upon the hard rock, and, commending myself to God, +became more calm and resigned to my fate. If ever there was a prayer in +which true sorrow for sin, and humble confidence in the goodness and +mercy of God, were poured from the human breast, it was from that +fearful place. After my devotions, a calm feeling stole over my mind. I +laid my head down, and, strange as it may appear, fell sound asleep as a +cradled babe, and awoke refreshed. The horrors of the earlier part of +the night came upon me like a fearful dream. The waters thundered in my +ears. I opened my eyes, and looked up. The first rays of the sun, +glancing upon the mists raised by the falls, formed numerous rainbows. I +dared not to look down to the abyss, or forward to the rushing stream. +With a feeling of utter helplessness, I turned my face again to the +rock, and looked up. A cry of hope and thanksgiving escaped my lips—the +top of the bank was only a few feet from where I lay! Rising to my +knees, and holding by the bushes, I poured forth my morning prayers of +thanksgiving and supplication for deliverance. I rose to my feet; the +edge was only a little above my reach—my situation was still fearfully +critical. Whether to risk all, and, by my own efforts, free myself, or +wait until aid came, I turned over in my mind for a few minutes, as I +examined the space above me. The noise of the waters, and agitation of +my mind, were again beginning to render my situation more and more +perilous, and I felt there was no time to lose. It was far more +appalling in the glare of day than the cloud of night, and, with a +desperate energy, I made the attempt, clinging to what I could grasp. I +know not how I succeeded, until I lay stretched upon the verge of the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span>gulf, secure from danger. I dared not rise to my feet—I crept upon my +hands and knees for several yards, then sprang up, nor looked behind. +Unheeding the path I took, I ran until I sank exhausted, the roar of the +waters no longer sounding in my ears. The sight of the place was now +hateful to me. I resolved not to visit it again, or see the other +falls—indeed, I was very ill, from the night's exposure to damp, and +the sufferings of my mind.</p> + +<p>Without hat or shoes, I entered the inn of the village. On raising the +people from their beds, my appearance was so suspicious, that it was +with difficulty they allowed me to enter; but a seven-shilling piece, +which I tendered to the landlady, acted as a charm in raising her good +opinion of me. I obtained a warm bed, and a cordial, while she prepared +breakfast, and dried my clothes, which were soiled and wet. I evaded all +her artful inquiries to learn how I had come into my present situation. +It looked so improbable, even to myself, that I thought no one would +give credit to my relation; and the rumours upon my former escape made +me resolve to keep it secret from every one, even Malcolm, to whom I +wrote to come over to me with the horses.</p> + +<p>I remained in my room until his arrival, which was not until late in +the forenoon. When he arrived, I thought he would have gone distracted +with joy—he wept and laughed by turns—gazing at times with a vacant +stare, then touching me to prove my identity. After he became more +composed, I learned that it was currently reported and believed in +Lanark, that I had perished in the river. Malcolm had waited for me with +extreme impatience, after nightfall, until about ten o'clock, when he +could be induced by the landlord of the inn to remain no longer, and +even the landlord had become uneasy. After some delay, several men were +engaged to accompany Malcolm in his search for me, and, having procured +torches and a lantern, they proceeded <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span>to the side of the river, beneath +the fall, and, after searching every spot they could reach in the +darkness of the night, for more than a mile on each side, they again, on +Malcolm's importunities, and his offer of a handsome reward, renewed +their search the second time. In an eddy not far below the fall, one of +them discovered my hat, sunk near the margin, and filled with water and +mud. That I had been drowned none of the party had the smallest doubt. +The search had continued for upwards of three hours, their torches were +burned out, and the men refused to remain longer; but no persuasion +could induce Malcolm to leave the side of the swollen river, where he +had remained during the short interval till day; the landlord promising +to return early, with drags, and men, to search for my body. In this +manner they had been employed, until all hope had fled, and they, +accompanied by Malcolm, had returned to the inn, where he found my +letter. Confused by hope and doubt, he had hurried on foot, and run to +me. Moved by his affection, I gave him a sum of money, to reward the +landlord and his assistants, telling him I was extremely sorry for the +alarm and trouble I had put them all to; but that my hat having fallen +in, and my not returning, were caused by a circumstance I did not choose +to explain.</p> + +<p>As I felt no serious inconvenience from my adventure, I rose and +dressed, and left the village for Glasgow, after dinner. As we passed +the Cartland Bridge, I shut my eyes, to prevent my seeing the river, and +put spurs to my horse, to quit the scene where I had suffered so much in +so short a time.</p> + +<p>After wandering over the greater part of Scotland for several weeks, I +became weary of enjoyment, and turned our horses' heads homewards by the +coast of Ayrshire, with a view to visit the Island of Arran, and then +cross the country to Stirling, by Loch Lomond. We had reached <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span>Largs, on +the coast of Ayrshire, and saw the Isle of Bute, the Cumbraes, and the +lofty summits of Arran, rise out of the Firth of Clyde, in beautiful +succession. At this time steamboats were unknown. I agreed with the +landlord of the inn to have our horses carefully sent round by Glasgow, +to wait us at Dumbarton, and set out for the beach, to enjoy the scene, +and agree for a boat to carry us on our aquatic excursion; but the time +passed on, and evening approached when we were at a considerable +distance from the town. We had been sometimes upon the beach, at others +among the rocks, as fancy led. I said to Malcolm that I would now return +to our inn, and cause our landlord to make arrangements for a boat. As +we hurried away from the shore towards the town, four men, in seamen's +apparel, rushed from behind a rock, and pinioned our arms before we were +aware. Two of them held pistols in their hands, threatening to fire if +we uttered a sound, and pushed us before them to the spot whence they +had issued. Here we found two other similar characters; the whole were +stout, athletic men, of different ages, bronzed by the weather.</p> + +<p>The place where we were was close by the beach, under a rock which +beetled out for a few feet—the sea, at full, coming almost up to the +base—but protruding sufficiently to conceal, except in front, a number +of people. Still pointing the pistols to our breasts, and almost +touching our vests, they bound our hands together behind our backs, and, +taking our handkerchiefs from our pockets, covered our faces. We were +silent and passive in their hands; yet in agony of fear. They placed us +upon the hard rock, and we dared not ask one question, to ascertain the +cause of our detention. From the few words that we could pick up out of +their conversation, which was carried on in whispers, I could learn that +the disposal of our persons engaged them. Malcolm could contain his +fears no <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span>longer, and began to plead for mercy for his master and +himself. One of the fellows snapped his pistol; I could hear the click +and smell the powder.</p> + +<p>"You are in luck this bout," said a voice; "but don't make me try it +again; she never flashed in the pan before. We don't threaten for +naught; so bless your luck, and take warning."</p> + +<p>A long period of fearful suspense ensued, in which my imagination +conjured up a thousand objects of horror and suffering. The sea-breeze +gently sighed among the rocks, and we heard the soft cadence of the +gentle waves that fell near our feet, as the tide advanced. That we had +become objects of alarm to a band of lawless men, whose lives were spent +in violating the laws of their country, I was fully aware, but in what +manner I knew not, unless that, by our sauntering about the rocks, they +had suspected us to belong to the excise. In such cases I had heard that +they were apt to do deeds of violence; but Malcolm's escape prevented me +from speaking a word, or requesting an explanation. At length the sound +of oars pulled steadily and with caution, fell upon my ears; and a +confused suppressed sound of many voices soon followed; then there was +the trampling of feet through the water and upon the rock, with the +noise as if numerous articles were placed close to where we sat. +Shivering from cold, we sat in anxious suspense. That I had been right +in my conjecture, I felt now assured; and, at this moment, I thought +they were delivering their cargo. Soon the movements ceased; we were +grasped by powerful hands, again threatened with death if we uttered a +word, and placed in a boat, which, by the motion, seemed to glide +through the water for a considerable time. No word was spoken by those +in the boat, except in whispers. Again I found it touch the beach. We +were lifted out, and placed upon the edge of the water, the cords cut +from our wrists, and, in one <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span>moment after, the sound of the departing +boat fell upon our gratified ears. We were alone, and the first use we +made of our regained liberty, was to take the mufflings from our faces. +All was dark around, nor could we discern any object except the faint +phosphoric light that marked the margin of the waves here and there, +like golden threads, as they broke at our feet.</p> + +<p>We now breathed more freely; our situation, though far from comfortable, +was free from the dread of immediate violence; for we stood alone and +solitary upon an unknown beach—but whether in Ayrshire, Bute, or +Argyle, we had no means to ascertain. From our painful position while in +the boat, the time had hung so heavy on us that it appeared we had +sailed a great distance. Not so much as to the value of a farthing had +been taken from our persons, nor any violence used, more than was +necessary to keep us silent and prevent our escape. I now, indeed, +think, that the pistol which was snapped at Malcolm, had only powder in +the pan, to intimidate. After consulting for some time on the best means +of extricating ourselves from the necessity of passing the night on the +exposed beach, we agreed to proceed inland, at any risk, whether of +falls or a ducking, in quest of a roof to cover us. Before we left, I +groped the face of my watch—to see it was impossible, the night was so +dark. I found the hands to indicate half-past ten; so we had thus been +four hours in the hands of our captors.</p> + +<p>Stumbling or falling at every few steps, we now proceeded slowly on. +Malcolm, who preceded me, once or twice plunged into quagmires, through +which I followed, until I was almost spent. At length a faint light, at +some distance, caught our eyes. Onwards we urged, until we could +distinguish a cottage, from whose small window the light proceeded. +After scrambling over a low, loose stone wall, we found ourselves in the +cottage garden. I looked <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span>in at the window, and could perceive a man and +two women—one old, the other young—seated by the fire. There was no +other light of any kind burning; and the dull ray of the fire gave to +the interior a gloomy appearance, save where it fell on the three +individuals who sat crouching before it. There being no door on the side +we were on, we walked to the front, and knocked for admittance. This +side of the cottage gave no indication of any light being within—the +window being carefully closed. For some time we knocked in vain—no +answer was made. At length, our knockings were answered by a female +voice—</p> + +<p>"What want ye here at this time o' nicht, disturbing a lone woman?"</p> + +<p>"My good woman," I replied, "we are strangers, who know not where we +are. Be so kind as open the door to us."</p> + +<p>"Gae 'wa—gae 'wa; I will do nae sic thing; I hae nae uppitting for ye."</p> + +<p>"My good woman," said I, in the most soothing manner I could, "do, for +charity, open the door. We are like to perish from fatigue, and can +proceed no further. You shall be paid whatever you ask for any +accommodation you can afford, were it only to sit by your fire until +daybreak."</p> + +<p>After some time spent in entreaties, the door was cautiously opened by +a female, who held a small lamp in her hand, and we were ushered into a +small apartment—not the same we had seen, but a dark and uncomfortable +place. She appeared to be greatly alarmed, and requested us not to make +any noise, or to speak loud, whatever we heard, or we might bring her +into danger for her humanity, and ourselves into greater hazard. We +would, she added, have ourselves alone to blame for any evil that might +follow. Taking the lamp with her, she retired, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span>saying she would bring us +refreshments in a few minutes. We now regretted being admitted into this +mysterious shelter; yet the looks of the woman—the younger of the two +we had seen from the back of the house—were soft and sweet, rather +inclining to melancholy. We had no time to communicate our suspicions +before her return. She set before us a bottle containing some brandy, a +jug of water, and a sufficient quantity of bread and cheese; and urged +us to make haste and retire to bed. Having filled a glass of the liquor, +she gave it to Malcolm. He drank it off at once, with great pleasure. My +eyes were upon her. I saw a shade of anxiety on her countenance, +succeeded by a look of satisfaction, when he returned the empty glass. I +cannot account for it, but a suspicion came upon me that there was more +in the giving of the liquor than courtesy; and I resolved not to taste +it. She filled out the same quantity for me; but I declined it. Her look +changed—she became embarrassed—and she requested me to take it, as it +was to do me good. There was a something in the tone of her voice, and a +benignity in her manner, that almost did away with my suspicions. I took +the glass in my hand, and, requesting her to fill a cup of water for me, +lifted the glass to my head. While she poured the water, I emptied the +liquor into the bosom of my vest, placed, by the same movement, the +glass to my mouth, and, returning it to her, drank off the water. She +immediately retired; saying, with a smile, in which there was much of +good nature—</p> + +<p>"I am sorry for your poor accommodation. Good night!"</p> + +<p>I now began to reflect upon my situation. Fear predominated. I had been +led into it I scarce knew how. I blamed myself for entering; yet I was +not aware of what was to take place in it. We were, unarmed and +fatigued, on a part of the coast I knew not where. I looked to my <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span>watch; +it wanted a few minutes of twelve; we had not been one quarter of an +hour under the roof. I looked at Malcolm, by the feeble light of the +lamp, wondering why he neither moved nor spoke. He was in a dead sleep, +leaning upon his high-backed wooden chair. I attempted to rouse him, in +vain, by shaking him. That the brandy had been drugged, I was now +convinced. My heart sank within me. I glanced round, for means to +escape, and procure help to rescue my faithful servant; but there was +neither window nor fireplace in the small room in which we were. I +placed my hand upon the door, to rush into the other apartment; but the +recollection of the man I had seen, the suspicion that there might be +more in the house, and the girl's warning, detained me. As I stood, +sweating with agony, I heard voices in conversation in the other +apartment.</p> + +<p>"Mary," said the old woman, "ye are owre softhearted for the trade we +are engaged in. Ye will, some time or ither, rue yer failing."