diff options
Diffstat (limited to '39759.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | 39759.txt | 9645 |
1 files changed, 9645 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/39759.txt b/39759.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8cafcc4 --- /dev/null +++ b/39759.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9645 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of +Scotland Volume 18, 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/license + + +Title: Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland Volume 18 + Historical, Traditionary, & Imaginative. + +Author: Alexander Leighton + +Release Date: May 22, 2012 [EBook #39759] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WILSON'S TALES OF THE *** + + + + +Produced by David Clarke, Mary Meehan and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://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. XVIII. + + LONDON: + WALTER SCOTT, 14 PATERNOSTER SQUARE, + AND NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE. + 1884. + + + + + CONTENTS + + Page + + THOMAS OF CHARTRES, (_Hugh Miller_), 1 + + THE FUGITIVE, (_John Mackay Wilson_), 33 + + THE BRIDE OF BRAMBLEHAUGH, (_Alexander Leighton_), 63 + + GLEANINGS OF THE COVENANT, (_Professor Thomas Gillespie_)-- + + XIV. JAMES RENWICK, 95 + + XV. OLD ISBEL KIRK, 105 + + XVI. THE CURLERS, 110 + + XVII. THE VIOLATED COFFIN, 119 + + THE SURGEON'S TALES, (_Alexander Leighton_)-- + + THE MONOMANIAC, 127 + + THE FOUNDLING AT SEA, (_Alexander Campbell_), 159 + + THE ASSASSIN, (_Alexander Campbell_), 178 + + THE PRISONER OF WAR, (_John Howell_), 191 + + WILLIE WASTLE'S ACCOUNT OF HIS WIFE, (_John Mackay Wilson_), 223 + + THE STONE-BREAKER, (_Alexander Campbell_), 255 + + LAIRD RORIESON'S WILL, (_Alexander Leighton_), 276 + + + + +WILSON'S TALES OF THE BORDERS AND OF SCOTLAND. + + + + +THOMAS OF CHARTRES. + + +One morning, early in the spring of 1298, a small Scottish vessel lay +becalmed in the middle of the Irish Channel, about fifteen leagues to +the south of the Isle of Man. During the whole of the previous night, +she had been borne steadily southward, by a light breeze from off the +fast receding island; but it had sunk as the sun rose, and she was now +heaving slowly to the swell, which still continued to roll onward, in +long glassy ridges from the north. A thick fog had risen as the wind +fell--one of those low sea fogs which, leaving the central heavens +comparatively clear, hangs its dense, impervious volumes around the +horizon; and the little vessel lay as if imprisoned within a circular +wall of darkness, while the sun, reddened by the haze, looked down +cheerily upon her from above. She was a small and very rude-looking +vessel, furnished with two lug-sails of dark brown, much in the manner +of a modern Dutch lugger; with a poop and forecastle singularly high, +compared with her height in the waist; and with sides which, attaining +their full breadth scarcely a foot over the water, sloped abruptly +inwards, towards the deck, like the wall of a mole or pier. The +parapet-like bulwarks of both poop and forecastle were cut into deep +embrasures, and ran, like those of a tower, all around the areas they +enclosed, looking down nearly as loftily on the midships as on the +water. The sides were black as pitch could render them--the sails +scarcely less dark; but, as if to shew man's love of the ornamental in +even the rudest stage of art, a huge misshapen lion flared in vermillion +on the prow, and over the stern hung the blue flag of Scotland, with the +silver cross of St Andrew stretching from corner to corner. + +From eight to ten seamen lounged about the decks. They were +uncouth-looking men, heavily attired in jerkins and caps of blue +woollen, with long, thick beards, and strongly-marked features. The +master, a man considerably advanced in life--for, though his eye seemed +as bright as ever, his hair and beard had become white as snow--was +rather better dressed. He wore above his jerkin a short cloak of blue +which confessed, in its finer texture, the superiority of the looms of +Flanders over those of his own country; and a slender cord of silver ran +round a cap of the same material. His nether garments, however, were +coarse and rude as those of his seamen; and the shoes he wore were +fashioned, like theirs, of the undressed skin of the deer, with the hair +still attached; giving to the foot that brush-like appearance which had +acquired to his countrymen of the age, from their more polished +neighbours, the appellation of rough-footed Scots. Neither the number, +nor the appearance of the crew, singular and wild as the latter was, +gave the vessel aught of a warlike aspect; and yet there were +appearances that might have led one to doubt whether she was quite so +unprepared for attack or defence as at the first view might be premised. +There ran round the butt of each mast a rack filled with spears, of more +knightly appearance than could have belonged to a few rude seamen--for +of some of these the handles were chased with silver, and to some there +were strips of pennon attached; and a rich crimson cloak, with several +pieces of mail, were spread out to the morning sun, on one of the +shrouds. + +The crew, we have said, were lounging about the deck, unemployed in the +calm, when a strong, iron-studded door opened in the poop, and a young +and very handsome man stepped forward. + +"Has my unfortunate cloak escaped stain?" he said to the master. "Your +sea-water is no brightener of colour." + +"It will not yet much ashame you, Clelland," said the master, "even amid +the gallants of France; but, were it worse, there is little fear, with +these eyes of yours, of being overlooked by the ladies." + +"Nay, now, Brichan, that's but a light compliment from so grave a man as +you," said Clelland. "You forget how small a chance I shall have beside +my cousin." + +"Not jealous of the Governor, Clelland, I hope?" said the old man, +gaily. "Nay, trust me, you are in little danger. Sir William is perhaps +quite as handsome a man as you, and taller by the head and shoulders; +but, trust me, no one will ever think of him as a pretty fellow. He +stands too much alone for that. Has he risen yet?" + +"Risen!--he has been with the chaplain for I know not how long. Their +Latin broke in upon my dreams two hours ago. But what have we yonder, on +the edge of that bank of fog! Is it one of the mermaidens you were +telling me of yesterday?" + +"Nay," said the master, "it is but a poor seal, risen to take the air. +But what have we beyond it? By heavens I see the dim outline of a large +vessel, through the fog! and yonder, not half a bow-shot beyond, there +is another! Saints forbid that it be not the English fleet, or the ships +of Thomas of Chartres! Clelland, good Clelland, do call up the Governor +and his company!" + +Clelland stepped up to the door in the poop, and shouted hastily to his +companions within--"Strange sails in sight!--supposed enemies--it were +well to don your armours." And then turning to a seaman. "Assist me, +good fellow," he said, "in bracing on mine." + +"Thomas of Chartres, to a certainty!" exclaimed the master--"and not a +breath to bear us away! Would to heavens that I were dead and buried, or +had never been born!" + +"Why all this ado, Brichan?" said Clelland, who, assisted by the sailor, +was coolly buckling on his mail. "It was never your wont before, to be +thus annoyed by danger." + +"It is not for myself I fear, noble Clelland," said the master, "if the +Governor were but away and safe. But, oh, to think that the pride and +stay of Scotland should fall into the merciless hands of a pirate dog! +Would that my own life, and the lives of all my crew, could but purchase +his safety!" + +"Take heart, old man," said Clelland, with dignity. "Heaven watches over +the fortunes of the Governor of Scotland; nor will it suffer him to fall +obscurely by the hands of a mere plunderer of merchants and seamen.--Rax +me my long spear." + +As he spoke, the Governor himself stepped forward from the door in the +poop, enveloped from head to foot in complete armour. He was a man of +more than kingly presence--taller, by nearly a foot, than even the +tallest man on deck, and broader across the shoulders by full six +inches; but so admirably was his frame moulded, that, though his stature +rose to the gigantic, no one could think of him as a giant. His visor +was up, and exhibited a set of high handsome features, and two of the +finest blue eyes that ever served as indexes to the feelings of a human +soul. His chin and upper lip were thickly covered with hair of that +golden colour so often sung by the elder poets; and a few curling locks +of rather darker shade escaped from under his helmet. A man of middle +stature and grave saturnine aspect, who wore a monk's frock over a coat +of mail, came up behind him. + +"What is to befall us now, cousin Clelland?" said the Governor. "Does +not the truce extend over the channel, think you?" + +"Ah, these are not English enemies, noble sir," replied the master. "We +have fallen on the fleet of the infamous Thomas of Chartres." + +"And who is Thomas of Chartres?" asked the Governor. + +"A cruel and bloodthirsty pirate--the terror of these seas for the last +sixteen years. Wo is me!--we have neither force enough to fight, nor +wind to bear us away!" + +"Two large vessels," said the Governor, stepping up to the side, "full +of armed men, too; but we muster fifty, besides the sailors; and, if +they attempt boarding us, it must be by boat. Is it not so, master? The +calm which fixes us here, must prevent them from laying alongside and +overmastering us." + +"Ah, yes, noble sir," said the master; "but we see only a part of the +fleet." + +"Were there ten fleets," exclaimed Clelland, impatiently, "I have met +with as great odds ashore--and here comes Crawford." + +The door in the poop was again thrown open, and from forty to fifty +warriors, in complete armour, headed by a tall and powerful-looking man, +came crowding out, and then thronged around the masts, to disengage +their spears. They were all robust and hardy-looking men--the flower +apparently of a country side; and the coolness and promptitude with +which they ranged themselves round their leader, to wait his commands, +shewed that it was not now for the first time they had been called on to +prepare for battle. They were, in truth, tried veterans of the long and +bloody struggle which their country had maintained with Edward--men who, +ere they had united under a leader worthy to command them, had resisted +the enemy individually, and preserved, amid their woods and fastnesses, +at least their personal independence. Such a party of such men, however +great the odds opposed to them, could not, in any circumstances, be +deemed other than formidable. + +"We are not born for peace, countryman," said the Governor--"war follows +us even here. Meanwhile, lie down, that the enemy mark not our numbers. +That foremost vessel is lowering her boat, and yonder tall man in +scarlet, who takes his seat in the bows, seems to be a leader." + +"It is Thomas of Chartres, himself," said the master. "I know him well. +Some five-and-twenty years ago, we sailed together from Palestine." + +"And what," asked the Governor, "could have brought a false pirate +there?" + +"He was no false pirate then," replied the master, "but a true Christian +knight; and bravely did he fight for the sepulchre. But, on his return +to France, where he had been pledged to meet with his lady-love, he fell +under the displeasure of the King, his master; and, ever since, he has +been a wanderer and a pirate. You will see, as he approaches, the +scallop in his basnet; and be sure he will be the first man to board +us." + +"Excellent," exclaimed the Governor, gaily; "we shall hold him hostage +for the good behaviour of his fleet. Mark me, cousin Crawford. His barge +shoves off, and the men bend to their oars. He will be here in a +twinkling. Do you stand by our good Ancient--would there were but wind +enough to unfurl it!--and the instant he bids us strike, why, lower it +to the deck; but be as sure you hoist it again when you see him fairly +aboard. And you, dear Clelland, do you take your stand here on the deck +beside me, and see to it, when I am dealing with the pirate, that you +keep your long spear between us and his crew. It will be strange if he +boast of his victory this bout." + +The men, at the command of their leader, had prostrated themselves on +the deck, while his two brethren in arms, Crawford and Clelland, +stationed themselves at his bidding--the one on the vessel's poop, +directly under the pennon, the other at his side in the midships. The +pirate's barge, glittering to the sun with arms and armour, and crowded +with men, rowed lustily towards them; but, while yet a full hundred +yards away, a sudden breeze from the west began to murmur through the +shrouds, and the bellying sails swelled slowly over the side. + +"Heaven's mercy be praised!" exclaimed the master, "we shall escape them +yet. Lay her easy to the wind, good Crawford--lay her easy to the wind, +and we shall bear out through them all." + +"Nay, cousin, nay," said the Governor, his eyes flashing with eagerness, +"the pirate must not escape us so. Lay the vessel to. Turn her head full +to the wind. And you, captain, draw off your men to the hold. We must +not lose our good sailors; and these woollens of yours will scarcely +turn a French arrow. Nay, 'tis I who am master now"--for the old man +seemed disposed to linger. "I may resign my charge, perhaps, by and by; +but you must obey me now." + +The master and his sailors left the deck. The barge of the pirate came +sweeping onward till within two spears' length of the vessel, and then +hailed her with no courtly summons of surrender. "Strike, dogs, strike! +or you shall fare the worse!" It was the pirate himself who spoke, and +Crawford, at his bidding, pulled down the Ancient. The barge dashed +alongside. Thomas of Chartres, a very tall and very powerful man, seized +hold of the bulwark rail with one hand, and bearing a naked sword in the +other, leaped fearlessly aboard, within half a yard of where the +Governor stood, half-concealed by the shrouds and the bulwarks. In a +moment the sword was struck down, and the intruder locked in the +tremendous grasp of the first champion of his time. Crawford hoisted the +Ancient, yard-high, to the new-risen breeze; while Clelland struck his +long spear against the pirate who had leaped on the gunwale to follow +his leader, with such hearty good-will that the steel passed through +targe and corselet, and he fell back a dead man into the boat. In an +instant the concealed party had sprung from the deck, and fifty Scottish +spears bristled over the gunwale, interposing their impenetrable hedge +between the pirate crew and their leader. For a moment, the latter had +striven to move his antagonist; but, powerful and sinewy as he was, he +might as well have attempted to uproot an oak of an hundred summers. +While yet every muscle was strained in the exertion, the Governor swung +him from off his feet, suspended him at arm's length for full half a +moment in the air, and then dashed him violently against the deck. A +stream of blood gushed from mouth and nostril, and he lay stunned and +senseless where he fell. Meanwhile, the crew of the barge, taken by +surprise, and outnumbered, shoved off a boat's length beyond reach of +the spears, and then rested on their oars. + +"He revives," said the warrior in the monk's frock, going up to the +fallen pirate. "Reiver though he be, he has fought for the holy +sepulchre, and has worn golden spurs." + +"I will deal with him right knightly," said the Governor. "Yield thee, +Sir Thomas of Chartres," he continued, bending over the prisoner, and +holding up a dagger to his face--"yield thee true hostage for the good +conduct of thy fleet--or shall I call the confessor?" + +"I yield me true hostage," said the fallen man. "But who art thou, +terrible warrior, that o'ermasterest De Longoville of France as if he +were a stripling of twelve summers? Art Wallace, the Scottish +Champion!" + +"Thou yieldest, De Longoville," said the Governor, "to Sir William +Wallace of Elderslie. But how is it that I meet, in the infamous Thomas +of Chartres, that true soldier of the Cross, De Longoville? I have heard +minstrels sing of thy deeds against the Saracen, Sir Knight, while I was +yet a boy; and yet here art thou now, the dread of the wandering sailor +and the merchant--a chief among thieves and pirates." + +"Alas! noble Wallace, thou sayest too truly," said Sir Thomas; "but yet +wouldst thou deem me as worthy of pity as of censure, didst thou but +know all, and the remorse I even now endure. For a full year have I +determined to quit this wild, unknightly mode of life, and go a pilgrim +as of old; not to fight for the sepulchre--for the battles of the Cross +are over--not to fight, but to die for it. But I accept, noble champion, +this my first defeat on sea, as a message from heaven. Accept of me as +true soldier under thee, and I will fight for thee in thy country's +quarrel, to the death." + +"Most willingly, brave De Longoville," said the Governor, as he raised +him from the deck; "Scotland needs sorely the use of such swords as +thine." + +"And deem not her cause less holy," said the monk--for monk he was, the +well-known Chaplain Blair--"deem not her cause less holy than that of +the sepulchre itself; nor think that thou shalt eradicate the stain of +past dishonour less surely in her battles. The cause of justice, De +Longoville, is the cause of God, contend for it where we may." + +Wallace returned to De Longoville the sword of which he had so lately +disarmed him; and the pirate admiral, on learning that the champion was +bound for Rochelle, issued orders to his fleet, which, now that the mist +rose, was found to consist of six large vessels, to follow close in +their wake. The breeze blew steadily from the north-west, and the ships +went careering along, each in her own long furrow of white, towards the +port of their destination; the pirate vessels keeping aloof full two +bowshots from the Scotsman--for so De Longoville had ordered, to prevent +suspicion of treachery. He had set aside his armour, and now appeared to +his new associates as a man of noble and knightly bearing, tall and +stalwart as any warrior aboard, save the Governor; and, though his hair +was blanched around his temples, and indicated the approach of age, the +light step and quick sparkling eye gave evidence that his vigour of +frame still remained undiminished. He sat apart, with the Governor and +his two kinsmen, Clelland and Crawford, in the cabin under the poop. It +was a rude, unornamented apartment, as might be expected, from the +general appearance of the vessel; but the profusion of arms and pieces +of armour which hung from the sides, glittering to the light that found +entrance through a casement in the deck, bestowed on the place an air of +higher pretension. A table with food and wine was placed before the +warriors. + +"It is now twenty-six years, or thereby," said De Longoville, "since I +quitted Palestine for France, with the good Louis. I had fought by his +side on the disastrous field of Massouna, and did all that a man of +mould might to rescue him from the Saracens, when he fell into their +hands, exhausted by his wounds and his sore sickness. But that day was +written a day of defeat and disaster to the soldiers of the Cross. Nor +need I say how I took my stand, with the best of my countrymen, on the +walls of Damietta, and maintained them for the good cause, despite of +the assembled forces of the Moslem, until we had bought back our king +from captivity, by yielding up the city we defended for his ransom. It +is enough for a disgraced man and a captive to say that my services were +not overlooked by those whose notice was most an honour; and that, ere I +embarked for France, I received the badge of knighthood from the hand +of the good Louis himself. + +"You all know of how different a character Charles of Anjou was from his +brother the king. I had returned from the crusade rich, only in honour, +and found the lady of my affections under close thrall by her parents, +who had resolved that she should marry Loithaire, Lord of Languedoc. I +knew that her heart was all my own; but I knew, besides, that I must +become wealthy ere I could hope to compete for her with a rival such as +Loithaire; and the good Pope Nicholas having made over the crown of the +Two Sicilies to Charles of Anjou, in an evil hour I entered the army +with which Charles was to wrest it from the bastard Manfred--having +certain assurance, from the tyrant himself, that, if he succeeded, I +should become one of the nobles of Sicily. We encountered Manfred at +Beneventura, and the bastard was defeated and slain. But I must blush, +as a knight, for the honour of knighthood--as a Frenchman, for the fair +fame of my country--when I think of the cruelties which followed. Not +the worst tyrants of old Rome could have surpassed Charles of Anjou in +his butcheries. The blood plashed under the hoofs of his charger as he +passed through the cities of his future kingdom; and, when he had borne +down all opposition, 'twould seem as if, in his eagerness to destroy all +who might resist, he had also determined to extirpate all who could +obey. But his policy proved as unsound as 'twas cruel and unjust, as the +terrible _Eve of the Vespers_ has since shown. The Princes of Germany, +headed by the chivalrous Conradine of Swabia, united against us in the +cause of the people. But the arms of France were again triumphant; the +confederacy was broken, and the gallant Conradine fell into the hands of +Charles. It was I, warriors of Scotland! to whom he surrendered; and I +had granted him, as became a knight, an assurance of knightly +protection. But would that my arms had been hewn off at the shoulders +when I first beat down his sword, and intercepted his retreat! The +infamous Charles treated my knightly assurance with scorn; and--can you +credit such baseness, noble Wallace!