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diff --git a/37217.txt b/37217.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9a228ae --- /dev/null +++ b/37217.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9699 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of +Scotland, Vol. XX, by Alexander Leighton + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland, Vol. XX + +Author: Alexander Leighton + +Release Date: August 26, 2011 [EBook #37217] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WILSON'S TALES OF THE BORDERS, VOL 20 *** + + + + +Produced by David Clarke, Mary Meehan and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + + + Wilson's + + Tales of the Borders + + AND OF SCOTLAND. + + HISTORICAL, TRADITIONARY, & IMAGINATIVE. + + WITH A GLOSSARY. + + REVISED BY + + ALEXANDER LEIGHTON, + + _One of the Original Editors and Contributors._ + + VOL. XX. + + + LONDON: + WALTER SCOTT, 14 PATERNOSTER SQUARE, + AND NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE. + 1884. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + THE DOMINIE OF ST FILLAN'S, (_Alexander Leighton_) 1 + + SAYINGS AND DOINGS OF PETER PATERSON, (_John Mackay Wilson_) 34 + + THE HEROINE: A LEGEND OF THE CANONGATE, (_Alexander Leighton_) 66 + + THE BARLEY BANNOCK, (_Alexander Campbell_) 93 + + GLEANINGS OF THE COVENANT, (_Professor Thomas Gillespie_)-- + + xx. JOHN GOVAN'S NARRATIVE 111 + + xxi. "OLD BLUNTIE" 120 + + xxii. THOMAS HARKNESS OF LOCKERBEN 124 + + xxiii. THE SHOES REVERSED 132 + + THE LOST HEIR OF THE HOUSE OF ELPHINSTONE, (_Rev. G. Thomson_) 143 + + TRIALS AND TRIUMPHS, (_John Mackay Wilson_) 194 + + THE MISER OF NEWABBEY, (_Alexander Leighton_) 226 + + THE SEA SKIRMISH, (_Anon._) 258 + + + + +WILSON'S + +TALES OF THE BORDERS, + +AND OF SCOTLAND. + + + + +THE DOMINIE OF ST FILLAN'S. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +PLEASANT REMINISCENCES OF MY FATHER. + + +It is now about twenty years sin' I first raised my voice in the desk o' +the kirk o' St Fillan's, in the parish o' that name, and He wha out o' +the mouths o' babes and sucklins did ordain praise, hath never thought +meet, by means o' ony catarrh, cynanche, quinsy, toothache, or lock-jaw, +to close up my mouth, and prevent me frae leadin the congregation in a +clear, melodious strain, to the worship o' the Chief Musician. When I +was ordained session clerk, schoolmaster, and precentor, I had already +passed about thirty years o' my pilgrimage; yet filled wi' Latin and +Greek, till my _pia mater_ was absolutely like to burst, I had, +notwithstanding, nae trade by the hand. The reason was this. My father, +who had been for forty years sexton o' the parish, had seen, wi' an e'e +lang practised in searchin for traces o' death in the faces o' +parishioners--for the labourer maun live by his hire, and the merchant +by his customers, "and thou shalt eat the labour of thine hands"--a +pleasant leucophlegmatic tinge about the gills o' Jedediah Cameron, my +predecessor in the three offices already mentioned. Weel, as the +husbandman in dry weather, when his fields are parched, and his braird +thin and weak, watches the clouds that contain rain--mair precious to +him than the ointment that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's dry +beard--my guid father watched the dropsical signs or indications in +Jedediah's face, daily and hourly, in the fair and legitimate hope o' +gettin the aridity o' my starvin condition quenched and satisfied. He +was an argute sexton, and had learned, in his younger days, some +smatterin o' Latin, though I never could ascertain that he retained more +of the humane lear, than the twa proverbs, "_Vita mortalium +brevis_," "Life is short," which comes originally frae Homer; +and "_Pecuniae obediunt omnia_," which comes frae the sixth chapter +o' Ecclesiastes--"Money answereth all things." + +But my father was never contented wi' his ain _prognosis_. His ain ee +for death was as gleg as that o' the hawk for its quarry; but the +glegness wasna a mere junction or combination o' a keen and praiseworthy +desire to live, and a lang experience o' lookin for death in ithers; he +had science to guide him; he knew a' the Latin names comprehended in Dr +Cullen's "Nosology;" an' Buchan's "Domestic Medicine" was scarcely ever +out o' his hands, except when there was a spade in them. I hae the auld, +thumed, and faulded, and marked copy o' our domestic AEsculapius yet; +and, as I look at the store from which he used to draw the lore that +enabled him to see, as if by a kind o' necromantic divination, a guid +lucrative death, though still lodged in the wame o' futurity, I canna +but drap a tear to the memory o' ane wha toiled sae hard for the sake o' +his son. But I examine the book, sometimes, in a mair philosophic +way--to mark the train o' my auld parent's mind, as he had perused his +text-book; for it was his practice, when he saw ony o' the parishioners +exhibiting favourable symptoms--such as a hard, dry cough, puffed legs, +white liver lips, or even some o' the mair dubious indications, such as +a pale cheek, spare body, drooping head, difficulty in walking, morbid +appetite, or bulimia, the _delirium tremens_ o' dram-drinkers, the +yellow o' the white o' the ee o' hypochondriacs, and the like--to search +in Buchan for the diseases portended by thae appearances, and, when he +was sure he had caught them, to draw a pencil stroke along the margin +opposite to the pleasantest parts o' the doctor's descriptions. I never +saw mony marks opposite the common and innocuous complaints--_cholica_, +or pain in the stamach; _catarrhs_, or cauld; _arthritis_, or gout; +_rheumatismus_, or rheumatism; _odontalgia_, or toothache; and sae +forth: thae were beneath his notice. Neither did I ever observe ony +marks o' attention to what are called prophylactics, or remedies, to +prevent diseases comin on: thae nostrums he plainly despised. But, sae +far as I could discover, he had a very marked abhorrence o' what the +doctors ca' therapeutics, or means and processes o' curin diseases, and +keepin awa death; and as for what are denominated _specifics_, or +infallible remedies, he wouldna hear o' them ava--showin his despite o' +them by the exclamation--"Psha!" scribbled with contemptuous haste on +the margin. The soul and marrow o' the book to the guid man--bless +him!--were the mortal symptoms--the _facies Hippocraticus_, the +Hippocratic face; the _raucitus mortis_, or rattle in the throat; +_subsultus tendinum_, or twitching o' the hands and fingers; the glazing +o' the ee, and the stoppin o' the breath, and the like o' thae serious +signs and appearances. A strong, determined stroke o' the pencil marked +his attention to and interest in the Doctor's touchin account o' thae +turns o' the spindle wharby the thread o' our existence is wound up for +ever. It may be easily and safely supposed, that the melancholy words, +descriptive o' the oncome o' the grim tyrant himsel--"_and death closes +the tragic scene_"--sae touchingly and feelingly introduced by the +eloquent author werena lost on my respectit parent. + +Guid man as he was, however, (I shall return presently to his study o' +my predecessor's dropsy,) it is painfu for his son to hae to say that, +though very generally respectit by people when they were in health and +prosperity, he hadna the same veneration extended to him by the same +individuals when they fell into disease. But though rejectin his visits, +sae lang as a patient was in life and capable o' bein benefited by his +lively manners, the breath was nae sooner out o' the body, than he was +sent for, ye might almost say by express. It is some consolation to me, +that my parent was far abune shewin resentment at conduct sae +contradictory and offensive. In place o' bein angry when invited to the +house o' a dead patient, from which he had been expelled during his +illness, he uniformly appeared well pleased--repairin, wi' the greatest +good humour, to the residence o' the deceased, and disdainin to exhibit +the slightest indication o' pique or anger. There are some men wha brak +the prophet's command--"Rejoice not over thy greatest enemy being dead, +but remember that we die all;" but I can safely and upon my honour and +parole say, that my parent shewed nae greater signs o' happiness on the +death o' an enemy than he did on the death o' a friend. A man has a +pleasure in statin thae things o' a father. + +These early associations hae a charm about them that's very apt to lead +a person off his direct road; "_Patriae fumus igne alieno +luculentior_"--the very smoke o' our father's fireside is clearer than +anither's flame. How bright, then, maun the virtue and honour o' a +father and mother appear to a dutiful and affectionate son! I was +stating, at the time when I was seduced into that pleasant episode, that +my father kept up a daily inspection o' the leucophlegmatic face o' my +predecessor, Jedediah Cameron; comparing, with, the greatest diligence, +the aqueous symptoms there discernible, with the description given by +his oracle, Dr Buchan; and, as his hopes strengthened, edging me, by +slow degrees, into the dominie's desk, and the schoolmaster's chair o' +authority, as the friendly and gratuitous assistant o' the dying man. +But my father had mair sense than to trust, entirely and allenarly, in +an affair o' sae gigantic importance, to ony dead authority. He was at +the heels o' Dr Dennistoun, our parish physician, as often as that +worthy man would permit his approach; and it was sometimes said, though +in a jocular way--and nae man likes a joke better than I do--that he +consulted the doctor as the farmer does the barometer, with a view to a +guid crop. But, were this even _vero verius, certo certius_, how could +my parent be blamed for being industrious? Unless ye thresh and grind, +ye hae little chance o' a dinner--"_Ni purgas et molas, non comedes_;" +an auld saying o' Diogenianus, particularly applicable to my father, who +had to support, by his industry, an idle sou--_bos in stabulo_--long, +bare-boned, ill-filled up, as hungry and voracious as a Cyclops, and +never weel-dined but on the day o' a dead-chack. I might blame my +respectable parent for consulting Dr Dennistoun about expected deaths +and burials, if mortals could avoid ony o' the twa; but we hae nae +Elijahs in thae days, "to be taken up in a whirlwind of fire, and in a +chariot of fiery horses." Death comes to a'--_mors omnibus communis_; +and Jedediah Cameron--bless him!--had nae chance o' bein made an +exception; otherwise my lank wame and lean cheeks stood a puir chance o' +bein sae weel filled up as they afterwards came to be, when I held his +three offices. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +A KIND PROVIDENCE SMILES ON MY PARENT'S SOLICITUDE. + + +If it hadna been to make certainty doubly sure, my father had nae +occasion to hound after Dr Dennistoun in the way he did, to ascertain +the probability o' the death o' Jedediah Cameron, or ony other mortal +that stood a chance o' needin a bit turf and a kindly clap o' his spade. +His ee was as sure as a cockatrice's. He needed nae howling o' the +moon-baying tyke, nae' death-watch, nae whip-lash on the table, nae +dead-drap, nae dead-shaving at the candle, nae coffin-spark frae the +fire, nae powers o second-sight, dreams, or divinations, to tell him +when he was to hae a guid job. He came to be able to read death in men's +faces, as he could do a printed book. Now, Jedediah Cameron didna +deceive him. Ae day, when I was busy teachin the puir man's scholars, he +came in, and whispered in my ear, that the parish clerk, schoolmaster, +and precentor o' St Fillan's, was dead. I was, at the time, in the very +act o' flogging an urchin wha had disputed my authority. The ferula fell +from my hands; the urchin's rebellion was, I thought, ominous o' the +rejection o' my claims o' succession; but, after a', there's nae oracle +like the presentiments o' a man's ain soul, speaking frae the inspired +tripod that is set owre the hollow-sounding, murmuring gulf o' an empty +stamach; and so the ancient Pythonissa o' Apollo's temple at Delphi, +judiciously took her seat over the abyss called the _umbilicus orbis +terrarum_. Being an honest man, I confess frankly that the first feeling +produced by my father's lively whisper, was a kind o' pleasure, +approaching as near to delight as any sensation I had yet discovered in +my microcosm. But I remembered the seventh verse o' the eighth chapter +o' Ecclesiasticus, directed against rejoicing over the dead; and, upon +the very instant, set vigorously to work, either to expel the delightful +emotion frae my mind, or, at least, to push the sweet rebel off the +cerebral throne--the pineal gland--and plunge him into some o' the deep +ventricles, or dungeons, lying in the lower part of the brain, or ben in +the cerebellum. It was a considerable struggle; but I succeeded to a +perfect miracle--a circumstance I am the more pleased with, as I hate +mortally that abominable cant of the Calvinists, about necessity, as if +a man hadna the whip-hand, direction, and guidance of his own will. + +The grave o' Jedediah Cameron was, in due time, dog by my parent--wi' +what feeling, whether o' sorrow or satisfaction, I am not bound to say, +because a sense o' delicacy prevented me frae being present at the +breaking o' the earth; but I consider myself under an obligation to +state, that I never saw my respected parent cover up a mortal body so +cleverly. Lest, however, ony hasty-minded, sanguine individual, should, +from this admission o' mine, suppose that that cleverness, or +nimbleness, had ony connection with the alacrity o' joy, or the morbid +quickness o' a sorrow that wishes to get an unpleasant job out of hands, +I must explain that my father merely wanted--surely a most legitimate +object--to catch as many o' the parochial heritors present at the +funeral as remained on the ground, reading grave-stanes, or laughing and +chatting thegither, after the body was clappit down--with the view o' +securing their votes for me, as the singular successor (to speak as the +lawyers do) to the three vacant offices held by the now dead dominie. + +But this is a sair subject--I can scarcely write upon it. My brain +whirls like an old woman's spindle the moment I think on't. Guidness! +what a risk I ran o' losin my three offices by the mere paternal +fondness o' that honest man. Some o' the heritors had remarked the +vivacity and agility o' my parent in throwin in the heavy moil on the +clatterin coffin, wi' mair noise, force, and fervor than was ever used +on an occasion o' the same kind afore; pushin and shovellin great +hillocks o' stanes and banes at a mighty effort, usin his very feet in +the process; sweatin, pechin, stumblin, and producin a noise frae the +coffin lid like distant thunner; and mair, peradventure, resemblin the +risin than the lyin doun o' the dead. The thing couldna be concealed. +My father was excited beyond a' prudence or decent decorum; and, when he +had finished the wark, or rather pretended to finish it--for it was at +best a clumsy business--and, drawin near, wi' the shovel in his hand, to +a knot o' the heritors, standin on a flat gravestane, they asked him, +wi' a significant expression, why he was in sae great a hurry in coverin +up the puir dominie, a laugh rang amang the grave-stanes--a guid answer +to my father's request--that stuck in his throat; and, in place o' +gettin a vote, he hadna the courage to ask ane. The thing deed awa afore +the meetin o' the heritors, an' I was saved frae ruin--an escape for +which I hae offered up many thanks to the Author o' our mercies. + +The pleasant duty o' filial love is sae fu' o' artfu' seduction, and +winnin, pauky guile, that it has carried me awa frae my ain merits an' +successes. The first thing I had to do was to keep a guid firm grip o' +the schule, the parish books, and the dominie's desk; for I knew that +possession is nine points o' the law. I got ready my testimonials wi' +the greatest despatch; the mair by token, that some o' them were in a +very forward state before Jedediah Cameron's breath was out. I ca'ed at +the houses o' a' the heritors wha had bairns at the schule, and praised +wi' decent pride the progress they had made under my care--music mair +sweet to their ears than even the Bangor itsel. Meanwhile, I exerted +mysel on the Sabbaths, to sing, wi' the greatest pith and clearness, the +psalm tunes. I kenned the folks were fondest o' such as the Auld Hunder, +Mount Pleasant, and that excellent favourite the Bangor. My execution, +pathos, quavers, semi-quavers, were wonderfu. The parishioners were +astonished, and followin my leadin tenor into the altitudes o' the +highest inspiration, flew awa into the very Elysian fields o' +enthusiastic devotion. + +Nae doubt, some o' the auld, cunnin foxes, that never sang a stave +looked at me as if they saw through my drift; but I was far abune their +envy, and was conscious o' the purity o' my heart. In the meantime, my +most excellent and much-respected parent was hawking aboot amang the +heritors my testimonials; and at the next meetin o' the heritors, I was +duly elected parish-clerk, schoolmaster, and precentor o' St Fillan's. +Weel do I recollect that joyfu occasion. Our dinner exceeded far ony +dead-chack I ever saw. My father took a free glass; and, inspired wi' +the generous liquor, made a speech to me as lang as a funeral oration. + +"Noo, Gideon," he began, "yer namesake, the son o' Joash got his fortune +read by a dream o' a barley cake that fell frae heaven, as we find i' +the Book o' Judges. Yer barley-cake hath come frae heaven, and the +forces o' Midian are delivered owre to ye. I can do nae mair for ye. I +hae fed ye, clad ye, made ye. In yer mouth I hae put men's lear, in yer +heart God's fear. For yer sake I watched, as the husbandman does the +clouds, for signs o' mortality in the face o' Jedediah Cameron; and the +first symptom o' water I saw in his body, comin atween me and the sun o' +my hope, made a glitterin rainbow in my paternal ee. Muckle do ye owe +me, Gideon; but I'll no be ill to satisfy. I'll be pleased if ye measure +yer gratitude by the size o' that lank, toom wame, whilk I never saw +filled to satisfaction till this blessed day, when ye hauld the three +principal offices o' this parish." + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +I EXERT MY GREAT ABILITIES ON A GREAT OCCASION. + + +When I had fairly made up my mind to tak a wife, I set mysel to the wark +systematically. The first thing to be dune was to put mysel in a +convenient position for being struck; but a knowledge o' my combustible +nature suggested caution against mere love at first sight--_ex aspectu +nascitur amor_--lest I might be caught in yarn toils in place o' a goold +chain. After a', there's nae place like a dominie's desk, for showing +aff to the greatest advantage a man's personalities and graces. The +openin o' the chest to let out the wind, naturally produces an erection +o' the hail man. The keepin o' the time wi' the arm brings out a gracefu +movement, just as ane were to set aff in a minuet. The lightin up o' the +ee, and the fine attenuation o' a' the sma' limber muscles o' the face, +wi' the power o' the music, is a direct expression o' the pure pathetic, +showing at ance baith yer sentiment and yer beauty. Then singin +itsel--and love, Augustinus says, will mak a musician out o' an +ass--_musicam docet amor_--is a great grace and accomplishment, whether +it be in warbling "Dundee's" wild measures, the "plaintive Martyrs," or +"noble Elgin"--a' the very pick o' Psalm tunes--ranting "Tullochgorum," +or spinnin out the lang, plaintive notes o' "The Flowers o' the Forest." + +It may very safely be supposed, that I never lost sight o' thae +advantages. A dominie, in urgent celibacy, has a' the invention aboot +him o' a man in extreme hunger. In fact, I felt as keen to get a wife as +I ever did to get my three offices. But I was weel aware that a' my +dress--and Mr Meiklejohn himsel, the minister, hadna a finer gloss on +his black coat, or a brighter white in his cravat--a' my posture-makin, +my attitudes and smiles--a' my sentimental looks, and turnin up o' the +white o' my een--could avail me little, unless I picked out some female +as the object and mark o' a weel-directed and significant _glowr_. In +case o' failure, I fixed upon twa--May Walker, the dochter o' Gilbert +Walker, an auld cattle-dealer, wha rented Langacres frae a chief +heritor; and Agnes Lowrie, the dochter o' Benjamin Lowrie, feuar o' +Muirbank. Twa or three guid _glowrs_ were a' that was necessary, in the +first instance, to show that I, the dominie o' St Fillan's, wanted a +wife, and that I was even in a state o' great exigency. The moment I +thought I had impressed my twa damosels with this idea, I laboured +assiduously in my vocation of endeavourin to produce, by my gracefu +attitudes and sweet singin, a favourable impression on their hearts. + +I am a weel-disposed man, but love is a terrible thing, and it now hangs +heavy on my conscience, that I did little else, during the duration o' +Mr Meiklejohn's discourses, than to cast the glamour o' my attractions +owre the een o' my dulcineas. There was ae particular occasion, however, +beyond a', for expressin the pressure and exigency o' my situation, and, +as it were, forcin attention to my wants and wishes. I used to gie out +the purposed marriages at an early hour, before the congregation was +half assembled; but I now took especial care, that the twa objects o' my +affections should be calmly seated before I executed this part o' my +duties. I began first by fixin my een on the ane I intended to devote +that particular Sabbath to, (for I alternated my preferences;) and, as I +looked at her as significantly as I could, I pronounced the emphatic +words--"There is a purpose o' marriage between"--wi' sae muckle strong, +heart-felt pathos--sometimes even inclinin my right hand a little in the +direction o' my heart--that baith look and word maun hae pierced her +very gizzard. It was perfectly impossible that this could fail. These +preliminary operations I persevered in for sixteen Sabbaths. + +Having prepared matters in this effectual--I may say irresistible way--I +bethought mysel o' the maist efficient way o' followin up the advantage +I had gained. I asked my respected parent which o' the twa lasses he +thought I should attack first. He answered, wi' that wisdom for which he +was sae remarkable, that that depended upon circumstances. Twa or three +days afterwards, he said he was prepared to answer my question--the +interval being, I presume, occupied in gettin intelligence about the +wealth o' the respective fathers o' the young women. He said, that, sae +far as he could answer, May Walker was the preferable damsel. I asked +him his reason. He replied, that he had taen the trouble o' ascertainin +the hail circumstances o' her condition; and, though her father wasna +sae rich as Agnes Lowrie's, he was paler, and a guid deal mair +cadaverous looking. If my parent hadna been speakin professionally, as +the sexton o' St Fillans, I might hae been inclined to think he was +jokin, but he never was mair serious in his life; and, in fact, he had +that very mornin been _Buchaneezing_, as he caed it, on Gilbert Walker's +_prognosis_, and had come to a conclusion on his case, very favourable +to my prospects in life. + +The saxteen Sabbaths I had spent _in limine_, as it were, o' Cupid's +temple, drove me sae _hard up_--in other words, increased the exigency +o' my celibacy to such an extent--that, actin on my father's advice, I +determined upon fa'in foul o' her the very first time I met her in an +unprotected situation, and in a secret, sequestered, and convenient +place. My respected parent aye said, that love was just like death. The +twa powers are aye best, baith for themsels and their victims, when they +tak them by storm, or, as the French say, by a _coup de main_. A +lingerin death and a lingerin love (said the guidman) make the heart +sick, and, for his part, (laying aside his professional feelings), he +detested baith. He seized my mither, he said, just like an apoplexy, and +she succumbed in a single groan o' consent. + +"Gideon, take example by me," he continued; "never seize a woman like +what Buchan ca's a _hemiplegia_--that is, by halves; comprehend in your +embrace liver, pancreas, stamach, heart, spleen, and then ye're sure to +move her compassion, and settle the affair in an instant." + +Following my worthy genitor's advice, I watched for May Walker, the +next Sabbath, as she left the kirk after the afternoon's service. She +was alane, and took the quietest road to Langacres. I dogged her most +determinedly up the Willow Loan that leads into a solitary and +sequestered howe, ca'ed the Warlocks' Glen, a place sae intensely +romantic, sae completely sacred to the high feelins o' love and poetry, +that it seemed impossible there for a woman to resist a man; and, if she +might attempt it, she could look for nae mortal assistance. Having ogled +her into a perfect state o' preparation, or predisposition to receive +the attack, as the doctors say, I was quite certain o' success; and, +just as an experienced sportsman lets a bird tak a lang flight afore he +fires, to shew his ease, coolness, and confidence in his powers, I +allowed her to be half-way up the Willow Loan afore I should pounce upon +her. By some misfortune, however, she had got a glimpse o' me; for, just +when I was meditating on the surest way o' makin my point guid, she took +to her heels, like a springbok, and was off through the Warlocks' Glen +in as short a time as I tak to gie out the first line o' a heroic Psalm +verse. + +I cam hame and reported my progress to my parent; but he wasna in the +slightest degree dispirited; and next Sabbath, I got Andrew Waugh, a +singin weaver o' the village, to officiate for me, under a pretence that +I had caught a severe cauld. I repaired to the Warlocks' Glen, and sat +doun on a stump o' an auld aik tree, allowin freely the inspiration o' +the place to seize me, and nerve my energies for the bauld project I had +in hand. In a short time, I espied the streamers o' a woman's bannet +wavin amang the willows in the distance. Slouchin doun, like a tiger, +behind a large broom bush, I watched the onward progress o' the sweet +nymph, doubtless my beloved May. It was absolutely and indispensably +requisite that I should take her by ambuscade; for, if she had seen even +the hem o' my garment, I'm satisfied her ambulation would hae been +reversed, and in speed very considerably increased. I'm vexed to be +obliged to mak this admission, which grates sae harshly against my +self-conceit; but verity transcends, in beauty and importance, vanity; +and I consider this biography to be naething but a confession frae +beginnin to end. + +Keepin my slouchin, sneakin attitude as weel as my lang gaunt body would +permit, I had at least the exorbitant satisfaction o' seein the dear +young woman walkin mournfully alang, unconscious o' the danger that +awaited her. At a little distance from my lurkin place, she stood, as if +she feared there was a snake in the grass; for the anxiety and +solicitude I felt to get a glimpse o' her fair face, forced me to twist +my body into unpleasant contortions, which produced a kind of a rustling +amang the sere-leaves that lay on the ground. Findin a' quiet again, she +seemed to renounce a' fear; though I secretly suspected that she kenned +weel aneugh the cause o' the noise, for I had detected the hinder part +o' my body in a higher state o' elevation than my will or security +warranted, being considerably abune the broom, and, therefore, plainly +in her ee. Keepin my suspicion to mysel, I watched her motions wi' still +greater curiosity and intensity; because, if my suspicions were true +that she kenned I was lyin sneakin there, her conduct, of course, +required frae me a different rule o' construction. At last she sat doon, +quite close to me--a circumstance that satisfied me still mair that she +was aware o' my position, condition, and intentions--for it seemed to be +a kind o' an invitation to me to dart upon her, and secure my prey. She +spoke. + +"Noo, this is no usin me quite weel," said she, "no to be here," (a mere +blind, thinks I, to mak me think she doesna ken I'm lyin slouchin at her +very side), "when I had sae muckle to say to him. Though I was shy to +him the last time I saw him, he might hae learned eneugh o' the heart o' +woman to ken that we hae certain arts and wiles, and guiles about us--a +kind o' secret charms--to increase an affection that we think over +languid, and bring it out o' the dead-thraw o' a starved love into the +warm life o' a lively passion. It canna be, that, after sae lang a +period o' lookin, followin, and languishin, he doesna like me. If he +only kenned the condition o' this puir, flutterin, beatin heart, that +fears to listen to its ain timid voice, as if it were treason to +love--how muckle mair wad he prize my sittin here, invitin--wae's my +puir prudence!--thae very attractions I used to flee frae! But woman, +weak woman, is doomed to be the sport o' men, as weel as o' her ain +heart." + +It was noo clearly my time to pounce. In fack, the young woman was +invitin me. Up I sprang, like a jungle thief. + +"How can you sit there, May," said I, "kennin I was lyin sneakin there +under that broom bush, and yet abusin a faithfu creature for being slow +and languid in his love, when last Sabbath ye flew frae him wi' a' the +pith o' a bitter hatred disgust, and scorn! Languid in _my_ affection! +Is _that_ like languidness?" (Throwing my arms fully around her, so as +to include, if possible, the hail body in my ample embrace.) "Is _that_, +dear May, like love in the dead-thraw? If _that's_ no a sign" (still +pressing her, as she struggled and cried) "o' the warm life o' a lively +passion, as ye ca'd it, I kenna what it is?" + +As I thus held her in my impassioned grasp--as firm as a tiger's--she +screamed most inordinately, makin the hail Warlocks' Glen ring frae end +to end, rousin the mawkins on every side, and makin them skip over the +whin bushes as if they had been followed by a pack o' harriers. But I +wasna to be deceived. She had, when I was sneakin under the bush o' +broom, gien me the key to this conduct, in her cunnin monologue. This +was ane o' the arts, wiles, guiles, and secret charms, to increase a +languid affection, and bring it out o' the dead-thraw o' a starved love +into the warm love o' a lively passion. Her words still rung in my +ears, and I was as determined as the very deevil to show her that her +efforts to increase my love were perfectly effectual. I hugged her +closer and closer. Heart, liver, pancreas, a'thegither, as recommended +by my father, were in my embrace. I squeezed the dear creature like a +vice, sae strong was my determination, increased every minute by her +screams, to prove to her entire satisfaction--in fack, to demonstrate, +beyond the possibility of a doubt--that there was nae mair occasion for +her female guile or charm, and that she might rest assured that my +affection could, nae mair than my grasp, be increased in point o' +intensity. But a' wouldna do--her heart seemed to be insatiable. In +addition to my squeezing grasp, I kissed her ruby lips. She cried the +louder and the louder; and--oh! hae I lived to write it?--she actually +spat on the face that was glowin red hot wi' affection for her. Still I +persevered; for I thought that even the _sputum_ might be ane o' her +secret charms. The struggle continued, and her cries increased. She had +recourse to her nails, and I felt the blude streamin doun my cheeks. We +fell on the ground. A man's voice behind me cried--"My love, my love! +knock doun the spoiler!" A tremendous blow on the head took frae me my +senses; and, when I recovered, I was in my ain bed, with my respectit +parents sitting by me, watchin, with the greatest and tenderest care, +the return o' consciousness to their beloved son. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +LIGHT STRUGGLES THROUGH A CLOUD TO GET TO ME IN MY MISFORTUNE. + + +I sune recovered my health, but my reputation and fair fame were for a +time under a cloud. The parishioners, in place o' shakin me by the +hand, looked at me with averted eyes. I was treated as a dog that had +been in bad company. A sough went throughout the parish, that Simon +Begley--or, as the folks ca'ed him, with a humorous application to his +craft, that of procurator-fiscal o' the county, Beagle--was busy takin a +precognition with a view to layin the case before the Lord Advocate. But +I was gien to understand, and privately, that the authorities didna +intend, in the meantime, to lay hold o' me, as they had nae suspicion I +would flee the country. Their object was to ascertain the truth o' the +charge, and, if they found there was any real _delictum_, and Gilbert +Walker and May persevered in their determination, to apprehend me then, +and try me as an example and a warnin. + +This misfortune brought upon me an attack o' hypochondriacism; and +Melancholy, wi' a' her attendant hags, hounded me, as they say, frae +house to hame. Wearied o' concealin myself within doors, I sought the +by-ways, the loans, and the unfrequented paths--still, however, doin my +duties, and facin the public whar I couldna weel sneak out o' the way. +Ae day, I was sittin on a fence, no far frae my ain door, musin on the +curious turn my love affair had taen, and generally on the "vanity of +human wishes." I thought o' the poem o' that name by the only poet whose +works I could ever thole to read, and cured, in some degree, my +despondency, by repeatin to mysel the lines-- + + "Still raise for good the supplicating voice, + But leave to Heaven the measure and the choice." + +"I hae dune baith," said a saft voice in my ear; "but the guid I hae +prayed for is lang o' comin." + +"It has a lang road to come, my bonny lass," said I to a young woman +with a child in her arms, wha stood before me. "I, mysel, ken what it is +to suffer; for a pickled rod is at this very moment on my puir +back--sending, as it cuts its way, the nippin brine into my very +marrow. But I am exercisin patience. What may your compliant be?" + +"My complaint," said she, wipin a clear, shinin tear frae her bonny blue +ee, "lies owre near my puir broken heart to be tauld to a stranger; for +wha but Him wha is 'the saul's portion,' should hear the secrets, or is +able to cure the waes o' a deserted wife? Ken ye the session-clerk o' +this parish?" + +"Owre weel," said I, "guid woman; for, personally, I am noo sufferin for +that officer. I, mysel, hold that honoured office, wi' its twa +appurtenances." + +"You are, then, the very man I wanted to see," said she; "but I maun +speak privately to ye. I hae come far to see ye, and heavy are the +burdens I hae carried, baith at this bosom (lookin at her child) and in +it; an' maybe ye may be the means o' relievin me o' ane o' them." + +"Which o' them mean ye, woman?" said I, no a'thegither at ease. "I hope +ye dinna mean the bairn. Ae misfortune's enough at a time." + +"Na, na," replied she; "I dinna mean that you should be the faither o' +the child; but ye may be the means, in higher hands, o' gettin back its +faither, and thereby relievin me o' a' my burdens and a' my sorrows +thegither." + +"Nae man likes to do guid better than I do," replied I, wi' a decent +complacency, "though I hae been sair defamed. Come awa wi' me, an' tell +me your story." + +I took the puir woman hame, and, seein she was filled wi' naething but +sorrow, ane o' the maist inflatin o' a' the _non-naturals_ (for +Hippocrates himsel couldna doubt that it's ane o' them,) I supplied her +wi' as muckle victuals o' ae kind or anither--no bein very particular +about the agreement or concurrence o' the elemental parts o' the +polymixia or combination--as I thought would hae the double effeck o' +gettin quit o' her hunger and her sorrow thegither. The puir creature +ate like a rhinoceros. I doubt if she had had any meat for a week. +Cakes, milk, cheese, herrings, tea, and honey, a' disappeared; and +naething remained but a blush o' shame on her bonny cheek, to tell how +muckle abashed she was at her good appetite. Some ungracefu minded folks +wad ha ta'en the sweet suffusion that covered her face, for the mere +effect o' the fecht or warstle o' devouring sae muckle meat; but my +delicacy suggested a truer, a mair feminine, and a mair gallant +conclusion. I was sae muckle pleased with the refinement o' mind that +led to this discovery, that I couldna help bringing't oot--for nae man +should hide his candle under a bushel-- + +"Ye needna be ashamed, my bonny woman," said I, "at eating sae muckle; +for, though it's no paid for, ye're perfectly welcome to it, ample and +multitudinous as it is." + +This had the desired effect; for the blush was instantly succeeded by a +deadly paleness. I then asked her what was her particular object, in +wishin to see and speak to me privately. It was some time afore she +could answer--overcome, I fancy, by her admiration o' my delicacy o' +sentiment; but at last, takin out a ragged handkerchief, as a kind o' +preparation for a scene, a thing I like abune a' things--exceptin, +maybe, that in the Warlocks' Glen--she began-- + +"I am the dochter o' an honest farmer, that lives down near the Tweed. +His name is Arthur Graeme; and my name--that is my maiden name--is Lucy +Graeme. He was ance accounted rich, and I was--no lang syne +yet--considered to hae some claims to beauty--twa things that hae +produced a' my wae. I was courted by the neighbourin farmers, wha vied +wi' ane anither for my hand and my affections; but, as a prophet has nae +credit in his ain country, sae neeborin lovers were little respeckit. +The gree was born awa frae them by a perfect stranger, kenned neither to +them nor to me. A young man, ca'ed, at that time at least, Hugh +Kennedy, whase looks were, alas! his best recommendation, if I shouldna +speak of a soft honeyed tongue, whase sounds were music to my ear, +recommended himsel to me at a neighbouring fair, and took frae me, +whether I wad or no, my silly affections. He had heard o' my father's +siller, and he saw my blooming face; but he never had the courage to +come to our house and court me honourably, as my other wooers were glad +and proud to do. Yet--strange backslidin o' the human heart!--I wadna +hae gien a stowen kiss o' Hugh Kennedy, among the beech groves o' +Sunnybrae, for a' the flatterin, wooin, and braw presents o' the rest o' +my lovers thegither. The mere circumstance o' the puir youth being +banned, as he was (for his secret courtship was sune kenned), frae the +very neeborin woods, bound him to my heart the closer and the firmer. +Though twenty een were upon me as gleg as hawks, and I was watched like +a convicted thief, I saw him, spoke to him, wept wi' him, lay in his +dear arms, and got my tears kissed awa wi' his burning lips." + +Her throat got thick, and she paused. After some sobbing, she +continued-- + +"Oh, forgie me, sir! To ye alane, wha hae my fortune in yer hands, wad I +speak in this wild strain, for my heart is fu' o' love, grief, and a +still revivin hope that winna dee. I never asked him a question, sae +worthless and silly in the thoughts o' a lover, whar he wad tak me, and +what he wad do wi' me, if I ran frae my faither's house, and married +him. What cared I for things that were to come, when a' my joys were +centred in the single moment when I was in his arms? Na, I never asked +him whar was to be our bed--whar we were to get our dinner. Love had +made me as light, as gay, as free, as thoughtless, as the birds o' the +grove, whose food and raiment, hoose an' ha', are provided by nature, +wha is kinder to them than to us proud human creatures. I need say nae +mair. I flew frae my faither's hoose, was married and ruined. My +husband had nae trade by the hand, nae friends, nae hame. He trusted to +my faither's wealth; but that took wings and flew away as fast as his +dochter. We lived thegither, Gude kens hoo, for twa years, when, ae +mornin aboot six months syne, he rose frae my side an' left me, an' I +hae never seen him since. A month after, I bore this babe, wha hasna yet +seen its faither. I inquired for him in every direction, an' at last I +heard that he was livin in this parish, an' was on the eve o' bein +married to a braw lass, wi' a better tocher than I could bring to him." + +"This is a sad story, Lucy--Mrs Kennedy, I mean"--said I. "Your +treacherous husband, and his unconscious victim, this second wife, +whoever she may be, haena gien in their names to me yet, as clerk o' +this parish; and Mr Meiklejohn is owre correct a man to marry them +against the rules." + +"Heaven be praised!" cried the poor woman. "I was afraid I might be owre +late." + +"Yer in braw time," said I; "but, if Mr Kennedy taks anither name, how +will I ken him?--for he may forge certificates o' residence, or bribe +some residenters to certify him--tricks no uncommon in the traffic o' +matrimony." + +"But maybe ye may ken his _sweetheart_," said she, wi a big heart, as +she wrung the bitter name out o' her dry throat. + +"It's no unlikely," said I; "I ken the maist o' the leevin folks o' the +parish, and my faither kens a' the dead anes." + +"Did you ever hear o' a young woman bearing the name o' May Walker?" +said she. + +"I think I hae," said I, hesitatingly, as if trying to recollect mysel; +and, lookin suspiciously at her, for I thocht she had heard o' my +misfortune, and was suspicious o' every individual that mentioned that +charmed, dear, yet terrible name. + +"I think I hae," repeated I, drawing my hand owre my weel-shaved chin, +as if to try my beard; and, satisfied o' the ignorance and innocence o' +the creature, wishin to keep my secret. + +"Did ye ever see her, or speak to her?" continued Mrs Kennedy. "Is she +bonny?--has she a sweet voice?--is she like--like me?" And she burst +into tears. + +"I hae seen her," replied I, tryin to keep mysel frae greetin too; but a +loud blubber burst frae me, in spite o' a' my efforts to keep it amang +the lower pairt o' my lungs. "I hae seen her--I hae kissed--hum--I mean +I hae spoken to her. She _is_ bonny--O ay!" (with an increased blubber); +"she _is_ indeed bonny." + +My answer increased the weepin o' the jealous wife, and we baith grat +thegither. + +"Has she muckle siller?" said she, calming a little. + +"She _will_ hae," replied I; "she _maun_ hae, for her faither is in +_very_ bad health." + +This new cause o' sorrow increased my paroxysm to a perfect buller. + +"Ye are a maist sympathetic creature," said Mrs Kennedy, "to greet that +way for anither's misfortunes." + +"It's just my way," said I; "we canna restrain our heart or our +stamach." + +The mention o' the last word made the puir creature blush. It even +stopped her tears. On hoo little springs do our passions depend! + +This scene bein acted in the way I hae thus (I hope pretty graphically) +described, I began to tak a mair philosophical view o' this important +business. With an acuteness as natural to me as to a snip's tool, I +penetrated the prudential course o' my operations in an instant o' +inspired intuition. I fancy it wad smack considerably o' the _inane +gotium_ o' supererogation, besides being exposed to the charge o' +anticipation, to lay my plan before my readers in the clumsy way o' a +chart, where there's sae guid a pilot. I like to seize a subject as my +father did my mother when he courted and won her; or as I did May +Walker, when I courted and lost her. To the heart at ance! I premised my +operations, by askin Mrs Kennedy, in spite o' the gladiator-like way she +had o' handlin her knife and fork, to remain in my house for a day or +twa, till we saw whether her husband would ca' upon me, to gie in the +names o' him and _his_--alas! what a change!--_his_ dulcinea! In the +meantime, Beagle's precognition was still proceedin; and Gilbert Walker +and his dochter wouldna, it was said, relent. For about eight days, Mrs +Kennedy sat and watched at the window, to see if she could espy her +faithless husband; while I sneaked about, to try if I could ascertain +the absolute truth of her story, and the real facks o' my ain deplorable +case. My inquiries, conducted under the disadvantage o' being obliged to +skulk, and beg, as it were, an answer to my questions, were not very +successful. I, however, discovered that a young man, wi' black routhy +whiskers, and a long romantic nose juttin out frae amang them, like a +promontory frae the side o' a thick wud, was busy courtin May Walker, +whase heart had got entangled in the forest o' his face, and couldna be +liberated by a' the ruggin o' her father and her friends. This +description o' him agreed wi' that I got frae Mrs Kennedy, wha couldna +describe the coverin o' his face without tears. I was satisfied it was +the man; and my satisfaction was confirmed by a kind o' +recollection--strugglin through the inspissated gloom o' the oblivion I +experienced after being knocked doon in the Warlocks' Glen--o' the +figure o' an Orson-like individual, wi' a great rung in his hand, mixed +with the evanescent sounds o' "My love!--my love!--knock doun the +spoiler!" which produced, thegither, the conviction that Mr Hugh Kennedy +was the very man on whom May Walker was waitin on that eventfu Sabbath, +and who felled me sae unmercifully to the earth. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +MY TALENTS BROUGHT STILL MORE IN REQUISITION. + + +Mrs Kennedy and I persevered, with the asperity o' hedgehogs, _echini +asperitate_, (Pliny,) in our watch. Ae day, as I was sitting ben the +house, where the parish register lies, the puir woman cam rinnin into +the room, in a state of dreadful agitation, crying-- + +"There he's--there he's passing the very window--comin in, nae doubt, to +gie in the names. Ah, traitor!" + +"Be quiet, foolish woman," said I. "Awa again to the kitchen. There he +is!" (there was now a loud knocking at the door;) "awa wi' ye to the +kitchen!" + +And I hurried her, _obtorto collo_, by the neck and shoulders, (for the +exigency of the case obliterated every trace of my usual gallantry,) to +the kitchen, whereinto I locked her, as firmly as guid smith's wark +would permit. The prudence o' this preliminary step needs nae +elucidation to them wha ken the nature o' a deserted wife. I then walked +calmly to the door, which I opened slowly and decently, as became a +session clerk. + +"How do you do, Mr Willison?" said a man, with large, black, routhy +whiskers, and a prominent nose, o' the aquiline, or romantic cut. + +It was the very apparition o' the fever I caught in the Warlocks' Glen. +He pretended never to have seen me before; but a blue mark on my +forehead tingled the moment it caught his eye; and, as I unconsciously +raised my hand to gie it the relief it asked, he smiled--a fair +detection; but I said naething to shew that I recognised him. + +"As weel as can be expected," answered I, without mair significancy or +intelligence than a babe or suckling would have exhibited. + +"That is the answer of a lying-in wife in Scotland," said he, still +smiling. + +"Unfortunately, nane o' us hae ony experience o' that yet," said I, "if +I can guess your errand to a parish clerk." + +"You do guess rightly," said he. "I came here to request you, sir, to +publish these banns, on the next three successive Sabbaths." + +I received the paper he held out. It contained the names and designation +o' the twa parties--George Webster, residing at Burnfoot; and May +Walker, dochter o' Gilbert Walker, residing at Langacres. + +"Where are your certificates o' residence?" said I. + +He handed me a certificate, signed and attested wi' apparent regularity, +but which I was predetermined to doubt, wi' a' the obstinacy o' a guid +dogmatic sceptic. + +"I fancy you'll be the George Webster mentioned here yersel, Mr Hugh +Kennedy," said I. + +He started, at the very least, three guid thumb-measured inches, frae my +floor. The stroke was nearly as pithy as that he applied to me in the +Warlocks' Glen. + +"That is my name in the certificate, there," said he, recovering. + +"I ken that brawly, Mr Kennedy," said I. "George Webster's your +_present_ name; but I forget neither auld names nor auld friends. Some +folk, wi' new-fangled notions, hae, now-a-days, three names. Even Mr +Meiklejohn, guid man, baptized his son Finlay Johnstone Meiklejohn, to +the admiration o' the twa-named congregation o' St Fillan's; but it +canna be expected that, when the laddie comes up, we are aye to address +him by his three names. It would be owre great an expense o' wind and +time." + +"I have neither wind nor time to spend in this foolery," said he. "That +is my name in the paper, and there are your fees." + +"I dinna want to quarrel wi' you, Mr Kennedy," said I, "because I hae +owre muckle respect for Mrs Kennedy--Lucy Graeme, the dochter o' Arthur +Graeme o' Sunnybrae, on Tweedside--and her bonny bairn, to get into a +dispute wi' the husband o' the ane and the father o' the other. But I +can keep a secret, man. What are ye alarmed about? Though ye knocked me +doun in the Warlocks' Glen, I hae nae ill-will to ye. I dinna object to +cry ye next Sabbath, wi' May Walker; but ae gude turn deserves +anither--ye can do me a service." + +This statement utterly confounded Mr Kennedy. He tried first to bluster +and swear, denied the truth of my assertion, calmed, blustered again; in +short, gaed through a' thae useless and affected turns and movements +that a hooked salmon taks the unnecessary trouble to do before it turns +up the white o' its wame. + +"Calm yoursel, my dear sir," said I. "Mrs Lucy Kennedy is in my power, +under my key. She daurna stir. Ye may be married and awa lang afore she +kens onything about it, puir thing. We can settle a bit o' ordinar +business without the interference o' a woman. I pledge ye ye'll neither +hear nor see her, if ye'll promise to do me the favour I want aff ye." + +He fell back again into a rantin fit--swore he didna understand +me--threatened to lick me--seized me by the cravat--took awa his hand +again--gaed to the door--returned--calmed--rose, and calmed again. + +"What a trouble ye put yersel to, Mr Kennedy!" said I, calmly. "I want +naething frae ye o' ony consequence. Ye're quite welcome to May Walker." +(A sentimental whine here treacherously insinuated itself into my +speech.) "She's a braw lass, and will be a rich lass. Her faither's ga' +blether's fu' o' ga' stanes, or as my faither ca'es them, ga' nuts--a +decided _icterus_ or jaundice. My parent (ye ken he's sexton) says he's +sure o' him in sax weeks, and, consequently, ye're sure o' yer tocher in +that sma' period o' time. I dinna want to deprive ye o' a' thae +blessings, though it's in my power, and I might be urged to't by baith +love and revenge." + +"What is't ye want, then?" roared he, at last, in a voice higher than +Stentor's, while the fire flashed frae his ee in almost palpable +scintillations o' fury. + +"Just get yer sweetheart, May Walker," said I, softly, "to write twa +lines to Simon Begley, or Beagle, as they ca' him, the fiscal o' the +shire, passin frae her charge against me; and ye'll be cried on Sabbath, +afore the congregation meets, and Mrs Kennedy will never hear o't." + +"I'll admit naething aboot Mrs Kennedy," said he, as doggedly as a +mule--"it's all an invention of the brain of a subtle dominie; but I'll +get ye the line ye want, on condition that these idle fancies are lodged +again safely in the addle-noddle where subtlety or folly engendered +them, and when self-interest brought them to aid ye in a bad cause." + +"It's dune," said I; "but mark ye, nae cryin till I get the discharge; +at least, if I'm forced, as I may be, to do my duty, and ca' the names, +there'll be somebody in the front seat o' the gallery to answer me. Ye +understand, Mr Kennedy?" + +Dartin a furious look at me, no unlike what a person might fancy o' the +minotaur, he flew oot o' the hoose. As he passed the window, the yells +o' Mrs Kennedy resounded through the house, and even, I believe, +followed hard on the heels o' her husband, if they didna owretak him +a'thegither, as he birred through the neeborin plantin like an +incorporated personification o' fear. The moment he was oot o' sight, I +liberated the puir, unfortunate woman frae her place o' confinement. + +"Whar is my husband?" she cried--"whar is that dear man, wha, in spite +o' a' his guile and treachery, I maun see ance mair, though it were only +to hauld up in his face this bairn, and then drap doun at his feet, and +dee?" + +"Calm yersel, my bonny woman," said I, dautin her on the back like a +bairn. "It's time enough to talk o' deein--a subject my faither likes +better than I do--when I hae renounced my endeavours to get ye back yer +husband. It's a' in a fair way. He's got the shot. Ye may see by the way +he ran, he's got something better than sparrow hail. Be assured he'll +come doun. A deevil couldna flee wi' the weight o' cauld lead he carries +under his wing." + +"God bless ye!" said she, "and prosper yer efforts! I'll wait yer time." + +In twa hours after this, a man on horseback, bespattered wi' the red +loam o' the Warlocks' Glen up to the chin, arrived at my door. He cam +frae Langacres, and carried a letter, he said, for the session-clerk o' +St Fillan's. I snatched the letter frae his hands in an instant; tearin +it open wi' a' the anxiety o' a creature strugglin for his precious +reputation. It was just what I wanted. I asked the man to come in and +get some refreshment; and the very instant I had him fairly within the +house, I shut the door on him, and, mountin his swift, roan-coloured +mare, flew like lightnin to Simon Begley's. He was at hame. I handed him +the letter. He said it was just the very thing he wanted, for he +acknowledged that the public authorities had no wish to prosecute a case +involvin the ruin o' a puir man; but, until they got out the discharge +o' the private prosecutor, they had nae power to relinquish their +proceedins. He assured me that everything was now at an end, and the +sough o' the country would dree the fate o' a seven days' wonder. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +A SUCCESSFUL ISSUE TO THE EFFORTS OF MY GENIUS. + + +Next day, I tauld Mrs Kennedy to dress hersel, and be ready, wi' her +bairn and her marriage-lines, to accompany me to a neighbour's house. We +departed thegither. We took the road to Langacres. I felt the necessity +here o' the maist inordinate caution--for I never could have been +answerable for the effects o' my bein seen at a distance, walkin in my +ordinary, erect, bauld, and somewhat martial manner, upon the house o' a +jaundiced invalid, wha possessed the idea that I had already assaulted, +and endeavoured to abduct his dochter. He might, in the first place, +either be placed in a situation o' intense fear and alarm--prejudicial, +if not fatal, to an invalid--or he might fire upon me from the windows, +wi' ane o' his auld sportin guns, for he was ance a great sportsman. At +same time it was necessary to conceal Mrs Kennedy, in case she might hae +been recognised by her faithless spouse. We took, therefore, a +circuitous route, under the cover o' a wood, that led up to the kitchen +door. The moment I entered, the women in the kitchen began to scream and +flee awa; but I soon shewed them I was perfectly canny, and even got the +length o' bein allowed to daut ane o' them (but she was a little +advanced in life) on the back. I was nae langer impeded in my endeavour +to see Mr Gilbert Walker, whom I discovered in an arm-chair, as yellow +as saffron, and as cankered as a nettle. He tried to start up when I +entered; but, heaven be praised! his jaundice sune brought him to his +seat again. + +"I am come, sir," said I, "in a matter o' the maist interest in nature +to you and your dochter May." + +"How, sir," screamed he, "can ye dare to sully the name o' that +innocent creature, by makin't run the gauntlet o' thae treacherous lips! +Awa wi' ye, ye vile Nicanor! ye wolf that carries woo on your back in +place o' hair! Alas! what a warld is this! 'Baith prophet and priest are +profane; yea, in my house have I found their wickedness.'" + +"Gilbert Walker," said I, calmly, "my intentions towards your dochter +were honourable, and I am come here this day--little thanks to me!--to +put you on your guard against one whose intentions are false, +treacherous, and abominable. When I made love to May Walker, I wasna a +married man; but I was scorned, knocked down, and nearly prosecuted, for +merely bein owre warm and lovin in my chaste embrace; while the husband +o' anither woman comes in and carries awa the prize frae the scorned +though honourable Coelebs. May Walker may, if she likes, despise me, +her faithfu lover. Ninety-nine out o' a hunder would, for that mad act, +convict her o' a vitiated and corrupt taste; but, if she had ane to side +wi' her, she may, in a sense, be justified. But wha, save a Turk, could +justify the taste o' a bonny maiden, wha married anither woman's man? +There's no ane, there's no a leg o' ane, frae Buchaness to Ardnamurchan, +frae the Mull o' Galloway to John o' Groat's, that would justify that +taste in ane o' the chaste dochters o' virtuous Scotland." + +"What is this?" cried May Walker, openin a side-door, and strugglin, in +the arms of Mr Hugh Kennedy, to get forward. "What do I hear? Who says +that George Webster is a married man?" + +"Your greatest enemy!" cried Mr Hugh Kennedy; pointin theatrically with +his outstretched hand. "Ha! ha! ha! Your spoiler, your rejected, +dejected, envious, poisonous, adder-tongued lover, is he who has dared +to spurt his venom on the meat destined for his rival. This is +gratitude. He solicited me to get him discharged from your just +vengeance, and now he endeavours to gnaw the fingers of the hand that +awarded him his safety." + +"I see, I see it a'," cried May. "I ken the fox, or rather wolf, i' the +auld. I hae met him in the Warlocks' Glen. He can sneak under broom +bushes like the hairy adder, or lurk in the green moss like the +yellow-wamed ask. It's no i' the wud alane that thae creatures carry +their poison. They dinna cast it aff at the threshold o' the farmer's +ha, whar they can crawl, an' spit, an' wound, an' kill, as weel as in +the green wud. Dinna trouble yersel wi' the reptile, dear George. I gie +him nae faith noo, ony mair than I did when he attacked me in the +Warlocks' Glen." + +I sadna a word. I turned, and ran out, and, as I departed, I heard +spinnin after me, frae a' their lips at ance-- + +"Ay, ay, awa wi' ye!--it is your time, fause, treacherous dog; never +shew your face in this house again." + +In three minutes, I opened the door again, wi' my peculiar gentleness +and calmness o' touch, and, wi' a jaunty manner, tinged wi' a kind of +native etiquette, handed in, bowin the while amaist to the very carpet, +Mrs Hugh Kennedy, wi' her bairn in her arms and her marriage-lines in +her pouch. + +"I beg leave to introduce to you," said I, "Mrs Hugh Kennedy, the lawfu +wedded wife o' this man, whase real name is Hugh Kennedy, and no George +Webster, which is a mere cover--a vile deceit, and an imposition." + +I hadna time to get thae words fairly out, when Mrs Kennedy threw her +bairn into my arms, and, fleein forward wi' the keenness and fire o a +love that had been lang repressed and now burst its chains, seized, wi' +her longing, greedy arms, her husband round the neck, like a ferocious +mastiff. It's a' safe noo, thinks I. He may try and shake her aff if he +can. The thing was just as impossible as it was for Prometheus to shake +the king o' birds frae his liver. He shook, pulled, rugged, tore, +kicked, and pinched her. Her grasp waxed firmer and firmer. She stuck +like a horse leech, whase blude rins fair through, it. Guid sense micht +hae dictated submission, whar the evil was clearly beyond mortal remeid. +But the foolish man struggled--vain, trebly vain, foolish, insane +effort! O pithless man! The struggle continued. He wrestled, and blew, +and puffed. She grasped him closer and mair close. At first his struggle +was for liberty; but now it turned mair serious; it seemed to be for +life. Her grip had extended to his neck, and, choking up his windpipe, +impeded respiration. His face waxed blue. His tongue began to jut out, +as if inclined to hang. Foam came frae his mouth. His een were turned +up, to show their whites. A hollow _raucitus_, or rattle, began in his +throat. + +"Save the man frae strangulation," cried Gilbert Walker. + +"Haud the young Kennedy, May," said I, throwin the bairn into her arms, +squallin wi' a great noise. + +I flew to save the man's life. Gettin behind him, I unclosed the woman's +hands, which were fixed as if in the grasp o' death. The moment she was +deprived of her hold, she fell senseless on the ground, and Kennedy, +staggerin back, leaned on the wa', and tried to recover himsel. In a +short time, the puir woman cam to hersel. + +"Hugh, dearest Hugh," she cried, strugglin to get to her knees, "can it +be possible that ye hae tried to desert me for anither--me, wha left, +for yer sake, my dotin father, my hame, an' a' the comforts o' hame; the +bonny holms o' Sunnybrae, whar we courted sae lang in secret; the scene +o' my youthfu' pleasures and my maiden loves--for ay and for ever?" + +"I know you not, woman," said he, doggedly. + +"Dinna ken yer wedded wife!" cried she, weepin, an' searchin for her +marriage-lines, which she held up in her hand. "Dinna ken Lucy Graeme, +dochter o' Arthur Graeme, o' Sunnybrae, whase heart I hae broken by +marryin you! Mercy on me! Does he wha, by thae holy bands, is bound to +cherish and protect me, his wedded wife, deny a' knowledge o' me? This +is the last, the warst, the maist unbearable o' a' the ills ye hae +brought on my puir head. That bairn," (risin an' seizin the child,) +"that babe, that hadna seen the licht o' day when ye cowardly deserted +its houseless, starvin mither looks to ye as its father, and mocks your +cauld, cruel ignorance wi' its knowledge--got, dootless, frae heaven--o' +its natural protector. O maiden, maiden," (lookin to May Walker,) "tak +example by me. Yer hame here is warm and comfortable. Dinna leave it, +dinna renounce it, but for ane ye ken, in heart, soul, name, pedigree, +and means. He wha has ruined me wad hae trebly ruined ye; for he has +taen frae me only my hame, my daily bread, and peace--he wad hae taen +frae ye a' thae, and, ayont them a', your honour." + +Kennedy had seen it was a' up wi' him before the termination o' his +wife's speech, for his ee began to play about the door o' the room. I +watched him, but he was an over-match for me. Runnin forward, he jostled +me to a side--I stumbled and fell--the women screamed--and, before I got +up, he had completely and finally bolted. The puir woman, wi' her bairn +still in her arms, shrieked as she saw him depart, perhaps for ever. Nae +power wad restrain her--she flew, wi' a' the force o' her feeble limbs, +after her faithless husband, and we never heard o' them mair. + +Gratitude for this return, on my part, o' guid for ill, in a short time +completely changed the heart o' May Walker. I had saved her frae ruin. +We were wed. I may some day write the fate o' my first-born, for that +famous wark, "The Border Tales." + + + + +SAYINGS AND DOINGS OF PETER PATERSON. + + +An every-day biographer would have said that Peter Paterson was the son +of pious and respectable parents; and he would have been perfectly +right, for the parents of Peter were both pious and respectable. I say +they were pious; for, every week-night, as duly as the clock struck +nine, and every Sabbath morning and evening, Robin Paterson and his wife +Betty called in their man-servant and their maid-servant into what +now-a-days would be styled their parlour, and there the voice of Psalms, +of reading the Word, and of prayer, was heard; and, moreover, their +actions corresponded with their profession. I say also they were +respectable; for Robin Paterson rented a farm called Foxlaw, consisting +of fifty acres, in which, as his neighbours said, he was "making money +like hay"--for land was not three or four guineas an acre in those days. +Foxlaw was in the south of Scotland, upon the east coast, and the +farm-house stood on the brae-side, within a stone-throw of the sea. The +brae on which Foxlaw stood, formed one side of a sort of deep valley or +ravine; and at the foot of the valley was a small village, with a few +respectable-looking houses scattered here and there in its +neighbourhood. Robin and Betty had been married about six years, when, +to the exceeding joy of both, Betty brought forth a son, and they called +his name Peter--that having been the Christian name of his paternal +grandfather. Before he was six weeks old, his mother protested he would +be a prodigy; and was heard to say--"See, Robin, man, see!--did ye ever +ken the like o' that?--see how he laughs!--he kens his name already!" +And Betty and Robin kissed their child alternately, and gloried in his +smile. "O Betty," said Robin--for Robin was no common man--"that smile +was the first spark o' reason glimmerin' in our infant's soul!