</p> + +<p>"Mither," was the reply, "I may rue it, but ne'er repent it. I couldna, +for the life o' me, keep twa human creatures pleading for shelter, wha +kendna whar to gang in a mirk nicht like this. Did I do wrang, Jamie?"</p> + +<p>"I fear you have, Mary," said the man. "If Captain Bately finds them +here when he arrives—he is such a devil!—I know not what he may do to +them; he is so jealous and fearful of informers; and, this trip, he has +a rich cargo for the Glasgow merchants."</p> + +<p>"I'm no feared, if ye dinna inform yersel," said the daughter; "for I +hae given them baith a dram o' the Dutchman's bottle, that will keep +them quiet aneugh, or I'm sair cheated; for it's nae weaker for me."</p> + +<p>At this period of the conversation, I heard the tramp of horses' feet +and the voices of several men approaching the house. The door was opened +without knocking, and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span>several men entered. One of them demanded if all +was right.</p> + +<p>"Sae far as I hae heard, captain," said the old woman.</p> + +<p>"So far good, old mother," replied he. "James, have you seen our agent +from Glasgow?—how goes it there?"</p> + +<p>"All right, captain," said James.</p> + +<p>"I will then make a good run of it," rejoined the other. "But I was +nearly making a bad one. Two of these land-sharks were watching our +motions under the rocks; fortunately, they were observed, and put out of +the way in time. All had been up with me this trip, had they got back to +Largs before we were cleared. Come, lads, bait your horses quickly; we +have a long way through the muirs ere dawn."</p> + +<p>He was interrupted by the scraping and furious barking of a dog at the +door where I stood listening. My heart leaped as if it would burst, my +temples throbbed, and my ears rung; yet my presence of mind did not +forsake me. Imitating Malcolm, I placed myself in my chair, and feigned +myself dead asleep.</p> + +<p>So many voices spoke at once that I could not make out a word that was +said, except imprecations and entreaties. The lamp still burned upon the +table before me. The door opened, and the captain entered, accompanied +by several others.</p> + +<p>"Dear captain," said Mary, "they are not informers—they are strangers, +and fast asleep. Harm them not, for mercy's sake!"</p> + +<p>"Silly wench!" replied the captain. "Peace!—I say, peace! These are +the same rascals who were watching us this whole afternoon. How the +devil came they here, if they have not some knowledge of our +proceedings? Look to your arms, my lads! We will shew them they have +caught a Tartar." I heard one pistol cocked, then another. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span>How I +restrained myself from shewing my agitation I know not; I was nearly +fainting.</p> + +<p>"Captain," cried Mary, "you shall not harm them, or you must do to me as +you do to them. You are as safe as ye were before I let them in. Do ye +no see they are dead asleep?—try them, and believe me for aince, like a +good fellow."</p> + +<p>"I don't wish to do more than is necessary for my own safety," said he; +"perhaps they are not what I take them for; but fellows will talk of +what they see." Taking Malcolm by the shoulder, he gave him a shake, as +I saw through between my eyelids, nearly closed. "Fellow," he cried, +"who are you?" Malcolm neither heard nor felt him; so powerful had the +opiate been. He passed the lamp before his eyes, and made a blow at his +head with the but-end of his pistol. Malcolm moved not a muscle of his +face. He was satisfied. After passing the lamp so close before my eyes +that one of my eyebrows was nearly singed by the flame, he set it slowly +upon the table, and I felt the muzzle of the pistol touch my temple. I +moved not a muscle of my face. It was withdrawn, and I heard him pace +the room for a moment, muttering curses at the young woman, who +endeavoured to soothe his rage. No other person spoke. He paused at +length, and, lifting the lamp, held it again to my face.</p> + +<p>"I am satisfied—all is right," said he; "but, if you dare again, Mary, +to do the same, you and your mother may go hang for me—that's all. +Come, boys, be moving—we lose time." In a few minutes afterwards, I +heard the sound of their horses' feet leaving the house. My lungs +recovered their elasticity; I breathed more freely. Mary entered, and, +lifting the lamp to remove it, looked upon us in tears. I would have +spoken, but refrained, lest I had given farther alarm and uneasiness to +one so kind and humane. She looked upon us, smiling through her tears.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span>"Poor men!" she said, "yer hearts were at ease when mine, for your sake +and my ain, was like to break; yet, I dinna think he wad killed ye, +devil as he is, if ye didna fight wi' him; but he wad carried ye awa to +Holland, or France; and then what wad yer puir wives, if ye hae them, +hae suffered, no kenning what had come owre ye? Oh, that I could but get +free o' them, and Jamie gie up this way o' life!" (A heavy sigh +followed.) "But ye are sleeping sound and sweet, when I am sleepless. O +Jamie, will ye no leave thae night adventures, and be content wi what ye +can earn through the day?" She gently shut the door as she retired, and +all became still as death. With a feeling of security I laid myself upon +the bed, and soon fell into a profound sleep. It was late in the morning +ere I awoke. Malcolm was awake; his movements had roused me. He was +still confused from the effects of the opiate, and was gazing wildly +around the apartment. After taking a heavy draught of the water, he +became quite collected. I rose, and we entered the larger part of the +cottage, where the mother and daughter were busy preparing breakfast. +After the usual salutations, and an apology for the badness of our +lodging, I inquired how far we were from Largs, and was informed it was +about three miles from where we were. Feeling myself much indisposed, +and threatened with a severe cold, I resolved to return home as direct +as I could, not choosing to run the risk of any more such adventures. I +despatched Malcolm to the inn, to prevent the horses being sent off to +Dumbarton, and to bring them as quick as possible to where I now was. +During his stay, I became more and more interested in the gentle Mary. +She was not in the least embarrassed, as she thought that I was +unconscious of what had passed through the night. I felt it would be a +cruel return for her kindness to mention it, and alarm her fears for her +lover, for such I supposed him to be. I could have gained no object by +doing so. I <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span>already knew, from what I had heard, that she was connected +with a band of smugglers, whose calling she loathed.</p> + +<p>There was a firmness of purpose, mixed with her gentleness, displayed +during the time the band and their captain were in the house, which +shewed I could gain no information as to them, from her; neither did I +feel any anxiety to know more than I did, or ever to be in their company +again. Had I had the wish to give information of the lawless band, I +could only inform as to the females; the others had managed so well I +could not have identified one of them.</p> + +<p>At length my horses arrived, and I prepared to depart. As I took my +leave, I put five guineas into the hand of Mary. She looked at the sum, +then at me, and refused to accept any remuneration for our shelter.</p> + +<p>"Keep it," said I, "to enable you to induce James to quit his dangerous +trade." She blushed, trembled, and then became pale as death. My heart +smote me for what I had said. She gave me such an anxious, imploring +look, as her trembling lips murmured—</p> + +<p>"Oh, what shall I do?"</p> + +<p>"Fear nothing, Mary, from me; I owe you much more for your goodness of +heart. If you and James will come to reside near Allan Gow, he shall do +all in his power to assist you." Amidst blessings from the mother, and +the silent gratitude of the daughter, I rode off, on my way to Glasgow, +and on the following day was under my parents' roof.</p> + +<p>It is now many years since then. James and Mary are settled in the +neighbourhood, and prosperous. Malcolm is still with me; but whether +servant or companion, I can scarce tell at times. When my strange +imaginations come upon me—for I have never been, for any length of time +free from them—he is almost master of my small establishment.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span> +</div> +<h2><a name="THE_YOUNG_LAIRD5" id="THE_YOUNG_LAIRD5"></a>THE YOUNG LAIRD.<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a></h2> + + +<p>In one of the midland counties of Scotland lies the estate of Sir +Patrick Felspar. On this estate, and on the southern declivity of a +moderately-high hill, stood, about thirty years ago, two old-fashioned +farmsteads, called Nettlebank and Sunnybraes, of which, as we have a +long story to tell, we can only say that the former—being the +largest—was tenanted by Mr. Black, and the latter by William Chrighton; +that the family of the one consisted of a boy and a girl called +<i>Gilbert</i> and <i>Nancy</i>; and that the other was the father of an only son, +named <i>George</i>.</p> + +<p>The harvest had been concluded, and preparations were making for +lifting the potato crop, when Mrs. Black was taken ill of a fever; and +her husband, on discovering that she was seriously indisposed, after +sending the servant girl to "tell Elspeth Roger that her mistress wished +to speak with her," left the house, to which he did not return for +several days. Elspeth, who was the wife of one of the farm servants, +being thus sent for, hastened to her mistress's presence. On entering +the room, and seeing the state of the sufferer, she saw at once that a +sick nurse was indispensable; and, though she had herself a husband and +two <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span>children to attend to, and, consequently, could be but ill spared +from her own house, she readily offered her services, and was accepted.</p> + +<p>By her advice, medical assistance was immediately procured; and the +kind-hearted matron continued to attend the sick-bed of her mistress, +night and day, for three weeks, during which period Mr. Black was seldom +at home. Hitherto, the doctor had entertained hopes of his patient's +recovery; but, on the eighteenth day, to Elspeth's anxious inquiries, he +only shook his head, and bade her "not be surprised whatever should +happen." His words were deemed ominous: a messenger was despatched to +bring Mr. Black home; and, on the following day, his wife died. Upon +this sad occasion, Nancy seemed to be the only real mourner; for, though +her father and brother hung their heads, and looked demure for a day or +two, even the semblance of sorrow vanished before the exciting potations +which they swallowed at the <i>dregy</i>.<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> Nancy, however, did feel the +loss of her mother, and mourned it as deeply as her young heart could. +And, as she had been oftener than once rebuked with great severity by +her remaining parent, for what he called her <i>blubbering</i>, when grief +overcame her she frequently sought a hiding place for her tears in the +house of Elspeth, who, with the heart and the feelings of her sex, +shared the sorrows of the poor girl while she strove to alleviate them. +But she was soon deprived of this refuge; for, in a few days after the +funeral, Elspeth, who had probably caught the infection while attending +the deathbed of her mistress, found herself in the grasp of the same +terrible disease which had carried her mistress off; and Nancy, to avoid +the same fate, was debarred from entering the door of her humble friend +and only comforter.</p> + +<p>On such occasions, to have one who will listen patiently <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span>to a recital +of our sorrows, and respond to them with a sigh, a look of sympathy, a +tear, or a word, in which the tone of the voice bespeaks a reciprocity +of feeling, is comfort, and almost the only comfort of which the case +admits; for the lengthened speech and the studied harangue, containing, +as they are supposed to do, "the words of consolation," often fall upon +the ear without reaching the heart. Such a comforter Nancy Black found +in George Chrighton, or, as he was universally termed, <i>the laddie +Geordie</i>. This boy, who was one of her schoolfellows, and nearly of her +own age, attracted by her sorrowful looks and the tears which sometimes +stole down her cheeks, left the boisterous sports of the other boys, and +devoted his hours of play to walking with her, or sitting in some +retired corner, and listening to her little "tale of wo." Hitherto, the +roads by which they came and went had been different; but now he +discovered a new one, by following which he could accompany her till +within a short distance of Nettlebank; and, at the place where they had +separated in the evening, he always waited for her appearance on the +next morning. Youthful friendships are soon formed. Ere disappointment +has done its work, and experience taught its salutary, though painful +lesson, there is little room for suspicion on either side, and the +hearts of the parties amalgamate, like meeting waters. Thus, the two +became <i>friends</i>, almost before they could understand the meaning of the +word.</p> + +<p>While Nancy Black and her boyish companion were thus forming an +affection for each other, as pure, and certainly as deep, as any which +ever subsisted between persons of their years, Elspeth Roger was lying +dangerously ill. But her sickness was not "unto death:" and, after being +confined for twenty-four days, during which her life had been several +times despaired of by all who saw her, she began to recover. Scarcely, +however, was she able to move about, and bestow some attention on their +household concerns, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span>when her husband began to complain; and, in a few +hours, he was laid upon that bed from which she had arisen, with all the +symptoms of a most malignant case of the same disease. Elspeth, who, in +the midst of many struggles, and without the outward show of more than +ordinary affection, was attached to her husband, now became fixed to his +bedside. Forgetting the weakness consequent on her own imperfect +recovery, and fearful of allowing hands less careful than her own to +approach him, she attended him, night and day, with a solicitude which +none save those who have all they value in the world at stake, can +comprehend. Medical advice was promptly procured. But, in spite of +medical skill, tender nursing, and tears shed apart, David Roger died. +Of Elspeth's grief upon this occasion, it were superfluous to speak. +Suffice it that, after many years had passed by, the general expression +of her countenance, and the tear which occasionally stole down her cheek +at the mention of his name, showed that she had not forgotten the +husband of her youth.</p> + +<p>Though this event must have been distressing to the widow, her distress +was aggravated when, on the second day from that on which her husband +had been interred, Mr. Black told her that, "as he had engaged another +servant, and required his house, she must remove at the term." The first +week of November was now past; the term was on the 22d of that month; +every house in the neighbourhood was either occupied, or already let for +the coming year; and this information came to the heart of Elspeth like +a thunder-shock. It was what she had never dreamed of, and never thought +of providing for. For herself, she might have been careless; but when +she reflected on her children, the feelings of the mother awoke in her +bosom, and made her, for the time, superior to despair. Day after day, +she went in quest of a hovel to shelter them from the rigour of the +coming winter, and night after night she returned <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 2304</a></span>without having found +one. It seemed as if Heaven had determined to make her a houseless +wanderer; for not a single untenanted habitation could she hear of. But +we must leave her to pursue her fruitless search, and attend, for a +little, to what was going on elsewhere.