--he ordered Conradine of Swabia--a +true knight, and an independent prince--for instant execution, as if he +were a common malefactor. My blood boils, even now, when I recall that +terrible scene of injustice and cruelty. The soldiers of France crowded +round the scaffold; and I was among them, burning with shame and rage. +Ere Conradine bent him to the executioner, he took off his glove, and +throwing it amongst us, adjured us, if we were not all as dead to honour +as our leader, to bear it to some of his kinsmen, who would receive it +as a pledge of investiture in his rights, and as beqeathing the +obligation to revenge his death. Will you blame me, noble Wallace! that, +Frenchman as I was, I seized the glove of Conradine, and fled the army +of Charles; and that, ere I returned to France, I delivered it up to +Pedro of Arragon, the near kinsman of the last Prince of Swabia? + +"My king and friend, the good Louis, had sailed from France for +Palestine, on his last hapless voyage, ere I had executed my mission. On +my return to France, however, I found a galley of Toulon on the eve of +quitting port, to join with his fleet, then on the coast of Africa, and, +snatching a hurried interview with the lady of my affections, maugre the +vigilance of her relatives, I embarked to fight under Louis, as of old, +for the blessed sepulchre. We landed near Tunis, and saw the tents of +France glittering to the sun. But all was silent as midnight, and the +royal standard hung reversed over the pavilion of the good Louis. He had +died that morning of the plague; and his base and cruel brother, the +false Charles of Anjou, sat beside the corpse. I felt that I had fallen +among my enemies; for though the young King was there, he was weak and +inexperienced, and open to the influence of his uncle. The first knight +I met, as I entered the camp, was Loithaire of Languedoc--now the wily +friend and counsellor of Charles. There were lying witnesses suborned +against me, who accused me of the most incredible and unheard-of +practices; and of these Loithaire was the chief. 'Twas in vain I +demanded the combat, as a test of my innocence. The combat was denied +me; my sword was broken before the assembled chivalry of France; my +shield reversed; and sentence was passed that I should be burnt at a +stake, and my ashes scattered to the four winds of heaven. But it was +not written that I should perish so. Scarce an hour before the opening +of the day appointed for my execution, I broke from prison, assisted by +a brother soldier, whose life I had saved in Palestine, and escaped to +France. + +"I was a broken and ruined man. But how wondrous the force of true +affection! My Agnes knew this; and yet, knowing all, she contrived to +elude her guardians, and fled with me to the sea-shore, where we +embarked, in a ship of Normandy, for the south of Ireland. From that +hour De Longoville has fought under no banner but his own. I renounced, +in my anger, my allegiance to my country-nay, declared war with the +sovereign who had so injured me. The years passed, and desperate and +dishonoured men like myself came flocking to me as their leader, till +not Philip himself, or my old enemy Charles, had more kingly authority +on land than De Longoville on the sea. But let no man again deceive +himself as I have done. I had reasoned on the lax morality and doubtful +honour of kings, and asked myself why I might not, as the admiral and +prince of my fleet, achieve a less guilty, though not less splendid +glory than the bastard William of Normandy, or Edward of England, or my +old enemy Charles of Anjou. But I have long since been taught that what +were high achievements and honourable conquest in the admiral of a +hundred vessels, is but sheer piracy in the captain of six. I can trust, +however, that the last days of De Longoville may yet be deemed equal to +the first; and that the middle term of his life may be forgiven him for +its beginning and its close. Not a month since, I carried my wife and +daughter to France, and took final leave of them, with the purpose of +setting out on my pilgrimage to Palestine. That intention, noble +Wallace! is now altered; and I must again seek them out, that they may +accompany me to Scotland." + +"The foul stain of treason, brave Longoville, must be removed," said the +Governor. "Charles of Anjou has long since gone to his account: does the +Lord of Languedoc still survive!" + +"He still lives," replied the admiral; "his years do not outnumber my +own." + +"Then must he either retract the vile calumny, or grant you the combat. +The young Philip has pledged his knightly word, when he solicited the +visit I am now voyaging to pay him, that he would grant me the first +boon I craved in person, should it involve the alienation of his fairest +province. That boon, brave De Longoville, will, at least, present you +with the means of regaining your fair fame." + +De Longoville knelt on the cabin floor, and kissed the hand of the +Governor. The conversation glided imperceptibly to other and lighter +matters; time passed gaily in the recital of stories of chivalrous +endurance or exploit; and the gale, which still blew steadily from the +north-west, promised a speedy accomplishment of their voyage. For four +days they sailed without shifting back or lowering sail; and, on the +morning of the fifth, cast anchor in the harbour of Rochelle. + +On the evening of the second day after their arrival, a single knight +was pricking his steed through one of the glades of the immense forest +which, at this period, covered the greater part of the province of +Poitiers. He had been passing, ever since morning, through what seemed +an interminable wilderness of wood--here clustered into almost +impenetrable thickets shagged with an undergrowth of thorn, there +opening into long bosky glades and avenues that seemed, however, only to +lead into recesses still more solitary and remote than those that +darkened around him. During the early part of the day, the sun had +looked down gaily among the trees, checkering the sward below with a +carpeting of alternate light and shadow; and the knight, a lover of +falconry and the chase, had rode jocundly on through the peopled +solitude; ever and anon grasping his spear, with the eager spirit of the +huntsman, as the fawn started up beside his courser, and shot like a +meteor across the avenue, or the wild boar or wolf rustled in the +neighbouring brake. Towards evening, however, the eternal sameness of +the landscape had begun to fatigue him; the sun, too, had disappeared, +long before his setting, in a veil of impenetrable vapour, mottled with +grey, ponderous clouds, betokening an approaching storm; and the +horseman pressed eagerly onward, in the hope of reaching, ere its +bursting, the hostelry in which he had purposed to pass the evening. He +had either, however, mistaken his way or miscalculated his distance; for +after passing dell and dingle, glade and thicket, in monotonous +succession, for hours on hours, the forest still seemed as dense and +unending, and the hostelry as distant as ever. A brown and sleepy horror +seemed to settle over the trees as the evening darkened; the thunder +began to bellow in long peals, far to the south, and a few heavy drops +to patter from time to time on the leaves, giving indication of the +approaching deluge. The knight had just resigned himself to encounter +all the horrors of the storm, when, on descending into a little bosky +hollow, through which there passed a minute streamlet, he found himself +in front of a deserted hermitage. It was a cell, opening, like an +Egyptian tomb, in the face of a low precipice. A rude stone-cross, +tapestried with ivy, rose immediately over the narrow door-way. + +"The saints be praised!" exclaimed the knight, leaping lightly from his +horse. "I shall e'en avail myself of the good shelter they have +provided. But thou, poor Biscay," he continued, patting his steed, +"wouldst that thou wert with thy master, mine host of the Three _Fleurs +de Lis!_--there is scant stabling for thee here. This way, however, good +Biscay--this way. Thou must bide the storm as thou best may'st in yonder +hollow of the rock." And, leading the animal to the hollow, he fastened +him to the stem of a huge ivy, and then entered the hermitage. + +It consisted of one small rude apartment, hewn, apparently with immense +labour, in the living rock. A seat and bed of stone occupied the +opposite sides; and in the extreme end, fronting the door, there was a +rude image of the Virgin, with a small altar of mouldering stone, placed +before it. The evening was oppressively sultry, and, taking his seat on +the bedside, the knight unlaced and set aside his helmet, exhibiting to +the fast-dying light, the brown curling hair and handsome features of +our old acquaintance Clelland--for it was no other than he. The thunder +began to roll in louder and longer peals, and the lightning to illumine, +at brief intervals, every glade and dingle without, and every minute +object within; when a loud scream of dismay and terror, blent with the +infuriated howl of some wild animal, rose from the upper part of the +dell, and Clelland had but snatched up his spear and leaped out into the +storm, when a young female, closely pursued by an enormous wolf, came +rushing down the declivity, in the direction of the hermitage; but, in +crossing the little stream, overcome apparently by fatigue and terror, +she stumbled and fell. To interpose his person between the poor girl and +her ravenous pursuer was with Clelland the work of one moment; to make +such prompt and efficient use of his spear that the steel head passed +through and through the monster, and then buried itself in the earth +beneath, was his employment in the next. The black blood came spouting +out along the shaft, crimsoning both his hands to the wrists; and the +transfixed savage, writhing itself round on the wood in its mortal +agony, and gnashing its immense fangs, just uttered one tremendous howl +that could be heard even above the pealing of the thunder, and then +belched out his life at his feet. He raised the fallen girl, who seemed +for a moment to have sunk into a state of partial swoon, and, +disengaging his good weapon from the bleeding carcass, he supported her +to the hermitage in the rock. + +She was attired in the garb of a common peasant of the age and country; +but there was even yet light enough to shew that her beauty was of a +more dignified expression than is almost ever to be found in a +cottage--exquisite in colour and form as that which we meet with in the +latter, may often be. There was a subdued elegance, too, in her few +brief, but earnest expressions of gratitude to her deliverer, that +consorted equally ill with her attire. On entering the hermitage, she +knelt before the altar, and prayed in silence; while Clelland took his +seat on the stone couch where he had before placed his helmet, leaving +to his new companion the settle on the opposite side. Meanwhile the +storm without had increased tenfold. The thunder rolled overhead, peal +after peal, without break or pause; so that the outbursting of every +fresh clap was mingled with the echoes in which the wide-spread forest +had replied to the last. At times, the opposite acclivity, with all its +thickets, seemed as if enveloped in an atmosphere of fire--at times one +immense seam of forked lightning came ploughing the pitchy gloom of the +heavens, from the centre to the horizon. The wild beasts of the forest +were abroad. Clelland could hear their fierce howlings mingled with the +terrific bellowings of the heavens. The dead sultry calm was suddenly +broken. A hurricane went raging through the woods. There was a creaking, +crackling, rushing sound among the trees, as they strained and quivered +to the blast; and a roaring, like that of some huge cataract, showed +that a waterspout had burst in the upper part of the dell, and that the +little stream was coming down in thunder--a wide and impetuous torrent. +Clelland's fair companion still remained kneeling before the altar. +'Twould seem as her prayer of thanks for her great deliverance had +changed into an earnest and oft-reiterated petition for still further +protection. + +In a pause of the storm, the frightful howlings of a flock of wolves +were heard rising from over the hermitage, as if hundreds had assembled +on its roof of rock. Clelland sprung from his seat, and, grasping his +spear, stood in the doorway. + +"We shall have to bide siege," he said to his companion. "I knew not +that these fierce creatures mustered so thickly here." + +"Heaven be our protection!" said the maiden. "They fill every recess of +the forest. I had left my mother's this evening for but an +instant--'twas in quest of a tame fawn--when the monster from whose +murderous fangs you delivered me, started up between me and my home; and +I had to fly from instant destruction into the thick of the forest." + +"And so your place of residence is quite at hand?" said Clelland. "In +the course of a long day's journey, I have not met with a single human +habitation." + +"The hermitage," replied the maiden, "is but a short half-mile from my +mother's--would that we were but safe there!" + +As she spoke, the howling of the wolves burst out again, in frightful +chorus, from above, and at least a score of the ravenous animals came +leaping down over the rock, brushing in their descent the ivy and the +underwood. Clelland couched his spear, so that nothing could enter by +the narrow doorway without encountering its sharp point. But the wolves +came not to the attack; and their yells and howlings from the hollow of +the rock, blent with the terrified snortings and pawings of poor Biscay, +shewed that they were bent on an easier conquest, and bulkier, though +less noble prey. The animal, in his first struggle, broke loose from his +fastenings, and went galloping madly past; and an intensely bright flash +of lightning, that illumined the whole scene of terror without, shewed +him in the act of straining up the opposite bank, with a huge wolf +fastened to his lacerated back, and closely pursued by full twenty more. + +It was, in truth, a night of dread and terror. Towards morning, however, +the storm gradually sunk into a calm as dead as that which had preceded +it, and a clear, starry sky looked down on the again silent forest. The +maiden, now that there was less of danger, was rendered thoroughly +unhappy by thoughts of her mother. She had left her, she said, but for +an instant--left her solitary in her dwelling; and how must she have +passed so terrible a night! Clelland strove to quiet her fears. There +was a little cloud in the east, he said, already reddening on its lower +edge; in an hour longer, it would be broad day, and he could then +conduct her to her mother's. + +"You have not always worn such a dress as that which you now wear," he +continued; "nor have you spent all your days on the edge of the forest. +Does your father still live?" + +There was a pause for a moment. + +"I am a native of France," she at length said; "but I have passed most +of my time in other countries. My father, in fulfilment of a vow, is now +bound on a pilgrimage to Palestine." + +"And may I not crave your name?" asked Clelland. + +"My name," she replied, "is Bertha de Longoville. Brave and courtly +warrior, but for whose generous and knightly daring I would have found +yester-evening a horrid tomb in the ravenous maw of the wolf, do not, I +pray you, ask me more. A vow binds me to secrecy for the time." + +"Nay, fear not, gentle maiden," said Clelland, "that what you but wish +to keep secret, I shall once urge you to reveal. But hear me, lady, and +then judge how far I am to be trusted. You are the only daughter of Sir +Thomas de Longoville, once a true soldier of the blessed Cross, but, in +his latter days, less fortunate in his quarrels. Your father is now in +France, and in two weeks hence will be in Paris." + +"Saints and angels!" exclaimed the maiden, "he has fallen into the hands +of his enemies!" + +"Not so, lady; he is among his best friends. The knightly word of Sir +William Wallace of Elderslie, who never broke faith with friend or +enemy, is pledged for his safe-keeping. With my kinsman, he is secure of +at least safety--perhaps even of grace and pardon. But the day has +broken, maiden; suffer me to conduct you to your mother's." + +They left the hermitage together, and ascended the side of the dell. As +they passed the hollow in the rock, a bright patch of blood caught the +eye of Clelland. + +"Ah, poor Biscay!" he exclaimed; "there is all that now remains of him; +and how to procure another steed in this wild district, I know not. My +kinsman will be at Paris long ere his herald gets there. Well, there +have been greater mishaps. Yonder is the carcass of the wolf I slew +yester-evening, half eaten by his savage companions." + +The morning, we have said, was calm and still; but the storm of the +preceding night had left behind it no doubtful vestiges of its fury. +The stream had fallen to its old level, and went tinkling along its +channel, with a murmur that only served to shew how complete was the +silence; but the banks were torn and hollowed by the recent torrent, and +tangled wreaths of brushwood and foliage lay high on the sides of the +dell. The broken and ragged appearance of the forest gave evidence of +the force of the hurricane. The fallen trees lay thick on the sides of +the more exposed acclivities--some reclining like spears, half bent to +the charge, athwart the spreading boughs of such of their neighbours as +the storm had spared; others lay as if levelled by the woodman, save +that their long flexile roots had thrown up vast fragments of turf, +resembling the broken ruins of cottages. And, in an opening of the wood, +a gigantic oak, the slow growth of centuries, lay scattered over the +soil, in raw and splintery fragments, that gave strange evidence of the +irresistible force of the agent employed in its destruction. The trees +opened as they advanced, and they emerged from the forest as the first +beams of the sun had begun to glitter on the topmost boughs. A low, +moory plain, walled in by a range of distant hills, and mottled with a +few patches of corn, and a few miserable cottages, lay before them. A +grey detached tower, somewhat resembling that of an English village +church, rose on the forest edge, scarce a hundred yards away. + +"Yonder tower, Sir Knight," said the maiden, "is the dwelling of my +mother. Alas! what must she not have endured during the protracted +horrors of the night!" + +"There is, at least, joy waiting her now," said Clelland; "and all will +soon be well." + +They approached the tower. It was a small and very picturesque erection, +of three low stories in height, with projecting turrets at the front +corners, connected by a hanging bartizan, over which there rose a sharp +serrated gable, to the height of about two stories more. A row of +circular shot-holes, and a low, narrow door-way, were the only openings +in the lower storey--the few windows in the upper, long and narrow, and +scarce equal in size to a Norman shield, were thickly barred with iron. +The building had altogether a dilapidated and deserted appearance; for +the turrets were broken-edged and mouldering, and some of the large +square flags had slidden from off the stone roof, and lay in the moat, +which, from a reservoir, had degenerated into a quagmire, mantled over +with aquatic plants, and with, here and there, a bush of willow +springing out from the sides. A single plank afforded a rather doubtful +passage across; and the iron-studded door of the fortalice lay wide +open. Clelland hung back as the maiden entered. + +"My daughter! my Bertha!" exclaimed a female voice from within; "and do +you yet live! and are you again restored to me!" + +The Knight entered, and found the maiden in the embrace of her mother. + +"That I still live," said Bertha, "I owe it to this brave and courtly +knight. But for his generous daring, your daughter would have found +strange burial in the ravenous maw of a wolf." + +The mother turned round to Clelland, and grasped his mailed hand in both +hers. + +"The saints be your blessing and reward!" she exclaimed; "for I cannot +repay you. God himself be your reward!