--Thank +God! the bairn has a' its faculties." At five years old Peter was sent +to the village school, where he continued till he was fifteen; and there +he was more distinguished as a pugilist than as a book-worm. +Nevertheless, Peter contrived almost invariably to remain dux of his +class; but this was accounted for by the fact, that, when he made a +blunder, no one dared to _trap_ him, well knowing that if they had done +so, the moment they were out of school, Peter would have made his +knuckles acquainted with their seat of superior knowledge. On occasions +when he was fairly puzzled, and the teacher would put the question to a +boy lower in the class, the latter would tremble and stammer, and look +now at his teacher, and now squint at Peter, stammer again, and again +look from the one to the other, while Peter would draw his book before +his face, and, giving a scowling glent at the stammerer, would give a +sort of significant nod to his fist suddenly clenched upon the open +page; and when the teacher stamped his foot, and cried, "Speak, sir!" +the trembler whimpered, "I daurna, sir." "Ye daurna!" the enraged +dominie would cry--"Why?" "Because--because, sir," was slowly stammered +out--"Peter Paterson wud _lick_ me!" Then would the incensed +disciplinarian spring upon Peter; and, grasping him by the collar, whirl +his _taws_ in the air, and bring them with his utmost strength round the +back, sides, and limbs of Peter; but Peter was like a rock, and his eyes +more stubborn than a rock; and, in the midst of all, he gazed in the +face of his tormentor with a look of imperturbable defiance and +contempt. Notwithstanding this course of education, when Peter had +attained the age of fifteen, the village instructor found it necessary +to call at Foxlaw, and inform Robin Paterson that he could do no more +for his son, adding that--"He was fit for the college; and, though he +said it, that should not say it, as fit for it as any student that ever +entered it." These were glad tidings to a father's heart, and Robin +treated the dominie to an extra tumbler. He, however, thought his son +was young enough for the college--"We'll wait anither year," said he; +"an' Peter can be improvin' himsel at hame; an' ye can gie a look in, +Maister, an' advise us to ony kind o' books ye think he should +hae--we'll aye be happy to see ye, for ye've done yer duty to him, I'll +say that for ye." + +So another year passed on, and Peter remained about the farm. He was now +sometimes seen with a book in his hand; but more frequently with a gun, +and more frequently still with a fishing rod. At the end of the twelve +months, Peter positively refused to go to the college. His mother +entreated, and his father threatened; but it was labour in vain. At +last--"It's o' nae use striving against the stream," said Robin--"ye +canna gather berries off a whin bush. Let him e'en tak his ain way, an' +he may live to rue it." Thus, Peter went on reading, shooting, fishing, +and working about the farm, till he was eighteen. He now began to +receive a number of epithets from his neighbours. His old schoolmaster +called him "Ne'er-do-weel Peter;" but the dominie was a mere proser; he +knew the moods and tenses of a Greek or Latin sentence, but he was +incapable of appreciating its soul. Some called him "Poetical Peter," +and a few "Prosing Peter;" but the latter were downright bargain-making, +pounds-shillings-and-pence men, whose souls were dead to + + "The music of sweet sounds;" + +and sensible only of the jink of the coin of the realm. Others called +him "_Daft_ Peter," for he was the leader of frolic, fun, and harmless +mischief; but now the maidens of the village also began to call him +"Handsome Peter." Yet he of whom they thus spoke would wander for hours +alone by the beach of the solitary sea, gazing upon its army of waves +warring with the winds, till his very spirit took part in the conflict; +or he could look till his eyes got blind on its unruffled bosom, when +the morning sun flung over it, from the horizon to the shore, a flash of +glory; or, when the moon-beams, like a million torches shooting from the +deep, danced on its undulating billows--then would he stand, like an +entranced being, listening to its everlasting anthem, while his soul, +awed and elevated by the magnificence of the scene, worshipped God, the +Creator of the great sea. With all his reputed wildness, and with all +his thoughtlessness, even on the sea-banks, by the wood, and by the +brae-side, Peter found voiceless, yet to him eloquent companions. To him +the tender primrose was sacred as the first blush of opening womanhood; +and he would converse with the lowly daisy, till his gaze seemed to draw +out the very soul of the + + "Wee, modest, crimson-tipped flower." + +It, however, grieved his mother's spirit to see him, as she said, "Just +idling awa his time, and leaving his learning at his heels." His father +now said--"Let him just tak his fling an' find his ain weight--an he'll +either mak a spoon or spoil a horn, or my name's no Robin Paterson." +But, from Peter's infancy, it had been his mother's ambition and desire +to live to see him, as she expressed it, "wag his pow in a poopit," or, +at any rate, to see him a gentleman. On one occasion, therefore, when +Robin was at Dunse hiring-market, the schoolmaster having called on his +old pupil, "Ne'er-do-weel Peter," the two entered into a controversy in +the presence of Peter's mother, and, in the course of the discussion, +the man of letters was dumfoundered by the fluency and force of the +arguments of his young antagonist. Silent tears of exultation stole into +Betty's eyes, to hear, as she said, "her bairn expawtiate equal--ay, +superior to ony minister;" and no sooner had the teacher withdrawn, +than, fixing her admiring eyes on her son, she said-- + +"O Peter, man, what a delivery ye hae?--an' sae fu' o' the dictioner'! +Troth but ye wad cut a figure i' the poopit! There wad nae dust gather +on your cushion--there wad be nae sleeping, nodding, or snoring, while +my Peter was preachin'. An', oh, hinny, but ye will mak me a glad +mother, if ye'll consent to gang to the college! Ye wadna be lang o' +gettin a kirk, my man--I can tell ye that; an', if ye'll only consent to +gang, ye shanna want pocket-money that your faither kens naething +about--my bairn shall appear wi' the best o' them. For syne ever ye was +an infant, it has aye been my hope an' my prayer, Peter, to see ye a +minister; an' I ne'er sent a hunder eggs or a basket o' butter to the +market, but Peter's pennies were aye laid aside, to keep his pockets at +the college." + +Peter was, in the main, a most dutiful and most affectionate son; but on +this point he was strangely stubborn; and he replied-- + +"Wheesht, mother! wheesht!--nae mair aboot it." + +"Nae mair aboot it, bairn!" said she; "but I maun say mair aboot it. +Man! wad ye fling awa yer learnin' at a dyke-side, an' yer talents at a +pleugh-tail? Wad ye just break yer mother an' faither's heart? O Peter! +Peter, man, hae ye nae spirit ava?--What is yer objection?" + +"Weel, keep your temper, mother," said he, "an' I'll tell ye +candidly:--The kirk puts a strait-jacket on a body that I wadna hae +elbow-room in!" + +"What do ye mean, ye graceless?" added she, in a voice betokening a sort +of horror. + +"Oh, naething particular; only, for example, sic bits o' scandal as--the +Reverend Peter Paterson was called before the session for shooting on +his ain glebe--or, the Reverend Peter Paterson was summoned before the +presbytery for leistering a salmon at the foot o' Tammy the Miller's +dam--or, the Reverend Peter Paterson was ordered to appear before the +General Assembly for clappin' Tammy the Miller's servant lassie on the +shouther, an' ca'ing her a winsome quean--or"---- + +"Or!"--exclaimed his impatient and mortified mother--"Oh, ye forward an' +profane rascal ye! how daur ye speak in sic a strain--or wad ye be +guilty o' sic unministerial conduct?--wad ye disgrace _the coat_ by sic +ungodly behaviour?" + +"There's nae sayin', mother," added he; "but dinna be angry--I'm sure, +if I did either shoot, leister, or clap a bonny lassie on the shouther, +ye wadna think it unlike your son Peter." + +"Weel, weel," said the good-natured matron, softened down by his manner; +"it's true your faither says--it's nae use striving against the stream; +an' a' gifts arena graces. But if ye'll no be a minister, what will ye +be? Wad ye no like to be a writer or an advocate?" + +"Worse an' worse, mother! I wad rather beg than live on the misery of +another." + +"Then, callant," added Betty, shaking her head, and sighing as she +spoke--"I dinna ken what we'll do wi' ye. Will ye no be a doctor?" + +"What!" said Peter, laughing, and assuming a theatrical attitude--"an +apothecary!--make an apothecary of _me_, and cramp _my_ genius over a +pestle and mortar? No, mother--I'll be a farmer, like my father before +me." + +"Oh, ye ne'er-do-weel, as your maister ca's ye!" said his mother, as she +rose and left the room in a passion; "ye'll be a play-actor yet, an' +that will be baith seen an' heard tell o', an' bring disgrace on us a'." + +Peter was, however, spell-bound to the vicinity of Foxlaw by stronger +ties than an aversion to the college or a love for farming. He was about +seventeen, when a Mr Graham, with his wife and family, came and took up +his residence in one of the respectable-looking houses adjacent to the +village. Mr Graham had been a seafaring man--it was reported the master +of a small privateer; and in that capacity had acquired, as the +villagers expressed it, "a sort o' money." He had a family of several +children, but the eldest was a lovely girl called Ann, about the same +age as Peter Paterson. Mr Graham was fond of his gun, and so was Peter; +they frequently met on the neighbouring moors, and an intimacy sprang up +between them. The old sailor also began to love his young companion; +for, though a landsman, he had a bold, reckless spirit: he could row, +reef, and steer, and swim like an amphibious animal; and, though only a +boy, he was acknowledged to be the only boxer, and the best leaper, +runner, and wrestler in the country side--moreover, he could listen to a +long yarn, and, over a glass of old grog, toss off his heel-taps like a +man; and these qualifications drawing the heart of the skipper towards +him, he invited him to his house. But here a change came over the spirit +of reckless, roving Peter. He saw Ann; and an invisible hand seemed +suddenly to strike him on the breast. His heart leaped to his throat. +His eyes were riveted. He felt as if a flame passed over his face. Mr +Graham told his longest stories, and Peter sat like a simpleton--hearing +every word, indeed, but not comprehending a single sentence. His entire +soul was fixed on the fair being before him--every sense was swallowed +up in sight. Ringlets of a shining brown were parted over her fair brow; +but Peter could not have told their colour--her soft blue eyes +occasionally met his, but he noted not their hue. He beheld her lovely +face, where the rose and the lily were blended--he saw the almost +sculptured elegance of her form; yet it was neither on these--on the +shining ringlets, nor the soft blue eyes--that his spirit dwelt; but on +Ann Graham, their gentle possessor. He felt as he had never felt before; +and he knew not wherefore. + +Next day, and every day, found Peter at the house of Captain Graham; and +often as love's own hour threw its grey mantle over the hills, he was to +be seen wandering with the gentle Ann by his side, on the sea-banks, by +the beach, and in the unfrequented paths. Again and again, when no eye +saw them, and when no ear heard them, he had revealed the fulness of his +heart before her; and, in the rapture of the moment, sealed his truth +upon her lips; while she, with affection too deep for words, would fling +her arm across his shoulder, and hide her face on his breast to conceal +the tear of joy and of love. + +His parents looked upon Ann as their future daughter; and, with Peter, +the course of "true love ran smooth." A farm had been taken in an +adjoining parish, on which he was to enter at the following Whitsunday; +and, on taking possession of his farm, Ann Graham was to become his +bride. Never did exile long more ardently for his native land, than did +Peter Paterson for the coming Whitsunday; but, ere it came, the poetical +truth was verified, that + + "The course of true love _never did_ run smooth." + +Contiguous to the farm of Foxlaw, lay the estate of one Laird Horslie--a +young gentleman but little known in the neighbourhood; for he had +visited it but once, and that only for a few weeks, since it came into +his possession. All that was known of him was, that he wrote J.P. after +his name--that he was a hard landlord, and had the reputation of +spending his rents faster than his factor could forward them to him. To +him belonged the farm that had been taken for Peter; and it so happened, +that, before the Whitsunday which was to make the latter happy arrived, +the laird paid a second visit to his estate. At the kirk, on the Sunday, +all eyes were fixed on the young laird. Captain Graham was one of his +tenants, and occupied a pew immediately behind the square seat of the +squire. But, while all eyes were fixed upon Laird Horslie, he turned his +back upon the minister, and gazed, and gazed again, upon the lovely +countenance of Ann Graham. All the congregation observed it. Ann blushed +and hung her head; but the young squire, with the privilege of a man of +property, gazed on unabashed. What was observed by all the rest of the +congregation, was not unobserved by Peter. Many, with a questionable +expression in their eyes, turned them from the laird, and fixed them +upon him. Peter observed this also and his soul was wroth. His face +glowed like a furnace; he stood up in his seat, and his teeth were +clenched together. His fist was once or twice observed to be clenched +also; and he continued scowling on the laird, wishing in his heart for +ability to annihilate him with a glance. + +Next day, the squire called upon the old skipper, and he praised the +beauty of Ann in her own presence, and in the presence of her parents. +But there was nothing particular in this; for he called upon all his +tenants, he chatted with them, tasted their bottle, paid compliments to +their daughters, and declared that their sons did honour to + + "Scotland's glorious peasantry." + +Many began to say, that the laird was "a nice young gentleman"--that he +had been "wickedly misca'ed;" and the factor "got the wyte o' a'." His +visits to Mr Graham's cottage, however, were continued day after day; +and his attentions to Ann became more and more marked. A keen sportsman +himself, he was the implacable enemy of poachers, and had strictly +prohibited shooting on his estate; but, to the old skipper, the +privilege was granted of shooting when and where he pleased. Instead, +therefore, of seeing Peter Paterson and the old seaman in the fields +together, it was no uncommon thing to meet the skipper and the squire. +The affection of the former, indeed, had wonderfully cooled towards his +intended son-in-law. Peter saw and felt this; and the visits of the +squire were wormwood to his spirit. If they did not make him jealous, +they rendered him impatient, impetuous, miserable. + +He was wandering alone upon the shore, at the hour which Hogg calls +"between the gloamin' and the mirk," in one of those impatient, +impetuous, and unhappy moods, when he resolved not to live in a state of +torture and anxiety until Whitsunday, but to have the sacred knot tied +at once. + +Having so determined, Peter turned towards Graham's cottage. He had not +proceeded far, when he observed a figure gliding before him on the +footpath, leading from the village to the cottage. Darkness was +gathering fast, but he at once recognised the form before him to be that +of his own Ann. She was not a hundred yards before him, and he hastened +forward to overtake her; but, as the proverb has it, there is much +between the cup and the lip. A part of the footpath ran through a young +plantation, and this plantation Ann Graham was just entering, when +observed by Peter. He also had entered the wood, when his progress was +arrested for a moment by the sudden sound of voices. It was Ann's voice, +and it reached his ear in tones of anger and reproach; and these were +tones so new to him, as proceeding from one whom he regarded as all +gentleness and love, that he stood involuntarily still. The words he +could not distinguish; but, after halting for an instant, he pushed +softly but hastily forward, and heard the voice of the young laird +reply-- + +"A rose-bud in a fury, by the goddesses!--Nay, frown not, fairest," +continued he, throwing his arm around her, and adding-- + + "What pity that so delicate a form + Should be devoted to the rude embrace + Of some indecent clown!" + +Peter heard this, and muttered an oath or an ejaculation which we will +not write. + +"Sir," said Ann, indignantly, and struggling as she spoke, "if you have +the fortune of a gentleman, have, at least, the decency of a man." + +"Nay, sweetest; but you, having the beauty of an angel, have the heart +of a woman." And he attempted to kiss her cheek. + +"Laird Horslie!" shouted Peter, as if an earthquake had burst at the +heels of the squire--"hands off!--I say, hands off!" + +Now, Peter did not exactly suit the action to the word; for, while he +yet exclaimed "hands off!" he, with both hands, clutched the laird by +the collar, and hurling him across the path, caused him to roll like a +ball at the foot of a tree. + +"Fellow!" exclaimed Horslie, furiously, rising on his knee, and rubbing +his sores-- + +"Fellow!" interrupted Peter--"confound ye, sir, dinna _fellow_ me, or +there'll be _fellin_' in the way. You can keep yer farm, and be hanged +to ye; and let me tell ye, sir, if ye were ten thousand lairds, if ye +dared to lay yer ill-faur'd lips on a sweetheart o' mine, I wad twist +yer neck about like a turnip-shaw! Come awa, Annie, love," added he, +tenderly, "and be thankfu' I cam in the way." + +Before they entered the house, he had obtained her consent to their +immediate union; but the acquiescence of the old skipper was still +wanting; and when Peter made known his wishes to him-- + +"Belay," cried the old boy; "not so fast, Master Peter; a craft such as +my girl is worth a longer run, lad. Time enough to take her in tow, when +you've a harbour to moor her in, Master Peter. There may be other +cutters upon the coast, too, that will give you a race for her, and that +have got what I call _shot_ in their lockers. So you can take in a reef, +my lad; and, if you don't like it, why--helm about--that's all." + +"Captain Graham," said Peter, proudly and earnestly, "I both understand +and feel your remarks; and, but for Ann's sake, I would resent them +also. But, sir, you are a faither--you are an affectionate one--dinna be +a deluded one. By a side-wind, ye hae flung my poverty in my teeth; but, +sir, if I hae poverty, and Laird Horslie riches, I hae loved yer +dochter as a man--he seeks to destroy her like a villain." + +"'Vast, Peter, 'vast!" cried the old man; "mind I am Ann's father--tell +me what you mean." + +"I mean, sir, that ye hae been hoodwinked," added the other--"that ye +hae been flung aff yer guard, and led to the precipice o' the deep, dark +sea o' destruction an' disgrace; that a villain has hovered round yer +house, like a hawk round a wood-pigeon's nest, waiting an opportunity to +destroy yer peace for ever! Sir, to use a phrase o' yer ain, wad ye +behold yer dochter driven a ruined wreck upon the world's bleak shore, +the discarded property o' the lord o' the manor? If ye doubt me, as to +the rascal's intentions, ask Ann hersel." + +"'Sdeath, Peter, man!" cried the old tar, "do you say that the fellow +has tried to make a marine of me?--that a lubber has got the weathergage +of Bill Graham? Call in Ann." + +Ann entered the room where her father and Peter sat. + +"Ann, love," said the old man, "I know you are a true girl; you know +Squire Horslie, and you know he comes here for you; now, tell me at +once, dear--I say, tell me what you think of him?" + +"I think," replied she, bursting into tears--"I _know_ he is a villain!" + +"You know it!" returned he; "blow me, have I harboured a shark! What! +the salt water in my girl's eyes, too! If I thought he had whispered a +word in your ear, but the thing that was honourable--hang me! I would +warm the puppy's back with a round dozen with my own hand." + +"You have to thank Peter," said she, sobbing, "for rescuing me to-night +from his unmanly rudeness." + +"What! saved you from his rudeness!--you didn't tell me that, Peter; +well, well, my lad, you have saved an old sailor from being drifted on +a rock. There's my hand--forgive me--get Ann's, and God bless you!" + +Within three weeks, all was in readiness for the wedding. At Foxlaw, old +Betty was, as she said, up to the elbows in preparation, and Robin was +almost as happy as his son; for Ann was loved by every one. It was +Monday evening, and the wedding was to take place next day. Peter was +too much of a sportsman not to have game upon the table at his marriage +feast. He took his gun, and went among the fields. He had traversed over +the fifty acres of Foxlaw in vain, when, in an adjoining field, the +property of his rival, he perceived a full-grown hare holding his +circuitous gambols. It was a noble-looking animal. The temptation was +irresistible. He took aim; and the next moment bounded over the low +hedge. He was a dead shot; and he had taken up the prize, and was +holding it, surveying it before him, when Mr Horslie and his gamekeeper +sprang upon him, and, ere he was aware, their hands were on his breast. +Angry words passed, and words rose to blows. Peter threw the hare over +his shoulder, and left the squire and his gamekeeper to console each +other on the ground. He returned home; but nothing said he of his second +adventure with Laird Horslie. + +The wedding-day dawned; and, though the village had no bells to ring, +there were not wanting demonstrations of rejoicing; and, as the marriage +party passed through its little street to the manse, children shouted, +waved ribbons, and smiled, and every fowling-piece and pistol in the +place sent forth a joyful noise; yea, the village Vulcan himself, as +they passed his smithy, stood with a rod of red-hot iron in his hand, +and having his stithies arranged before him like a battery, and charged +with powder, saluted them with a rustic but hearty _feu d'joie_. There +was not a countenance but seemed to bless them. Peter was the very +picture of manly joy--Ann of modesty and love. They were within five +yards of the manse, where the minister waited to pronounce over them the +charmed and holy words, when Squire Horslie's gamekeeper and two +constables intercepted the party. + +"You are our prisoner," said one of the latter, producing his warrant, +and laying his hand upon Peter. + +Peter's cheek grew pale; he stood silent and motionless, as if palsy had +smitten his very soul. Ann uttered a short, sudden scream of despair, +and fell senseless at the feet of the best-man. Her cry of agony +recalled the bridegroom to instant consciousness; he started round--he +raised her in his arms, he held her to his bosom. "Ann!--my ain Ann!" he +cried; "look up--oh, look up, dear! It is me, Ann--they canna, they +daurna harm me." + +Confusion and dismay took possession of the whole party. + +"What is the meaning o' this, sirs?" said Robin Paterson, his voice +half-choked with agitation; "what has my son done, that ye choose sic an +untimeous hour to bring a warrant against him?" + +"He has done, old boy, what will give him employment for seven years," +said the gamekeeper, insolently. "Constables, do your duty." + +"Sirs," said Robin, as they again attempted to lay hands upon his son, +"I am sure he has been guilty o' nae crime--leave us noo, an' whatever +be his offence, I, his faither, will be answerable for his forthcoming +to the last penny in my possession." + +"And I will be bail to the same amount, master constables," said the old +skipper; "for, blow me, d'ye see, if there an't black work at the bottom +o' this, and somebody shall hear about it, that's all." + +Consciousness had returned to the fair bride. She threw her arms around +Peter's neck--"They shall not--no, they shall not take you from me!" +exclaimed she. + +"No, no, dear," returned he; "dinna put yersel' about." + +The minister had come out of the manse, and offered to join the old men +as security for Peter's appearance on the following day. + +"To the devil with your bail!--you are no justices, master constables," +replied the inexorable gamekeeper--"seize him instantly." + +"Slave!" cried Peter, raising his hand and grasping the other by the +throat. + +"Help! help, in the king's name!" shouted the provincial executors of +the law, each seizing him by the arm. + +"Be quiet, Peter, my man," said his father, clapping his shoulder, and a +tear stole down his cheek as he spoke, "dinna mak bad worse." + +"A rescue, by Harry!--a rescue!" cried the old skipper. + +"No, no," returned Peter--"no rescue; if it cam to that, I wad need nae +assistance. Quit my arms, sirs, and I'll accompany ye in peace. Ann, +love--fareweel the noo, an' Heaven bless you, dearest!--but dinna greet, +hinny--dinna greet!" And he pressed his lips to hers. "Help her, +faither--help her," added he; "see her hame, and try to comfort her." + +The old man placed his arm tenderly round her waist--she clung closer to +her bridegroom's neck; and, as they gently lifted up her hands, she +uttered a heart-piercing, and it seemed, a heart-broken scream, that +rang down the valley like the wail o' desolation. Her head dropped upon +her bosom. Peter hastily raised her hand to his lips; then turning to +the myrmidons of the law, said sternly--"I am ready, sirs; lead me where +you will." + +I might describe to you the fears, the anguish, and the agony of Peter's +mother, as, from the door of Foxlaw, she beheld the bridal party return +to the village. "Bless me, are they back already!--can anything hae +happened the minister?" was her first exclamation; but she saw the +villagers collecting around them in silent crowds; she beheld the women +raising their hands, as if stricken with dismay; the joy that had +greeted them a few minutes before was dead, and the very children seemed +to follow in sorrow. "Oh, bairn!" said she to the serving maid, who +stood beside her, "saw ye e'er the like o' yon? Rin doun an' see what's +happened; for my knees are sinking under me." The next moment she beheld +her husband and Captain Graham supporting the unwedded bride in their +arms. They approached not to Foxlaw, but turned to the direction of the +Captain's cottage. A dimness came over the mother's eyes--for a moment +they sought her son, but found him not. "Gracious Heaven!" she cried, +wringing her hands, "what's this come owre us!" She rushed forward--the +valley, the village, and the joyless bridal party, floated round before +her--her heart was sick with agony, and she fell with her face upon the +earth. + +The next day found Peter in Greenlaw jail. He had not only been detected +in the act of poaching; but a violent assault, as it was termed, against +one of his Majesty's Justices of the Peace, was proved against him; and, +before his father or his friends could visit him, he was hurried to +Leith, and placed on board a frigate about to sail from the Roads. He +was made of sterner stuff than to sink beneath oppression; and, though +his heart yearned for the mourning bride from whose arms he had been +torn, and he found it hard to brook the imperious commands and even +insolence of men "dressed in a little brief authority;" yet, as the +awkwardness of a landsman began to wear away, and the tumult of his +feelings to subside, his situation became less disagreeable; and, before +twelve months had passed, Peter Paterson was a favourite with every one +on board. + +At the time we speak of, some French privateers had annoyed the fishing +smacks employed in carrying salmon from Scotland to London; and the +frigate on board of which Peter had been sent, was cruising to and fro +in quest of them. One beautiful summer evening, when the blue sea was +smooth as a mirror, the winds seemed dead, and the very clouds slept +motionless beneath the blue sky, the frigate lay becalmed in a sort of +bay within two miles of the shore. Well was that shore known to Peter; +he was familiar with the appearance of every rock--with the form of +every hill--with the situation of every tree--with the name of every +house and its inhabitants. It was the place of his birth; and, before +him, the setting sun shed its evening rays upon his father's house, and +upon the habitation of her whom he regarded as his wife. He leaned +anxiously over the proud bulwarks of the vessel, gazing till his +imprisoned soul seemed ready to burst from his body, and mingle with the +objects it loved. The sun sank behind the hills--the big tears swelled +in his eyes--indistinctness gathered over the shore--he wrung his hands +in silence and in bitterness. He muttered in agony the name of his +parents, and the name of her he loved. He felt himself a slave. He +dashed his hand against his forehead--"O Heaven!" he exclaimed aloud, +"thy curse upon mine enemy!" + +"Paterson!" cried an officer, who had observed him, and overheard his +exclamation; "are you mad? See him below," continued he, addressing +another seaman; "the fellow appears deranged." + +"I am not mad, your honour," returned Peter, though his look and his +late manner almost belied his words; and, briefly telling his story, he +begged permission to go on shore. The frigate, however, was considered +as his prison, and his place of punishment; when sent on board, he had +been described as "a dangerous character"--his recent bitter prayer or +imprecation went far in confirmation of that description; and his +earnest request was refused. + +Darkness silently stretched its dull curtain over earth and sea--still +the wind slept as a cradled child, and the evening star, like a gem on +the bosom of night, threw its pale light upon the land. Peter had again +crept upon the deck; and, while the tears yet glistened in his eyes, he +gazed eagerly towards the shore, and on the star of hope and of love. It +seemed like a lamp from Heaven suspended over his father's house--the +home of his heart, and of his childhood. He felt as though it at once +invited him to the scene of his young affections, and lighted the way. +For the first time, the gathering tears rolled down his cheeks. He bent +his knees--he clasped his hands in silent prayer--one desperate +resolution had taken possession of his soul; and the next moment he +descended gently into the silent sea. He dived by the side of the +vessel; and, ascending at the distance of about twenty yards, strained +every nerve for the shore. + +It was about day-dawn, when Robin Paterson and his wife were aroused by +the loud barking of their farm-dog; but the sound suddenly ceased, as if +the watch-dog were familiar with the intruder; and a gentle tapping was +heard at the window of the room where they slept. + +"Wha's there?" inquired Betty. + +"A friend--an old friend," was replied in a low, and seemingly disguised +voice. + +But there was no disguising the voice of a lost son to a mother's ear. + +"Robin! Robin!" she exclaimed--"it is _him_!--Oh, it is +_him_!--Peter!--my bairn!" + +In an instant, the door flew open, and Peter Paterson stood on his +parents' hearth, with their arms around his neck, while their tears were +mingled together. + +After a brief space wasted in hurried exclamations, inquiries, and tears +of joy and surprise--"Come, hinny," said the anxious mother, "let me get +ye changed, for ye're wet through and through. Oh, come, my man, and +we'll hear a' thing by and by--or ye'll get yer death o' cauld, for +ye're droukit into the very skin. But, preserve us, bairn! ye hae +neither a hat to yer head, nor a coat to yer back! O Peter, hinny, what +is't--what's the matter?--tell me what's the meaning o't." + +"O mother, do not ask me!--I have but a few minutes to stop. Faither, ye +can understand me--I maun go back to the ship again; if I stay, they +will be after me." + +"O Peter!--Peter, man!" exclaimed Robin, weeping as he spoke, and +pressing his son's hand between his--"what's this o't!--yes, yes, yer +faither understands ye! But is it no possible to hide?" + +"No, no, faither!" replied he--"dinna think o't." + +"O bairn!" cried Betty, "what is't ye mean? Wad ye leave yer mother +again? Oh! if ye kenned what I've suffered for yer sake, ye wadna speak +o't." + +"O mother!" exclaimed Peter, dashing his hand before his face, "this is +worse than death! But I must!--I must go back, or they would tear me +from you. Yet, before I do go, I would see my poor Ann." + +"Ye shall see her--see her presently," cried Betty; "and baith her and +yer mother will gang doon on oor knees to ye, Peter, if ye'll promise no +to leave us." + +"Haste ye, then, Betty," said Robin, anxiously; "rin awa owre to Mr +Graham's as quick as ye can; for, though ye no understand it, I see +there's nae chance for poor Peter but to tak horse for it before the +sun's up." + +Hastily the weeping mother flew towards Mr Graham's. Robin, in spite of +the remonstrances of his son, went out to saddle a horse on which he +might fly. The sun had not yet risen when Peter beheld his mother, his +betrothed bride, and her father, hurrying towards Foxlaw. He rushed out +to meet them--to press the object of his love to his heart. They +met--their arms were flung around each other. + +A loud huzza burst from a rising ground between them and the beach. The +old skipper started round. He beheld a boat's crew of the frigate, with +their pistols levelled towards himself, his unhappy daughter, and her +hapless bridegroom! + +"O Ann, woman!" exclaimed Peter, wildly, "this is terrible! it is mair +than flesh and blood can stand!" + +"Peter! O Peter!" cried the wretched girl, clinging around him. + +The party from the frigate approached them. Even their hearts were +touched. + +"From my soul, I feel for you, Paterson," said the lieutenant commanding +them; "and I am sorry to see these old people and that lovely girl in +distress; but you know I must do my duty, lad." + +"O sir! sir!" cried his mother, wringing her hands, and addressing the +lieutenant, "if ye hae a drap o' compassion in yer heart, spare my puir +bairn! O sir! I implore ye, as ye wad expect mercy here or hereafter, +dinna tear him frae the door o' the mother that bore him." + +"Good woman," replied the officer, "your son must go with us; but I +shall do all that I can to render his punishment as light as possible." + +Ann uttered a shriek of horror. + +"Punishment!" exclaimed Betty, grasping the arm of the lieutenant--"O, +sir, what do ye mean by punishment? Surely, though your heart was harder +than a nether mill-stane, ye couldna be sae cruel as to hurt my bairn +for comin to see his ain mother?" + +"Sir," said Robin, "my son never intended to rin awa frae your ship. He +told me he was gaun to return immediately--I assure ye o' that. But, +sir, if ye could only leave him, and if siller can do anything in the +case, ye shall hae the savings o' thirty years, an' a faither's blessing +into the bargain." + +"Oh, ay, sir!" cried his mother; "ye shall hae the last penny we hae i' +the world--ye shall hae the very stock of the farm, if ye'll leave my +bairn!" + +The officer shook his head. The sailors attempted to pinion Peter's +arms. + +"'Vast there, shipmates! 'vast!" said Peter, sorrowfully; "there is no +need for that; had I intended to run for it, you would not have found me +here. Ann, love"----he added--his heart was too full for words--he +groaned--he pressed his teeth upon his lip--he wrung her hand. He +grasped the hands of his parents and of Mr Graham--he burst into tears, +and in bitterness exclaimed, "Farewell!" I will not describe the painful +scene, nor paint the silent agony of the father, the heart-rending +lamentations of the bereaved mother, nor the tears and anguish of the +miserable maiden who refused to be comforted. + +Peter was taken to the boat, and conveyed again to the frigate. His +officer sat in judgment upon his offence, and Peter stood as a culprit +before them. He begged to be heard in his defence, and his prayer was +granted. + +"I know, your honours," said Peter, "that I have been guilty of a breach +of discipline; but I deny that I had any intention of running from the +service. Who amongst you, that has a heart to feel, would not, under the +same circumstances, have acted as I did? Who that has been torn from a +faither's hearth, would not brave danger, or death itself, again to take +a faither by the hand, or to fling his arms around a mother's neck? Or +who that has plighted his heart and his troth to one that is dearer than +life, would not risk life for her sake? Gentlemen, it becomes not man to +punish an act which Heaven has not registered as a crime. You may flog, +torture, and degrade me--I do not supplicate for mercy--but will +degradation prompt me to serve my king more faithfully? I know you must +do your duty, but I know also you will do it as British officers--as men +who have hearts to feel." + +During this address, Peter had laid aside his wonted provincial accent. +There was an evident leaning amongst the officers in his favour, and +the punishment they awarded him was a few days' confinement. + +It was during the second war between Britain and the United States. The +frigate was ordered to the coast of Newfoundland. She had cruised upon +the station about three months; and, during that time, as the seamen +said--"not a lubber of the enemy had dared to show his face--there was +no _life_ going at all;" and they were becoming impatient for a friendly +set-to with their brother Jonathan. It was Peter's watch at the +mast-head. "A sail!--a Yankee!" shouted Peter. A sort of wild hurra +burst from his comrades on the deck. An officer hastily ascended the +rigging to ascertain the fact. "All's right," he cried--"a sixty-gun +ship, at least." + +"Clear the deck, my boys," cried the commander; "get the guns in +order--active--be steady, and down upon her." + +Within ten minutes, all was in readiness for action. + +"Then down on the deck, my lads," cried the captain; "not a word amongst +you--give them a British welcome." + +The brave fellows silently knelt by the guns, glowing with impatience +for the command to be given to open their fire upon the enemy. The +Americans seemed nothing loath to meet them half-way. Like winged +engines of death rushing to shower destruction on each other, the proud +vessels came within gunshot. The American opened the first fire upon the +frigate. Several shot had passed over her, and some of the crew were +already wounded. Still no word escaped from the lips of the British +commander. At length he spoke a word in the ear of the man at the helm, +and the next moment the frigate was brought across the bow of the enemy. +"Now, my lads," cried the captain, "now give them it." An earthquake +seemed to burst at his words--the American was raked fore and aft, and +the dead and dying, and limbs of the wounded, strewed her deck. The +enemy quickly brought their vessel round--then followed the random gun, +and anon the heavy broadsides were poured into each other. For an hour +the action had continued, but victory or death seemed the determination +of both parties. Both ships were crippled, and had become almost +unmanageable, and in each, equal courage and seamanship were displayed. +It was drawing towards nightfall, they became entangled, and the word +"to board!" was given by the commander of the frigate. Peter Paterson +was the first man who, cutlass in hand, sprang upon the deck of the +American. He seemed to possess a lion's strength, and more than a lion's +ferocity. In a few minutes, four of the enemy had sunk beneath his +weapon. "On, my hearties!--follow Paterson!" cried an officer; "Peter's +a hero!" Fifty Englishmen were engaged hand to hand with the crew of the +American; and for a time they gained ground; but they were opposed with +a determination equal to their own, and, overpowered by a superiority of +numbers, they were driven back and compelled to leap again into the +frigate. At the moment his comrades were repulsed, Peter was engaged +with the first lieutenant of the American--"Stop a minute!" shouted +Peter, as he beheld them driven back; "keep your ground till I finish +this fellow!" His request was made in vain, and he was left alone on the +enemy's deck; but Peter could turn his back upon no man. "It lies +between you and me now, friend," said he to his antagonist. He had +shivered the sword of the lieutenant by the hilt, when a Yankee seaman, +armed with a crowbar, felled Peter to the deck. + +Darkness came on, and the vessels separated. The Americans were flinging +their dead into the sea--they lifted the body of Peter. His hands +moved--the supposed dead man groaned. They again placed him on the deck. +He at length looked round in bewilderment. He raised himself on his +side. "I say, neighbours," said he to the group around him, "is this +_our_ ship or _yours_?" The Americans made merry at Peter's question. +"Well," continued he, "if it be yours, I can only tell you it was foul +play that did it. It was a low, cowardly action, to fell a man behind +his back; but come face to face, and twa at a time if ye like, and I'll +clear the decks o' the whole ship's crew o' you." + +"You are a noble fellow," said the lieutenant whom he had encountered, +"and if you will join our service, I guess your merit shan't be long +without promotion." + +"What!" cried Peter, "raise my right hand against my ain country! Gude +gracious, sir! I wud sooner eat it as my next meal!" + +In a few weeks the vessel put into Boston for repairs; and, on her +arrival, it was ascertained that peace had been concluded between the +two countries. Peter found himself once more at liberty; but with +liberty he found himself in a strange land, without a sixpence in his +pocket. This was no enviable situation to be placed in, even in America, +renowned as it is as the paradise of the unfortunate; and he was +standing, on the second morning after his being put on shore, counting +the picturesque islands which stud Boston harbour, for his breakfast, +poor fellow, when a person accosted him--"Well, my lad, how is the new +world using you?" Peter started round--it was his old adversary the +lieutenant. + +"A weel-filled pocket, sir," returned Peter, "will mak either the new +warld or the auld use you weel; and without that, I reckon your usage in +either the ane or the ither wad be naething to mak a sang about." + +The lieutenant pulled out his purse--"I am not rich, Paterson," said he; +"but, perhaps, I can assist a brave man in need." Peter was prevailed +upon to accept a few dollars. He knew that to return to Berwickshire was +again to throw himself into the power of his persecutor, and he communed +with himself what to do. He could plough--he could manage a farm--he +was master of all field-work; and, within a week, he engaged himself as +a farm-servant to a proprietor in the neighbourhood of Charleston. He +had small reason, however, to be in love with his new employment. Peter +was proud and high-minded, (in the English, not the American acceptation +of the word,) and he found his master an imperious, avaricious, +republican tyrant. The man's conduct ill-accorded with his professions +of universal liberty. His wish seemed to be, to level all down to his +own standard, that he might the more easily trample on all beneath him. +His incessant cry, from the rising of the sun until its setting, was, +"Work! work!" and with an oath he again called upon his servants to +"work!" He treated them as beasts of burden. "Work! hang ye, work!" and +a few oaths, seemed to be the principal words in the man's vocabulary. +Peter had not been overwrought in the frigate--he had been his own +master at Foxlaw--and, when doing his utmost, he hated to hear those +words everlastingly rung in his ear. But he had another cause for +abhorring his employment; his master had a number of slaves, on whom he +wreaked the full measure of his cruelty. There was one, an old man, in +particular, on whom he almost every day gratified his savageness. Peter +had beheld the brutal treatment of the old negro till he could stand it +no longer; and one day, when he was vainly imploring the man who called +himself the owner of his flesh for mercy, Peter rushed forward, he +seized the savage by the breast, and exclaimed--"Confound ye, sir, if I +see ye strike that poor auld black creature again, I'll cleave ye to the +chin." + +The slave-owner trembled with rage. "What!" said he--"it's a fine thing, +indeed, if we've wollopped the English for liberty, and after all, a man +an't to have the liberty of wollopping his own neeger!" + +He drew out his purse, and flung Peter's wages contemptuously on the +ground. Peter, stooping, placed the money in his pocket, and, turning +towards Charleston, proceeded along the bridge to Boston. He had seen +enough of tilling another man's fields in America, and resolved to try +his fortune in some other way, but was at a loss how to begin. I have +already told you how Peter's mother praised his delivery in his debate +with the schoolmaster; and Peter himself thought that he could deliver a +passage from Shakspeare in a manner that would make the fortune of any +hero of the sock and buskin; and he was passing along the Mall, counting +the number of trees on every row, much in the same manner, and for the +same reason, as he had formerly counted the islands in the harbour, when +the thought struck him that the Americans were fond of theatricals; and +he resolved to try the stage. He called at the lodgings of the manager +in Franklin Place. He gave a specimen of his abilities; and, at a salary +of eighteen dollars a-week, Peter Paterson was engaged as leader of the +"heavy business" of the Boston _corps dramatique_. The tidings would +have killed his mother. Lear was chosen as the part in which he was to +make his first appearance. The curtain was drawn up. "Peter, what would +your mother say?" whispered his conscience, as he looked in the glass, +just as the bell rung and the prompter called him; and what, indeed, +would Betty Paterson have said to have seen her own son Peter, with a +red cloak, a painted face, a grey wig, and a white beard falling on his +breast! Lear--Peter--entered. He looked above, below, and around him. +The audience clapped their hands, shouted, and clapped their hands +again. It was to cheer the new performer. Peter thought they would bring +down the theatre. The lights dazzled his eyes. The gallery began to +swim--the pit moved--the boxes appeared to wave backward and forward. +Peter became pale through the very rouge that bedaubed his face, and +sweat, cold as icicles, rained down his temples. The shouting and the +clapping of hands was resumed--he felt a trembling about his limbs--he +endeavoured to look upon the audience--he could discern only a confused +mass. The noise again ceased. + +"Attend----France----Burgundy----hem!----Gloster!" faltered out poor +Peter. The laughter became louder than the clapping of hands had been +before. The manager led Peter off the stage, paid him the half of his +week's salary, and wished him good-by. It is unnecessary to tell you how +Peter, after this disappointment, laid out eight dollars in the purchase +of a pack, and how, as pedlar, he travelled for two years among the +Indians and back-settlers of Canada, and how he made money in his new +calling. He had written to his parents and to Ann Graham; but, in his +unsettled way of life, it is no wonder that he had not received an +answer. He had written again to say, that, in the course of four months, +he would have to be in New York _in the way of business_--for Peter's +pride would not permit him to acknowledge that he carried a pack--and if +they addressed their letters to him at the Post-office there, he would +receive them. He had been some weeks in New York, and called every day, +with an anxious heart, at the Post-office. But his time was not lost; he +had obtained many rare and valuable skins from the Indians, and, with +his shop upon his back, he was doing more business than the most +fashionable store-keeper in the Broadway. At length, a letter arrived. +Peter hastily opened the seal, which bore the impress of his mother's +thimble, and read:--"My dear bairn,--This comes to inform ye that baith +your faither and me are weel--thanks to the Giver o' a' good--and hoping +to find ye the same. O Peter, hinny, could ye only come hame--did you +only ken what sleepless nights I spend on your account, ye wad leave +America as soon as ye get my letter. I wonder that ye no ken that Ann, +poor woman, an' her faither an her mother, an' the family, a' gaed to +about America mair than a year and a half syne, and I'm surprised ye +haena seen them." + +"Ann in America!" cried Peter. He was unable to read the remainder of +his mother's letter. He again flung his pack upon his shoulder, but not +so much to barter and to sell, as to seek his betrothed bride. He +visited almost every city in the States, and in the provinces of British +America. He advertised for her in more than fifty newspapers; but his +search was fruitless--it was "Love's labour lost." Yet, during his +search, the world prospered with Peter. His pack had made him rich. He +opened a store in New York. He became also a shareholder in canals, and +a proprietor of steam-boats; in short he was looked upon as one of the +most prosperous men in the city. But his heart yearned for his native +land; and Peter Paterson, Esq., turned his property into cash, and +embarked for Liverpool. + +Ten long years had passed since the eyes of Betty Paterson had looked +upon her son; and she was busied, on a winter day, feeding her poultry +in the barn-yard, when she observed a post-chaise drive through the +village, and begin to ascend the hill towards Foxlaw. + +"Preserve us, Robin!" she cried, as she bustled into the house, "there's +a coach comin' here--what can folk in a coach want wi' the like o' us? +Haud awa out an' see what they want, till I fling on a clean mutch an' +an apron, an' mak mysel wiselike." + +"I watna wha it can be," said Robin, as he rose and went towards the +door. + +The chaise drew up--a tall genteel-looking man alighted from it--at the +first glance he seemed nearly forty years of age, but he was much +younger. As he approached Robin started back--his heart sprang to his +throat--his tongue faltered. + +"Pe--Pe--Peter!" he exclaimed. The stranger leaped forward, and fell +upon the old man's neck. + +Betty heard the word _Peter!_--the clean cap fell from her hand, she +uttered a scream of joy, and rushed to the door, her grey hairs falling +over her face; and the next moment her arms encircled her son. + +I need not tell you of the thousand anxious questions of the fond +mother, and how she wept as he hinted at the misfortunes he had +encountered, and smiled, and wept, and grasped his hand again, as he +dwelt upon his prosperity. + +"Did I no aye say," exclaimed she, "that I would live to see my Peter a +gentleman?" + +"Yet, mother," said Peter, "riches cannot bring happiness--at least not +to me, while I can hear nothing of poor Ann. Can no one tell to what +part of America her father went?--for I have sought them everywhere." + +"Oh, forgie me, hinny," cried Betty, bitterly; "it was a mistake o' yer +mother's a'thegither. I understand, now, it wasna Ameri_ca_, they gaed +to; but it was Jamai_ca_, or some _ca_, and we hear they're back again." + +"Not America," said Peter: "and back again!--then, where--where shall I +find her?" + +"When we wrote to you, that, after leaving here, they had gaen to +America," said Robin, "it was understood they had gaen there--at ony +rate, they went abroad someway--and we never heard, till the other week, +that they were back to this country, and are now about Liverpool, where +I'm very sorry to hear they are very ill off; for the warld, they say, +has gaen a' wrang wi' the auld man." + +This was the only information Peter could obtain. They were bitter +tidings; but they brought hope with them. + +"Ye were saying that ye was in Liverpool the other day," added his +mother; "I wonder ye didna see some o' them!" + +Peter's spirit was sad, yet he almost smiled at the simplicity of his +parent; and he resolved to set out in quest of his betrothed on the +following day. + +Leaving Foxlaw, we shall introduce the reader to Sparling Street, in +Liverpool. Amongst the miserable cellars where the poor are crowded +together, and where they are almost without light and without air, one +near the foot of the street was distinguished by its outward +cleanliness; and in the window was a ticket with the words--"_A Girl's +School kept here, by_ A. GRAHAM." Over this humble cellar was a +boarding-house, from which, ever and anon, the loud laugh of jolly +seamen rang boisterous as on their own element. By a feeble fire in the +comfortless cellar, sat an emaciated, and apparently dying man; near him +sat his wife, engaged in making such articles of apparel as the +slop-dealers send to the West Indies, and near the window was a pale but +beautiful young woman, instructing a few children in needle-work and the +rudiments of education. The children being dismissed, she began to +assist her mother; and, addressing her father, said-- + +"Come, cheer up, dear father--do not give way to despondency--we shall +see better times. Come, smile now, and I will sing your favourite song." + +"Heaven bless thee, my own sweet child!" said the old man, while the +tears trickled down his cheeks. "Thou wilt sing to cheer me, wilt +thou?--bless thee!--bless thee! It is enough that, in my old age, I eat +thy bread, my child!--sing not!--sing not!--there is no music now for +thy father's heart." + +"Oh, speak not--think not thus," she cried, tenderly; "you make me sad, +too." + +"I would not make thee sad, love," returned he, "but it is hard--it is +very hard--that, after cruising till I had made a fortune, as I may say, +and after being anchored in safety, to be tempted to make another +voyage, where my all was wrecked--and not only all wrecked, but my +little ones too--thy brothers and thy sisters, Ann--to see them struck +down one after another, and I hardly left wherewith to bury them--it is +hard to bear, child!--and, worse than all, to be knocked up like a +useless hulk, and see thee and thy mother toiling and killing +themselves for me--it is more than a father's heart can stand, Ann." + +"Nay, repine not, father," said she: "He who tempereth the wind to the +shorn lamb, will not permit adversity to press on us more hardly than he +gives us strength to endure it. Though we suffer poverty, our exertions +keep us above want." + +The old woman turned aside her head and wept. + +"True, dear," added he, "thy exertions keep us from charity; but those +exertions, my child, will not long be able to make--I see it--I feel it? +And, oh, Ann, shall I see thee and thy mother inmates of a +workhouse--shall I hear men call thy father, Bill Graham, the old +pauper?" + +The sweat broke upon the old man's brow from his excitement; his +daughter strove to soothe him, and, with an assumed playfulness, +commenced singing Skinner's beautiful old man's song, beginning-- + + "Oh, why should old age so much wound us!" + +Now, Peter Paterson had been several days in Liverpool anxiously +inquiring for Captain Graham, but without obtaining any information of +him or of his daughter, or where they dwelt. Again and again he had +wandered along the docks; and he was disconsolately passing up Sparling +Street, when the loud revelry of the seamen in the boarding-house +attracted his attention. It reminded him of old associations; he paused +for a moment, and glanced upon the house and, as the pealing laughter +ceased, a low, sweet voice, pouring forth a simple Scottish air, reached +his ear. Peter now stood still. He listened--"That voice!" he exclaimed +audibly, and he shook as he spoke. He looked down towards the +cellar--the ticket in the window caught his eye. He read the words, "_A +Girl's School kept here, by_ A. GRAHAM." "I have found her!" he cried, +clasping his hands together. He rushed down the few steps, he stood in +the midst of them--"I have found her!" he repeated, as he entered. His +voice fell like a sunbeam on the cheerless heart of the fair vocalist. +"Peter!--My own"----she exclaimed, starting to her feet. She could not +utter more; she would have fallen to the ground, but Peter caught her in +his arms. + +I need not describe the scene that followed: that night they left the +hovel which had served as a grave for their misfortunes. Within a week +they had arrived at Foxlaw, and within a week old and young in the +village danced at a joyful wedding. I may only add, that, a few weeks +after his marriage, Peter read in the papers an advertisement, +headed--"UPSET PRICE GREATLY REDUCED.--_Desirable Property in the +neighbourhood of Foxlaw, &c._" It was the very farm now offered for sale +of which Peter was to have become a tenant some twelve years before, and +was the remnant of the estates of the hopeful Laird Horslie; and Peter +became the purchaser. The old skipper regained his wonted health and +cheerfulness; and Betty Paterson lived to tell her grandchildren, "she +aye said their faither wad be a gentleman, and her words cam true." Even +the old schoolmaster, who had styled him "Ne'er-do-weel Peter," said, he +"had aye predicted o' Mr Paterson, even when a callant, that he would +turn out an extraordinary man." + + + + +THE HEROINE. + + + + +A LEGEND OF THE CANONGATE. + + +After it became known that the wily Sir Robert Carey had hurried away +from the deathbed of Queen Elizabeth, to announce to the delighted +monarch of Scotland his succession to the crown of England, a great many +English noblemen and gentlemen came north on much the same errand that +brings so many of them at this day--viz., to hunt; the game, in the one +case, being place and favour, and in the other, blackcock and grouse. +Among the rest, was one Sir Willoughby Somerset, of Somerset-Hall, in +Devonshire, a knight of gay and chivalric manners, excellently set off +by an exterior on which nature and art had expended their best favours, +but exhibiting, at same time, in his total want of true honour and +mental acquirements, that tendency to a fair distribution, which nature, +in all her departments, delights to display--suggesting, as it did, to +an ancient philosopher, that the _pulchrum_ and the _utile_ are dealt +out in equal portions under a whimsical law against their union in one +person. + +Having arrived, with his gay suit of servants and splendid equipage, at +the palace of Holyrood, Sir Willoughby was informed that there were no +apartments close to the palace which could be given to him for his +accommodation, in consequence of the great influx of noble visiters who +had come from all parts of Scotland and England to testify their +allegiance, and express their satisfaction, whether real or assumed, on +the occasion of King James' succession. Sir Willoughby, therefore, took +up his abode in a house in the Canongate, which was pulled down more +than a hundred years ago--at that time known by the name of the House +of Gordon, in consequence, it is supposed, of having at one time been +occupied by the ducal family of that name. It was situated on the south +side of the street, and nearly opposite to the close called Big Loch-end +Close, which possessed at that time a very different appearance from +what it does at present; for the double row of low Flemish-looking huts +which lined the narrow entry, have given place to modern buildings, +which do not look half so well as their more humble predecessors. + +Now, in one of these little huts there lived, at that time--unconscious, +doubtless, that their names would thus become of historical interest +centuries after they were gathered to their fathers--a man called Adam +Hunter, and his wife, Janet, both of some importance in the small sphere +of their own little gossiping world; but, if these humble individuals +had been all that their lowly mansion contained, the chronicler would +scarcely have stooped to notice either it or its inhabitants. There was +a third inmate in that house--an orphan girl, called Margaret +Williamson--a young, slender, azure-eyed creature, about seventeen years +of age, of bewitching beauty, and of a simplicity, kindness, and +meekness of disposition, that endeared her to thousands. Producing that +kind of interest and sensation in her own limited circle, which is so +often found to be the effect of the mysterious power of beauty, though +allied to poverty, which, indeed, sometimes enhances it, Margaret seemed +as unconscious of the magic influence of her charms, as she was of the +singular fate that awaited her. She had been heard of where she was not +seen; and, innocent and harmless as she was, she had not been passed +unheeded by the "wise women" of her day, who, in spite of fire and King +James' wrath, provided her, according to their love or their spite, with +a prison or a palace, as her lot upon earth. As already hinted, Margaret +was represented as being an orphan, brought up by the gratuitous +kindness of Adam Hunter and his wife, though there were not wanting some +who thought that her parentage was not of the equivocal kind that was +represented. + +Scotland was not, at that time, so far behind in the love and practice +of gossiping, as that there should be any want of the usual kind and +number of remarks on the new-comers to the house of Gordon; and the +family of Adam Hunter were not behind their neighbours in their +curiosity. + +"He's a braw knight that wha has come to the House o' Gordon," said +Janet Hunter, one night when they were sitting round the fire. + +"Ken ye wha, or what, or whence he is," inquired Adam, "atour the mere +title an' form o' his knighthood?" + +"I ken naething aboot him," replied Janet, "save that his name is Sir +Willoughby Somerset, and that he has a great number o' servitors, wham +he treats like princes. They say he is gallant and weel-favoured, and +Elspet Craig, the wise woman o' the Watergate, says, in her fashion o' +speech, that he is a rock whereon the happiness, and peace o' mind, and +honour o' mony a bonny maiden may perish, like the silly boats that +trust to the smiles o' an autumn day. But, if I'm no cheated, Peggy +Williamson can tell mair aboot the knight than a' the 'wise women' frae +the Watergate to St. Mary's." + +"An' if she can," said Adam, "it may be waur for her than if she were as +deep learned as Elspet Craig in the mysteries o' that art, whereby she +works sae meikle mischief to her faes, and may, peradventure, bring upon +her head the vengeance o' the law. I houp better things o' Peggy." + +"I ken naething aboot the Knight o' the White Feather," said Margaret, +with a deep sigh; "and wherefore should I?