</p> + +<p>One evening, after George Chrighton had returned from school, without +taking time to snatch his accustomed morsel of bread from the <i>aumry</i>, +he inquired for his father, and hurried off in quest of him. Having +discovered the object of his search in the stack-yard—"Father," cried +the boy, as soon as he was within ear-shot, "hae ye heard that Mr. Black +intends to make Elspeth Roger flit at the term; an' she canna get a +house for hersel an' her bairns in a' the country?"</p> + +<p>"I did hear she was gaun to flit," said the old man, composedly; "but +whatfor canna she get a house?"</p> + +<p>"I dinna ken," was the boy's eager reply; "but she's been seekin ane +this aught days, an mair; an' Nan Black says, if somebody doesna help +her, she maun tak her twa bairns, an' gang an' beg.—Noo, faither, could +we no do something? There's our auld barn: I would mak the clay-cats,<a name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a> +an' we might pit up a lum; an' I would help Jock to howk a hole i' the +wa', an' it wouldna tak muckle to get a <i>windock</i>; an'—an'—I've +forgotten what I was gaun to say; but I'm sure we can pit up the lum; +an' the woman canna lie out by."</p> + +<p>"I daresay ye're richt, laddie," said his father, after raising his +hat, and scratching the hinder part of his head for a few seconds. "The +auld barn micht do. There's some bits o' sticks lyin at the end o' the +byre, an' some auld nails i' the stable—as mony o' baith as would be +required, I believe. Jock could bring a cartfu o' clay the nicht yet—he +could mak the cats the morn; ye micht bide at hame a day frae the +school, an' carry them in; an' I could pit up the lum mysel."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span>"But it would need a hallan too, faither," rejoined George.</p> + +<p>"Hoot ay," said his father, "it would need a hallan, an' a hantle things +forby; an', after a' has been done that we can do, the place will be but +little, an' unco inconvenient; but it'll aye be a hole to shelter her +an' her bairnies frae the drift, afore they can get a better. An', e'en +though the scheme had been less feasible than it is, it maks my heart +glad to see that—laddie as ye are—ye hae a thought for ither folk's +distress."</p> + +<p>"Na," interrupted George, "na, faither; it wasna me—it was Nan Black +spoke about it first, an' I only promised to tell ye."</p> + +<p>"Weel, weel, laddie," rejoined the other, "I'm glad to hear that Nan +Black, as ye ca' her, is likely to turn out a better <i>woman</i>, if she be +spared, than ever her faither was a <i>man</i>—but, as he has a' his actions +to account for, of him I would say naething." With these words, the +worthy farmer was about to resume his labours, when his son, flushed +with the success of his plan, exclaimed—</p> + +<p>"But will we no tell her, faither? Her mind canna be at ease afore she +ken about some place."</p> + +<p>"That's weel minded too," said the father—"she's maybe gotten a house +already; but, in case she hasna, gang ye owre to your mither, an' tell +her I bade ye get a piece; an', when ye've gotten it, ye can rin yont, +some time afore it be dark, an' see a' about it. An' ye can tell her +that, if she likes, she's welcome to our auld barn, for a year; an', if +she taks it, we's no fa' oot about the rent."</p> + +<p>Though George obeyed his father so far as to go the length of the house +door, he could not find time to go in for his promised <i>piece</i>; and, +without opening it, he turned, and set off at the top of his speed in +the direction of Nettlebank.</p> + +<p>Return we now to the widow's cottage. The poor woman <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span>was far from +having recovered, when she was called upon to attend the deathbed of her +husband. The fatigue, terror, anxiety, and want of rest, from which she +had suffered during that period, might have been sufficient to break +down even the strongest constitution. When to these are added weeks of +wandering in quest of a habitation, the reader will hardly be surprised +when he is told that her animal strength was gone—her spirits sunk, and +despair seemed to be closing around her. With a frame completely worn +out, a head which ached, blistered feet, and, we might almost add, a +"bleeding heart," she sat by her fire one evening—her head resting on +her hand, and her eyes fixed upon her children, while sighs convulsed +her bosom. She wished to commit her little ones to the care of their +Maker; but such was the state of her mind, that she fancied she could +not perform even this duty, and the thought called forth another and a +deeper sigh. While she was thus employed, Nancy Black opened the door +unperceived, and, standing at her side, awoke her from her dream of +despondency by saying, in a half whispering, half faltering +voice—"Elspeth, dinna break your heart. I think I ken where you'll get +a house, noo. I was speaking about you, the day, to Geordie Chrighton, +at the school, an' he says they could soon mak a house o' their auld +barn; and that his faither will never hesitate"——</p> + +<p>To this the mother was listening, and almost thinking the news too good +for being true, when the speaker was interrupted by some one coming +against the inner door of the apartment with such force as nearly to +break it. On hearing the noise, the widow rose to give the stranger +admittance; but he waited not for her services. Putting one hand to his +nose—the part which had produced the noise—and the other to the latch, +before another second had elapsed, George Chrighton stood in the middle +of the floor, panting from the rapidity of his march; and, without +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span>taking time to recover breath, he began to deliver his message by +saying—"Elspeth, my father sent me owre to tell ye that, if ye want a +house, ye may get our auld barn. Jock's to bring a cartful o' clay—he's +to mak the cats the morn; I'm to bide at hame frae the school, an' carry +them in; an' my faither's to put up the lum. An'—what is't I was gaun +to say?—ou ay—tak it—tak it, Elspeth; an', if he'll no gie ye it for +naething, I'll keep a' the bawbees I get, to help ye to pay for't." Here +he paused, fairly out of breath. The substance of his message, however, +was delivered, and he now stood silent, and almost fearful of hearing +that she had already got a house.</p> + +<p>The widow, bewildered by her own feelings, the excited manner of the +boy, and the intelligence which he brought, was also silent. Nor was it +till Nancy Black had whispered, "It's true enough—Geordie never tells +lies," that she recollected it was her part to make a reply.</p> + +<p>Hitherto the boy had not been aware of the presence of his schoolfellow; +but no sooner had he heard her voice, than his eye brightened, and he +turned as if to seek the reward of his labours from her; and—girl as +she was—he found it in her approving smile. But that smile was of short +duration; for as soon as she had a full view of his face, it passed +away, and, hurrying toward him, she exclaimed, in an anxious tone—"What +ails you, Geordie? What's that on your upper lip, an' your chin?"</p> + +<p>"What is't?" repeated the youngster, drawing the back of his hand +across the place alluded to, as if to ascertain if anything was wrong in +that quarter; and then, examining the hand so employed, he +continued—"What is't? It's bluid; but where it comes frae I canna +tell." After a short pause, during which he recollected the opposition +he had met from the door—"It's my nose—it's just my nose," he added, +laughing as he spoke, to free the heart of Nancy from those +apprehensions, the shade of which he <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span>saw gathering on her countenance. +"I didna ken the door was steekit afore my nose played crack on the +sneck—and noo it's bluidin."</p> + +<p>Sure enough, his nose was bleeding, and had been so ever since he came +in, though unobserved. The attention of the widow and Nancy was +instantly directed to staunch the bleeding: the latter brought the key +from the outer door, and the former placed it between his shoulders, +bathing his temples at the same time with cold water. In a few minutes +the blood ceased to flow, and, after his face had been washed, Nancy's +smile returned.</p> + +<p>When they were about to depart, the widow, taking one in each hand, and +drawing them close together, said—"May God bless ye baith, my bonny +bairns! An', in his ain way an' time, He <i>will</i> bless ye; for, when men +and women had forsaken me, an' my heart was sinking in despair, ye have +provided a hame for the widow and the faitherless. May His blessing rest +on ye, an' may He be your friend when ither friends forsake you!"</p> + +<p>The <i>clay-cats</i> were made, and carried in, in the manner proposed; the +lum was constructed, and the old barn made as commodious as possible; +and, in a few days after, Elspeth and her two children came to inhabit +it. But though it was only intended for a temporary residence, when a +twelvemonth had passed, she did not leave it. She had made herself +useful in many ways to the farmer, by assisting him with his farm-work; +and, as both felt loath to part, she became a sort of fixture on the +farm of Sunnybraes.</p> + +<p>There is still one circumstance connected with her removal, which must +be noticed. Mr. Black, in general, did little to deserve commendation; +but he could not endure the idea of any one becoming more popular than +himself; and, as William Chrighton was warmly praised for his conduct in +this affair, he soon began to regard him with a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span>feeling which was more +akin to deep-rooted hatred than ill-will.</p> + +<p>We now pass over a period of six years, during which nothing of +importance occurred—save that those who, at the commencement of this +period, had been mere infants, were now boys and girls; those who had +been boys and girls, were now men and women; and of those who had then +been men and women, many were now in their graves. Nor of those who +remained had a single individual escaped, without having undergone some +change. In some, the gaiety of youth had been exchanged for the +thoughtful expression of maturer years; upon the foreheads of others, +grey hairs were seen where glossy ringlets were wont to wave; the rosy +hue which had once adorned the cheek, was now broken into streaks; and +on brows formerly smooth, the handwriting of care was now visible.</p> + +<p>About this time, Sir Patrick Felspar, after being absent for a number of +years, paid a short visit to his tenants. On coming to Sunnybraes, and +expressing himself highly satisfied with William Chrighton's manner of +farming and general management, that individual thought it a favourable +opportunity for introducing Elspeth and her two children to his notice. +The story seemed to affect him, and he immediately proposed taking the +boy into his own service. This proposal was agreed to; and, at his +departure, Sandy Roger accompanied him to London, where we must leave +him.</p> + +<p>George Chrighton, though only a schoolboy when we last noticed him, was +now a stout-looking, well-built young man, rather above the middle size, +and, for some time past, he had been his father's only assistant at +Sunnybraes. Nor was the change which had been produced on Nancy Black +less conspicuous. From being a mere girl, in the course of six years she +had become a beautiful maiden, in <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span>the last of her teens, and with a +natural modesty, which, though it added greatly to her other charms, +almost unfitted her for the situation she occupied in her father's +household. Of this youthful pair, it was generally surmised in the +neighbourhood, that the attachment which had begun in their school days, +had "grown with their growth, and strengthened with their strength," +till it had ripened into love.</p> + +<p>Such surmises have often been made before, upon occasions where there +was not even the shadow of a foundation for them. But, in the present +instance, the gossips and tattlers were not so far wrong; for the two +were really lovers, though, from the implacable temper of Mr. Black, +they found it necessary to conceal their affection; and, for two years +more, in as far as an open confession is concerned, they did conceal it. +They were not, however, wholly without their "stolen interviews," which, +though "few and far between," with the additional disadvantage of being +<i>short</i>, were, in this case, sufficient to keep the flame alive. They +also found means of occasionally exchanging notices of each other upon +<i>paper</i>—that <i>dernier resort</i> of all unfortunate lovers.</p> + +<p>Catherine Roger, who had hitherto been thought and spoken of as the +<i>lassie Kate</i>, was now beginning to expand into the young woman, +and—smitten with her charms, as wise people began to suppose—Andrew +Sharp, one of Mr. Black's farm-servants, had, of late, become rather a +regular visitor at her mother's. At first, he came with a quantity of +worsted, "to see if she would knit a pair of stockings for him;" next, +he "came to see if she would darn the heels of a pair of stockings;" +and, by and by, he sometimes ventured to "come owre, just to speer for +her." While his business was thus, to all appearance, exclusively with +the mother, he frequently found an opportunity of stealing a look at the +daughter, or, more fortunate still, of exchanging <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span>a word with her, as if +by the by. It is probable, however, that the former—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Wi' a woman's wyles, could spy<br /></span> +<span class="i0">What made the youth sae bashfu an' sae grave;"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>and, whatever her fears might be, there is no reason to doubt that she +was</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Weel pleased to see her bairn respected like the lave."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Andrew, though young, was by no means deficient in shrewdness; he was +naturally of an obliging turn—a quiet conscientious lad—a great +favourite with his young mistress, and he was sometimes made the bearer +of those paper messengers which went between the lovers.</p> + +<p>The leases of both farms were now within a year of being out, and both +the farmers had begun to use what interest they could to have them +renewed. As to the success of William Chrighton, those who pretended to +see farther than their neighbours, shook their heads, and seemed +uncertain; but of Mr. Black being successful, no one seemed to entertain +the smallest doubt. Sir Patrick, of late, had left the management of +those matters wholly to his factor, Mr. Goosequill; and, in the esteem +of this individual, Mr. Black now stood deservedly high. Scarcely a +month had been allowed to pass, for the last two years, without a +present of poultry, eggs, butter, or cheese being sent from Nettlebank +to the factor. Upon these occasions, Gilbert was commonly the bearer, +and he always stayed over night, and either drank toddy with the +representative of the laird, or poured flatteries into the ear of Miss +Grizzy, his daughter. At these doings, far-sighted people shook their +heads again, and said that Mr. Black's hens were never sold in a rainy +day, except to serve some purpose, and darkly hinted at the possibility +of his taking both farms.