--for earth bears no price +adequate to the benefit. You have restored to the lonely and the broken +in spirit her only stay and comfort." + +"Nay, madam," said Clelland, "I would have done as much for the meanest +serf; for Bertha de Longoville I could have laid down my life." + +The mother again grasped his hand. She was a tall and a still beautiful +woman, though considerably turned of forty, and though she yet bore +impressed on her countenance no unequivocal traces of the distress of +the night. She told them of her sufferings; and was made acquainted in +turn with the frightful adventure in the hermitage, and, more startling +still, with the resolution of her husband to confront his calumniators +at the court of France. + +"We must set out instantly on our journey to Paris, Bertha," said the +matron; "your father, in his imminent peril, must not lack some one, at +least to comfort, if not to assist him." + +"Nay," said Clelland, "ere your setting out, you must first take rest +enough, to recover the fatigues and watching of the night. And, besides, +how could two unprotected females travel through such a country as this? +Hear me, lady: I was hastening to Paris in advance of my party; but now +that I have missed my way and lost my good steed, they will be all there +before me. It matters but little. My kinsman can well afford wanting a +herald. I shall cast myself on your hospitality for the day; and, +to-morrow, should you feel yourself fully recovered, you shall set out +for Paris, under such convoy as I can afford you." + +Both ladies expressed their warmest gratitude for the kind and generous +offer; and there was that in the thanks of the younger which Clelland +would have deemed price sufficient for a service much less redolent of +pleasure than that he had just tendered. She was in truth one of the +loveliest women he had ever seen; tall and graceful, and with a +countenance exquisite in form and colour. But, with all of the bodily +and the material that constitutes beauty, it was mainly to expression, +that index of the soul, that she owed her power. There was a steady +light in the dark hazel eye, joined to an air of quiet, unobtrusive +self-possession, which seemed to sit on the polished and finely formed +forehead, that gave evidence of a strong and equable mind; while the +sweet smile that seemed to lurk about the mouth, and the air of softness +spread over the lower part of the face, shewed that there mingled with +the stronger traits of her character the feminine gentleness and +sweetness of disposition, so fascinating in the sex. A little girl from +one of the distant cottages entered the building with a milking pail in +her hands. + +"Ah, my good Annette," said the matron, "you left me by much too soon +yester-evening; but it matters not now. You must busy yourself in +getting breakfast for us--meanwhile, good Sir Knight, this way. The +tower is a wild ruin, but all its apartments are not equally ruinous." + +They ascended, by a stair hollowed in the thickness of the wall, to an +upper story. There was but one apartment on each floor; so that the +entire building consisted but of four, and the two closet-like recesses +in the turrets. The apartment they now entered was lined with dark oak; +a massy table of the same material occupied the centre; and a row of +ponderous stools, like those which Cowper describes in his "Task," ran +along the wall. An immense chimney, supported by two rude pillars of +stone, and piled with half-charred billets of wood, projected over the +floor; the lintel, an oblong tablet about three feet in height, was +roughened by uncouth heraldic sculptures of merwomen playing on harps, +and two knights in complete armour fronting each other as in the +tilt-yard. The windows were small and dark, and barred with iron; and +through one of these that opened to the east, the morning sun, now risen +half a spear's length over the forest, found entrance, in a square +slanting rule of yellow light, which fell on the floor under a square +recess in the opposite wall. The little girl entered immediately after +the ladies and Clelland, bearing fire and fuel; a cheerful blaze soon +roared in the chimney; and, as the morning felt keen and chill after the +recent storm, they seated themselves before it. An hour passed in +courtly and animated dialogue, and then breakfast was served up. + +The younger lady would fain have prolonged the conversation--for it had +turned on the struggles of the Scots, and the wonderful exploits of +Wallace--had not her mother reminded her that they stood much in need of +rest to strengthen them for their approaching journey. They both, +therefore, retired to their sleeping apartments in the turrets; while +the knight, providing himself with a bow and a few arrows, sallied out +into the forest. The practice in woodcraft, which he had acquired under +his kinsman, who, in his reverses, could levy on only the woods and +moors, stood him in so good stead, that, when dinner-time came round, a +noble haunch of venison and two plump pheasants smoked on the board. But +Bertha alone made her appearance. Her mother, she said, still felt +fatigued, and slightly indisposed; but she trusted to be able to join +them in the course of the evening. + +There was nothing Clelland had so anxiously wished for, when spending +the earlier part of the day in the wood, as some such opportunity of +passing a few hours with Bertha. And yet, now that the opportunity had +occurred, he scarce knew how to employ it. The radiant smile of the +maiden--her light, elegant form, and lovely features--had haunted him +all the morning; and he wisely enough thought there could be but little +harm in frankly telling her so. But, now that the fair occasion had +offered, he found that all his usual frankness had left him, and that he +could scarce say anything, even on matters more indifferent. And, what +seemed not a little strange, too, the maiden was scarcely more at her +ease than himself, and could find not a great deal more to say. Dinner +passed almost in silence; and Bertha, rising to the square recess in the +wall, drew from it a flagon filled with wine, which she placed before +her guest and a vellum volume, bound in velvet and gold. + +"This," she said, "is a wonderful romaunt, written by a countryman of +yours, of whom I have heard the strangest stories. Can you tell me aught +regarding him?" + +"Ah!" said the knight, taking up the volume, "the book of Tristram. I am +not too young, lady, to have seen the writer--the good Thomas of +Erceldoune." + +"Seen Thomas of Erceldoune! Thomas the Rhymer!" exclaimed the lady. "And +is it sooth that his prophecies never fail, and that he now lives in +Elf-land?" + +"Nay, lady, the good Thomas sleeps in Lauderdale, with his fathers. But +we trust much to his prophecies. They have given us heart and hope amid +our darkest reverses. He predicted the years of oppression and suffering +which, through the death of our good Alexander, have wasted our country; +but he prophesied, also, our deliverance through my kinsman, Sir William +of Elderslie. We have already seen much of the evil he foresaw, and +much, also, of the good. Scotland, though still threatened by the power +of Edward, is at this moment free." + +"I have long wished," said Bertha, "to see those warriors of Scotland +whose fame is filling all Europe. And now that wish is gratified--nay, +more than gratified." + +"You see but one of her minor warriors," said Clelland; "but at Paris +you shall meet with the Governor himself. Your father, Bertha, should he +succeed in clearing his fair fame--and I know he will--sets out with us +for Scotland. Will not you and the lady your mother also accompany us?" + +"I had deemed my father bound on a pilgrimage to the holy sepulchre," +said Bertha. + +"But he has since thought," said Clelland, "how much better it were to +live gloriously fighting in a just quarrel beside the first warrior of +the world, than to perish obscurely in some loathsome pesthouse of the +Far East. I myself heard him tender his services to my kinsman." + +"Then be sure," said Bertha, "my mother and I will not be separated from +him. Might one find in Scotland, Sir Knight, some such quiet tower as +this, where two defenceless women may bide the issue of the contest?" + +"Why defenceless, lady? There are many gallant swords in Scotland that +would needs be beaten down ere you could come to harm. And why not now +accept of Clelland's? Scotland has greater warriors and better swords; +but, trust me, lady, she cannot boast of a truer heart. Accept of me, +lady, as your bounden knight." + +A rich flush of crimson suffused the face and neck of the maiden, as she +held out her hand to Clelland, who raised it respectfully to his lips. + +"I accept of thee, noble warrior," she said, "as true and faithful +knight, seeing that thy own generous tender of service doth but second +what Heaven had purposed, when, in my imminent peril in the wood, it +sent thee to my rescue. Trust me, warrior, never yet had lady knight +whom she respected more." + +Clelland again raised her hand to his lips. + +"I have a sister, lady," he said, "whose years do not outnumber your +own. She lives lonely, since the death of my mother, in the home of my +fathers--a tower roomier and stronger than this, and on the edge of a +forest nearly as widely spread. You will be her companion, lady, and her +friend; and your mother will be mistress of the mansion. On the morrow, +we set out for Paris." + +The style in which the party travelled was sufficiently humble. Four +small and very shaggy palfreys were provided from the neighbouring +cottages: the ladies and Clelland were mounted on three of these; and +the fourth, led by a hind, carried the luggage of the party. Before +setting out, the lady had entrusted to the charge of the knight, a +small, but very ponderous casket of ebony. + +"It needs, in these unsettled times," she said, "some such person to +care for it; and Bertha and I would fare all the worse for wanting it." + +The journey was long and tedious, and the daily stages of the party +necessarily short. Their route lay through a wild, half-cultivated +country, which seemed to owe much to the hand of nature, but little to +that of man. There was an ever-recurring succession, day after day, of +dreary, wide-spreading forests, with comparatively narrow spaces +between, which, from the imperfect and doubtful traces of industry which +they exhibited, seemed as if but lately reclaimed from a state of +nature. Groups of miserable serfs, bound to the soil even more rigidly +than their fellow-slaves the cattle, were plying their unskilful and +unproductive labours in the fields. They passed scattered assemblages of +dingy hovels, with here and there a grim feudal tower rising in the +midst--giving evidence, by the strength of its defences, of the +insecurity and turbulence of the time. The travellers they met with were +but few. Occasionally a strolling troubadour or harper accompanied them +part of the way, on his journey from one baronial castle to another. At +times, they met with armed parties of travelling merchants, bound for +some distant fair; at times with disbanded artisans, wandering about in +quest of employment; soldiers in search of a master; or pilgrims newly +returned from Palestine, attired in cloaks of grey, and bearing the +scallop in their caps. The hind, their attendant, bore in his scrip, +from stage to stage, their provisions for the day; and their evenings +were passed in some rude hostelry by the way-side. The third week had +passed, ere, one evening on the edge of twilight, they alighted at the +hostel of St Denis, and ascertained, from mine host, that they were now +within half a stage of Paris. + +The hostel was crowded with travellers; and the ladies and Clelland, for +the early part of the evening, were fain to take their places in the +common room beside the fire. A young and handsome troubadour, whose +jemmy jerkin, and cap of green, edged with silver, shewed that he was +either one of the more wealthy of his class, or under the patronage of +some rich nobleman, and who had courteously risen to yield place to +Bertha, had succeeded in reseating himself beside the knight. + +"The hostel swarms with company," said Clelland, addressing him--"pray, +good minstrel, canst tell me the occasion? Is there a fair holds +to-morrow?" + +"Ah, Sir Knight," said the minstrel, "I should rather ask of thee, +seeing thy tongue shews thee to be a Scot. Dost not know that thy +countryman, the brave Wallace of Elderslie, is at court, and that all +who can, in any wise, leave their homes for a season, are leaving them, +to see him? It is not once in a lifetime that such a knight may be +looked at. And, besides, have you not heard that the combat comes on +to-morrow?" + +"I have heard of nothing," said Clelland; "my route has lain, of late, +through the remoter parts of the country. What combat?" + +"Sir Thomas de Longoville, so long a true soldier of the cross--so long, +too, a wandering pirate--has defied to mortal combat, Loithaire of +Languedoc; and our fair Philip, through the intercession of Wallace, has +granted him the lists." + +Both the ladies started at the intelligence; and the elder, wrapping up +her face in her mantle, bent her head well nigh to her knee. + +"And how, good minstrel," said Bertha, in a voice tremulous from +anxiety, "how is it thought the combat will go?" + +"That rests with Heaven, fair lady," said the minstrel. "Loithaire is +known far and wide, as a striker in the lists; but who has not also +heard of De Longoville, and his wars with the fierce Saracen? Many seem +to think, too, that he has been foully injured by Loithaire. That soul +of knightly honour, the good Lord Jonville, has already renewed his +friendship with him, as his friend and comrade in the battles of +Palestine, and will attend him to-morrow in the lists." + +"May all the saints reward him!" ejaculated the elder lady. + +"And at what hour, Sir Minstrel," asked the knight, "does the combat +come on?" + +"At the turn of noon," replied the minstrel, "when the shadow first +veers to the east. I go to Paris, to find new theme for a ballad, and to +see the good Wallace, who is himself the theme of so many." + +The travellers were early on the road. With all their haste and anxiety, +however, they saw the sun climbing towards the middle heavens, while the +city was yet several miles distant. They spurred on their jaded +palfreys, and entered the suburbs about noon. What was properly the city +of Paris in this age, occupied one of the larger islands of the Seine, +and was surrounded by a high wall, flanked at the angles by massy +towers, and strengthened by rows of thickly-set buttresses; but, on +either side the river, there were immense assemblages of the dirtiest +and meanest hovels that the necessities of man had ever huddled +together. The travellers, however, found but little time for remark in +passing through. All Paris had poured out her inhabitants, to witness +the combat, and they now crowded an upper island of the Seine, which the +chivalry of the age had appropriated as a scene of games, tournaments, +and duels. Clelland and the ladies had but reached the opposite bank, +when a flourish of trumpets told them that the combatants had taken +their places in the lists, and were waiting the signal to engage. + +"No further, ladies, no further," said the knight, "or we shall entangle +ourselves in the outer skirts of the crowd, and see nothing. This way; +let us ascend this eminence, and the scene, though somewhat distant, +will be all before us." + +They ascended a smooth green knoll, the burial mound of some chieftain +of the olden time, that overlooked the river. The island lay but a short +furlong away. They could look over the heads of the congregated +thousands into the open lists, and see the brilliant assemblage of the +beauty and gallantry of France, which the fame of De Longoville and his +opponent, and the singular nature of their quarrel, had drawn together. +The sun glanced gaily on arms and armour, on many a robe of rich +embroidery and many a costly jewel, and high over the whole, the +oriflame of France, so famous in story, waved its flames of crimson and +gold to the breeze. Knights and squires traversed the area, in gay and +glittering confusion; and at either end there sat a warrior on +horseback, as still and motionless as if sculptured in bronze. The +champion at the northern end was cased from head to foot in sable +armour, and beside him, under the blue pennon of Scotland, there stood a +group of knights, who, though tall and stately as any in the lists, +seemed lessened almost to boys in the presence of a gigantic warrior in +bright mail, who, like Saul among the people, raised his head and +shoulders over the proud crests of the assembled chivalry of France. + +"Yonder, ladies--yonder is my kinsman," exclaimed Clelland; "yonder is +Wallace of Elderslie; and the champion beside him is Sir Thomas de +Longoville." + +There was a second flourish of trumpets. Bertha flung herself on her +knees on the sward, and raised her hands to her eyes. Her mother almost +fainted outright. + +"Nay," said Clelland, "that is but the signal to clear the lists; the +knights hurry behind the palisades, and the champions are left alone. +Fear not, dearest Bertha!--there is a God in heaven, and----Ah, there is +the third flourish! The champions strike their spurs deep into their +chargers; and see how they rush forward, like thunder clouds before a +hurricane! They close!--they close!--hark to the crash!--their steeds +are thrown back on their haunches! Look up, Bertha! look up!--your +father has won--he has won! Loithaire is flung from his saddle, the +spear of De Longoville has passed through hauberk and corslet; I saw the +steel head glitter red at the felon's back. Look up, ladies! look +up!--De Longoville is safe; nay, more--restored to the honour and fair +fame of his early manhood. Let us hasten and join him, that we may add +our congratulations to those of his friends." + +Why dwell longer on the story of Thomas de Longoville? No Scotsman +acquainted with Blind Harry need be told how frequent and honourable the +mention of his name occurs in the latter pages of that historian. +Scotland became his adopted country, and well and chivalrously did he +fight in her battles; till, at length, when well nigh worn out by the +fatigues and hardships of a long and active life, the decisive victory +at Bannockburn gave him to enjoy an old age of peace and leisure, in the +society of his lady, on the lands of his son-in-law. Need we add it was +the gallant Clelland who stood in this relation to him? The chosen +knight of Bertha had become her favoured lover, and the favoured lover a +fond and devoted husband. Of the Governor more anon. There was a time, +at least, when Scotsmen did not soon weary of stories of the Wight +Wallace. + + + + +THE FUGITIVE. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + +When Prince Charles Edward, at the head of his hardy Highlanders, took +up his head-quarters in Edinburgh, issuing proclamations and holding +levees, amongst those who attended the latter was a young Englishman, +named Henry Blackett, then a student at the university, and the son of a +Sir John Blackett of Winburn Priory, in Cheshire. His mother had been a +Miss Cameron, a native of Inverness-shire, and the daughter of a poor +but proud military officer. From her he had imbibed principles or +prejudices in favour of the house of Stuart; and when he had been +introduced to the young adventurer at Holyrood, and witnessed the zeal +of his army, his enthusiasm was kindled--there was a romance in the +undertaking which pleased his love of enterprise, and he resolved to +offer his sword to the Prince, and hazard his fortunes with him. The +offer was at once graciously and gratefully accepted, and Henry Blackett +was enrolled as an officer in the rebel army. + +He followed the Prince through prosperity and adversity, and when +Charles became a fugitive in the land of his fathers, Henry Blackett was +one of the last to forsake him. He, too, was hunted from one +hiding-place to another; like him whom he had served, he was a fugitive, +and a price was set upon his head. + +As has been stated, he imbibed his principles in favour of the house of +Stuart from his mother; but she had been dead for several years. His +father was a weak man--one of whom it may be said that he had no +principles at all; but being knighted by King George, on the occasion +of his performing some civic duty, he became a violent defender of the +house of Brunswick, and he vowed that, if the law did not, he would +disinherit his son for having taken up arras in defence of Charles. But +what chiefly strengthened him in this resolution, was not so much his +devotion for the reigning family, as his attachment to one Miss Norton, +the daughter of a Squire Norton of Norton Hall. She was a young lady of +much beauty, and mistress of what are called accomplishments; but, in +saying this much, I have recorded all her virtues. Her father's +character might be summed up in one brief sentence--he was a deep, +designing, needy villain. He was a gambler--a gentleman by birth--a +knave in practice. He had long been on terms of familiarity with Sir +John Blackett--he knew his weakness, and he knew his wealth, and he +rejoiced in the attachment which he saw him manifesting for his +daughter, in the hope that it would be the means of bringing his estates +within his control. But the property of Sir John being entailed, it +consequently would devolve on Henry as his only surviving son. He, +therefore, was an obstacle to the accomplishment of the schemes on which +Norton brooded; and when the latter found that he had joined the army of +the young Chevalier, he was chiefly instrumental in having his name +included in the list of those for whose apprehension rewards were +offered; and he privately, and at his own expense, employed spies to go +in quest of him. He also endeavoured to excite his father more bitterly +against him. Nor did his designs rest here--but, as he beheld the +fondness of the knight for his daughter increase, he, with the cunning +of a demon, proposed to him to break the entail; and when the other +inquired how it could be done, he replied--"Nothing is more simple; deny +him to be your heir--pronounce him illegitimate. There is no living +witness of your marriage with his mother. The only document to prove it +is some thumbed leaf in the register of an obscure parish church in the +Highlands of Scotland; and we can secure it." + +To this most unnatural proposal the weak and wicked old man consented; +and I shall now describe the means employed by Norton to become +possessed of the parish register referred to. + +Squire Norton had a son who was in all respects worthy of such a +father--he was the image of his mind and person. In short, he was one of +the _things_ who, in those days, resembled those who in our own call +themselves _men of the world_, forsooth! and who, under that +name, infest and corrupt society--making a boast of their +worthlessness--poisoning innocence--triumphing in their work of +ruin--and laughing, like spirits of desolation, over the daughter's +misery and disgrace, the father's anguish, the wretched mother's tears, +and the shame of a family, which they have accomplished. There are such +creatures, who disgrace both the soul and the shape of man, who are mere +shreds and patches of debauchery--sweepings from the shops of the +tailor, the milliner, and the hair-dresser--who live upon the plunder +obtained under false pretences from the industrious--who giggle, ogle, +pat a snuff-box, or affect to nod in a church, to be thought sceptics or +fine gentlemen. One of such was young Norton; and he was sent down to +Scotland to destroy the only proof which Henry Blackett, in the event of +his being pardoned, could bring forward in support of his legitimacy. + +He arrived at a lonely village in Inverness-shire, near which the +cottage formerly occupied by Major Cameron, the grandfather of Henry, +was situated; and of whom he found that few of the inhabitants +remembered more than that "there lived a man." Finding the only inn that +was in the village much more cleanly and comfortable than he had +anticipated, he resolved to make it his hotel during his residence, and +inquired of the landlady if there were any one in the village with whom +a gentleman could spend an evening, and obtain information respecting +the neighbourhood. + +"Fu' shurely! fu' shurely, sir!" replied his Highland hostess--"there pe +te auld tominie." + +"Who?" inquired he, not exactly comprehending her Celtic accent. + +"Wha put te auld tominie?" returned she; "an' a tiscreet, goot +shentleman he pe as in a' te toun." + +"The dominie?--the dominie?" he repeated, in a tone of perplexity. + +"Oigh! oigh! te tominie," added she, "tat teaches te pits o' pairns, an' +raises te psalm in te kirk." + +He now comprehended her meaning; and from her coupling the dominie's +name with the kirk, believed that he might be of use to him in the +accomplishment of his object, and desired that he might be sent for. + +"Oigh!" returned she, smiling, "an' he no pe lang, for he like te +trappie unco weel." + +Within five minutes, Dugald Mackay, precentor, teacher, and parish-clerk +of Glencleugh, entered the parlour of Mrs Macnab. Never was a more +striking contrast exhibited in castle or in cottage. Here stood young +Norton, bedecked with all the foppery of an exquisite of his day; and +there stood Dugald Mackay, his thick bushy grey hair falling on his +shoulders, holding in his hand a hat not half the size of his head, +which had neither been made nor bought for him, and which had become +brown with service, and was now stitched in many places, to keep it +together. Round it was wrapped a narrow stripe of crape browner than +itself, and over all winded several yards of gut and hair-line, with +hooks attached, betokening his angling propensities. Dugald was a +thickset old man, with a face blooming like his native heather. His feet +were thrust into immense brogues, as brown as his hat, and their +formidable patches shewed that their wearer could use the _lingle_ and +_elshun_, although his profession was to "teach the young idea how to +shoot." He wore tartan hose--black breeches, fastened at the knees by +silver gilt buckles, and much the worse for the wear, while, from the +accumulation of ink and dust, they might have stood upright. His vest +was huge and double-breasted, its colour not recognised by painters; and +his shoulders were covered by a very small tartan coat, the tails of +which hardly reached his waist. Such was Dugald Mackay; and the youth, +plying him with the bottle, endeavoured to ascertain how far he could +render him subservient to his purpose. + +"You appear fond of angling," said Norton. + +"Fond o' fishing?" returned the man of letters; "ou ay; ou ay!--hur hae +mony time filt te creel o' te shentlemen frae Inverness, for te +sixpence, and te shilling, and te pig crown, not to let tem gaun pack +wi' te empty pasket. And hur will teach your honour, or tress your +honour's hooks, should you be stopping to fish. Here pe goot sport to +your honour," continued he, raising a bumper to his lips. + +The other, glad to assign a plausible pretext for his visit, said that +he had come a few days for the sake of fishing, and inquired how long +his guest had been in the neighbourhood. + +"Hur peen schulemaister and parish-clerk in Glencleugh for forty year," +replied Dugald. + +"Parish-clerk!" said Norton, eagerly, and checking himself, +continued--"that is--in the church you mean, you raise the tunes?" + +"Ou ay, hur nainsel' pe precenter too," answered Dugald; "put hur be +schulemaister and parish-clerk into te pargain." + +"And what are your duties as parish-clerk?" inquired the other, in a +tone of indifference. + +"Ou, it pe to keep te pooks wi' te marriages, te christenings, and te +deaths. Here pe to your honour's very goot luck again," said he, +swallowing another bumper. + +Thus the holder of the birch and parish chronicler began to help himself +to one glass after another, until the candles began to dance reels and +strathspeys before him. At length the angler, expressing a wish to see +such a curiosity as the matrimonial and baptismal register of a hamlet +so remote, out sallied Dugald, describing curved lines as he went, and +shortly returned, bearing the eventful quartos under his arm. Norton +looked through them, laughing, jesting, and professing to be amused, and +his eye quickly fell upon the page which he sought. Dugald laughed, +drank, and talked, until his rough head sank upon his breast, and +certain nasal sounds gave notice that the schoolmaster was abroad. In a +moment, Norton transferred the leaf which contained the certificate of +Lady Blackett's marriage, from the volume to his pocket. His father had +ordered him to destroy it; but the son, vicious as the father, +determined to keep it, and to hold it over him as an instrument of +terror to extort money. The dominie being roused to take one glass more +by way of a night-cap, was led home, as usual, by Mrs Macnab's +servant-of-all-work, who carried the volumes. + +Shortly after this, the marriage between Sir John Blackett and Miss +Norton took place; her father rejoiced in the success of his schemes, +and Henry was disinherited and disowned. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + +While the latter events which we have recorded in the last chapter were +taking place, Henry Blackett, the rebel soldier, was a fugitive, flying +from hiding-place to hiding-place, seeking concealment in the mountains +and in the glens, in the forest and crowded city, assuming every +disguise, and hunted from covert to covert. A reward was not offered for +his apprehension, in particular by government, but he was included +amongst those whom loyal subjects were forbidden to conceal; and two +emissaries, sent out by Norton, sought him continually, to deliver him +up. Ignorant of his father's marriage, or of the villain's part he had +acted towards him, though conscious of his anger at his having joined +Prince Charles, he was wandering in Dumfries-shire, by the shores of the +Solway, disguised as a sailor, and watching an opportunity to return +home, when the hunters after his life suddenly sprang upon him, +exclaiming--"Ha! Blackett, the traitor!--the five hundred pounds are +ours!" + +Armed only with the branch of a tree, which he carried partly for +defence, and as a walking-stick, he repelled them with the desperate +fierceness of a man whose life is at stake. One he disabled, and the +other being unable to contend against him singly, permitted him to +escape. He rushed at his utmost speed across the fields for many miles, +avoiding the highways and public paths, until he sank panting and +exhausted on the ground. He had not lain long in this situation when he +was discovered by a wealthy farmer, who was known in the neighbourhood +by the appellation of "canny Willie Galloway." + +"Puir young chield," said Willie, casting on him a look of compassion, +"ye seem sadly distressed. Do ye think I could be o' ony service to ye? +From yer appearance, ye wadna be the waur o' a nicht's lodging, and I +can only say that ye are heartily welcome to't." + +Henry had been so long the object of pursuit and persecution, that he +regarded every one with suspicion; and starting to his feet and grasping +the branch firmer in his hand, he said--"Know you what you say?--or +would you betray the wretched?" + +"It is o' nae manner o' use gripping your stick," said Willie, calmly, +"for I'm allooed to be a first-rate cudgel-player--the best atween +Stranraer and Dumfries. But, as to kennin' what I said, I was offerin' +ye a nicht's lodgings; and as to betrayin' the wretched, I wadna see a +hawk strike doon a sparrow, not a spider a midge, if I could prevent +it." + +"You seem honest," said Henry; "I am miserable, and will trust you." + +"Be thankit," answered the other; "I dare to say I'm as honest as my +neebors; and, as ye seem in distress, I will be very happy to serve ye, +if I can do't in a creditable way." + +Willie Galloway was a bachelor of five and forty, and his house was kept +by an old woman, a distant relative, called Janet White. Henry +accompanied him home, and communicated to him his story. Willie took a +liking for him, and vowed that he would not only shelter him, while he +had a roof over his head, but that he would defend him against every +enemy, while he had a hand that he could lift; and, the better to ensure +his concealment, he proposed that he should pass as his sister's son, +and not even write to his father to intimate where he was, until the +persecution against those who had "been _out_ with poor Charlie," was +past. + +In the neighbourhood of Willie's farm, there resided an elderly +gentleman, named Laird Howison. He was an eccentric but most +kind-hearted man, of whom many believed and said that his imagination +was stronger then his reason; and in so saying, it was probable that +they were not far from the truth. But of that the reader will determine +as he sees more of the laird. There resided with him a beautiful orphan +girl, named Helen Marshall, the daughter of the late parish clergyman, +and to whom he had been left guardian from her childhood. But, as she +grew up in loveliness before him, she became as a dream of futurity that +soothed and cheered his existence; and, although he was already on the +wrong side of fifty, he resolved that, as soon as she was twenty-one, +he would offer her his hand and fortune. Janet White, the housekeeper +and relative of Willie Galloway, had nursed Helen in infancy; and the +lovely maiden was, therefore, a frequent visitor at his house. She there +met Henry, and neither saw nor listened to him with indifference; and +her beauty, sense, and gentleness, made a like impression upon him. +Willie, though a bachelor, had penetration enough to perceive that when +they met there was meaning in their eyes; and he began to rally +Henry--saying, "Now, there would be a match for ye!--when the storm has +blawn owre your head, just tak ye that bonny Scotch lassie hame to +England wi' ye as yer wife, and ye will find her a treasure, such as ye +may wander the world round and no find her marrow." + +As their intimacy and affection increased, Henry communicated to Helen +the secret of his birth and situation; and, like a true woman, she loved +him the more for the dangers to which he was exposed. He had remained +more than eight months with his friend and protector; and, imagining +that the persecution against himself, and others who had acted in the +same cause, was now abated in its fury, he forwarded a letter to his +father, at Winburn Priory, announcing his intention of venturing home in +a few days, and begging his forgiveness and protection, until his pardon +could be procured. He, however, intimated to Willie Galloway, his desire +to secure the hand of Helen before he left. + +"Weel, if she be agreeable," said Willie "--and I hae every reason to +believe she is--I wadna blame ye for taking that step ava; for her auld +gowk o' a guardian, Laird Howison, (though a very worthy man in some +respecks), vows that he is determined to marry her himsel, as soon as +she is ane and twenty; and, as he is up aboot London at present, ye +couldna hae a better opportunity. Therefore, only ye and Helen say the +word, and I'll arrange the business for ye in less than nae time." + +The fair maiden consented; a clergyman had joined their hands, and +pronounced the benediction over them--the ceremony was concluded, but it +was only concluded, when the two ruffians, who have been already +mentioned as hired by Norton to search for him and secure his +apprehension, and who before had met him by the side of the Solway, +followed by two soldiers, burst into the apartment, crying--"Secure the +traitor! It is he!--Harry Blackett!" + +Helen screamed aloud and clasped her hands. + +"Ye lie! ye lie!" cried Willie--"it is my sister's son--meddle wi' him +wha daur, and us twa will fecht you four, even in the presence o' the +minister." + +So saying, he seized hold of a chair, and raised it to repel them. Henry +followed his example. The soldiers threateningly raised their fire-arms. +Willie suddenly swang round the chair with his utmost strength, and +dashed down their arms. Henry hastily kissed the brow of his fair bride, +and, rushing through the midst of them, darted from the house, while +Willie, as rapidly following him, closed the door behind him, and +holding it fast, cried--"Run, Harry, my lad!--run for bare life, and +I'll keep them fast here!" + +For several days, the soldiers searched the neighbourhood for the +fugitive; but they found him not, and no one knew where he had fled. +Within a week, Helen disappeared from Primrose Hall, the seat of her +guardian, Laird Howison; and the general belief was, that she had set +out for Cheshire, to the father of her bridegroom, to intercede with him +to use his influence in his son's behalf. "And," said Willie, "if she +doesna move him to forgie his son, and do his duty towards him, then I +say that he has a heart harder than a whin-rock." + +But no one knew the object of her departure, nor whither she had gone. +Laird Howison had not returned; and, after several weeks had passed, and +Willie Galloway was unable to hear ought of either Helen or Henry, he +resolved to proceed to Cheshire, to make inquiries after them; and for +this purpose purchased an entire suit of new and fashionable raiment. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + +On a beautiful summer morning, an old man, slightly stooping in his +gait, was slowly walking down a green lane which led in the direction +from Warrington to Winburn Priory. Behind him, at a rapid pace, followed +a younger man, of a muscular frame, exceedingly well-dressed, and +carrying over his arm a thick chequered plaid, like those worn in the +pastoral districts of Scotland. He overtook the elder pedestrian, and +accosted him, saying-- + +"Here's a bonny morning, freend." + +"Sir?" said the old man inquiringly, slightly lifting his hat, and not +exactly comprehending his companion. + +"Losh, but he's a mannerly auld body that," thought the other; "I see +the siller upon this suit o' claes has been weel-wared;" and added +aloud, "I was observing it's a delightful morning, sir, and as +delightful a country-side; it wad be a paradise, were it no sae flat." + +"Ah, sir!" replied the old man; "but I fear as how the country looks +like a paradise without its innocence." + +"Ye talk very rationally, honest man," said the other, whom the reader +will have recognised to be Willie Galloway; "and, if I am no mistaen, ye +maun hae some cause to mak the remark. But, dear me, sir, only look +round ye, and see the trees in a' their glory, the flowers in a' their +innocence; or just look at the rowing burn there, wimplin alang by oor +side, like refined silver, beneath a sun only less glorious than the +Hand that made it; and see hoo the bits o' fish are whittering round, +wagging their tails, and whisking back and forrit, as happy as kings! +Look at the lovely and the cheerfu' face o' a' Nature--or just listen +to the music o' thae sinless creatures in the hedges, and in the blue +lift--and ye will say that, but for the inventions and deceitfulness o' +man's heart, this earth wad be a paradise still. But I tell ye what, +freend--I believe that were an irreligious man just to get up before +sunrise at a season like this, and gang into the fields and listen to +the laverock, and look around on the earth, and on the majesty o' the +heavens rising, he wadna stand for half-an-hoor until, if naebody were +seeing him, he would drap doun on his knees and pray." + +Much of Willie's sermon was lost on the old man; he, however, +comprehended a part, and said, "Why, sir, I know as how I always find my +mind more in tune for the service of the church, by a walk in the +fields, and the singing of the birds, than by all the instruments of the +orchestra." + +"Orchestra!" said Willie, "what do ye mean?--that's a strange place to +gather devotion frae!" + +"The orchestra of the church," returned the other. + +"The orchestra o' the church!" said Willie, in surprise--"what's that? I +never heard o't before. There's the poopit, and the precentor's desk, +the pews and the square seats, and doun stairs and the gallery--but ye +nonplus me about the orchestra." + +"Why, our lord of the manor," continued the old man, "is one who cares +for nothing that's good, and he will give nothing; and as we are not +rich enough to buy an organ, we have only a bass viol, two tenors, and a +flute." + +"Fiddles and a flute in a place o' worship!" exclaimed Willie. + +"Yes, sir," replied the other, marvelling at his manner. + +"Weel," returned Willie, standing suddenly still, and striking his staff +upon the ground, "that beats a'! And will ye tell me, sir, hoo it is +possible to worship yer Creator by scraping catgut, or blawing wind +through a hollow stick?" + +"Why, master," said the old man, "the use of instruments in worship is +as old as the times of the prophets, and I can't see why it should be +given up. But dost thou think, now, that thou couldst go into Chester +cathedral at twilight, while the organ filled all round about thee with +its deep music, without feeling in thy heart that thou wast in a house +of praise. Why, sir, at such a time thou couldst not commit a wicked +action. The very sound, while it lifted up thy soul with delight, would +awe thee." + +When their controversy had ended, Willie inquired--"Do ye ken a family +o' the name o' Blackett, that lives aboot this neeborhood?" + +"I should," answered the old man; "forty years did I eat of their +bread." + +"Then, after sic lang service, ye'll just be like ane o' the family?" +replied Willie. + +"Alas!" said the other, shaking his head. + +"Ye dinna mean to say," resumed Willie, in a tone of surprise, "that +they hae turned ye aff, in your auld age, as some heartless wretch wad +sell the noble animal that had carried him when a callant, to a cadger, +because it had grown howe-backet, and lost its speed o' foot. But I hope +that young Mr Henry had nae hand in it?" + +"Henry!