--he's far abune my degree." + +"But ye ken, at least," rejoined Adam, "that he wears a white feather, +my bonny bird--and feathered creatures are flichtie, especially when +they're far frae their ain countrie. Even our ain robin, wha condescends +to come and eat our crumbs, when the snaw is on the hill, leaves us in +summer; and, mair than a' that, he's a bird o' prey, and doesna +hesitate, when he has a guid opportunity, to soil his bonny red breast +wi' the blood o' his companions." + +It was apparent that both Adam Hunter and Janet were suspicious of +Margaret's limited knowledge of the knight, and they had good reason to +be so; for Janet had been told that, one night, when Margaret had said +she was going to meet a person of the name of Simon Frazer--a tradesman +who had been making honourable proposals to her, along with many others +who were proud to be called her suitors--she had been seen walking with +a gentleman wrapped up in a Spanish cloak, supposed to be Sir +Willoughby, in the glen of St Arthur's Seat, called the Hunter's Bog. On +another occasion, she had been followed by Simon Frazer to a trysting +place, known by the name of the Hunter's Rest--a large boulder of basalt +lying on the side of the bog, and remarkable to geologists by its +unaccountable position. On this stone Margaret had sat till the moon had +concealed her horns behind the top of St Arthur's, and the glen had +gradually become enveloped in the shade of the hill. Simon Frazer took +advantage of the gloom, and concealed himself near to the spot where +Margaret sat; and, amidst the silence which reigned in this secluded +place, he could distinctly hear the sighs of the maiden, as the hope of +seeing the person she had come to meet became fainter and fainter. + +"Wae's my puir, deluded heart!" she said, in a desponding and tremulous +voice; "what is it that drives me, like a charmed bird or a dementit +thing, into the power o' this braw knight, in spite o' the warnings o' +Elspet Craig, the admonition o' Adam Hunter, and, what's abune a', the +fearsome visions o' my ain wild dreams? Can it be that I, wha hae seen, +and may still see, sae mony bended knees o' lovers o' my ain country +supplicating my favours as if their condition here and in anither warld +depended on a blink o' these worthless een, sit here, even noo, at the +Hunter's Rest, a mile frae my ain hame, and when naething but spirits +are in the glen, to meet a lover frae a strange land, wha speaks a +strange language, and mak's love in a strange fashion? But it is even +sae. My heart is nae langer my ain. He has ta'en it into his ain +keeping, and he may, in his ain pleasure, as easily break it as he may +crush the bonny blue bells that flower there i' the glen." + +At the termination of Margaret's simple soliloquy, the sound of +footsteps was heard, and there soon followed the greeting of lovers. +Margaret's spirits soon revived, and, having taken Sir Willoughby's arm, +she said, playfully, as she looked up into his face--"The faithless moon +has been truer this nicht than ye hae been; for she left the tap o' the +hill half an hour syne, and ye are only here noo." + +"Upbraid me not, my fair Margaret," answered Sir Willoughby; "for I was +scared at the Friar's Path by some person who seemed inclined to follow +me, and I was obliged to change my road; but thou knowest that love is +fed by hindrances, and its course is none of the straightest." + +"I didna think," answered the simple maiden, "that true love stood in +need o' onything else in this warld, than the company and kindness o' +the twa lovers to ane anither." + +"By my feather, Margaret, that is a true maiden's speech! But I do not +think that St Arthur, who must surely be the lover's saint, will thank +us for an argument, instead of a love-token, on such a beautiful night +as this. Observe these gleams of Cynthian glory, falling like streaks of +silver on the tops of the crags, investing the darkness of this glen +with a mystery in which love delights, and thou wilt forget thy +argument, in the sweets of our accustomed dalliance." + +"That is a licht aith, Sir Willoughby, that ye hae sworn," answered the +maiden; "but every land, as the sang says, has its ain laugh, and it may +also hae its ain aith; and I may weel forgie ye that, for the bonny +words ye hae now spoken. Foreign lands hae finer words than puir +Scotland; but dinna think that I canna enjoy the beauty o' these silvery +rocks and that mirky glen, because my silly heart can find nae utterance +to its feelings, but by its ain unmeaning thrabs." + +"And that is nature's best and most beautiful language, my sweet bird," +said Sir Willoughby, kissing the yielding maiden; "nor would I give one +throb of thy fair bosom for all the eloquence of poetry." + +Holding such conversation, the lovers passed deeper into the shades of +the hill, and disappeared; but the death-like silence of the place +discovered, to the disappointed Simon Frazer, many sighs and +protestations which otherwise would have been sacred to the happy pair. + +Well, many such meetings had Sir Willoughby and Margaret. Their walks +became more frequent, and of longer duration; and it was often a late +hour before Margaret returned to her home. It could not be that such a +change in the habits of the girl could escape the keen eye of public +curiosity, and far less the suspicious guardianship of Adam Hunter. Wide +spread, and generally known, as was the beauty of the maiden, so, in +proportion, was the voice of scandal heard over the town, whispering the +strange tidings, that Peggy Williamson had been seduced by the great +knight who lived in the House of Gordon. + +The circumstance, indeed, very soon became apparent, from the appearance +of the unhappy girl, who could no longer conceal her condition. She +was, in consequence, sorely beset by Adam Hunter, and interrogated +whether she had received any promise of marriage, or any pledge whereon +she could found any expectation or hope that the knight's intentions +towards her were of an honourable nature. On this subject, no +satisfaction could be got from Margaret, who persisted in a dogged +silence, whenever any question was put to her, tending to implicate, in +any way, the man who, to all appearance, had ruined her. But chance +brought to light what Margaret had been so anxious to conceal; for one +evening, Janet Hunter discovered in Margaret's sleeping apartment a +small scented paper, curiously folded up, which she instantly carried to +her husband. Adam took the paper to a learned clerk, in Blackfriars' +Hospital--(for few persons, at that day, could either write, or read +writing)--who read it to him; and he was surprised to find that it +contained a promise, on the faith of a knight, that Sir Willoughby +Somerset would make, when time and circumstances afforded opportunity, +Margaret Williamson his wedded wife. The paper was again returned to the +place from which it was taken. + +This paper, combined with Margaret's condition, having satisfied Adam +Hunter of the truth of the general report and his own suspicions, he +lost no time in waiting upon the knight. Being a man of hasty and even +furious temper, he taxed Sir Willoughby, in unmeasured terms, with the +seduction of his ward, and demanded, with a stern determination, +satisfaction to the maiden and to himself. Touched to the quick, and +wounded in his pride by the pertinacious manner of Adam Hunter, Sir +Willoughby lost in turn his temper, and seizing a baton which lay near +him, he struck the choleric Scot a heavy blow on the head, and, with the +aid of his servants, kicked him out of the house. One of Sir +Willoughby's servants, who aided in this ejection and outrage, was +Richard Foster; the person who, it was supposed, first procured a +meeting between his master and Margaret. He was possessed of his +master's secrets, in this and many other dishonourable amours; and, +though he now, by his master's orders, assisted in the expulsion of Adam +Hunter, he hated him in his heart, in consequence of a blow which he had +some time before received from him, on which occasion he had threatened +to report his master's practices to Sir Robert Carey, who would not have +failed to communicate them to King James, whereby Sir Willoughby's +status at Court would have been lost, and his ruin accomplished. The +knight wished, therefore, to get quit of Richard; but to part with him +living was to part with his secrets; and he had accordingly made up his +mind to get him disposed of in such a manner as that he could tell no +tales. An opportunity for this occurred sooner than might have been +expected. + +Stung with an ungovernable rage, Adam Hunter, on passing the threshold +of the house of Gordon, threw himself on his knees, and vowed to +Almighty God that he would take the first opportunity that fortune +afforded him of depriving his enemy of life. This dreadful purpose, thus +definitively and impiously settled, calmed Adam Hunter's rage; for he +felt, as if by anticipation, that he was revenged. He walked +deliberately home, and without hinting anything of his deadly intention +to his wife, sent for Simon Frazer, Margaret's rejected suitor, +communicated to him his design, and requested his co-operation. Frazer +entered into the scheme with all the spirit of his clan, and all the +rage of a disappointed lover towards his successful rival. They resolved +to fix the manner of accomplishing their purpose that evening, after +Janet and Margaret had retired to rest. + +In the evening, when Adam Hunter and Simon Frazer met, Margaret had just +retired to bed, but not to sleep. Her mind was occupied with the +thoughts of her situation. She had now become suspicious of Sir +Willoughby's intentions. In her late interviews with him, he had been +distant and shy; and he had even refused, on one occasion, to meet her, +alleging, as an excuse, that he was engaged to go to an evening +entertainment, to which it was ascertained he never went. He had, +besides, endeavoured to get back from her the letter, which, in an +unguarded moment, when intoxicated with love and wine, he had given to +her. All these circumstances satisfied the unhappy maiden that she was +about to become, or rather had already become, the dupe of a heartless +villain. She now considered herself standing on the very verge of ruin; +about to become, as Elspet Craig had foreboded, the victim of a passion +insidiously introduced into her young heart; and left to the scorn of an +unfeeling world, or the unavailing pity of a conceited and unfruitful +philanthropy. These reflections were passing through her mind, when she +heard Simon Frazer come into the house; for her bed was so situated that +she could hear everything that occurred in the adjoining apartment. She +soon ascertained the object of this late meeting of the two friends; and +with feelings that shook her whole frame, she heard it fixed that, on +the following evening, when Sir Willoughby was expected to go to an +evening entertainment at the palace, Adam Hunter should gain the +staircase window of Widow Hutchison, fire upon his enemy, and, upon +seeing him fall, make his escape, along with his friend, by a back +passage that led to the North Back of the Canongate. This resolved upon, +the two friends parted. + +The agitation which the knowledge of this fierce and bloody purpose +produced in the mind of Margaret, was proportioned to the love which she +still bore to her seducer, and to the gentle character of the maiden, +who shrunk from the very thought of violence. Her nerves had, moreover, +been severely affected by the train of sorrowful thoughts which, at the +moment when she heard the fatal resolution, were passing through her +mind. But a new feeling soon arose. She was now called upon to act, and +the urgency of the case requiring the most prompt communication to Sir +Willoughby, assuaged, in some degree, her nervous excitement, by forcing +her ideas into a train calculated to the contrivance of some method of +meeting him in the morning. + +At daybreak, Margaret rose from her sleepless pillow, wrapt herself up +in her plaid, and went and secreted herself behind a large tree, which +stood in the garden at the back of the House of Gordon, from which she +could observe the bedroom window of Sir Willoughby. It was a cold raw +morning; the rain was pouring in torrents, and bursts of distant thunder +shook the heavens. In this situation, Margaret sat for two hours, wet, +wearied, and disconsolate. Her attention was, in some degree, arrested +by a new equipage that stood in the court-yard, apparently newly arrived +from a distance; and she concluded that Sir Willoughby had visitors--a +prediction which she had good reason to verify. Her eye sought +continually the casement of the knight's sleeping apartment, which was +at last opened, and to her surprise and mortification, she saw standing +behind the dressing-glass, the form of a gay and fashionable lady, with +Sir Willoughby standing behind her--his head leaning on her left +shoulder, and his right hand patting, with playful fondness, her cheek, +and arranging her ringlets with the sportive gaiety and confidence of a +professed libertine. + +Overcome by this apparition, which so completely justified Margaret's +suspicions of the character of her lover, and wearied and wasted as she +was by the scene of the previous night, the fevered vigil which +succeeded, and the cold and wet position she had so long occupied on +this morning, she became faint; and, being unable longer to stand, leant +herself, in a stooping posture, against the stem of the tree under which +she stood. Sir Willoughby now entered the garden; he had observed her +from the window, and came with marked displeasure in his countenance. + +"Why this early visit, young maiden?" he said, with a querulous tone of +voice, and without making any effort to assist her to rise. + +"I dinna come here this morning, Sir Willoughby Somerset," replied +Margaret, with the warmth of offended pride, and standing up, nerved by +her feelings, which were roused as far as the gentleness of her nature +permitted--"I dinna come here this morning on my ain account, though +maybe I hae as meikle reason to do that as the braw leddie wha sits, +even noo, in your sleepin chamber, and whose braw hair ye were pleased, +in a fashion of merriment, to put in disorder. Oh, that it had pleased +heaven that ye had deranged nae mair o' me than my worthless locks, I +might this morning hae been the blithe, thochtless, and innocent Peggy +Williamson, that I was when my stray wits left me to mysel' at the +Hunter's Rest! Na, Sir Willoughby, I dinna come to tell ye o' your +broken troth, and my lost love, and the ruin o' a puir lassie, wha wad +gladly hae laid down her worthless life to save yours. These +things--though, by our memories, whilk are but as the quicksand to the +finger-marks of the drowning sailor, they may ance be forgotten--are +recorded, doubtless, whar' they shall remain, ay, as the graving on +adamant. Yet, though these things, in this world at least, concern only +me, wha am, doubtless, o' sma concernment to ony living mortal; and +though they may cost me _my_ life, may be o' sma avail, they are o' less +importance to me at this time than what I cam' to tell ye, being +naething less than how to save your ain. Adam Hunter has resolved to +slay ye this night, as ye gang to Holyrood. Tak' anither road than the +Canongate; or, what is better, stay at hame, and save a life that is +dearer to Peggy Williamson than her ain.--Fareweel, fareweel!" And +before Sir Willoughby could reply, she had left him, waving her hand to +him as she went. But, on looking back, as she opened the wicket, she saw +the same lady--whom she afterwards ascertained to be lady Arabella +Winford, a person of bad repute, with whom Sir Willoughby had resided +for some time on the continent--enter the garden, and greet him in a +manner very different from the modest custom of Scotland at that day. + +After the departure of Margaret, Sir Willoughby, instead of being in any +degree affected by gratitude for the preservation of his life, or by +compassion for the kind maiden who had been instrumental in doing him +that service, projected, from her information, a scheme marked by +cowardice and cruelty, whereby he might get rid of his servant Richard +Forster, and put an end to him and the secrets with which he had +entrusted him, at the same moment. He resolved, and true to the +character he bore--a combination of cruelty and frivolity--he resolved, +amidst the blandishments of meretricious affection, and the imbecile +badinage and persiflage of a strumpet's conversation, to send Richard +down the Canongate in the evening, wrapped up in his cloak, and wearing +his hat and white plume, by which he had become so remarkable. The +project was executed as it was planned; and a deed was done with which +Edinburgh, and indeed Scotland, rang for many a day. Richard Forster, +wearing the cloak and plumed hat of his master, was shot dead in the +Canongate, opposite the house of the widow Hutchison, by the unerring +hand of Adam Hunter, who, seeing his supposed victim fall, flew in the +direction of the Calton Hill, leaving the gun, with which he had done +the deed, lying in a hedge, which at that time skirted a part of the +north back of the Canongate. + +A hue and cry was soon raised against Adam Hunter who, about a week +after the crime was committed, was laid hold of by the officers of the +law, and lodged in prison. Sufficient evidence having, in the opinion of +the crown authorities, been procured for a conviction, the unfortunate +man was, in due course of time, brought to trial before the High Court +of Justiciary. The court met on the 15th day of November; and Adam +Hunter, guarded on each side by members of the City Guard, sat, with the +stoical indifference which marked his character, to hear the evidence to +be brought forward against him, and, in all probability, to receive +sentence of death. The august appearance of the judges, sitting in their +silk robes, the venerable and even dignified aspect of the unfortunate +culprit, and the strange and mysterious crime with which he stood +charged, joined with the fate of the well-known Canongate beauty, with +which that crime was unaccountably associated, produced a sensation in +the Justiciary Court which had not been experienced for many years. The +deepest silence prevailed when the indictment was read; and the Lord +Justice-Clerk, having put the ordinary question to the pannel of guilty +or not guilty, Adam Hunter rose with firmness, and calmly and +respectfully answered--"Not guilty, my Lord, of the murder of Richard +Forster." The trial proceeded, and the crown advocate spoke:-- + +"My Lords, and gentlemen of the jury, this is a case of murder, whereto, +so far as I can see, no defence or plea of justification, or even +palliation, can be set up by the prisoner at the bar, unless it be that +which is indeed an aggravation, that he did intend to kill one man +against whom he entertained _malice prepense_, and slew another against +whom he had no cause of quarrel. On the day preceding the commission of +this murder, the prisoner at the bar was, in consequence of his +outrageous and brutal conduct in the House of Gordon, occupied at +present by Sir Willoughby Somerset, kicked by that honourable knight out +of doors, whereby, being fiercely enraged, he impiously vowed a +desperate revenge, the which, though he had taken it instanter and +killed his enemy, _percitus rixa_, would still, by the just laws of this +land, which make no distinction between forethought felony, and _chaude +melee_, have been murder, and sufficient to subject the prisoner to the +penal consequences of that heinous crime. But, my Lords, the prisoner +cannot even plead _homicidium in rixa_; for he went home and meditated +upon his crime; settled deliberately the _modus trucidandi_ in cool +blood--or, as we say, _sanguine frigida_; and, on the following day, +watched, _sanguinem sitiens_, for his victim; and more like a +bloodhound, _canis vestigator_, than a human being, deprived him, whom +he supposed to be his victim, of life. But revenge is known to be blind, +and, instead of his enemy, the prisoner murdered, by shooting him +through the body, a person who was not in any degree guilty of having +offended him; but who was going about his private affairs, as any of us +might have been, unconscious of meriting, standing in no fear of +receiving, and knowing no reason for expecting such an awful fate as +that which awaited him. This, I say, is an aggravation of the crime of +murder, in so far as, while in the ordinary case there may, in man's +estimation, be some palliation in consequence of the infliction of an +injury--in this there can be none." + +The witnesses for the crown were then called. The death of Richard +Forster, caused by a shot from a gun, was proved. It was also proved, +that the gun found in the hedge was Adam Hunter's. The quarrel with Sir +Willoughby Somerset was next established, as also the fact that the +deceased wore, on that evening, the dress of his master. The macer of +court then called out the name of the next witness, which was that of +Margaret Williamson; but, before she had time to make her appearance, +Adam Hunter rose from his seat and addressed the court in the following +terms:-- + +"My Lords, it doesna appear to me, that, in the eye o' God, or even in +that o' man, it can abide the twitch o' natural reason that a puir bairn +should, in ignorance o' the relation she bears to him against whom she +is to swear, be entrapped by cunning men o' the law, to gie evidence +against the life o' him wha gave her life. The veins o' Margaret +Williamson are filled wi' my bluid, albeit her heart mayna beat wi' the +ordinary feelings o' a bairn to a father; for she, puir thing, has nae +knowledge that Adam Hunter is her parent, whom she is bound to love and +respect, and therefore she may this day, in that unseemly ignorance +which I and my wife Janet have imposed upon her, say what at some future +time she may repent wi' tears o' bitterness, whilk winna recall to her +the parent she has slain. I canna think, therefore, my Lords, that ye +can consider it unreasonable in a parent--a character maybe some o' +yourselves bear, and, if ye do, oh, think what it is to be doomed by +your ain bairn!--that this puir lassie be tauld, before she be examined, +that she is bane o' the bane, and flesh o' the flesh, o' him whom she is +about to arraign o' murder." + +As soon as Adam Hunter had finished his speech, which, delivered with +much emphasis, produced a great sensation in all the persons present, +who never understood that Margaret Williamson was in any way related to +him, the crown counsel stood up and said-- + +"My Lords, this is an ingenious device, on the part of the prisoner at +the bar, to deprive the law of its evidence. This girl, who is about to +be brought forward as a witness, has been held out to the world as an +orphan--a fact that may be testified by hundreds of persons, and is, +indeed, admitted by the culprit himself. The story now fabricated by the +prisoner is, indeed, improbable--as what father would deny his child? I +cannot, therefore, consent to allow any communication to be made to the +witness, whereby the fountain of evidence may be contaminated by +prejudice, and truth itself sacrificed to the false feelings and +hysterical emotions of a relationship which, in my opinion, has no +foundation in fact." + +The judges, having disbelieved the statement of Adam Hunter, refused to +comply with his request. Margaret Williamson was, accordingly, brought +in and placed in the witnesses' box. Upon being examined, she gave, in +evidence, the substance of the conversation which took place between +Adam Hunter and Simon Frazer on that night when the death of Sir +Willoughby Somerset was resolved upon. She was then asked whether she +had, between that period and the death of Richard Forster, any +communication with Sir Willoughby; but to this question she refused to +give any answer, or rather she, by the effect of her simplicity--in this +instance, however, made subservient to something approaching to +cunning--so completely baffled the men of law that they were obliged to +give up the question in despair. + +On the part of Adam Hunter, an attempt was made to prove an alibi; but +that having failed, the jury, upon the charge of the judge, who +considered the crime proved, returned a verdict of guilty, and Adam +Hunter received sentence of death. + +The speech which Adam Hunter had made on the occasion of his trial, as +already said, excited much sensation, and the truth of the fact stated +by him was subjected to investigation. It was found to be perfectly +true, though no notice is taken of it in the books of adjournal. +Margaret Williamson was the illegitimate child of Adam Hunter, by the +daughter of Elspet Craig, who died in giving birth to the infant; and it +was to gratify the prejudices of Janet Hunter, who refused to bring up +the child on any other condition, that the parentage had been so +industriously concealed. + +The unfortunate Adam Hunter was executed according to his sentence. At +the time of his execution, considerable uproar was observed among the +populace, who, displaying the usual shrewdness of the lower orders in +Scotland, perceived that, although Adam could not be justified, he was +only one of the actors in the tragedy; and that, while their unfortunate +countryman was expiating his crime by an ignominious death, the English +knight, whose enmity towards Richard Forster, and shameful conduct +towards Adam's daughter, were now generally known, was allowed to +escape. + +The rumours thus circulated by the crowd at the execution of Adam Hunter +were not unknown to the crown officers, who felt the force of the +extraordinary circumstance, that Richard Forster should, on that fatal +night, have worn the clothes of his master. That fact was, moreover, in +a considerable degree, explained by another, which had been elicited +from one of Sir Willoughby's servants, of the name of William Evans, +viz., that Sir Willoughby and Richard had had a quarrel, which produced +high words between the parties, and some threats on the part of the +knight. The crown officers were, besides, moved by the curious +circumstance, that Margaret Williamson had so artfully evaded the +question put to her on the occasion of the trial of Adam Hunter; while +it was almost impossible to believe that she would not have communicated +to Sir Willoughby the plot that was laid for his life, notwithstanding +of the injury she had received by being made the victim of his +seduction. + +A warrant was accordingly issued for the apprehension of Sir Willoughby +Somerset. He was found by the officers in the company of Lady Arabella +Winford, torn from her arms, and lodged in jail. The charge against him +was the murder of Richard Forster, perpetrated by his having, _sciens et +prudens_, sent him where death awaited him. Application was, in the +meantime, again made by the crown officers to Margaret Williamson, for +information as to whether she had had any communication with Sir +Willoughby on the day on which Richard Forster was slain. Margaret's +answers were still of an evasive character, and her examinators left +her, stating that they would visit her again, and use some other means +of extorting the truth. Before this threat was put in execution, the +knight, having heard that Margaret was in the hands of the examinators, +overcome by fear and cowardice, and indulging the mean and despicable +hope of being able to persuade his victim to save his life a second +time, still without rendering her justice, sent for her to visit him in +prison--a request with which she instantly complied. + +"My fair Margaret," commenced the knight, "I have sent for thee to know +what are still thy feelings towards one who loves thee, and now requires +some aid and consolation, such as only thou canst render him. I flatter +myself that, at one time, I was not indifferent to thee; and, if my +present peril were past (and thou art the arbiter of my fate), I may +find a suitable opportunity of showing thee that I still love thee as +fervently as I did when I used to meet thee, by the light of the moon, +at the Hunter's Rest. I understand that my persecutors have been with +thee, and it is my pleasure to be informed, from thy own fair lips, that +it is not thy intention to communicate to them what passed between thee +and me in my garden, on the day of the death of my worthless servant." + +"I didna think," replied Margaret, with calmness and dignity, "that Sir +Willoughby Somerset could hae mistaken sae far the heart of Margaret +Williamson as to find, in the compass o' his ain, any doubt sufficient +to cause him to put that question to her. Aince already hae I saved your +life, and I would be laith to throw that awa now which I had before sae +meikle pains--though wae's my heart! sae little thanks or reward--to +preserve. Na, na; let the officers of the law tak' their course--mine +has been lang fixed; and a' the hand-screws and stocks o' Scotland, and +even the black wuddy itsel', winna wrest frae me sae meikle as would +injure a single hair o' your head. It may be that I only preserve ye for +the love o' anither; but I will at least hae that satisfaction--and it +is better to the broken heart than a fause love that has now nae power +to bind it--that I hae rendered, as our holy religion inculcates, good +for evil." + +These sentiments only interested or concerned Sir Willoughby in so far +as they told him that the fair maiden would not betray him. He mistook +entirely the Scotch character generally; and he had not himself any of +those high-minded qualities which could enable him to appreciate +Margaret's. Betrayed, by her determination to do justice to her own +standard of female duty, into an idea that the sacrifices she had +thrown, and was again to throw, on the shrine of that duty which she +had, in her fervid imagination, defied, were mere indications of a wish +to oblige and conciliate him, Sir Willoughby thought he might safely go +a step further, and endeavour to wring out of her the written promise of +marriage he had so unguardedly given her. He began by using some more of +the bland language by which he had originally beguiled her; but he had +scarcely approached the subject on which her mind was fixed, when +Margaret, with the perspicacity of her sex in these tender points, +interrupted him; and, raising herself to the utmost extent of her +height, while the fire flashed from her dark blue eye, said-- + +"If ye can tak' frae me the burden o' shame I hae carried for six moons +under my broken heart, and restore to me my lost repute, aince pure as +the snaw that the winds o' heaven hae driven o'er muir and mountain, and +tear from my puir crazy brain the image I hae made an idol o', and on +whose unholy alter I hae sacrificed my maiden virtue--and maybe that +eternal life that hasna been promised to the trafficker in sin--then, +Sir Willoughby, ye may ask me for that whilk stands to me in the place +of ane haly covenant. It is the only solace left to bind up my broken +spirit, and be a sign and a token to your bairn whom I hae yet to bear, +that its puir mother, though doubtless guilty o' a great sin, was the +victim o' a knight's broken troth, and maybe entitled to a drap o' mercy +in her burning cup. Tell me, sir to keep frae the officers o' the law +the secret that would bring ye to a shamefu' death, and I will part wi' +it as sune as I will part wi' the written testimonial of what a merciful +God, and the less merciful laws o' my countrie, may, peradventure, deal +wi' as ane haly bond o' marriage." + +With these words, Margaret abruptly left the prison, and Sir Willoughby, +concerned only for his liberation, denied access to his heart to the +sentiments which reflected so much honour on the feelings of his victim, +from whom he was entitled to expect nothing but revenge. + +Margaret was soon again visited by the officers of the law; but she +remained firm to her resolution, not to say anything tending to +implicate Sir Willoughby. Recourse was therefore had, according to the +usages of that period, to the ordinary mode of dealing with an unwilling +witness. She was now told, that, as a person refractory, and disobedient +to the laws of her country, she must go to prison, where the means of +extorting her withholden testimony would be more in the power of the +crown officials. She was, accordingly, conveyed to the prison in which +Sir Willoughby was confined, and intimation was solemnly made to her +that, on the following morning, she would be subjected to the rack of +the thumbikins. The threat was fulfilled with fidelity and vigour. On +the first application of this cruel instrument, the poor girl screamed +with agony; but the unstability of her frame, attenuated and weakened by +her previous sufferings, and her pregnancy, loosened, under the effect +of the torture, that connection between agony and resolution, without +which all tortured methods of extorting testimony must be unavailing. +Every increased pressure produced an agonized scream, succeeded by a +state of insensibility, or faint, which these deluded searchers for +truth had as much difficulty in bringing her out of, as they had in +producing. The torture continued to be applied, at stated intervals, for +days, and the screams of the unfortunate maiden could not fail to find +their way to the ears, if not to the heart, of the wretch by whom her +sufferings had been occasioned. Little impression, however, was produced +on Margaret's resolution to die with her secret; and, upon the occasion +of one application of the instrument, the syncope produced had so long a +period of duration, that the medical man who was present declared that +it could not be applied without danger of producing death. + +The officers were now inclined to allow the period of Margaret's +pregnancy to pass before they again applied the instrument--a +circumstance of rather an anamolous nature in the proceedings of these +lovers of truth; for a true medical philalethes would naturally have +conceived, that the weaker the habit of the patient, the more certain +was the chance of a recovery. In the meantime, however, a circumstance +came to the ears of the king's prosecutor, which induced him to relax +his energies in the prosecution of Sir Willoughby. Several of his +servants now declared, (no doubt by the aid of concealed bribery), that +Richard Forster was in the habit of attiring himself in his master's +garments, and personating him in the prosecution of amours. In addition +to this, Janet Hunter, though called upon, could not swear that Margaret +Williamson had stirred from the house on the day of the murder. Unable +to force Margaret to speak, and influenced by the testimony of these +witnesses, the public prosecutor came to the resolution of liberating +Sir Willoughby, and the knight was accordingly let out of gaol. + +Within a few hours after his liberation, he was on his way to England, +in company with Lady Arabella. He had devoted the whole period of his +imprisonment to writing letters to her, and venting curses against +Scotland. Margaret Williamson was forgotten, in the hope of finding in +the arms of Lady Arabella a panacea for his wrongs, and a solace of his +sufferings--for it is as true as it is remarkable, that the truly wicked +are the most querulous of justice, and the most impatient of her +retributions. + +Nothing was, for a long time, heard of Sir Willoughby; but she whom he +had ruined and deserted, remained to the inhabitants of Edinburgh as an +object of their pity, and an example to their children. Margaret bore a +son, and Janet Hunter soon died of a broken heart, for the loss of Adam. +Margaret was thus left to the charity of a world which is often moved to +pity only through the selfish conceit of a comparison between the +alms-giver and the alms-receiver, and begged her bread from the doors of +the inhabitants of Edinburgh. + +Now, it was five years after the transactions I have detailed, and when +King James had been nearly as long seated on the throne of England, that +Lionel Apsley, a gentleman in the confidence of the king, arrived in +Edinburgh. He was observed to make inquiries after a person of the name +of Margaret or Peggy Williamson, who, he was informed, resided in a +small ground room in the White Horse Close, in the Canongate of +Edinburgh. A man who was standing at the top of Leith Wynd took him to +Margaret's residence. Upon entering the humble abode, he found the +object of his search making porridge for the son of the English knight. +Lionel entered into conversation with Margaret, and endeavoured to draw +her into a recital of the story of her life; but she evaded, though in +the gentlest manner, his efforts, stating, that her griefs and her +secrets were her own, and that the making the one known would not make +the other unfelt. She had been much annoyed, she said, by the +impertinent interrogations of gossiping people, who often insulted her +by withholding their charity when they found their love of gossip +ungratified. + +Lionel made many visits to Margaret, and, by degrees, succeeded in +breaking down her reluctance to speak of herself. He told her, that he +had been commissioned to visit her, and had come down to Scotland for +the sole purpose of seeing and serving her, and pledged his honour, as a +gentleman, that the only use he would make of her information would be +in turning it to her advantage. He was evidently already well acquainted +with many parts of her story; but the chief object of his inquiry +related to the written promise of marriage which, he had been given to +understand, she had got from Sir Willoughby. Margaret, at first, would +not admit that any such document existed, and appeared to feel acute +pain from Lionel's urgent solicitation to see it. Overcome, at last, by +his importunity, she went to a little chest, which was secreted in a +recess dug into the wall of her apartment, and having drawn it out, and +opened it with trembling hands, she took from it the small, but +curiously folded piece of paper, still retaining the fragrance with +which Sir Willoughby's gallantry had invested it. With conclusive sobs, +Margaret looked at the paper, and handed it to the stranger. Lionel read +it, and found it to contain the following words, written in a small +affected character, which bore evident traces of having been penned by +the writer when in a state bordering at least on intoxication. "Sir +Willoughby Somerset, of Somerset Hall, knight of the noble order +of--(here there was drawn a rude image of George and the dragon)--doth, +by these lines, declare that he doth truly intend to wed Margaret +Williamson, and this he promises to do on the faith of a knight of the +order to which he belongs. Given at the Hunter's Rest, this 26th day of +April, in the year of the succession of King James to the throne of +England." + +This document Lionel copied, and having returned the original to +Margaret, he asked her if she would accompany him to London. + +"If it be to meet Sir Willoughby Somerset," answered she, "I will sooner +walk to the graves o' Sir Patrick Spence and the Scottish lords wha lie +between Leith and Aberdour." + +"It is not to meet Sir Willoughby, my fair maiden," said Sir Lionel; +"and if thou wilt trust to the honour of one who is your friend, I +promise thee thou shalt not have cause to regret thy journey." + +After much solicitation, Margaret agreed to go to London and take her +child with her; and Lionel having got her equipped in a manner so as to +escape observation, they departed for London, where they arrived after +ten days' travelling. On their arrival, Margaret and her child were +taken to respectable lodgings, where she was requested to remain till +Lionel called for her. + +After some days, a coach drove up to the door, and a lady, carrying a +bundle, came out, and asked to be shown to the apartment occupied by the +Scotch lady. This was the wife of Lionel, who brought with her a number +of specimens of tartan, which she exhibited to Margaret, requesting her +to point out the kind she wore when she lived with Adam Hunter. This +Margaret did; and the next request made by the lady was, that Margaret +should describe to her the shape of the garments, and the manner in +which she wore them; all of which Margaret complied with, and the lady +departed. + +In two days more, the same lady called with the garment made, and +requested Margaret to put them on, and, with the child, accompany her to +the place where she was going. Margaret complied, and they departed +together in a coach. After driving for some little time, the coach +stopped at a large house, into which they entered. The lady led Margaret +and her child up a great many stairs, and round winding passages, until +they came to a room, where she was requested to remain. After waiting +about ten minutes, a gentleman of a fair complexion entered, and shook +her kindly by the hand, launching, at the same time, and without any +explanation, into a quick spoken and confused speech, which formed a +part of his salutation. + +"Why, woman, didna ye mak' some legal use o' the bit paper ye got frae +your braw lover, Sir Willoughby Somerset? Can it be possible that ye +didna ken, that by the law o' your country, a promise o' marriage, +coupled wi' a--a--hem! hem!--a bairn, is, to a' intents and purposes, as +gude a marriage as if it were celebrated wi' a' the solemnities o' haly +kirk? By my royal troth, ye hae been a blate and silly lassie, whatever +folk may sae o' ye, praising ye for the hich and michtie honour ye made +sae meikle fashion o', to save the life o' a ne'er-do-weel villain, wha +ruined ye, and slew his servant, and cheated the wuddy o' my countrie, +though made o' guid aik, a mair suitable wife to him, God wot, than the +like o' ye. But lat that alane--_tempus reparabit_--ha! ha! ye ken +naething o' Latin, I fancy, but I meant only by that flicht to tell ye +that ye will be revenged." + +While in the act of delivering this strange speech, the gentleman began +to drag Margaret, somewhat rudely, out of the room where they were, into +another; his speech and the dragging operation going on at the same +time. She now found herself in a large hall, where she saw an elevated +chair overshaded by a canopy of crimson velvet, on the top of which was +a crown. The gentleman, still in the same confused manner--speaking +sometimes to himself, and sometimes to her--shoved her behind a small +screen, apparently placed there for the purpose of concealing some one, +telling her to remain there until she was called for. + +The folding doors of the apartment now opened, and Margaret heard the +voices of heralds, and saw a great number of high-dressed ladies and +gentlemen come in, and stand round the elevated chair. Among these she +observed Sir Willoughby Somerset, and a lady (the same she had seen in +the garden of the House of Gordon) leaning upon his arm. "Come forth, +Margaret Williamson," cried the gentleman who had first spoken to her; +and Margaret, with her tartan plaid around her, and her child at her +foot, stood before King James. Opposite to her stood Sir Willoughby +Somerset and his lady, dressed in the most gorgeous style, and forming +a strange and striking contrast with the plaided stranger. + +"I am right glad," said James, "to see my auld subjects o' my native +kingdom; and I greet ye weel, Peggy Williamson, and wish ye and your +bairn mony braw days. I also greet ye weel, Sir Willoughby Somerset, +Knight, and your braw leddie, wha is, nevertheless, only your wife, in +sae meikle as she is nearest your heart, in the fashion o' the +connection whilk exists between our auld Scotch wuddy and the heart o' +Mid-Loudon. But awa wi' this--_Et nunc labores exantlare_--whilk means, +to wark, to wark. Ken ye this Scotch lassie, Sir Willoughby Somerset?" + +"No, sire," answered the knight, in evident confusion, but still +retaining a portion of his natural impudence. + +"It's fause, sir," answered the King, whose choler now rose to the +boiling point of his royal fervour--"It's fause, sir; ye ken her as weel +as did our royal faither our royal mither, or as Hamman did his wuddy, +whilk was made o' sweet-smelling cedar, as is clearly made out by the +learned Chrysostom. I canna believe you; for our royal brither Solomon +hath said, that if a ruler hearken to lies, all his servants shall be +wicked. But, maybe, ye may ken your ain handwriting better than ye do +the lassie. Look at that, man; do ye ken that?" + +Sir Willoughby was silent. + +"I will take your silence, man, for an ill-favoured confession; and now, +sir, let it be understood by ye, that that bit writing and that bit +callant--wha doesna ken ye sae weel as ye ken his mither--maks a gude +marriage by the law o' Scotland. I dinna mean, sir, in the presence o' +this assembly, to disgrace ye, mair than will serve the purposes o' +justice; and I leave ye to reflect, if ye hae sic a thing about ye as +reflection, how ye treated this po'r lassie, wham ye ruined, and wha, +though fire, and famine, and death, and scorpions, are given, as +Ecclesiasticus says, for vengeance, sat quietly and--seeking nae other +satisfaction--sucked, wi' her honied lips, the poison which your shaft +carried to her broken heart; and wha, though exposed to terrible and +racking tortures, saved, on twa occasions, your life, regardless o' her +ain. Now, sir, though the lassie can claim ye as her husband, she alane +has the power o' severing that connection on the ground o' your +cohabitation wi' that leddie, wham ye call your wife; whilk power, by my +advice, she will doubtless exercise. But, sir, there maun here be a +_solatium_; and I ask you if you are willing to sign that paper whilk +Lionel Apsley is ready to shaw ye?" + +Sir Willoughby took the document, which purported to be a conveyance to +Margaret Williamson, in liferent, and her son in fee, of one-half of the +domain of Somerset Hall, calculated to amount to L2,000 a year; and, +having read it, he seemed to hesitate to sign it. During his hesitation, +James whispered in his ear the name of Richard Foster. His manner +changed, and he signed the deed. + +Margaret Williamson received the deed from the King, giving, in return, +one of her best curtsies. She came down to Scotland, prosecuted a +divorce against Sir Willoughby Somerset, and lived a much honoured and +respected lady, in Edinburgh, for many years. + + + + +THE BARLEY BANNOCK + + +Between Falkirk and Stirling are the remains of a wood, even yet pretty +extensive, which existed in the times of Wallace and Bruce. It is the +well-known Torwood, so frequently mentioned in the histories of these +Scottish heroes, and so celebrated for the shelter and concealment it +afforded them on frequent occasions during their seasons of adversity. +In those days, however, if we may believe old chronicles, the Torwood +covered a great deal more ground than it does now, extending, on its +northern side, it is said, to the banks of the Forth, a distance of +about four miles. Experiencing the fate of our other ancient woods, the +progress of cultivation and improvement has now greatly lessened its +extent; but it forms even in the present day, a singularly striking and +impressive piece of sylvian scenery. Its outward characteristics, +striking as they are, may not differ from those of other forests; but +there are associations connected with the Torwood, which fill its +sombre, solitary depths and recesses with a profound and solemn mystery, +and which diffuse throughout its picturesque glades a golden atmosphere +of poetry and romance. The spirit of the olden time is there, and has +flung its bewitching glamoury around the forest scene. There are few who +have wandered through its green arcades, and have penetrated its far and +gloomy depths, with a knowledge and recollection of the scenes which +they have witnessed, and the sounds they have heard--the mustering of +Wallace's patriot bands, and the stirring strains of the bugle of +Bruce--few, we say, who have roamed through the dark solitudes of the +Torwood, and who have thought of these things, but must have felt the +fullest, the deepest effect of those sacred associations and +recollections which enshrine the memory of the mighty dead. + +At the period we refer to, namely, the glorious period when Bruce was +struggling to complete the work which his great predecessor Wallace had +begun--to compass the independence of Scotland--a rude little cottage or +bothy reared its humble form on the eastern skirts of the Torwood, or +rather a little way within the verge of the forest. + +This lowly and lonely domicile was then occupied by a widow woman of the +name of Margaret Grahame. Her husband had been killed, some years +previous to the period at which we introduce her to the notice of the +reader, in a skirmish with a party of the English garrison from +Stirling; and she was thus left to bring up, as she best might, a family +of young children; the eldest of whom, a beautiful girl, named after her +mother, was only nine years of age at the time of her husband's death. + +Margaret, however, was not one of those women who sink under +misfortune--who unresistingly yield to the pressure of calamity. In that +which had befallen her, she only saw an additional reason for redoubling +those exertions in behalf of her family which had never, at any time, +been wanting. After her husband's death, she continued to cultivate, +with the assistance of her children, the little patch of ground, which, +together with a small track of pasturage, on which two cows, her whole +stock of bestial, grazed, formed her only means of subsistence. + +Small and humble as these means were, however, the industry and thrifty +management of Margaret Grahame rendered them sufficient to place herself +and family beyond the reach of want. The fare, indeed, which she could +put before her children, was homely enough in quality, but it was +abundant. + +In character, Margaret, who had been a remarkably good-looking woman in +her day, and who was even yet a comely dame to look upon, was what we, +in Scotland here, call "furthy." She was a lively, rattling, +kind-hearted, out-spoken person; warm in her feelings, active in all her +habits, and possessing a natural courage and presence of mind, that +singularly fitted her for performing the duties of friendship in cases +of difficulty, danger, or distress. + +Such, then, was Margaret Grahame, and such were the circumstances in +which she was placed at the period when we bring her before the reader. +These essential preliminary matters recorded, we proceed to say, that, +on a certain evening, a wet and stormy one, in the month of October, +1307, as Margaret was busily employed, with the assistance of her eldest +daughter--the younger children having been put to bed--in toasting some +barley meal bannocks before the fire, some one rapped smartly at the +door. + +"Wha's there?" exclaimed Margaret, in some surprise at the lateness of +the visit, and little accustomed to the calls of either friends or foes +at her remote and solitary dwelling, wondering who the person could be +who sought admittance. To her inquiry, a mellow-toned, but masculine +voice replied--that the person without was one who had no other place of +shelter to go to for the night, and who would cheerfully pay for a +little refreshment, and an hour or two's shelter from the storm. + +"A houseless stranger! Rin Margaret and open the door and let him in." + +"I'm feart, mother," replied the timid girl, holding back, and putting +her finger to her mouth. + +"Feart, ye little cowardly thing; what are ye feart for?" exclaimed Mrs +Grahame, hastening herself to the door. "Wha wad do us ony harm, ye +gowk," she continued, as she undid the fastenings of the door; "and is't +feer, think ye, that's to hinder us frae gien shelter to the +shelterless, or food to the hungry?" + +As she uttered the last word, she flung the door widely and boldly open; +and there entered a figure which might well have appalled even the stout +heart of Margaret Grahame. This figure was that of a man of gigantic +stature and powerful frame, wearing a steel cap and shirt of mail that +glanced through the openings of a leathern doublet by which it was +covered, and in some measure concealed. From a belt which passed over +his right shoulder, depended a sword of dimension corresponding to the +tremendous strength indicated by the proportions of the wearer; and in +another belt, which passed round his middle, and which was joined in +front by a silver clasp, part of whose fashioning displayed two lion's +heads, was stuck a richly hilted dagger. A small silver bugle horn, +which was suspended from his neck by a chain of the same metal, +completed his appointments. + +On the entrance of this formidable figure, the little girl uttered a +scream of terror, and flew to a remote corner of the apartment. The +gigantic stranger smiled, and, turning to her mother, said-- + +"I am sorry that my appearance is so alarming as to make young ladies +fly me. I would have them believe that I would much sooner protect than +injure them. God forbid it should ever be otherwise. Come hither, my +little primrose, and let me assure thee of all safety at my hands." And +the stranger drew out a silken purse and took from it a small gold coin, +which he seemed desirous of presenting to the little fugitive fair one. +He was, however, interrupted. + +"Never mind her, sir; never mind her," said her mother, who now +perceived that her guest was a person apparently of some note; "she'll +sune learn no to be sae frichtened for the men. Sit doon, sir, sit doon. +Tak a seat, and throw aff your wat jerkin, and I'll gie ye a pair o' my +puir gude-man's stockins to draw on, for I'm sure ye're soakit to the +skin; and a pair o' slippers to yer feet." And while the kindly-hearted +and hospitable woman was thus rattling away, she was actively employed +in seeking out the various comforts which she enumerated. + +In a very few minutes after, the portly figure of the stranger filled +the favourite arm-chair, by the fire, of Mrs Grahame's late husband, in +as comfortable a plight as the hospitable attentions of his hostess +could place him. Several of these, however, he declined. He would not +part with his boots, nor divest himself of any part of his apparel or +appointments, excepting his steel cap and sword, both of which he placed +on the floor close by his chair, as if desirous that they should be +within reach on the slightest appearance of emergency. + +"Now, my good dame," said the stranger, after enjoying for a few minutes +the invigorating warmth of a blazing fire, which his hostess had heaped +with faggots for his comfort, "I must be plain enough to tell ye that I +am famishing of hunger, and that these barley bannocks of yours look +most tempting." + +"And do ye think, sir, I wasna gaun to mak ye an offer o' a tastin o' +them? That wad be a gay churlish like thing, I think; I was but waiting +till they war ready, to place some o' them before ye, wi' a soup milk, +and a bit butter, cheese, and a cauler egg or twa. Ye'll hae them a' in +ten minutes, and welcome." + +"Thank you, my kind lady, thank you; and now, with your leave," added +Margaret's guest, whose hunger seemed to be in one of its most active +moods--"I'll just see what state the bannocks are in," and he stretched +out his hand, took one from the fire, blew on it, tossed it quickly to +and fro in his hands--for it was too hot to hold steadily--and, finally, +when it had cooled a little, broke it, took a mouthful, pronounced it +nearly ready, and, with great gusto, despatched the remainder. + +"Dear me, man," said Mrs Grahame, who witnessed this gastronomic feat of +her guest with a feeling of increased compassion for his condition; "but +ye are awfu' hungry, I dare say, or ye wadna hae eaten a half-raw barley +bannock that way." + +"The sweetest morsel ever I ate in my life!" replied the stranger, +smiling. "I'll never forget it; nor you either, my good dame." + +"Pho, nonsense, man; but I see you're dreadfu' hungry;" and she +commenced an active turn of the bannocks, to expedite the process of +toasting. + +This done, she redoubled her exertions in general preparation, and with +such effect, that in a few minutes, a little round table, spread with a +clean white cloth, which she placed by the elbow of her guest, was +covered with the homely but wholesome edibles which she had +enumerated--namely, a small basin of fresh eggs, a quarter of a cheese, +a plate of butter, a large bowl of milk, and a heaped-up platter of warm +smoking barley bread. + +"Noo, sir, set to, and do me and yoursel credit by makin a hearty +supper. I'm sure ye're welcome; and I houp I needna say that again." + +Obeying, without hesitation or further ceremony, the kind and cordial +invitation of his hostess, the stalworth stranger commenced a vigorous +attack on the tempting viands placed before him; and, had the credit of +Mrs Grahame been dependant on the quantity he might consume, it was +safe, for he did, indeed, make a splendid meal of it. + +The stranger had completed his repast, but his hostess had scarcely +removed the surplus and other traces of the meal, when both were +suddenly alarmed by the sound of the trampling of horses' feet from +without, mingled with occasional shouts by the riders, some of mirth, +and some of imprecation. + +"No sound of bugle--they cannot be friends!" exclaimed Mrs Grahame's +guest, starting to his feet and seizing his sword. "Now, my good +weapon," he added, as he unsheathed the shining blade, "stand me in as +good stead this night as thou hast hitherto done, and thou shalt find +that I will do my duty by thee." + +"Fecht, sir! ye'll fecht nane here," exclaimed Margaret Grahame, who had +been, during the previous instant, listening eagerly with her ear close +to the door, endeavouring to make out who or what the approaching party +of horsemen were. "Fecht! ye'll fecht nane," she exclaimed, rushing up +to her guest, and seizing him by the sword arm. "It wad be madness, +perfect madness. It's a party o' Englishers frae Stirlin Castle--a +dizzen at least. And what could your single arm, strong as it is, do +against sae mony? No, no, come here--here wi' me," she added, in a state +of great excitement. "Leave me to fecht the Englishers; I ken how to +do't. I'll fecht them wi' barley bannocks and dauds o' butter. Keep thae +chiels chowan, and deil haet else they'll think o'." + +By this time Margaret Grahame had conducted, or rather dragged her +guest, who passively, and, it may be added, prudently yielded to her +proceeding, into a dark back apartment. This gained, she hastily threw +aside the curtain of a bed, which occupied a corner of the room, opened +a _press_ or closet, the door of which the former concealed, and +unceremoniously thrust her guest, without saying another word, into the +unoccupied receptacle, fastened the door, and drew the curtains of the +bed again before it. + +All this was the work of but an instant, and there was need that it +should be so; for the English troopers--such they were--were already +thundering at the door for admittance. + +"Comin this moment!" exclaimed Margaret Grahame. "Dear me, will ye no +gie folk time to throw on their claes," she added, as she undid the +fastenings of the door. "To raise folk out o' their beds this way at +this time o' nicht." + +As she said this, she threw the door open, and, in the same instant, six +or eight dismounted troopers, who had given their horses in charge to +two or three comrades remaining mounted outside, entered. + +On the entrance of the soldiers, Margaret Grahame, in pursuance of the +particular line of tactics which she had laid down for herself, +commenced, with great volubility of speech, to overwhelm her visiters +with both words and deeds of hospitality--she stirred the fire to warm +them, and covered her homely board with the best she had to regale them, +and all this with such expedition, accompanied by such an outpouring of +expressions of kindness, that the soldiers could do nothing but look at +each other in surprise, and, by their smiles, express the perplexity +into which such an unexpected reception had placed them. + +One obvious general effect, however, was produced on them all by +Margaret's proceedings; this was the completely disarming them of all +vindictive feeling, and substituting in its place one of kindness and +sympathy. + +Pressed by their hostess, and nothing loth themselves, the soldiers now +sat down to the well-spread board which the former's hospitality had +prepared for them, and ate heartily; those first served giving place to +their comrades, until the whole had partaken of the widow's good cheer. + +This done, the soldiers, though not without apologies for the rudeness +which their duty imposed on them, informed Margaret Grahame that the +purpose of their visit was to search her house for a certain important +personage--not naming him--who, they had information, had been seen in +that neighbourhood in the course of the day. + +Having given her this intimation, the soldiers, attended by Margaret +herself, proceeded to search the house, but in a temper so mollified by +the kind treatment they had received, that they went through the process +more as a matter of form than duty. + +On completing their brief and cursory search, the troopers, after +thanking their hostess for her hospitality, remounted their horses, and +departed. + +It was not for some time after they were gone, that Margaret Grahame +ventured to seek the hiding-place of her first guest of the evening. +There were two reasons for this delay. The first was to ensure the +perfect safety of the latter, by allowing her late visiters to get to a +secure distance; the other was one of a less definite and more +perplexing nature. From some expressions which had dropped from the +troopers in the course of their search, she had now no doubt that her +concealed guest was no other than Robert Bruce. + +It was under this impression, then, and under the feeling of reverential +awe it inspired, that Margaret Grahame at length went to intimate to her +concealed guest that the troopers were gone, and that he might now come +forth from his hiding-place. + +On the latter's stepping from his concealment, Margaret flung herself on +her knees, and calling him her King, implored his pardon for the homely +and familiar manner in which, in ignorance of his quality, she had +treated him. + +"So, my good dame," replied Bruce, smiling--for it was indeed he--and +taking his hostess kindly by the hand, and raising her from her humble +position, "so you have discovered me? These troopers have blabbed, I +fancy. Well, my secret could not be in safer keeping, I feel assured, +than in thine, my kind hostess. It is even so. I _am_ Robert Bruce, and +none other." + +Overcome by the various and tumultuous feelings which the incident, +altogether, was so well calculated to excite, Margaret Grahame burst +into tears, and, raising the corner of her apron to her eyes, stood +thus for some seconds without uttering a word. + +Bruce, affected, even to the starting of a tear, took his hostess again +by the hand, and, not without very evident emotion, said--"Come, my good +dame, why those tears?" + +"I canna richtly tell mysel, sir. I dinna ken. I canna help it. Maybe it +is to see you in this plight--to see Scotland's chief without a single +attendant, and glad o' the shelter o' sae lowly a roof as mine." + +"Pho, pho, my kind hostess, and what is in that?" replied Bruce, in a +cheering tone. "We must all rough it out as we best can in these times, +king and cobbler, baron and beggar. Better days are coming, and we will +then think of our present hardships only to laugh at them. As to +attendants," he added, with a look of peculiar intelligence, "I am not, +perhaps, so destitute of them as I may seem; although they are not, it +may be, within calling at this moment. Half-an-hour's walk into the +Torwood, however, and half-a-dozen blasts of this little horn would +bring around me a band of as stalworth, nay, as brave hearts as Scotland +can boast." + +"God be thankit for that!" said Bruce's enthusiastic hostess. "Then +there is hope yet." + +"There is, there is. A day of reckoning is coming. But now, my good +dame," he added, glancing at a little window, through which the dull, +faint light of the breaking day had just begun to gleam, "I must take my +departure. I must be at the mustering place an hour after daybreak." +Saying this the redoubted warrior drew out a leathern purse, from whence +he took several pieces of gold coin, which he vainly endeavoured to +press on the acceptance of his hostess. + +"Well, well, my good dame," he said, on finding his urgency only gave +offence; "we'll settle all this on some future day. Depend upon it, _I_ +will not forget the score which stands against me here. In the meantime, +farewell; and fare ye well too, my little maiden," he said, taking his +hostess's daughter by the hand; "you and I will meet again." Having said +this, and having once more bid mother and daughter adieu, Bruce left the +house, and soon after disappeared in the depths of the Torwood. + +Margaret Grahame stood at the door, and, with the corner of her apron at +her eye, looked after the stately figure of the patriot chief, as long +as it remained in sight. When it had disappeared, she returned into the +house, and began, as she busied herself in brushing up, or, as she would +herself have called it, "redding" up her little cottage, after the +hospitalities of which it had been the scene, in _crooning_ a popular +Scottish ditty of the day, of which the two first verses ran thus, + + "Guid speed the wark o' bow and brand + That's raised for Scotland's weal, + And blessins on the heart and hand + O' the ever true and leal." + + "Come frae the east, come frae the wast, + Come frae the south and north; + For Bruce's horn has blawn a blast + That's heard frae Clyde to Forth." + "Guid speed the wark," &c. + +Here, we beg to apprise the reader, the first act of our little drama +closes--the curtain drops; and when we again raise it, years have passed +away, and many things have undergone those changes which the lapse of +time so certainly produces. + +During the interval to which we allude--an interval of eight or ten +years, Scotland, after a long and arduous struggle, had achieved her +independence, and Bruce was now in secure and peaceable possession of +the Scottish crown. + +To all, however, the changes which had taken place had not been equally +fortunate or favourable. On many the sanguinary and ruthless warfare +which had desolated the country brought poverty and ruin. + +Amongst the sufferers of this description was Margaret Grahame. About +three years after the occurrence of the incidents which occupy the +preceding pages, a party of English soldiers had first plundered and +then burned her little cottage, driving herself and family forth on the +world, to earn a livelihood as they best might, or to subsist, if other +means failed, on the scanty doles of charity. + +On being driven from her home, Margaret Grahame, followed by her +children, in melancholy procession, wandered she knew nor cared not +whither; but, instinctively, taking that direction which promised to +leave further danger at the greatest distance behind her. This direction +was westward, and on this route she continued; subsisting by the way on +the benevolence of the humane; most of whom, however, were more willing +than able to relieve her, till she reached the neighbourhood of the +village of Kilpatrick, on the Clyde. Exhausted with fatigue, and +famishing with hunger, the widow and her children here applied at a +respectable farm-house, which stood a little way off the road, for +relief. + +The door was opened by the farmer himself, a man of mild and benevolent +disposition. To him, therefore, the petition of the destitute widow was +not proffered in vain. Herself and children were instantly admitted, and +a plenteous meal of bread, and cheese, and milk, placed before them. + +When the famishing family had satisfied the cravings of hunger, the +farmer, whose name was Blackadder, inquired, but in the most delicate +manner possible, into the history of the widow. She told him her story. +When she had concluded, Blackadder, looking at her two sons, said that +they were fine stout boys, and that he thought, if she chose, he could +find them employment about his farm. + +"Ye're kind, sir, very kind," replied the widow; "but I'm sweart to +pairt wi' my bairns. Destitute as I am, I canna think o' separatin frae +them." + +"But there's no occasion for that either," replied the farmer. "I'm +willin, in consideration o' their services, to gie ye a bit sma cot to +live in, and ye'll never want a pickle meal, and a soup o' milk forbye. +And for this bonnie lassie, here," he added, and now looking at +Margaret, who had grown into a tall and handsome girl, "she micht mak +herself useful about my house too, for which, of course, I wad gie her +the wages gaun. Ye micht then be a' comfortable aneuch, for a wee, at +ony rate." + +Need we say that the kind offers of Blackadder were readily closed with. +We think we need not. The grateful family, the children, by looks of +glee and satisfaction, and the mother by broken sentences and tears of +joy, acknowledged their deep sense of the obligation proposed to be +conferred on them. + +"And wha kens," said the farmer, on this matter being settled, "an wha +kens," he said, smiling; "but this bonny lassie here," laying his hand +on Margaret's shoulder, "may sune fa' in wi' a bit canny guidman +hereawa, wi' a weel-stocked mailin." + +"I doot, sir, that's a' settled already," replied the widow, smiling, +"although there's but little gear in the case. Margaret, I'm jalousin, +has left her heart at the Torwood. There's a certain young lad, a +farmer's son there, that I'm thinkin she wadna willingly forget. But +want o' warl's gear aften sunders fond hearts." + +"Better times may come roun, guidwife," replied Mr Blackadder; "an' the +lass may get her leman for a'." + +During this conversation, the subject of it seemed in an agony of +maidenly distress. With a face burning with blushes, she vainly +attempted, with a series of unconnected interjections, amongst which +were several _denials_ of the _fact_, to arrest her mother's +communications regarding the secrets of her heart. Finding these +efforts ineffectual, the bashful girl retreated behind her mother's +chair, and there, concealing herself as much as possible, awaited, in +suffering silence, the conclusion of the, to her, most annoying +discussion. + +In less than a week from this period, Widow Grahame was comfortably +domiciled in a small cot-house at a little distance from the residence +of her benefactor, Blackadder. Here, contented with her humble lot, and +grateful to a kind Providence, which had so timeously interposed in her +behalf, Margaret Grahame plied her wheel the livelong day, singing as +merrily, the while, as the "laverock in the lift." Her boys were giving +every satisfaction to their employer, and her daughter was no less +successful in pleasing in her department. She was thus in the enjoyment +of one of the greatest happinesses of which her condition was +susceptible, and she fully appreciated the blessing. It was while +matters were in this state with Widow Grahame, and somewhere about two +years after she had settled at Kilpatrick, that her eldest son said to +her one evening, on returning home after the labours of the day were +over:-- + +"Mother, they say the King has come to Cardross Castle and I believe +it's true; for I saw, frae the braes, a great cavalcade o' knights and +gentlemen on horseback, doon on the Glasgow road, gaun towards Dumbarton +as hard's they could bir." + +"An' what's that to me, laddie, whar the King, God bless him, is?" +replied his mother. "I'm aye blithe to hear o' his weelfare, for auld +lang syne; but what mair is there aboot it?" + +"I dinna ken, mother," said the boy; "but I've been thinkin that if he +kent you were here, or kent whar to fin ye, he wad maybe let you see +that he hadna forgotten the barley meal bannocks o' the Torwood, that ye +hae sae aften tell't us aboot." + +"Tuts, ye foolish boy," replied his mother, plying away at her wheel. +"Whatna notion is that? The King, honest man, has, I daresay, forgotten +baith me and my bannocks many a day syne. He had owre muckle to do and +owre muckle to think o' after that, to keep ony mind o' sae sma' and +ordinary a matter as that. The _recollection_ o' that nicht, Jamie, is, +at onyrate, reward aneuch for me." + +"Feth, I dinna ken, mither," said the pertinacious youngster; "but I +think ye micht do waur than try. Ye micht do waur than tak a step doun +to Cardross Castle--it's only about seven or aucht miles frae this, and +get a sicht o' the King, an' tell him wha ye are. It micht do us a' +guid." + +To this very distinct and rational proposition, Margaret made no reply. +It threw her into a musing mood, in which she continued for some time; +making the wheel revolve, the while, with redoubled velocity. At length, +studiously, as it appeared, avoiding all recurrence to the subject on +which her son and herself had been speaking, + +"Tak your bread and milk, Jamie, and gang to your bed. Ye ken ye hae to +rise by three the morn's mornin." + +The boy, without further urging his proposal, or saying anything more +regarding it, did as he was desired--ate his bread and milk, and retired +to bed, where he quickly fell fast asleep. His mother, on ascertaining +that he had done so, got up from her wheel, went to a small wooden tub +that stood in a corner of the cottage, and filled from it a small basin +of barley-meal. With this meal she forthwith proceeded to bake a bannock +of small size, which she subsequently toasted with great care. This +done, she placed it in a cupboard, and soon after retired to bed. On the +following morning, at an early hour, Margaret Grahame, dressed in her +best, and carrying in her hand the identical barley meal bannock above +spoken of, neatly wrapped up in a snow-white towel, was seen posting +stoutly along the Dumbarton road, and evidently bent on a journey of +some length. It was so: Margaret was making for Cardross Castle, where +she arrived about three hours after leaving her own house. On reaching +the outer gate of the castle, Margaret addressed herself to a sentinel +who was walking backwards and forwards with a drawn sword in his hand. + +"Is the King here, sir, just now?" she said. + +"He is," replied the man, shortly. + +"Could I see him, sir, do you think?" + +"Indeed, mistress, I think you could _not_," replied the sentinel, +peremptorily. "None but properly accredited persons can obtain access to +him at present." + +"I'm sure, however, he wad be glad aneuch to see me," said Margaret; +"for him and I are auld acquantance." + +"Perhaps so," replied the soldier. "Of that I know nothing; but I know +my duty, and that is to keep out all unknown and unaccredited persons. +But here's Balcanquhail, the King's confidential personal attendant, and +you may speak to him if you like. Ho, Balcanquhail, here's a woman who +claims _old acquaintanceship_" (a smile accompanying, and intelligent +emphasis laid on these two words) "with the King, and who wants +admittance to his Majesty," added the sentinel, beckoning her towards +him, and now addressing the person whom he named. + +"You cannot be admitted, honest woman," said Balcanquhail, scanning the +supplicant with something of a contemptuous expression of face. "You +cannot, on any account, so it's no use insisting." + +"Weel, sir," replied Margaret, calmly, "if ye winna let mysel in, will +ye tak in this to the King?" and she presented the white towel with its +inclosure to the "chaumer chiel" of Robert Bruce. "Let the King hae +that, and, if I'm no mista'en, ye'll sune hae orders to fling a' the +gates o' the castle open to me." + +"What is it?" said Balcanquhail, peering curiously into the folds of the +towel. + +"Atweel it's neither mair nor less," replied the widow, "than a +barley-meal bannock. Nae very rare nor costly commodity; but place ye't +before the King, and he'll understand what it means. I'll wait here till +ye come back." + +Accustomed to such symbolical communications, which were much resorted +to in these days, and sometimes on very important occasions, +Balcanquhail readily agreed, without further inquiry or remark, to +comply with the widow's request. + +Hastening to the King's private apartment--the King being at the moment +at breakfast--Balcanquhail placed his charge on the table before him, in +the precise state in which he received it, without saying a word. + +"What's this, Balcanquhail?" said Bruce, opening out the towel as he +spoke, and without waiting for a reply. "Ah! a barley bannock. What can +this mean?" and he mused for an instant. Then suddenly starting from his +seat--"I have it!