</p> + +<p>Shortly after these matters began to be agitated, the old <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span>knight died, +and was succeeded by his son, who had always been spoken of on the +estate as the <i>young laird</i>. It was further understood that the young +Sir Patrick had been abroad for the last nine months; and, according to +the accounts which were circulated, he was not expected home for several +months to come. This circumstance afforded an excuse to Mr. Goosequill +for declining to renew the lease of Sunnybraes, as he alleged that he +could not do so till he had positive instructions from the young laird +to that effect. At the end of four months, a letter from Sandy Roger +informed his mother that Sir Patrick had returned to London shortly +after his father's death; and, since his return, that he had treated him +with a degree of kindness such as he had never expected to experience +from a master. The game was now up; and the factor, finding that it was +so, despatched the following letter to the laird:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p><span class="smcap">"Sir</span>,—As you have been graciously pleased to continue that trust +which your much-lamented father was pleased to repose in me—a +trust which, from my knowledge of local affairs, I hope I shall be +able to discharge with honour to myself and advantage to you—and +as the leases of your farms of Nettlebank and Sunnybraes expire at +Martinmas ensuing, I should hold myself wanting in that interest +which I have ever felt for the prosperity of the family, if I did +not acquaint you of the following particulars. William Chrighton, +the present tenant of Sunnybraes, has now made application to have +the lease of that farm renewed; but, as he is a man of no +substance, belongs to the old school, is incapable of conducting +improvements upon an extensive scale, and merely struggles on from +year to year, I have declined to give him any answer till I should +know what was your pleasure thereanent. I have also received an +offer for the said farm from Mr. Black, bearing an advance of rent. +This gentleman is in a thriving way; he has a turn <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span>for business, +and everything prospers with him; he has extensive connections, +and, what is of more importance to the present purpose, he has a +son of age to take the management of a farm, who is an excellent +agriculturist. Mr. Black proposes to take both farms—Nettlebank at +the old rent, and the other at an advance; and, if his offers are +accepted, I have no hesitation in saying that he will soon improve +this portion of your estate to a great extent. I would therefore +recommend him to your notice. Hoping that <i>that</i> knowledge of local +affairs which I have acquired from long experience, may still be of +some service to you, I am, Sir, your very humble servant,</p> + +<p class="sig">"<span class="smcap">Gavin Goosequill.</span>"</p></div> + +<p>To this communication, the factor, in due time, received the following +laconic reply:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Sir,—I thank you for your friendly advice, and the attention to +my concerns which you manifest; but, as it is my wish that the old +tenants should remain, you may let Messrs. Chrighton and Henderson +have their farms at the old rent, if they choose.—Yours,</p> + +<p class="sig">"<span class="smcap">P. Felspar.</span>"</p></div> + +<p>This entirely disconcerted the schemes of these friends. Mr. Henderson +was the tenant who had been in Nettlebank before Mr. Black; and the +young laird, who had not been in Scotland since he was four years of +age, as yet knew nothing of his having left it. Gavin Goosequill felt +rather at a loss how to proceed; but, recollecting that "in the +multitude of counsellers there is safety," he determined to consult Mr. +Black, and, for this purpose, paid a visit to Nettlebank. What was the +result of this consultation is not exactly known; but, as Mr. Black +shook hands with the factor, and was about to bid him "good night," +Andrew Sharp, who stood waiting with the horse, heard the latter +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span>say—"Well, I think we have it after all. I shall delay matters as long +as I can, and then write, recommending farther delay; this will give us +time to do something, and, if I am not deceived, both will be yours in +the end."</p> + +<p>The oracular words "do something," and "both will be yours," made an +impression on Andrew's mind. When he reflected on the expiration of the +leases, the character of his master, and the surmises which he had +heard, he felt convinced that the first part of the factor's speech had +a reference to the farms, while the last part of it implied some plot, +which was hatching, to forward their schemes. This conviction suggested +the probability that William Chrighton would not be allowed to remain in +Sunnybraes; and, as his removal must be attended with the removal of +Catherine Roger, to he knew not how great a distance, he felt somewhat +spiritless and disconcerted. Time seemed to stand still; and, after +ruminating for a season on the means of averting such a misfortune, he +took a pair of stockings, and, having placed them on the hearthstone of +his bothie—no one being present—he proceeded to pound that part of +them called the <i>heels</i> with the head of the poker. By this means, he +soon produced something very like a worn hole in each; and then, taking +them under his arm, and putting a quantity of worsted into his pocket, +he set off to Sunnybraes to get them darned. When there, as his +"dulness" did not leave him so quickly as he had anticipated, and as he +was, moreover, loath to sit silent in the presence of one whose good +opinion he was so anxious to procure, while Elspeth was darning the +stockings, he told Catherine the whole story—what he had heard the +factor say, and the conclusions and inferences which he had drawn +therefrom—taking care, however, neither to mention his "dulness," nor +the manner in which he had produced the holes in the heels of his +stockings.</p> + +<p>"Weel, lassie," said Elspeth when he was gone, "frae <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span>what we ken aboot +Mr. Black, the thing's clear enough. He's lookin after Sunnybraes for +his muckle gomeril o' a son; an', if Gavin Goosequill can get it for +him, by hook or by crook, by lies or by true tales, he'll no want it +lang. The hens, an' the jucks, an' the geese, an' the turkeys, that gaed +frae Nettlebank, hae done their <i>errand</i> weel enough, I warrant them; +an' noo we maun try to do oors—at least, we maun <i>try</i>—to help them +that hae been helpers to baith you an' me."</p> + +<p>"But hoo can we help them, mither?" inquired Catherine, with a look of +surprise—"what can we do?"</p> + +<p>"I'll tell ye what we can do, lassie," rejoined her mother; "the young +laird will never hear a word o' truth aboot either his farmers or his +farms. It's easy for Gavin Goosequill to stap his head as fu' o' lies as +it can haud; an', when this is done, it's but saying that the laird +wants Mr. Black to get baith the farms; an' syne, Mr. Chrighton, an' you +an' me too, maun flit. Noo, as your brither, Sandy, is the young laird's +servant, ye maun e'en try if ye can write a letter to him, an' tell him +o' a' this ongaun. Though it's no very weel written, he'll maybe mak oot +to read it; an', if he's no sair changed since he left his mother an' +his hame, <i>he'll</i> tell the laird the truth."</p> + +<p>Catherine was ready to comply with her mother's proposal. A letter was +accordingly written; and, after being closed with a piece of shoemakers' +rosin, instead of wax, and supplied with an address by George Chrighton, +it was, on the following day, put in the post-office. In about three +weeks from the date of this letter, though no answer was returned to it, +Mr. Goosequill received the following note from the laird, which appears +to have been an answer to another communication of his.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<span class="smcap">Dear Sir</span>,—I have received yours of the 1st August; and I am now +convinced that the affair requires delay and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span>serious consideration. +I shall endeavour to turn your advice to some account; and, in the +meantime, you need give yourself no farther trouble about the +letting of the farms.—Yours,</p> +<p class="sig"><span class="smcap">P. Felspar.</span></p> + +<p>"P.S.—You may assure the tenants that neither of them will suffer +injustice at my hands."</p></div> + +<p>Things now appeared favourable; but, as Mr. Goosequill seldom trusted +more to appearances than was necessary, he took an early opportunity of +calling upon William Chrighton, to say that "he believed any farther +application on his part for the farm would be useless, and must only +tend to irritate the laird." He hinted, farther, that, if Sir Patrick +should raise an action against him, he might get heavy damages for the +bad repair in which the steading then was. After having expended a good +deal of learning and law-Latin in illustrating this subject, Mr. +Goosequill concluded, by saying, that, so far as he could judge from his +last communication, and as Sir Patrick was a proud man, and could not +endure to be thwarted in his plans, the best course he could adopt was, +simply, to pay his rent, and quit the farm at Martinmas.</p> + +<p>To these proposals the old farmer demurred. "I have always paid my rent +on rent-day," said he; "I have made many improvements upon the farm to +enable me to pay that rent; and for the steading, though I am not bound +to keep it in repair, by building a new barn and cart-sheds, at my own +expense, I have made it worth at least sixty pounds more than it was at +the beginning of the tack. Now," continued he, "I can see no reason the +laird can have for being <i>irritated</i> at me for endeavouring to keep +possession of the farm on which I was born, and on which I have lived +till I am growing an old man."</p> + +<p>"You may do as you please," said Mr. Goosequill, gravely—"only I have +warned you; and, if you are determined <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span>to persist, you may save yourself +the trouble of writing; for I have Sir Patrick's authority for saying +that he is coming down to Scotland to settle these matters himself."</p> + +<p>Having thus counselled, he adjourned to Nettlebank, where he no doubt +counselled more; but through this labyrinth we shall not follow him. +Only Andrew Sharp, who again brought out his horse, heard him say, as he +was about to depart, "Well, I think I have the old scrub for the new +barn, and, in the meantime, Mr. Gilbert, who is really a smart lad, must +try to do a little."</p> + +<p>"Fear not for him," rejoined the other; "he knows what he is working +for—Miss Grizzy's fair face is worth wanting an hour's sleep for ony +time."</p> + +<p>Many of our readers will still recollect the disastrous harvest of 1817: +October was begun before harvest-work commenced at all; and, after it +did commence, day after day the rain poured down as if the sky had been +an ocean supported by a sieve. It was after an evening of storm and +darkness had succeeded to one of these distressing days, that a stranger +arrived at Nettlebank, and requested lodgings for the night. The servant +girl, who opened the door, said, "She wouldna let him in, but she would +tell her master." Her master accordingly came, and, without ceremony, +told him to begone, for he harboured no wandering vagabonds about his +<i>town</i>.</p> + +<p>The stranger attempted to plead his ignorance of the country and the +darkness of the night, as excuses for being allowed to remain; but Mr. +Black cut him short, by telling him, in a tone which was distinctly +heard at the farthest corner of the house, to march off, or he would +instantly unchain the house-dog and set loose the terriers, and let them +make a supper of him. Oaths and abusive language followed; but the +stranger did not wait to hear more. He had proceeded as far as the +corner of the garden wall, where a wicket gate communicated with the +front <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span>door, and was muttering vengeance to himself, when he was accosted +by Nancy.</p> + +<p>"I am sorry," said she, "we cannot give you lodgings for the night—my +father is so passionate; but here is something to help you on your +journey." The stranger seemed unwilling to take the shilling, which she +was attempting to put into his hand. "It is hardly worth your +acceptance," said she; "but it is all I have at present. I cannot tell +how much I feel on your account—exposed as you have been to the rain. +But, as this is no night for a stranger to be abroad in, only come with +me a few steps, till I can procure a guide to conduct you to the next +farm, where you will find shelter."</p> + +<p>"The farmer of the next farm may perhaps treat me like the farmer of +this—and what then?" inquired the stranger, whose wrath had not yet +altogether subsided.</p> + +<p>"God forbid!" was Nancy's reply; "but he will not—I know he will not." +She then led the way to a low door, through the seams of which light was +visible, and, tapping gently, pronounced the word "Andrew." As soon as +the door was opened—"Here is a stranger," said she, addressing the +young man who acted as porter; "and when I grow richer I will endeavour +to reward you, if you would get your greatcoat and shew him the road; or +rather go with him to Sunnybraes, and tell them he wants lodgings for +the night"—then, lowering her voice almost to a whisper, and drawing +closer as she spoke, she added—"and, if they seem to hesitate, draw +George aside, and tell him I sent you." The lad was hastening to obey +his mistress's orders, when she called after him, "Stay—I had +forgot—bring a greatcoat for him also."</p> + +<p>The stranger, who had now caught a full view of her in the light which +issued from the open door, thought he had seldom seen a fairer face or a +finer form, and, wet as he was, he felt a wish to cultivate her +acquaintance by farther <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span>conversation; but she gave him no time; for, +almost before the last word was spoken, she disappeared.—"Tell George!" +muttered he, as he listened to her retiring footsteps—"this is +something, however."</p> + +<p>At Sunnybraes, Andrew found his young mistress's provisionary clause +altogether unnecessary; for, no sooner had he announced his errand, than +the old farmer rose to make way for the stranger: "Get up, George," said +he to his son; "an' you, Meg," turning to his wife, "lift out owre your +wheel, an' let the poor lad in by to the fire. An' d'ye hear?—if ever +whisky did mortal creature guid, it maun be on a night like this; sae, +though I drink nane mysel, gang ye and gie him a glass."</p> + +<p>The stranger was accordingly placed by the fire, and a glass was +brought; but still it was considered that, as he must be drenched to the +skin, a shift of clothes would be necessary. On this proposal being +made, Mrs. Chrighton cast a significant look, first at her son, and then +at her husband:—</p> + +<p>"Hoot, woman," cried the latter, interpreting her look, "bring the duds, +an', if ye hae ony fear about them, the lassie Kate can gie ye a help to +wash them, some weety day. An' weety days are like to be owre rife noo, +for ony guid they're doin.—Our guidewife," he continued, addressing +their guest, "has aye been fear'd for infectious diseases since a +beggar-wife brought the fever to the town mair than fourteen years back. +But, though ye had five-and-twenty fevers—ay, fifty o' them—that's no +enough to let you get your death o' cauld wi thae weet claes on; sae ye +maun e'en consent to shift yoursel."</p> + +<p>The stranger's language was a strange mixture of the best English and +the broadest Scotch; and this circumstance, after exciting a degree of +surprise in the minds of all, induced the guidwife to make some indirect +inquiries concerning his profession and station in society.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span>"I've been thinkin ye're no just a here-a-wa man, by your tongue," said +she; "an', if I'm no mista'en, ye've seen better days; for, when I was +bringin butt your wet claes to get them dried, though your bit jacket +an' your breeks were just corduroy, I couldna help noticin that there is +no a bit bonnier linen inowre our door than the sark ye had on."</p> + +<p>To these observations it seemed as if the stranger scarce knew how to +reply—he passed his hand across his brow, and was silent for some +seconds. But, on recovering himself, he told them that his name was +Duncan Cowpet—that he had been born in Scotland, but his parents had +removed to England when he was very young—that he had lately been a +traveller for a house in London, but his master being now dead, and +himself out of employment, he had thought of visiting his native +country; he added that, though his dress was rather plain, he was not +destitute of money, and concluded by offering to pay them for the +trouble they had already been at on his account, and also for his +night's lodging.</p> + +<p>"Na, na," said the old farmer, his eyes brightening as he spoke, "we +never took payment for sheltering the head of a houseless stranger, nor +will we noo. But ye were sayin that ye're out o' employment; as this is +a backward season, an' we have a hantle to do, an' mair than a', as I'm +turned frail and feckless mysel, an' unco sair fashed wi' rheumatisms, +I've been thinkin if ye could consent to stay an' help us for a owk or +twa, maybe ye would be nae waur, an' we could gie you as guid wages as +ony ither body."