--no! no!" cried the old man eagerly--"bless him! Did you know Mr +Henry, your honour?" + +"I did," said Willie; "and I hae come from Scotland ance errand to see +him." + +"But, sir," inquired the old man, tremulously, "do you know where to +find him?" + +"I expect to find him, by this time, at his father's house." + +"Alas!" answered the old domestic, "there has been no one at the priory +for more than twelve months. I don't know where the old knight is. Henry +has not been here since he went to Edinburgh, and that is nigh to five +years gone now." + +"Ye dumfounder me, auld man," exclaimed Willie; "but where, in the name +o' guidness, where's the wife?--where's Mrs Blackett?" + +"You will mean your countrywoman, I suppose," said the other. + +"To be sure I mean her," said Willie--"wha else could I mean?" + +"Ah! wo is me!" sighed his companion, and he burst into tears as he +spoke, "dost see the churchyard, just before us?--and they have raised +no stone to mark the spot." + +"Dead!" ejaculated Willie, becoming pale with horror, and fixing upon +his fellow-pedestrian a look of agony--"Ye dinna say--dead!" + +"Even so!--even so!" said the old domestic, sobbing aloud. + +"And hoo was it?" cried Willie; "was it a fair strae death--or just +grief, puir thing--just grief?" + +"Why, I can't say how it was," answered his informant; "but I wish I +durst tell all I think." + +"Say it!--say it!" exclaimed Willie, vehemently, "what do you mean by, +if you durst say all you think? If there be the shadow o' foul play, I +will sift it to the bottom, though it cost me a thousand pounds; and +there is anither that will gie mair." + +"Ah, sir, I am but a friendless old man," replied the other, "that could +not stand the weight of a stronger arm." + +"Plague take their arms!" cried Willie, handling his cudgel, as if to +shew the strength of his own--"tell what ye think, and they'll have +strong arms that dare touch a hair o' yer head." + +"Well, master," was the reply, "I don't like to say too much to +strangers, but if thou makest any stay in these parts, I may tell thee +something; and I fear that wherever poor Henry is, he is in need of +friends. But perhaps your honour would wish to see her grave?" + +"Her grave!" ejaculated Willie--"yes! yes! yes!--her grave!--O misery! +have I come frae Dumfries-shire to see a sicht like this?" + +The old man led the way over the stile, hanging his head and sighing as +he went. Willie followed him, drawing his sleeve across his eyes, as was +his custom when his heart was touched, and forgetting the dress of the +gentleman which he wore, in the feelings of the man. + +"The family vault is in yonder corner," said his conductor, as they +turned across the churchyard. + +"Save us, friend!" exclaimed Willie, looking towards the spot, "saw ye +ever the like o' yon?--a poor miserable dementit creature, wringing his +hands as though his heart would break!" + +"Tis he! 'tis he!" shouted the old man, springing forward with the +alacrity of youth, "my child!--my dear young master!" + +"Oh! conscience o' man!" exclaimed Willie, "what sort o' a dream is +this? It canna be possible! _Her_ dead, and _him_, oot o' his judgment, +mourning owre her grave in the garb o' a beggar!" + +"Ha! discovered again!" cried Henry fiercely, and starting round as he +spoke; but immediately recognising the old domestic, on whom time had +not wrought such a metamorphosis as dress had upon Willie Galloway--"Ha, +Jonathan! old Jonathan Holditch!" he added, "do I again see the face of +a friend!" and instantly discovering Willie, he sprang forward and +grasped his extended hand in both of his. + +The old man sat down upon the grave and wept. + +"Don't weep, Jonathan," said Henry, "I trust that we shall soon have +cause to rejoice." + +"I wish a' may be richt yet," thought Willie; "I took him to be rather +dementit at the first glance, and _rejoice_ is rather a strange word to +use owre a young wife's grave. Puir fellow!" + +"Yes, Master Henry," said Jonathan, "I do rejoice that the worst is +past; but I must weep too, for there be many things in all this that I +do not understand." + +"Nor me either," said Willie; "but ye say ye think more than ye dare +tell." + +"Why is it, Jonathan," continued Henry, "that there is no stone to mark +my mother's grave? There is room enough in our burial place. Why is +there nothing to her memory?" he continued, bending his eyes upon her +sepulchre. "Her _memory_!" he added; "cold, cruel grave; and is memory +all that is left me of such a parent? Is the dumb dust, beneath this +unlettered stone--all!--all! that I can now call mother? Has she no +monument but the tears of her only surviving child?" + +"A' about his mother," muttered Willie, "who has been dead for four +years, and no a word aboot puir Helen! As sure as I'm a living man this +is beyont my comprehension--I dinna think he can be _a'thegither +there_!" + +Henry turned towards him and said, "I have much to ask, my dear friend, +but my heart is so filled with griefs and forebodings already, that the +words I would utter tremble on my tongue; but what of my Helen--tell me, +what of her?" + +"She--she's--weel," gasped Willie, bewildered; "that is--I--I hope--I +trust--that--oh, losh, Mr Blackett, I dinna ken whare I am, nor what I +am saying, for my brain is as daized as a body's that is driven owre wi' +a drift, and rowed amang the snaw! Has there been onybody buried here +lately?" + +"Mr Galloway!--Mr Galloway!" exclaimed Henry, half-choked with +agitation, and wringing his hand in his, while the perspiration burst +upon his brow--"in the name of wretchedness--what--what do you mean?" + +"Oh, dinna speak to me!" said Willie, waving his hand; "ask that auld +man." + +"Jonathan?" exclaimed Henry. + +"I don't know what the gentleman means," said the old man; "but no one +has been buried here since your honoured mother, and that is four years +ago." + +"And whase grave--whase grave did ye bring me to look at?" inquired +Willie, eagerly. + +"My lady's," answered he. + +"Yer leddy's!" returned Willie--"do you mean Mr Blackett's mother?" + +"Whom else could I mean?" asked old Jonathan, in a tone of wonder. + +"Wha else could you mean!" repeated Willie; "then, be thankit! _she's_ +no dead!--ye say _she's_ no dead!" and he literally leapt for joy. + +"Who dead?" inquired the old man, with increased astonishment. + +"Wha dead, ye stupid auld body!--did I no say _his wife_, as plain as I +could speak?" + +"_Whose_ wife?" inquired Jonathan, looking from Willie to his master in +bewilderment. + +"Whose wife!" reiterated Willie, weeping, laughing, and twirling his +stick; "shame fa' ye--ye may ask that noo, after knocking my heart oot +o' the place o't wi' yer palaver. Whase wife do ye say?--ask Mr Henry." + +"Mr Galloway!" interrupted Henry, "am I to understand that you believed +this to be the grave of my beloved Helen?--or, how could you suppose it? +Has she left Primrose Hall?--or, has our marriage----Tell me all you +know, for I wist not what I would ask." + +Willie then related to him what the reader already knows--namely, that +she had left Dumfries-shire, and was supposed to have gone to his +father's. + +"Blessings on the day that these eyes beheld the dear lady, then," +exclaimed old Jonathan; "for I could vow that she is under my roof now." + +"Under _your_ roof!" cried Henry. + +"Was ye doited, auld man, that ye didna tell me that before?" said +Willie. + +"I knew no more of my young master's marriage, until just now, than +these gravestones do," said Jonathan; "the dear lady who is with us told +nothing to me. Only my wife told me that she knew she loved our young +master." + +"But why is she lodging with you, Jonathan? I have learned that my +father is abroad, and is it that he is soon expected home?" + +"A fever caused her to be an inmate of my poor roof," answered Jonathan, +"after she had been rudely driven from the gate as a common beggar. But +I am no longer thy father's servant--and I wish, for thy sake, I could +forget he was thy father; for he has done that which might make the +blessed bones beneath our feet start from their grave. And there is no +one about the Priory now, but the creatures of the villain Norton." + +Henry entreated that the old man would not speak harshly of his father, +though he had so treated them; and he briefly informed them, that, on +flying from Scotland to escape his pursuers even at his father's lodge, +he again met one of the individuals who had hunted him as "Blackett, the +traitor," and who had attempted to seize him in the hour of his +marriage--and that even there the cry was again raised against him; and +a band, thirsting for his blood-money, joined in the pursuit. He had +fled to the churchyard, and found concealment in the family vault, where +he had remained until they then discovered him, as, in the early +morning, he had ventured out. + +Willie counselled that there was now small vengeance to be apprehended +from the persecution of the government; and when Jonathan stated that +Sir John had married the daughter of Norton, and disinherited Henry by +denying his marriage with his mother, Willie exclaimed--"I see it a', Mr +Henry, just as clear as the A, B, C. This rascal, ye ca' Norton, or your +faither, (forgie me for saying sae,) has employed the villains wha +hunted for yer life; it has been mair them than the government that has +been to blame. Therefore, my advice is, let us go and drive the thieves +out o' the house by force." + +Henry, who was speechless with grief, horror, and disgust, agreed to the +proposition of his friend, and they proceeded to the Priory by a shorter +road than the lodge. + +Henry knocked loudly at the door, which was opened by a man-servant, who +attempted to shut it in his face; but, in a moment the door was driven +back upon its hinges, and the menial lay extended along the lobby; and +Henry, with his sturdy ally, and old Jonathan, rushed in. Alarmed by the +sound, the other servants, male and female, hurried to the spot; and +epithets, too opprobrious to be written, were the mildest they applied +to the young heir, as he demanded admission. + +"Then let us gie them club-law for it," cried Willie, "if they will have +it; and they shall have it to their heart's content, if I ance begin +it." + +Armed with such weapons as they could seize at the moment, the servants +menacingly opposed their entrance; but Henry, dashing through them, +rushed towards the stairs, where he was followed by four men-servants, +two armed with swords, and the others with kitchen utensils. + +But Willie, following at their heels, cried--"Come back!" and, bringing +his cudgel round his head, with one tremendous swoop caused it to rattle +across the unprotected legs of the two last of the pursuers, and, almost +at the same instant, before their comrades had ascended five steps from +the ground, they, from the same cause, descended backwards, rolling and +roaring over their companions. Within three seconds, all four were +conquered, disarmed, and unable to rise. As the discomfited garrison of +the Priory gathered themselves together, (much in the attitude of Turks +or tailors,) groaning, writhing, and ruefully rubbing their stockings, +Willie, with the composed look of a philosopher, addressed to them this +consoling and important information--"Noo, sirs, I hope ye are a' +_sensibly_ convinced, what guid service a bit hazel may do in a willing +hand; and if ony o' yer banes are broken, I would recommend ye to send +for the doctor before the swelling gets stiff about them. But ye couldna +hae broken banes at a cannier place on a' the leg than just where I gied +ye the bits o' clinks; they were hearty licks, and would gie them a +clean snap, so that, in the matter o' six weeks, ye may be on your feet +again." + +Old Jonathan had already followed Henry up stairs; and Willie having +finished his exhortation, proceeded in quest of them. Henry succeeded in +obtaining a change of raiment; and having sent for one who had been long +a tenant upon the estate, he left the house in charge to him, with +orders that he should immediately turn from it all the creatures of +Norton, and engage other servants; and he and his friend, Willie, +proceeded to the house of old Jonathan, where, as the latter supposed, a +lady that he believed to be the wife of his young master, then was. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + +Mrs Holditch (the wife of old Jonathan) was wandering up the lane in +quest of her husband, wondering at the length of his absence, and +fretting for his return; for "the sweet lady," as she termed Helen, +"would not take breakfast without them." She had proceeded about half a +mile from the cottage, when she was met by none other than Laird Howison +of Primrose Hall, and the following dialogue took place:-- + +"Will ye hae the kindness to inform me, ma'am, if the person that used +to keep the gate of Sir John Blackett lives ony way aboot here?" + +"He does, sir," replied she, with low obeisance. + +"And, oh!" interrupted he, earnestly, "know ye if there be a young leddy +frae Scotland stopping there at present--for I have heard that there is? +Ye'll no think me inquisitive, ma'am; for really if ye kenned what +motive I hae for asking, ye would think it motive enough." + +"There be, your honour," returned she, "and a dear excellent young lady +she is." + +"Oh! if it be her that I mean," said he, "that she is _dear_, indeed, I +have owre guid reason to ken, and her excellence is written on every +line o' her beautiful countenance. But, if I'm no detaining ye, ma'am, +may I just ask her name?" + +"She bade us call her Helen, sir," replied she; "we know no other." + +"Yes! yes!" cried he, "it's just Helen!--Helen, and nothing else to me! +Mony a time has that name been offered up wi' my prayers. But I thought, +ma'am, ye said she bade _you_ call her Helen." + +"Yes, your honour," said she; "I be the wife of old Jonathan Holditch, +and she be staying with us now." + +"Bless you!" he exclaimed, "for the shelter which yer roof has afforded +to the head o' an orphan. But, oh! what like is _your_ Helen? Is her +neck whiter than the drifted snaw? Does her hair fa' in gowden ringlets, +like the clouds that curl round the brows o' the setting sun? Is her +form delicate as the willow, but stately as the young pine? Is her +countenance beautiful as the light o' laughing day, when it chases +sickness and darkness together from the chamber o' the invalid? If she +isna a' this--if her voice isna sweeter than the sough o' music on a +river--dear and excellent she may be, and they may call her Helen--but, +oh! she isna my _Helen_!--for there is none in the world like unto +_mine_. But, no! no!--she is _not mine now_! O Helen, woman! did I +expect this? Excuse me, ma'am, ye'll think my conduct strange; but, when +my poor seared-up heart thinks o' past enjoyment, it makes me forget +mysel'. Do you think your Helen is the same that I hae come to seek?" + +"A sweeter and a lovelier lady," said she, "never called Christian man +father. She had business at Winburn Priory; but my husband says she was +driven away from the gate like a dog." + +"It is her!" exclaimed he, "and she's no been at the Priory, then?" + +"No, sir," returned she. + +"Nor seen ony o' the Blackett family?" added he, eagerly. + +"No, sir; for there be none of them in the neighbourhood," answered she. + +"What's this I hear!" cried he:--"Gracious! if I may again hope!--and +why for no? But how is it that she is stopping wi' you?--wherefore did +she not return to the home where she has been cherished from infancy, +and where she will aye be welcome. Has Helen forgot me a'thegither?" + +"Alas, sir!" said she; "it was partly grief, I believe, that brought on +a bad fever, and I had fears the sweet, patient creature would have died +in my hands. I sat by her bedside, watching night after night; and, oh! +sir, I daresay as how it was about you that she sometimes talked, and +wept, and laughed, and talked again, poor thing." + +"And did _ye_," he inquired, fumbling with, a pocket book; "did _ye_ +watch owre her? I'm your debtor for that. And ye think she spoke about +_me_--my name's Howison, ma'am--Thomas Howison of Primrose Hall, in the +county o' Dumfries. She would, maybe, call me _Thomas_!" + +"Mr Howison!" replied the old woman: "yes, your honour, she often +mentioned such a name--very often." + +"Did she really," added he; "did she mention me?--and often spoke about +me--often? Then she's no forgotten me a'thegither!" + +He thrust a bank-note into the hands of Mrs Holditch, which she refused +to accept, saying that "the dear lady had more than paid her for all +that she had done already." But, while she spoke, they had arrived +within sight of the cottage, and he suddenly bounded forward, +exclaiming--"Oh! haud my heart!" as he beheld Helen, sitting looking +from the window--"yonder she is! yonder she is! O Helen! Helen!" he +cried, rushing towards the door--"wherefore did ye leave me?--why hae ye +forsaken me? But, joy o' my heart, I winna upbraid ye; for I hae found +ye again." + +With an agitated step, she advanced to meet him--she extended her hand +towards him--she faltered--"My kind, kind benefactor." + +He heard the words she uttered--with a glance he beheld the +marriage-ring upon her finger--he stood still in the midst of his +transport--his outstretched arms fell motionless by his side--"O Helen, +woman!" he cried in agony, "do ye really say _benefactor_?--that isna +the word I wish to hear frae ye. Ye never ca'ed me _benefactor_ before!" + +The few words spoken by the old woman had called up his buried hopes; +but the word _benefactor_ had again whelmed him in despair. + +"Oh!" he continued, dashing away the tears from his eyes, "my poor mind +is flung away upon a whirlwind, and my brain is the sport o' every +shadow! O Helen! I thought ye had forgotten me!" + +"Forgotten you, my kind dear friend!" said she; "I have not, I will not, +I cannot forget you; and wherefore would you forget that I can only +remember you as a friend?" + +"Poor, miserable, and deluded being that I am," added he; "I expected, +from what the mistress o' this house told me, that I wouldna be welcomed +by the cauldrife names o' _friend_ or _benefactor_. Do ye mind since ye +used to call me _Thomas_?" + +"Mr Howison," answered she, "I know this visit has been made in +kindness--let me believe in parental anxiety. You have not now to learn +that I am a wife, and you can have heard nothing here to lead you to +think otherwise. I will not pretend to misunderstand your language. But +by what name can I call you save that of friend?--it was the first and +the only one by which I have ever known you." + +"No, Helen," cried he, wringing her hand; "there was a time when ye only +said _Thomas!_ and the sound o' that ae word frae yer lips was a waff o' +music, which echoed, like the vibrations o' an angel's harp, about my +heart for hours and for hours!" + +"If," added she, "from having been taught by you to call you by that +name in childhood, when I regarded you as my guardian, and you +condescended to be my playmate, will you upbraid me with ceasing to use +it now, when respect to you and to myself demand the use of another? Or +can you, by any act of mine, place another meaning upon my having used +it, than obedience to your wishes, and the familiarity of a thoughtless +girl? And, knowing this, is it possible that the best of men will heap +sorrow upon sorrow on the head of a friendless and afflicted woman?" + +"Oh, dinna say friendless, Helen," cried he; "friendless ye canna be +while I am in existence. Ye hae torn the scales from my eyes, and the +first use o' sicht has been to show me that the past has been delusion, +and that the future is misery, solitary madness, or despair! And hae I +really a' this time mistaen sweetness for love, and familiarity for +affection? Do ye really say that it was only familiarity, Helen?" + +"The feelings of a sister for a brother," she answered; "of a daughter +for a father." + +"True," said he; "I see it now; I was, indeed, older than your father--I +didna recollect that." + +He sat thoughtful for a few minutes, when Helen, to change the subject, +inquired after her old nurse, Janet White. + +"Poor body," said he, raising his head, "her spirits are clean gone. I +understand she sits mourning for you by the fire, cowering thegither +like a pigeon that's lost its mate, or a ewe whose lamb has been struck +dead by its side. It would wring tears from a heart o' stane to hear her +lamenting, morning, noon, and night, for her 'dear bairn,' as she aye +ca'ed ye--rocking her head and chirming owre her sorrow, like a hen bird +owre its rifled nest. I had her owre at the Hall the day after I cam +back frae London, and just afore I cam here to seek for ye. But there is +naething aboot it that she taks delight in noo. And, when I strove to +amuse her, by taking her through the garden and plantations, (though I +stood mair in need o' comfort mysel'), she would stand still and lean +her head against a tree, in the very middle o' some o' the bonniest +spots, while a tear came rowing down her cheeks, and look in my face wi' +such a sorrowfu' expression, that a thousand arrows, entering my breast +at ance, couldna hae caused me mair agony. I felt that I was a puir, +solitary, and despised being, only cast into the midst o' a paradise, +that my comfortless bosom might appear the blacker and the more dismal. +The puir auld body saw what was passing within me, and she shook her +head, saying, 'Oh, sir! had I seen ye leading my bairn down thir bonny +avenues as your wife, Janet White would have been a happy woman.' Then +she wrung her withered hands, and the tears hailed down her cheeks +faster and faster; while I hadna a word o' consolation to say to her, +had it been to save my life. For the very chirping o' the birds grew +irksome, and the young leaves and the silky flowers painful to look +upon. O Helen! if ye only kenned what we a' suffer on yer account! If ye +only kenned what it is to have hope spired up, and affection preying +upon your ain heart for nourishment, ye wadna be angry at onything I +say." + +"Think not it is possible," she replied, while her tears flowed faster +than her words; "but wherefore feed a hopeless passion, the indulgence +of which is now criminal?" + +"Oh! forgie ye!" he exclaimed, vehemently; "dinna say that, Helen! +Hopeless it may be, but not _criminal_! That is the only cruel word I +ever heard frae yer lips! I didna think onybody would hae said that to +me! Did you really say _criminal_? But, oh! as matters stand, if ye'd +only alloo me to say anither word or twa anent the subject, and if ye +wadna just crush me as a moth, and tak pleasure in my agonies--or hae me +to perish wi' the sunless desolation o' my ain breast--ye'll alloo me to +say them. They relate to my last consolation--the last tie that links me +and the world together!" + +"Speak," said Helen; "let not me be the cause of misery I can have power +to prevent." + +"Oh, then!" replied he, "be not angry at what I'm going to say; and +mind, that, on your answer depends the future happiness or misery o' a +fellow-being. Yes, Helen! upon your word depends life and hope--madness +and misery; I say life and hope--for, if ye destroy the one, the other +winna hand lang oot; and I say madness--for, oh! if ye had been a +witness o' the wild and the melancholy days and nights that I hae +passed since I learned that ye had left me, and felt my heart burning +and beating, and my brain loup, louping for ever, like a living +substance, and shooting and stinging through my head, like stings o' +fire, till I neither kenned whar I was, nor what I did; but stood still, +or rushed out in agony, and screamed to the wind, or gripped at the echo +o' my voice!