--I have it!" he exclaimed, with eager delight. "How +should I forget the barley bannocks of the 'Torwood?' Who brought this +bannock, Balcanquhail? Where is the person who brought it?" Balcanquhail +informed him. + +"Send her up to me instantly--instantly!" rejoined the excited monarch. +"This is the good woman about whom I have been so anxiously, but vainly, +inquiring for these two or three years back. Quick, quick, bring her +hither, Balcanquhail?" + +In less than two minutes afterwards, Margaret Grahame was in the +presence of her Sovereign. On her entrance, the King hastened towards +her with extended hand, and after giving her a cordial welcome:-- + +"Where in all the world hast thou been, my good dame?" he said, "that I +have not been able to find thee, although I have had emissaries employed +from time to time, in all directions, for the last two or three years, +to trace thee out, with the offer of a reward to him who should first +discover thee? No one about thy old place of residence--whither I went +myself to seek thee--could tell aught of thee. They knew not what had +become of thee, nor where thou hadst gone to. Where, on earth, hast thou +been?" + +Margaret gave the history of her whole proceedings, and of all that had +happened her since the eventful night on which she had entertained the +king in her little cot on the skirts of the Torwood. + +When she was done, Bruce, with many expressions of kindness, presented +her with a large purse of gold for her present exigencies. He +subsequently built her a handsome mansion-house, where she lived in +comfort and independence for many years, on the site of her ruined +cottage--a locality which he chose in order to commemorate the event +which forms the ground of this tale--gave her a charter of three or four +extensive farms that lay around it, dowered her daughter Margaret +Grahame, who was by this means enabled to wed the man of her choice, +and, finally, placed her two sons in situations of profit and trust +about his own person. + +And so, gentle reader, ends the story of the "Barley Bannock." + + + + +GLEANINGS OF THE COVENANT. + +XX.--JOHN GOVAN'S NARRATIVE. + + +In the Greyfriars' Churchyard of Edinburgh I have often spent a solitary +hour, during what, in Scotland, is called the "gloaming." The large and +handsome monument which still records the sufferings of the covenanted +friends of freedom, always occupied my deepest thoughts; and when I +looked around me on the quiet solitude of the scene, on the modest and +unassuming style of the sacred edifice, and on the old and +scarcely-visible fort,[1] which had stood so many sieges, and witnessed +so many changes, I have often let the moon peep upon my meditative +movements, over the top of the Calton Hill, Arthur's Seat, or Salisbury +Crags. There passed, on the outside of the wall, the light-hearted +carter, whistling alongside of his horse; or the fish-wife, proclaiming +the caller commodity she wished to sell; or the merry school boy, +indicating his relish of freedom from school restraint by boisterous +mirth and unrestrained motion;--and yet, on the inner side of the wall, +all was alone and peaceful, as if I had taken up my station in a far-off +Highland glen. These were the days of my youthful feelings, and warm and +generous emotion. If my blood did not _boil_ within me, it warmed +exceedingly, as the vision of other times and far different scenes +crossed my brain, and was reflected from my heart. From the works of our +historians--of Knox and Woodrow in particular--I had early become +acquainted with the history of those times, (which are still continuing +to interest our feelings and influence our judgment;) and I could not +fail to image out more particularly the dismal aspect which this very +locality presented in 1679. Whilst engaged one evening in these +reveries, I inadvertently wandered away behind the church, and stood +looking out upon the moonshine, which, "o'er the dark a silver mantle +threw;" whilst the officer of the Greyfriars' Church, seeing nobody in +the yard, quietly and unperceived by me, locked the door, and retired to +his home in the Netherbow. Accordingly, when I began to think, about +eleven o'clock, of home and repose, I was not a little surprised to find +all egress by the customary outlet impossible. The night was indeed +lovely--mild and still; but yet there was something not altogether +satisfactory in being compelled to enjoy it in company with the dead of +many generations. A large mastiff, too, which had concealed itself for +some time under the wall, came forth into the moonlight, with a bone in +his jaws--manifestly a human skull. + +[Footnote 1: Edinburgh Castle] + + "And I saw the lean dog, _beneath the wall_, + Hold o'er the dead its carnival; + And its white tusks crunched o'er the whiter skull + As it slipped through its jaws, when the edge grew dull, + As it lazily mumbled the bones of the dead." + +The sight was not only jarring to all my more composed and soothing +reflections, but not unaccompanied with a certain indefinite +apprehension of evil. The season had been hot, and hydrophobia had shewn +its dreadful existence in Leith Walk and in the Canongate. Two persons +had died of it raving mad. I was, therefore, exceedingly anxious to +place the high wall which surrounded the Greyfriars' Churchyard betwixt +my companion and myself. But how was this to be effected? I ventured to +raise my voice, and shout aloud; but no notice was taken of my call. +Nay, my growling and crunching neighbour approached me--offering seeming +defiance. He was a fearful animal, of that very breed which I have all +my life trusted the least--I may say feared and abhorred the most. I +began to speak soothingly to him; but, to all my "poor fellows," and +other accents of friendly intercourse, he only answered with a deeper +growl. What was to be done? I was afraid to renew my shout; for that +manifestly annoyed him; and yet he seemed evidently approaching me. +Merciful God! I could see the very glare of his eyes, even in the +softened moonlight. I looked up, in perfect despair, to the moon and to +the stars, and could not help envying them their secure positions. I +would have become anything heavenly, even a star of the very least +magnitude, to have secured my retreat from this bull-headed monster. I +edged myself towards the monument of the Martyrs; and, with some +difficulty, got myself elevated a considerable way up one of the +pillars. I clung to every projection like one perishing; and, being +young, slender, and full of elastic vigour, I at last gained the top of +the wall, from whence I immediately informed a night watch, then passing +along, of my terrible situation. In the meantime, the hideous monster +made a spring from a tombstone to the top of the same wall; but, instead +of visiting me, he dropped himself quietly into a carrier's cart, to +which he belonged, and which stood near the doorway of the "Harrow" +public house. I was immediately relieved both from my fears and my +position, by the assistance of John Brown, the Greyfriars' Church +officer, who opened the gate, and assisted me in my descent. The +incident was somewhat singular; and, as I stood in need of some +refreshment, and honest Johnny Dowie's shop did not shut till twelve, I +asked the pleasure of John Brown's company to a red herring and a glass + + "Of as guid nappy liquor + As ever reamed in horn or bicker." + +During the discussion of these viands, (and, maybe, a wee drap of +Highland whisky made into warm todd,) John Brown and I became +exceedingly well acquainted. He had occupied his present office for +upwards of forty years, was an enthusiast about the Covenanters, and +possessed, in fact, some written documents on the subject, which he +promised to shew me. He was a lineal descendant, he informed me, of the +famous Thomas Brown, who suffered, along with John Waddel, Andrew Sword, +John Clide, and James Wood, on Magus Muir. The documents, as I +afterwards found, were nothing more nor less than some scattered and +pencilled notices by one John Govan, in the parish of Kirkliston, of his +share in the affair of Bothwell Brig, and his sufferings in consequence +thereof. I shall avail myself partially of these pencillings, in the +following narrative:-- + +"O Lord, thy mercies are manifold! Thou wilt not desert thine ancient +inheritance--thy puir, suffering, persecuted remnant. O Lord! thou wilt, +and thou _must_ stand by thy servants, godly Hamilton, and Cargill, and +Rathillet, and by us and our cause--which, guid Lord, is, after all, +thine own--in this awful day. I see the Duke's men on the hill-side +opposite. They are now, even now, making downwards towards the bridge. +They have opened their guns. I must up and do my duty. Lord, stand by +the righteous!" + +The battle, as is here anticipated, began; and (owing to the sad +divisions in the camp of the nonconformists) was won by the Duke of +Buccleuch and Monmouth, almost without any resistance. Notwithstanding +the humane exertions of the Duke--owing to the sanguinary revenge of +Clavers in particular--the slaughter after the battle, in what may be +termed the wantonness of cruelty, was very great indeed. The next +extract from Govan's diary, confirms this historical truth:-- + +"And thou, O Lord, hast yet more work to do for poor John Govan. But +poor Samuel Logan lies dead in the next field there--I saw him run when +I fell into a ditch, and just lay still; but the destroyer was hard +behind him. Sam _darned_ at last in a corn-field; and there I saw him +shot through the head by that terrible Clavers. He did not give him an +instant to make his peace wi' his Maker. O Lord! wherefore is it thus +with thy Zion? But it belongs not to poor John Govan to find fault wi' +sic a Master--thy ways are not as our ways, nor thy thoughts as ours." + +Poor John Govan was, however, at last taken prisoner, whilst +endeavouring to conceal himself in an outhouse of a farm-steading in +Strathavon, but not till after a whole volley of balls had been poured +in upon his retreat, only one of which, however, had taken effect, and +that on the fleshy part of his leg. Notwithstanding his wound, and the +stiffness, which, after it had bled profusely, was induced upon the +limb, he was compelled to march on foot, along with upwards of three +hundred prisoners--many of them badly wounded--towards Edinburgh. Mr +Reid and Mr King--both of whom were afterwards tried, tortured, hanged, +and quartered--were of the number. To avoid the commiseration and +sympathy of the more populous districts, Clavers marched the prisoners +through the upper district of Lanarkshire. At Lanark the first halt was +made for the night; and there the men were tied together by twos and +threes, and compelled to bivouac in the open air, in a barn-yard. In +vain were all their groanings and complainings--some from their wounds, +others from hunger or thirst, and not a few from the dismal fate which +had overtaken the cause which they supported. The infamous soldiery, +urged on, or at least not properly checked by their leaders, only +laughed at their calamities, telling them to be patient--that patience +was a d----d good supper--a great deal too good for a covenanter, &c., +&c. Upon this I found the following reflections in Govan:-- + +"O Lord! when will their ire be stayed?--when will thy face return and +shine again upon thy heritage? This night has been an awful night: my +sufferings, all our sufferings, have been great, great beyond +bearing--four of our number have died of their wounds and fatigue. My +own cousin, William Young, has paid the debt of nature; he has gone to +the bosom of his God; for William was a just, and a good, and a holy +man. I held his head till he expired; it was a sore struggle, but he +quailed not; he repeated as long as he could speak--'Though he slay me, +yet will I trust in him; my heart and my flesh may faint and fail--oh, +yes! the earthly house of our tabernacle must be dissolved; but we have +a house, John, not made with hands, eternal in the heavens; and the +Spirit and the bride say, Come;' and, with these words, he bowed his +head and he gave up the ghost. He and I were tied together by the legs, +and I sat till morning light with his dead body in my arms. These +dreadful men only scoffed when I spoke of death, and bade me take my +supper off the dead man's bones. O Lord! how long? O Lord! how long?" + +The next resting-place seems to have been in the midst of the "Lang +Whang"--a barren and bleak muir, which stretches eastward ten or eleven +miles beyond Carnwath. Here an enclosure was effected by means of stakes +and ropes, as the binding system had been found ineffectual, there being +generally some method adopted by the fettered sufferers to relieve +themselves. Within this enclosure these three hundred men stood or lay +during a dark and a rainy night, without fire, and with very scanty +provisions; whilst the demons on the outside of the enclosure lighted up +fires of the heath, and of some peats which were found ready dried in +the neighbourhood, and spent the night in roasting all manner of +barn-door fowls, pigs, and even sheep, which they had captured as they +passed along. Refreshment of a spirituous character was not denied them; +and their songs, and their blasphemies, and their insulting language, +"rose up in the midst of the wilderness" as Govan expresses it--"to the +throne of the Most High, calling for vengeance in the day of +retribution, on the head of the oppressor." + +"This," continues he, "is a second morning, and a cold, and a gloomy, +and a dreadful one it is. Clavers and his attendants are galloping up +from Carnwath, where they have been spending the night in jollification +wi' the laird; and we are just about to renew our dismal march. My leg +is exceedingly troublesome; but, as we advance but slowly, I make a +shift to get on. One man died last night raving mad; and another, I much +fear, has put an end, with his own hand, to an unendurable existence. O +Lord, give me strength to bear whatever thy wisdom sees meet to +inflict!" + +From the Lang Whang, the Grass Market was reached on the succeeding +evening, and, after being united with two hundred prisoners from +Stirling, they were all marched from the Grass Market; and, after some +seasonable refreshment, ordered by the humane and kind-hearted Duke of +Monmouth, into the Greyfriars' Churchyard, there to abide--from the +month of June to that of December following--all the peltings of the +pitiless storm, without a sufficiency of food, and entirely without +covering. + +Men of Scotland, was there ever anything like this? Can the remembrance +of such atrocities ever be obliterated? Can century upon century, as +they slowly roll on their course, ever place these events, and this +event in particular, beyond the range of your interest? We read with +horror of the scaffold and the guillotine; but what immediate death +could equal in atrocity their protracted sufferings? Friends have they, +indeed, within these walls, but they cannot, or but seldom, and at great +risk, obtain an entrance. Many are disposed to supply the houseless +prisoner with couch and covering, but they only supply additional means +of debauchery to the ruffian soldiery. The chambers of the _many dead_ +are defiled and rendered pestilential by the presence of the _many +living_. Death, in ordinary circumstances, is a boon to this. Winter +approaching--(nay, has arrived)--the sleety shower plashing over the +Castle--the whirling drifts, eddying about, amongst, and beneath the +tombstones--the wild, long, endless night, to which succeeds no dawn of +comfort--no warm chamber--no invigorating and cheering meal. Oh, honest +and fearless shades, tell us all! how did you stand it? How was it that +you did not sell your remaining strength as dearly as possible?--that +you did not rush like tigers upon your guards, and perish whilst rending +them with your teeth and nails? But ye are silent as becomes ye; so I +must apply to honest John Govan's MS. + +"This is now the sixth week that I have dwelt in this dreary place. Oh, +happy they who lie beneath! they are covered, and feel not our +privations, and pains, and sufferings; and yet freedom and home is +offered to us, and accepted by many. God forgive them, if it be His +will!--but John Govan will never accept his liberty on such terms. His +mother's shade would rise up in judgment. Shall I take their infamous +oaths, or subscribe their no less infamous bonds? Shall I swear that the +Bishop's death is murder, and that the resistance of an oppressed and +persecuted people is rebellion? Shall I 'bind, oblige, and enact +myself,' that I shall not hereafter take up arms in so good a cause? No! +I will sooner perish, inch by inch; I will sooner suffer the tortures of +the boot, and the final cruel judgment of the maiden. Men are yet unborn +that will bless us--a whole people, happy in a pure religion and a free +government, will adore the memory of the most humble son of the +Covenant; they will build and erect pillars and monuments to our memory; +they will count, anxiously count, kindred with us; they will record and +register our deeds and our sufferings; and, when this world, with all +its interests, shall have ceased to exist, we shall be in everlasting +remembrance." + +Thus reasoned, and thus were supported, these men, who set at defiance +threats, and entreaties, and insidious reasonings; who valued the +approbation of their own consciences above every other; who feared their +God, and had no other fear. + +As winter drew on, the intercourse with the inhabitants of Edinburgh +became more frequent and less easily obstructed. It was absolutely +necessary that brothers, and even sisters, and wives, and mothers, +should be permitted occasionally to carry some warm broth, or some still +stronger stimulants, to those whose rations were so limited, and whose +exposure to the cold air was so dismally protracted. Even partial +scaffoldings were erected around the churchyard, and towards the east, +or town side in particular; and some imperfect, no doubt, but still +acceptable shelter, was thus extended to the perishing inmates. It was +not possible that disease should not walk in the train of so much +deprivation. Many died of fever; some of consumption or bad colds; and +not a few of downright debility. The guards, too, became tired of the +monotony of their task, and often retired into adjoining taverns to keep +up their spirits. Some escaped by one means and some by another; one in +the dress of a sister, and another in the garb of a mason. An Act of +Indemnity was at last passed, from which, however, about twenty were +exempted, and perhaps nine or ten executed. John Govan seems to have +survived these dismal times by some years; for I find him next on Magus +Muir, encouraging and supporting his friends who suffered. His +concluding sentences are these:-- + +"I have seen, I have seen--mine eyes have seen thy salvation; +Presbytery, my beloved Presbytery, established by law; freedom of +conscience secured to all; a Protestant King; a Protestant government; +every man dwelling in peace, under his own vine and his own fig-tree; +mine own son delivering the word of God to a Protestant congregation, +and protected by law. My old age has been soothed by many comforts; the +partner of my fortunes and sharer of all my trials still alive, and +capable of uniting with me in the song of thanksgiving--verily, the Lord +has been merciful and gracious, and I now await his divine pleasure with +perfect resignation. I am old, and have had my day. I trust I have not +altogether neglected my duty; and when it shall be His blessed will to +call me, I will depart cheerfully home, and appear in his presence. My +sins and imperfections are indeed many; but I know in whom I have +believed, and to whom I have committed the soul, my immortal part. Lord, +now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace." + +Thus far honest John Govan, who seems to have slept with his fathers a +year or two after the Revolution, in the eighty-fourth year of his age. +The papers, John Brown informed me, passed into his grandfather's +keeping, in consequence of the friendship which continued to exist +betwixt the Govans and the Browns; the Govans having long ago emigrated +to America, and left the Browns a bequest of books, and these papers +besides. + + + + +XXI.--"OLD BLUNTIE." + + +Creehope Linn was a well-known retreat of the old Covenanters in +Dumfriesshire. The water, in the course of successive ages, has cut +itself a smooth, winding, and extremely deep passage, through an immense +bed of sandstone; and so capricious have been its excavations, that, +whilst the rock beneath is hollowed out into vast recesses, or natural +caves and chambers, the rock above almost meets, and spreads a gloom, +approaching to complete darkness, all around the caverns below. In these +caverns--as I already, more than once, have had occasion to +mention--the poor persecuted flock found a temporary shelter and safety. +There was something in the natural gloom which induced melancholy and +even fearful cogitations. One of these caves, immediately over what is +still known by the appropriate designation of "Hell's Cauldron," was, +long after the Revolution, tenanted by an old man of singular aspect and +character, who cobbled shoes for the peasantry around. His residence is +still shown, and known as the "Sutor's Seat." You may still see the +hollow in the rock where he lay himself, and another which contained his +implements. Tradition gives but few notices of his habits, but these few +are perhaps worth recording. He was manifestly crazy; but still there +was a method in his madness; and nothing would persuade him, after the +Revolution, that he might ever safely visit the upper world. He still +talked of Clavers, and Johnston, and Douglas, and Lag; and the rocks +retain to this day, it is said, the names of some of these worthies, +engraved by Sutor Bluntie's awl. Whether this appellation of "Bluntie" +was his own original name, or whether it was only a cognomen, I cannot +positively aver, though I think the _last_ is more than probable, as I +never heard of any person of this name in Dumfriesshire, or, indeed, +anywhere else. He would, whilst in the act of mending a shoe or cobbling +a boot, suddenly spring to his legs, look fearfully around him, and aver +that he was not alone--that the pursuer was present--that a fearfully +disfigured, mangled carcase stood in the very centre of Hell's Caldron. +"There it stands!" he would say--"there! there! One jaw hanging down, +and one eye out; its legs broken; its skull in pieces; its belly ripped +up; and yet it looks terribly at me. But the foul fiend will be here by +and by--ay will he. He will soon settle your jabbering, Donald Cameron. +There--there he comes: he is rushing, like a tempest, among these +trees!--he is sweeping like a whirlwind amongst these rocks! Yes--he +comes, like a lion, roaring for his prey. But you are gone, Donald +Cameron; it was as well. You sank into the Caldron to award the foul +fiend, did you?--out of the frying-pan into the fire, lad! But now all's +quiet again--I will finish my job in spite of you!" Even at mid-day, he +kept a lamp constantly burning; and the rock is still blackened by the +smoke. Thus, doubtless, his mind had taken a gloomy tint, which +gradually diverged into downright insanity. But there was, after all, a +method in his madness. There was a particular reason for the peculiar +usages which his imagination conjured up; and it was this:--During the +hottest period of the Persecution, Old Bluntie, who was by profession a +shoemaker, had taken to this (to him) well-known and familiar recess. +There he remained during the day; but at night he stole out, with the +beasts of prey, to obtain food. His wife (for he had no children) had +been shot, one day, by a dragoon, as she stood in her doorway. The man +simply exclaimed--"That's the Covenanting b----!" fired his pistol, and +the woman fell. Bluntie became, ever after this, altogether reckless; +his only object was, by one means or another, by hook or by crook, to +lead or decoy the persecutors into ambushes and danger. It was he mainly +who decoyed the party into the Pass of Enterkin, already described in +these papers. He pretended to turn informer; but when the cave was +searched, the inmate was flown; but a rifle-gun, from behind a hedge, +seldom missed its mark. Another plan of his was of a somewhat original +character. Creehope Linn divides, as I have already described, a +sandstone rock, over which there lies a deep layer of moss, surmounted +by close and tall heather--at least this was the case formerly, and may +be so still. For a considerable way below the fall known by the name of +the "Grey Mare's Tail," the linn _almost_ meets above, and the heather +_altogether_--to an inexperienced stranger, there is no evidence +whatever of the dreadful abyss, of sixty feet depth, which yawns +beneath. The ground around is level, and the water moves on at such a +distance from the surface, that, unless in floods, it is quite +inaudible. Clavers at this time was a stranger in the southern district, +to which, in consequence of Turner's rising at Dumfries, he had been +recently appointed; and his men were, of course, equally strangers. Old +Bluntie caused a report to be conveyed to Clavers, whilst stationed at +Croalchapel, in the neighbourhood, that a number of the friends of the +Covenant, with old Cargill at their head, were to have a meeting, or +conventicle, in a hollow glen, fifty yards south of the Linn. It was, of +course, to take place at night, and by favour of a harvest moon. Having +been deceived by false intelligence on other occasions, Clavers ordered +Red Rob to lead a troop of ten men into an adjoining cleugh, and there +to dismiss one of them on foot to reconnoitre the ground. All this was +done. But when the soldier came within sight of the place of meeting, he +found only one man, whom he immediately hailed. The figure started, and +ran swiftly away, whilst a ball went fully more swiftly in pursuit, but +missed its mark. The soldier pursued sword in hand, and Bluntie made the +best of his way onward towards the mountain pass of Bellybught. But, all +at once, the soldier disappeared. He had sunk through the heather, and +was not to be seen. The other nine dragoons, who had heard the report, +now followed in hot pursuit, and, coming inadvertently on the same +concealed danger, horse and man went over at once. The legs of several +of the horses were broken; two stuck in the jaws of the ravine, which +was not wide enough to allow them to sink; and one rider went plump to +the bottom; whilst another had his neck broken, by being pitched on his +head to some distance. This person's name was John Campbell; and the +spot retains the name of "Jock's Step" to this hour. + + + + +XXII.--THOMAS HARKNESS OF LOCKERBEN. + + +I have already given some account of the famous rescue at Enterkin--I am +now about to follow out one of the consequences of that rescue:-- + +Amongst those who were engaged in this affair, was Thomas Harkness of +Lockerben, parish of Dalgarno. Immediately after the affray, the various +individuals who were principally concerned in it separated. Andrew +Clerk, in Leadhills, fled to Annandale; Samuel M'Ewan, in Glencairn, +made off towards Cumnock; and Thomas Harkness hovered for some time +amongst the Lowther heights, and then took refuge in a widow woman's +house in Leadhills. Marion Morrison was the widow of David Douglas, a +miner, who had lost his life in one of the shafts. She lived in a small +cottage on the heathy muir, and at a considerable distance from the +other houses, which, in these times, were not numerous. She had one only +daughter--now woman-grown and comely--who, by spinning sale-yarn for the +Lanark and Douglas market, supported herself and her mother, if not in +comfort, at least in competence and peace. They were both religious +persons, and took a deep interest in the persecuted remnant. Many a +prayer had Marion put up in behalf of God's own people, to which her +daughter May, as she was called, responded with deep sincerity. As the +old song says, "It was in and about the Martinmas time," when Marion and +her daughter were engaged, the one in carding and the other in spinning +wool, the tarry-woo of the mountain land. May was blythe and cheerful, +half-singing and half-chanting the now old, but then popular song-- + + "Oh, tarry woo is ill to spin! + Card it weel ere ye begin-- + Card it weel, and draw it sma'-- + Tarry woo is the best of a'!" + +when the cat was observed to make a sudden movement across the hearth, +and in stepped a tall figure, wrapped up in a shepherd's plaid. Marion +started, and May all but screamed. But the figure soon unfolded itself, +exclaiming-- + +"Be not afeared--be not afeared, honest Christian women. I am a poor, +pursued, persecuted bird, flying into your hut from the claws of the +kite. I have neither slept nor broken bread for these three days and +three nights; but, now that the moon has waned, I have ventured down, in +the dark, to beg a morsel of meal and water, a night's shelter, and a +few hours' rest. My name is Thomas Harkness of Lockerben, where my +forbears have lived for these three hundred years bygane; and it's e'en +a richt sair case that, wi' thae grey hairs and wrinkles, I should be +compelled to sleep wi' the peaseweep, and to sup wi' the fox on the +mountain fell." + +"Indeed, and sae it is," responded Marion; "and welcome, thrice welcome, +I trow, are ye, or ony o' the name and the lineage o' the Harknesses, to +puir Marion Morrison's best; and, oh, that it was better, for your sake! +Ye hae forgotten the bit whilking lassie, nae doubt, that drave oot yer +worthy faither's stirks to the calf-park and back again, that helpit the +mistress wi' the bairns, and whiles scrapit potatoes, and sic like. +Weel, that bit young, thoughtless cummer, is now the auld, decrepit +body--bonny May, as yer mother used to ca' me, is now auld Marion, wham +the folks hereabout deeply suspect o' witchcraft, and I kenna what ither +craft, I'm turned sae unwarl and pookit-like. But, May, my bairn, the +guid man's sleeping wi' downright fatigue. Get on the pot; there's a wee +pickle barley in the auld barrel, and there's a bit o' the meat that I +was keeping for our Sabbath meal; but the Lord is a rich provider, and +we winna want; sae just put in the bit meat wi' the barley, and get +broth and mutton for my auld master's son. The mashlom bannock is amang +the meal, in the kist. Bring it oot, wi' a bit saut butter, in the +meantime; for oh, sirs! hunger's ill to bide. But, dear, and be wi' me! +if the guidman bena as sound as a tap! It wad be a'maist a pity to waken +him, till the broth pot be fairly set a poppling at least." + +May executed her mother's orders with alacrity; and, ere an hour had +escaped, Thomas Harkness was aroused to a most delicious meal, which he +devoured more like a famished wolf than a Christian man; not, however, +hungry and ravenous as he was, before doffing his blue bonnet, and +asking of his Maker a blessing with the offered mercy. He was soon after +conveyed ben the house, and put into possession of the only bed which +the cottage contained; the mother and daughter sleeping and watching +alternately, the one in a large elbow chair, and the other upon a sack +of tarry woo. Day dawned, beautiful and sweet, over the wild mountains +of Leadhills, and May Douglas stood without the low and confined door of +her little cottage, when she was startled by the firing of muskets on +the opposite hill-side. The smoke directed her eye to the spot, and she +saw a poor boy, who had been running hard for the old shafts, fall +immediately forward amongst the long rank heather. "Let the cursed dog +lie there and bleed to death," was uttered aloud, in the most horrid +tone of voice. "Where the watch has been set, the enemy must be lurking; +we'll search, my lads, the village from corner to corner; and, if we +cannot start the game otherwise, we'll put a blazing peat to it, and +smoke out the old fox from his den." It was manifest to May Douglas that +Thomas Harkness was now placed in the utmost jeopardy; and she flew ben +the house, and, with that unconsciousness of impropriety so natural to +her age and innocence, immediately roused the guidman of Lockerben, and +made him sensible of his situation. What was to be done?--An instant +more, and all might be lost. It struck the good girl that there was an +old shaft mouth, within a few yards of the back part of the house, into +which the pursued fugitive might pass through a window, or hole, which +opened, to let out the smoke and _in_ the light, backwards. No sooner +thought of than said--and Thomas, with the greater part of his clothing +under his arm, thrust himself through the opening with some difficulty, +and found himself in a second or two within the hiding of the old shaft. +In an instant after, the house was surrounded, and armed men, with +swords and holster pistols, rushed into the house of this poor +unprotected woman. + +"Turn out the old b---- with her whelp," said Clavers to the band, "and +cast her Bible and Psalm-Book after, that she may amuse herself and her +beauty, whilst we secure the stray sheep of the house of Israel. So ho! +here is trail, here is trail; tally-ho!--a shepherd's plaid, and a pair +of good large shoes, well soled and tacketed. The guidman himself is not +far off--he will be at his devotions, Rob; see you do not disturb him, +you unmannerly rascal." + +"Oh no," replied the well-known corporal, Rob Douglas, "I will only join +in the psalmody." And then he bawled out, in stentorian whine, mimicking +the voice and manner of a Covenanter-- + + "'In Judah's land God is well-known, + His name in Israel great, + In Salem is his tabernacle, + In Zion is his seat.' + +But no, no, my sweet chick of canticles, not so fast, dear, not so +fast--neither you nor old grunty must budge a foot-length from the place +where you now stand--sit or lie, as you please--till you get permission +from this here person with the King's authority on both his shoulders." + +In the meantime, everything in the house had been turned topsy-turvy, +and the eleventh commandment, as they facetiously denominated the +broadsword, had been passed through all manner of pierceables; when, +enraged at being foiled of his prey when so nearly securing it, Clavers +ordered the hut to be set on fire, and the old hunks to be thrown into +the midst of it. "As to this young chick," said he, giving her chin a +rude blow upwards, "why, I do not know that I shall burn her till +Halloween, and then she will skip and flame on the hearth-stane amongst +the nuts." + +No sooner said than done--the house was immediately set fire to at all +the four corners, whilst the brutal soldiery stood round watching, and +making sport of some mice, whom their instinct led to escape. Marion +Morrison was actually in the rude hands of the soldiers, when fear of +the consequences, or, it may be, something resembling humanity, led +Clavers to give orders to let the b---- live, to plague the whole +village for half a century to come. + +In the meantime, Mr Robert Ramsay, the manager of the lead-mines, +appeared, to remonstrate with Clavers for his very unhandsome treatment +of the women, and his destruction of property which belonged to the +family of Hopetoun. It being the time, too, when the workmen shifted +their labours, the hill-side poured forth, its fifties and hundreds, as +if it had actually teemed with life. Clavers and his men were +immediately surrounded with a grim and an incensed crowd, headed by +their much-esteemed manager--the father, as was afterwards the case, of +the celebrated Allan Ramsay, who thus celebrates the place of his +birth-- + + "Of Crawford Moor--born in Leadhill-- + Where mineral springs Glengonner fill, + Which joins sweet-flowing Clyde, + Between auld Crawford Lindsay's towers + And where Duneaton rapid pours + His stream to Glotta's tide." + +In vain did Ramsay remonstrate with Clavers. He boasted his Orders in +Council; defied all remonstrance; ordered his men to charge; and, +firing on the crowd right and left, made his escape to the hills. +Providentially no one was even hurt; and it was strongly suspected that, +knowing he had already rather exceeded his commission, he had ordered +the dragoons to charge without ball-cartridge. After this affair was +over, the district was freed, for a time, from the hateful presence of +the King's troops, as they were known to be occupied on a similar office +in Annandale, and the higher district of Nithsdale. + +Thomas Harkness being duly informed of his safety, came forth from his +hiding, which was nearly covered over by spret and long heather, and was +welcomed (though not without apprehension) to the manager's dwelling, +which stood then, where the manager's house still stands, in the midst +of the town, and was and still is surrounded by trees--the only ones to +be seen for many miles around. The old woman, Marion Morrison, with her +bonny May, were likewise taken home to the same hospitable dwelling, +till some arrangement could be made, with the generous and noble-minded +family of Hopetoun, for their future accommodation. Mr Robert Ramsay was +a young, unmarried man of family--as his name implies--and he felt the +impropriety of keeping a young, unmarried woman under his roof. Whether +it was that he and May understood each other before this time, or that +their unexpected juxtaposition, now accelerated the consummation, I know +not; but so it was, that, in a few days, preparations were agoing +forward of a somewhat demonstrative nature. A fine black-faced sheep was +killed; ale barrels were seen travelling up Glengonner; four dozen of +good port wine were placed on the sideboard, whilst a cask of strong +Nantz brandy slept quietly beneath. On Sabbath, the names of Robert +Ramsay and May Douglas, both of this parish, were read aloud by the +precentor, schoolmaster, and manager's clerk; and the Friday following +was fixed upon for the marriage. + +Any festivity amongst these congregated children of the mountains, is +anticipated by them with peculiar relish and excitement. Miles beneath +the ground, the voice of joy and jest, and colloquy, penetrated; and, +whilst the jumper penetrated the rock, and the hammer fell ponderous and +frequent, the tongue was not idle, and the heart was not sad. Every one +spoke well of the bride; most of them knew her father and esteemed him. +Old Marion, to be sure, was a _quisquis_ character; but then, she was +now to be the manager's stepmother, honest man; and it was deemed that, +if ever old Marion had dealt with the old gentleman, she would now +prefer the young one. The long-looked-for, wished-for day, at last +arrived, and the nonconforming minister of the parish of Crawford--the +godly Mr Austin--was brought from his retreat, at the town of Douglas, +to perform the marriage ceremony. All was gay as a marriage bell; the +men had a full holiday, by order of Lord Hopetoun, with full wages, on +the occasion. They, with their wives and daughters, were all arranged on +the green plot in front of the manager's house; whilst viands, of a most +substantial nature, were served out to them in abundance--amongst which, +sheep-heads, haggises, and Irish stews, were not forgotten. The tankards +circulated; the wine was handed round in queghs and skuties, or timber +shells; and brandy followed in abundance. The heart of the poor labourer +was gladdened, whilst, glowing as it did with gratitude and kindly +feeling, it was made better; and the young and handsome couple walked +round amongst the people with pride and honest delight. One mother was +sad, because her son lay still in a bed of sickness. He had fallen when +wounded (as was before mentioned) on the hill, and having been shot +through the knee-joint, his wound was long of healing--still there was a +certainty that, though lame for life, he would not die of the injury, +and the mother ventured out, though with a clouded aspect. A Highland +bagpiper made his appearance, (probably from a previous arrangement,) +and, having taken his seat and his draught-- + + "He screwed his pipes, and gart them skirl, + Till glen and mountain a' did dirl." + +The lads sprung to their feet-- + + "Wi' wooer babs + At their blue-bonnet lugs." + + "The lasses--bonny witches-- + Were a' dressed up in aprons clean, + And braw white Sunday mutches." + +So to it they went; and round and round the green they reeled it, and +country-danced it, and shouted it, and flapped it, and jumped it--and + + "Haverel Jean her hanging stocking ties, + And to the dance with maddening fury flies," + +till nature could hold out no longer, and wearied limbs were stretched +out full length on the soft greensward. In the meantime, _in_ came two +pilgrims from the Holy Land, and they spoke of Eastern lands and Eastern +manners; and, being wearied with travel, they behoved to partake of the +cheer. Next to them succeeded Auld Glenae, tied all round with straw +ropes, and making love to every bonny lassie present, clapping the old +women on the back, and kissing the young lassies. Even Thomas Harkness +has laid aside, for a season, his nonconformity, and absolutely foots it +away with old Marion Morrison. Laughter goes round in peals, and punch +in pailfuls; and the jolly god shakes his sides as he contemplates his +happy worshippers. Never did Mount Nysa resound to more genuine +revelment. But whom have we here? A horseman--a dragoon! Let me look +through the trees. Oh, my God! we are surrounded by a troop of horse, +and all means of resistance of escape is cut off from us! Clavers +advances very coolly into the midst of the festive circle; and, making +his obeisance in the most polite manner, takes up a full tankard, and +drinks to the health of the new-married couple--nay, nothing will serve +him but he must dance a reel with the bride, who, though reluctant, is +forced to comply. Then, turning round, in the most playful manner, to Mr +Robert Ramsay-- + +"I know," said he, "you are an honest man, and a true, and trouble +yourself mighty little with conformity or nonconformity; and, therefore, +my business is not with you. As to you, Mr Austin, your day is coming; +but the pear is not ripe yet. I have my eyes upon you; and the first +conventicle which you hold at the old town of Douglas shall seal your +fate. At present, you are free. But with you, Mr Thomas Lockerben, I +must hold some private communing; and, with the permission of this jolly +company, and with all thanks to our hospitable entertainers, we shall +now withdraw. Soldiers, see the prisoner secured, and his hands tied +firm behind his back. Bundle him up there behind the sergeant. One file +on each side, and one behind! All ready! March!" + +The next appearance which poor Thomas Harkness made was in the +Grassmarket of Edinburgh, where he emitted the testimony to be found in +Wodrow--(Burns' edition, vol. iv., p. 68.) + + + + +XXIII.--THE SHOES REVERSED. + + +The banks of the Liddel are green, peaceful, and productive. The stream +itself is all which a pastoral stream ever ought to aspire to: it is +neither turbid nor calm; neither precipitous nor sluggish. When chafed, +indeed, by the flood, it can assert, and boldly, its independence; and +sometimes, just by way of showing its strength and general forbearance, +you may see a hay-stack, or a stray sheep, floating on the railway of +its current. But, in general, it winds its course along a narrow, +indeed, but a sweet pastoral valley, with all becoming moderation, and +even modesty--retiring occasionally, like the coquette in Virgil, _ad +salices_, and, like her, too, _cupiens ante videri_; now passing from +behind a steep, and again trotting it off in graceful and visible +windings. Yet, peaceful and beautiful as this Scottish Tempe now is, it +was for ages the scene of rapine, blood, and battle--of all those Border +feuds which, from age to age, concentrated on this point, till the +waters of the Liddel ran red, and its green banks were dyed with the +blood of vassal and lord, of Scotchman and Englishman, of Douglas, Hume, +Howard, Graham, and Percy. During these bold and stirring times, +characters were formed which remained long after reiving had ceased. The +Elliot, the Armstrong, the Jardine, and the Johnstone, entailed upon +their posterity a spirit of fearless independence and wassail +hospitality, which remains, though in a greatly diluted state, to this +hour. At the time to which this narrative points, it was still in full +vigour; and the incidents of the story are illustrative of such a +character. + +The property of Whithaugh has been in the possession of the ancestors of +the venerable and kind-hearted present proprietor for at least four +centuries. Its produce has always been sufficient for the necessaries, +and even some of the luxuries of life; and, what is somewhat singular, +no miser and no spendthrift has ever increased or diminished its extent. +What it was in the days of James V. of Scotland, (who once lodged a +night in the mansion-house,) it continues to be. The rental may be +somewhat about L. 600 per annum; and, with the income free and +unincumbered, the present proprietor is just as rich as he wishes to be, +and can afford to exercise that immemorial bias towards hospitality for +which the Elliots of Whithaugh are, and have always been, quite +celebrated. My tale--which is, indeed, too true in all its general +outline--I heard, a few years ago, from old Elliot himself, in the +presence of the worthy minister of Castleton, my old and good friend, +the Rev. Mr Barton, to whom I can safely appeal for the truth of the +facts related. + +Sir James Johnstone of Westerhall was a well-known persecutor during the +reign of the detestable Second Charles; and, as his mansion was at no +great distance from Liddesdale, he treated himself occasionally to a +Border chase, as he termed it--riding with a troop of dragoons up and +down the dale, levying heavy fines, and shooting occasionally, a stray +son of the Covenant, as he fled to the cave or the morass. In one of +these excursions Johnstone encountered the Laird of Whithaugh's poor, +fatuous brother, who had, by some means, escaped into the mountains from +the hands of a stout man, to whose care and protection the inoffensive, +but perfectly fatuous creature was committed. Archy Elliot (known in the +neighbourhood by the familiar designation, "_A but_ Archy," from his +commencing every sentence with the words "A but") had wandered into a +mountain dell; and, at last, unable to extricate himself, he had sat +down to rest him upon a rock, which overhung a small stream, over which +the branches of the rowan tree, or mountain ash, were spread. Johnstone +and his party were in quest, at the time, of poor Gilbert Watson, +against whom the curate of the parish of Applegirth had lodged an +information, on the score of his having got his child baptized by the +lately ousted minister of the parish. Gilbert had been compelled to +betake him to the mountain passes on this account, and was supposed to +have taken up his abode in what was called "Fox Den," on the water of +Tarras. Johnstone immediately dismounted from his horse, (upon seeing +the figure of a man by the stream-side,) and, with two dragoons to +assist him, proceeded to descend into the hollow where poor Archy +Elliot was seated. + +"Hollo!" vociferated Johnstone, in a loud and harsh tone of +voice--"hollo! brother brush-the-heather, what have we here? A Bible, no +doubt, and a psalm-tune, and Covenanting dirge, made up of profanity and +high treason in equal proportions. Stir your stumps, old Gibby! Ye're +wanted, man, by the guidwife. She can get nae rest without you; and the +vile, roaring _get_ which ye sae lately made a Christian o', took a +taste o' the caller air this morning at the top o' Sergeant Pagan's +sword. Look, man! glour, man!--you, Gibby, wi' or without the +_girds_--there's the blood o' the yelping brat on the sword yet. Pat +Pagan tells me it won't come off; so we'll e'en see if the Tarras water +winna wash it oot"--pulling the sword out of the hands of the grim +sergeant, and swinging it backwards and forwards in the adjoining pool. + +In the meantime, Daft Archy had sprung to his feet, and was staring +wildly at the company by which he was surrounded. + +"A but, man--a but, man--I'm Archy, ye ken--Archy Elliot, ye ken--a but, +no kill Archy--a but--a but--a but!" &c. + +"None of your Whiggery slang here, ye manting, shamming fool! D'ye think +we dinna see that all this foolery is put on, man? D'ye think we dinna +ken Gibby Watson o' the Goosedub? Men, do your duty, and secure the +traitor!" + +Thus saying, the dragoons were proceeding to execute their orders, when +one of them interfered, and assured his Honour that he was mistaken in +the person--for this was the daft brither o' the Laird o' Whithaugh, +"owre by yonder." + +"Elliot o' Whithaugh!" exclaimed Johnstone, with a demoniacal grin. +"Auld, canting, traitor-hiding Elliot! I have a good mind to set his +house in a lunt about his lugs, and toss this lump of idiocy into the +fire, just to beet the flame. Tie the creature with cords to a tree, +and let us proceed to Elliot's of Whithaugh. It is a thousand to one +that 'Gibby God-be-thanked' is not snugly lodged in the laird's pantry; +or, maybe, luggit into the heart o' a peat-stack." + +Altogether reckless of the screams and struggles of the poor innocent, +away the party scampered, as if on a holiday excursion, towards the old +house of Whithaugh. It had rained hard over night, and the Liddel was +running dark, smooth, and foam-belled. Instead, however, of going about +a mile round by the old stone bridge, the whole party dashed at once +fearlessly into the swollen stream, and made furiously forward towards +the opposite bank. The bank however was steep; and, as Sergeant Pagan's +horse was trying to clear an ascent of some feet, it fairly fell back, +with its rider beneath, into the turbid and boiling water. At once rider +and man were tumbled over by the flood, and lodged in a deep pool under +a steep cliff, some yards lower down. The horse and man, for some time, +seemed entangled with each other; but, at last, the horse escaped, and +made for the further shore, which was shelvy and hard. The man was never +again seen alive. His body was afterwards found some miles lower down. +Having ascertained that one of his troop--one of the most tried and +trustworthy--in other words, of the most cruel and daring--had paid the +forfeit of his own temerity, Johnstone uttered a curse or two in +reference to the departed's soul, and swore that he would make old +Whithaugh suffer for this. Up, accordingly, the band trotted towards the +front door, which faced southward upon a green lawn. But, upon demanding +entrance, he was told from a window that none would be permitted. In +fact, the party had been seen advancing, and their purpose guessed at; +and Whithaugh had resolved, by the assistance of two stout sons, an only +daughter of singular beauty, and nearly half-a-dozen ploughmen, to +defend Gilbert Watson and his own premises by force. This altered +somewhat the aspect of things; and Johnstone, after bestowing his usual +allowance of curses upon the old man, the house, and all its inmates, +drew from his pocket what he termed a "Lauderdale," or high commission, +by which he was entitled to search out, sack, and if necessary, put to +the sword all manner of traitors and conventiclers in these parts. +Having read as it were the "riot act," he was proceeding to open the +front door by force, when poor Archy was heard fast approaching under +the conduct of his keeper. + +"A but, a but," said Archy--"a but--no kill, no kill--ah, but tie--ah, +but tie--tree! tree! tree!"--pointing to the trees which surrounded the +green. + +"Give the old cutter a broadside," said Johnstone, retreating from the +door to give freedom to the men; and immediately the whole front windows +were lying in shining fragments inside and outside of the apartments. +Luckily, seeing the preparation that was made, everybody had stood aside +from the windows, and no one in the house was injured. His keeper had a +strong hold of Archy, and was endeavouring to keep him out of harm's +way, by thrusting his back against a tree in the orchard, when, by a +sudden effort, he escaped, and, armed with a pitchfork, which he had +found in the stack-yard, he rushed instantly upon the assailants, +lodging the weapon in the flanks of one of the trooper's horses, ere his +rider could turn him round. This so incensed the soldier, that he +instantly pulled out his holster pistol, and shot the poor half-witted +creature through the head. He fell, repeating his well-known +exclamation, "a but," and was dead in an instant. + +Seeing how matters were going on without, old Whithaugh, who had +hitherto acted merely upon the defensive, discharged a fowling-piece, +which he had ready loaded, at the captain of the band. The ball grazed +his bridle hand, and blood followed the slight injury. This so incensed +the leader that he immediately ordered the stack-yard and out-houses to +be set fire to, vowing that if the traitor were not given up, he would +burn down the Ha' house likewise, and not leave a combustible unconsumed +about the steading. Already had the poor cattle begun to roar at the +stake, and the hens and turkeys to escape from the flaming stack-yard, +when out Whithaugh issued, surrounded by his resolute supporters, armed +with grapes, pitchforks, and such other lethal weapons as the place and +the occasion admitted of. Seeing matters come to this pass, poor +Gilbert, who had actually been built up into a hay-stack, the farther +extremity of which was now on fire, immediately sprung forth, and, +throwing himself betwixt the combatants, called aloud for an armistice, +and at once offered to surrender. Meanwhile, the fair but distracted +Helen Elliot rushed likewise betwixt the parties, and prayed, on her +knees, that her father's grey hairs might be spared. This somewhat +altered the state of matters. The cattle were got extricated from the +burning--in some cases the flames were extinguished--and, Johnstone +having gained his object, though at the expense of life and much +valuable property, gave orders for a retreat. Placing poor Gilbert +Watson, upon a dragoon's saddle, in a very inconvenient position, whilst +the rider sat comfortably in the saddle behind him, and bestowing some +extravagant, but unwelcome praises upon the personal charms of fair +Helen--the whole party, with the exception of the wounded horse, which +was speared to death, and the man who had lost his life in the water, +marched up the dale, being resolved that, now at least, they should not +risk their lives in the swollen flood. There stood at this time, and +probably there stands still, a little public-house at the bridge, and +about half a mile from the manse of Castleton. Into this public-house +the party betook themselves to refresh, whilst the curate of Castleton +was sent for, to have an interview with Johnstone, to whom he was +intimately known, and to whom he had often given private information +respecting the poor HIDING people, who fled to the mountain and glen, +and the moss and the cave, for life and for conscience-sake. This curate +of Castleton was a somewhat singular personage in appearance. He gave +one a pretty correct idea of AEsop. He was a little bandy-legged body, +with a large aquiline nose, a hunched back, and a most sinister squint. +His church, indeed, was deserted, unless by the family in the small +change-house, and one or two farmers, who, for fear of suspicion and +consequent spoliation, were in the habit of occasionally attending. He, +like his neighbours of the curacy, had been imported, _ready made_, from +Aberdeen, with all its strange dialect, and all its stranger leanings to +oppression and Episcopacy. Just at the moment when Johnstone's messenger +arrived at the manse, then situated high up the hill, upon the brink of +a precipice, the curate was in private converse with a person who was +giving him the important information, that a conventicle was this very +evening to be held at the Dead-Water--a large mountain-moss, situated on +the Borders, and giving rise to the river Tyne on the one side, and the +Liddel on the other. This information having been obtained, the curate, +commonly designated Clatterwallet, hastened away, in company with +Johnstone's messenger, for the Brig change-house. An interview with +Johnstone was immediately obtained; and, in a few minutes, orders were +given to his men to hold themselves in readiness to march. Meanwhile, +the prisoner, Watson, was put under the guardianship of a dragoon, and +lodged in a small byre attached to the gavel of the dwelling-house. +Several attempts were made by _seeming_ travellers, to get the soldier +withdrawn from his station, but they proved ineffectual. Meantime, the +night began to darken in, with a soft-falling snow shower, which +rendered the ground all white around. Poor Gilbert Watson had said his +prayers, sung the 121st Psalm, and was preparing to rest himself, with a +cow and her calf for his companions, when he thought he heard a voice +whispering to him from the roof of the thatched byre. It was indeed a +voice, and a friendly one; for it said, "_Here! Here!_" A staff was +thrust through a small aperture in the thatch. Gilbert moved towards the +place, and heard, in whispers exceedingly low, that an opening in the +roof was about to be made for his escape. Meanwhile, Gilbert kept +constantly moving about, so that the watch at the door might be assured +that he was still in his keeping. All at once, when a hole large enough +had been made, Gilbert was pulled up by the arms and shoulders, and +carried on the back of a strong man, with amazing velocity down the +glen. The soldier had heard the noise which this occasioned, and +immediately hailed his prisoner. No answer being returned, he entered, +and discovered at once the trick which had been played upon him. He +immediately _rounded_ the byre; but, in doing so, felt his feet +entangled in a strong rope, which, when he had put down his hands to +disentangle, he was caught by the waist in a strong fox-trap. This made +him roar aloud for help; but ere the innkeeper could give him the +desired assistance, the prisoner had considerable time to escape. In +fact, in noiseless speed, the strong man had borne Gilbert to a +considerable distance, and then setting him down, he _untied his shoes, +and putting the heels foremost, fastened them, thus reversed, by strings +to his feet_. "Now," said the voice, in parting--"now for +Castle-Hermitage and its dungeon! till to-morrow morning, when +assistance will be rendered." And, saying thus, the strong man took his +immediate departure, and disappeared amongst the woods. Poor Gilbert did +as he was instructed, and, in about an hour, reached the dismal solitude +of Castle-Hermitage. There, on some straw which still remained from the +time when poor Sir Alexander Ramsay of Dalhousie had been starved to +death by Sir William Douglas, did this poor persecuted man remain till +the following morning. In the meantime, Johnstone having discovered that +he had been sent on a fool's errand, and that no such meeting was about +to take place, as the curate had been advertised of, at the +Dead-Water-Moss, returned in no very good humour--first, to the manse of +Castleton, from which he proposed ejecting the curate over the +precipice, which lay underneath his window, and then, about midnight, to +the inn at the Brig-end of Liddel Water. Here his rage was converted +into fury at the trick which had now manifestly been played upon him; +and he stamped, and swore, and blasphemed during the remainder of the +night; drinking, however, and eating mutton ham, by turns, and warning +his man that, so soon as day broke, they should give chase to the old +fox. Day broke, and chase was given. Some were dismissed in one +direction, and some in another; and, as the snow had been undisturbed +from the time of the escape till morning, it was naturally guessed that +the footsteps of the pursued might still be traced. Accordingly, +Johnstone, with three of his men, set out in the track from the back of +the byre, and made sure work of it till they came to the bottom of the +glen--their footsteps were confused, and the party seemed to have made +off towards Whithaugh. Having, however, despatched a strong body to +trace those footsteps, Johnstone and his men rode immediately over the +rising ground, and came down at once on the old towers of +Castle-Hermitage. Here the truth appeared to be manifest. There were +double footsteps--those of one approaching and one departing--and the +inference was immediately drawn, that the pursued had betaken himself to +the castle keep, but had again effected his escape. In fact, the strong +man of last evening had advanced, towards morning, with provisions and +refreshment to the dungeon; and his shoes being nailed and formed very +much like those of Gilbert, they very naturally took the two +foot-prints, the one advancing and the other retreating, for one--and +off they set at full gallop--whilst Gilbert and one of Whithaugh's +ploughmen made the best of their way in the opposite direction, and +ultimately separated within sight of Hawick--the honest ploughman +returning, not a little satisfied with his dexterity to the broad and +fertile acres of Whithaugh; whilst Gilbert Watson ultimately reached +some friends who lived in the Cowgate of Edinburgh--by which means he +escaped. + +The shoes which contributed so greatly to the escape of Gilbert Watson, +were presented as a memorial to the family of Elliot, and are still +shown to the curious in such matters, by the present hospitable and +worthy proprietor of Whithaugh. It was remarked, that, after this +unfortunate _raid_, Johnstone became morose and peevish, beyond his +usual; seemed to suffer great mental agony; and was one morning found +dead in his bed. Helen Elliot, the fair maid of Whithaugh, was wooed and +won by a Charteris of Empsfield; and from her are the present honourable +family of that title descended. So ends my Hysteron Proteron or, "the +Shoes Reversed." + + + + +THE LOST HEIR OF THE HOUSE OF ELPHINSTONE.