</p> + +<p>To this proposal Duncan offered no objection, only he wished to +stipulate for a bed in the house, as, he said, he had never been +accustomed to lie in barns; and, as a guarantee that he would neither +injure their property, nor run off without giving them notice, he +offered to place five <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span>guineas in the hands of the guidman—remarking, +that it was all the ready money he had about him. "And as to wages," he +continued, "I <i>wull</i> ask no more than what you <i>wull</i> think I work for." +The five guineas were accepted, not as a guarantee for his good +behaviour, but that they might be in safe keeping. He was given to +understand that he might have them at any time; and, when the family +retired to rest, he was accommodated with a bed in the house.</p> + +<p>On the following morning, which happened to be fair, he was employed in +the labours of the season; and, though he manifested an uncommon degree +of awkwardness, George Chrighton, who was his fellow <i>bandster</i>, did +everything in his power to instruct and assist him in his new +profession; so that he succeeded in performing his part of the labour +till breakfast time. After this meal had been despatched, as each +youngster drew closer to his favourite lass, Duncan, following the +example thus set before him, began to attach himself to Catherine Roger, +who, though the youngest, and perhaps the fairest, seemed to have no +sweetheart present. But Catherine, though thus left alone, was far from +encouraging his attentions; and, with great dexterity, she contrived, +during what remained of the breakfast hour, always to keep her mother's +person between her and him—thus defeating his strong inclination to +imitate the conduct of some of his fellow-labourers, by placing his arm +around her neck.</p> + +<p>On rising to recommence the labours of the day, Duncan found that his +hands were blistered, and that it would be extremely difficult for him +to resume his work; but George again assisted him, by inquiring if any +of the lasses would be so kind as come and dress the injured parts. +Catherine, notwithstanding her former coyness, was the first to obey. +Bounding, with a light step, to her small repository of bandages and +thread, she was back in a moment; and, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span>spreading a small quantity of a +very healing ointment, which her mother had previously prepared, upon a +piece of linen cloth, she applied it to the part where the skin was +beginning to peel off, with the dexterity of an experienced surgeon, +and, having fastened it with a bandage drawn sufficiently tight, she was +at her work again before Duncan could move his lips to thank her. He was +now offered a pair of gloves, and with them, and the soothing nature of +the ointment, his labour was less painful than he had anticipated, till +their operations were interrupted by the rain.</p> + +<p>Frosty mornings and rainy days, with short intervals of fair weather, +succeeded each other. When in the field, Duncan had always an +opportunity of seeing Catherine; but, though he really did endeavour to +ingratiate himself in her favour, she still dexterously contrived to +eschew all his attentions. He was not in love with her; but he felt +attached to her by the same sort of feeling with which one regards a +beautiful picture, or any other object which delights the senses. The +symmetry of her form, the brilliancy of her complexion, and the lustre +of her eyes, excited his admiration; and, in the absence of other +objects, drew his attention. In this state of mind, he frequently +puzzled his brains to account for the strangeness of her manners; and, +one evening, shortly after his arrival, he resolved to introduce himself +to her mother; if, peradventure, his so doing might throw some light +upon the subject. With this intention, he had passed the little window, +and was approaching the door, when he heard a chair overturned and a +noise within, as if some one had fled to the farther end of the house in +great confusion. This induced him to listen for a moment; and, while +thus listening, he heard Elspeth exclaim—</p> + +<p>"What i' the warld's come owre the lassie noo!—whaur hae ye run till, +Kate? Na, I never saw the like o' that! <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span>The sark ye was mendin at, lyin +i' the aise-hole, an' a red cinder aboon't!—if I hadna grippit it, it +might hae been a' in a lowe lang afore ye cam to look for't; an' Andrew +would only gotten a pouchfu o' aise to tak hame wi' him on Saturday +nicht, instead of a sark." Duncan was no eavesdropper; but his curiosity +was strongly excited by what he had heard, and he could neither go in +nor drag himself with sufficient speed from the door.</p> + +<p>As Elspeth was concluding her ejaculations, the frightened damsel +returned, and was heard to say, in a suppressed tone—"O mither, dinna +be angry—I thought I saw Duncan Cowpet come past the window, an' I ran +to be out o' his gait. I canna bide him; his een's never off me the hail +day, an' mony a time I dinna ken whar to look."</p> + +<p>"Hoot, lassie," rejoined her mother; "ye aye mak bogles o' windlestraes. +Duncan is an honest lad, I'll warrant him, an' willin to work, too, +though he's no very guid o't. But, for a' that, dinna think that I want +ye to draw up wi' him; for I wouldna hae ye to gie ony encouragement to +anither man on earth, as lang as Andrew Sharp pays mair respect to you +than the lave. But only tak my advice—neither rin awa when ye see +Duncan coming, nor seem to notice his attentions when he comes, and +he'll soon bestow them on some ither body."</p> + +<p>"I'll rather cut my finger for an excuse to bide at hame, though, afore +I gang to the field when he's there," was Catherine's half-pettish +reply.</p> + +<p>"Confound ye if ye do ony sic thing!" cried her mother: "though Sandy +pays the house-rent, noo, recollect the guidman can ill spare ony o' his +shearers when the weather is fair."</p> + +<p>Duncan stood to hear no more; if he had formerly admired Catherine for +her beauty, he now respected her for the principles upon which she +acted, and he wished for an opportunity to convince her that he too +could act a disinterested <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span>part. On the following day, his conduct was +such as to free her mind from most of those disagreeable feelings which +hitherto she had entertained; and, when he repeated his visit in the +evening, though she again saw him pass the window, she did not run away. +After he was seated, he spoke of Andrew Sharp, and gratefully adverted +to his kindness in conducting him to Sunnybraes on an evening when few +would have cared for venturing abroad. Catherine's fears were now gone; +she felt as if she could have died to serve the man who spoke favourably +of her lover; and the conversation was kept up with the greatest +cordiality upon all sides. Local affairs came to be discussed; and, as +Duncan seemed curious to gain information concerning the farms, and the +character of the farmers in the neighbourhood, Elspeth, in her +endeavours to satisfy his curiosity, told him all she knew of Mr. Black +and Mr. Goosequill, with their supposed schemes for the ejectment of +William Chrighton.</p> + +<p>It was now the latter end of October, and still the harvest was far +from being completed. The watch-dog had died, and the horses began to +exhibit symptoms of lameness, which were the more distressing, that the +securing of the crop depended entirely upon their ability to labour. Two +of the cattle were brought home, by the boy who herded them, in a +diseased state, and the same evening one of them died. On the following +morning, one of the horses was found unable to rise; and, before noon, +he was dead also. It seemed as if the fates had conspired to ruin the +old farmer and his family; day after day, horses, cattle, and other live +stock, sickened and died; and, in a short time, he found himself without +the means of prosecuting the labours of so precarious a season, with any +prospect of success. To add to his distress, a summons was now served +against him for fifty pounds, "which," as that document affirmed, "he +still owed, and had refused to pay to the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span>creditors of Mr. Rickledyke, +for the building of his barn, &c." Mr. Rickledyke was the contractor who +had been employed on this occasion; the whole of the money had not been +paid when he became bankrupt; and, though the old farmer was perfectly +certain that he had paid it, when he recollected that the bankrupt was a +friend of Mr. Goosequill's, and that the money had been paid in his +office, he felt convinced that the whole was a trick, intended to +embarrass if not to ruin him. He recollected farther, that, as a <i>stamp</i> +could not, at the time, be obtained, for giving him a discharge, he had +left the place without any voucher for the payment of the debt, beyond +the testimony of two witnesses who were now dead; and thus he had no +alternative but to pay it again.</p> + +<p>The appearance of the law officers, at Sunnybraes, gave rise to a +report, which was industriously spread, that William Chrighton was +either a bankrupt or about to become one; and every individual who had +the slightest claim upon him, came hurrying in with distraints and +summonses; and, to complete the catastrophe, on Saturday, about noon, +Mr. Goosequill made his appearance, with the proper assistants, and +placed the whole of the crop, stocking, &c., on the farm of Sunnybraes, +under sequestration for the rent.</p> + +<p>All hope of continuing in the farm was now at an end, and it only +remained to make the most of the wreck which was still left. On Sabbath +morning, the sky had cleared; the wind shifted about to the north, and, +on the afternoon of the same day, a strong frost set in. The frost, +accompanied by a sharp breeze, continued throughout the evening, and, as +soon as midnight was past, the old man and his son prepared to embrace +so favourable an opportunity for securing a portion of the victual which +was still exposed. While they were engaged in these preparations, Duncan +was left to the care of Mrs. Chrighton, who had been instructed <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span>to +furnish him with some <i>warm meat</i>, and a greatcoat. After these +injunctions had been obeyed, as he sat by the fire, while she stood over +him with anxiety and distress depicted in her countenance—"O Duncan," +said she, "it's a terrible thing for honest folk to be sae sair +harassed. If lairds would only look after their affairs themselves, +instead of trusting them to factors, I'm sure it would be better for a' +parties. But it's a' owre with us, and there's naething noo but to tak +some cothouse, and the guidman maun e'en work in a ditch, and I maun +spin for the morsel that supports our lives. George, too, is so +disgusted with the usage we have received, that he speaks of going off +to America. And Nancy Black—poor lassie! my heart is aye sair when I +think about her—they've had a likin for ane anither since they were +bairns at the school, and, if things had gane richt, they might been +happy, and we might been comfortable; but that, like the rest of our +prospects, is at an end." Mrs. Chrighton's disjointed +observations—particularly what related to Nancy Black, were a mystery +to Duncan; and, though he wished to have an explanation, as the cart was +now ready and he was called, he was obliged to console himself with the +expectation that time might enable him to discover their meaning.</p> + +<p>When they reached the field, the moon was shining clear, the wind was +blowing a stiff gale from the north, and the sheaves of corn, where any +moisture had attached to them, were frozen as hard as iron. There was +only one of the working horses now serviceable: to supply the place of +another, a colt had been that morning pressed into the service; but, +owing to the awkwardness of this animal, the cart was overturned and +broken in such a manner as to render the assistance of the smith +necessary before it could be again used. Duncan Cowpet, who, +notwithstanding his unlucky name, had escaped unhurt, volunteered his +services for this expedition, and went off, with the cart and one of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span>the +horses, to the smithy. When he reached Nettlebank, on his return from +the smithy, he had nearly driven his cart over Nancy Black, who, +whitened by the falling snow, was leaning against the garden wall, and +appeared to have been shedding tears. On discovering him, she +endeavoured to assume an air of cheerfulness, and asked if he would stop +for a short time, as she would have a message for him. Being answered in +the affirmative, she hurried into the house, and in a few minutes +returned with a piece of folded paper, which she requested him to give +to his master's son. "But stay," said she, as he was putting it into his +pocket—"it is not closed—I had forgot;" and then, after a short pause, +she added—"but perhaps you do not read <i>write</i>?"</p> + +<p>"Na," said Duncan, speaking in an accent much broader than the +provincial dialect—"na, my faither was owre puir for giein me ony buke +lear." This seemed to satisfy the damsel, and she intrusted him with the +letter in its unclosed state, only enjoining him to show it to nobody, +and give it into the hands of George Chrighton.</p> + +<p>After nightfall, George said that "he must go to the smithy for some +things which had been forgotten in the forenoon," and wished to see +Duncan, to give him some orders about foddering the remaining horses. +But Duncan was nowhere to be found; and, after performing the task +himself—the evening being now well advanced—he took the road for the +smithy. It seemed, however, that he had business elsewhere; for, on +reaching Nettlebank, he climbed over the garden wall, and, tapping +gently at a low window, he was answered by a sigh from within. The door +was immediately opened without noise, and a female form stood by his +side. He placed her arm in his, and they passed silently to the barn, +where they both stood without speaking for some time, and both sighed +deeply. At last—</p> + +<p>"George," said Nancy Black—for it was she—"I have <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span>done wrong in +requesting you to meet me to-night; but I have been so much agitated +with what I have heard of late that I could not do otherwise."</p> + +<p>"What have you heard, my love?" inquired the other, in a tone of the +deepest tenderness—"only tell me, and, whatever your feelings may be, +there is at least one heart ready to share them."</p> + +<p>"I thought I could tell you all," said Nancy, "before you were here; but +now, when you are beside me, I cannot, and yet I must; for, though my +father and brother are from home, they may soon be back, and I may be +missed from the house. Did you ever hear," she continued, evidently +placing her feelings under a strong restraint as she spoke—"did you +ever hear that your dog was poisoned?"</p> + +<p>"I was never told so," said George; "but, perhaps, I have suspected that +the dog, and the horses and the cattle likewise, were poisoned; and, +perhaps, I have suspected who did it. But, if that were the worst, we +might get over it still; and you must not distress yourself, my love, +for dogs and horses."</p> + +<p>"But I have other causes of distress," said she, still keeping her +feelings under the same control. "We had Mr. Goosequill here last night +and this forenoon; and, from parts of the conversation which passed when +they were more than half drunk, I learned that Gilbert and Miss +Goosequill are to be married, and Sunnybraes is to be their residence, +which the factor says he is certain he can now get at my father's offer. +Oh, how my heart burns to think a daughter must thus reveal a parent's +disgrace!"