--I say, if ye had seen this, ye wadna think it strange that +I made use o' the words. And, now, as ye have heard nothing from----from +Henry Blackett, from the night that the ceremony o' marriage was +performed--and if ye should hear nothing o' him for seven years to come, +ye will then, ye ken, be at liberty--and will ye say that I may hope, +then? O Helen, woman! say but the word, and I'll wait the seven years, +as Jacob did for Rachel, and count them but a day if my Helen will bless +me wi' a smile o' hope!" + +As he thus spoke, Mrs Holditch bustled into the room, exclaiming--"O +sweet lady, here be one coming thee knows--see! see! there be my +husband, and our own dear young master Henry, come to make us happy +again!" + +"My Henry!" exclaimed Helen, springing towards the door--"where--oh, +where?". + +"Here, my beloved! here!" replied Henry, meeting her on the threshold. + +Poor Laird Howison stood dumb, his mouth open, his eyes extended, +staring on vacancy. He beheld the object of his delirious love sink into +her husband's arms, and saw no more. He clasped his hands together, and, +with a deep groan, reeled against the wall. Henry and Helen, in the +ecstasy of meeting each other, were unconscious of all around, and +Willie Galloway was the first to observe his countryman. + +"Preserve us! you here, too, Mr Howison!" said he. But the features of +the laird remained rivetted in agony, and betrayed no symptom of +recognition. The mention of the laird's name by Willie, arrested the +attention of Henry, and approaching him, he said--"Sir, to you I ought +to offer an apology." + +The unhappy man wildly grasped the hand of Henry, and seizing also +Helen's, he exclaimed--"It is a' owre now! The chain is forged, and the +iron is round my soul. But I bless you baith. Tak her! tak her!--and +hear me, Henry Blackett--as ye would escape wrath and judgment, be kind +to her as the westlin' winds and the morning dews to the leaves o' +spring. Let it be your part to clothe her countenance wi' smiles and her +bosom wi' joy! Fareweel, Helen!--look up!--let me, for the last time, +look upon your face, and I will carry that look upon my memory to the +grave!" + +She gazed upon him wildly, crying--"Stay!--stay!--you must not leave +us!" + +"Now!--now, it is past!" he cried; "it was a sair struggle, but reason +mastered it! Fareweel, Helen!--fareweel!" + +Thus saying, he rushed out of the house, and Willie Galloway followed +him; but, although fleet of foot, he was compelled to give up the +pursuit. + +A few minutes after the abrupt and wild departure of the laird, and +before Helen had recovered from the shock, the ruffians, who, at the +instigation of Norton, had hunted after Henry to deliver him up to the +government, and from whom he had already twice escaped, rushed into the +room, exclaiming--"Secure the traitor!" + +Henry sprang back to defend himself, and Willie Galloway, who had +returned, threw himself into a pugilistic attitude. But Helen, stepping +between her husband and his pursuers, drew a paper from her bosom, and +placing it in his hands, said--"My Henry is free! he is pardoned!--the +king hath signed it!--laugh at the bloodhounds!" And, as she spoke, she +sank upon his breast. He opened the paper; it was his pardon under the +royal signature and the royal seal! "My own!--my wife!--my wife!" cried +Henry, pressing her to his heart, and weeping on her neck. + +"That crowns a'!" exclaimed Willie Galloway; "O Helen!--what a lassie ye +are!" + +The ruffians slunk from the room in confusion, and Willie informed them +that the sooner they were out of sight it would be the better for them. + +Helen, on leaving Scotland, had proceeded to London, where, through the +interest of a friend of Laird Howison's, she gained access to the Duke +of Cumberland, and throwing herself at his feet, had, through him, +obtained her husband's pardon, and that pardon she had carried next her +bosom to his father's house, hoping to find him there. + + * * * * * + +Having divided this tale into chapters, we now come to the + + + + +CONCLUSION. + + +Henry being now pardoned, Willie Galloway advised that he should take +his wife to his father's house, and remain there, adding--"Mind ye, +Maister Henry, that possession is nine points o' law--and if ye be in +want o' the matter o' five hundred pounds for present use, or for mair +to prove your birthright at law, I am the man that will advance it, and +that will leave no stone unturned till I see you righted." + +Willie's suggestion was acted upon; and Henry and Helen took up their +abode in the Priory, where they had been but a few weeks, when he +obtained information that his father had fallen in a duel, and that his +adversary was none other than Squire Norton, the father of his then +wife; but with his dying breath he declared, in the presence of his +seconds, and invoked them to record it, that his injured son Henry was +his only and lawful heir. + +"That," exclaimed Norton, with a savage laugh over his dying antagonist, +"it will cost him some trouble to prove!" + +The murderer, in the name of a child which his daughter had borne to Sir +John, had the hardihood to enter legal proceedings to obtain the estate. + +Henry applied to the parish of Glencleugh for the register of his +mother's marriage; but no such record was found. Old Dugald Mackay had a +dreamy recollection of such a marriage taking place; but he said--"It pe +very strange that it isna in te pook; hur canna swear to it." + +Many thought that the day would be given against Henry, and pitied him; +but before judgment was pronounced in the case, young Norton was found +guilty of forgery, and condemned to undergo the just severity of the +law. Previous to his ignominious death, in the presence of witnesses, he +confessed the injury he had done to Henry by tearing the leaves from the +parish register, and directed where they might be found. They were +found--old Norton fled from the country, and Henry obtained undisputed +possession of the estate; but on his father's widow and child he settled +a competency. + +Laird Howison's sorrow moderated as his years increased; and when Henry +and Helen had children, and when they had grown up to run about, he +requested that they should be sent to him every year, to pull the +primroses around Primrose Hall; and they were sent. One of them, a girl, +the image of her mother, he often wept over, and said, he hoped to live +to love her, as he had loved her mother. Willie Galloway often visited +his friends in Cheshire, and remained "canny Willie" to the end of the +chapter. + + + + +THE BRIDE OF BRAMBLEHAUGH.[1] + + +It has been stated by the greatest critics the world ever saw--whose +names we would mention, if we did not wish to avoid interfering with the +simplicity of our humble annals--that no fictitious character ought to +be made at once virtuous and unfortunate; and the reason given for it is +that mankind, having a natural tendency to a belief of an adjustment, +even in this world, of the claims of virtue and the deserts of vice, are +displeased with a representation which at once overturns this belief, +and creates dissatisfaction with the ways of Providence. This may be +very good criticism, and we have no wish to find fault with it as +applied to works intended to produce a certain effect on the minds of +readers; but, so long as Nature and Providence work with machinery whose +secret springs are hid from our view, and evince--doubtless for wise +purposes--a disregard of the adjustment of rewards and punishments for +virtue and vice, we shall not want a higher authority than critics for +exhibiting things as they are, and portraying on the page of truth, wet +with unavailing tears, goodness that went to the grave, not only +unrewarded, but struck down with griefs that should have dried the heart +and grizzled the hairs of the wicked. + +In a little haugh that runs parallel to the Tweed--at a part of its +course not far from Peebles, and through which there creeps, over a bed +of white pebbles, a little burn, whose voice is so small, except at +certain places where a larger stone raises its "sweet anger" to the +height of a tiny "buller," that the lowest note of the goldfinch drowns +it and charms it to silence--there stood, about the middle of the last +century, a cottage. Its white walls and dark roof, with some white roses +and honeysuckle flowering on its walls, bespoke the humble retreat of +contentment and comfort. The place went by the name of Bramblehaugh, +from the sides of the small burn being lined, for several miles, with +the bramble. The sloping collateral ground was covered with shrubs and +trees of various kinds, which harboured, in the summer months, a great +collection of birds--the blackbird, the starling, the mavis, and others +of the tuneful choir--whose notes rendered harmonious the secluded scene +where they sang unmolested. The spot is one of those which, scattered +sparingly over a wild country, woo the footsteps of lovers of nature, +and, by a few months of their simple charms, regenerate the health, +while they quicken and gratify the business-clouded fancies of the +denizens of smoky towns. + +The cottage we have now described was occupied by David Mearns, and his +wife Elizabeth, called, by our national contraction, Betty. These +individuals earned a livelihood, and nothing more, by the mode in which +poor cotters in Scotland contrive to spin out an existence; the leading +feature of which, contentment, the result of necessity, is often falsely +denominated happiness by those whose positive pleasures, chequered by a +few misfortunes, are forgotten in the contemplation of a state of life +almost entirely negative. Difficulties that cannot be overcome deaden +the energies that have in vain been exerted to surmount them; and, when +all efforts to better our condition are relinquished, we acquire a +credit for contentedness, which is only a forced adaptation of limited +means to an unchangeable end. David Mearns, who had, in his younger +days, been ruined by a high farm, had learned from misfortune what he +would not have been very apt to have received from the much-applauded +philosophy which is said to generate a disposition to be pleased with +our lot. The bitterness of disappointment, and the wish to get beyond +the reach of obligations he could not discharge, suggested the remedy of +a reliance simply on his capability of earning a cotter's subsistence; +and having procured a cheap lease of the little domicile of +Bramblehaugh, he set himself down, with the partner of his hopes and +misfortunes, to eat, with that simulated contentment we have noticed, +the food of his hard labour, with the relish of health, and to extract +from the lot thus forced upon him as much happiness as it would yield. +The cottage and the small piece of ground attached to it, was the +property of an old man, who, having made a great deal of money by the +very means that had failed in the hands of David Mearns, had purchased +the property of Burnbank, lying on the side of the small rivulet already +mentioned, and, in consequence, it was said, of Betty Mearns bearing the +same name, (Cherrytrees,) though there was no relationship between them, +had let to David the small premises at a low rent. + +A single child had blessed the marriage of David Mearns and his wife--a +daughter, called Euphemia, though generally, for the sake of brevity and +kindliness, called Effie; an interesting girl, who, at the period we +speak of, had arrived at the age of sixteen years. In a place where +there were few to raise the rude standard of beauty formed in the minds +of a limited country population, she was accounted "bonny"--a +much-abused word, no doubt, in Scotland, but yet having a very fair and +legitimate application to an interesting young creature, whose blue +eyes, however little real town beauty they may have expressed or +illuminated, gave out much tenderness and feeling, accompanied by that +inexpressible look of pure, unaffected modesty, which is the first, but +the most difficult gesture of the female manner attempted to be imitated +by those who are destitute of the feeling that produces it. An +expression of pensiveness--perhaps the fruit of the early misfortunes of +her parents operating on the tender mind of infancy, ever quick in +catching, with instinctive sympathy, the feeling that saddens or +enlivens the spirits of a mother--was seldom abroad from her +countenance, imparting to it a deep interest, and, by suggesting a wish +to relieve the cause of so early an indication of incipient melancholy, +creating an instant friendship, which subsequent intercourse did not +diminish. + +Walter Cherrytrees, the Laird of Burnbank, a man approaching seventy +years of age, had a daughter, Lucy, about the same age as Effie Mearns. +He had lost his wife about fifteen years before; and--though a feeling +of anxiousness often found its way to his heart, suggesting to his +vacant mind, as the cure of his listlessness and the balm of his +bereavement, another wife--he had for a long time been nearly equally +poised between the hope of Lucy becoming his comfort in his old age, and +the wish for a tender partner of pleasures which, without participation, +lose their relish. His daughter, Lucy, was a sprightly, showy girl, who, +having got a good education, might, with the prospect she had of +inheriting her father's property, have been entitled to look for a +husband among the sons of the neighbouring proprietors, if her father's +secluded mode of life, and plain, blunt manners, had not to a great +extent limited her intercourse to a few acquaintances, by no means equal +to him in point of wealth or status, however estimable they might have +been in other respects. A more pleasant companion to the old Laird of +Burnbank could not be found, from the one end of Bramblehaugh to the +other, than David Mearns, his tenant, whose honesty and bluntness, set +off by a fertility of simple anecdote, had charms for one of the same +habits of thought and feeling, which all the disadvantages of his +poverty could not counterbalance. The intimacy of the fathers produced, +at a very early period, a friendship between the daughters, who, +notwithstanding, could not boast of the resemblance of thought and +manners, and community of feeling, which formed the foundation of the +attachment existing between the parents. + +This friendship was not exclusive of some acquaintanceships with the +neighbouring young men and women, which, however, were in general +mutual; neither of the two young maidens having formed any intimacy with +another without, her friend participating in the friendship. Among +others, Lewis Campbell, the son of a neighbouring farmer, who had been a +large creditor of David Mearns at the time of his failure, called +sometimes at the cottage of Bramblehaugh, and was soon smitten with a +strong love for Effie. They sometimes indulged in long walks by the side +of the river. + +We may anticipate, when we say that the hours spent in these +excursions--in which the greatest beauties of external nature, and the +strongest and purest emotions of two loving hearts, acting in +co-operation and harmony, formed a present and a future such as poets +dream of, and the world never realizes, but in momentary glimpses--were +the happiest of these lovers. Effie's inseparable companion, Lucy, +frequently met them as they sauntered along by the house of Burnbank; +and the soft breathings of ardent affection were relieved by the gay and +innocent prattle of the companions, who enjoyed, though in different +degrees, the conversation and manners of the young lover. The simplicity +and single-heartedness of Effie were entirely exclusive of a single +thought unfavourable to an equal openness and frankness on the part of +her companion, whom she had informed, in her artless way, of the state +of her affections. But what might not have resulted from a mere +acquaintanceship between Lucy and Effie's lover, was called forth by the +pride of the former, whose spirit of emulation, excited by the good +fortune of her poor friend, suggested a secret wish to alienate the +affections of Lewis from her companion, and direct them to herself. The +wish to be beloved, though the mere effect of emulation, is the surest +of the artificial modes by which love itself is generated in the heart +of the wisher; and Lucy soon became, unknown for a time to Effie, as +much enamoured of young Lewis as was her unsuspecting friend. + +The first intimation that Effie received of the state of Lucy's feelings +towards her lover, was from Lewis himself. Sitting at a part of the +haugh called the Cross Knowe, from the circumstance of an old Romish +cruciform stone that stood on the top of a gentle elevation--a place +much resorted to by the lovers--Lewis, unable to conceal a single +thought or feeling from one who so well deserved his confidence, first +told her of the perfidy of her friend. + +"You are not so well supplied with sweethearts, Effie," he began, "as I +am; for I can boast of two besides you." + +"That speaks little in your favour, Lewie," replied she; "for, if it was +my wish, I could hae a' the young men o' the haugh makin love to me frae +mornin to e'en." + +"That remark, Effie," said Lewis, "implies that I have courted, or at +least received marks of affection, from others besides you, while I was +leading you to suppose that my heart was entirely yours. Now, that is +not justified by what I said; for one may have sweethearts, and neither +know nor acknowledge them as such." + +"Maybe I am wrang, Lewie," said Effie; "but what was I to think but that +the twa ither sweethearts ye mentioned were acknowledged by ye? It's no +in the pooer o' my puir heart to conceive how a young woman could love +are that neither kenned nor acknowledged her love. But I speak frae my +ain simple, an' maybe worthless thoughts. The world's wide, an' haulds +black an' fair, weak an' strong, heigh and laigh; an' wharfore no also +hearts an' minds as different as their bodies? The birds o' this haugh +hae only their ain single luves; but they're a' coloured alike that +belang to ae kind. Would that it had been God's pleasure to mak mankind +like thae bonny birds!" + +"I fear, Effie," replied Lewis, "that a statement of mine, intended to +be partly in jest, has been construed by you in such a manner as to +produce to you pain. God is my witness that I am as single-hearted in my +affection as the birds of this haugh; and gaudier colours, sweeter +notes, and better scented bowers will never interfere with the love I +bear to Effie Mearns." + +"What meant ye, then, Lewie, by sayin ye had twa sweethearts besides +Effie Mearns?" said she. + +"That you shall immediately know," replied Lewis "and you will think +more highly of me when I shew you, by my revealing secrets, not indeed +confided to me, but still secrets, that you have all my