[2] + + +[Footnote 2: This tale is the production of the Rev. George Thomson, +"the happy Dominie Thomson of the happy days of Abbotsford," as Lockhart +designates him in the last volume of his "Life of Scott," when alluding +to the sad inroads of death into the family circle where Thomson had +been Tutor for many years. He was a son of the late minister of Melrose, +and much respected for his sterling worth, amiability, and sound +learning--particularly noted, also, for the eccentricity of his wit, and +the humour of his sayings and doings. The above, and another tale, are, +so far as I can learn, the only contributions to literature by the +amanuensis of Scott.--ED.] + +"There are few men," says a peculiar moralist, "however much they may +have been loved and esteemed in their day, whose return to life, after +any considerable interval, would not be regarded with feelings of +regret." In this observation there is some truth. The places once +occupied by the departed have been supplied by others; their return to +life would be regretted by those whom they would "push from their +stools;" and it may be very well believed that, if the rightful heir of +a great estate were to make his appearance in life, after having been +long lost and regarded as dead, the feelings of the person whom he would +supplant, whose possessions, prerogatives, and ostensibility, he would +take away, would not be particularly pleasant. But, when no personal +interests are at stake, and no feelings of malign selfishness are +awakened, there are few things from which a person well constituted in +heart and mind, will derive a more vivid delight, or a more exquisite +excitement, than the return, and an unexpected meeting with, a long lost +and long absent friend. Mark, in proof, the stare of astonishment, the +eyes eagerly looking into each other, while the mind gradually opens +into recognition, and such exclamations as, "Guide me! it's no +possible! can this be really you?--eh, it's lang since I hae seen +ye!--hoo hae ye been a' this time?" In no place are such feelings more +vivid, or such exclamations more rife, than on the Scottish Borders, +whose good-humoured natives have always been distinguished for +enterprising energy, as well as warmth of heart, producing a disposition +both to rove and to return. + +On the east coast--somewhere between Berwick and St Abb's Head--a +village is situated at the mouth of a small stream, which gives it an +immediate access to, and egress from the open sea. Its harbour does not +admit vessels of any considerable burthen; but there is good anchorage +ground in the offing, and its situation being favourable for the +irregular discharge of a cargo, it is said to have been, in former +times, notorious for the contraband trade. It continued to enjoy an +honourable prosperity, however, after this infamous and most pernicious +traffic had been put down by the vigilance of government, owing to its +permanent local advantages. The chief employment of its inhabitants is +fishing; and its coasting trade is considerable, affording to the +tenantry of the adjoining country a ready market for farm produce of all +kinds--grazing, pastoral, and agricultural. In this village, long before +the formation of those regularly constituted clubs which now exist in +every considerable market town, a number of persons, whom business had +brought together, used to hold regular meetings in the evening of the +market day. These meetings, of which, when a young man, I was a constant +attender, were generally composed of nearly the same persons, who, by +tacit agreement, used to assemble at the same time and in the same +place; one particular apartment of the principal inn being always +reserved for their use. On these occasions, there was much innocent +enjoyment and little variety. In allusion to the chief avocations of the +persons present, and the commodities which formed the staple of the +market, it was customary to give, as the toast of the evening-- + + "The life of man, the death of fish, + The boat, the crook, the plough; + Horn, corn, lint, and yarn, + Flax, and tarry woo." + +The chief transactions of the day having been talked over, and the party +having gradually diminished as the evening advanced, to a few intimates +who dwelt in the immediate neighbourhood, many a tale, anecdote, and +legend used to be told, while the glass circled round. The appetite for +legendary lore, orally delivered, had not begun to abate in the days of +my youth. + +I remember well a particular evening in which many stories were told, of +"hair-breadth 'scapes," strange coincidences, and remarkable incidents +of various kinds; but gene rally connected with the departure and return +of Scottish adventurers. Mr Plainworth, and the patient butt of his +playful humour, Mr Wonderlove, two respectable Septuagenarians, and the +venerable fathers of the club, occupied, as usual, the two arm chairs +which stood one on each side of the fire. At length, after having been +long a silent listener, Mr Plainworth stated that an incident as +remarkable as any that had yet been told, had occurred in the very +apartment in which we were sitting, and when he himself was present. +"Did any of you," said he, "know the late William Elphinstone, Esq.?" + +"I for one knew him well, for a most excellent and worthy man," said +Wonderlove; "and his family is said to be the first of their line that +ever did well. I have heard of a dule (doom) which was formerly laid +upon that house, by a mother cursing, in the anguish of her heart, and +on her bare knees, the bearing of which was, that the sword would never +be off the race, till their pride had been humbled--till their head had +wedded a maiden of low degree." + +"That," said Plainworth, "I regarded as a mere folly of the olden time. +Some aggravated case of seduction, in which family pride was exhibited, +and innocence ruined and forsaken, had suggested the idea of a suitable +doom, which was supposed to hang over the house; or a curse may have +been pronounced under such awful circumstances; and as there would be no +black and white upon the matter, its import and bearing might easily be +made to correspond with subsequent events. An obliquity of +disposition--a transmitted depravity of character--will sometimes be +hereditary for two or three generations in a particular race; on the +removal of which, the evils to which, by natural consequence, it had +led, and which might seem to flow from a hereditary fatality or doom, +will also pass away. The fortunes of the house of Elphinstone seem to +have improved with the improved character of the race." + +"You are a deep thinker, Mr Plainworth," said the other; "but it is +well-known that, for a long period of time, the sword never was off that +house. Deeply involved in the troubles that preceded and followed the +civil wars, they always came off with the worst. Some fell in battle; +some bled on the scaffold; and when others ceased to kill them, they +began to put an end to themselves." + +"You allude," said Plainworth, "to the death of Edward Elphinstone, the +brother of the laird. Poor unhappy young man! I knew him well." + +"Sir," said Wonderlove, "I could tell you of a strange thing, which I +cannot help thinking is somehow connected with his death. I was +acquainted with the son of the parish minister. He and his father had +occasion to go down to the churchyard, on account of something which had +gone wrong with the cattle. A loud scream was heard at the west-end of +the church, in a little while followed by another. The son, who hurried +forward to see what was the matter, beheld a light streaming from the +window of the Elphinstone aisle; and, on looking in, he could perceive +a human figure, lying on the central grave-stone, under a white sheet. +He stood and gazed till, from below the white sheet, another scream came +pealing exactly like the two he had heard before; and then he ran back +in terror to his father, and both made the best of their way home. Next +morning, Edward Elphinstone was found dead in the neighbouring woods. He +had fired his own gun through his head, by means of a string attached to +the trigger, and passed round the butt end. Now, sir, what is your +opinion as to that?" + +"I would say," replied Plainworth, "that it must have been the poor +youth stretching himself in life, in the place where he was shortly to +lie dead--put down, alas! by his own hand--one of the strange fancies of +a mind meditating suicide, and therefore labouring under a degree of +frenzied excitement. Had he been conveyed home, the catastrophe might +have been prevented." + +"An admirable explanation," said the other, "and a true." + +"What!" cried Plainworth, "and is Wonderlove so ready to give up such a +likely and well-authenticated tale of diablerie? Well, in return for +your candour, I assure you that William Elphinstone, the first of the +line who seems to have been freed from the dread hereditary doom, really +did marry 'a maiden of low degree.' I was his friend, and the confidant +of his innocent and honourable love." + +"And the thing you mean to tell us of--does it concern him?" asked +Wonderlove. + +"It does, as you shall hear," replied Plainworth. "After the death of +Edward, the second son," continued Plainworth, "there remained of the +family of Elphinstone, only the Laird, and William, the youngest son, my +particular friend. The health of the laird had been irreparably injured, +both by early excesses, and by a fall which he got from his horse while +hunting. After this accident, his life was despaired of; and, although +he partially recovered, his constitution, owing to an injury in the +head, was ruined for ever. A cousin, who would have succeeded to the +estates, failing him and his brother, made various abortive attempts to +sow dissension between them; which, being ascribed to their true motive, +caused the laird to hate him most cordially. To defeat the crooked +policy of this bad man, he was anxious to keep William at home; and he +endeavoured to effect a marriage between him and an heiress of good +family, great fortune, and greater expectations. The lady was +favourable--her friends not less so. But William had placed his +affections in a lower sphere. He had long loved the only daughter of a +Mr Constant, the humble proprietor of about fifty acres of poor land, +called Sanditofts. Mary Constant was a young woman who had everything to +recommend her, except fortune. William had succeeded in gaining her +heart; but, with a noble disinterestedness, she persisted in +discouraging his addresses to herself, and did her utmost to prevail on +him to gratify his elder brother, by preferring the more advantageous +match. + +"Of this ground of difference, the first which had existed between the +brothers, the wicked cousin endeavoured to make the most. He contrived +to have unworthy suspicions of the innocent object of William's love, +insinuated into the mind of the laird; and that there might be some +foundation for these suspicions, the fiend had insidiously pointed her +out to the notice of a Sir Charles Ranger--a man of fashion and +profligate manners, who happened at the time to be resident in this part +of the country. Observing something peculiar in William's manner one +day, I wrung from him the secret cause, which was, that he had been +given to understand that Mary was in the habit of receiving, and with +encouragement, the attentions of Sir Charles. 'If that should be true,' +said he, with a sigh, 'how inconsistent in a creature who, in mind as +well as in person, seems to be all perfection!' On my demanding his +authority, he stated that his brother had been his first informer, who +had got his information from one lady, who had got it from another, and +so on; but that he thought he had been able, very nearly, to run up the +slander to his cousin, with whom it must have originated." + +"'What can be the villain's motive?' cried I, indignantly. + +"'Evidently,' said he, 'to give my brother an unfavourable opinion of +Mary, that he may be induced to set his face, like flint, against my +being united to her in marriage; in which case he may anticipate that +such a quarrel might arise between him and me as would admit of no +reconciliation; and that, as I might then have to lead the precarious +unsettled life of an adventurer, the extinction of the elder branch of +the family would become more likely. That may be his policy, for, in my +brother's infirm state, I am certainly the chief obstruction to his hope +of eventually succeeding to the family inheritance; but why speculate +about the motives of such a man? I beat him soundly on the occasion you +know of, when he attempted to do me ill offices with my brother.' + +"'Beat him, did you?' cried I. + +"'That I did,' said he, 'and with right good will. I began with mild +expostulation, which was all I intended at first; but his shameless +attempts at justification, and at maintaining the character of a mutual +friend, made him appear so vile in my eyes, that I threw him on the +ground, told him that I would make an impression on his body, if not on +his mind, and beat him with a sapling, till I had tired my arm, rather +than exhausted my wrath." + +"'He well deserved all he got,' said I; 'but a mind like his will never +forgive a blow--far less a long succession of blows, most energetically +laid on--although he may not have the spirit to show his resentment +openly.' + +"'He hates me from his soul,' said he, 'while he fawns upon me; and he +well knows that to let fly an envenomed shaft at poor Mary, is the +likeliest way to give me a deadly wound.' + +"'You have acted most rashly towards him,' said I; 'for he is a dark, +deep, dangerous man; the deadly enmity of such as he ought never to be +unnecessarily provoked; under the sting of a reptile will a lion die.' + +"'He is indeed a reptile,' replied he, 'whom I pity and despise, and +whom you will have some difficulty in persuading me to fear. I am not +free,' he added with perceptible agitation, 'I am not free from the +hereditary imperfection of our ill-fated race; but I endeavour to +restrain my mind by those means by which the mind can best be +restrained. As for the inheritance of our house, which seems to excite +my wretched cousin's cupidity, I could almost wish he had it, with the +hereditary curse along with it; so that I had only a moderate +competence, with God's blessing, a peaceful mind, and Mary's love.' + +"A few days after the above conversation took place, as William +Elphinstone and I were sauntering about, without any particular object, +who should we see coming over the hill but Mary herself, along with Sir +Charles Ranger? 'Now, Elphinstone,' said I, on observing them, 'keep +your temper, and don't allow yourself to be flung off your guard--that +is indeed Sir Charles; but the meeting has been unintentional on Mary's +part. The poor girl could not drive such an intruder away, as easily as +the wind would a piece of thistle-down.' + +"'They are walking wide apart, on opposite sides of the road,' said he, +with considerable emotion. + +"As we moved towards them, keeping on the inside of a hedge, which +afforded us concealment, we lost sight of them for a little while; but, +on turning a corner, they again came in view. She was evidently walking +too fast for her gallant attendant; and William seemed to be amused with +his efforts to maintain his fashionable swagger at the unusual pace. As +we continued to follow them unobserved, we could see him in several +instances come over to her side of the road; but she always crossed to +the other, and quickened her pace. At length having come to a turn of +the road, where Sir Charles perhaps thought that he behoved either to +desist, or to make a bold effort, he sprung forward, and placed himself +before her, so as to obstruct her passage, and began to pour forth all +manner of professions, protestations, and unmeaning extravagances. Mary, +with indignation and disdain in her every look, peremptorily demanded to +be permitted to pass on unmolested. At length he went so far as to catch +her in his arms, earnestly imploring that she would give him for one +moment a hearing. Upon which she screamed in terror; and young +Elphinstone springing over the hedge, seized the unprincipled libertine +by the collar, and dashed him to the ground. On my coming forward, he +delivered the trembling girl into my care; and then turning to Sir +Charles, as he was attempting to rise, he quietly begged to know who it +was that had pointed out that young woman to him, as a fit person for +such as he to accost.' + +"'Well thought of, Elphinstone,' cried I; 'wring an answer to that +question out of him, one way or other.' + +"Mary did her utmost to put a stop to further violence, but I prevented +her from interfering, and encouraged William to proceed. Upon which, +fixing on his prostrate foe, a look, in which was expressed all the fire +of his race, he repeated his question. Sir Charles refused to +answer--William threatened! the one hesitated--the other kept holding +him down. At length, finding himself compelled to speak, Sir Charles +pronounced the name of William Elphinstone's cousin. + +"'All's well,' cried the latter, assisting him to rise. 'You may now go +away, sir; and if you should think that the punishment inflicted has +been in this case greater than the evil you have been able to do, you +will perhaps remember passages in your life, in which the balance was +the other way.' + +"As the baffled profligate withdrew, he tried to put on a menacing look, +and hinted that, as Elphinstone's conduct was dissonant to the usages of +society, he was determined to demand the satisfaction of a gentleman, +and that he should hear from him shortly. This threat, however, was +never put into effect; for, although bold enough toward an unprotected +female, he was not over-fond of confronting an antagonist such as +Elphinstone. + +"In excuse for our having continued violent measures ill-suited to her +presence, after protection had been afforded, I shewed to Mary, as we +were escorting her home, the importance of the disclosure which had been +wrung from Sir Charles, which would enable us to ascribe not merely the +insults to which she had been exposed, but also the slanders by which +her good name had been secretly assailed, to the malice of William's +cousin, whose name Sir Charles had been compelled to give up. I spoke, +also, of the distress which we had both had on her account for some time +past. Whenever she became aware of the painful fact, that she had been +an object of suspicion, she stopped, her features became agitated, and +she burst into tears. Nothing that we could say would pacify her--stung +to the heart with the anguish of offended female pride. When she had +somewhat recovered from this agitation, young Elphinstone began to press +his suit with impassioned earnestness; while Mary, on her part, +persisted in giving him no encouragement, but pointed out the great +advantages of the other match intended for him by his brother; and +extolled the lady as being far superior to herself in every respect. She +spoke firmly, but yet with the air of one who is rather acting on high +principle than from inclination. William had evidently a powerful +advocate in her heart. Long did she hesitate, nevertheless; and much did +she say about the impropriety of her allowing him to sacrifice to his +passion for her, the favour of his elder brother, and such great +expectations. But at last the lover's importunities were successful. +Mary--her countenance becoming pale and then crimson--faintly, yet +distinctly pronounced the words--'Speak to my father.' + +"Soon after this, we heard the sound of a horseman, who was coming up +behind us at a rapid trot. This was none other than Mr Elphinstone, the +brother of William, who began with accusing him of having acted in a +most ruffian-like manner toward Sir Charles Ranger, whom he had met, and +by whose representations a most unfavourable impression had been made +upon his mind. William attempted to explain; the former, however, would +not hear; but harshly added, with a look of cruel meaning, directed to +the most interesting person present--'I find you, sir, in most improper +society.' + +"William, forgetting himself for an instant, made a grasp at his +brother's rein, and also at his collar, saying--'Not one disrespectful +word, sir, of that young woman; a more innocent and a nobler the world +does not hold.' + +"'Unloose your hand from my rein and collar,' vociferated the elder +Elphinstone, fiercely; 'after this insolence, we can never meet more.' +With that he immediately rode off. + +"'The laird will soon be informed of the true state of matters,' said I, +soothingly; 'and he is not a man to retain his anger long.' + +"'This is the first time,' replied William, 'that a harsh word ever +passed between my brother and me; and I can only regret that our feud +should have originated in such a cause.' + +"The humble habitation of Mary now came in sight--a low cottage-looking +building, with agricultural appurtenances behind it--neat and +comfortable, though plain in its appearance, and betokening the +residence of a person in easy circumstances, who was not disposed to +live above his sphere. On our approaching the house, Mary's father came +out to welcome us; and, perceiving, from our appearance, that something +more than ordinary had happened, he looked inquiringly. Mary and her +lover entered the house, each, with a look, devolving the task of +explanation upon me; and, between Mr Constant and myself, a long +conversation followed, in which everything was told. Entering then the +house where he was anxiously waited for, he bent over the chair which +William Elphinstone occupied, and exclaimed--'My dear young man, accept +a father's thanks for the protection which ye have this day afforded to +his only child. As for what ye further intend, there are difficulties, +but none shall arise from me. Had ye been of our own sphere of life, +there is none in the country on whom I would have been more willing to +have bestowed my daughter.' + +"We spent the evening there; and I never saw William appear to such +advantage. If he could not raise his wife to the sphere in which he had +been bred and born, he was to go down contentedly into hers; to +constitute her happiness was to be the delight of his life. Mr +Constant--who had long esteemed him highly, but had never before seen +him open, throwing forth in rich profusion, the treasures of his noble +heart and vigorous understanding--was in amazement. As for Mary, her +heart seemed to be overflowing with happiness, while she contemplated, +with a woman's pride, the high qualities of the man who had chosen her +for his own. Every doubt as to the propriety of the momentous step which +she had taken, having been removed by her father's knowledge, +concurrence, and approbation-- + + "'----she, pleased, resigned + To tender feelings all her lovely mind.' + +"Next day, William sent to his brother a plain unvarnished statement of +all that had happened, expressed in a fair manly style--asking for +nothing, apologizing for nothing, and conceding nothing; and, after +having discharged this act of fraternal duty, he came and met me early +in the afternoon in the town here, for the purpose of bringing me back +with him to Sanditofts. It was the market day, and, wherever he went, +his old friends gathered in congratulating groups around him; for he was +a universal favourite. On our proposing to leave them, they absolutely +laid violent hands on us; and so having sent off a card to apologize, +and bring Mr Constant to meet us, we sat down along with them to their +usual dinner in this same room. I could easily see that poor William +would rather have been at Sanditofts, where his heart was; but, making a +virtue of necessity, he exerted himself to please, and was successful. +His affair with Sir Charles was brought on, or rather it insensibly +stole upon the carpet. One person accidentally made a very distant +allusion to it; a second reproved him for so doing; a third, a fourth, a +fifth made observations, pointing, though from afar, to what had +happened. Pleased and amused at the delicacy which was so visibly +restraining the general feeling, William threw open the subject at once, +by giving a modest statement of the whole affair. He added--'I would +have done as much for any other young woman under the like +circumstances; and what could I have done less for her who has been for +long the object of my fondest love--a love now sanctioned by her +father!' + +"The importance of this disclosure, and the deep pathos of his voice, +produced an instant silence, which was first broken by Mr Macquil, the +lawyer, who gave his opinion as to the legal bearings of the case. He +assured us that Sir Charles had no ground for an action whatsoever, +having been guilty of accosting rudely, and with evil intent, a lone +woman--the most sacred of all objects in the eye of the law. + +"'I remember a case,' said he, 'in which a rude person having merely +used, in female society, some expressions not suitable for a female ear, +a young officer of the army present, seized upon and twisted his nose. +Upon which an action was raised against the officer; and, the case +having come before the fifteen, sixpence of damages only was awarded, +with no expenses at all.' + +"Thus did the evening pass on, none of us apprehending that it was to +have such a woful termination. As the party separated, each, as he +retired, came and grasped William by the hand, testifying the highest +approbation of the part which he had acted, in simple warm-hearted +language. In these feelings, all the great proprietors around +participated. They are strictly moral, the _real_ gentry, and they have +noble hearts. They detested Sir Charles for his dissolute life; and they +suspected him of being, what he afterwards really proved to be, a ruined +profligate, flying from English creditors to this side of the Border. + +"All those members of the company whose homes were at any distance had +now retired; and the party had become such a one as we have at present. +The fine spirits which William had maintained throughout the evening, +had vanished; his attitude, and the expression of his countenance, had +become thoughtful and strangely sad; and I thought he looked fearfully +like his brother Edward. At length he started up from his reverie; and +I, approaching him, looked anxiously into his countenance, and asked him +how he did. He assured me that he had never been better in his +life--that he had never enjoyed so much of the best happiness which can +irradiate the heart. 'But,' said he, 'my quarrel with my brother hurts +me. I never loved him so much in my life as when that spark of his old +fire, which my rude grasp struck out of him, made him look so like what +he was in other days. And, Mary--to think of her having at length given +up her opposition to my wishes, in such a manner! Altogether, it is too +much for me; and I have been silly enough to allow shadowy imaginations +of evils, which may affect my relations with her and my poor brother, +and mar the happiness of us all, to disturb my ruminations. That is the +fact; and I apprehend that you, regarding my foolish features with +friendly anxiety, have been speculating thereon.' + +"This explanation, which agreed well with what I knew of the character +of his mind, in which there was not a little of an undue ascendency of +the imagination, seemed to me quite satisfactory; and I said to +him--'Everything is to go right; you and your brother will soon be +reconciled.' + +"'I am not entirely dependent on my brother,' said he; 'as I shall show +you all to-night, when we talk seriously over certain arrangements.' + +"'Where are you going just now?' said I to him, as he was moving toward +the door. + +"'Merely to have a look at the evening,' said he--'I will be back to you +in five seconds.' + +"Thus did he retire; and I, relieved from apprehensions which, in the +issue, seemed to be very like 'coming events casting their shadows +before,' fell fast asleep on resuming my chair. Meanwhile, Mr. Constant +came in and awoke me, to inquire after William. He told me that he had +received his card, but had been prevented from being with us earlier, by +a visit which he had received from Mr Elphinstone, the laird, who had +spent the day with them, and was with them still; and he gave me the +gratifying information that the letter which William had that day sent +to his brother had removed every bad impression from his mind, that, +instead of opposing his inclinations, he was anxious that his marriage +with Mary might take place as soon as possible; and that he was +impatient to see himself personally, that everything might be +satisfactorily arranged for it, and that they might be reconciled after +the unpleasant affair of yesterday, which, he said, was the only +serious difference they had ever had. + +"'I have just come down,' continued he, 'to bring you both to +Sanditofts, for that purpose.' + +"'In that case,' said I, 'every obstacle to my friend's happiness is +completely removed;' and I assured him that William had just gone out, +but that he would return immediately. He did not return, however, +although, as one of the company observed, he must have intended to do +so, his hat having been left behind him. After waiting for some minutes +longer, I became very uneasy; a feeling of apprehension began to steal +over my mind, and I hurried out to make inquiries, followed by Mr +Constant. On reaching the foot of the stairs, we were informed that +William had gone out by a back passage which led down to the sea-beach, +and we turned our steps thither. + +"The evening was pleasant. A gentle breeze was blowing off the land, and +a yellow radiance faintly tinging the east, and sharply cutting far the +black water in the offing, showed that the darkness was on the point of +being lightened by the rising of an unclouded moon. We proceeded onward, +my anxious friend and I, for a great way along the rocky margin of the +sea, until we gained a commanding station, and the moon more than +half-risen threw a clearer light upon our view. But no traces did we +discover of the object of our search. As a last resource, raising our +voices together, we shouted aloud the name of William. As we stood long +and anxiously listening, we became aware of a sound which came booming +over the water, and which after having been once heard, we could again +distinguish as it ever and anon recurred, at irregular intervals. While +looking toward the point from which these sounds seemed to come, we +beheld for an instant the upper spars of a two-masted lugger distinctly +pourtrayed on the face of the moon. She was so diminished by distance, +as not to do more than fill the moon's disk, and she seemed to be +crowding all sail. Shortly after the single mast of a fore-and-aft +rigged vessel, also under a press of canvass, was beheld in the same +way; and the smoke, curling in wreaths among her rigging, seemed to +indicate that it was from the latter vessel that the sounds which we +heard proceeded. + +"'I wonder,' said my companion, 'if that can have any connection with +the disappearance of Mr. William.' + +"'It's merely a revenue cutter,' replied I, 'in chase of some smuggling +vessel.' + +"Having returned to the apartment in the inn, we found the company still +assembled, and reported to them our want of success, my poor friend +casting a long and wistful look at the hat of William, which was +hanging, and which long continued to hang, on that very pin. On its +being suggested that there was a chance that he might be found in some +house in the town, all with one accord separated to make inquiries. The +whole place was soon in commotion, and so was the whole country side. +Every place in which it was possible for William to be, dead or alive, +was searched in vain. + + "'They sought him that night, and they sought him next day, + Oh! vainly they sought him, till a week past away:-- + And years flew by, and their sorrow at last, + Was told as a mournful tale that is past.' + +"If among the friends of him who had so strangely disappeared, his +intended bride felt the most acutely, it was on his brother that the +blow fell most heavily. Mary long refused to be comforted; and was only +sustained by young health, and by hopes which we all laboured to infuse +into her dejected heart; but the sickly frame of William's brother never +recovered from the shook it received. He always reflected on himself for +having parted from his brother in anger; the fate of Edward, which was +ever before his eyes, seemed to afford too natural an explanation of the +mystery of William's disappearance; and his exhausted frame yielded at +last to death, after an interval of about three years, during which his +chief solace was the society and the kind attentions of the amiable +family of Sanditofts. His last words were-- + + "'Whither is he gone?--what accident + Hath rapt him from us?' + +"The title of his wicked cousin was contested by another claimant, which +kept matters in abeyance, else he never could have been prevented by us, +the executors, from entering into possession. At last, after a long +litigation, the case went in his favour, of which I was first informed +while engaged in the market here; and, although I had long anticipated +such a result, the impression which the intelligence made upon my mind +was most painful. At the weekly dinner, whither I repaired as usual, +from long habitude rather than inclination, I felt feverish and +uncomfortable; an insatiable thirst made me drink rather more than my +wont, and in the course of the evening I sank into a heavy bilious +slumber. How long I remained in that state I know not. But I remember +well, that, feeling a hand laid on my arm, which kept tightening its +grasp till it awoke me, I turned to my next neighbour, who was staring +as if at some object of terror; and that, following his affrighted look, +I beheld William sitting before me, with features wasted, care-worn, and +wofully sad, and in the well-remembered attitude in which I had seen +him, a little before his strange disappearance. Confounded, incapable of +speech and action, did I remain for some time. At length, having caught +his eye, we both started up together. + +"'William,' cried I, 'can this be really you?--O man! where hae ye been +a' this time?' + +"'Mary! Mary!' cried he; 'tell me about her!' + +"I told him that she was alive and well. + +"'But, but!' said he. + +"'She is still unmarried,' said I, 'and as devoted to you as ever, which +is more than you were entitled to expect, after having left her in the +manner you did.' + +"'I have been a prisoner,' said he, in a mournful tone, 'in a land of +which till lately I knew not the name, and I was carried away by force.' + +"Amid exclamations of wrath, which came from all parts of the room, and +the tumultuous flocking of his old friends around him, his voice was +again heard. + +"'And my brother?' said he; 'tell me also about him.' + +"'He has been dead,' said I, 'for about two years. In the arms of your +beloved did he breathe his last sigh.' + +"Upon this his tears began to flow; but he checked them immediately, +adding--'Enough for the present. In a little while, my kind friends, I +will tell you all. But my heart is now heavy, and the crisis is urgent. +Will you, for old friendship's sake, have the goodness either to go or +to send down the coast, a little to the northward of this. A party of +poor fellows will be found in the same plight as I am. Bring them all +hither, and provide for them, in my name, dry clothing, a good supper, +plenty of drink, and comfortable bedding.' All with one accord readily +undertook the charge. 'And now, then,' said he, 'this old hat shall be +again fitted to my head; for the billows are sporting with the one I +lately wore.' Perceiving his clothes to be wet, we adverted to the +circumstance. 'Pooh,' said he, 'I have just been shipwrecked, that's +all.' With that he hurried me out of this house, and entering that of a +mutual friend, where comfortable dry clothing was provided for him, and +a chaise having been procured, we flung ourselves into it, and drove off +to Sanditofts. + +"As we drew near the house, painful feelings began to arise in his mind, +as to the reception he would meet with, and the construction which might +have been put upon his involuntary absence. Dismissing the carriage, +therefore, I hurried on before him, at his earnest request, and finding, +on entering the house, the father and daughter by themselves, my first +words were--'William has been a prisoner in a strange land--he was +carried away by force, poor fellow. Amazement, mingled with many other +feelings, was visibly depicted in each countenance. Poor Mary began to +weep profusely. Diffidently, and with her eyes earnestly fixed on mine, +she was just inquiring when they might expect to see him or to hear from +him, when her ear was caught by the sound of an approaching foot; and, +immediately, the door opening, William stood before her. With a cry of +joy, she and her father flew to welcome him. For long did she remain +clasped in his arms; and what a scene was exhibited in the outpourings +of their innocent and faithful love--a love which had withstood the most +perilous of all trials--a long separation, which had been connected with +so many doubts and anxious fears, and over which so thick a veil of +mystery had hung! The father and I stood silently regarding them, as +they wept in sadness and were rapturously joyful by turns. + +"'Weel,' said the father, rubbing his hands together, with a look of +inexpressible satisfaction, 'that's really a sight guid for sair een. +Poor things!--lang hae they loved each other, and sair has their love +been tried.' + +"When our excited feelings had a little subsided, curiosity became the +prevailing sentiment. Mr. Constant and I began by detailing the +particulars of our ineffectual search along the coast. William, on his +part, declared that, when he left me on going out, it really was his +intention to have come back immediately, and to have returned to +Sanditofts, where he had been invited and had promised to pass the +night; but he stated that, having felt somewhat oppressed by the heat of +the crowded apartment, he had been unhappily induced, by the refreshing +coolness of the evening, to walk a little way by the sea-side, where he +had apprehended no evil. + + * * * * * + +"To all appearance," said he, "there was nothing but solitude around me; +only, I heard carts at a distance which seemed to be driven inland; and +my curiosity was excited by a low rumbling sound which came from the +other side of a small projecting promontory. I ran hastily in the +direction of the latter sound. After having proceeded a little way, I +heard footsteps coming up behind me; but I continued to move on, without +slackening my pace, until there came a shrill whistle, followed by the +sound as of a number of men rushing towards me. I then attempted to fly, +but was prevented by two stout fellows, who placed themselves right in +my way, and a numerous party of men quickly surrounded me, one of whom, +eyeing me attentively, exclaimed--'The very man we want. We shall be +able to do our friend's work with very little trouble.' On my attempting +to expostulate and resist, I was overpowered and forced into a boat. The +boat rowed off to a smuggling vessel which was lying to in the offing; +and which, soon after I was put on board, stood out to sea under a press +of canvass--chased, as it soon appeared, by a revenue cutter, which +continued for long to fire at her." + +Here he was interrupted by our mentioning the two vessels which we had +seen passing over the moon. + +"I was in the first of these vessels," said he; "the two-masted lugger, +which, unfortunately, was able to escape, by superior sailing, from the +second vessel (a revenue cutter, fore-and-aft rigged, with one mast) by +which she was pursued. + +"My captors continued, for two or three weeks, to land goods on +different parts of the eastern coasts, sustaining so many losses that I +could not help saying that, if their trade was a paying one, the goods +which they could afford to lose in such quantities could not be honestly +come by--an observation at which great offence was taken. After having +parted with her original cargo, and shipped another, which was chiefly +composed of provisions of all sorts, the vessel left the German Ocean, +going north about; and she then pursued a south-westerly course across +the Atlantic for many weeks, until she was accosted by a notorious +pirate, Gonsalvo by name, the terror of the West Indian seas; for whom, +as I could observe, a careful look-out had long been kept. This +ferocious ruffian, having come on board our vessel, had a long interview +with our captain--the two worthies being, to all appearance, on terms of +most courteous and familiar intimacy--and our cargo of provisions was +put on board the pirate's vessel; while hogsheads of sugar, puncheons of +rum, and other articles of West Indian produce, were received in +exchange. This transaction clearly explained the mystery of the +contraband trade. The smugglers of the present day are connected with +the Buccaneers, who, not daring to bring their ill-gotten goods to a +regular market, willingly barter the bulky part of them on any terms, +for the necessaries of life. These goods having been taken originally +for nothing, and subsequently sold for little or nothing, if one cargo +out of three escapes seizure, the concern will pay. Hence it is, that +the contraband trade is maintained in spite of every effort to put it +down. + +"After another long interview which our captain had with this Gonsalvo, +some of my shipmates came to me with joyful countenances, looking like +men from whose minds some heavy burden had just been removed; and they +told me, that 'my life was to be safe; only,' said they, 'take care of +your tongue.' + +"'My life!' cried I, in astonishment. Hitherto I had been under no +apprehensions about my life; although I had discovered, in course of +conversation with the men, that my villanous cousin, to whose secret +stores the carts I had heard were no doubt proceeding, had been long and +deeply engaged with the smugglers--that he had been of immense service +to them--and that it was to gratify him, and, at his request, that I had +been carried away." Gently checking, with his upraised hand, the +exclamations which this disclosure drew from his hearers, he thus +proceeded:--"You may guess what my feelings were, when I was put on +board the vessel of the odious Gonsalvo. All my former shipmates +regarded me with compassion; and a poor fellow, from this part of the +country, called James Stray, who, in an evil hour, had been tempted to +engage in the illegal traffic, told me at parting, with tears in his +eyes, that he would regret what had happened to the last day of his +life; for that I was 'the best o' the twa.' + +"After cruising about for some time, Gonsalvo made for a numerous group +of small rocky islands, which were scattered over a great extent of sea; +and, entering them by a labyrinth of intricate passages, he moored hard +by one larger than the rest, and pleasantly wooded, which had a good +roadstead, where the hulks of several captured vessels were observable, +seemingly in the act of being broken up for firewood. Here I was put +ashore. Before leaving the pirate vessel, I made bold to enter--and it +was for the first time--the principal cabin, where I collected a number +of books in the Spanish language; loaded with which, and moved by +restrained indignation to do something ludicrous, I presented myself +before Gonsalvo on the quarter-deck, with the easy confident air of a +gentleman gifted with considerable assurance, who has been presuming +somewhat too far upon the good nature of another. Never shall I forget +the look of cold, cruel, malign contemptuousness, with which the ruffian +regarded me. That look said, as plainly as any look could do--'Wretched +creature, I see you have been making very free with my property; but it +matters not.' + +"In this unknown spot, and within the power of this ruffian, did I +remain for about four years, more or less. My chief employment was +fishing. I became an expert boat-man--I made occasional visits to +another piratical station to the south of us; thus did I endeavour to +pass my lonely hours. I sometimes found a kind of pleasure in exploring +the intricate navigation of the islands; and, in time, became acquainted +with many a place where a boat could pass in certain states of the tide, +through rocks which had the appearance of being continuous. The sheet of +water at the back of our island, was bounded, on the north-west, by a +long and seemingly unbroken chain of high precipitous rocks, through a +cleft in which I discovered a winding passage of this nature, leading to +a small secluded island, not distinguishable from numberless others +which lay scattered, like black sea fowl, over the surface of the water. +With all my thoughts bent on escape, I endeavoured to attach to me a lad +of sixteen, residing on the island, along with his widowed mother; +having, with the aid of Gonsalvo's books, mastered the Spanish language. +He was a stupid cub; manageable when we went out together a-fishing; but +without any character of his own. I therefore trusted him in nothing. I +once carried him far west into the open sea beyond the islands; but, +when we found the formidable high-heaving swell below our frail bark, he +began to cry; and, my own nerves being somewhat shaken, I returned with +a heavy heart, while on the point of attempting something great--of +running off with the boat and boy altogether. + +"This incident made me anxious to have a vessel of larger dimensions; +and a barge of peculiar construction, high raised, and with a deck at +bow and stern, occurred to me, which I had seen at the other station. +Proceeding thither by myself, and saying that we had need of such a +thing, I offered to purchase it with part of a sum of gold, which I had +on me when carried away, and had carefully preserved. The men regarded +me with a stare, but seemed quite willing to sell a thing which was not +their own, and for which they had no use. The bargain being struck, +they assisted me in navigating it, by a long circuitous course of many +weeks, by which I brought them to the small secluded island, which was +my favourite place of refuge. While carrying them back in my boat by the +same road, we became very friendly; and, at their suggestion, I +purchased, with the rest of my gold, a large cargo of such things as +were of use for repairing the barge, and perfecting her equipment. On +returning to Gonsalvo's station after this perilous transaction, I found +the mother of the boy on whom I had formed designs, in tears. He had +been taken on board Gonsalvo's ship, who had effected a return and a +departure in my absence. During the period of my stay, the pirate had +kept ever and anon returning at irregular intervals; but his arrival was +the signal for my flight; and, that flight might at all times be in my +power, for the boat which I had been allowed to appropriate on account +of my fishing services, always lay at the back of the island, over +against the secret opening through the north-western line of rocks. +Gonsalvo, on his part, never, so far as I could learn, inquired after +me; and, as years had slipped away, during which I had never seen him, +nor he me, I had insensibly become less cautious, concluding that he had +forgotten me altogether. Narrow was the escape which I in consequence +made. + +"Motives of humanity had led me to pay some attention to the widowed +mother, after the loss of her son, for which she seemed to be very +grateful. On one occasion, when I had secured my boat in its usual place +at the back of the island, I was not deterred by the sight of the +pirate's pendant glancing above the trees, which showed that his ship +was in the roadstead, from paying her visit, and making inquiries after +her son. There was much embarrassment in her manner when she saw me; she +seemed to be agitated by conflicting feelings; and, at length, she +hesitatingly stated that Gonsalvo had been inquiring after me, and, as +she believed, for no good. 'Your son,' said I, 'would he befriend me?' + +"'He is now become as bad as the rest of them,' said she; 'much I said +to him on your account; and oh, what usage he gave his mother!' + +"The information of the poor woman made me anticipate the worst. Leaving +her some fish, I hastily ran to the highest point of the island, and +threw myself on the ground under cover of the hill, where I had +immediate access to my boat, and could observe every movement of the +enemy. I was in a state of desperation; gall and wormwood were in my +heart. Had I then stood by Gonsalvo's magazine, with a lighted match in +my hand, I would have blown them all up, that they might have perished +along with me. While in this state of feeling, the thought flashed like +lightning upon my mind, that I might go to the other station; that I +might join the other piratical crew, to whose leader I was unknown; +that, having gained their confidence, I might betray and hang them all, +and return home. The new idea giving a new excitement to hope, I was +presently meditating upon the result, rather than upon the means; and, +in a little while, sinking into slumber, I was dreaming of my distant +home and betrothed love. Meanwhile, the sound of British voices had so +softly entered my dreaming ear, that it was some time before the reality +awoke me. Awaking at last, I was startled to find myself surrounded by a +number of the pirate's men, when I gave myself up for lost. But there +was a compassion in their looks, and tears in their eyes. 'My good +friends,' said I, in confusion. + +"'O sir,' said they, 'you have small reasons to call friends, the +persons by whom you were so villanously carried away. We thought we knew +you as you lay asleep; now that you have spoken, we are certain.' + +"'My dear fellows,' said I, recognising them for part of the crew of the +smuggling vessel. I only remember now your former kindness, and your +anxiety that my life should be safe.' + +"'God bless you!' said one of them, by name Jack Fid, 'could you bring +your noble heart to taste with us?' + +"Willing to gratify him, I received his offered flask, and drank from it +a mouthful of rum. + +"In the course of the long conversation which followed this act of +courtesy, I learned that the captain of the smuggling vessel in which I +had been carried away, had fallen in an affray with the revenue +officers; that his crew, having been so ill advised as to aid the +illegal traffic by firearms, and thus to become guilty of a capital +crime, had been induced to betake themselves in their perplexity, to +Gonsalvo; and that he, making very light of what had happened, had +received part of them on board his own vessel, and put the rest of them +on board another smaller armed vessel, which he had fitted out. + +"'Poor James Stray,' said I, 'what has become of him?' + +"'Hanged, sir, at New York. The other small vessel in which he sailed +was taken, and he suffered along with all the rest.' + +"They stated farther, that their late captain, a little before his +death, had got a letter from my cousin to Gonsalvo, which they had been +careful to deliver, supposing that it might respect my return. Having +explained the motives by which my cousin had been actuated in having me +carried away, and mentioned the ominous words of the poor widow, from +which it appeared that Gonsalvo was seeking my life, I made them +sensible that my cousin's letter must have had a very different object +in view from what they had supposed; and then they growled deep +execrations against my unnatural kinsman. I soon found that they had not +yet received on board a sufficiency of depravity for the kind of service +in which they were engaged; that they were all most anxious to return to +an honest course of life; and that they could not bear to live with the +abominable wretches among whom they were. With unfeigned horror, they +spoke of the miserable end of a poor young woman, who had lately fallen +into the hands of the monsters, and whose body--after she had died under +their outrages--they had carelessly flung into the sea, like a soiled +garment. They gave a most woful account, also, of two captives of +superior rank, whom the pirates at that moment had in their power--a +father and his daughter; and they said that the daughter, if not +speedily rescued, would meet the same fate as the other woman; for that +Gonsalvo restrained neither himself nor his crew. One of them, whose +name was Tom Clewgarnet, and who had a singularly soft expression in the +rough outlines of his weather-beaten features, declared that he would +willingly peril his life at any time, to deliver the innocent young +creature out of their hands. Regarding the poor fellows, first with +compassion, then with love, and then with confidence, I told them of all +my plans for escaping; of my boat; of the secret passage through the +rocks to the secluded island; and of the bark which I had there. 'Like +the Yorkshireman,' said I, 'who is in possession of saddle, bridle, +whip, and spurs, and wants nought but a horse, I have long had a vessel, +and everything necessary for her equipment. It remains with you to +determine whether I am still in want of a gallant crew.' Upon this they +joyfully declared, one and all, that they would faithfully follow me to +the death; and immediate flight was resolved on. + +"'If we could but carry that poor young woman along with us,' said Tom +Clewgarnet, 'what a blessed deed it would be!' + +"He spoke with great earnestness of manner; and my observation was, +'Could we not try?' + +"While commenting upon the fearful danger and the utter madness of such +an undertaking, we observed a boat leaving the pirate vessel, and moving +toward the shore. A pocket telescope having been directed to it, we +discovered Gonsalvo and the identical girl who had excited our +commiseration, seated in the stern. 'My life on't,' cried I, 'she will +be removed to some secluded spot in these woods below.' And I was right. +We saw Gonsalvo land with a small party, and move inland from the shore. +Marking well the road he took, we then ranged ourselves in a long line +across the woods, so as to communicate with each other; and, having +received intelligence which enabled me, well acquainted as I was with +the locality, to guess at the exact spot where Gonsalvo and his party +would halt, I stationed myself near by, along with Tom Clewgarnet, so as +to see without being seen. Onward, in a little while, came the +darkly-scowling villain with the poor trembling girl dragged along by +two armed attendants. My heart burned within me. The attendants were +dismissed; she remained struggling in his arms; and then, laying my hand +on Tom's cutlass, giving him at the same time a sidelong look, I softly +drew out the weapon, and, bounding forward toward Gonsalvo, I plunged it +into his side. He uttered a stifled groan, which brought back his two +attendants; when Tom, having taken up the sword of the fallen miscreant, +he and I furiously set upon them, and in a moment they also lay dead at +our feet. Turning now compassionately to the girl, while our weapons +were red and reeking with blood, I addressed her in French, which she +seemed to understand, assuring her that she was now in honest hands, +where she would find honourable protection. Our companions having +rejoined us, with the gratifying intelligence that our fell deed had +escaped observation, we were on the point of proceeding toward my boat, +which was lying ready to receive us, when a most vexatious difficulty +occurred. Nothing that we could say would persuade the girl to move +without her father, whom she long and earnestly implored us to save. I +mentioned to her the horrid end of the other poor woman, and somewhat +angrily showed to her how ungenerous it was to urge her deliverers on +to certain death, in vainly attempting to deal with more than two +hundred armed ruffians; upon which she sunk to the ground sobbing +piteously. She was an uncommonly interesting-looking creature, +delicately formed, wofully wasted with suffering, and very young. My +heart was melted. A scheme occurred to me by which it was at least +possible that her father might be saved; and, having spoken soothingly +to the girl, and applauded the heroism of her devoted filial love, I +declared that we really would make the fearful attempt to which she +urged us, if, in return, she would promise to follow and be obedient to +Tom, in whose care I meant to leave her for a time. Having obtained from +her assurances to that effect, I unfolded my plan, first to her in +French, and then to the men in English;--which was, that, having rowed +off to the pirate vessel in the very boat from which Gonsalvo had just +landed, and which then lay awaiting his return, I would endeavour to +pass myself off for a French officer, belonging to the pirate ship known +to be at the other station, who, being on a visit to Gonsalvo, had been +deputed by him to bring the father of the girl ashore, for the purpose +of extorting an exorbitant ransom; and, that on our return, we would +double the south-eastern point of the island, where there was an +intricate passage well known to me, through which we could find our way +into the sheet of water on the north-west side of it, where Tom and the +girl might wait for us in my boat. + +"To this perilous scheme the men agreed, although with visible +reluctance; and it was immediately put in execution. The body of +Gonsalvo was stript of its gay vestments, which I shudderingly drew on, +while wet and warm with his blood; and from which every distinctive +ornament was carefully removed. It was a fearful venture; but the +squalid rags which I previously wore, would have worse accorded with the +character I had to sustain. Tom was then sent off, along with the girl, +toward my boat, while I and the rest of the men ran down to the opposite +shore, sprang into the boat of Gonsalvo, rudely tumbled out three men +who had been left in charge of her, and rowed off to the pirate vessel, +leaving the men standing on the beach and looking after us in stupid +amazement. While on our way, we were deeply meditating upon, and +carefully arranging all that was to be said and done, feeling how +perilous it would be in a matter which required such extreme delicacy, +to be compelled '_capere consilium ex improviso_.' A boat cloak, thrown +negligently around me, aided in concealing my borrowed and bloody +garments; several of the men who seemed to have the firmest nerves were +instructed to go on board and remain carelessly sauntering about; while +one of them brought off the father of the girl, and I endeavoured to +keep the chief officer in play. On approaching, I gallantly hailed; +begged to see the chief officer; gave up my assumed name; spoke of my +pretended visit to, and of the pretended errand on which I had been sent +by Gonsalvo; and mightily wondered how he, Gonsalvo, should have thought +such a poor squalling wretch of a creature good for anything, but to +extort an exorbitant ransom from her father, whom for that purpose I was +forthwith to bring ashore. I began with speaking in French, in which the +foreign accent would be less perceptible to a Spaniard, and then in such +imperfect Spanish as a French officer might be expected to use. My +masquerade escaped detection, and the bait took. The father of the girl, +with his wobegone, yet noble-looking features, was received into the +boat; all my companions leisurely followed one after another and resumed +their oars. Jack Fid came last of all, carrying in his hand a huge +greybeard of liquor, and having in his features a peculiar twist, which +seemed to say--'How we are doing the scoundrels!' and at which we +afterwards laughed very heartily. It was no time for laughter then. + +"'I see a boat putting off yonder,' cried the chief officer, applying a +telescope to his eye, 'with a dead body lying in her stern.' + +"A deadly terror struck through my heart; but, with assumed +indifference, I replied--'Ay, Gonsalvo has got that fellow at last;' +making it seem that the dead body seen from afar was my own. + +"'It is fortunate that he has been caught,' said the other, laying down +his telescope; 'Gonsalvo has made the widow and her son answerable for +him with their lives.' + +"The last words were scarcely audible, by reason of the distance which +we interposed between us and the vessel. With the strokes of our oars +gradually increased both in frequency and in length, we flew rapidly +through the water. As we receded from, the other boat with Gonsalvo's +blood-boltered carcase, which the chief officer had seen from afar, drew +near the vessel. When far beyond the reach of small arms and of grape, +although still within the longest range of the cannon, we could see her +come alongside of the vessel; and then multitudes of faces were +stretched over, or thrust out of bulwark and port-hole; a great +commotion was observable on board; the vessel, making a yaw round, +turned her broadside towards us; twelve columns of smoke darted from her +side, and as many thunders opened their voices, while through the air a +shower of iron came hurling towards us. Every bullet fell beyond, or +short, or wide of us; and in a little while the projecting south-eastern +point of the island screened us from the fire and from the view of the +enemy. + +"After having doubled this point, two passages opened before us--one +wide and inviting, which led eastward into the Atlantic--the other +narrow, and not distinguishable from numberless other similar openings +in the rocks, which led to nothing. Into the former, we threw our hats, +that our pursuers might be led to suppose that our boat, injured by a +random shot had foundered; through the intricacies of the latter, to me +well known, we wound our way north-westward, until we had gained the +sheet of water on the other side of the island, where we found Tom and +the girl in my boat awaiting our approach in the deepest anxiety, their +ears having been startled by the thunder of the broadside, while they +knew not the result. At the sight of the lonely, desolate girl, sitting +in terror, by the side of her rough-looking, but kind-hearted conductor, +my heart was thrilled with compassion; and, when we drew near, I +pointed, delightedly, to her father, on whom she continued to fix an +eager, wistful look, until Tom, lightly lifting her up, and leaping on +board of us, as we brushed by, had placed her in his arms. Tom, at my +instance, came and seated himself by me in the stern, where he kept +gazing for some time at the outporings of the purest of all +affections--filial and parental love; and then turning to me, and +speaking with deep emotion, he told me that it was by him that James +Stray had been first led away; that, since his miserable end he had made +frequent attempts at prayer, but that then an awful pang had always shot +through his head and heart. 'If,' continued he, 'we shall be able to +save that father and daughter, will that pass away?' Anxious to give the +poor fellow useful and innocent advice, I told him that what he spoke of +arose from conscience, which, slumbering at other times, always awoke +during prayer; and there was nothing pacified the conscience like a good +deed, humbly offered to God in the Redeemer's name; that, after having +returned to an honest course of life, he would obtain what good people +called peace of conscience; and that then his devotions would be as soft +and sweet as they had ever been when a child at his mother's knee. He +seemed very grateful for these words of instruction, declaring that he +was ready to shed for me the last drop of his blood. Bending forward now +toward the father, and addressing him for the first time, I assured him +that his daughter had been restored to him unsullied, that we were +ourselves in the act of escaping from the pirates, and that we would +either save him or perish along with him. + +"A little before sunset we came under the north-western line of rocks, +whose long shadows concealed us from distant observation; and, entering +the passage through them, which I had so often traversed, we soon +arrived at the place where my bark was lying snug in the secluded +island. At the sight of her, the seamen were delighted. They all leaped +on board simultaneously, and began tumultuously to examine her in every +part. 