</p> + +<p>"Nay, my dearest, do not distress yourself for this," rejoined the +other. "Though my father cannot resign Sunnybraes to you and me, as he +had intended, to mourn over it will not mend the matter. Let Gilbert and +Grizzy enjoy the farm; but, before they can establish themselves <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span>on it, +I will be on my passage to America; and, in a few years, with the +blessing of God, I may be able to return—a better man than the farmer +of Sunnybraes; and then, Nancy—but, first, promise that you will love +me till"—</p> + +<p>Here he was interrupted by the sobs of her whom he addressed. It was +long before she could speak; and, when she could speak, long and +earnestly did she try to dissuade him from his purpose. But the youth, +perceiving no prospect of their union, except by the plan which he +proposed to adopt, was inflexible. Finding all her entreaties were +vain—</p> + +<p>"Then it is as my heart foreboded," said she. "To-day I heard from +Andrew Sharp of your intention of going to America. I walked out to +conceal my feelings; and, while leaning on the garden wall, forgetful of +everything else, your servant passed, and then the wish rose in my heart +to see you once more. After I had made my foolish request, I had still +another wish ungratified, and that was, in case my arguments should +fail, as they have done, that you would carry along with you some +remembrance of her whom you once professed to love. This is woman's +weakness, but perhaps you will pardon it; and perhaps you will keep the +gift, though no better than a child's bauble, for the sake of the +giver."</p> + +<p>"I will—I will!" interrupted George, eagerly, whilst he took her hand.</p> + +<p>"I am half ashamed of it," she continued; "it is only a small sampler, +on which, shortly after leaving school, I sewed your father and mother's +names at full length, and yours, and—and mine—I may tell you this now, +when we are about to part, perhaps for ever. No one ever saw me put a +stitch in it. Will you keep it for my sake?"</p> + +<p>"While life remains," said the lover; "run, my love, and bring it, that +I may place it in my bosom."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span>"It is here already," said she, "and that is the reason why I wished our +meeting to be in this place. Fearing lest my father should come home, +and prevent me getting it from the house, I brought it out and concealed +it here."</p> + +<p>With these words, she made a few steps aside; and, as she stooped down +to bring her little keepsake from under the empty sacks which covered +it, instead of returning with it, she started and screamed. George flew +to her assistance. Something seemed stirring among the sacks, as if an +animal had been attempting to rise; he laid hold of it, and dragged a +heavy body after him to the door. The moon, which was now up, showed his +burden to be a man; and, grasping him by the collar—"Scoundrel!" he +said, "what business had you there?" then, turning him round to have a +better view of his face—"Duncan!" he added—his anger in some measure +yielding to surprise—"I had nearly given you a thrashing; but you have +been our guest, and assisted us in our difficulties, and I must hear +from your own lips that you are guilty, before I pass sentence upon +you." With these words he quitted his grasp.</p> + +<p>The blood flushed Duncan's cheek, and for some seconds he seemed +uncertain whether to offer resistance or sue for peace. At last he +said—holding out his hand, which the other as frankly took—"If you had +<i>thrashed</i> me, it would have been no more than I deserved. But perhaps +you shall have no reason afterwards to repent of having spared yourself +this labour; for, though I had my own reasons for doing as I have +done"—</p> + +<p>These words were spoken in good English, with an accent and a dignity +altogether different from the speaker's former mode of speaking; but, +before he could proceed, he was saluted, by a rough voice from behind, +with the words—"I shall <i>thrash you</i>, you skulking vagabond!" And, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span>at +the same moment, he was grasped roughly by the collar by Mr. Black, who +raised a heavy oaken cudgel to strike him on the head. Had that blow +descended, the probability is that Duncan Cowpet would have slept with +his fathers; but George Chrighton wrenched the stick from the hand of +the infuriated man.</p> + +<p>"Unchain the dog!" bawled Mr. Black, in a voice of thunder.</p> + +<p>"I'll s-et loose Cae-sar," hickuped his son. But, instead of doing as he +said, he lay down beside the animal, and began, in good earnest, to that +operation which the "dog" must perform before he can "turn to his +vomit."</p> + +<p>Mr. Black still continued to keep a hold of Duncan with one hand, and to +strike him with the other, till George, stepping behind him, threw him +quietly down upon a quantity of straw; and he, too, began to discharge +the contents of his over-loaded stomach. Nancy, who, up to this moment +had stood in speechless terror, now stepped from the barn.</p> + +<p>"Fly, fly," she whispered. "My father is drunk. I know it. He has never +seen me; and you may escape. I will find some means of sending it. Fly, +I conjure you!" And she pushed him gently from her.</p> + +<p>On the following morning, Duncan was amissing; and, like a fool, he +had run off and left his five guineas behind him. But the mystery was +about to be cleared up. A little after daybreak, letters were delivered +to the whole of the parties concerned, summoning them to meet the +<i>laird</i> at an inn in the neighbourhood; and the surprise of all may be +easily imagined when they discovered that Sir Patrick Felspar was no +other than Duncan Cowpet in a different dress. The result was such as +might have been expected from a laird who had learned the truth from +observation and experience. We have only room to add, that shortly +thereafter two marriages were celebrated—<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span>two individuals who had been +accustomed to hold their heads high were effectually humbled; and, to +this day, whenever any farmer, or other individual, is supposed to be +dealing unfairly with his neighbours, it is a common saying in the +district—"Send Duncan Cowpet, to see what he is about."</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> We may claim for this tale the peculiarity of its having +been the first essay of its author, Alexander Bethune, the self-educated +"Fifeshire labourer." This excellent and ingenious man became +subsequently well known by his volume of "Tales and Sketches of the +Scottish Peasantry," published by Mr. Adam Black, and designated at the +time a literary phenomenon. It was truly said of him by the Spectator: +"Alexander Bethune, if he had written anonymously, might have passed for +a regular litterateur." Along with his brother John "the Fifeshire +forester," he published, in 1889, "Practical Economy"—a work which +deserves to be reprinted and spread among the people, as containing the +true secret of domestic happiness, so well exemplified in the contented +and virtuous lives of its humble authors.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> Repast, so called, to which, in some parts of the country, +the friends of the deceased are invited after the funeral.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_7_7" id="Footnote_7_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> The materials of which a mud-wall is constructed in many +parts of Scotland.</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span> +</div> +<h2><a name="THE_RIVAL_NIGHTCAPS" id="THE_RIVAL_NIGHTCAPS"></a>THE RIVAL NIGHTCAPS.</h2> + + +<p>One little sentence gave rise to all the disputes of the old +philosophers, from Parmenides down to Aristotle, and that was composed +of three words, <i>ex nihilo nihil</i>—nothing can come out of nothing—upon +which were raised the doctrines of the atomists, incorporealists, +epicureans, theists, and atheists, and all the other races of dreamers +that have disturbed the common sense, lethargy, or comfort of the world +for thousands of years; so that nothing could have better proved the +absolute nothingness of their favourite maxim, that nothing could come +from nothing, than the effects of that very dogma itself, for nothing +ever made such a stir in the moral world, since it deserved to be called +something. But a more extraordinary circumstance is, that, though we +every day see the most gigantic consequences result from what may be +termed, paradoxically, <i>less than nothing</i>, there are certain +metaphysical wiseacres who still stick to the old maxim, in spite of +their own senses, even that of feeling, and declare it to be true +gospel. Let them read the tale of real every-day life we are now to lay +before them, and then say, if they dare, that it is impossible that +anything can come out of inanity. But, to proceed:—</p> + +<p>In the neighbourhood of the suburban village of Bridgeton, near +Glasgow, there lived, a good many years ago, a worthy man, and an +excellent weaver, of the name of Thomas Callender, and his wife, a +bustling, active woman, but, if anything, a little of what is called the +randy. We have said that Thomas's occupation was the loom. It was so; +but, be it known, that he was not a mere journeyman weaver—one who is +obliged to toil for the subsistence of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span>the day that is passing over him, +and whose sole dependence is on the labour of his hands. By no means. +Thomas had been all his days a careful, thrifty man, and had made his +hay while the sun shone;—when wages were good, he had saved money—as +much as could keep him in a small way, independent of labour, should +sickness, or any other casualty, render it necessary for him to fall +back on his secret resources. Being, at the time we speak of, however, +suffering under no bodily affliction of any kind, but, on the contrary, +being hale and hearty, and not much past the meridian of life, he +continued at his loom, although, perhaps, not altogether with the +perseverance and assiduity which had distinguished the earlier part of +his brilliant career. The consciousness of independence, and, probably, +some slight preliminary touches from approaching eild, had rather abated +the energy of his exertions; yet Thomas still made a fair week's wage of +it, as matters went. Now, with a portion of the honest wealth which he +had acquired, Mr. Callender had built himself a good substantial +tenement—the first floor of which was occupied by looms, which were let +on hire; the second was his own place of residence; and the third was +divided into small domiciles, and let to various tenants. To the house +was attached a small garden, a kail-yard, in which he was wont, +occasionally, to recreate himself with certain botanical and +horticultural pursuits, the latter being specially directed to the +cultivation of greens, cabbages, leeks, and other savoury and useful pot +herbs. Of his house and garden altogether, Mr. Callender was, and +reasonably enough, not a little proud; for it was, certainly, a snug +little property; and, moreover, it was entirely the creation of his own +industry.</p> + +<p>But Thomas's mansion stood not alone in its glory. A rival stood near. +This was the dwelling of Mr. John Anderson, in almost every respect the +perfect counterpart <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span>of that of Mr. Thomas Callender—a similarity which +is in part accounted for by the facts, that John was also a weaver, that +he too had made a little money by a life of industry and economy, and +that the house was built by himself. By what we have just said, then, we +have shown, we presume, that Thomas and John were near neighbours; and, +having done so, it follows, of course, that their wives were near +neighbours also; but we beg to remark, regarding the latter, that it by +no means follows that they were friends, or that they had any liking for +each other. The fact, indeed, was quite otherwise. They hated each other +with great cordiality—a hatred in which a feeling of jealousy of each +other's manifestations of wealth, whether in matters relating to their +respective houses or persons, or those of their husbands, was the +principal feature. Any new article of dress which the one was seen to +display, was sure to be immediately repeated, or, if possible, surpassed +by the other; and the same spirit of retaliation was carried throughout +every department of their domestic economy.</p> + +<p>Between the husbands, too, there was no great good-will; for, besides +being influenced, to a certain extent, in their feelings towards each +other by their wives, they had had a serious difference on their own +account. John Anderson, on evil purpose intent, had once stoned some +ducks of Thomas Callender's out of a dub, situated in the rear of, and +midway between the two houses; claiming said dub for the especial use of +<i>his</i> ducks alone; and, on that occasion, had maimed and otherwise +severely injured a very fine drake, the property of his neighbour, +Thomas Callender. Now, Thomas very naturally resented this unneighbourly +proceeding on the part of John; and, further, insisted that his ducks +had as good a right to the dub as Anderson's. Anderson denied the +justice of this claim; Callender maintained it; and the consequence was +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span>a series of law proceedings, which mulcted each of them of somewhere +about fifty pounds sterling money, and finally ended in the decision, +that they should divide the dub between them in equal portions, which +was accordingly done.</p> + +<p>The good-will, then, towards each other, between the husbands, was thus +not much greater than between their wives; but, in their case, of +course, it was not marked by any of those outbreaks and overt acts which +distinguished the enmity of their better halves. The dislike of the +former was passive, that of the latter active—most indefatigably +active; for Mrs. Anderson was every bit as spirited a woman as her +neighbour, Mrs. Callender, and was a dead match for her in any way she +might try.</p> + +<p>Thus stood matters between these two rival houses of York and +Lancaster, when Mrs. Callender, on looking from one of her windows one +day, observed that the head of her rival's husband, who was at the +moment recreating himself in his garden, was comfortably set off with a +splendid new striped Kilmarnock nightcap. Now, when Mrs. Callender saw +this, and recollected the very shabby, faded article of the same +denomination—"mair like a dish-cloot," as she muttered to herself, +"than onything else"—which her Thomas wore, she determined on instantly +providing him with a new one; resolved, as she also remarked to herself, +not to let the Anderson's beat her, even in the matter of a nightcap. +But Mrs. Callender not only resolved on rivalling her neighbour, in the +matter of having a new nightcap for her husband, but in surpassing her +in the quality of the said nightcap. She determined that her "man's" +should be a red one; "a far mair genteeler thing," as she said to +herself, "than John Anderson's vulgar striped Kilmarnock." Having +settled this matter to her own satisfaction, and having dexterously +prepared her husband for the vision of a new nightcap—which she <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span>did by +urging sundry reasons, totally different from those under whose +influence she really acted, as she knew that he would never give into +such an absurdity as a rivalship with his neighbour in the matter of a +nightcap—this matter settled then, we say, the following day saw Mrs. +Callender sailing into Glasgow, to purchase a red nightcap for her +husband—a mission which, we need not say, she very easily accomplished. +Her choice was one of the brightest hue she could find—a flaming +article, that absolutely dazzled Thomas with the intensity of its glare, +when it was triumphantly unrolled before him.</p> + +<p>"Jenny," said the latter, in perfect simplicity of heart, and utter +ignorance of the true cause of his wife's care of his comfort in the +present instance—"Jenny, but that <i>is</i> a bonny thing," he said, looking +admiringly at the gaudy commodity, into which he had now thrust his hand +and part of his arm, in order to give it all possible extension, and +thus holding it up before him as he spoke.</p> + +<p>"Really it <i>is</i> a bonny thing," he repeated, "and, I warrant, a +comfortable."