heart and the +thoughts that it contains. The first of my other lovers you will not be +jealous of, for she is old Lizzy Buchanan, or, as she calls herself, +Buwhanan, my nurse, who loves me as well as you do, Effie; but the +other, I fear, may create in you an unpleasant feeling of confidence +misplaced, and friendship repaid by something like treachery. Surely I +need say no more." + +"Is it indeed sae, Lewie?" said she. "It's lang sin I whispered--and my +heart beat and my limbs trembled as I did it--in the ear o' Lucy +Cherrytrees, that my puir, silly thoughts were never aff Lewie Campbell. +And what think ye she said to me? She said I needna look far ayont +Bramblehaugh for a bonnier and a brawer lover." + +"Then," replied Lewis, "I am not much better off than you are; for she +told me that your simplicity, she feared, was art, and that your poverty +made any beauty you had; and she doubted if that bonny face was not a +great snare for the ruin of a penniless lover." + +"Sae, sae," said she, sighing deeply; "and has the fair face o' life's +friendship put on the looks o' the hypocrite at the very time when +greater confidence was required? I hae read in Laird Cherrytrees' books +he is sae kind as lend me, many an example o' fause and faithless +creatures, baith men and women, o' the world, o' the great cities that +lie far ayont oor humble sphere; but little did I think that here in +Bramblehaugh, where our bughts ken nae nicht-thieves, and our hen-roosts +nae reynards, there was ane, and that ane my friend, wha could smile in +my face at the very moment she was tryin to ruin me in the eyes o' ane +wha is dearest to me on earth." + +As she thus poured forth her feelings with greater loquacity than she +generally exhibited--being for the most part quiet and gentle--the tears +flowed down her cheeks in great profusion, and she sobbed bitterly, in +spite of all the efforts of Lewis to satisfy her that Lucy's endeavours +to lessen her in his estimation were entirely fruitless. + +"Apprehend nothing, dear Effie, from the discovered treachery of a false +friend," said he, as he pressed her to his bosom. "It has less power +with me than the whispers of that gentle burn have on the sleeping +echoes of the Eagle's Rock that only answers to the voice of the +tempest." + +"It's no that, Lewie," replied she, wiping away her tears, "that gies me +pain. I hae nae fear o' faith and troth that has been pledged, and +better than pledged; for I hae seen it i' yer looks, and heard it i' the +soonds o' yer deep-drawn sighs. Thae tears are for a broken +friendship--for the return o' evil for guid--for the withered blossoms +o' a bonny flower I hae cherished and watered, in the hope it wad yield +me a sweet smell when I kissed its leaves i' the daffin o' youth or the +kindliness o' age. If it is sae sair to lose a friend, what, Lewie--what +wad it be to lose a lover?" + +"The very existence of great evils, Effie," said he, "makes us happy, +in the thought that they are beyond our reach." + +"But did I no think," said she, "that I was beyond the reach o' the pain +o' experiencing the fauseness o' Lucy Cherrytrees--the very creature o' +a' ithers, I hae chosen as my bosom friend--to whom I confided a' my +thochts and the very secret o' my love?" + +"But it is an ill wind that blaws naebody guid, as they say, Effie," +said Lewis. "I can better appreciate your goodness, now that I have +experienced the faithlessness of another." + +"An' if I hae lost a friend," replied Effie, "I am the mair sure o' my +lover. Ye dinna ken, Lewie, how muckle this has raised you even in my +mind, whar ye hae aye occupied the highest place. Ye hae rejected the +offered luve o' the braw heiress o' Burnbank, for the humble dochter o' +David Mearns, wha earns his bread in the sweat o' his brow. Oh! what can +a puir, penniless cottager's dochter gie in return to the man wha, for +her sake, turns his back on a big ha', a thoosand braid acres, an' a +braw heiress?" + +"Her simple, genuine, unsophisticated heart," replied Lewis, "with one +unchangeable, devoted affection beating in its core. Were Burnbank Hall +as big as the Parliament House, and Burnbank itself longer than the +lands watered by the Brambleburn, and Lucy Cherrytrees as fair as our +unfortunate Mary Stuart, I would not give my simple Effie, with no more +property of her own than the bandeau that binds her fair locks, for Lucy +Cherrytrees and all her lands." + +The two lovers continued their evening walks, indulging in conversations +which, embracing the subject of their affection, and anticipating the +pleasures of their ultimate union, realized that fullest enjoyment of +hope which is said to transcend possession. No notice was taken of their +mutual sentiments on the subject of Lucy Cherrytrees' affection for +Lewis, and her unjustifiable attempts to displace her old friend, to +make room for herself in the heart of the contested object of their +wishes. + +Matters continued in this state for some time, Effie being regularly +gratified by a visit from Lewis three times a-week. On one occasion a +whole week passed without any intelligence of her lover. Her inquiries +had produced no satisfactory explanation of the unusual occurrence; and +Fancy, under the spell of the genius of Fear, was busy in her vocation +of drawing dark pictures of coming evil. At last she was told by her +father, who had procured the intelligence from a friend of George +Campbell, the father, that young Lewis had been suspected of an +intention to marry the poor daughter of the cottager, David Mearns, and +had been despatched, without a minute's premonition, 'to an uncle, who +was a merchant in Rio de Janeiro. No time had been given to him to write +to Effie; and care had been taken to prevent him from sending her any +intelligence while he remained at Liverpool, previous to his departure. +The statement was corroborated by intelligence to the same effect, +procured by one of Laird Cherrytrees' servants from one of the servants +of George Campbell, who told it to Lucy, and who again told it to Effie, +with tears in her eyes, which she took every care to conceal. The effect +produced on the mind of Effie Mearns, by this unexpected misfortune, was +proportioned to its magnitude, and the susceptibility of the feelings of +the delicate individual on whom it operated. For many days she wept +incessantly, refusing the ordinary sustenance of a life which she now +deemed of no importance to herself or to any one else. All attempts at +comforting a bruised heart were--as they generally are in cases of +disappointed love--unavailing; and the effects of time seemed only +apparent in a quieter, though not in any degree less poignant sorrow. +Every object kept alive the remembrance of the youth who had first made +an impression on her heart, and whose image was graven on every spot of +the neighbourhood which had been consecrated by the exchange of a mutual +passion. The scenes of their wanderings, hallowed as they had been in +her memory, were now peopled with undefined terrors; and every time that +she was forced abroad to take that air and exercise which latterly +seemed indispensable to her existence, her sorrow received an accession +of power from every tree under which they had sat, and every knowe or +dell where they had listened to the musical loves of the birds, as they +exchanged their own in not less eloquent sighs. + +The first circumstance that produced any effect on the mind of the +disconsolate maiden, was a misfortune of another kind, which, realizing +the old adage, seemed to follow with all due rapidity the footsteps of +its precursor. Her mother, who sat on one side of the fire, while Effie +occupied her usual seat in a corner of the cottage in the other, had +been using all the force of her rude but impressive eloquence to get her +daughter to adopt the means that were in her power for the amelioration +of a grief which might render her childless. + +"I am gettin auld, Effie," she said, "an' you are the only are I can +look to for administerin to yer faither an' to me that comfort we hae a +richt to expect at the hands o' a dochter wha never yet was deficient in +her duty. Our poverty, which winna be made ony less severe, as ye may +weel ken, by the income o' years, will mak yer attention to us mair +necessary; an' it may even be--God meise the means!--that your weak +hands may yet be required to work for the support o' yer auld parents. I +hae lang intended to speak to you in this way, and it was only pity for +my puir heart-broken Effie that put me aff frae day to day, in the +expectation that either some news wad come frae Lewie, or that ye wad +get consolation frae anither and a higher source, to support ye for +trials ye may yet hae to bear up against, for the sake o' them that +brocht ye into the world. A' ither means hae been tried to get ye to +determine to live, an' no lay yersel doun to dee, an' they havin failed, +what can I do but try the last remedy in my pooer--to speak, as I hae +now dune, to yer guid sense, an' lay afore ye the duties o' a dutifu' +bairn, which are far aboon the thochts o' a disappointed love. Promise, +now, my bonny Effie, that ye will try to gie up yer mournin, for the +sake o' parents whase love for ye is nae less than Lewie Campbell's." + +As Betty finished her impressive admonition to Effie, who acknowledged +its force, and inwardly determined on complying with the request of her +mother, an unusual noise at the door of the cottage startled her anxious +ear. It seemed that a number of people were approaching the cottage, and +the groans of one in deep distress and pain were mixed with the low talk +of the crowd, who, from those inexpressible indications which the ear +can catch and analyse ere the mind is conscious of the operation, seemed +already to sympathise with one to whom they were bearing a grief. Housed +by that anticipative fear of evil which all unfortunate people feel, +Betty ran to the door, followed by her daughter, and opened it--to let +in the mangled body of her husband; who, in felling an oak, on the +property of Burnbank, had fallen under the weight of the tree, and got +his leg broken, and one of his arms dislocated at the shoulder-joint. He +was conveyed, by the kind neighbours, to a bed; and, by the time they +got him undressed, for the purpose of his wounds being submitted to the +curative process of the doctor, that individual arrived, and proceeded +to perform the painful operation of setting the broken bones. The full +effect of this misfortune to Effie and her mother was for a time +suspended by the call made upon them to relieve the sufferings of the +father and husband; and it was not till the bustle ceased, and the +neighbours (excepting two women, whose services, in addition to those +of the wife and daughter, might still be required) went away, that they +felt the full force of the gigantic evil that had befallen them, the +consequences of which might extend through the remaining years of their +existence. + +A period of no less than eighteen months passed away, and David Mearns +was still unable to do more than, with assistance, to rise from his bed, +and sit, during a part of the day, by the fire, or at the window. During +the whole of this time, he had been tended by his daughter with +assiduous care. Her filial sympathies, called into active operation by +the sorrows of her parent, filled up the void that had been made in her +heart by the departure of her lover; and a new source of grief effected +(however paradoxical it may seem) a change in the morbid melancholy to +which she had been enslaved, which, although not for mental health or +ease, was so much in favour of exertion and remedial exercise, that she +came to present the appearance of one inclined to endeavour to sustain +her sorrow, rather than resign herself to the fatal power of an +irremediable woe. Among the visitors who took an interest in a family +reduced by one stroke to want and all its attendant evils, Laird +Cherrytrees evinced the strongest concern for the fate of his friend; +and, by a timeous contribution of necessary assistance, ameliorated, in +so far as man could, the unhappy condition of virtue under the load of +misery. The many visits of the good old laird, and the long periods of +time he passed by the bedside of the patient, enabled him to see and +appreciate the devoted attention of Effie to her parent; and often, as +she flew at the slightest indication of a wish for something to assuage +pain, or remove the uneasiness produced by the long confinement, he +would stop the current of his narrative, and fix his eyes on the kind +maiden, so long as her tender office engaged her attention and feelings +These long looks, not unaccompanied at times with a deep sigh, were +attributed, as they well might, to admiration and approbation of so much +filial affection and devotedness exercised towards one whom the old +laird respected above all his friends. + +The visits of Laird Cherrytrees were at first twice or thrice a-week. +His infirm body already begun to exhibit the effects of old age, +prevented him from walking; and such was the anxiety he felt for the +unhappy patient, that he mounted his old pony, Donald, nearly as frail +as his master, to enable him to administer consolation so much required. +He came always at the same hour; Effie, who expected him, was often at +the door ready to receive him; and, while she held old Donald's head +till he dismounted, welcomed her father's friend with so much sincerity +and pleasure, that if she had failed in her ostlership, he would have +felt a disappointment he would not have liked to express. Even when at a +distance from the cottage, he strained his eyes to endeavour to catch a +glimpse of the faithful attendant; and, if he did not see her, the rein +of Donald was relaxed, and he was allowed to saunter along at his own +pleasure, or even to eat grass by the roadside, (a luxury he delighted +in from his having once belonged to a cadger,) so as to give Effie time +to get to her post. + +The three days of the week on which Laird Cherrytrees was in the habit +of visiting David Mearns, were Monday, Thursday, and Saturday; and he +seldom came without bringing something to the poor family--either some +money for old Betty; some preserves, prepared by Lucy, for the invalid; +or a book, or a flower from Burnbank garden, for Effie. When his +conversation with David was finished--and every day it seemed to get +shorter and shorter, though there seemed no lack of either subjects or +ideas--he commenced to talk with Effie, chiefly on the nature and +contents of the books he brought her to read; and nothing seemed to +delight him more than to sit in the large arm-chair by David's bedside, +and hear Effie discoursing, _ex cathedra_, (on a three-footed stool at +the foot of the bed, opposite to the Laird's chair,) with her +characteristic simplicity and good sense, on the subjects he himself had +suggested. But, notwithstanding all her efforts to appear well-pleased +in presence of the man who was supporting her family, her train of +thoughts was often broken in upon by the recollections of Lewis +Campbell, and she would sit for an hour at a time, with the eyes of the +Laird fixed on her melancholy face, as if he had been all that time in +mute cogitation, suggesting some remedy for her sorrow. His ideas and +feelings seemed to be operated upon by the same power that ruled the +mind of the maiden; for his face followed, in its changing expressions, +the mutations of her countenance. Her melancholy seemed to be +communicated by a glance of her watery eye, as the thought of Lewis +entered her mind; and when she recovered from her gloomy reverie, a +corresponding indication of relief lighted up the grey, twinkling orbs +of the old Laird. This custom of "glowrin," for whole hours at a time, +on the face of the sensitive girl, at first painful to her, became a +matter of indifference; and the position and attitudes of the three +individuals--Betty being generally engaged about the house--undergoing, +while the Laird was present, no change, came to assume something like +the natural properties of the parties, as if they had been fixtures, or +lay figures for the study of a painter. + +Every time the Laird came to the cottage, he extended the period of his +stay, and, latterly, he did not stir till a servant from Burnbank, sent +by Lucy, came to take him home. It seemed as if he could not get enough +of "glowrin;" for, latterly, all his occupation, which at first +consisted of rational conversation, merged in that mute eloquence of the +eye, or rather in that inebriation of the orb, "drinking of light," +which lovers of sights, especially female countenances, are so fond of. +The visits had been so regular, not a day being ever missed, that, as +Effie held the stirrup till he mounted Donald, during all which time the +process of "glowrin" went on as regularly as at the bedside of David, +she never thought of asking, and he never thought of stating, when he +would call again. Time had stamped the act of calling with the impress +of unchangeable custom. The caseless clock of David's cottage was not +more regular; the only change being that already observed--that the time +of the Laird's stay gradually and gradually lengthened. + +The homage paid by Effie to Laird Cherrytrees was, as may easily be +conceived, the respect, attention, and kindness of an open-hearted girl, +filled with gratitude to the preserver of the lives of her and her +parents. Every evening she offered up, at her bedside, prayers for the +preservation and happiness of the man but for whose kindness starvation +might have overtaken the helpless invalid, and not much less helpless +wife and daughter. In their prayers the "amen" of David and his wife was +the most heart-felt expression of love and gratitude that ever came from +the lips of mortal. This feeling, however, did not prevent David Mearns +and Betty from sometimes indulging, in the absence of Effie (in all +likelihood giving freedom to her tears, as she sat in some favourite +retreat of her absent lover,) in some remarks on the extraordinary +conduct of Laird Cherrytrees. They soon saw through the secret, and +resolved upon drawing him out; for which purpose Effie was to be called +away on the occasion of the next visit. + +The Laird came as he used to do, took his seat, and resumed his gazing. +Effie pleased him exceedingly, by an account she gave him of the last +book he brought to her; and, throwing himself back in the arm chair, he +seemed, for a time, wrapped in meditation. Effie obeyed, in the +meantime, her mother's request, to come for a few minutes to the green +to assist her in her work; and, when the Laird again applied his eyes +to their accustomed vocation, he was surprised, but not (for once) +displeased, at her disappearance. A great struggle now commenced between +some wish and a restraint. He looked round the cottage, and then turned +his eyes on David; acts which he repeated several times. Incipient +syllables of words half-formed died away in his struggling throat. He +moved restlessly in the large chair, and twirled his silver-headed cane +in his hand. He even rose, went to the door, looked out, came back +again, and took his seat without saying a word. Holding away his face +from David, he at last made out a few words, uttered with great +difficulty. + +"She's a fine lassie, Effie," he said. + +"A bonnier an' a better never was brocht up in Bramblehaugh, savin yer +ain Lucy," replied David. + +"Hoo auld is she noo?" said the Laird, still holding away his face. + +"She will be nineteen come the time," replied David. + +"It's a pity she's sae young," rejoined the Laird, with a great +struggle, and making a noise with his cane, as if he had repented of his +words, and wished to drown them before they reached the ears of David. + +"I dinna think sae, beggin yer Honour's pardon," replied David. "We need +her assistance, in this trial; an' I'm just thinkin o' some way she +micht use her hands--an she's willing aneugh, puir cratur--for our +assistance." + +"Are ye no pleased wi' my assistance?" said the Laird, displeased at +something in David's reply. + +"Yer Honour has saved our lives," replied David, feelingly, "an' it wad +only be because we are ashamed o yer guidness that we wad wish our +dochter to tak a part o' that burden aff ane wha is under nae obligation +to serve us." + +"If I hae been yer friend, ye hae been mine," said the Laird. "I hae got +guid advices frae ye; an', even noo, I hae something to ask ye +concernin mysel, that nae ither man i' the haugh could sae weel answer." + +"What is that, yer Honour?" said David. + +"What do ye think, David Mearns, I should do," said the Laird, moving +about in the chair in evident perplexity, "if my dochter Lucy were to +tak a husband an' leave Burnbank? I carena aboot fa'in into the hands o' +Jenny Mucklewham, wha, for this some time past, has neither cleaned my +buckles nor brushed my coat as I wad wish. She says I'm mair fashious; +but that's a mere excuse." + +"I hae seen aulder men marry again," said David, thinking he would +please the Laird, by giving him such an answer as he was clearly fishing +for. + +"Aulder men, David, man!" replied the Laird, looking down at his person, +and adjusting his wig. "Did I ask ye onything aboot my age? I wanted +merely your advice, what I should do in certain circumstances, an' ye +gie me a comparison for an answer.