'To work, lads,' cried I, 'that she may be made ready for sea as +soon as possible.' To work accordingly we fell. Fires were kindled, +pitch melted, oakum, and all things necessary, were found in my stores. +The work was continued during the night--when the ebbing tide left her +high and dry--by the light of torches of pinewood, smeared with tar, +which were stuck around, or borne in the hands of the father and +daughter; and, after seven or eight hours of unremitted labour, the +outer planking of the vessel was carefully cauked, and her hull, +thoroughly repaired in every part. Leaving the carpenter and two other +hands to keep watch and repair the water casks, the rest of us turned in +to enjoy a few hours of sleep. The light of day beheld us again at work; +and several hours behoved still to elapse before the masts could be +hoisted, the sails bent, and the running rigging rove. Meanwhile, an +anchor was carried out to sea, and the cable laid over the windlass; my +long hoarded stores of biscuit, junk, and dried fish, were put on board, +with a few culinary utensils, a sufficiency of loose timber for fuel, +and of ballast for trimming the vessel; and the water casks, filled at a +neighbouring fountain by the father and daughter, were rolled down to +the beach, one by one. The work being nearly over in every department, +we continued, some on board, and some on shore, patiently to await the +rising of the tide, now nearly at the full; and the father had very +judiciously thought of climbing a neighbouring height to reconnoitre. On +gaining the summit, he was observed to return in all haste, and +seemingly in great terror. The daughter was running off to meet him, but +arrested by me, she was given in charge to her old protector; while I +cried out--'To the water casks, one and all.' So, while they were in the +act of being swung on board, she continued to struggle and to scream in +Tom's arms. The poor girl's agitation proceeded from an interesting +cause; but it was very provoking to be unnecessarily deprived, at such a +time, of a valuable hand. However, the last water cask was safely +stowed, when the father arrived with the alarming intelligence, that a +number of boats, full of men, were on the east coast of the island; and +that a party, landed from one of them, were in the act of ascending the +opposite acclivity. The daughter was on the point of springing into his +arms; but I had her very unceremoniously swung on board, calling her an +unmanageable vixen. The father, and all the rest of us immediately +followed; and then, having thrust our handspikes into the windlass--just +as the party of which we had received information were seen on the top +of the neighbouring height--we made, with our united strength, one +desperate heave. A grinding sound, heard at the bottom of the vessel, +shewed she had been dislodged; but the cable had snapped, and I threw +myself down in despair, giving up all for lost. The dexterity of the +seamen saved us. The cable, while on the point of escaping, was caught, +jammed, and held fast, until it was spliced in such a manner as to be +capable of enduring as great a strain as ever. Laying our strength on +more cautiously, the grinding sound was again heard, and we affected a +quarter turn of the windlass. Coil after coil of the cable now passed +over the revolving beam, without farther incident; and at length the +vessel, floating smoothly in deep water, was hauled out to the offing, +just as a hundred armed ruffians, having surmounted the neighbouring +heights, were rushing down, with infuriated yells, towards us. The ample +folds of our pointed lateen sails were then spread to the winds; and we +joyfully proceeded on our way, while the baffled scoundrels stood +looking at us from afar; and we sat in safety looking at them, with the +prey that we had rescued out of their merciless hands. + +"When our feelings had a little subsided after this excitement, and +while the most skilful seamen were superintending the adjustment of the +ballast, and studying the properties of the vessel, I went and sat down +by the father and daughter. I begged of the daughter that she would +excuse the hasty words which I had been led to use, in my anxiety to +leave such a dangerous shore. Her father assured me that he could easily +see the kindness of my heart amid the prompt decided manner which the +hour of danger required; and I assured him that there was not a man on +board who did not regard the saving of him and of his daughter as the +best part of the enterprise. He began to pour forth the warmest +expressions of gratitude, when my attention was called to the pilotage +of the vessel, and nothing more passed between us at that time. To +conduct the vessel through such intricate and precarious passages, +required the utmost care and unremitted attention; but at length, just +as the sun was gilding the watery waste with its setting radiance, we +reached the open sea, at the very place where I had been some years +before with the Spanish boy. I now asked the father where he would wish +to be carried. + +"'To Havannah,' said he, with tears gushing down his cheeks. + +"Upon this we directed our course, at a venture, a good way southward +from the point at which the sun was setting; and, as we had no compass, +we resolved to steer by the wind which was blowing steadily from one +point. We then made all snug for the night, keeping as much sail up as +the little vessel could safely carry; and, a proper watch having been +set, the remainder of the weary crew were sent to rest. + +"The father and daughter were led by me into a small cabin under the +stern deck; and they, aware of the scantiness of our accommodation, +insisted that I should stay with them, when I was on the point of +withdrawing that they might be left by themselves. The father was placed +in the middle, the daughter on one side of him, and I stretched my weary +limbs on the other. I remained for long supine, motionless, and unable +to sleep; and thus I came to overhear the following dialogue, which was +carried on in the purest Spanish, between the father and his daughter:-- + +"'Papa,' said she, 'are the French all so much better than the Spanish?' + +"'My dear Carolina, why that question?' + +"'He spoke to me first in French.' + +"'He speaks French well, but with a strong English accent. His +companions are all British sailors; certainly the most extraordinary +people in the world. A party of these men, lately landing in a drunken +frolic, took one of the strongest fortresses in Spain, which the Spanish +King would give half the wealth of his dominions to recover.' + +"She then gave him a detailed account of all that had befallen +her--greatly exaggerating my prowess and that of Tom--and dwelling much +on our kindness, in having, at her instance, made such a perilous +attempt to save him. + +"'Well,' said he, 'the British are truly a noble people; I feel easy now +that I am in their hands, although there is a mystery in our +deliverance, and in that extraordinary young man to whom his companions +seem so devoted, which I cannot fathom.' Having joined in their +discourse with an apology, I fully explained the mystery he spoke of, +telling him who I was, and under what unhappy circumstances I had been +carried away from my native land, while on the very eve of marriage. I +told him also of his daughter's devoted filial love; how she had refused +to escape, unless he could be saved along with her; and how she had +absolutely forced us on to do what we did, when we were all shrinking +from the risk, and unwilling to incur further danger. While straining to +his heart his dutiful child, he made me acquainted with his own history. +It appeared that he, Don Pedro by name, was a Spanish gentleman well +known in Havannah, who, notwithstanding the war between our countries, +could easily procure for me a speedy return home; that an attachment +having arisen between his daughter Carolina, and Alonzo, the eldest son +of a noble family, at whose haughty bearing he had taken offence, he had +sent her away to a sister of his, resident in one of the Windward +Islands; that Alonzo's father and he, having afterwards come to a better +understanding, he had gone, in person, to bring back his daughter, with +a view to her immediate marriage, and that, while on their way home, +they had the misfortune to be taken by the pirates. 'What became of the +vessel in which we sailed,' added he, 'and her crew, I know not; but I +apprehend the worst.' + +"After this exchange of confidence, gratitude on their parts, and the +inexpressible satisfaction of having achieved such a deliverance on +mine, united our hearts together; and in the society of the noble +Spaniard and his amiable daughter, I, after my long years of lonely +wretchedness, felt for a time the hours pass rapidly away. There was I +know not what of romantic interest in our peculiar situation. A +hurricane would soon have drowned us all; but the wind blew fair and +steady. The prospect around us was unvarying, but one of which the eye +could not soon grow weary. At noon, when the sun, vertical in that +latitude, poured down his irradiation from the zenith, he appeared like +a glorious ornament in the centre of the canopy of the heavens, from +which they descended in a uniform arch of unclouded blue until they +rested on the farthest edge of the waste of water, over whose billows +our little bark was gallantly bounding, and which, wherever the eye was +turned, seemed to stretch + + 'Far into silent regions, blue and pale.' + +One cloud there was which rested on my mind. All seemed to regard me +with confidence--to look on me for direction; but I had no confidence in +myself. Unaided by compass or nautical science, we were steering almost +at random, vaguely guessing at a south-westerly course, from the +position of the rising and setting sun. + +"In this manner, week after week passed away, until one morning, when I +was awakened by the hand of Don Pedro laid on my shoulder. He seemed to +be in great agitation; and I hastily arose and followed him forward. +When we reached the open part of the vessel, he raised his arm and +pointed to where, over a little aft the weather-bow, we could observe, +hung high in air, the inverted images of a number of ships, with a large +vessel in the centre, and a line of coast stretching hard by. + +"'Sir,' said he, 'I know that to be the coast and shipping of Havannah.' + +"'All's well,' cried I; 'who is at the helm?' + +"'Bill Bowline, your honour.' + +"'Bill, lay your bows right upon the main-mast of that large vessel +which you see looming in the distance.' 'Ay, ay, sir.' 'Steer directly +towards her, and try to keep your course exactly, guided, as usual, by +the position of your sails, relatively to the wind.' 'Ay, ay, sir.' +Turning now to Don Pedro, I said--'Admirably has he done his work; he +seems a perfect sailing made easy, or every mariner his own compass.' +Without noticing my pleasantry, my poor friend said, with a very serious +look--'You see the care with which the mother of God watches over the +children of the true church.' Carolina having asked me the day before, +what I would do to my wicked cousin; and I having said that I would +merely give him a long forgiving look, she farther asked if I belonged +to the _true church_; and on my saying that I belonged to a very humble +church, which, however, was faithful in teaching all her children to +look up to God, in the Redeemer's name, with the desire of being good, +that they might obtain good, Don Pedro seemed to wish that such a +delicate subject should be dropped. Now, however, he conceived himself +to stand on high vantage ground, and appealed to the aerial reflection +as a splendid miracle wrought for his behoof. I told him that what he +saw was a common natural phenomenon, with which our able seamen were all +quite familiar; but he shook his head, doubting or disbelieving. 'Noble +sir,' said I, 'you understand English, listen;--Bill Bowline, at what +distance may these ships be, on which you are now steering?' + +"'Sure to raise them, sir, in the course of the day.' + +"'Mark that,' said I, assuring Don Pedro that in all likelihood he would +be at home and in the bosom of his family before night. If the blush of +shame which the children of the true church are wont to exhibit when +their supposed or pretended miracles are most satisfactorily accounted +for on natural principles, did for a moment pass over the features of +Don Pedro, it was soon chased away by excessive joy. During the day, he +suffered much from impatience; hope and fear had by turns the possession +of his mind. But, at length, after many a long tedious hour of watching, +he beheld a line of blue land rising above the edge of the horizon, +which gradually unfolded itself into the town, coast, and shipping of +Havannah. + +"At the request of her father, no information as to what we had seen and +were led to expect was given to Carolina. He was afraid that our hopes +might not be realized, and that she might have to endure the pangs of +disappointment. Accordingly, she was in the very act of speaking of her +home, of her family, and of her lover, as dear objects that she might +never again see, when her father entered the cabin in an ecstasy of joy, +crying--'Here they are all now, just as we saw them in the morning; +only, their masts point upward, and not down. Not a moment longer,' +cried he, 'shall my dear daughter be kept in ignorance.' So catching her +in his arms, he led her forward to the bows, and pointed out to her the +distinct outlines of her native shore. She silently gazed on it for an +instant; then tears of joy flowed down her cheek. To me, to Tom, to all +our companions, severally, she testified her gratitude in broken +accents, calling us her dear deliverers, and invoking the blessings of +Heaven upon our heads. The men were in raptures with her; and, wishing +to improve the opportunity afforded for drawing vividly forth their best +affections, I said to them--'Only to think, now, that there should be +hearts, either in earth or hell, capable of misusing a fine creature +like that!' A low murmuring sound, as if of profound deliberation, +followed these words; after which Bill Bowline arose as the orator of +the party, and, having given his trousers a hitch, he said that it was +the contraband trade that had thrown them among such abominable wretches +as the Buccaneers; and that they were resolved never to break the laws +of Old England any more, for that they now saw, that when once people +began to do evil, there was no saying where they might end; which +resolution gave to Don Pedro great satisfaction. The greybeard of Jack +Fid was now handed round as long as it contained a drop of liquor; after +which it was broken, its fragments, along with a variety of other +moveables, were thrown into the sea, and three hearty cheers were given. + +"In a little while, the bark lay alongside of the quay of Havannah. Don +Pedro and his daughter, having been safely handed out, sunk down on +their knees, and the men went and sat down at a little distance, as if +anxious to avoid the appearance of wishing to intrude. Feeling sympathy +for the brave fellows, and admiring their motives, I went and seated +myself in the midst of them, saying--'From me, at least, you shall not +be parted;' while an unpleasant suspicion arose in my mind, lest we +should, after all, be left in a land of strangers, lonely and unowned. +In this I did our kind friends wrong. Having devoutly rendered their +thanks to Heaven, they came and begged us to follow them. By way of +giving effect to the feelings of my companions, I said that we would be +sorry to distress their hospitality; upon which Carolina looked first +amazed, then angry, and then burst into tears--'This from you!' said +she--'from my preserver--from my second father!' Forthwith she and her +natural father drove us all before them, like a flock of reluctant +geese, to their residence--a splendid one it was, in which we met as +warm a reception as grateful hearts could give, or the unfriended +desire. + +"Next day several high officers of the Spanish army and navy waited upon +me, and made particular inquiries respecting the pirate islands, with +whose locality my long residence had made me well acquainted. Our +nations were at war, but my heart took fire at the idea of terminating +my exile by a noble stroke--by contributing to the fall of the +Buccaneer, the common enemy of the civilized world. I, therefore, +offered my own services, and those of my companions, on the express +condition that, having left our large armed vessels so soon as we had +arrived off the islands, we should venture among their intricacies in +boats, with a sufficient force, and endeavour to take the enemy by +surprise, and to carry him by boarding. This plan having, after some +hesitation, been agreed to, off we set immediately; and, in three weeks, +we returned in triumph, having captured both the pirate vessels, which +were found lying, in supposed security, at their two stations, and +completely destroyed that nest of odious ruffians, to the great joy of +all the West Indian islands. My companions fought like lions; two of +them fell, and several were wounded. On our return, we were loaded with +honours; a great sum of money was given to me, for the purpose, as was +said, of buying a sword; handsome sums were also given to each of my +companions, which they put into my hands, and which, with what I shall +add to them out of mine, will enable me to settle them all comfortably +in life. During our absence, Don Pedro and his daughter had suffered +much from anxiety on our account; they received us with the liveliest +joy on our return--they mourned for the slain--they nursed the wounded +with the tenderest care, and their house became, for a time, our home. +Their kindness led us to prolong our stay far beyond the time necessary +for the recovery of the wounded; and I had the satisfaction of assisting +at the marriage and of being assured of the happiness of Alonzo and +Carolina. At length, we parted from our grateful and warm-hearted +friends; and a government packet conveyed us all safely across the +Atlantic to Cadiz. + +"At Cadiz, I found that the letters which Don Pedro had given to me, and +procured for me, would enable us all, notwithstanding the war with +France and Spain, to pass unmolested through both countries; and so, +having converted our wealth into bills, payable in Antwerp, I travelled +over land to this neutral port, along with my companions, as the +readiest way to obtain a safe and a speedy passage to Britain. At +Antwerp, I again converted my foreign bills into others which were +payable in England; while my companions went down to the quay at my +request, to look out for an immediate passage thither. On finding that +no immediate passage could be procured, I purchased, at their +suggestion, a small sloop, which was lying in one of the docks for sale; +on board of which, confident in my lately acquired nautical science, and +in the long-tried seamanship of my companions, I proceeded straight +across the German Ocean; steering direct, not for the latitude of any +of England's great seaports, but for that of the home of my fathers, and +the mouth of my native river. Having a good wind, we drove our little +vessel, at a gallant rate, through the water. Our hearts being gay, our +spirits high, and our stores supplied with abundance of everything, our +voyage became one continued scene of fun, festivity, and folly, in which +I largely participated, until an event occurred which brought us to our +senses. On the sixth morning of our passage, it was found that the +vessel had sprung a leak--that there were four feet of water in the +hold. The pumps enabled us to sink it a little; but it afterwards gained +upon us to such an alarming degree that the carpenter was in doubt +whether the vessel could be kept afloat for twenty-four hours longer. +The wind also began to die away, and so thick a fog settled around us +that we could see nothing but our foundering vessel, and the water into +which she was ready to sink, looking black and dismal below. While +matters were in this state, a thickening of the darkness came to be +observable right a-head at the lower part of the fog; which, while every +eye was fixed upon it, rose higher, and showed an irregular outline. It +was declared to be land; and we were not long kept in suspense. In a +little while, a grinding sound was heard at the bottom of the vessel, +followed by a slight concussion; and, in about fifteen minutes, during +which the vessel, stripped of every inch of canvass, continued to grind +and to strike, she settled down and remained fast. I immediately secured +my valuable papers on my person, and the men set about making +preparations for leaving the vessel. We had neglected to provide +ourselves with a boat; but two or three of the men swam to the shore, +which proved to be at no great distance, carrying the end of a rope +along with them; by the aid of which all the rest of us were enabled to +reach the land in safety. + +"Thus did my seven companions and I terminate our adventures. Once in +safety, I began to laugh heartily at our mishap. '_O passi graviora +mecum_,' cried I, gaily, as they seemed to stand down-hearted in their +dripping garments; 'it is on no desolate or inhospitable shore that we +are now cast. Stay there for a little, till I see where we are, and look +out for shelter.' With that I went a little way inland, until, having +observed the appearance of distant lights on my left, I ran in all haste +in that direction, scarcely feeling the ground under my feet. In about +half an hour, I came to a number of buildings which I seemed to know; I +found a narrow lane, at the end of it a door, and within the door a +stair, which I seemed to know. My heart began to beat violently. Having +mounted the stair, and gone along a dark passage at the head of it, I +came to a door, on opening which, the forms of the very friends, after +leaving whom I was carried away, seemed to appear before me, as at their +usual meeting. All gazed on me; but none of them spoke except old Adam +Muzzy, who was in his usual state of inebriety, which so strangely +brightens one part of his faculties, and darkens another. Recognising +me, and having some very indistinct perception of circumstances, he +exclaimed, in the usual style of his address to a retired and returned +bottle-companion--'Guide me! ye hae been lang away; but we hae thocht +that ye would be back, for ye left yer hat ahint ye. Sit doon, man, and +tak aff yer glass.' + +"The sight of my hat hanging where I left it, and the daized dreamy look +of the creature, with his half-shut eye, so affected me, that I sunk +unconsciously down into the chair to which he had pointed, painfully +impressed with the idea that I had only been dreaming of home, as I had +often done, in the lonely isles of the West Indian seas. It was my name +loudly pronounced by the friendly voice of Plainworth which first awoke +me from my stupor. + +"'My dear Mary,' said he, as he concluded, 'he will tell you what were +the first questions which I asked.' + +"'Indeed,' said I, addressing her, 'his two first questions were both +about you; and the second of them was, whether you were still +unmarried?'" + + * * * * * + +"Amid the deep silence which followed this narrative; the effect of +which was heightened by the near interest which each had in the +principal actor, a soft diffident tap was heard at the outer door; +which, having been opened, the whole party of old friends, whom William +had so startled by his unlooked-for appearance among them that evening, +came pouring in tumultuously, with the trampling of many feet, and the +sound of many voices mingled together. We could have seen them far +enough off, being in that quiet kind of heart-absorbing felicity, to +which boisterous intrusion is most irksome. But it presently appeared, +that, in their coming, there was no want of consideration. Besides +attending to the wants of the shipwrecked mariners, as they had +undertaken, they had employed a number of the resident fishermen, with +their boats, to look after the wreck now lying dry upon a ledge of +rocks, with her bottom staved in, by whom every article of value on +board had been saved. They described William's companions as the +strangest set of fellows whom they had ever met with. 'They were close +enough at first,' said they. 'Many significant looks having been +exchanged between them when the glass began to circle round; but when +they did open, what strange stories they told of the scenes which they +had passed through! And, oh, how they spoke of you, Mr. William! They +said that you were the best and bravest of landsmen--one whom no dangers +could daunt, whom no difficulties could subdue, and who had so kind a +heart withal, that you were always more attentive to their wants than +your own. One of them, whom they called Tom Clewgarnet, declared it to +be his firm belief that you were just a kind of an angel, who had been +sent down to save them all from the pit.' It appeared, in short, that +our kind friends had been most attentive to the poor fellows; and that, +with the powerful aid of the fishermen whom they had employed, and who +had joined them after having finished their work, they had succeeded in +sending them all to bed in a very comfortable state of inebriety; they +themselves, also, as their appearance strongly testified, having +suffered somewhat in the cause. + +"After this gratifying intelligence had been given, which was received +with the warmest acknowledgments, the whole party earnestly entreated +William to consent to act his part in a notable ploy of Mr Macquils; +which was, that, as his cousin was taking steps for entering into +possession, and was to visit Elphinstone House the next day, he should +make his first public appearance in the very heart of his proceedings. + +"'The people of the house where you threw off your wet garments,' said +they, 'enter heartily into the plan; and, as we have been careful in +keeping the secret, there is no person, either in town or country, who +has any knowledge of your return.' + +"William gratified them by a ready acquiescence; indeed, the proposal +coincided exactly with his own previous intentions; the mortification +which his cousin would receive being all the punishment which he +intended for him. The necessary arrangements having been agreed on, and +committed to Mr Macquil, the first projector of the plan, the whole +party were permitted to withdraw, on condition that they would favour us +with their company to dinner next day, when William promised to make a +full disclosure of all that had befallen him. When we were again by +ourselves, William said to me, in a whisper--'You must aid me, my +friend, in making immediate arrangements for facilitating the escape of +my cousin. The testimony of those people whom I have with me, would be +sure to convict him; and, as they hate him most cordially on my account, +that testimony, though it would implicate themselves, would be given +with great good-will. Heaven knows, that I have no wish that, on the +scaffold, kindred blood should flow!' + +"Mary expressed an extreme desire to see the men who had passed through +such strange scenes; and she begged of William, that he would take her +with him for that purpose; adding, diffidently--'I believe that, after +this, I will always be afraid when you are out of my sight.' + +"Early next morning, the long disused wardrobe of William was procured +from the mansion of the Elphinstones. While William was still sleeping +profoundly, exhausted with the toils of the preceding day, Mr Macquil +and I made a careful selection of such articles of dress as we judged +most suitable for him to appear in, on the approaching great occasion. +We made choice of a suit which nearly resembled his ordinary forenoon +attire--clothed in which, it was impossible for any one who knew him to +mistake his identity. His features were thinner than before; but he was +immensely improved in his general appearance. His person was more firmly +set--his carriage more staid and dignified; and, while he retained the +same winning mildness of manner, there was in his eye that manly, +resolute look, indicating energy, intrepidity, and force of +character--which familiarity with toils and dangers, gallently borne and +nobly triumphed over, alone can give. Of the feelings of Mary, when she +beheld her lover arrayed once more in his former vestments, looking so +noble, so kind, and so like what he was before, it is impossible to +speak. Their happiness, when they met next morning, was more tranquil +than the evening before, but not less profound. At breakfast, Mr Macquil +was the principal speaker--full of the all-engrossing project which he +had in view. Immediately after breakfast, we were to have set out; but, +hour after hour passed away, while the lovers remained together, 'all +the world forgot;' and while poor Mr Macquil and I and the horses were +waiting impatiently at the door. The impatience of Mr Macquil began to +exceed all bounds; and a scout having brought intelligence that the +chariots and horsemen of the enemy had been beheld approaching at a +distance, he became very angry. He broke in abruptly upon the lovers--he +took William by the arm, and led him off--promising, however, by way of +comfort, that that separation should not be of longer duration than half +an hour. + +"Once in the saddle, off we set at full gallop, through by-roads, which +brought us to a thicket in the rear of Elphinstone House, where some old +domestics of the family, with delight vividly expressed in their +countenances, were ready to receive our horses. Entering the house by a +back door, and ascending the stairs, we heard, as we were passing the +main entrance hall, the party without loudly thundering for admittance +at the front door, while a little urchin of a boy, evidently in the +secret, was pertly screaming to them through the key-hole--'The key--the +key! Can ye no stop a wee? What signifies a bit minute or twa?' +Proceeding forthwith into a spacious apartment, which directly opened +into the entrance hall, and which had been fixed upon as the most proper +place for the scene which was to be enacted, Mr Macquil conveyed William +into a small by-room, where he was to remain in concealment until the +proper time for his appearance: and shutting the door with a triumphant +bang, locked it, and put the key in his pocket. + +"Events now rapidly followed each other. The preconcerted signal that +all was prepared was given--the impatient party at the front door were +admitted--and presently the cousin stalked into the room, followed by +the sheriff, his officers, and our friends, with many other spectators +whom they had brought along with them. I was standing at the window; Mr +Macquil was pacing up and down the room with a huge white handkerchief +applied to his eyes, and uttering uncouth sounds of wo, which, however, +sometimes had a greater resemblance to laughter than to lamentation. + +"'Sir,' said the cousin, 'we come here for business, and have no time +for nonsense.' + +"'I assure you,' said the other, 'that it is far from being my wish that +the proper heir of this house should be longer kept out of his goodly +heritage. You will find the only obstacle to your being put into +immediate possession in that closet; and there is the key.' + +"'Hold,' cries the sheriff; 'too fast, sir, by one half.' + +"A look of peculiar meaning from Mr Macquil arrested for an instant the +sheriff's attention. + +"Meanwhile the cousin having received the key, hurried to the closet, +opened wide the door, and William walked forward into the room. He was +recognised in an instant, as was evident from the acclamations which +followed his appearance. + +"'Ha! ha! ha!' quoth the sheriff, 'who could have expected this from +you, Mr Macquil? You are positively become as arch as a romping, roguish +young boarding-school girl of fifteen. Mr Elphinstone, give me leave to +say that I never was more delighted--never more happy.' Briefly +returning the compliments of the worthy sheriff, William fixed his eyes +upon his cousin with a look in which there was reproach but no +malignity. + +"'Cousin,' said he--'one with me in lineage, in kindred, and in blood--I +have been indebted to you for a long and involuntary excursion abroad, +which has been attended with most woful results. Sir, while I abhor, I +forgive--I pity; in proof of which, I give you timeous warning that +there is intelligence from the other side of the Atlantic, which +concerns you more nearly than any farther interest which you can +possibly have in my inheritance.' With that, the bad man grew deadly +pale--he trembled from head to foot--he looked fearfully at the +sheriff--and he hurried out, followed by me. After a long pause, during +which he seemed to be thinking profoundly, the sheriff said--'There is +really a strange meaning in your words, Mr Elphinstone!'-- + +"'Which,' replied William, 'I will fully explain in a few days.' + +"Whenever the facts of the case came to be known, the officers of +justice were sent in full cry after the criminal; but, with the aid of +the generous kinsman whom he had so foully wronged, he effected his +escape, and was never heard of more. + +"In a short time Elphinstone House again became the residence of its +rightful proprietor; and, within less than a fortnight from the date of +his return, William and Mary were united in the holy bands of wedlock, +to be separated no more. I was the best-man; and a happier pair never +was seen. They were happy in themselves and in their family." + +"Yes," said Wonderlove, "from that family the dule passed away." + +"And you observe," replied the other with a smile, "that the head of +that house really did marry a maiden of low degree!" + +"Well, now, is not that a strange--a strange--a very strange!"-- + +"It is a strange coincidence," said Plainworth, "but nothing more. What +more natural than that such a woman should engage the affections of such +a man? and as for the subsequent prosperity of their numerous and bonny +family, it is an old saying and a true--'That being good, naturally +leads to the obtaining of good.'" + + + + +TRIALS AND TRIUMPHS. + + +It was in the autumn of 1825, that a stranger was wandering by the side +of the silver lakes and over the majestic mountains of romantic +Cumberland. He was near the side of blue Keswick, and the light wind was +scattering, in showers, the death-touched leaves upon the bright waters. +Suddenly, the face of the lake became troubled, and dark ripples rose +upon its bosom, as if the chained spirit of a storm struggled thereon to +be free, and moved them. A louder rustling and a sound of agitation was +heard among the trees, as though it were there also. Thick clouds +gathered before the face of the sun, and darkness, like an angel's +wrath, rolled along the brow of the mighty Skiddaw. In a few moments the +thunder was heard bursting from the mountain sides, and its echoes +reverbed, as the groaning of the great hills, through the glens. +Thunder, lightning, and tempest, gathered round, and burst over the +stranger. The cattle crowded together upon the hills, and the birds of +heaven sought shelter in the woods. The stranger, also, looked around +for a place of refuge. + +Before him, at the distance of about a quarter of a mile, lay a +sequestered and beautiful villa--round which mountain, wood, and water, +and craggy cliff, were gathered--with a sloping lawn before it. It was a +spot which the genius of romance might have made its habitation. The +mansion was in keeping with the scenery, and towards it the stranger +repaired for shelter. + +He was requesting permission of a servant of the household, to be +sheltered until the storm passed over, when the occupier of the mansion +came himself to the door, and, with the frankness of an old friend, held +out his hand, saying--"Come in--thou art welcome. At such a time the +birds of heaven seek shelter, and find it in the thick branches of the +woods; and surely man has a right to expect refuge in the habitations of +his fellow-men. Follow me, friend, and rest here until the storm be +past." + +The stranger bowed, thanked him, and followed him; but, ere they had sat +down, the owner of the mansion again addressed his visitant, +saying--"The inhabitants of the East ask no questions of strangers until +they have given them water to wash their feet, and a change of garments, +if required. I know no excuse which the people of the West can offer, +why they should be less hospitable. I perceive that thy apparel is +already drenched; therefore, my servant will provide thee with a change +of raiment. Go, do as I request, that no harm overtake thee; and, in the +meantime, I will order refreshment, after which, thou and I shall +converse together." + +There was a kindness in the manner, and an expression of benevolence in +the aspect of his entertainer, which at once gratified and interested +the stranger. The latter appeared to be about forty; but his hospitable +entertainer was at least threescore. Care had engraven some wrinkles +upon his brow, and the "silverings" of age were beginning to mingle +thickly with his once brown hair; but his ruddy and open countenance +spoke of the generosity of his disposition and the health of his +constitution. + +When the stranger had put on dry raiment and partaken of food, his host +ordered liquors to be brought; and when they were placed upon the table, +he again addressed his guest, and said--"Here, sir, thou hast claret, +port, and sherry--my cellar affords no other wines. Therefore, take thy +choice. Be merry and wise; but, above all--be at home. The wayfaring +man, and the man whom a storm drives into our house among the mountains, +should need no second invitation. With me he is welcome to whatsoever +is set before him. Therefore, use no ceremony, but consult thine own +taste. For myself I am no wine-drinker. Its coldness agrees not with my +stomach, and I prefer the distillation of our northern hills to the +juice of the grapes of the sunny south. Therefore, friend, while I brew +my punch, help thyself to whatsoever best pleaseth thee." + +The stranger again thanked him, and having something of nationality +about him, preferred joining him in a bowl prepared from the "mountain +dew." They quickly discovered that they were what the world calls +"kindred spirits," and, before an hour had passed, the stranger told +whence he came, what he had been, and what his intentions, in visiting +that part of the country, were; but his name, he said, he did not intend +to divulge to any one for a time. He might make it known in a few days, +should he remain in the neighbourhood, and, perhaps, he never would. + +"Well," said his host, "thou hast told me a considerable part of thy +history, but thou hast withheld thy name: I will tell thee _all_ mine; +but, to be even with thee, thou shalt not know my name either, (provided +thou dost not know it already,) beyond that my Christian name is Robert. + +"I am (continued he) the first-born of a numerous family, and am +twenty-four years older than the youngest of my parents' children. My +father was what is called a statesman in this part of the country; by +which you are not to understand that he was in any way connected with +politics, or had any part in governing the affairs of the nation, but, +simply, that he was the possessor of an estate containing some eighty +acres, and which had descended to him from his ancestors, unimpaired and +unencumbered. He was a kind husband and an indulgent father; but he was +provident as neither. A better-hearted man never breathed. He was +generous even to the committing of a crime against his own family; and +the misfortune, the error--I might say the curse of his life--was, that +he never knew the value of a shilling. It has been said that I possess +my father's failing in this respect; but, through his example at all +times as a warning before me, I have been enabled to regulate it, and to +keep it within controllable limits. You have often heard it said, 'Take +care of the shillings, and the pounds will take care of themselves;' but +this will not hold good in every instance--as was the case with my +father. He appeared to be one of those who did not stop to consider the +value between a pound and a shilling. He was naturally a man of a strong +intellect and a sound judgment; but his impulses were stronger still. He +was a being of impulses. They hurried him away, and he stopped not to +consult with calmer reason. With him to feel was to act. He generally +saw and repented his error, before another had an opportunity of telling +him of it, but not before it was too late; and these self-made +discoveries never prevented him from falling into the same errors again. +In the kindliness of his own heart he took _all_ mankind to be good; he +believed them to be better than they really were; or rather he believed +no man to be a bad man until he had found him to be so. Now, sir, when I +say that in this respect my father exercised too much both of faith and +charity, thou must not think that I am shut up here like a cynic in this +mountain solitude, to inflict upon every passenger my railings against +his race. On the contrary, I have seen much of the world, and +experienced much of its buffetings, of its storms, its calms, and its +sunshine; I have also seen much of men; and I have seldom, I would +almost say, I have never, met with one who had no redeeming quality. +But, sir, I have seen and felt enough, to trust no man far until I have +proved him. Yet my father was many times deceived, and he trusted again; +and, if not the same parties, others under the same circumstances. He +could not pass a beggar on the highway without relieving him; and, where +he saw or heard that distress or misery existed, it was enough for +him--he never inquired into the cause He was bringing up his family, +not certainly in affluence, but in respectability; but his unthinking +generosity, his open hand, and his open-heartedness, were frequently +bringing him into trouble. One instance I will relate; it took place +when I was a lad of eighteen. There resided in our neighbourhood an +extensive manufacturer, who employed many people, and who was reputed to +be very rich. He was also a man of ostentatious piety; and, young as I +then was, his dragging forward religion in every conversation, and upon +all occasions, led me to doubt whether he really had anything of +religion in his heart. There were many, also, who disputed his wealth. +But my father and he were as brothers. We perceived that he had gained +an ascendancy over him in all things; and often did my mother +remonstrate with him, for being, as she said, led by a stranger, and +caution him against what might be the consequences. For I ought to +inform you, that the manufacturer had been but a few years in +Cumberland, and no one knew his previous history. But my father would +not hear the whisper of suspicion breathed against him. + +"My mother was a native of Dumfriesshire; her ancestors had taken a +distinguished part in the wars of the Covenant; and, one evening, I was +reading to her from her favourite volume, "_The Lives of the Scots +Worthies_," when my father entered, and sat down in a corner of the room +in silence, and evidently in deep sorrow. He leaned his brow upon his +hand, and his spirit seemed troubled." + +"William," said my mother, addressing him, "why do ye sit there? What +has happened? There is something putting ye about." + +He returned no answer to her inquiries; and approaching him, and taking +his hand in hers, she added--"Oh! there is something the matter, or ye +would never sit in that way, and have such a look. Are ye weel enough, +William--or what is it?" + +"Nothing! nothing!" said he. But the very manner in which he said it, +and the trembling and quavering of his voice, were equivalent to +saying--"Something! something!" + +"Oh, dinna say to me, nothing!" said she; "for there is a something, and +that is evident, or ye would never sit as ye are doing." + +He struck his clenched hands upon his brow, and exclaimed--"Do not +torment me!--do not add to my misery!" + +"William! William!" cried my mother, "there is something wrong, and why +will ye hide it from me? Have I been your wife for twenty years, and ye +say I torment ye now, by my anxiety for your weelfare? O William! I am +certain I didna deserve this treatment from you, neither did I think +that ye were capable of acting in such a manner. What is it that is +troubling ye?" + +"Nancy," he cried, in the vehemence of despair, "I have ruined you!--I +have ruined my family! I have ruined my earthly comfort, my peace of +mind, and my own soul!" + +"Oh, dinna talk in that way, William!" she cried; "I ken now that +something serious has happened; but, oh! whatever it be, let us bear it +like Christians, and remember that we are Christians. What is it, +William? Ye may confide in your wife now?" + +"Nancy," said he, "I never was worthy of such a wife. But neither look +on me, nor speak to me with kindness. I have brought you to beggary--I +have brought my family to beggary--and I have brought myself to +everlasting misery and despair!" + +"O my dear!" said she, "dinna talk in such a heathen-like manner. If it +be the case that we have lost all that we had, there is no help for it +now; but I trust, and am assured, that ye will not have lost it in such +a way as to make your family hang their head among folk, in remembrance +of their faither's transaction. I am certain, already, that it is your +foolish disposition to be everybody's friend, that has brought this upon +ye. A thousand times have I warned ye of what, some day or other, would +be the upshot; but ye would take no admonition from me." + +"Oh!" added he, "I have misery enough, and more than enough, without +your aggravating it by your dagger-drawing reflections." + +He sat groaning, throughout the night, with his hand upon his brow; but +the real cause of his misery he would not explain, farther than that he +had brought himself and his family to ruin. But, with sunrise, the tale +of our undoing was on every tongue; and all its particulars, and more +than all, were not long in being conveyed to us. For a tale of distress +hath the power of taking unto itself wings, and every wind of heaven +will echo it, let it come whence it may, and let it go where it may. I +beheld, and I heard my mother doomed to receive the doleful +_congratulations_ of her friends--the prompt expression of their +sympathy for her calamities. It was the first time, and it was the last, +that many of them ever felt for human wo. But there are people in this +world, who delight to go abroad with the tidings of tribulation on their +tongue, and whose chief pleasure is to act the part of Job's comforters, +or, I might say, of his messengers. + +We learned that my father's bosom friend, the professedly wealthy and +pious manufacturer, had been declared a bankrupt, and that my father had +become liable on his account to the amount of two thousand pounds. His +unguided generosity had previously compelled him to mortgage his +property, and this calamity swallowed it up. Never will I forget the +calmness, I might call it the philosophy, with which my mother received +the tidings. + +"I am glad," said she to the individual who first communicated to her +the tidings, "that my children will have no cause to blush for their +father's misfortunes; and I would rather endure the privations which +those misfortunes may bring upon us, than feel the pangs of his +conscience who has brought them upon his friend." + +My father sank into a state of despondency, from which it required all +our efforts to arouse him; and his despondency increased, when it was +necessary that the money for which he had become liable, should be paid. +The estate, which had been in the possession of his ancestors for a +hundred and fifty years, it became necessary to sell; and when it was +sold, not only to the last acre, but even to our household furniture, it +did not bring a sum sufficient to discharge the liabilities which he had +incurred. Well do I remember the soul-harrowing day on which that sale +took place. My father went out into the fields, and, in a small +plantation, which before sunset was no longer to be his, sat down and +wept. Even my mother, who hitherto had borne our trials with more than +mere fortitude, sat down in a corner of the house, upon the humblest +chair that was in it, and which she perhaps thought they would not sell, +or that it would not be worth their selling, and there, with an infant +child at her bosom, she rocked her head in misery, and her secret tears +bedewed the cheeks of her babe. + +That night, my father, my mother, and their children, sought refuge in a +miserable garret in Carlisle. I, as I have already said, was the eldest, +and perhaps the change in their circumstances affected me most deeply, +and by me was most keenly felt. + +Through yielding to the influence of feelings that were too susceptible, +my father beheld his family suddenly plunged into destitution. It was a +sad sight to behold my brothers and my sisters, who had ever been used +to plenty, crying around him and around my mother, for bread to eat, +when they were without credit, and their last coin was expended. My +father did not shew the extreme agony of his spirit before his children, +but he could not conceal that it lay like a cankerworm in his breast, +preying upon his vitals. His strength withered away like a leaf in +autumn; and what went most deeply to my mother's heart was, that he +seemed as if ashamed to look his family in the face; and he appeared +even as one who had committed a crime which he was anxious to conceal. + +My mother, however, was a woman amongst ten thousand. Never did the +slightest murmur escape her lips, to upbraid my father for what he had +brought upon us; but, on the contrary, she daily, hourly, strove to +cheer him, and to render him happy--to make him forget the past. But it +was a vain task; misery haunted him by night and by day; there was +despair in his very smile, and the teeth of self-reproach entered his +soul. He was a man who had received more than what is called a common +education; and a gentleman who had been his schoolfellow, and known him +from his childhood, and who resided much abroad, appointed him to be his +land steward. The emoluments of the office were not great, but they were +sufficient to keep his family from want. + +Under the circumstances in which they were now placed, I was too old to +remain longer as a burden upon my parents. I therefore bade them a fond, +a heart-rending farewell; and with less than four pounds in my pocket, +took my passage from Whitehaven to Liverpool, from whence I was to +proceed by land to London. Liverpool was then only beginning to emerge +into its present commercial magnitude; and I carried with me letters to +two merchants there, the one residing in Poole Lane, the other in Dale +Street. Both received me civilly, and both asked me _what I could do?_ +It was a question which I believe had never occurred to me before, nor +even to my father, up to the period of my shaking hands with him and +bidding him farewell. I hesitated for a few seconds, and I believe that +upon both occasions I stammered out the word--"_anything_." + +"You can do _anything_, can you?" said the first merchant, +sarcastically; "then you are a great deal too clever for me; and I +suspect the situation of a servant of _all work_ will suit you better +than that of a clerk in a counting-house. Pray, are you acquainted with +keeping books?" + +I replied that I was not. + +"Then," added he, "though you can do everything, that is one thing which +I find you cannot do; and as it is the only thing that would be of any +service to me, I shall not be able to avail myself of your otherwise +universal attainments." + +The cold, the sarcastic manner of this gentleman, made my very blood to +freeze within my veins; a cold shivering (I might call it the mantle of +despair) came over me, and my heart failed within me. I, however, +proceeded to Dale Street, and delivered my letter to the other +gentleman. He, as I have already intimated to you, inquired at me what I +could do. And to him, also, my unfortunate answer was "_anything_." He +smiled, but there was a kindness in his smile, and he good-humouredly +asked me what I meant by anything. I was as much at a loss to answer +him, as I had been to answer the merchant I had left. + +"Have you ever been in a merchant's office?" he inquired, "or had any +practice as an accountant?" + +"No," I replied. + +"Then," added he, "I fear it will be difficult to find anything in +Liverpool to answer your expectations, and I would not recommend you to +waste time in it. If I could have promoted your views, I would have done +so most cheerfully; but, as I cannot, here are three guineas--(for from +the manner in which my friend speaks of you in his letter I believe you +to be a deserving youth)--they will help you onward in your journey, and +in London you will meet with many chances of obtaining a situation, that +you cannot find in Liverpool." + +I burst into tears as he spoke, and put the money in my hands. The +kindness of the one merchant had affected me more than the chilling +irony of the other. The one roused my indignation, the other melted my +heart. But I was indebted to both; for both had given me a lesson of +what the world was, and both had rendered me more sensible of the +dependence and hopelessness of my situation. + +In order to husband my resources, I proceeded to London on foot, and +when I arrived there, I found myself to be like a bird in a wilderness, +or a helmless vessel on a dark sea. The magnitude of the city, its busy +thousands, its groaning warehouses, where the treasures and luxuries of +every corner of the globe are piled together, the splendour of its +shops, the magnificence of its squares, and the lordly equipages which +glittered in the midst of them, moved me not. They scarcely excited my +observation. My soul was filled with thoughts of my own prospects; and I +wandered, dreaming, from street to street, moving at a pace as though I +had been sauntering by the side of one of my native lakes, and I +appeared as the only individual in the great city who had no aim, and no +urgent business which required me to move rapidly, as others did. I +delivered all the letters that I brought with me, and I was again asked, +as I had been in Liverpool--_what I could do?_ But I did not, as I did +there, reply, _anything_. I, however, was puzzled how to answer the +question. The truth was, I was utterly ignorant of business. I had been +brought up amongst those mountains, with merely a knowledge that there +was such a thing. In fact, my ideas of it hardly extended beyond giving +out goods with one hand, and receiving money for them in the other. The +word _commerce_ was to me as a phrase in a dead language. I had fancied +to myself that the sea was a great lake, over the whole expanse of which +I should be able to gaze at once, and see the four quarters of the globe +around it: and my ideas of what ships were, were gathered from the +boats which I had seen upon Keswick. On the day on which I left my +parents' roof, I heard my old schoolmaster console them with the +assurance, that "there was no fear of me, for _I was fit for anything_." +While such testimony, from his lips, comforted them, it cheered me also, +and it caused me to look upon myself as a youth of high promise, and of +yet higher expectations. But now, when I was left to myself, with all my +talents and acquirements ready to be disposed of in any market, I found +that my general qualifications, my fitness for anything, amounted to +being qualified for nothing, when reduced to particulars. Days, weeks, +months passed away, and I was still a wanderer upon the streets of the +modern Babylon. + +At length, when ready to lie down and die from hunger and from +hopelessness, I obtained a situation as copying-clerk to a solicitor, at +a salary of ten shillings a-week. In such a city as London, and where it +was necessary to keep up a respectable appearance, this sum might be +considered as inadequate to my wants. But it was not so. During the +first ten weeks, I transmitted two pounds to my parents, to assist them. +I always kept the proverb before my memory, that "a penny hained is a +penny gained;" and I never took one from my pocket, until I had +considered whether or not it was absolutely necessary to spend it. My +food was of the simplest kind; and finding that I could not afford the +expense of an eating-house, it consisted of a half-quartern loaf in the +twenty-four hours, the one half of which was eaten in the morning; the +other in the evening. I "_kitchened_" my loaf, as they say in Scotland, +with a pennyworth of butter, and occasionally with lettuce or a few +radishes in their season; and the beverage with which I regaled myself, +after my meals, was a glass of water from the nearest pump. + +Upon this diet I became stouter, and was more healthy for the time, than +ever I had been before; though I believe I have suffered for it since. +It was my duty to lock up the office (or chambers, as they were called) +at night, and to open them in the morning. I had not been many days in +my situation, when the thought struck me, that, by locking myself within +the chambers at night, instead of locking myself out, I might save the +expense of a lodging. Again I said to myself that "a penny hained was a +penny gained," and four chairs in the chambers became my couch, while +the money which I would have given for a lodging was transmitted to my +parents. + +I had not been many months in this situation, when it was my fortune to +render what he considered a service to a rich merchant in the city, who +was a client of my employers. He made inquiry at me respecting the +amount of my salary, and concerning my home and relatives. I found that +he was from Westmoreland, and he offered me a situation in his +counting-house, with a salary of eighty pounds a-year. My heart sprang +in joy and in gratitude to my throat at his proposal. I seized his hand +as though he had been my brother. I pressed it to my breast. A tear ran +down my cheek and fell upon it. Even while I held his hand, I fancied to +myself, that I beheld my parents and their children again sitting +beneath the sunshine of independence, and blessing their first-born, who +was "fit for anything." + +I entered upon my new situation, and upon my income of eighty pounds +a-year, in a few days, and received a quarter's salary in advance. I +well knew that my father was still oppressed by liabilities, which he +was endeavouring to discharge out of forty pounds a-year, which he +received for his stewardship. I knew, and I felt also, that let a son do +for a parent what he will, he can never repay a parent's love and a +parent's cares. Who could repay a mother for her unceasing and anxious +watchings over us in the helplessness of infancy, or a father, in +providing for all our wants, in teaching us to know good from evil? I +fancied that thirty pounds a-year was enough and more than enough for +all my wants, and I dwelt with fondness on the thought of remitting them +fifty pounds out of my annual salary. Previous to entering the +counting-house of the merchant, my delight at the pleasing anticipations +before me robbed me of sleep, and for the first time caused me to feel +the hardness of my bed upon the chairs of the solicitor's chambers. + +However, with a heart overflowing with joy, I entered upon my mercantile +avocations. Then, as I bustled along the streets, I felt within my heart +as though in all London there was none greater than I; I was independent +as the Lord Mayor--as happy as his Majesty. But there was one thing, a +small matter, which I forgot--it was the proverb which I have twice +quoted already, that "a penny hained is a penny gained." On leaving my +occupation as a copying-clerk, I almost unconsciously left also my cheap +and humble diet. My fellow-clerks in the merchant's counting-house dined +every day at a chop-house in Milk Street, and they requested me to join +them. I had no longer an opportunity of eating my half-loaf in secret, +and I accompanied them. Each of us had generally a chop, for which we +paid eight-pence; a fried sole, for which we were charged a shilling; +with a glass of porter during dinner, and a "go" of gin, as it was +called, and sometimes _two_, afterwards. I did not wish to be singular, +neither did I see how I could avoid doing as others did; and, moreover, +I reasoned that, with eighty pounds a-year, I was justified in living +comfortably. But this was not all. My associates were in the habit of +having their crust and cheese, and their glass of porter, in the +forenoons; and I had to join them in this also. And this, too, ran away +with pence which might have been saved. But I had not been long amongst +them, when I found that they had also evening clubs, where they met to +enjoy a pipe and a glass, and hear the news of the day. Unless I joined +one of these clubs, I found that I would be considered as--nobody. I +accompanied a comrade to one of them, and as the glass, the song, and +the merry jest went round, I was as a person ushered into a new world, +delighted with all I saw. I became a nightly attender of the club; and +although I never indulged to excess, I had completely forgotten the +proverb which enabled me to assist my parents when I had but ten +shillings a-week; and therefore it forgot me. + +My landlady also informed me, that it was the rule of her establishment +for her lodgers to breakfast in the house, and with this proposal, also, +I deemed it necessary to comply. I had begun to yield to circumstances, +and when, in such a case, the head is once bent, the whole body +imperceptibly becomes prostrate. + +But twelve months passed away, and instead of fifty pounds being sent to +my parents, I found my entire eighty not only expended, but that I was +ten pounds in debt. I called myself a fool, a madman, and many other +names; for conscience burned within my bosom, and the glow of shame upon +my cheek. But it was fruitless; a habit had been formed, and that habit +was my master. I had involuntarily become its slave, and wanted +resolution to become its master. + +On entering upon my second year, my employer, who still retained a +favourable opinion of me, increased my salary to a hundred a-year. But +even when it had expired, instead of having assisted my parents, I still +found myself in debt. I had left my twenty pounds of additional salary +to take care of themselves, and at the same time I had forgotten to take +care not only of the shillings which composed them, but of the pence +which made up my whole income. I forgot that a hundred pounds quickly +disappears in a free hand, and leaves its owner wondering whither it has +gone. At this period, the letters which I received from my parents +sometimes indirectly hinted at the privations which they were enduring; +but they never requested, or seemed to expect assistance from me. The +consciousness of their circumstances, however, stung me to the soul; but +it did not reclaim me, or turn me from the dark sea of thoughtless +expenditure on which I had embarked. I experienced that a slight thread +is sufficient to lead a man to temptation, but it requireth a strong +cord and a strong hand to drag him again to repentance. + +I seldom laid my head upon my pillow but I resolved that, on the +following day, I would reform my course of life, and again practise +economy. But, alas! I "resolved and re-resolved," and lived the same. At +this period, however, my own conscience was my only accuser and +tormentor. For although in a country town my habit of spending every +evening with a club, at a tavern, might have been registered against me +as a vice, in London it did not so militate, and was neither noted nor +regarded. I was punctual in my attendance at the counting-house--always +clean, and rather particular in my person; (and I must say, that I do +not know a town on the face of the habitable globe, where the +certificate of dandyism, or of something approaching to it, will be of +greater service to a young man than in London. It has struck me a +hundred times, that the two chief recommendations for obtaining a +situation there, are _dress_ and _address_.) I was not exactly what +could be called a good-natured person, but there was a free and easy +something about my disposition, which rendered me a favourite with my +fellow-clerks. I also was pleased with their society, and it was seldom +that I could resist the temptation of accompanying them wheresoever they +went when solicited, and which was in general to all their parties of +pleasure. When I said to myself, in the language of Burns--"Come, go to, +I will be wise," and began to practise retrenchment in one item of my +expenditure, I heedlessly plunged into other sources equally +extravagant. For my old maxim, which had proved a friend to me on my +first coming to London, was completely forgotten; and I neither thought +of saving a penny nor taking care of a shilling. Indeed, so far had I +forgotten these maxims, that on many occasions I reasoned with myself, +saying--"Oh, it is _only_ a shilling or two--there is nothing in that. I +will go, or I will do it." But I forgot the sum to which that _only_, +repeated three hundred and odd times in the year, amounted. In short, I +had fallen into a habit which would have prevented me, had my salary +been a thousand a-year, from being either richer or happier than I was +when I had but ten shillings a-week. + +I, however, retained the good opinion of my employer; and in the third +year of my engagement with him, I was sent as supercargo with a vessel +to South America. It was to be a trading voyage, and the appointment +conferred upon me was an honour which caused me to be envied by the +other clerks in the counting-house. Some of my seniors sneered at my +inexperience, and said I would bring home a "precious cargo, and a +profitable account of my transactions." Those who were nearer my own age +saw nothing in me that I should have been chosen by our employer, and +they agreed that he had preferred me, merely because I was a Border man +like himself. In truth, I wondered at his choice myself; for I was +conscious of but few qualifications for the task imposed on me, +although, three years before, I was thought, and considered myself--"fit +for anything." + +It was understood that our voyage would occupy between two and three +years; and in order that I might provide myself with everything +necessary for my lengthened travels on the sea, and my dealings on +shore, my employer placed in my hands two hundred and fifty pounds, +independent of letters of credit to foreign merchants, in various ports, +in which I was to transact business. + +But, on the very day on which I received the two hundred and fifty +pounds, and about five days before I was to leave England, I received a +letter from my father, to the following import:-- + + "MY DEAR SON,--It pains me to be the bearer to you of evil + tidings, and the more so, as I know that they can only grieve + you, and that it is not in your power to remove their cause. + Yet it is meet that you should know of them. You knew, and felt + the the effects of the misfortunes which, a few years ago, + overwhelmed me; but you knew not their extent. They still weigh + me to the earth--they blast my prospects, and render powerless + my energies. Yet there is no one whom I can accuse for my + misfortunes; they, and the distresses of my family, are the + work of my own hands. To-morrow I will be the inmate of a + prison, for a debt of two hundred pounds, which still hangs + over me. Your poor mother, and your brothers and sisters, will + be left with no one to provide for them. Think of them, my dear + son, and, if it be in your power, assist them." + +Such was my father's letter, and every word in it went to my bosom as a +sharp instrument. I took two hundred pounds from the two hundred and +fifty that had been given to me to provide for my voyage, and +transmitted them to my father, to relieve him from his distress. I +perhaps acted unthinkingly, and sent more than I ought to have sent--but +what will not a son do for a parent when his heart is touched?