</p> + +<p>"Isna't?" replied his wife, triumphantly. And she would have added, "How +far prettier and mair genteeler a thing than John Anderson's!" But, as +this would have betrayed secrets, she refrained, and merely added, "Now, +my man, Tammas, ye'll just wear't when ye gang about the doors and the +yard. It'll mak ye look decent and respectable—what ye wasna in that +creeshy cloot ye're wearin, that made ye look mair like a tauty bogle +than a Christian man."</p> + +<p>Thomas merely smiled at these remarks, and made no reply in words.</p> + +<p>Thus far, then, Mrs. Callender's plot had gone on swimmingly. There +only wanted now her husband's appearance in the garden in his new red +nightcap; where the latter could not but be seen by her rival, to +complete her <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span>triumph—and this satisfaction she was not long denied. +Thomas, at her suggestion, warily and cautiously urged however, +instantly took the field in his new nightcap; and the result was as +complete and decisive as the heart of a woman, in Mrs. Callender's +circumstances, could desire. Mrs. Anderson saw the nightcap, guessed the +cause of its appearance, and resolved to be avenged. In that moment, +when her sight was blasted, her pride humbled, and her spirits roused, +which they were all at one and the same time by the vision of Thomas +Callender's new red nightcap, she resolved on getting her husband to +strike the striped cap, and mount one of precisely the same +description—better if possible, but she was not sure if this could be +had.</p> + +<p>Now, on prevailing on <i>her</i> husband to submit to the acquisition of +another new nightcap, Mrs. Anderson had a much more difficult task to +perform than her rival; for the cap that John was already provided with, +unlike Thomas's, was not a week out of the shop, and no earthly good +reason, one would think, could therefore be urged, why he should so soon +get another. But what will not woman's wit accomplish? Anything! As +proof of this, if proof were wanted, we need only mention that Mrs. +Anderson <i>did</i> succeed in this delicate and difficult negotiation, and +prevailed upon John, first, to allow her to go into Glasgow to buy him a +new red nightcap, and to promise to wear it when it should be bought. +How she accomplished this—what sort of reasoning she employed—we know +not; but certain it is that it was done. Thus fully warranted, eagerly +and cleverly did Mrs. Anderson, on the instant, prepare to execute the +mission to which this warrant referred. In ten minutes she was dressed, +and, in one more was on her way to Glasgow to make the desiderated +purchase. Experiencing, of course, as little difficulty in effecting +this matter as her rival had done, Mrs. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span>Anderson soon found herself in +possession of a red nightcap, as bright, every bit, as Mr. Callender's; +and this cap she had the happiness of drawing on the head of her +unconscious husband, who, we need scarcely add, knew as little of the +real cause of his being fitted out with this new piece of head-gear as +his neighbour, Callender.</p> + +<p>Thus far, then, with Mrs. Anderson too, went the plot of the nightcaps +smoothly; and all that she also now wanted to attain the end she aimed +at, was her husband's appearance in <i>his</i> garden, with his new +acquisition on.</p> + +<p>This consummation she also quickly brought round. John sallied out with +his red nightcap; and, oh, joy of joys! Mrs. Callender saw it. Ay, Mrs. +Callender saw it—at once recognised in it the spirit which had dictated +its display; and deep and deadly was the revenge that she vowed.</p> + +<p>"Becky, Becky," she exclaimed, in a tone of lofty indignation—and thus +summoning to her presence, from an adjoining apartment, her daughter, a +little girl of about ten years of age—"rin owre dereckly to Lucky +Anderson's and tell her to give me my jeely can immediately." And Mrs. +Callender stamped her foot, grew red in the face, and exhibited sundry +other symptoms of towering passion. Becky instantly obeyed the order so +peremptorily given; and, while she is doing so, we may throw in a +digressive word or two, by the way of more fully enlightening the reader +regarding the turn which matters seemed now about to take. Be it known +to him, then, that the demand for the jelly pot, which was now about to +be made on Mrs. Anderson, was not a <i>bona fide</i> proceeding. It was not +made in good faith; for Mrs. Callender knew well, and had been told so +fifty times, that the said jelly pot was no longer in existence as a +jelly pot; and moreover, she had been, as often as she was told this, +offered full compensation, which might be about three farthings <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span>sterling +money of this realm, for the demolished commodity. Moreover, again, it +was three years since it had been borrowed. From all this, the reader +will at once perceive, what was the fact, that the sending for the said +jelly pot, on the present occasion, and in the way described, was a mere +breaking of ground previous to the performance of some other +contemplated operations. It was, in truth, entirely a tactical +proceeding—a dexterously and ingeniously laid pretext for a certain +intended measure which could not decently have stood on its own simple +merits. In proof of this, we need only state, that it is beyond all +question that nothing could have disappointed Mrs. Callender more than +the return of the desiderated jelly pot. But this, she knew, she had not +to fear, and the result showed that she was right. The girl shortly came +back with the usual reply—that the pot was broken; but that Mrs. +Anderson would cheerfully pay the value of it, if Mrs. Callender would +say what that was. To the inexpressible satisfaction of the latter, +however, the message, on this occasion, was accompanied by some +impertinences which no woman of spirit could tamely submit to. She was +told, for instance, that "she made mair noise aboot her paltry, dirty +jelly mug, a thousand times, than it was a' worth," and was ironically, +and, we may add, insultingly entreated, "for ony sake to mak nae mair +wark aboot it, and a dizzen wad be sent her for't."</p> + +<p>"My troth, and there's a stock o' impidence for ye!" said Mrs. +Callender, on her little daughter having delivered herself of all the +small provocatives with which she had been charged. "There's impidence +for ye!" she said, planting her hands in her sides, and looking the very +personification of injured innocence. "Was the like o't ever heard? +First to borrow, and then to break my jeely mug, and noo to tell me, +whan I'm seekin my ain, that I'm makin mair noise aboot it than it's a' +worth! My certy, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</a></span>but she <i>has</i> a brazen face. The auld wizzened, +upsettin limmer that she is. Set <i>them</i> up, indeed wi' red nicht-caps." +Now, this was the last member of Mrs. Callender's philippic, but it was +by no means the least. In fact, it was the whole gist of the matter—the +sum and substance, and, we need not add, the real and true cause of her +present amiable feeling towards her worthy neighbours, John Anderson and +his wife. Adjusting her <i>mutch</i> now on her head, and spreading her apron +decorously before her, Mrs. Callender intimated her intention of +proceeding instantly to Mrs. Anderson's to demand her jelly pot in +person, and to seek, at the same time, satisfaction for the insulting +message that had been sent her. Acting on this resolution, she forthwith +commenced her march towards the domicile of John Anderson, nursing, the +while, her wrath to keep it warm. On reaching the door, she announced +her presence by a series of sharp, open-the-door-instantly knocks, which +were promptly attended to, and the visitor courteously admitted.</p> + +<p>"Mrs. Anderson," said Mrs. Callender, on entering, and assuming a +calmness and composure of demeanour that was sadly belied by the +suppressed agitation, or rather fury, which she could not conceal, "I'm +just come to ask ye if ye'll be sae guid, <i>Mem</i>, as gie me my jeely +mug."</p> + +<p>"Yer jeely mug, Mrs. Callender!" exclaimed Mrs. Anderson, raising +herself to her utmost height, and already beginning to exhibit symptoms +of incipient indignation. "Yer jeely mug, Mrs. Callender!" she repeated, +with a provokingly ironical emphasis. "Dear help me, woman, but ye <i>do</i> +mak an awfu wark about that jeely mug o' yours. I'm sure it wasna sae +muckle worth; and ye hae been often tell't that it was broken, but that +we wad willingly pay ye for't."</p> + +<p>"It's no payment I want, Mrs. Anderson," replied Mrs. Callender, with a +high-spirited toss of the head. "I want <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</a></span>my mug, and my mug I'll hae. Do +ye hear that?" And here Mrs. Callender struck her clenched fist on the +open side of her left hand, in the impressive way peculiar to some +ladies when under the influence of passion. "And, since ye come to that +o't, let me tell ye ye're a very insultin, ill-bred woman, to tell me +that it wasna muckle worth, after ye hae broken't."</p> + +<p>"My word, lass," replied Mrs. Anderson, bridling up, with flushed +countenance, and head erect, to the calumniator, "but ye're no blate to +ca' me thae names i' my ain house."</p> + +<p>"Ay, I'll ca' ye thae names, and waur too, in yer ain house, or onywhar +else," replied the other belligerent, clenching her teeth fiercely +together, and thrusting her face with most intense ferocity into the +countenance of her antagonist. "Ay, here or onywhar else," she replied, +"I'll ca' ye a mean-spirited, impident woman—an upsettin impident +woman! Set your man up, indeed, wi' a red nichtkep!"</p> + +<p>"An' what for no?" replied Mrs. Anderson with a look of triumphant +inquiry. "He's as weel able to pay for't as you, and maybe, if a' was +kent, a hantle better. A red nichtkep, indeed, ye impertinent hizzy!"</p> + +<p>"'Od, an' ye hizzy me, I'll te-e-e-eer the liver out o' ye!" exclaimed +the now infuriated Mrs. Callender, at the same instant seizing her +antagonist by the hair of the head and <i>mutch</i> together, and, in a +twinkling, tearing the latter into a thousand shreds. Active hostilities +being now fairly commenced, a series of brilliant operations, both +offensive and defensive, immediately ensued. The first act of aggression +on the part of Mrs. Callender—namely, demolishing her opponent's +head-gear—was returned by the latter by a precisely similar proceeding; +that is, by tearing <i>her</i> mutch into fragments.</p> + +<p>This preliminary operation performed, the combatants <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span>resorted to +certain various other demonstrative acts of love and friendship; but now +with such accompaniments of screams and exclamations as quickly filled +the apartment which was the scene of strife, with neighbours, who +instantly began to attempt to effect a separation of the combatants. +While they were thus employed, in came John Anderson, who had been out +of the way when the tug of war began, and close upon his heels came Mr. +Callender, whose ears an alarming report of the contest in which his +gallant spouse was engaged, had reached. Both gentlemen were, at the +moment, in their red nightcaps, and might thus be considerd as the +standard bearers of the combatants.</p> + +<p>"Whats' a' this o't?" exclaimed Mr. Anderson, pushing into the centre of +the crowd by which the two women were surrounded.</p> + +<p>"O, the hizzy!" exclaimed his wife, who had, at the instant, about a +yard of her antagonist's hair rolled about her hand. "It's a' aboot your +nichtkep, John, and her curst jeely mug. A' aboot your nichtkep, and the +jeely mug."</p> + +<p>Now, this allusion to the jelly pot, John perfectly understood, but that +to the nightcap he did not, nor did he attend to it; but, as became a +dutiful and loving husband to do in such circumstances, immediately took +the part of his wife, and was in the act of thrusting her antagonist +aside, which operation he was performing somewhat rudely, when he was +collared from behind by his neighbour, Thomas Callender, who naturally +enough enrolled himself at once on the side of his better half.</p> + +<p>"Hauns aff, John!" exclaimed Mr. Callender—their old grudge fanning +the flame of that hostility which was at this moment rapidly increasing +in the bosoms of both the gentlemen, as he gave Mr. Anderson sundry +energetic tugs and twists, with a view of putting him <i>hors de combat</i>. +"Hauns aff, neebor!" he said. "Hauns aff, if ye please, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span>till we ken wha +has the richt o' this bisness, and what it's a' about."</p> + +<p>"Pu' doon their pride, Tam!—pu' doon their pride!" exclaimed Mrs. +Callender, who, although intently engaged at the moment in tearing out a +handful of her opponent's hair, was yet aware of the reinforcement that +had come to her aid. "Pu' doon their pride, Tam. Tack a claut o' John's +nichtkep. The limmer says they're better able to afford ane than we +are."</p> + +<p>While Mrs. Callender was thus expressing the particular sentiments +which occupied her mind at the moment, John Anderson had turned round to +resent the liberty which the former had taken of collaring him; and this +resentment he expressed by collaring his assailant in turn. The +consequence of this proceeding was a violent struggle, which finally +ended in a close stand-up fight between the male combatants, who shewed +great spirit, although, perhaps, not a great deal of science. John +Anderson, in particular, struck out manfully, and, in a twinkling, +tapped the claret of his antagonist, Tom Callender. Tom, in return, made +some fair attempts at closing up the day-lights of John Anderson, but, +truth compels us to say, without success. The fight now became +general—the wives having quitted their holds of each other, and flown +to the rescue of their respective husbands. They were thus all bundled +together in one indiscriminate and unintelligible melée. One leading +object or purpose, however, was discernible on the part of the female +combatants. This was to get hold of the red nightcaps—each that of her +husband's antagonist; and, after a good deal of scrambling, and +clutching, and punching, they both succeeded in tearing off the +obnoxious head-dress, with each a handful of the unfortunate wearer's +hair along with it. While this was going on, the conflicting, but firmly +united mass of combatants, who were all bundled, or rather locked +together in close and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span>deadly strife, was rolling heavily, sometimes one +way, and sometimes another, sometimes ending with a thud against a +partition, that made the whole house shake, sometimes with a ponderous +lodgment against a door, which, unable to resist the shock, flew open, +and landed the belligerents at their full length on the floor, where +they rolled over one another in a very edifying and picturesque manner.</p> + +<p>But this could not continue very long, and neither did it. A +consummation or catastrophe occurred, which suddenly, and at once, put +an end to the affray. In one of those heavy lee-lurches which the +closely united combatants made, they came thundering against the frail +legs of a dresser, which was ingeniously contrived to support two or +three tiers of shelves, which, again, were laden with stoneware, the +pride of Mrs. Anderson's heart, built up with nice and dexterous +contrivance, so as to shew to the greatest advantage. Need we say what +was the consequence of this rude assault on the legs of the +aforementioned dresser, supporting, as it did, this huge superstructure +of shelves and crockery? Scarcely. But we will. Down, then, came the +dresser; and down, as a necessary corollary, came also the shelves, +depositing their contents with an astounding crash upon the floor, not a +jug out of some eight or ten, of various shapes and sizes, not a plate +out of some scores, not a bowl out of a dozen, not a cup or saucer out +of an entire set, escaping total demolition. The destruction was +frightful—unprecedented in the annals of domestic mishaps. On the +combatants the effect of the thundering crash of the crockery, or +smashables, as they have been sometimes characteristically designated, +was somewhat like that which has been known to be produced in a +sea-fight by the blowing up of a ship. Hostilities were instantly +suspended; all looking with silent horror on the dreadful scene of ruin +around them. Nor did any disposition to renew the contest <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span>return. On the +contrary, there was an evident inclination, on the part of two of the +combatants—namely, Mr. Callender and his wife—to evacuate the +premises. Appalled at the extent of the mischief done, and visited with +an awkward feeling of probable responsibility, they gradually edged +towards the door, and, finally, sneaked out of the house without saying +a word.