--and at +all events I acted as he to whom the money was sent would have +acted--from the impulse of the moment; in obedience to the first, the +natural dictates of the heart. + +I found that I had deprived myself of the power of obtaining many things +which were necessary for the voyage; but I rejoiced in the thought of +having given liberty to a parent, and happiness to his family; and my +spirit enjoyed a secret triumph, which more than counterbalanced any +trials I might have to endure. + +But the day on which I was to leave Old England arrived, and within four +days I saw its white cliffs sink and die away in the distance as a +far-off cloud. We had been seven weeks at sea, when a strange vessel +hove in sight, and made alongside of us. She had a suspicious +appearance, and our captain pronounced her to be a pirate. As she drew +nearer, we could perceive that her crew crowded her deck; and as she +continued to bear down upon us, there could be little doubt of her +intentions. Our deck was cleared, and our few guns put in readiness for +action. We were the heavier vessel of the two, but she carried three +guns for our one, and it was evident that her crew were almost as ten to +one. When the captain had seen everything made ready for action, he +requested me to follow him to the cabin for a few moments, and when +there he said--"Robert," for my Christian name I will communicate to +you, "the pirate which is now bearing down upon us, is making three +knots for our two. Within a quarter of an hour you will hear her shot +whiz over us. I don't care so much for both our lives being endangered, +for I know that already both our lives are _sold_; but I regret the +issue of this _venture_ for your sake and for my own, and also for that +of our owner, for I am certain it would have proved a good one to us +all. However, we must all heave-to in deep water or in shallow water +some time or other, and the tide has overtaken you and me to-day. +Therefore, my lad, don't let us look miserable about the matter. Only I +have to tell you, (lest I should be one of the first to be swept off the +deck when the business of the day begins,) that our old owner who, +Heaven bless him! is a regular trump, said to me, just as I had got my +papers from the Custom House, and he was shaking hands with me--'Tom,' +said he, (for the old fellow always called me Tom,) 'look after that +supercargo of mine that you've got on board. He is a countryman of my +own. He does not know it, but his father and I used to paddle on Keswick +lake together. I have liked him on that account since the first day I +clapped my eyes on him, and therefore I took him into my employ. But, +though he didn't think that I saw it, I saw that the chaps of London +were too much for him. Therefore, I say, Tom,' said he, 'if you see him +like to go too far, for the love I bear the boy, bring him up with a +short cable.' Such, you see, my lad, is the love which our old owner has +for you; and though you may have found him a little gruff now and then, +(as I have done myself,) depend upon it he is a regular trump at the +bottom. Therefore, I say, let us fight for him now, as better is not to +be, until we go to the bottom." + +I felt a glow about my heart on account of the kindness of my master, +and especially when I found that he was aware of more than I thought he +had discovered of my conduct while in London; but it was no time to +indulge in a reverie of gratitude, when every moment I expected to hear +a twenty-four pounder boom over our deck, and that, too, from the deck +of a pirate, who did not chalk up mercy as one of his attributes. + +I went upon deck with our captain, and I had not been there for five +minutes, when a shot from the pirate damaged our rigging. At the same +time she hoisted the black flag. + +"It is all up, Bob," said our commander, addressing me; "let us die +manfully. If I die first, sink the vessel before she fall into their +hands." + +"Trust to me, captain," cried I; "I will see that all is right. We shall +win the day, or go to the bottom." + +"Bravo! my hearty!" he exclaimed; "I wish you had been a sailor!" + +The action now began in good earnest, and was kept up on either side +with unyielding determination. But they fired three guns for our one, +and ever and anon they made an attempt to board us. Our crew consisted +of but fourteen men and three boys--the commander, the mate, and myself +included. The mate fell at the first broadside which our enemy poured +into us. We maintained the unequal fight for near an hour, when our +captain also fell, calling out to me--"Stand out, Bob!--sink her, or +beat them!" + +"I will, captain!" cried I; but I don't believe that he lived to hear +what I said to him. Our ship's company was reduced to five able men, and +I lay amongst the wounded upon deck. We were boarded, overpowered in a +moment, and our vessel became the prize of the pirates. The dead, and +some of the wounded amongst our crew, were thrown overboard upon the +instant. My appearance pleaded for me with the murderers, (even as I +have said, appearance pleads with a prevailing intercession on most +occasions in London,) and in a state of unconsciousness I was borne on +board their vessel. When I raised my eyes and became conscious of my +situation, the pirate captain stood over me. My wounds had been bound +up, and I aroused myself, and rose up in pain as one awoke from a dream. + +"Your name!--your name!" said he, addressing me. + +"Ha! we are captured, then!" replied I; "my name is of small +consequence--I am your victim." + +"Speak!" he cried vehemently--"you wrong me. You are our captives, but I +wish to know _your_ name. You are an Englishman--are you from +Cumberland?--Were you not at the school of old Dominie Lindores?" + +"I am--I was!" I gasped in agony. + +"And do you," he continued, "do you remember the boy, who, before he was +eighteen, and while he was a boarder at the school, ran to Gretna with +an heiress from a neighbouring seminary." + +"I do!--I do remember it!" I cried. + +"And what," he exclaimed--"_what was his name_?" + +"Belford!" said I. + +"Belford!" he cried--"it was indeed Belford. I am not deceived! You are, +indeed, my countryman. You are younger than I, but I remember you; I am +the Belford of whom you have spoken. For auld lang syne, and for the +sake of bonny Cumberland, no harm shall happen unto you, nor to any of +your comrades. I have but one thing to say to you--_be obedient_." + +Pained and wounded as I was, I remembered him. I recollected him as +having been a boy, some six years older than myself, at the same school, +and in a senior class. But when I would have questioned him, he placed +his fingers upon his lips, and said--"Speak no more to me at present. Do +as I have said--_be obedient_." + +I thought it a strange thing to be placed a prisoner under the hatches +of an old schoolfellow; but the assurance that he and I had trembled +under the same birch, and played on the same hill-side together, gave +me, with his promise of safety, some consolation. My hands were +permitted to be at liberty, but my feet were ordered to be kept in +irons; and when I went upon the deck I could not step more than six +inches at a time. I knew not how my fellow-prisoners fared, for I never +saw them. + +One day I was requested, or rather I ought to say, ordered, to dine with +the pirate-captain. + +"Your name is Robert," said he to me; and I answered that it was. + +"Well," he continued, "I wish to save your life, and if it were possible +I would spare also your comrades. But there would be danger in doing so, +and my fellows, whom I must sometimes humour, are to a man against it. I +will try however, either to place you on board a vessel that is not +worth shot, or on some island where you are certain of being picked up. +In the meantime, here is a purse for you, which, you will find will do +you more good on shore than any services of mine. A father and a +mother's care," he added, "I have never known, and from rumour only do I +suppose who my parents were. I owe mankind nothing for the kindness +they have shewn me; and the same love and mercy which I have received +from them, I have measured out to them again. Farewell!" he said, and +left me. + +I knew that he was the reputed son of a gentleman who had held extensive +possessions in Cumberland, but that something of mystery hung over his +birth, and that it was reported cruel and unjust means had been resorted +to, to deprive him of his lawful inheritance. + +His words produced no pleasant feeling in my mind. I found myself in the +situation of a person who was pinioned to a certain spot, with a sword +suspended over his head by a single hair. But while he spoke I fancied +that I heard the sighs of a female in distress. When he left me they +were repeated more audibly. I went towards a door in the cabin, which +led to an apartment from whence the sound seemed to proceed. I attempted +to open the door of the chamber, which was unlocked, and I entered it. +Before me sat a lady whose age appeared to be below twenty. She raised +her eyes towards me as I entered, and tears ran down her cheeks. Till +then I had never seen a face so beautiful, and, I will add, or felt +beauty's power--I felt as if suddenly ushered into the presence of a +being who was more than mortal. + +Our interview I will not describe. We spoke little; and the words which +we did speak were in low and hurried whispers. For we heard the sound of +our tyrant's feet pacing over our head, and to have found us in +conversation together might have been death to both. Almost without +knowing what I said, or for lack of other words, I spoke of the +possibility of our escape. A faint smile broke through her tears, and +she twice waved her hand silently, as if to say, "It is hopeless!--it is +hopeless!" + +From that moment she was present in all my thoughts, when awake she +became the one idea of my mind, and in sleep she was the object of my +dreams. As I was indulged with some degree of liberty, we met +frequently, and although our interviews were short, they were as "stolen +water," or as "bread eaten in secret." Their existence was brief, but +their memory long. I had informed her of my early acquaintance with the +pirate commander, and of all that passed between us from the time of my +becoming his prisoner. And when she had heard all, even she indulged in +the dream that our escape might be possible. + +It was about a week after my discovery of the fair captive, that I +ascertained that two of those who had become prisoners with myself had +joined the pirates, and the others had been cast into the sea. My fate +their captain still left undecided. My anxiety to escape increased +tenfold; but how it was to be accomplished, was a question which for +ever haunted me, but which I could never answer. + +One day we came in contact with a Dutch lugger, laden with Hollands. The +pirates boarded her, but they only _bled_ the vessel, as they termed it; +they did not take the whole cargo. With what they did take, however, +they made a merry carousal; they first became uproarious in their mirth, +and eventually they sobered down into a state in which a child might +have bound them. I observed the change that was wrought upon them--I saw +the advantage I had gained. My thoughts became fixed upon how to profit +by it. + +It was midnight--the moon of an eastern sky flashed upon the sea--the +very waters of the mighty deep moved in silence. The few stars that were +in the heavens were reflected back from its bosom. On board the vessel +not a living creature stirred; the very man at the helm had fallen down +as if dead. With the fetters upon my feet, I stood alone, the master of +a dead crew. I seized an instrument that lay upon the deck, and +endeavoured to unfasten the irons that fettered me. I succeeded in the +attempt. It was with difficulty that I restrained from bursting into a +shout of joy. But I recollected my situation. I stole on tiptoe to the +cabin--I opened the door of the apartment where the fair captive was +confined. + +"Our hour is come," I whispered in her ear; "we must escape--follow me." + +She started, and would have spoken aloud, but I placed my fingers on her +lips, and whispered--"Be silent." + +"I come, I come," she said. She followed me, and we ascended to the +deck, and stood alone in the midst of the wild ocean, without knowing +whither to direct our course. I unfastened the stern-boat, and lowered +it into the sea. I descended into it with her beneath my arm, and +cutting asunder the rope with which I had fastened it, I pulled away +from the vessel, which was unto us both a prison-house. My arm was +nerved with the strength of despair, and within a few hours I had lost +sight of the pirate-ship. At daybreak on the following day, we were +alone in the midst of the vast and solitary sea; and desperate as our +situation then was, I felt a glow of happiness at the thought that I +should be enabled either to save her life, or to risk mine to save her +in whom, from the time that I had first seen her, my whole soul had +become involved. I now felt and knew that it was in my power to serve +her, that our fates were united; and, when I beheld her alone with me +upon the wide ocean, I felt as though her life had been given into my +hands, and we both were secure. The thought in which I indulged was +realized. We had scarce been twelve hours upon the sea, when a vessel +passed us at the distance of scarce a mile. I made signals, that she +might discover us, and they were observed. She was bound for London, and +we were taken on board. I may say that it was now that my acquaintance +with the fair being whom I had rescued from the hands of those who would +have destroyed her began. Her beauty grew upon my sight as a summer sun +increaseth in glory; and the more that I beheld it, the more did I +become enchained by its power. It was now, for the first time, that I +ventured to make inquiry concerning her name and birth; when I +ascertained that her name was Charlotte Hastings; and, upon further +inquiry, discovered that she was the niece, and the supposed heiress, of +the merchant in whose employment I was. On making this discovery, my +tongue became dumb. I felt that I loved her because I had delivered her +from death, or from what would have been worse than death. But when I +knew that she was my superior in circumstances--the heiress of him in +whose employment I was--I stood before her and was dumb. But there was a +language in my eyes, while my tongue was silent; and though I spoke not, +I had reason to know that she understood its meaning--for often I found +her dark eyes anxiously fastened upon me; and while she gazed, the tears +stole down her cheeks. + +We arrived in London. On the day of our arrival, I went towards her, and +said--"Madam, we must part." + +"Part!" she exclaimed, "wherefore?--tell me wherefore?" + +"There is a gulf between our stations," I answered, "which I cannot +pass." She then knew nothing of my being but a clerk in her uncle's +office, and I was resolved that she never should know. "Charlotte," I +said, on first addressing her after landing, "fate has cast us +together--in some degree it has mingled our destiny; yet we must part. +Fate has gamboled with us--it has mocked us with a child's game. We must +part now, not to meet again. Farewell! I could have dreamed in your +eyes--yea, I could have lived in the light that fell from them; but, +Charlotte, it was not to be my lot--that happiness was reserved for +others. We came to this country together; the wind and the waves spared +us, and wed us. The troubled sea did not divide us. We escaped from the +hands of our destroyers, and fate recorded us as one. But it may be +necessary that we should part--for I know the difference between our +stations; and, if it be so, despise not him that saved you." + +Her uncle heard of our captivity and escape with the coldest +indifference. Not a muscle of his face moved. The variation of a +fraction in the price of the funds would have interested him more. + +"I thank you," said he, "for having restored my kinswoman to freedom. +Hereafter, it may be in my power to reward you for the act. In the +meantime, you must undertake another voyage to the Brazils, which I +trust will prove more fortunate than your last." + +I had only been fourteen days in London, when, another vessel being +fitted out, I was ordered again to embark. During that period, and from +the day that I conducted her to her uncle's house, had not been +permitted to see the fair being whom I had rescued; nor did my employer, +though I saw him daily, once mention her name to me, or in any way +allude to her. Yet, during that period, by day and by night, her image +had been ever present to my thoughts. There was a singularity in the +conduct of the merchant, with regard to her, which surprised me. I +resolved, before my departure, to ask his permission to bid her +farewell. I did so. + +"Young man," replied he, "romantic thoughts do not accord with the +success of a merchant, and with romantic adventures he has but little to +do. You imagine that you love my niece, and she perhaps entertains the +same foolish thoughts concerning you. It is a delusion arising from the +circumstances under which you became acquainted; but it will pass away +as a reflection from the face of a mirror, and leave no trace of +existence. When you return you may see her again, but not now." + +Lovers are proverbial for their lack of patience, and this assuredly +was putting mine to trial. But I knew the temper of the man with whom I +had to deal, and, yielding to necessity, I sailed without seeing her. + +I had been absent for more than two years, and prospered exceedingly in +all my dealings. On my return homeward, I had to visit Genoa. On the day +of my arrival there, a person accosted me on the street by name. Without +seeing the speaker when he accosted me, I started at his voice, for I +remembered it well. It was Belford the pirate. + +"Well," said he, in a sort of whisper, "I give you credit for the manner +in which you effected your escape. But you robbed me of a prize which +should not have been ransomed for less than a thousand pounds. And, +before we part," added he gravely, "you shall give me your hand and seal +to pay me that sum on the day that she becomes your wife." + +I could not forbear a smile at the strange demand, and said that it +should be readily complied with, if ever the event of which he spoke +took place; but of that, I assured him, there was but small hope. + +"Fool!" said he, "know you not that the old merchant, her father, +intends that you shall be wed on your arrival in England? And think you +that I know not that you are to succeed him in business?" + +"Her father!" I exclaimed--"of whom do you speak? I know him not. Or do +you speak only to mock me?" + +"By my right hand," said he, "I speak seriously, and the truth. She +believes, and you believe that she is the niece of old Hastings, your +master. She is his daughter--the only daughter of a fair but frail wife, +who eloped from him while his child was yet an infant, leaving it to his +care. In order to forget the shame which his frail partner had brought +upon him, he, from that day, refused to see his child, lest her features +should remind him of her mother. The girl was sent to Boulogne, where +she remained till within two months of the time when you saw her on +board of my good privateer. You look astonished," added he--"does my +narrative surprise you?" + +"It does indeed surprise me," I replied; "but how come you to know these +things?" + +"Oh," replied he, "I know them, and require but small help from +divination. Nine years ago, I was commander of one of old Hasting's +vessels; and because I was a native of the Borders, forsooth, I, like +you, was a favourite with him. He entrusted me with the secret of his +having a daughter. Frequently, when I had occasion to put into Boulogne, +I carried her presents from him. He also ordered me to bring him over +her portrait, and when the old boy took it in his hands, and held it +before his face, he wept as though he had been a child. He used me +crookedly at last, however; for he accused me of dishonesty, and +attempted to bring me to punishment. I was then as honest as noonday, +and on land I am honest still, although I have done some bold business +upon the high seas. I made a vow that I would be revenged upon him, and, +but that you thwarted me, I would have been revenged. I ran my brig into +Boulogne. I pretended that I had a message to Miss Hastings from her +father, or, as I termed him, her uncle, and that she was to accompany me +to England. As I had frequently been the bearer of communications from +him before, my tale was believed. She accompanied me on board the brig; +and we sailed, not for England, but on a roving cruise, as a king of the +open sea. I was resolved that no harm should befal her; but I had also +determined that she should not again set her foot upon land, until her +father came down with a thousand pounds as a ransom. Of that thousand +pounds you deprived me. But on your marriage day--at the very +altar--payment will be demanded. It is not for myself that I desire it," +said he, seriously, "for I am a careless fellow, and am content with +what the sea gives to me; but I have a son in Cumberland, who will now +be about seven years of age. His mother is dead, for my forsaking her +broke the poor thing's heart, and hurried her to the grave. My son, I +believe, is now the inmate of a workhouse. It is better that he should +remain there, than be trained to the gallows by his father. Yet I should +wish to see him provided for, and your wife's ransom shall be his +inheritance. Give me your bond, and when you again see this dagger, be +ready to fulfil it." + +As he spoke, he exhibited a small poniard, which he carried concealed +beneath his coat. I conceived that his brain was affected, and merely to +humour him I agreed to his strange demand. + +His words gave birth to wild thoughts, and with an anxious heart I +hastened to return to England. My employer received me as though I had +not been absent for a week. + +"You have done well," he said; "I am satisfied with your undertaking. +You did not this time meet with pirates, nor captive damsels to rescue." +I hesitated to reply, and I mentioned that I had met and spoken with the +pirate commander at Genoa. + +He glanced at me sharply for a moment, and added--"Merchants should not +converse with robbers." + +He sat thoughtful for the space of half an hour, and then requested me +to accompany him into his private office. When there, he said-- + +"You inform me that you have again seen Belford, the pirate, and that +you have spoken with him. What said he to you? Tell me all--conceal +nothing." + +I again hesitated, and sought to evade the subject. But he added, more +decisively--"Speak on--hide nothing--fear nothing." + +I did tell him all, and he sat and heard me unmoved. + +When I concluded, he took my hand and said--"It well you have spoken +honestly. Listen to me. Charlotte is indeed my daughter. Time has not +diminished your affection for each other, which I was afraid was too +romantic in its origin to endure. I have put your attachment to each +other to severe trials; let it now triumph. Follow me," he added, "and I +will conduct you to her." + +I was blind with happiness, and almost believed that what I heard was +but a dream--the fond whispering of an excited brain. I will not +describe to you my interview with my Charlotte; I could not--words could +not. It was an hour of breathless, of measureless joy. She was more +beautiful than ever, and love and joy beamed from her eyes. + +Our wedding-day came--her father placed her hands in mine, and blessed +us. We were leaving the church, when a person in the porch, whose figure +was rapt up in a cloak, approached me, and revealing the point of a +dagger, whispered--"Remember your bond!" + +It was Belford, the daring pirate. I kept faith with him, and he +received the money. + +I will not detain you longer with my history, with my Trials and +Triumphs. One of the first acts of my Charlotte was to purchase the +estate which had been torn from my father, and she presented it to him +as his daughter's gift. On retiring from business, I came to reside on +it, and built on it this house, which has sheltered you from the storm. + +"And your name," said the listener, "is Mr Melvin?" + +"It is," replied the host. + +"Then startle not," continued the stranger, "when you hear that mine is +Belford! I am the son of the pirate. My father died not as he had lived. +When upon his deathbed he sent for me, and on leaving me his treasure, +which was considerable, he commanded me to repay you the thousand pounds +which he so strangely exacted from you. From the day on which he +received it, he abandoned his desperate course, and through honest +dealings became rich. I have brought you your money, with interest up to +the present time." + +So saying, the stranger placed a pocketbook in the hands of his +entertainer, and hastily exclaiming "Farewell!" hurried from the house, +and was no more heard of. + + + + +THE MISER OF NEWABBEY. + + +In the pretty little village of Newabbey, in the south of Scotland, +there lived one of those individuals which society sometimes casts up, +as the sea does its secret monsters, formed apparently for no other +purpose than to show how curiously operose nature can be in her +productions, though mankind, ever in search for final causes, may +attempt to wrest out of such eccentricities some moral to suit their +self-love, and, by producing a contrast, elevate themselves in the scale +of moral or physical being. That strange person, Cuthbert Grandison--or, +as he was generally termed, Cubby Grindstane, by the corruptive +ingenuity of his neighbours--occupied a small mud cottage near the +centre of the village we have mentioned. He was considerably advanced in +age, and, having come to Newabbey at a late period of his life, the +people in that part of the country knew little of his history--a +circumstance they regretted in proportion to the interest excited by the +strange habits of the individual. He was in person a little man; +extremely spare; with a sharp keen, hungry look; a grey hawk's eye, +which, like the cat's, seemed to enjoy the best vision collaterally, for +the pupil was almost always at the junction of the eyelids. On his back +there was a large hump, which being the only rotundity which his spare +body presented, gave him the appearance of a skeleton carrying a lump of +beef; and, as his mode of walking was quick and hurried, a quaint fancy +could not resist the additional suggestion, that he was running home +with it in order to satisfy the hunger that shone through his fleshless +form. The extraordinary appearance of such a wild and grotesque-looking +individual, in so small a village, could not fail to produce the usual +speculation among the high-mutched gossips, who, having in vain made +inquiries and exerted their wits as to his origin, directed their +attention to his habits, and especially to the mode in which he earned +his livelihood--for no one could say he was ever seen to beg. But they +were not much more successful in these secondary inquiries and +investigations; because, (although it was certain that he had a +signboard, exhibiting the characters, "Cuthbert Grandison, Cobbler"--an +unusual and somewhat affected and gratuitous depreciation of the votary +of St Crispin--and sometimes sat at his small window, perforating soles +with his awl, and filling up the holes with "tackets,") no one in the +village employed him, and he never condescended to ask any one for work. +If his operations thus afforded no proper clue to his means of life, his +conversation was, if possible, still more sterile; for, in place of +associating with the other "snabs" of the village, or joining the +quidnunes who assembled in Widow Cruickshanks', to drink beer and "twine +political arguments"--a much harder labour than their day's work, though +they thought it a recreation--he locked himself, and another individual +now to be mentioned, into the house at an early hour of the evening, and +refused to open it again to however urgent a visiter. + +The other individual who lived in Cuthbert's house, was no other than a +daughter, about eighteen years of age, called Jean, as unlike her +grotesque and mysterious parent as any of God's creatures could be; +though every effort was exerted, on his part, to make her as silent and +incommunicative as himself. She appeared to have received no education; +her dress was of the most wretched kind; and it was even alleged by the +neighbours, whose espionage extended even to the calculation of the +quantity of meal and milk purchased for the support of the father and +the daughter, that she did not get sufficient food. These circumstances +regarding the girl were the more readily remarked, that, as all +admitted, Jean, or, as she was familiarly called, Jeanie Grandison, +would, if she had been treated like other individuals of her age, have +excelled the greater number of young women of the village, not only in +personal appearance, but in the qualities of her mind and heart. She +apparently stood in great awe of her strange parent, and uniformly +rejected all solicitations, on the part of the villagers, to join them +in their sports, or partake of their little entertainments. The story of +the mysterious treatment to which she was subjected, excited the +sympathies of the neighbours; and her own amiable manners and meek +deportment, exhibiting the indications of a crushed spirit, riveted the +regard which had been first elicited by her apparent misfortunes. + +The studied seclusion which Grindstane observed, and seemed determined +to vindicate against all attempts on the part of the neighbours to "draw +him out," rendered it difficult to obtain any insight into the domestic +economy of his strange domicile; but accident, at last, brought about +what might otherwise not have been easily accomplished. It was observed +that, for a considerable time, his daughter had been ailing. She made no +complaints to any one; but the quick eye of sympathy soon discovered +what was apparently attempted to be concealed. The wife of John +Monilaws, a grocer and meal-dealer, from whom Jeanie bought the small +portion of provisions her father required, observed and noticed the +change that had taken place upon her, and urged her to reveal her +complaint, and apply to the surgeon of the village for relief. She +smiled sorrowfully at the exhibition of a sympathy to which she was so +much a stranger, and which she was not permitted to avail herself of; +thanked Mrs Monilaws for her kind intentions; and assured her she was +not much out of her usual condition of health. Two days afterwards, the +good dame was astonished by the grotesque appearance of the mysterious +Cubby himself, standing by the side of her counter. It was seldom he +was to be seen, far less spoken to; and, as she looked on the man whom +report had invested with attributes of an unusual kind, a shiver came +over her, which the presence of her husband, who, having seen Cubby +enter the shop, followed him from mere curiosity, was required to +counteract. + +"I want to buy some bread," said he, slowly. + +"What kind?" said Mrs Monilaws. + +"A kind I hae aften asked Jeanie to get," replied he; "but my een are +never blessed wi' the sight o't." + +"Te may hae't, if we hae't, Cuthbert Grindstane," said John. + +"Hae ye ony auld, weathered bread," said he, "that has seen the sun for +a week, and fules winna buy frae ye?" + +"Ay hae we," replied the mistress--"owre muckle o that. There's some our +John is to boil up for the pigs. It's moulded as green as turf-sod. But +ye hae nae pigs, Cuthbert?" + +"Pigs anew--pigs anew," replied he. "What's the price o' that?" + +"It's scarce worth onything," replied the honest woman. + +"It's seldom I sell whinstanes covered wi' green moss. Ye may hae't +a'thegither for a penny." + +"That's owre muckle, guid woman," said Cubby. "A bawbee, eke a farthin, +is the hail value o't. I'll gie nae mair." + +"I dinna deal in farthins," replied she. + +"Dinna deal in farthins!" ejaculated Cubby with surprise. "Is a farthin +no the fourth part o' yer ain price o' a' that bread, sufficient to keep +a moderate man for a week?" + +"He would be a very moderate man that wad eat it," said John. "I was +even dootin if I wad hurt the stamach o' my pigs wi't, though boiled in +whey." + +"Whey!" ejaculated Cubby again--"do ye gie yer pigs whey? They maun hae +a routhy stye. Will ye hae my bode?" + +"Ye may tak it for naething," said the mistress. "Hoo is Jeanie?--she +was complainin last time I saw her." + +"Complainin!" said he, as he with the greatest avidity seized the bread, +and stuffed it into his pockets. "Did the lassie complain? What did she +complain o'? No surely that she didna get her meat." And he looked +fearfully and inquiringly into the face of Mrs Monilaws. + +"She looked in an ailing way," said the mistress; "an' I thought she was +ill." + +"She's owre fat--an ill complaint," replied he, apparently wishing to +get away. + +"I dinna see that," said Mrs Monilaws. + +"But I baith see't an' feel't," replied he with a grin. "Guid nicht." + +"I pity the puir lassie," said Mrs Monilaws, after Cubby went away, +"wha's doomed to live wi' that man. That's a puir supper for the stamach +o' an unweel cratur; an' I've a' my doots if she's no at this moment +confined to her strae bed. Is there nae way o' getting her out o' his +hands? The Laird o' Cubbertscroft wants a servant, an' I promised to get +ane to him. Jeanie wad answer better than ony other lass in Newabbey, +but I canna see her to speak to her; for, though she comes here, naebody +can gae to her." + +"There seemed to be something strange," replied John, "in Cubby's +manner, when ye asked him about Jeanie. If he gaes lang his ain errands, +an' she doesna make her appearance, I'll conclude, frae what I hae seen +and heard, that there's something wrang. That man has the heart to +starve ane o' God's creatures--ay, his ain dochter--to death. What +mortal could live on that meat he has taen hame wi' him this nicht? Keep +an ee on them, Marion; an', if Jeanie doesna sune shew hersel, I'll mak +sma' scruple in visitin the lion's den." + +Some days afterwards, Cubby again made his appearance at the counter of +John Monilaws; and there being no more old bread for him, he struck a +long-contested bargain about some "fuisted" meal that had been long in +the shop, and for which he offered far beneath its real value; but Mrs +Monilaws, thinking him poor and miserable, accepted his offer, though +she had scarcely done so when she repented of her generosity, for she +immediately concluded that her kindness was a species of cruelty, in so +far as she was accessory to sending, in all likelihood to an invalid, +food that was not suited even to a robust beggar. As he greedily +grasped, and carried away like a thief, the article he had purchased, +she asked again for his daughter; but she got less satisfaction on this +occasion than even on the last, for his only answer was--"What's the +use o' speerin for weel foik?" The suspicions of Mrs Monilaws were +roused, rather than allayed, by this answer, and the manner in which it +was delivered, and she lost no time in telling her husband, that he +might get some of the neighbours to accompany him, and go and inquire +for the young girl, who, if ill, ought to be taken from the house; or, +if well, might be feed--whether old Grindstane was agreeable or not--for +the service at Cubbertscroft. + +At the moment that Mrs Monilaws and her husband were engaged talking +about this strange individual and his daughter, Carey Cuthbert--the +third son of William Cuthbert of Cuthbert's, or, as it was called, +Cubbertscroft, a fine property in the neighbourhood--entered the shop, +with a message from Mrs Cuthbert, for articles for the use of the +family, and a request to know if any suitable servant had yet been +procured by Mrs Monilaws. This young man, who was about eighteen years +of age, was reputed by his parents as unfit for sustaining, even so far +as a third son might sustain, the honour and respectability of the +Cuthberts of Cubbertscroft. He was represented as being so dull that he +would learn nothing; and, at the same time, so fond of associating with +inferior people, that he could scarcely have been recognised, either +from his conversation or manners, as the son of a gentleman. His +bluntness, kindness, and humility, however, pleased all those with whom +his father did not wish him to associate. With many of the humble +inhabitants of Newabbey he was on the most familiar footing; and nothing +pleased him better than to get into the village, where, on every side, +he could find companions of the grade that suited his (as his father +termed it) depraved taste. In these humbler societies, however, Carey +learned what perhaps he would not have done from the Greek and Latin +books which, at school, were eternally in his hands, and never in his +head. Like most other individuals, whether fools or wits, he had a +genius of his own; and, as the worms on which the mole feeds are larger +and fatter than the flying insects that form the food of the swallow, +humility, and a taste for the common sense that, like water, is best and +purest the farther down you go, may be vindicated on the grand principle +of utility and interest. We do not give a young man of eighteen credit +for an _a priori_ knowledge that his interests lay in searching among +the humble for that "lear" that could not be got among the sons of the +great; but we may safely assert that nature had placed in him an +instinctive liking for the simple and the natural, and he might soon +perceive, without any spirit of divination, that, by following nature as +his guide, he might arrive at a more satisfactory termination of his +journey, than his horse-racing brothers, William and George, who were +fast flying through their father's estate. He had nearly already, +however, been given up as untractable; his speech, as his mother said, +had been Scotch from the first lisp; his ideas had been of the earth, +from the first moment he crawled upon it; and the servants his +companions, from the time he was able to escape, by the aid of his own +feet, from the nursery. + +As soon as Carey had delivered his message, he conceived he had thrown +off the servitude imposed upon him by his mother, who considered him of +no other use than to carry a verbal communication to the village. +Entertaining a very different opinion of Carey's powers, John Monilaws +told him of the strange conduct of Cubby Grindstane, (whom he also well +knew, as indeed every person in the neighbourhood,) in endeavouring to +conceal the illness of his daughter, who was the individual to be +recommended to his mother as a servant. Carey confessed he thought the +conduct of Cubby very suspicious, and, with a knowing look, hinted that +it had been long his intention to endeavour to ascertain something more +of the old cobbler than the people of Newabbey yet knew. + +"It is just you callants," said John, "wha are best at thae things. When +I was like ye, there wasna a house-tap in a' Newabbey I didna ken as +weel as the sparrows that biggit their nests in them. There are queerer +sights seen i' the warld, by lookin _down_ than by lookin _up_, for a +that astronomers may say on the subject. It was I that discovered Marion +Muschet killin her new-born bairn wi' a pack-thread. I saw her through +her ain skylicht; an', though I had nae power to speak, I had plenty o' +pith i' my legs; but, fule that I was, I forgot that, lang afore I could +get assistance, the pack-thread wad hae dune its wark. Sae it was--the +face o' the bairn was as blue as my bannet, when, by my means, it was +discovered." + +"An' muckle ye got for yer sky-larkin," said Mrs Monilaws. "Ye hanged +the puir woman, an' got the name o' Skylicht Johnnie, whilk ye hae +carried about wi' ye ever since, and will do till the day ye dee." + +"Ay, Marion," answered the good-natured husband, "I hae taen nane o' +thae flights sin' I married ye. Ye keep me weel down. I suffered weel i' +my young days for lookin down; but I fear I wad suffer mair noo for +lookin up. But the deil's no buried i' Kirkaldy, if I wadna hae a blink +through Cubby Grindstane's skylicht, were my legs as soople as Mr Carey +Cuthbert's there, an' I had nae wife on my back." + +Carey looked and smiled, and said nothing; but his mind was not so +inactive as his tongue. + +"Ye wad be nearer yer purpose, John," said Marion, "if ye wad tak wi' ye +our neebor, John Willison, a godly elder o' the kirk, and gae bauldly in +at the door. John will tak wi' him prayers, an' ye some o' my jellies. I +never kenned ony guid come by a skylicht--except, maybe, Widow +Gairdner's; wha was sittin ae nicht, thinkin whar she wad get her +supper; an', as she thought, an' thought, an' was nae better or fu'er +for thinkin, a man fell frae the roof at her feet, an', throwing frae +him sixteen gowd guineas wi' pure fear, flew out at the door as if +Beelzebub an' a' his angels had been after him. Widow Gairdner got her +supper that nicht. Naebody ever asked for the guineas; but it was weel +kenned frae whase hoose they were stown." + +"Ah, Marion, Marion," said John, laughing; "an' sae ye forget yer ain +mither's skylicht, through whilk I used to gae to court ye." + +"An' I do nae sic things, John," replied Mrs Monilaws, jocularly; "ye +never brocht sixteen gowd guineas wi' ye when ye cam doon through my +mither's skylicht, to court her dochter." + +This conversation was not lost upon Carey Cuthbert, although he said +nothing. He laughed heartily at the dry humour of the honest, happy +couple, and went to visit his other friends in the village. In the +afternoon, he was seen studying like a painter the form and appearance +of old Grindstane's house, and did not leave the village till the +evening. As soon as it was sufficiently dark, he repaired again to the +old black domicile; and having during daylight taken his eye-draughts, +he tried if he could observe what was going on in the inside of the +house from the small window in the side-wall, or from a small round hole +in the gable. Both apertures were, however, completely closed, the +greatest care having apparently been taken, not only to shut the crazy +shutters, but to stuff up the holes with pieces of rags, and to cover up +all with a cloth hung from the inside so as to cover all the interior +part of the windows. Carey saw, however, enough to satisfy him that the +inmates had not retired to rest; for there was light in the cottage, and +he thought he observed that it moved as if some one were carrying a lamp +from one part of the interior to another. He heard no sounds; for the +individual who moved the light walked softly, as if he wished to avoid +making any disturbance. + +"We hae nae hope upon earth," said Carey to himself, quaintly; "I maun +tak for ance my mither's counsel, an' _soar_--though, I fear, crawlin on +thatched roofs is no the kind o' ambition she wants me to flee at." + +With these words, and a smile on his face, Carey went along, and, by the +aid of a tree, mounted to the top of the house adjacent to Cubby's. +Resisting a strong temptation to peep into the interior of this house, +which presented a very clear, open, and convenient skylight, through +which many secrets might have been discovered, he slipped softly along, +and laid himself on the thatch of Cubby's house, with his feet in the +spout, and his head on the small aperture, covered with one pane of +yelked glass, through which, if any light had been in the interior, he +could very easily have seen all that went on in the inside of the +cottage. All, however, was dark as pitch--a circumstance which appeared +to him somewhat strange, as he was certain he had seen light in the +house before he mounted; but to be accounted for sufficiently easily, +by supposing that the light had been extinguished during the time he had +been occupied in getting up. He had no hopes now of seeing anything that +night; but, as he was there at any rate, (so he argued,) he might as +well rest himself a little, after the fatigues of a day spent running +about in various directions, and he might perhaps hear something, if he +could see nothing; a mode of acquiring knowledge he had less objection +to than to the ocular exercises on printed paper, so much recommended by +his parents and Dominie Blackletter--a creature he hated. + +Having lain quietly for some time, he heard, very distinctly, hollow +moans, coming from the lower part of the house. They were of the most +unearthly kind he had ever heard, suggesting, as they struck the pained +ear, the idea of some one suffering the last pangs of mortal agony. +These were mixed, or alternated, with, occasional harsh objurgatory +notes, coming from another person, apparently a man, and supposed, by +Carey, to be Cubby Grandison himself. These were followed by a scream, +which appeared to be stifled towards its conclusion, as if some one had +applied a cloth or other obstruction to the mouth of the individual +giving vent to the unbearable agony. The scream marked the individual as +a female, and Carey set her down as the unfortunate daughter of whom he +had heard John Monilaws and his wife talking in the fore-part of the +day. These sounds continued for a considerable time. The groans, the +objurgations, the scream stifled as before, succeeded each other; and, +then, for a time, a deep silence reigned throughout the interior, only +to be interrupted again, by a repetition of the same sounds. At last, a +louder scream than any he had yet heard, burst from the mouth of the +sufferer, and, in an instant, a noise, as of some one falling over +chairs, was heard, and then a sudden stifling of the scream, accompanied +by the objurgatory and menacing voice of a man, whose anger seemed to +increase with the necessity of an increase of his efforts to stop the +complaint of the sufferer. This scream was the last that Carey heard. A +deep silence again reigned, and a full quarter of an hour passed without +any indications being perceived of the presence of a living person in +the cottage. + +Having waited for a considerable time without hearing anything further, +Carey concluded that the suffering individual had been suffocated, and +was on the eve of getting down to give an alarm. His attention was again +arrested by a new phenomenon. A light was now observable through the +chinks of an apparent partition between the skylight and the under or +main part of the house, an unusual occurrence in Scotch cottages, which +have generally no garret, or any other apartment than what extends from +roof to ceiling. A noise was now heard, as of some one trying to open a +locked door. Success attended his efforts, and, in a little time, a +small door, sufficient to let in the body of a man in a crawling +posture, opened, and discovered the face and upper part of the body of +Cuthbert Grandison, holding in his hands a small cruisie, which sent +forth a doubtful, glimmering light, scarcely sufficient to do more than +show the high bones and grey eye of the strange individual who held it. +The door being opened he placed the cruisie into the small apartment +into which it led; whereby Carey was enabled to see the nature of the +place, and its extraordinary contents. As he surveyed them, he shook +with terror, and was once afraid that his perturbation would discover +him. The apartment was a place in the form of a small garret, extending +to about half the size of the under apartment of the cottage; and seemed +to have been formed after the house was built, for the purpose to which +it was devoted. Casting his eye around and round, what struck the +fearful observer first, was a skeleton of a human being, lying extended +along the floor, and half enveloped in the darkness, which the +glimmering taper only partially illuminated. It had been the first human +skeleton Carey had ever seen; and the circumstances under which he now +beheld it, shining principally by the borrowed light of its bleached +bones, and suggesting some mysterious connection between the being whose +physical system it once supported, and the extraordinary individual who +held this strange piece of household furniture, rendered the sight +appalling and horripalant. On a chest at the other side of the apartment +lay another skeleton, apparently that of a new-born child, whose tiny +shanks, worm-like finger bones, and small head, formed a striking and +painful contrast to its full-grown companion--suggesting the probability +of some kindred blood having once warmed the sapless bones, and some +kindred fate having dried it up, leaving these dry tokens as the only +monument of their sorrows and misfortunes. Around, on all sides were +large packages cased with iron, and sitting on a small hook attached to +the wall near the ceiling was another inhabitant of this living +cemetery, which, from the singularity of its aspect, its silence, and +its locality, excited as much terror in Carey as even the skeleton. This +was no other than a large grey owl, sitting as demure as grimalkin, with +its goggle eyes at their utmost stretch, glaring in the light of the +taper like fiery balls, and rolling as if in anger at being interrupted +by the intruder in its enjoyment of eating a mouse, which, dead and +mangled, was firmly clenched in its claws. The few minutes that served +Carey to examine these extraordinary appearances, whose reality he +doubted against all the clearness of his rubbed eyes, enabled Cuthbert +Grandison to crawl into the place, through the limited aperture opening +in its side. The moment he got in, he shut the door carefully, and threw +his eyes up to the pane of glass through which Carey was looking, +without, however, observing him, as he instantly drew back his head. +When Carey again directed his eyes to the object of his curiosity and +awe, he was lying prostrate by the side of the bones of the larger +skeleton. He then rose up, threw a look of recognition to the owl, who +went on with his repast, heedless of the ceremony with which he had been +honoured. The necromantic appearance, attitude, and acts of the +hunchbacked living skeleton, who thus stood, as it were, in the midst of +the dead, communing with them by a secret and mysterious power, realized +in the mind of the neophite all the stories he had heard and read of the +wonderful and the terrific. The subsequent conduct of the performer was +not less extraordinary. His ceremonies and operations occupied a full +hour. Everything was noticed by Carey; and if what we have attempted to +describe produced wonder, what we have at present abstained from +narrating, from a regard to what is due to the importance of other +circumstances waiting for detail, was not calculated to lessen that +feeling. + +Carey having got down again from the roof top, hurried away home at the +top of his speed; for he had staid too long, and was certain of a scold +from his parents, for having been seduced into low practices, by the +vulgar inhabitants of the village. A confusion in the house, produced by +a poinding having been that day executed, but removed by payment of the +debt which had been incurred by the eldest son, William, and +corroborated by the indulgent father, saved him from the abuse which +awaited him. Though young, he had sense enough to see the folly of the +proceedings of his father and brothers, and sighed as he retired to his +couch, in the anticipation of a greater evil impending over the house of +Cuthbert, than the humble-mindedness of its third son. The anticipated +misfortunes of his father, and the recollection of the extraordinary +sights he had witnessed from the roof top of Cubby Grandison, kept him +awake during the greater part of the night. His meditations took +various turns. The abuse to which he was daily exposed at the hands of +his parents and brothers, produced an ambition of shewing himself worthy +of their regard, and even of saving them from the ruin that seemed to +await them; but the schemes whereby that was to be accomplished, formed +in a youthful mind, fell far short of the wishes which produced them. In +the morning, he was duly catechised as to the cause of his being so late +in coming home; but he chose rather to be subjected to the suspicion of +having been in the company of Sandy Ferrier the smith, or Geordie +Mactubbie the cooper, or any other humble, but witty denizen of +Newabbey, whose laugh caught his ready sympathies, than divulge the +secrets of his evening's adventures, on the house top of Cubby +Grindstane the cobbler. + +Next day it was absolutely necessary--so at least thought Carey +Cuthbert--that he should again see John Monilaws, about his mother's +servant, though he had no new commission from her to execute, connected +with that affair; and giving Gideon Blackletter and his Greek and Latin +books the slip, he hastened again to Newabbey, now become a much more +interesting place than Cubbertscroft. + +"Ye've got nae intelligence yet, I fancy, Mrs Monilaws, aboot my +mither's servant?" he said, as he entered the shop of the gaucy dealer +in many wares. + +"No yet, Mr Carey," replied she. "There's been a consultation atween +Elder Willison an' John, as to the time o' their visit to Cubby's den, +as they ca' it. They're speakin o' four o'clock. They want a stout young +chiel wi' them, for fear o' accidents. As you're a little interested i' +the affair, and fond o' sichts, maybe ye may condescend to accompany +them?" + +"I've nae objections," answered Carey. "Is there ony other livin +creature supposed to be i' the house, but Cubby an' his dochter?" + +"No," answered the mistress, "if indeed ane o' thae two even be livin; +but few folk can tell muckle aboot the inside o' Cubby Grindstane's +house, for he has a way o' meetin visitors at the door, an', stanin +richt i' the gap, speaks them fair, an' gets them awa as sune as he +can." + +"Was he ever married, ken ye?" said Carey, "or did ye ever hear o' ony +ither body that lived wi' him?" + +"I dinna ken," replied she. "He hasna had a wife sin' he cam to +Newabbey." + +"Is his dochter Jeanie, wham ye intend for my mither's servant, like her +father?" said Carey. + +"As unlike as ony twa creatures can be," replied Mrs Monilaws. "He's a +hunchbacked scarecraw, an' she's a bonny young lassie, whase beauty, a' +the ill usage and starvation she has suffered, hasna been able to tak +the blume frae; but, I fear, that bonny blume winna stand muckle langer, +if indeed death hasna already blawn the witherin gouch o' his breath +on't. But this day will expose a' the secrets o' the inside o' that +house." + +"I see nae great reason," replied Carey, "for supposin there's ony great +secret aboot it." + +"What maks him keep a'body oot, then, Mr Carey, man?" said the mistress. +"What gies him that side-look, that fearfu girn, an' his slouchin walk! +What maintains him?--for he works nane; and why winna Jeanie speak abune +her breath when she sees him, or answer, when he's awa, ony question +aboot him or his hoose?" + +"A' prejudice, Mrs Monilaws," replied Carey; "auld wive's wind eggs, +hatched, nae doot, by a covey o' them, as they sit thegither till they +clock. The puir man doesna want to be fashed wi' a set o' meddlin +neebors." + +At four o'clock, Elder Willison, John Monilaws, and Carey, went to the +house of Cubby Grindstane. The door was locked. They knocked, and asked +admittance. + +"What want ye?" said a rough voice from within. + +"We hae some shoes to get mended," said John Monilaws. + +"I'm ill, an' no in a mendin way the day," replied Cubby, "Gang awa to +Jamie Goodawls." + +"Jamie has owre muckle to do, and tauld us to gang to Cubby Grindstane," +said the godly elder. + +"My awl's my ain," said Cubby, in worse humour; "an' sae lang as it's no +thirled to the _soles_ o' men, I'm free frae the power o' their bodies. +Awa wi' ye!" + +"You're in my district, Cubby," said the elder, "an' I hae the command +o' Mr Singer, oor minister, to ca' upon ye, and inquire for the state o' +yer soul, whilk, to reverse yer puir pun, is, we fear, owre closely +thirled to yer _all_. Yer dochter has also a soul to be saved; and Mr +Singer says he never saw you or her i' the kirk." + +"Weel, if I dinna trouble him, he has nae richt to trouble me," replied +Cubby. "I say again, awa wi' ye! The law says a man's hoose is his +castle, an' it says true." + +"That's an unfortunate allusion," whispered Carey to John Monilaws. +"Castles are made to be attacked." + +"An' to be defended," answered Cubby, who had overheard the remark. + +Carey applied his powerful back to the crazy door, and, in an instant, +threw it open, overturning at the back of it a number of pieces of old +furniture, placed as props or defences, to prevent its being opened. The +party entered, and, in an instant, were in the middle of the cottage, +which was in two divisions--one end being occupied by a small truckle +bed, on which a human body lay extended; and the other which Carey +remarked was under the small garret where he had observed the nocturnal +rites, presented nothing but a few broken stools; some straw in one +corner, over which a dirty sheet and a blanket were spread; a fire, with +about as much live coal in it as a hand might hold, as well for quantity +as activity of heat; a small cupboard, with a padlock on it of twice the +value of the articles it guarded, presenting some bones that had once, +and while another's property, been covered with roasted meat, and +seemed by their whiteness to have been four or five times boiled, with +the remnant of the fuisted meal purchased from Mrs Monilaws. + +"This is a strange way," said Cubby, as he went to what might have been +called the butt end of the cottage--"this is a strange fashion o' +bringin the word o' God to folk that dinna want it." + +"We are tauld," replied the elder, "to strive for the repentance o' +sinners." + +"Ay, but ye're no tauld to brak open folk's doors, to force them to +repent," replied Cubby. "Besides, Mr Willison, whar's the shoon Jamie +Goodawl said he couldna mend, and sent ye to me wi'? Amang sins to be +repented o', a lee is a very guid ane to begin wi'." + +"Hoo's Jeanie, yer dochter?" said the elder, who was fairly caught by +Cubby. + +"What should ail her?" said Cubby, looking suspiciously, and moving +between them and the other apartment. + +"That's just what we want to ken," said John Monilaws, pushing Cubby a +little to the side, and moving slowly into the other division, followed +by the elder and Carey. + +The sight that here presented itself to them, as they approached the +small truckle bed, and folded down the top of the only blanket that +covered the body of a female, was of the most wretched and pitiful +character. It was with the greatest difficulty that John Monilaws could +recognise the features of Jeannie Grandison, (for such the invalid was,) +reduced, by the ill-matched pair, famine and disease, to the last stage +of existence. The bloom which Mrs Monilaws feared for was indeed +withered, and the stalk which supported the flower attenuated to a +fibre. Pale as a corpse, and emaciated beyond the lowest state of body +that keeps burning the lamp of life, it appeared doubtful, in the +absence of motion, whether she should be classed among living mortals. +The approach of strangers seemed to produce no effect upon her; for her +eyelids, which about half covered the glazed orbs, remained stationary, +and no symptoms of breathing could be discovered. At the side of the +bed, stood a three-footed stool, on which was placed a tin tankard, +containing some cold water, and a small bowl, with about an ounce of +cold porridge (made, no doubt, of part of the meal seen in the press) in +the bottom of it, no part of which seemed marked by the rusty iron spoon +that lay alongside of the dish. + +"Why did ye say to my wife, Cubby, that that lassie was weel, when it's +scarcely possible to observe in her a spark o' life?" + +"And what guid wad it hae dune to hae said she was ill?" replied Cubby. +"I canna pay for possets an' puddins recommended by auld wives; an' a +doctor is far ayont my degree or ability." + +"Ye micht hae begged assistance, then," said John. "Naebody wad hae +refused a bite or a sup to ane o' God's creatures, lyin at the point o' +death." + +"The folk hereabout," replied Cubby, "are owre proud o' their bites and +sups, no to come an' enjoy the luxury o' seem their charity applied, and +gettin their lugs lined wi' the return o' gratitude. A house fu' o' +folk, an' a pouch wi' three farthins i' the corner o't, dinna sort weel +thegither. Besides, what mair can ony sick body get than meat and +drink?" + +"An' do ye ca' that meat and drink?" said John, pointing to the porridge +and water. + +"What wad you ca' it?" replied Cubby, grinnin. "I wish I may get nae +waur to comfort me when I come to dee." + +"If the fear of expense," said Carey, "has prevented ye frae lettin the +neebors ken o' yer daughter's illness, wadna the same cause hae +prevented ye frae tellin o' her death? A funeral costs siller--what wad +ye hae dune wi' the body?" + +Cubby seemed moved by this question, and eyed the speaker suspiciously +and fearfully. + +"What's that to ye, callant?" he said at last. "A man's nae great +mechanic wha canna ca' thegither four white deals; and they that carry +to the grave dinna trouble are by coming back to ask for their fare, as +other carriers do." + +"She'll no be ill to carry, puir thing," said John Monilaws. "The only +weight aboot her will be that o' death, whilk they say is great even in +a bird. Whar does her mither lie?" + +"Whar should she lie?" replied Cubby, again put into a state of +agitation, remarked particularly by Carey. "Think ye she's no in her +grave?" + +"I hae little doot o' that, Cubby," said the other; "but I hope puir +Jeanie hears naething o' a' this." + +On looking at the invalid, all parties were surprised to see her looking +up in their faces, apparently comprehending every word they said. + +"Ye're better, I think, Jeanie," said John. + +"I dinna ken," replied the poor maiden. "Ask my faither. I can say +naething about mysel. He'll answer for me." + +"Hae ye been gettin ony meat except this crowdy an Adam's wine?" again +said the other. + +"My faither kens best what kind o' wine I hae been gettin," replied she. + +"Wine!" ejaculated Cubby--"God keep me an' my house frae sic +extravagance! Mair souls an' siller hae been drooned in that liquor than +in the Dead Sea, whilk hauds Sodom and Gomorrah." + +"An' some bodies hae been saved wi't," said John, taking out a small +bottle and a glass, and emptying some wine, which, by holding up the +poor invalid, he endeavoured to prevail upon her to taste. + +Cubby turned up his eyes and his hands to heaven. Jeannie looked +fearfully at her father, and refused to taste the wine, though her lips +were as withered leaves. + +"The taste o't will never leave her mouth," ejaculated Cubby. "Awa wi' +you an' your wine! Is my bairn to be corrupted, an' her father lookin +on? What can be expected o' ane wha has swallowed three hail pennies at +ae gulp? God hae mercy on us!" + +"You seem to want yer dochter dead," said the elder. "The Lord has sent +us thae things to be used, and no abused. Paul says, 'Drink no longer +water, but use a little wine for thy stomach's sake, and thine often +infirmities.'" + +"I'll no tak that," replied Cubby, "on the faith o' are wha said he cam +here wi' shune to mend, when his true errand was to corrupt the stamach +o' my dochter. Paul had mair sense than learn folk thae evil habits." + +"Shew me a Bible, an' I'll point ye out the passage," said the elder. + +"I may thank the Bible," replied Cubby; "for the auld ane I ance had, +an' whilk I sauld for half-a-crown to Geordie Bookless o' Dumfries, kept +me and Jeannie livin for five weeks--sae I hae naething to say against +that guid buik; but I haena been able to buy a second. Ye may noo gang +yer ways. Ye see that neither yer wine nor yer text is o' ony use in +this house." + +"Will you alloo her to tak onything else, then, Cubby, if my wife sends +it to ye?" said John Monilaws. + +"It's no often ye hear o' a puir penniless cratur like me refusin +onything that wad save his stock o' three guid farthins. I wad tak ony +gift but luxuries, provided the giver didna want entrance to my house; +but that's impossible. A' that gie think they hae a richt to enter yer +house as they like. Sae I dispense wi' yer gifts. Awa wi' you and them +baith!" + +"Its in vain to fecht wi' him," whispered Carey into the ear of John +Monilaws. "It's clear the lassie will dee if she's no removed. I'll +hand Cubby, if you an' the elder will lift the truckle-bed bodily, an' +carry the lassie an' it thegither into yer ain house." + +This communication was approved of, and conveyed to the elder. A sign +was given by Carey, who instantly seized Cubby by the shoulders; while, +the door being opened, the two others lifted with the greatest ease the +small couch, and, to the great surprise of the neighbours, who rejoiced +in the proceeding, carried it with the poor victim into John's house, +where the humane mistress, who had a liking for Jeanie, received her +with pleasure, and proceeded to contribute to her ease and recovery. The +greatest terror was evinced by Cubby on being let free from the powerful +grasp of Carey. He flew out of the cottage like one distracted, (yet +locking, even in his hurry, the door,) forced himself through the crowd +into John Monilaws' house, and, by threats, imprecations, supplications, +and even bribes, endeavoured to get possession of his daughter. His +conduct appeared to the people inexplicable. The starvation of his +daughter, and the affection (for what else could have produced his +anxiety?) that suggested such means of regaining possession of her, +appeared inconsistent; and if the sanity of the individual had not, by +his conversation, been well established, he would have been considered a +madman. His violence arose to such a pitch that it was found necessary +to guard the door; and it was only after some feigned attempt to break +into his own house, which seemed to terrify him even more than the +detention of his daughter, that he was forced home, and the poor girl +was left unmolested under the charge of Mrs Monilaws. + +Meanwhile, Jeanie, being kindly treated and attended by a surgeon, +recovered with a quickness proportioned to the powers of reaction of a +youthful constitution, acting on a system once more restored to the +enjoyment of what Dr Leechman called the _non-naturals_. Her natural +beauty which had never yet got fair play, began to shew itself; and her +simple and timid manners, produced by the dreadful tyranny under which +she had lived, excited a deep interest in her protectors and preservers. +She never, however, could be prevailed upon to speak of her father, or +of anything connected with the house. A shudder passed over her when his +name was mentioned; and she expressed an anxiety either to be put beyond +his power or again restored to him, an alternative which was not well +understood by her protectors, but sufficiently explained by the dangers +to which she would be exposed if she were made accessible to him when he +was under the influence of the fits of terror, excitement, and anxiety, +he had exhibited already on more than one occasion, and, perhaps, partly +to be accounted for by some secret cause which she could not be +prevailed upon to divulge. She was quite agreeable to go to +Cubbertscroft as a servant; and it was arranged that she should +accordingly proceed there as soon as she had totally recovered. Grieved +for her want of education, Mrs Monilaws procured, for her instruction in +reading and writing, the services of the village schoolmaster, who +attended her daily after she was able for the exercise, and was much +gratified by the rapid progress she made (for she was of quick parts) +under his zealous tuition. + +During all this period, Jeanie Grandison was regularly visited by Carey +Cuthbert, whose interest in her, though he had not then seen her, +commenced from the eventful evening when he made the awful discoveries +we have partly detailed, through her father's skylight; and had +increased from the moment he saw the first tint of the bloom of +returning health on her pallid cheek, and heard the sounds of her clear +melodious voice, though exercised only in the expressions of the +sentiments of a half-broken, timid, yet grateful heart. When properly +restored to health, Jeanie was sent out under the protection of John +Monilaws and Carey, (who, however, left them before he approached the +house,) to Cubbertscroft, where she entered upon her service. Nothing +was said to any one of her parentage; all that was told to Mrs Cuthbert +or the other servants, being, that she had, after having come to Mrs +Monilaws to be engaged, been seized with a fever, which prevented her +sooner from entering upon her service. This caution had been observed in +accordance with Jeanie's own wish; but her curious history reached the +ears of one of the servants, and very soon became known to the family, +who did not treat her any better, because she was reputed to be the +daughter of one already notorious in that part of the country for +squalid beggary and extraordinary and mysterious conduct. Mrs Cuthbert, +an unfeeling woman, whose contempt was measured by the humbleness of the +birth, circumstances, and education of every one around her, treated her +harshly--not hesitating, in her moods of spleen and passion, to taunt +her with her father's abject poverty, and her own origin. The protection +and kindness she received from Carey, were limited by his want of +opportunity and power; but the early interest he felt in her soon +assumed a new character, and an affection, pure and honourable as the +heart that entertained it, took possession of him, with all the energy +of a youthful passion. The opportunities he had of conversing with her, +were stolen from the watchful surveillance of his parents; who, +acquainted with his habits of humble companionship, had threatened to +turn him from the house if he did not renounce them; but, as the +mountains, piled by the daring hand of Titan, are not able to stop the +mountain stream, many devices were fallen upon by Carey, to give vent to +a passion whose course, though proverbially crooked, is also +proverbially irresistible. When Jeanie was supposed to be visiting her +friends in Newabbey--a place she dared not enter--she was along with +Carey, in the Wolf's Brake, a very retired place in the neighbourhood, +where they conceived they were perfectly safe from the disturbance of +their enemies; but they were discovered by Carey's parents, who cruelly +dismissed them both from the house. Carey was true to his love; and they +proceeded together to the village, where they were received by John +Monilaws and his wife, to whom they related their strange story, with +kindness. Some time afterwards, they were married, and Carey paid little +attention to the remarks of the neighbours, who could not see "hoo the +young gentleman, without a trade in his hand," was to support himself +and a wife. Even John Monilaws thought the match, in the meantime, +imprudent, and recommended that it should be postponed until Carey had +learned some trade or profession. Carey smiled in reply, and thought of +what he had seen from the skylight of his father-in-law's cottage. + +In a short time it was currently reported, that the laird of +Cubbertscroft was over head and ears in debt, and that the property was +to be brought to the hammer. This news was soon but too well +corroborated by large printed bills, posted in various parts of the +county, advertising the sale of the property of Cubbertscroft, in the +town-hall of Dumfries, on a day and hour set forth. One of these fell +into the hands of Carey. He sallied out of the house; and it being at +the time dark, he sought, and forcibly entered the dark and dismal +habitation of Cubby Grindstane, now his father-in-law. + +"Ken ye the law against hamesucken, sir?" said Cubby, recognising him. + +"I do," said Carey; "but it is a subtle point wi' the lawyers hoo strong +a rap (intended to let folk hear ye, but haein the by effect o' openin +the door) amounts to forcible entry. I cam to ask hoo ye are, Cubby +Grindstane." + +"A' sort o' impudence," said Cubby, "is comprehended by that cant. If +folk want to borrow frae ye, (whilk, God be praised! I'm far ayont,) if +they want to steal yer time, if they want to see what's i' yer hoose, +or what's intended to be in yer stamach, they aye cloak their intentions +wi' askin hoo ye are--the maist unmeaning o' a' questions. Gang yer ways +the way ye cam sir; an' I'll send ye a weekly bulletin o' my health." + +"Bulletins hae been issued about the health o' folk o' less +consequence," said Carey, pointing his finger to the small garret. + +"What mean ye, sir?" said Cubby, staring at him with his eyes at their +full stretch, and shewing signs of great agitation. + +"Sit down, Cubby," said Carey--"I want to speak to ye, for a short time, +rationally an' quietly. I hae nae ill intentions towards ye; an', if +ye're discreet, ye'll find me a mair sicker freen than a safe fae." + +Cubby hesitated to sit down. He had never been seen in that position +when any one was in his house; for he found he got any people who had +been lucky enough to get in, out again, more readily by keeping on his +legs. + +"I'm no used sittin wi' strangers," said he. + +Carey again lifted his finger to the roof of the house, and Cubby's +agitation increased. Trembling from head to foot, he at last sat down on +a three-footed stool, opposite to Carey. + +"Hae ye heard ony news o' late?" began Carey. + +"I'm no i' the way o' hearin news," replied Cubby, "an' care little for +the warld's clavers besides." + +"But when things concern oorsels," said Carey, "we maun care aboot +them." + +"What mean ye?" said Cubby. + +"It's said," replied Carey, looking at him attentively, "that in a hoose +no a hunder miles frae the sma' village o' Newabbey, there lie the banes +o' a woman an' a bairn, whase coffins never saw the mortclaith o' ony +parish, or filled the graves o' ony buryin place. When deaths are +concealed, suspicions o' murder are aye rife; and I hae heard it even +said that simple concealment itsel, at least in ae case, is a guid, if +no the only proof o' wilfu' slaughter." + +"What hae I to do wi' that, sir?" said Cubby, whose agitation still +increased. + +"Silence!" said Carey, holding up his hand to the roof--"ye may at least +hear the gossip o' the village. The banes are in the hoose o' an auld +cobbler; and it's also said, that, in the place whar they lie, there is +an extraordinary collection o' a miser's treasure, filling nae fewer +than five big kists, strongly clasped wi' bands o' iron, to protect the +gowd guineas, nae less in amount than fifteen thousand pounds. To mak +the story mair wonderfu', the gossips hae added to the inhabitants o' +the strange hoose, a grey owl--nae doot, an invention o' their ain +brains." + +"It's a' an invention thegither," ejaculated Cubby, rising from his +seat, and trying to walk through the apartment, which, however, his +trembling and agitation prevented him from doing, otherwise than by a +zig-zag motion, from one side to another. + +"I think sae mysel," said Carey; "but we'll see." And he rose and +seized, in an instant, a ladder used by Cubby, for the purpose of +mounting to his Golgotha. + +"Hauld, sir!" cried the frantic Cubby, as he flew and seized Carey by +the legs, falling at the same time on his knees, and turning up his grey +eyes, now, like his own owl's, darting forth fire. "What is this ye're +aboot? Wha are ye? What ken ye o' thae dark things?