</p> + +<p>"If there's law or justice in the land," exclaimed Mrs. Anderson, in +high excitation, as she swept together the fragments of her demolished +crockery, "I'll hae't on Tam Callender and his wife. May I niver see the +morn, if I haena them afore the Shirra before a week gangs owre my head! +I hae a set aff, noo, against her jeely mug, I think."</p> + +<p>"It's been a bonny business," replied her husband; "but what on earth +was't a' aboot?"</p> + +<p>"What was't a' aboot!" repeated his wife, with some asperity of manner, +but now possessed of presence of mind enough to shift the ground of +quarrel, which she felt would comprise her with her husband. "Didna I +tell ye that already? What should it be a' aboot, but her confounded +jeely mug! But I'll mak her pay for this day's wark, or I'm sair +cheated. It'll be as bad a job this for them as the duck-dub, I'm +thinkin."</p> + +<p>"We hadna muckle to brag o' there oursels, guidwife," interposed her +husband, calmly.</p> + +<p>"See, there," said Mrs. Anderson, either not heeding, or not hearing +John's remark. "See, there," she said, holding up a fragment of one of +the broken vessels, "there's the end o' my bonny cheeny jug, that I was +sae vogie o', and that hadna its neebor in braid Scotland." And a tear +glistened in the eye of the susceptible mourner, as she contemplated the +melancholy remains, and recalled to memory the departed splendours of +the ill-fated tankard. Quietly dashing, however, the tear of sorrow +aside, both her person and spirit assumed the lofty attitude of +determined <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span>vengeance; and, "<i>she'll</i> rue this," she now went on, "if +there be ony law or justice in the kingdom. It'll be a dear jug to +<i>her</i>, or my name's no what it is."</p> + +<p>Equally indignant with his wife at the assault and battery committed by +the Callenders, but less talkative, John sat quietly ruminating on the +events of the evening, and, anon, still continuing to raise his hand, at +intervals, to his mangled countenance. With the same taciturnity, he +subsequently assisted Mrs. Anderson to throw the collected fragments of +the broken dishes into a hamper, and to carry and deposit said hamper in +an adjoining closet, where, it was determined, they should be carefully +kept as evidence of the extent of the damage which had been sustained.</p> + +<p>In the meantime, neither Mrs. Thomas Callender nor Mr. Thomas Callender +felt by any means at ease respecting the crockery catastrophe. Although +feeling that it was a mere casualty of war, and an unforeseen and +unpremeditated result of a fair and equal contest, they yet could not +help entertaining some vague apprehension for the consequences. They +felt, in short, that it might be made a question whether they were not +liable for the damage done, seeing that they had intruded themselves +into their neighbour's house, where they had no right to go. It was +under some such awkward fear as this that Mr. Callender, who had also +obtained an evasive account of the cause of quarrel, said, with an +unusually long and grave face, to his wife, on their gaining their own +house, and holding, at the same time, a handkerchief to his still +bleeding and now greatly swollen proboscis—</p> + +<p>"Yon was a deevil o' a stramash, Mirran. I never heard the like o't. It +was awfu'. I think I hear the noise o' the crashing plates and bowls in +my lugs yet."</p> + +<p>"Deil may care! Let them tak it!" replied Mrs. Callender, endeavouring +to assume a disregard of consequences, which she was evidently very far +from feeling. "She was <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</a></span>aye owre vain o' her crockery; so that better +couldna happen her."</p> + +<p>"Ay," replied her husband; "but yon smashing o't was rather a serious +business."</p> + +<p>"It was just music to my lugs, then," said Mrs. Callender, boldly.</p> + +<p>"Maybe," rejoined her husband, "but I doot we'll hae to pay the piper. +They'll try't ony way, I'm jalousin."</p> + +<p>"Let them. There'll be nae law or justice in the country if they mak +that oot," responded Mrs. Callender, and exhibiting, in this sentiment, +the very striking difference of opinion between the two ladies, of the +law and justice of the land.</p> + +<p>The fears, however, which Mr. Callender openly expressed, as above +recorded, and which his wife felt but concealed, were not groundless. On +the evening of the very next day after the battle of the nightcaps, as +Thomas Callender was sitting in his elbow-chair by the fire, luxuriously +enjoying its grateful warmth, and the ease and comfort of his slippers +and red nightcap, which he had drawn well down over his ears, he was +suddenly startled by a sharp, loud rap at the door. Mrs. Callender +hastened to open it, when two papers were thrust into her hands by an +equivocal-looking personage, who, without saying a word, wheeled round +on his heel the instant he had placed the mysterious documents in her +possession, and hastened away.</p> + +<p>With some misgivings as to the contents of these papers, Mrs. Callender +placed them before her husband.</p> + +<p>"What's this?" said the latter, with a look of great alarm, and placing +his spectacles on his nose, preparatory to a deliberate perusal of the +suspicious documents. His glasses wiped and adjusted, Thomas unfolded +the papers, held them up close to the candle, and found them to be a +couple of summonses, one for himself and one for his wife. These +summonses, we need hardly say, were at the instance <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</a></span>of their neighbour, +John Anderson, and exhibited a charge of assault and battery, and claim +for damages, to the extent of two pounds fourteen shillings sterling, +for demolition of certain articles of stoneware, &c. &c. &c.</p> + +<p>"Ay," said Thomas, laying down the fatal papers. "Faith, here it is, +then! We're gaun to get it ruch an roun', noo, Mirran. I was dootin +this. But we'll defen', we'll defen'," added Thomas, who was, or, we +rather suspect, imagined himself to be, a bit of a lawyer, ever since +the affair of the duck-dub, during which he had picked up some law +terms, but without any accompanying knowledge whatever of their import +or applicability. "We'll defen', we'll defen'," he said, with great +confidence of manner, "and gie them a revised condescendence for't that +they'll fin gayan teuch to chow. But we maun obey the ceetation, in the +first place, to prevent decreet in absence, whilk wad gie the pursuer, +in this case, everything his ain way."</p> + +<p>"Defen'!" exclaimed Mrs. Callender, with high indignation; "my faith, +that we wull, I warrant them, and maybe a hantle mair. We'll maybe no be +content wi' defendin, but strike oot, and gar <i>them</i> staun aboot."</p> + +<p>"Noo, there ye show yer ignorance o' the law, Mirran," said her husband, +with judicial gravity; "for ye see"——</p> + +<p>"Tuts, law or no law," replied Mrs. Callender, impatiently—"I ken +what's justice and common sense; an' that's aneuch for me. An' justice +I'll hae, Tam," she continued, with such an increase of excitement as +brought on the usual climax in such cases, of striking one of her +clenched hands on her open palm—"An' justice I will hae, Tam, on thae +Andersons, if it's to be had for love or money."</p> + +<p>"We'll try't, ony way," said her husband, folding up the summonses, and +putting them carefully into his breeches pocket. "Since it has come to +this, we'll gie them law for't."</p> + +<p>In the spirit and temper of bold defiance expressed in <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</a></span>the preceding +colloquy, Mr. Callender and his wife awaited the day and hour appointed +for their appearance in the Sheriff Court at Glasgow. This day and hour +in due time came, and, when it did, it found both parties, pursuers and +defenders, in the awful presence of the judge. Both the ladies were +decked out in their best and grandest attire, while each of their +husbands rejoiced in his Sunday's suit. It was a great occasion for both +parties. On first recognising each other, the ladies exchanged looks +which were truly edifying to behold. Mrs. Anderson's was that of calm, +dignified triumph; and which, if translated into her own vernacular, +would have said, "My word, lass, but ye'll fin whar ye are noo." Mrs. +Callender's, again, was that of bold defiance, and told of a spirit that +was unconquerable—game to the last being the most strongly marked and +leading expression, at this interesting moment, of her majestic +countenance. Close beside where Mrs. Anderson sat, and evidently under +her charge, there stood an object which, from the oddness of its +appearing in its present situation, attracted a good deal of notice, and +excited some speculation amongst those present in the court, and which +particularly interested Mrs. Callender and her worthy spouse. This was a +hamper—a very large one. People wondered what could be in it, and for +what purpose it was there. They could solve neither of these problems; +but the reader can, we dare say. He will at once conjecture—and, if he +does so, he will conjecture rightly—that the hamper in question +contained the remains of the smashables spoken of formerly at some +length, and that it was to be produced in court by the pursuers, as +evidence of the nature and extent of the damage done.</p> + +<p>The original idea of bringing forward this article, for the purpose +mentioned, was Mrs. Anderson's; and, having been approved of by her +husband, it had been that morning carted to the court-house, and +thereafter carried to and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</a></span>deposited in its present situation by the +united exertions of the pursuers, who relied greatly on the effect it +would produce when its lid should be thrown open, and the melancholy +spectacle of demolished crockery it concealed exhibited.</p> + +<p>The case of Mr. and Mrs. Anderson <i>versus</i> Mr. and Mrs. Callender being +pretty far down in the roll, it was nearly two hours before it was +called. This event, however, at length took place. The names of the +pursuers and defenders resounded through the court room, in the slow, +drawling, nasal-toned voice of the crier. Mrs. Anderson, escorted by her +loving spouse, sailed up the middle of the apartment, and placed herself +before the judge. With no less dignity of manner, and with, at least, an +equal stateliness of step, Mrs. Callender, accompanied by her lord and +master, sailed up after her, and took her place a little to one side. +The parties being thus arranged, proceedings commenced. Mrs. Anderson +was asked to state her case; Mrs. Anderson was not slow to accept the +invitation. She at once began:—</p> + +<p>"Ye see, my lord, sir, the matter was just this—and I daur <i>her</i> there" +(a look of intense defiance at Mrs. Callender) "to deny a word, my lord, +sir, o' what I'm gaun to say; although I daur say she wad do't if she +could."</p> + +<p>"My good woman," here interposed the judge, who had a nervous +apprehension of the forensic eloquence of such female pleaders as the +one now before him, "will you have the goodness to confine yourself +strictly to a simple statement of your case?"</p> + +<p>"Weel, my lord, sir, I will. Ye see, then, the matter is just this."</p> + +<p>And Mrs. Anderson forthwith proceeded to detail the particulars of the +quarrel and subsequent encounter, with a minuteness and +circumstantiality which, we fear, the reader would think rather tedious +were we here to repeat. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</a></span>In this statement of her case, Mrs. Anderson, +having the fear of her husband's presence before her eyes, made no +allusion whatever to the nightcaps, but rested the whole quarrel on the +jelly pot. Now, this was a circumstance which Mrs. Callender noted, and +of which she, on the instant, determined to take a desperate advantage. +Regardless of all consequences, and, amongst the rest, of discovering to +her husband the underhand part she had been playing in regard to the +affair of the nightcap, she resolved on publicly exposing, as she +imagined, the falsehood and pride of her hated rival, by stating the +facts of the case as to the celebrated nightcaps. To this revenge she +determined on sacrificing every other consideration. To return, however, +in the meantime, to the proceedings in court.</p> + +<p>The statements of the pursuers being now exhausted, the defenders were +called upon to give their version of the story. On this summons, both +Mrs. Callender and her husband pressed themselves into a central +position, with the apparent intention of both entering on the defences +at the same time. And this proved to be the fact. On being specially and +directly invited by the judge to open the case—</p> + +<p>"Ye see, my lord," began Mr. Thomas Callender; and—</p> + +<p>"My lord, sir, ye see," began, at the same instant, <i>Mrs.</i> Thomas +Callender.</p> + +<p>"Now, now," here interposed the judge, waving his hand impatiently, "one +at a time, if you please. One at a time."</p> + +<p>"Surely," replied Mr. Callender. "Staun aside, guidwife, staun aside," +he said; at the same time gently pushing his wife back with his left +hand as he spoke. <i>"I'll</i> lay doon the case to his lordship."</p> + +<p>"Ye'll do nae sic a thing, Thomas; <i>I'll</i> do't," exclaimed Mrs. +Callender, not only resisting her husband's attempt to thrust her into +the rear, but forcibly placing <i>him</i> in that <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</a></span>relative position; while +she herself advanced a pace or two nearer to the bench. On gaining this +vantage ground, Mrs. Callender at once began, and with great emphasis +and circumstantiality detailed the whole story of the nightcaps; +carefully modelling it so, however, as to show that her own part in the +transaction was a <i>bona fide</i> proceeding; on the part of her rival, the +reverse; and that the whole quarrel, with its consequent demolition of +crockery, was entirely the result of Mrs. Anderson's "upsettin' pride, +and vanity, and jealousy." During the delivery of these details, the +court was convulsed with laughter, in which the sheriff himself had much +difficulty to refrain from joining.</p> + +<p>On the husbands of the two women, however, they had a very different effect. +Amazed, confounded, and grievously affronted at this unexpected disclosure +of the ridiculous part they had been made to perform by their respective +wives, they both sneaked out of court, amidst renewed peals of laughter, +leaving the latter to finish the case the best way they could. How this was +effected we know not, as at this point ends our story of the rival nightcaps.</p> + + + +<p class="center"><br /><br />END OF VOL III<br /><br /></p> + + +<p class="notes"> +Transcriber's note:<br /> +<br /> +Inconsistent spelling and punctuation were not changed.<br /> +<br /> +TOC: Changed Pheebe to Phebe<br /> +Page 3: Changed throroughly to thoroughly<br /> +Page 34: Changed gripe to grip<br /> +Page 42: Changed Engglish to English<br /> +Page 90: Changes transsport to transport<br /> +Page 161: Changed Nanny to Nancy<br /> +Page 173: Changed Mause to Maudge<br /> +Page 173: Changed phrophetic to prophetic<br /> +Page 174: Changed rythmic to rhythmic<br /> +Page 206: Changed unconcious to unconscious</p> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WILSON'S TALES OF THE BORDERS AND OF SCOTLAND, VOLUME III***</p> +<p>******* This file should be named 31593-h.txt or 31593-h.zip *******</p> +<p>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br /> +<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/1/5/9/31593">http://www.gutenberg.org/3/1/5/9/31593</a></p> +<p>Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed.</p> + +<p>Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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