--I mean there is +naething there. Hauld, sir! or ye'll kill an auld man wha micht be yer +faither." And he fell on the floor, groaning and rolling about, like one +in a convulsion. + +"I will lay down this ladder," said Carey, "if you will rise, an' sit +down, an' speak to me on certain subjects that concern me an' you." + +"I will, I will," replied Cubby, recovering slightly; "I'll sit quietly +an' hear ye speak o' onything but thae village gossips. Nae lamb will be +mair peaceable; an'--an' ye'll hae something, too--to tak wi' ye when ye +gae awa." + +"Ye mean ane o' yer three guid farthins, I suppose?" said Carey, with a +smile. + +"Ay, I'll mak it a gowd guinea," said the other, with an effort like to +choke him. + +"Weel, let that alane," said Carey; "we'll maybe mak it mair. Ye now see +that I ken a' the secret that lies i' that garret. I hae seen it wi' my +ain een, an heard it frae yer dochter, wha is noo my lawfu married +wife--a guid match to her, seein I am the third son o' William Cuthbert +o' Cubbertscroft." + +"My dochter married to ane o' the Cubberts o' Cubbertscroft!" ejaculated +Cubby. "Then hae the twa stocks at last joined? Heaven be praised!" + +"It is clear, then," continued Carey, "that you are completely in my +power. On going to Gilbert Sleuthie, the fiscal o' the county, an' layin +my statement afore him, his first step will be to seize the banes an' +the gowd. Ye will be tried for the murder o' the unhappy beings whase +bodies they ance supported; an', whether ye be guilty or innocent, ye'll +hae some difficulty o' gettin oot o' the hands o' the law the fifteen +thousand guineas I saw ye count wi' my ain een; an', even were ye to get +it back, it will spread throughout the country that Cubby Grindstane has +L15,000, an' a' the stouthrievers o' the country will be on ye like +bluidhounds, to ease ye o' the burden o' keepin't." + +"But ye'll no gang to Gilbert Sleuthie, the fiscal?" cried Cubby, rising +again into one of his paroxysms of terror, and seizing Carey by the +knees. "It's no in the heart o' ane wi' that face o' yours to ruin a +puir auld man wha you say is your faither-in-law. I ken ye winna do't. +The guinea I'll mak twa, an' maybe a half mair. Say ye winua gang an' +I'll mak it three. Mercy! mercy!" + +With the greatest difficulty, Carey got him to let go the firm grasp he +had of his legs; and which he seemed inclined to hold till he got his +request granted. + +"It isna by ony sic bribes as thae, Cuthbert Grandison, that I will be +diverted from my purpose." + +"What will please ye then?" cried Cubby, earnestly. + +"A condition for yer ain benefit," replied Carey. "Have ye no sense +enough to see that the money ye hoard in thae kists yields ye nae +interest, and, besides, rins the risk o' bein taen frae ye the very +moment it's kenned (an' its already suspected) ye hae't." + +A groan was all the answer Cubby could give; for denying the money was +now out of the question. + +"Now I am to put you on a plan," continued Carey, "wharby ye may get a +guid return for yer money, an' nae man can tak it frae ye." + +Another groan evinced the agony of the sufferer. + +"Hear," continued Carey, taking from his pocket the advertisement of +Cubbertscroft. "Here is my father's property for sale on Wednesday next. +It will, in all likelihood, be thrown awa. Tak yer siller to the bank o' +Dumfries, an' lodge it there, then gang to the Hall, an' buy +Cubbertscroft; an' wha will venture to rin awa wi' that frae ye?" + +"But ye are wrang aboot the siller," cried Cubby--"there's no sae muckle +o't as ye say." + +"I will count it mysel," cried Carey, pointing to the ladder. "I heard +ye count it before." + +"Weel, weel," replied Cubby, "I'll think o' what ye've said." + +"I'll wait yer answer the morn," said Carey. "If ye dinna agree, I write +instantly to Sleuthie." + +Carey then left him; but, with the determination of watching the house +during the night, to prevent any attempt at removing the chests. + +"Mercy on me!" said Cubby to himself, when Carey went out, "what am I to +do? I canna remove thae kists, an' whar can I tak them. My secret's oot; +an', whether that callant tells Sleuthie or no, it's clear I canna keep +langer this siller in a thatched cottage. Let me see--buy Cubbertscroft, +the property o' the freens o' my mither, whase name I bear? Aften hae I +heard her say, puir cratur! that she couldna live an' see Cubbertscroft +sauld and gien awa to strangers; and noo that is aboot to be--at a time, +too, when, strange to say! my dochter is married to a Cubbert--the +callant's no far wrang. The banes o' my wife an' bairn, wham I couldna +find in my heart to bury, hae kept my gowd lang safe frae the ee o' my +dochter; but they may noo lead Sleuthie to my coffers. What's to be +done? My gowd! my gowd! I canna part wi' ye; for ye are dearer to me +than my heart's blude! But, if it wad pain me to gie ye awa for land +whilk has nae king's face on't, what wad I feel to hae ye taen frae me +by force! I canna bear that thought. Buy Cubbertscroft! Cubby Grindstane +gie awa his gowd for Cubbertscroft!--awfu thought! But it was my +mither's wish--an' better land than naething. I maun think mair on't." + +Carey called next day, and again laid before the old man the danger of +not complying with his request. Cubby himself had been shaken fearfully +during the night with the terror of losing altogether his wealth; and +the arguments of Carey almost decided him. He said he would consider +again of it, and if he came to the conclusion of buying Cubbertscroft, +he would be at the place of sale on the day and hour appointed. Carey +left him, and continued his watch at night. About twelve o'clock he +observed a cart and a horse standing at the door of the cottage; and +when all the inhabitants of the village were at rest, he observed the +miser carrying out his coffers and placing them on the cart. He allowed +him to proceed. The cart was loaded; and, in a short time, he saw it +take the road to Dumfries. He followed close behind, and was surprised +to find that Cubby drove straight up to the house of the cashier of the +principal bank of the town. By knocking hard, he roused the servants; in +a little time the banker came out, the cart was unloaded, and a +transaction finished. + +The day arrived on which the sale of Cubbertscroft was to take place. A +great number of people was collected. Carey was there, and he was +surprised to find his father; who, however, had attended with the hope +of getting some friend to buy in the property on his account. The two +looked at each other without speaking. John Monilaws was also present, +as well as some others of the inhabitants of Newabbey. The auctioneer +mounted into his desk; and L12,000 had been offered for the property by +a neighbouring laird, who wished to incorporate it with his own land. +Some other individuals bade, and the bodes had arrived at L14,000--no +one being inclined to go beyond it. At this moment the door of the room +opened, with a harsh noise, and the people looked around, to observe the +cause of the interruption. Cubby Grindstane entered. A feeling of +surprise ran through the crowd. John Monilaws stared, and Carey smiled. +Stepping forward, Cubby watched the voice of the auctioneer. The latter +called out L14,000. + +"Five shillings mair!" cried Cubby. + +"You must make it five pounds, sir," said the auctioneer. + +"Aweel, aweel, then," said Cubby--"let it be five pounds." + +The surprise of the people increased to wonder. Every one whispered to +his neighbour--"Is he mad? Why does the auctioneer take his bode?" No +one bade higher, and the hammer fell. + +"Are you able to find caution, sir?" said the auctioneer. + +"No," replied Cubby. + +"Why did you bid for the land, then?" rejoined the other. + +"Because I wanted it," replied Cubby. "Will ye no tak' the siller in +place o' caution." + +"Assuredly," replied the auctioneer, smiling--"where is it?" + +"There," said Cubby, "is the banker's check for L14,000. The moment I +get a complete right to the land, ye may hae the siller." + +The bargain was, accordingly, soon arranged; and, to the surprise of all +that part of the country, Cuthbert Grandison became the laird of +Cubbertscroft. His feelings subsequently underwent some change for the +better, and he took home his daughter Jeanie and her husband, to live +with him in the mansion-house, where, however, he still exhibited a +great portion of his original avarice. He soon died, and the property +was left to Jeanie. Carey Cuthbert had, by the right of courtesy, all +the power of the property. He received with welcome his father and +mother, and maintained them during their lives in the mansion-house from +which they had formerly expelled him, and from which their own +extravagance had driven themselves. + + + + +THE SEA SKIRMISH. + + "The boatswain, piping, loudly thunders-- + To your quarters fore and aft! + The great guns sponge, prepare for wonders, + While, my lads, the wind's abaft. + With grape we can nine-pounders rattle-- + Naval heroes, fight and sing-- + He that bravely falls in battle, + Nobly serves his prince or king." + + _Sea Song._ + + +The days of war are now gone by, and the events consequent upon them +have now become but as "the tales of other years;" while those who were +then the principal agents in carrying on hostile operations, have either +gone the way of all the earth, or remain as the connecting links between +the last race and the present. But the time will never come when the +naval history of Great Britain shall not be that on which Britons look +with the greatest interest; and certainly if there is one page in our +history more than another calculated to afford pleasure, and, we may +add, profit to the reader, it is that which records the matchless +achievements of our daring tars during the last French war. How many are +the accounts of storms and battles, of hardships and perils undergone, +which, in the days of our boyhood, we were accustomed to hear from the +mouths of old tars, now no more, and whose memories are preserved only +in the recollections of a few of their old associates! There still +stands on the east side of the village of T----, a whitewashed house, at +the door of which hangs a huge ship, indicating that this is the village +ale-house. This house, in our early days, was the resort of some +half-dozen old sailors, who had retired, after their best years had been +spent in their country's service, to spend their days in their native +village. At the door of "The Ship," as the ale-house was called, stood +an immense ash-tree, the wide-spreading branches of which, covered with +foliage, afforded, in summer, an agreeable shade from the heat of the +sun. Under this tree, a long seat was placed, in front of which stood a +white fir-table, upon which rested the jugs of foaming ale with which +those who chose were wont to regale themselves. That seat is still +there, and we hope it will remain for ages. It was the constant resort +of the old tars already mentioned; and there, with their jug of ale, and +their never-failing pipe, were they wont to fight all their battles o'er +again. Many of the yarns which we then heard, we have since forgotten; +some of them, however, still survive in our recollection. One of these +we shall communicate, if not in the very words in which it was +delivered, yet in substance, to the reader. + +If a spectator were to stand on almost any part of the seacoast of Great +Britain, and cast his eyes over the sea, he would behold numerous white +specks upon the ocean, passing in every direction; these specks he knows +to be vessels, freighted with stores of various descriptions, and +destined to various ports, to supply the deficiency in certain articles +existing in one place, from the superabundance of another. These +vessels, in our day, creep along their respective ways, without fear of +molestation. The case was different, however, at the time in which our +story begins. Then it was necessary for several vessels bound for the +same port, to be armed for defence, and to sail in company, for the sake +of mutual protection from the assaults of French privateers, who +frequently attacked and captured merchantmen, consigning their crews to +the horrors of a French prison. + +It was on a beautiful morning in June, that three of the smacks which +ply between London and Berwick, were lying in the Thames, with the +signal for sailing at their topmast heads. The sails were all loosed +from the lashings which had bound them down whilst in harbour, whilst +the sailors were all busily employed in preparations for hoisting them +to the breeze. At the command of the masters, the mainsails rose slowly +from the large folds into which they had been compressed; the gaffs were +alternately elevated and depressed, as the strength of the seamen was +applied to the peak or main haulyards, whilst the tars, employed in such +operations, bellowed out, in guttural sounds, their favourite song of "O +cheerily." At length, the command to "belay" was given, and the +mainsails were stretched to their full dimensions; whilst the cry of +"Clear away the gaff topsail there!" was responded to by the cheerful +"Ay, ay, sir!" of the sailors. A couple of younkers flew up the rigging +of each smack, with the agility of monkeys, to execute the order. + +"All clear!" shouted out a voice from the crosstrees. + +"Then, hoist away, my lads!" cried the master. And the long, tapering +sails rose up to their places. + +"Sheet them home! and belay all!" bawled out the captain. And the +topsailsheet was fastened to the belaying pins. + +"Clap on the jib-out-haul!" was the next order, which was as speedily +obeyed. And the ample jib was also extended to the breeze, whilst some +of the sailors were, at the same time, employed in bousing down the +bobstay, which secured the bowsprit from yielding too far to the +influence of the jib. + +All now seemed ready for starting; the ropes were coiled up out of the +way, and the smacks held to the wharf by a single rope; the pilot was +also on board; and the sailors were wondering what could be the reason +why the word was not given to cast off. Minute after minute, however, +rolled on, and still no order, whilst the sailors, leaning against the +bulwarks, were whiling away the time in trying to divine the cause of +delay. At last, voices were heard from the two sternmost smacks, hailing +the one a-head--"_Tweed_, ahoy!" + +"Hillo!" sung out the master of the _Tweed_, a fine, hard-a-weather +looking old seaman, who was pacing up and down his deck, and ever and +anon casting an impatient glance at the corner of the wharf. + +"Aren't your passengers coming yet, Mr Jones? We are losing this fine +air of wind down the river." + +"They promised to be down at half-past three," responded the old tar; +"and you see it is scarcely that yet; but we must wait no longer. Tom," +continued he, addressing his son, a fine young man of five-and-twenty, +"run up, my boy, and see if they aren't coming yet." + +Tom, obeying his father, sprung over the ship's side; and, in a few +minutes, returned, accompanied by an old gentleman dressed in black, on +whose arm leaned a young lady, closely wrapped up in a cloak, which +defended her from the morning air. The old man seemed worn down by years +and infirmities; but, though over his head more than seventy winters had +shed their snows, yet in his eye, at times, there shone a slight spark +of animation, shewing the fire which had lightened up his face in other +days. His daughter seemed to lean on his arm for support; but she, in +reality, afforded him assistance. Under the guidance of old Jones, they +proceeded to the cabin of the _Tweed_, which was fitted up in a style of +neatness, and what, in those days, might be reckoned splendour. After +seeing them seated, old Jones mounted the companion, and proceeded on +deck, to get his vessel under way. On reaching the deck, he overheard +two of the seamen and his son Tom, who was also his mate, in close +conversation. + +"I tell you what it is, Tom," said one of them, hitching up his +trowsers--"I tell you what it is, the leddy may be as bonny as Molly +Jackson, but the old man is a priest; and there is never luck when a +priest is on board." + +"I have sailed the salt sea," said the other sailor--a fine-looking, +upright figure--"for thirty years now, man and boy, and never yet sailed +with a priest without some misfortune or other happening--I suppose, +'cause the ould fellow's so spiteful at sight of them holy men, that he +tries to do all the mischief he can; but we, poor devils! are sure to +bear it all." + +"That's all in my eye and Betty Martin," replied Tom. "There was no +later than the voyage before last, we took up half-a-dozen priests; and +the only thing which happened was, that, when they came on board, a +fresh hand was sent to the bellows, to blow more wind; but it was fair; +so, instead of doing us ill, the ould fellow only cheated himself, as we +made our passage in forty-eight hours. But what significates talking? +Didn't you see his pretty little daughter?" + +"I couldn't get a right look at her," replied Bill Mossman, the seaman +who spoke last; "but as she was stepping over the hauser, I got a squint +at a prettty little foot--that was all I could see." + +"Oh, Bill," interrupted Tom, "had you seen her as I did, last night, +when I went, with old dad, to call at their lodgings. My eye, what a +beautiful run!--a pair of cheeks fit for the bow of a frigate--a waist +as fine and tapering as the royal of a gun brig--and a quarter fit for a +man-of-war. But her eyes"---- + +"Have burned a hole in your heart," interrupted Mossman. + +"Well, it's of no use denying it," replied Tom. "I will defy any one, to +see her and not fall in love with her; but what struck me more than her +beauty, was her kindness and attention to her old father, who, poor man, +seems to need it all. The tears trickled down the old man's face as he +related all his sufferings and trials, and his daughter's affection; +and, shiver my timbers, if I could help piping my eye to keep him +company!" + +"That's always the way with you," replied Jem Ward, the other sailor; +"you're always taken in tow by some girl or other; but you can never be +true to one. I had never but one sweetheart--Peggy Dawson, the prettiest +girl in Berwick." + +"Your Peggy Dawson," replied Tom, "is no more to be compared to Miss +Keveley, than a keelman's barge is fit to be compared with the _Royal +George_." + +"Well, well," said Bill Mossman, "the girl is well enough; but I wish, +as the priest is aboard, that the voyage were well over. But, let me +see--this is Friday too--worse and worse!" + +"Keep yourself easy," replied Tom. "As long as Miss Keveley's on board, +you needn't fear. Such a kind creature as she is, will be in the place +of 'the sweet little cherub which,' as the song says, 'sits up aloft, +and takes care of the life of poor Jack.'" + +"But," asked Bill Mossman, "do you know anything of their history?" + +"Very little," answered Tom, "except what the old gentleman himself told +us last night: That he has been a missionary abroad for many years, and +that his wife has died in a foreign country, leaving him and his only +daughter, who accompanies him; and that, worn out with the fatigues +which he has undergone, and his constitution broken down by an unhealthy +climate, he is returning to his native village, to lay his bones, as he +expressed it, beside the ashes of his fathers." + +Their conversation was here interrupted by old Jones, who gave the word +to cast off the warp which held them to the quay--an order which was +speedily obeyed by the seamen; and the vessel soon _paid off_, under the +influence of the jib. The same orders were given on board of the +_Princess Charlotte_ and the _Olive_, the other two smacks; and, in a +few minutes more, all the three vessels were holding their course, +smoothly and peaceably, down the river. It was a beautiful morning. A +slight breath of wind was stirring, just sufficient to fill the sails of +the vessels: light, however, as it was, it was fresh and invigorating. +The sun was just rising; and his upper limb only was as yet visible, +peering above the cloud with which his body was enveloped, as if to take +a peep at the ocean and the land before rising from his couch. +Gradually, however, the king of day emerged from the cloud, and again +his upper limb was concealed in another cloud higher up in the heavens, +leaving a broad band of light alone visible. These alternations of light +and shade continued for a short time, till the sun ascended higher in +the sky, and then the middle of his body was covered by a dark vapour, +which was passed round him like a ribbon. This also passed off; and the +"father of ten thousand days" burst forth in a flood of glory--of +bright, effulgent light--making the gentle undulations of the waves to +glitter as if studded with millions of gems; whilst the dewdrops of the +morning, hanging from the sails and cordage of the vessels, glistening +in the sun, assumed various fantastic forms, as the head of the vessel +dipped and rose at intervals, upon the gentle waves. Miss Keveley had +left her father reclining upon a sofa in the cabin of the _Tweed_, and +had come upon deck to enjoy the beauty of the scene; and, as she gazed +upon the rising luminary and the silent waters of the Thames, the queen +of rivers, she felt that elevation of spirits, and that devotion, which +such a scene is calculated to inspire. Catherine Keveley had been +peculiarly the child of misfortune. Her mother was of a noble family, +and her alliance had been sought by many rich and noble youths. +Preferring, however, the hand of a man, who, though much her inferior in +birth, yet in high and lofty feeling was, at least, her equal, she +chose Mr Keveley as her companion for life--a licensed minister of the +Church of Scotland, and at that time appointed as superintendent of a +missionary station in a distant country. Happy in each other's love, +they lived in a foreign land till the birth of Catherine; which event +was succeeded by her mother's death. + +Catherine, though from childhood a delicate flower, and though deprived +of the fostering care of a mother's love, yet, under the tender +management of her doting father, rose up to be the prop and staff of his +declining years. Her form was of the slightest kind; her eyes, of that +light, heavenly blue, which is the sure index of deep feeling, were +protected by high, arched eyebrows; her forehead was broad rather than +lofty, but of an alabaster whiteness; her clear brown hair was parted +over her brow in graceful curls, whilst her long tresses hung in flowing +ringlets down her shoulders. Her air was usually of that pensive cast +which never fails to interest the beholder; but, of late, a shade of +deeper melancholy had been seated on her features, called up by anxiety +for her father's declining health, and the sad prospect which then lay +before her, an unprotected orphan. + +It was impossible to look upon that lovely creature without emotion, as +she stood leaning against the bulwark of the vessel, and beholding the +glories of the rising sun, and the places upon the river, as the vessel +passed them, one after another, in its course. Nor was she unobserved; +for Tom Jones, seated upon the windlass, with his hands crossed upon his +breast, was silently beholding her. She was here joined by her father, +who had come upon deck, and without speaking, took her hand. Catherine +silently pointed to the sun.--"This, indeed," said her father, breaking +silence, "is a glorious spectacle. I have travelled in many lands, and +beheld many splendid sights--I have seen the most gorgeous spectacles +of eastern magnificence, where everything was combined that could please +the eye or captivate the fancy--but all of these fall short, very far +short, of this display. How many people," continued the old gentleman, +"travel into other countries, for the sake of seeing fine sights, who +are ignorant that they might behold, at home, a sight grander than the +finest of these!" + +"I don't wonder," said Catherine, "that the Persians, and many other +Eastern nations, worship the sun--contributing, as he does, so much to +our comfort and happiness; in so doing, they are thankful for the +blessings conferred, and only mistake the secondary, for the first cause +of their enjoyment." + +They continued thus talking to each other for some time, while Tom Jones +was devouring every word which was uttered. After enjoying the coolness +of the morning breeze, they again descended to the cabin, where they +continued till breakfast-time, when they were joined by the old captain +and his son Tom. The old tar was full of spirits--told them some of his +best yarns--and, by his kindness, endeavoured to make his guests as +comfortable as possible. Tom was engaged in the same labour of love; +and, by several little acts of attention to the old gentleman, he gained +what, to him, was the sweetest reward on earth--an approving smile from +Catherine. + +"Are we your only passengers?" asked Mr Keveley. + +"Yes," replied Tom. "People now-a-days prefer going by land, to running +the risk of being taken by the French privateers, which swarm along the +coast." + +"I hope there is no danger of being attacked?" asked Catherine, turning +pale with alarm. + +"Why, as to that," replied old Bill, "one can't say for sartin--I have +seed such sights as that before now; but never fear, my bonny Miss--if +they were to attack three smacks armed as we are, they might mayhap +catch a Tar-tar--that's all." + +"I am not afraid for myself," said Catherine, casting an affectionate +look at her father--"but my father"---- + +"Is now under that protecting Power which has preserved his life in the +midst of so many perils by land." + +When they again ascended to the deck, the vessels were going with a fine +breeze, which was taking them quickly down the river. After passing the +Nore, they stood out to the open sea; and, the wind continuing fair, +they proceeded speedily on their voyage, which promised to be pleasant +and expeditious. On the second morning after sailing, the _Tweed_ was +passing Yarmouth Roads. In the roadstead was lying a large vessel, whose +taunt, raking masts, and square, lightly-rigged yards, proved her to be +a man-of-war. The seamen of the _Tweed_ were pointing out to each other +the various fair properties of the vessel as they passed; and Tom, +thinking that Miss Keveley would be pleased with the sight, went below, +to ask her if she wished to see a man-of-war. + +Catherine thanked him for his attention, and followed him upon deck. + +"What a beautiful vessel!" exclaimed Catherine, unable to contain her +delight--"what exquisite symmetry!--what neatness in the arrangements of +the various ropes, which appear as complicated as the gossamer's web, +and, at this distance, almost as fine! What an intricate maze do all +these appear to an ignorant spectator!--and yet, I dare say," continued +she, addressing Tom, "there is not one amongst the number which has not +its use." + +"Not one," said Tom; "and, however confused they may appear to your eye, +yet there is not one which, at a moment's notice, may not be laid hold +of by the seamen." + +During this conversation, Tom asked the name of the village in which +Miss Keveley was going to reside. She informed him that they proposed +settling, for some time at least, in Norham. + +"That's lucky," replied Tom; "my old aunt, Mrs Burton, lives there, who +may be of service to you in settling, and who will be the most pleasant +companion in the world. Her husband was the curate of the village, but +he has been dead this many a day; she is, however, in most comfortable +circumstances, and can afford you accommodation for a short time, till +you get settled." + +"You are very kind, indeed," said Catherine, with emotion, "and I trust +that my father and I will both feel grateful for the offer. However, we +shall be guided by circumstances." + +Tom lost no time in informing his father of the destination of his +passengers, and of the offer which he had made them. + +"That's right, my boy," said the old tar--"it's our duty to assist our +fellow-men as much as is in our power--and never have I seed two persons +whom I would be inclined to assist so much as that old man and his +daughter." + +The wind, which had been favourable for them hitherto, now chopped +about, by degrees, till at last it blew in a direction exactly opposite +to their course. + +"This is unfortunate," said old Bill, as he gave his reluctant orders to +alter the vessel's course, and to take in the studding-sails, which were +hanging flapping in wild disorder, as the wind headed them. These, +however, were speedily taken in, and the other evolutions performed, so +as to enable the vessel to ply to windward. On the morning of the third +day, the _Tweed_ was abreast of Boston Deeps, with the wind still at +north-east. To leeward of her, about five miles, were the _Olive_ and +the _Princess Charlotte_, the other two smacks. Tom had the watch on +deck, and was steering the vessel--whilst the sailors were sitting +forward on the windlass, with their hands across their breasts, and +uttering, at intervals, a few words to each other. One man alone stood +apart from the rest, upon the starboard quarter, who seemed, by his +intense gaze, to be trying to make out some vessel at a distance. After +gazing for a few moments, he took two or three hasty steps along the +deck, and again came back to his place, and gave another look. At +length, apparently not able to satisfy himself as to the object of his +scrutiny, he came up to the companion, and took from thence the glass, +which, having adjusted, he made a sweep across the horizon, till it bore +upon the object of his search. + +"What do you see there?" asked Tom, of the sailor. + +"Something that I doesn't like," replied Bill Mossman; "I am much +mistaken if there isn't a ship shaping a course to cut us off from the +other smacks." + +The other sailors, hearing the conversation, now came aft, and took part +in it. + +"Here," said Tom, "take the helm a moment, and give me the glass." + +Tom accordingly, seizing the glass, took a look at the vessel, and +continued, for a few moments, silently scanning her, in spite of the +interrogatories which were poured in upon him by the sailors, as to the +appearance of the stranger. + +"Call up my father," were the first words of Tom; "I don't like the look +of that vessel. Although she is at a great distance, yet I can make her +out not to be a merchantman; and, besides, what does she mean by +steering direct for us? Her movements are, at all events, suspicious." + +At this moment, old Bill came upon deck, and, after a scrutinizing +glance through the glass, he ascended the rigging. There he had not +continued long, when he bawled down to the deck, in a voice of +thunder--"That he might be blowed if he didn't think that she was one of +the rascally French privateers." + +This announcement threw the whole of the seamen into the utmost dismay, +and then ensued a scene of confusion which would baffle all description. +Half-a-dozen voices were heard at once, recommending different things, +whilst each appeared too fond of delivering his own opinion, to listen +to that of his neighbour. The voice of old Bill, however, who had again +descended, soon restored order. + +"This is most unlucky," said he. "This blackguard means to cut us off +from our comrades; he has got the weather gage of them, and for us to +run down to them would be to run ourselves into the lion's mouth. But +never fear, my lads," continued the old tar, in a more cheerful tone; +"we may contrive to give the Frenchman the slip, for all that." + +"Had we not better make the signal for the other smacks to join as fast +as possible?" asked Tom. + +"That's right," said his father. "Bend the signal haulyards, and send up +the ensign, with the union down." + +"Ay, ay, sir," responded the men, in whose minds the assured tone of +their captain had inspired confidence; and, in a minute, the British +ensign was unfurled to the breeze; but, as the captain had ordered, with +the union downwards, which had been the preconcerted signal for joining. +The signal was immediately answered by the smacks; but they were too far +astern to afford any reasonable hope of immediate assistance. +Nevertheless, old Bill proceeded, with his accustomed coolness, to give +his order for clearing his ship for action. + +The _Tweed_ was a large, powerful smack; and although, of course, not +fitted out for war, yet, on her deck were displayed half-a-dozen +twelve-pound carronades, which, however unfitted for an engagement at a +great distance, yet, in a running fight, and at a short stretch, were +capable of doing, what brother Jonathan would call, "pretty considerable +execution." They were also well provided with ammunition of all sorts; +and, although not a match in the number of men for the Frenchmen--which +would, if a privateer, in all probability be crowded--yet old Bill, as +he glanced his eye over his thirteen hardy fellows, who were looking to +him for orders, felt assured that, if not victory, at least escape might +be possible. + +"Get the ship clear, my lads," shouted he; "take in the jibtopsail--it +will do more harm than good--slue round the guns, and get the lashings +off them." + +These orders were speedily executed; and everything which was not +absolutely necessary was removed off the deck. The ropes were all coiled +out of the way, and the men took off their upper jackets, and remained +in their trowsers and shirts. The ammunition was now handed upon deck, +and the guns were soon loaded with a full dose of grape and canister. + +"Now, my lads, keep the ports closed, till I give you the word. I want +to make the privateer think we are not armed, or that we have not made +him out." + +Two of the sailors, at this moment, came from below, bringing, each of +them, a couple of muskets, which old Bill immediately ordered again to +be taken below, adding, that they could only be useful in case of close +quarters, in which they could never hope to cope with the Frenchman, so +that they would only be an encumbrance. Every arrangement seemed now +made, which prudence could suggest. Two men were ordered forward, to +work the head-sails, and one to stand aft by the main sheet, to assist +the vessel in stays; the rest he stationed at the guns; the steering he +took upon himself. The excitement attendant upon the clearing of the +vessel for action, had driven the remembrance of his passengers from old +Bill's mind. The case, however, was different with Tom; for his anxiety +for the safety of the sweet pensive girl who had been committed to their +care, had completely banished from his mind all thoughts of himself. As +soon as the arrangements for engaging had been made, Tom entered the +cabin, and acquainted Mr Keveley and his daughter, as delicately as +possible, how matters went. Catherine stood for some moments like one +stupified; at last her grief found utterance in a flood of tears, and +she sobbed convulsively on the bosom of her father. + +"Oh, my father!" she exclaimed, "was it for this that you left the +swamps of the Ganges? Better that you had died there in peace, than be +made the captive of lawless and abandoned men, and be subjected to all +the horrors of a French prison!" + +Mr Keveley strove to comfort her. + +"Be patient, my daughter!" he exclaimed; "the same Being who has +protected as in times that are past, is still watching over us." + +Tom also strove to comfort her with the hopes of escape. + +"But are you sure it is a French vessel?" asked Mr Keveley. + +"I am sorry to say," replied Tom, "there is not the least doubt of that, +as she is approaching us rapidly, and we can plainly discern her +colours." + +"I will go upon deck," said Mr Keveley; "and do you, Catherine, remain +here." But Catherine resolved to accompany him; and, in spite of Tom's +solicitations to the contrary, they both ascended. + +"I had completely forgot them," exclaimed old Bill to himself, when he +saw them ascend. "Poor things! I wish they were well on shore." Mr +Keveley cast his eyes on the hostile vessel. Her hull was fast rising, +for the breeze was fresh, and the French tri-coloured flag was plainly +distinguishable at her _fore-royal_ mast-head. Tom endeavoured to +persuade them to go again below, and he was joined in his entreaty by +old Bill, who told him that they were only exposing themselves to +needless danger--"Besides," added the tar in his rough way, "you are +only live lumber here. So you had better go below, and get the Bible +under way as fast as possible." They allowed themselves to be prevailed +upon--and Tom again took leave of them. + +"Good-by!" said Catherine, stretching out her hand. "We may never meet +again. May God bless you, for all your kindness to us! Take care and +don't expose yourself, to unnecessary danger."--Tom took her proffered +hand; and, as he looked upon her mild, beautiful eyes, suffused with +tears, he vowed that the last drop of his blood should be spilt before +harm should come upon that lovely creature. + +When Tom again came upon deck, the Frenchman was within half a mile's +distance. She appeared to be a long, black brig; and her guns were +pointing onward on each side, shewing, as the sailors term it, two +beautiful rows of teeth. The seamen of the _Tweed_, as they stood +looking at her, counted seven guns on each side; and, from their size, +they appeared twelve-pounders. + +"If we can only keep her off," said Bill to his son Tom, "we shall do +capitally; but, if she once gets alongside of us, it's all up." + +"Hadn't we better, sir," said Bill Mossman, coming aft, "cut away the +boat from the davits? The vessel is too much by the stern already." + +"That's a good idea," said old Bill; and the order was executed +accordingly. + +"Now, my lads," shouted the old tar, "be ready with your ports; and, +when I give you the word, burst them open, and fire away; but keep out +of sight, in the meantime, except one or two of you." + +The deck of the Frenchman was now plainly visible to those an board the +_Tweed_--a dense mass of men were seen--but they seemed clustered +thickest near the fore-chains; from which place old Bill thought they +intended to board. + +"I'll cut you out of that, anyhow," exclaimed he, with glee. "I'll show +you that a smack can be fought as well as a cursed French privateer, any +day." So saying, he gave orders to ease off the sheets; and, keeping the +vessel _away_, he made it appear to the Frenchman as if he had +discovered him for the first time to be an enemy, and was endeavouring +to escape. The Frenchman took the bait, and, making more sail, pursued +him, under a press of canvass; and, as old Bill expected, came rapidly +up with him, and was now within pistol-shot, when Bill suddenly shifted +his helm, and hauled his wind right across the privateer's bows. + +"Now, my boys," shouted the old tar, "blaze away!" when the men, who +were eager for the order, burst open the ports, and poured a rattling +broadside into her. The smoke which ensued hid everything from the +sight; but the horrid shriek which arose on board the Frenchman, and the +crashing of wood splintered by the shot, gave indications how fearfully +the "twelves" had told. The sailors on board the _Tweed_, were +themselves, for a moment, awed by the sight of the work of destruction +which they had made; but the voice of their old commander quickly +recalled them to their duty; and they again, without a moment's delay, +proceeded to load their instruments of death. The smoke had cleared +away; but the distance was too great to allow them to perceive the +extent of the Frenchman's loss. Escape now appeared possible; but old +Bill's blood was up; and though, by carrying on a press of sail, he +might have got off, he resolved to give the Frenchman another smell of +his powder. + +"Cheerily, my lads!" sung out the old man; "keep steady, and we'll give +Mr Monseer a hearty breakfast, different from what he expected." So +saying, he sung out a few lines of a forecastle ditty, at the top of his +voice:-- + + "They sailed from the Bay of St Peter, + Five hundred and fifty on board; + And we were all ready to meet her-- + Conquer or die was the word." + +The spirit of their captain seemed contagious; and the crew, one and +all, took up the two last lines, and bellowed it out a second time, in +full chorus. + +"All ready, 'bout ship there?" sung out Bill. + +"All ready, sir," shouted the men. + +"'Bout there, then!" And, in one moment, the helm was put hard a +starboard, and the vessel's head came round to the wind in fine style. + +"All's about, there, my boys!--let go the fore-bowline!" + +And this order being executed, the _Tweed_ was bowling along on the +other tack, standing towards the Frenchman, who, having now recovered +from his confusion, was again coming up rapidly. The privateer again +attempted to board, but was again defeated, by the skill and dexterity +of old Bill in working his vessel. Again they passed each other, and the +Frenchman's broadside of seven guns told heavily on the _Tweed_'s sides +and rigging; but the men had so well obeyed Bill's orders of keeping out +of sight till the fire of the Frenchman was received, that none of them +was hurt, save old Bill himself, who was severely wounded. The old tar, +nothing daunted at the accident, again gave his orders to fire. A dense +mass of smoke immediately rose up in huge columns to the sky as the +order was obeyed, and the deadly instruments again belched forth their +contents into the hull of the Frenchman. When the smoke cleared away, +the crew of the _Tweed_ were dismayed to behold their gallant old +commander standing at the helm, pale and bleeding, but still keeping his +post. Tom rushed aft to support him, and asked him if he was much hurt. + +"I fear," replied the old tar, "that your poor old father has received a +shot between wind and water; but never mind, my boy; while I can stand +I'll never flinch; it shall never be said that ould Bill Jones flinched +from his post in the hour of danger; and mind, my boy, Tom, if I fall, +never surrender to a rascally Frenchman, but fight it out; be sure to +keep him off, and there is no fear. Never yield, Tom!" + +The old tar, quite exhausted by his exertions and by loss of blood, +dropped down upon the deck; but, notwithstanding the solicitations of +his son and the crew, he persisted in not being carried below. They, +therefore, wrapped a boat cloak around him, and laid him along the deck, +with his head supported against a coil of rope. + +Tom now took the command, and it required all his exertions and skill to +save him from the privateer; for the crew of the _Tweed_, regardless of +everything else, had been looking at their commander like persons +stupified, allowing the vessel to go as she pleased. The Frenchman had +perceived their confusion, and was pressing on to take advantage of it; +and the crew of the _Tweed_ could perceive the men clustering along the +yards as thick as bees. Tom, however, again passed him without allowing +the Frenchman to board; but, unfortunately, the broadside which was +poured into the _Tweed_ shot away the jib-hal-yards, and the large sail +came down into the water. Three cheers from the Frenchmen followed this +accident, which promised them a certain victory; for not only was the +smack deprived of the assistance of the jib in sailing, but the dragging +of the sail through the water impeded materially her progress. + +All now seemed lost, when Tom, resigning the helm to one of the men, +sprung forward; and, seizing hold of the end of the halyards, mounted +the rigging, and, in spite of the showers of shot fired at him from the +Frenchman's tops, succeeded in again reeving it through the block; and, +by the assistance of the wynch, the jib again rose to its former place. + +The Frenchman, thus baffled in all his attempts, resolved to make a last +effort; and, crowding all sail, came rapidly upon the weather or +starboard quarter. "Ready about!" sung out Tom; and, as the smack shot +up head to the wind, he gave the order to fire--which order was no +sooner obeyed than a dreadful shriek rose from the privateer; and the +first sight which greeted the eyes of the _Tweed_'s crew after the smoke +had cleared, was their enemy, standing away before the wind under a +press of sail. Simultaneous cheers burst from the lips of the men, as +they beheld this not less pleasing than unexpected sight, and they were +joined by old Bill, who, weak and faint as he was, raised his hand, and +cheered with his crew. + +"We've given him a parting salute," said Bill Mossman, grinning with +delight, through a face all begrimed with powder and smoke. "My eye, +only look there!--he seems to be in as great a hurry as a dog with a +kettle at his tail." + +"Ay, we have peppered his cannister for him," said Jem Ward--"the lousy +rascal that he is! I am only sorry that we did not take him." + +The crew being now free from danger, crowded round old Bill, who was +still lying on the deck, with Tom at his side; and, in their own, +hearty, honest, though blunt manner, inquired how he felt. + +"Better than ever I did in my life," answered the old sailor. "No doubt, +I have got a shot which may compel me to lay up in ordinary a sheer hulk +for the rest of my life, if it don't make me kick the bucket altogether; +but haven't we beat a French privateer nearly three times our size, and +with ten times our men? I tell you, my brave fellows, that this is the +proudest and happiest day of my life. And you, Tom," said he, addressing +his son, "have behaved like your father's son--and that's saying +something." + +The sailors now proceeded to remove Bill below; and Tom, whose eagerness +to inform Catherine and her father of their success, had only been +restrained by his filial affection, rushed down to the cabin to tell +them the joyful news. When he entered, he found Mr Keveley and his +daughter seated, with their hands locked together; and, as he entered, +they clung closer to each other, as if preparing for the worst. + +It would be impossible to describe the joy which animated Catherine's +face when Tom told them the happy tidings--joy danced in her blue eyes, +which were alternately fixed upon him or her father. Surprise, at first, +prevented her speech, till her emotion found vent in a flood of tears. +Mr Keveley bore the news more composedly than his daughter. He first +embraced her, then came and shook Tom heartily by the hand. + +"And has the Frenchman really run off?" asked Catherine, when she had +recovered her speech. "You must have had warm work of it, if we may +judge from your appearance," added she, with a playful smile. Tom turned +his head for an instant to a mirror, which was hanging up on one side of +the cabin, and in it beheld his countenance, so soiled with powder and +perspiration, that he scarcely recognised his own features. + +After wiping away the drops of sweat, which were coursing each other +down his cheeks, and ploughing up large furrows on the indented soot, +Tom took his departure to attend his father, whom he found pretty well, +though much exhausted from loss of blood. After the old man's wound had +been dressed, as well as circumstances would admit, a warm soothing +potion, administered by Mr Keveley, who understood something of +medicine, was given, which, having drunk, he fell into a comfortable +sleep. + +A consultation was now held upon deck, as to the course to be pursued. +Some advised that they should proceed on their voyage, whilst some were +for running back to Yarmouth Roads, to see if the frigate, which they +had passed on the previous morning, still remained, in order that they +might give intelligence as to the route of the Frenchman. + +The last plan was adopted, and the vessel was put before the wind--only +stopping, as she passed, to inform each of her consorts of the +particulars of the engagement. The crews of the vessels cheered the +_Tweed_, as she passed with her flag at her gaff, and with the union now +upwards, instead of being inverted as formerly. The wind being fair, +they soon reached the Roads, and to their great joy beheld the frigate +still lying in the same situation as when they had passed her. Tom +immediately bore down upon her; and the watch on board the frigate +hailed--"What ship, ahoy?"--"The _Tweed_, from London to Leith and +Berwick--have been engaged for two hours with a large French privateer, +and have beaten him off." + +"What direction did he steer?" was the next question asked. + +"Direct S.E.," was the answer, "and, if you look sharp, you may still +catch her--she is a large black brig, low in the water, with her +main-mast raking over her stern." The boatswain's whistle was now heard +on board the frigate, calling all hands to weigh anchor; in an instant, +the ship was all life and animation; and such is the effect of strict +discipline, that, in a few minutes, the frigate was under way, with +every inch of canvass set which could be crowded upon her spars, in +pursuit of the privateer. + +Tom, seeing that everything had been done as he wished, again made sail +to the northward. After a short time, he arrived at Leith, where his +consorts had already conveyed the news of the engagement. As the _Tweed_ +entered the harbour, crowds of people, attracted by the news of the +victory, lined the shore; whilst the crews of every vessel cheered her +as she passed. Old Bill, whose wound was not at all dangerous, was able +to come upon deck; and the old man's gratification was complete, on +observing the joy which their arrival diffused amongst all classes. + +After the _Tweed_ had been moored alongside of the wharf, a coach was +provided, into which old Bill, with Mr Keveley and his daughter, +entered, and proceeded to the old man's house; but the populace, who +observed what was going forward, took out the horses, and drew the coach +along the streets, with the loudest acclamations. + +During the whole time that the _Tweed_ lay at Leith, her decks were +never free from people, who, most of them, brought brandy and whisky to +regale the sailors. In such abundance were these articles supplied, that +they not only were sufficient for the _Tweed_'s own crew, but served for +a jollification to every sailor in the harbour; and such a scene of +feasting, dancing, and merriment went on, as was never witnessed by +Leith either before or since. The same reception awaited the _Tweed_ on +her arrival at London, where they found the privateer with whom they had +been engaged, lying alongside of the frigate, who had taken her, after a +long chase. On making inquiries, they learned that the Frenchman had +lost twenty-five men, with nine wounded--their last broadside having +killed the lieutenant. + +Old Bill rapidly recovered from his wound, which was not dangerous; and +he was soon enabled to take command of his vessel, which had made two or +three voyages to London under the command of Tom. + +Mr and Miss Keveley had retired to the village of Norham, beautifully +situated on the banks of the Tweed, where they continued for some time +with Tom's aunt, Mrs Burton. The old gentleman, finding that his native +air was beneficial to his wasted constitution, resolved to settle there +for the remainder of his days; and he accordingly rented a neat cottage +at the extremity of the village. + +Here Tom had frequent opportunities of becoming better acquainted with +Catherine; and every time he beheld her, she improved in his regard. It +was on the second voyage, after old Bill had again taken possession of +his vessel, that he and his son Tom were conversing together on deck. +After a few preliminary hems, the old man began:-- + +"Tom, my boy, I have been thinking that it is now time you had a wife--a +sailor is never comfortable till he gets married." + +Tom replied, that he thought it time enough. + +"What would you think of Miss Keveley for a wife?" asked Bill, without +attending to his son's reply. + +"The only fault I could find with her is, that she is too good for me. +Do you think," continued he, "that Miss Keveley would ever marry a +sailor?" + +"As unlikely ships as that have come to land before now," replied Bill; +"and wherefore should Miss Keveley not marry you? Haven't you seventy +pounds a-year left you by your grandmother? and an't you my only son? +And you know I've several shares in the company's vessels, besides +something else that you know of; and when the old woman and myself are +brought up in the next world, sha'nt you have it all?" + +Tom assented to all this, but shook his head. + +"Try her, my boy," said Bill--"faint heart never won fair lady, as they +say at the fairs, when they wish you to try your luck at the +'rouly-pouly.' I was talking about it myself to the old gentleman not +long ago; he highly approves of the match, provided you and his daughter +could agree; and Mr Keveley added, that he believed you would not meet a +refusal, as his daughter seemed never tired of talking about your +exploits, or of hearing of them; so that you see it all depends upon +yourself." + +Tom, encouraged by these words, resolved, when the vessel should reach +Berwick, to set out for Norham; which design he put in execution, a few +days after, setting out from Berwick about six in the evening. + +After reaching the village, he quickly passed through it to where Mr +Keveley's cottage stood. It was a sweet summer evening; and when Tom +approached the house, the setting sun was illuminating the windows with +his departing rays. A little garden fronted the cottage; and the +honeysuckle and jessamine, which had crept up its front, were spreading +their fragrance all around. The window of the little parlour looked to +the west; it was opened, and Tom heard the sound of a musical +instrument, accompanied by a low female voice. He listened for a moment +to catch if possible the air, but it seemed a foreign song which the +musician was playing. At last, he went up to the door and knocked, +whilst his heart went pit-a-pat with emotion. Mr Keveley had gone out, +and he found Catherine alone in the parlour. She received him with her +usual sweet smile of welcome, and bade him be seated. Tom strove to +appear at ease, but his anxiety prevented him, and his confusion was +such as to attract the notice of Catherine, who asked him if he was +unwell. + +"Not exactly that," said Tom; "but"----Here he made a full pause. + +"But what?" asked Catherine, unable to divine the cause of his +uneasiness. + +"Well," said Tom, at length taking courage, "I may as well out with it +at once. The truth is, Miss Keveley, I love you dearly; but could never +have had the courage to make this declaration, had your father not +approved of it." + +It was now Catherine's turn to blush, and be silent; at length, +regaining the use of her tongue, she replied--"It would not only be +affectation, but ingratitude in me, to affect indifference, where my +heart is really interested; and, as you say my father sanctions your +addresses, there is my hand;--if you think it worth your acceptance, it +is at your service." + +Tom, unable to contain himself, took her hand, and pressed it to his +lips. "I leave you to yourself," said he "for a few minutes, to recover +from your confusion"--so saying, he went out for a little; and met Mr +Keveley, just returning from a visit to a friend at a little distance, +to whom he communicated the pleasing intelligence of his happiness. Mr +Keveley took Tom by the hand, and, having embraced him-- + +"I shall now leave this world," said he, "without a wish unsatisfied. It +was the only desire of my heart, before bidding a final adieu to all +sublunary things, to see my daughter with a protector for life; and I am +glad she has made choice of an honest man, and one every way so +deserving of her." So saying, he led Tom back to the parlour, where +Catherine still remained seated. After joining their hands, the old +gentleman uttered a benediction over them, and embraced them both with +much tenderness. + +After a short time, Tom took his leave, but not before Catherine had +promised that their marriage should take place on an early day. + +About a fortnight after, on a fine forenoon, the village grocer at +Norham was standing at his door, and gazing after a crowd which had +passed; as he stood looking, a man dressed like a grazier came up, and, +after the accustomed salutation of "How's a' wi' ye the day?" asked him +what he was "glowrin" at. + +"I have just been lookin at the weddin which has passed," answered the +grocer; "an' sic a braw sicht hasna been seen in the village for mony a +day." + +"Wha's weddin is it?" asked the grazier. + +"It's the daughter of ane Mr Keveley, who has settled in this place for +some time--and a bonny lassie she is; and they say, she's as guid as +she's bonny. She's married to ane Jones, son o' auld Bill Jones, maister +o' the smack which beat the Frenchman no very lang syne yet. Every one +o' the smack's crew are at the weddin; an' sic a set o' merry jovial +blades were never thegither in this place afore. The folks are like to +stifle them wi' kindness. But what's the queerest thing of a' is, that +they a' cam oot here, this mornin, in a boat." + +"In a boat!" exclaimed the grazier, in amazement--"on dry land?" + +"Ay, in a boat," replied the grocer--"a lang boat, mounted upon a lang +cart; an' there were they a' seated in it, wi' ribbons fleein; an' wi' +the Union, as they ca' the flag which hung at the ship's mast when they +beat the Frenchman; an' the folks a' shoutin, an' the bairns skirling. I +declare, thae sailors are a wheen born deevils for fun and frolic; but +they are sic canty chiels, that ane canna help likin them the better for +a' their nonsense. They ca' the lang boat the _Whim_; an', faith, she's +weel named--for it's a whimsical idea." + +The grocer and the grazier stood talking thus to each other, till the +cavalcade returned from the church--Tom and his bride in an open, +four-wheeled carriage, whilst the rest all followed in the boat already +mentioned. + +Little of our story now remains to be told. After his marriage, Tom went +to sea for a few years, in command of the _Tweed_; but, on the death of +Mr Keveley, he retired to Norham, where he took the cottage which the +old gentleman had inhabited. + +Passing lately through the churchyard of T----, we went up to the grave +of old Bill Jones. A neat, marble tombstone had been raised to his +memory, by his son and daughter. At the bottom was the following +epitaph:-- + + "Though Neptune's waves and Boreas' storms + Have tossed me to and fro, + In spite of all, by God's decree, + I anchor here below." + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of +Scotland, Vol. XX, by Alexander Leighton + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WILSON'S TALES OF THE BORDERS, VOL 20 *** + +***** This file should be named 37217.txt or 37217.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/7/2/1/37217/ + +Produced by David Clarke, Mary Meehan and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +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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