--Do ye think I should marry?" + +"If yer Honour has ony wish in that way, I think ye should," said David. + +"I never yet did wrang in following your advice, David Mearns," said the +Laird. "--She's a fine lassie, Effie." + +"Ou, ay," responded David, at a loss what more to say. + +"Very fine," again said the Laird, turning his face partially from the +window, so as the tail of his eye reached David's face, and waiting for +something more. + +David could, however, say nothing. The very circumstance of the Laird's +wishing him to say something pertinent to the purpose already so broadly +hinted at, prevented him from touching so delicate a subject; and, +notwithstanding of another application of the tail of the Laird's eye, +he was silent. + +"Ye hae gien me ae advice, David," said the Laird, in despair of getting +anything more out of David without a question: "could ye no tell me +_wha_ I should marry, man?" And having achieved this announcement, he +rose and walked to the window. + +"That's owre delicate a subject for me to gie an advice on, yer Honour," +replied David. "The doo lays aside ninety-nine guid straes, an' taks the +hundredth, though a crooked ane, for its nest. Ye maun judge for +yersel." + +"What say ye to yer ain Effie, then?" said the Laird, relieved at last +from a dreadful burden. + +"If yer Honour likes the lassie, an' she'll tak yer Honour, I can hae +nae objections," replied David. + +The Laird, who seemed twenty years younger after this declaration, took +David by the hand, and shook it till the pain of his dislocated arm +almost made him cry. + +"Will ye speak to her aboot it. David!" said he, still holding his hand. +"The best farm o' Burnbank will be your reward. Plead for me, David, my +best friend. Tell Betty aboot it, and get her to use a mother's pooer. +If I can trust my een, Effie doesna dislike me. If a' gaes weel, ye may +hae Ravelrigg, or Braidacre, or Muirfield--onything that's in my pooer +to gie, David." And the old lover, exhausted by the struggle and +excitement he had suffered, sank back into the chair. + +"I will do my best," replied David. And the old Laird sighed, and +absolutely groaned with pure, unmixed satisfaction. + +At the end of this scene, Effie and her mother came in. The damsel took +her old seat on the three-footed stool at the foot of the bed; the eyes +of the Laird sought again her face, where he thought they had a better +right now to rest. No more was spoken; enough for a day had been said +and done; and, with a parting look to David, to keep him in remembrance +of his promise, and a purse of money slipped into the hand of Betty, as +a solvent of any obstacle that might exist in her mind, the lover went +to the door to receive Donald from the soft hands of Effie, who, as was +her custom, had gone out before him, to lead the old cadger to the door, +and hold the bridle till he with an effort got into the saddle. The only +difference Effie could observe in his departure this day, was a kind of +mock-gallant wave of the hand, as he, with more than usual spirit, +struck his spurless heels into Donald's sides, and tried to rise in the +saddle, in response to the hobble of the old Highlander. + +The Laird had been scarcely out of the house, when David had a communing +with his wife, in absence of Effie, on the extraordinary intimation made +by the old lover. Betty was agreeable to the match; but the tear came +into her eye as she thought of the sacrifice poor Effie was to be called +upon to make. Neither of them could answer for the consent of Effie, +whose melancholy, though somewhat ameliorated, was little diminished, +and whose recollections of Lewis Campbell were as vivid as they were on +the day of his departure. When she returned from one of her solitary +rambles, which fed her passion and increased her grief, she was +delicately told of the intentions of Laird Cherrytrees. The announcement +of the extraordinary intelligence produced an effect which neither her +father nor mother could have anticipated. A quick operation of her mind +placed before her all the affectionate acts of attention she had for +years been in the habit of applying to the old friend of her father, and +the preserver of their lives. Gratitude, operating in one of the most +grateful hearts that ever beat in the bosom of mortal, had produced in +her an exuberant kindness, a devotedness of a species of affection due +by a child to its godfather, a playful freedom of the confidence of one +who relied on the disparity of years for a license from even the +suspicion of a possibility of any other relation existing between them. +That now came back upon her, loaded with self-reproach and shame, and +attributing to her misconstrued attentions the extraordinary passion +that had taken hold of the heart of the old Laird. She was totally +unable to make any reply to her parents. The image of Lewis Campbell, +never absent from her mind, assumed a new form, and swam in the tears +which flowed from her eyes. The natural contrast between age and youth, +love and gratitude, assumed its legitimate strength. The first feeling +of her mind was, that she would suffer the death that had for a time +been impending over her, and whose finger was already on her breaking +heart, rather than comply with the wishes of her father and mother. They +saw the struggle that was in her mind, and abstained from pressing what +they had suggested. They did not ask her even to give her sentiments; +but the silent tears that stole down her cheek and dropped in her lap +from her drooping head, required no spoken commentary to tell them the +extent of her grief, and the resolution at least of a heart that might +entirely break, as it appeared to be breaking, but never could forget. + +There was little sleep for the eyes of Effie on the succeeding night. +Her sobs reached the ears of her parents, who, unable to yield her +consolation, were obliged to leave her to wrestle with her grief; +sending up a silent prayer to the Author of all good dispensations, that +He might assuage the sorrow of one who had already, with exemplary +patience, submitted to the rod of affliction. The sacredness of her +feelings was too well appreciated by her parents to admit of any offer +of counsel, where deep-seated affection, the work of mysterious +instinct, stood in solemn derision of the vulgar ideas of this world's +expediency. The struggle in her mind arose from the strength of her +love, and the power of her filial devotion. No part of the attendant +circumstances or probable consequences of her decision escaped her mind. +She knew that she never could be happy as the wife of any other +individual, even of suitable age, than Lewis Campbell. But this +concerned only herself; and she knew, and trembled as she thought, that +the result of her decision might be the destitution, the want, perhaps +the death of her parents; their all depended on the breath of the man +whom she, by the sign of her finger, might change from a friend to a +foe; and she might thereby become the destroyer of those who gave her +being. + +The morning came, but brought neither sleep nor relief to the unhappy +maiden. Her parents seemed inclined not to advert to the subject that +day, but to let her struggle on with her own thoughts. The hour of the +Laird's visit approached, and he was already on the road for the home of +his beloved, whom his ardent fancy pictured standing smiling at the +door, ready as usual to receive him and lead him into the house. +Donald--who knew a reverie in his master bettor than he did himself, and +did not fail to take advantage of it--ambled on with diminished speed. +The Laird approached the cottage. No Effie was there. His bright visions +took flight, and were succeeded by a cold shiver, the precursor of a +gloomy train of ideas, which pictured a refusal and all its attendant +horrors. He drew up the head of Donald, and even invited him to partake +of the long grass which grew by the way-side. He counted the moments as +Donald devoured the food; and, from time to time, lifted his eyes to see +if Effie was yet at the cottage door. She was not, to be seen--and she +had not been absent before for many months. His mind was unprepared for +a refusal; the ground-swell of his previous excited fancy distracted him +amidst the dead stillness of despair. He looked again, and for the last +time that day. Effie was not yet there. He turned the head of the +delighted, and no doubt astonished Donald, and quietly sought again the +house of Burnbank. + +The same procedure was gone through on the succeeding day. Laird +Cherrytrees again proceeded to the cottage of David Mearns; and, as he +sauntered along, he thought it impossible that Effie should again be +absent from her post. He was too good a man, and too conceited a lover, +as all old lovers are, to allow his mind to dwell on the probable +operation of necessity and the fear of injuring her father's patron, on +the mind of the daughter; and yet a lurking, rebellious idea suggested +that he would rather see Effie at the door, impelled by that cause, than +absent altogether. His hopes again beat high, and Donald was pricked on +to the goal of his wishes with an asperity he did not relish so well as +a reverie. The spot was attained. Effie was still absent. Donald was +again remitted to the long grass, and all the resources of a lover's +mind were called up, to enable him to face the evil that awaited him. +But all was in vain--he found it impossible to proceed. + +"I am rejected," he muttered to himself, with a sigh; "a cottager's +dochter has refused the Laird o' Burnbank; but her cauldness an' cruelty +mak me like her the mair. Effie Mearns, Effie Mearns! hoo little do ye +ken what commotion ye hae produced in this puir, burstin heart! But, +though ye winna hae me, I winna desert yer faither. Hame, Donald, to +Burnbank." And, as he pulled up the bridle with his left hand, he wiped +away the tears that had collected in his eyes, and, casting many a look +back to the cottage, cantered slowly home. + +These proceedings of the Laird had been noticed by Betty Mearns from the +window of the cottage, and she and David were at no loss to guess the +cause of them. They knew his timid, sensitive disposition, and truly +attributed his return to his not seeing Effie at the door waiting for +him as usual. Apprehensions now seized the good mother, that the Laird +might withdraw his attentions and assistance from the family, the result +of which would be nothing but misery and ruin; as David's fractured +limbs were yet far from being healed, and a long period must yet pass +before he could earn a penny to keep in their lives. These fears were +increased by a third and a fourth day having passed without a visit +from the Laird, who had, notwithstanding, been seen reconnoitering as +usual at a distance from the cottage. Effie herself saw how matters +stood, and learned, from the looks of her father and mother, sentiments +they seemed unwilling to declare. She was still much convulsed with the +struggle of the antagonist duties, wishes, emotions, and fears, that +rose in her mind; and the apprehensions of her parents, which she +considered well-founded, added to her sorrow an additional source of +anguish. + +"This house," said David, at last overcome by his feelings, "has become +mair like an hospital that has lost its mortification than an honest +man's cottage. Effie sits greetin an' sabbin the hail day, an' you, +Betty, look forward to starvation, wi' the gruesome face o' despair. I +am unhappy mysel, besides being an invalid. What is this to end in? What +are we to do? How are we to live withoot meat, now that Burnbank, guid +man, has deserted us?" + +"There has come naething frae Burnbank for five days," replied Betty; +"an' the siller I got frae the guid auld man, the last time he was here, +I payed awa i' the village for necessaries I had taen on afore we got +that help. Our girnel winna haud oot lang against three mous; an' if +Laird Cherrytrees bides awa muckle langer, I see naething for it but to +beg." + +The tear started to the eye of David. He looked at Effie. She wept and +sobbed, and covered her face with her hands. + +"Effie, woman," said David, "a' this micht hae been averted if ye had +just gane to the door, an' welcomed the auld Laird, as ye were wont. +He's a blate man, though a guid carl; an' he has, nae doot, thocht he +was unwelcome when yer auld practice o' waitin for him was gien up." + +"I tauld her that, David," said Betty, "an' pressed her to gang to the +door, though it was only to gie the blate Laird a glimpse o' her, whilk +was a' he wanted to bring him in; but she only sabbed the mair. Unhappy +hour she first saw that callant, wha may now be dead or married for +ought she kens!--an yet for his sake maun a hail family dree the dule o' +this day's misery. Effie, woman, can ye no forget are wha hasna thocht +ye worth the trouble o tellin ye, by ae scrape o' his pen, whether he be +i' the land o' the livin!" + +A sob was the only reply Effie could make to this appeal. + +"I hae tauld Effie," said David, "what wad save us frae the ruin an' +starvation that stare us i' the face; but my mind's made up to suffer to +the end, though I should lie here wi' my broken banes, and dree the +pains o' hunger, rather than force my dochter to marry a man against her +ain choice. But, O Effie, woman, wad ye see yer puir faither, broken as +he is baith in mind and body, lie starvin here in his bed, wi' nae mair +pooer to earn a bite o' bread than the unspeaned bairn, and no mak a +sacrifice to save him?" + +"Ay, faither," replied Effie, "I wad dee to save ye." + +"But deein winna save either him or me," said Betty. "Naething will hae +that effect but yer agreein to be the leddy o' the braw hoose an' braid +acres o' Burnbank. Wae's me! what a difference between that condition, +wi' servants at yer nod, an' a' the comforts an' luxuries o' life at yer +command, an', abune a', the pooer o' makin happy yer auld faither and +mother, an' this awfu prospect o' dreein the very warst an' last o' a' +the evils o' life--want an' auld age--ill-matched pair! Effie, woman, my +bonny bairn, hae ye nae love in yer heart, but for Lewie Campbell? Wad +ye, for his sake, see a' this misfortune fa' on the heads o' yer +parents, whom, by the laws o' God an' man, ye are bound to honour, +serve, and obey?" + +It was easier for Effie to say she would die to save her parents, than +that she would comply with the wish of her mother; but the feeling +appeal of her parent increased her agony, which induced another paroxysm +of hysterical sobs--the only answer she could yet make to her mother. + +"Effie doesna care for either you or me, Betty," said David, "or she wad +hae little hesitation aboot marryin a guid, fresh, clean, rich, auld +man, to save her faither and mother frae poverty and starvation. I see +nae great sacrifice i' the matter. Her young heart mayna rejoice i' the +pleasures o' a daft love, but her guid sense will be gratified by a +feelin o' duty far aboon the vain, frawart freaks o' a silly, giddy, +youthfu passion. Let her refuse Laird Cherrytrees, an' when Lewie +Campbell comes hame, the owrecome bread o' the funeral o' her faither +may grace a waddin bought wi' the price o' his life." + +"Dinna speak that way, faither," cried Effie, lifting up her hands; "I +canna stand that. You said ye wadna force me, an' ye _are_ forcin me. +Oh, my puir heart, wha or what will support ye when grief for my parents +turns me against ye? Faither, faither, when I am dead, Laird Cherrytrees +will be again yer friend. A little time will do't: will ye no wait?" + +"Hunger waits only eight days, as the sayin is," replied he, "an ye'll +live mair than that time, I hope an' trow. I will be dead afore ye, +Effie, an' ye'll hae the consolation, as ye maybe drap a tear on the +mossy grey stane that covers the Mearnses i' the kirkyard o' our parish, +to think, if ye shouldna like to say, in case ye micht be heard--though +thinkin an' speakin's a' ane to God--that 'that stane was lifted ten +years suner than it micht hae been, because I liked Lewie Campbell +better than auld Laird Cherrytrees.'" + +"An' it's no likely," said the mother, "that I wad be there to hear +Effie mak sae waefu a speech. If I binna lyin wi' the Mearns, I'll be +wi' the Cherrytrees o' Mossnook--nae relations o' the Burnbanks, though +maybe as guid a family. But, afore I'm mixed wi' the dust o' that auld +hoose, Effie--an' it mayna be lang--ye may join the twa Cherrytrees, an' +let the gravestanes o' the Mearns, as weel as the Mossnooks, lie yet a +score years langer withoot bein moved. It's a pity to disturb the lang +grass. Its sough i' the nichtwind keeps the bats frae pickin the auld +banes, an' maybe it may save yer mother's, if ye send her there afore +her time." + +Effie's feelings could no longer withstand these appeals. Her sobbing +ceased suddenly; and, starting up from her seat, she looked to the old +clock that stood against the wall of the cottage. She noticed that it +was upon the hour of the Laird's usual visit. + +"It is twelve o'clock, faither," she said, firmly--"this hoor decides +the fate o' Effie Mearns." + +Walking to the door, she placed herself in the position she used to +occupy when she intended to welcome her father's friend. Now she was to +welcome a husband. Laird Cherrytrees was, as might have been expected, +allowing Donald to take his liberty of the road-side, grazing while he +was busy reconnoitering the cottage. The moment he saw the form of Effie +standing where he had for several long days wished to see her, he pulled +up Donald's bridle with the alacrity of youth, and, striking his sides +with his unarmed heels, made all the speed of a bridegroom to get to his +bride. The sight of the object he had gazed upon so unceasingly for so +long a time, and whom he had strained his eyes in vain to see during +these eventful days, operated like a charm on the old lover. He +discovered at first sight the red, swollen eyes of Effie; but he was too +happy in thinking he had been successful, as he had no doubt he had, to +meditate on the struggle which produced his bliss. Having taken a long +draught of the fountain of his hopes and happiness, and feasted his eyes +on the face of the maiden, who attempted to smile through her tears, +which he did sitting on his horse, and, without speaking a word--for, +loquacious in politics or rural economy, he was mute in love--he +dismounted, while Effie, as usual, held the reins. He lost no time in +getting into his chair, falling back into it like a breathless traveller +who has at last attained the end of his journey. David and Betty, who +construed Effie's conduct into a consent, took an early opportunity, +while she was still at the door, of letting the happy Laird know that +their daughter, as they conceived, was inclined to the match. The Laird +received the intelligence as if it had been too much for mortal to bear. +He was at first beyond the vulgar habit of speech. He sighed, turned his +eyes in their sockets, groaned, and wrung his hands. On recovering +himself, he exclaimed---- + +"Whar is she, Betty? Let me see the dear creature. David, ye'll hae +Ravelrigg; it's the best o' them a'. Whan is't to be, Betty? Ye maun fix +the day; an' ye maun brak the thing to Lucy, and to Jenny Mucklewham; +for I hae nae pooer. Let me see her--let me see the sweet creature this +instant." + +Effie, at the request of her mother, came in and resumed her seat on the +three-footed stool. Her eyes were still swollen, and she looked +sorrowfully at her father. The Laird fixed his eyes on her; but his +loquacity was gone. He had not a word to say; but his "glowrin" was in +some degree changed, being accompanied by a soft smile of +self-complacency and contentment, and freed from the nervous +irritability with which he used to solicit with his eyes a look from the +object of his affections. His visit this day was shorter than it used to +be. Next day, Betty was to visit Burnbank, to arrange for the marriage. + +Meanwhile, the unfortunate girl resigned herself as a self-sacrifice +into the hands of her mother. Bound with the silken bands of filial +affection, she renounced all desire of exercising her own free-will, or +indulging in those feelings of the female heart which are deemed so +strong as to demand the sacrifice often of all other earthly +considerations. The fate of Iphiginia has occupied the pens and tongues +of pitying mortals for thousands of years. A lovely woman sacrificed for +a fair wind, doomed to have the blood that mantled in the blushing +cheeks of beauty sprinkled on the altar of a false religion, is a +spectacle which the imagination cannot contemplate without a +participation of the strongest sympathies of the heart; yet there are, +in the common every-day world we now live in, many a scene in the act of +being performed, where, though there is no bloodshed and no smoking +altar exhibited, the sacrifice is not less than that of the Grecian +victim. Our blessed, holy altar of matrimony is often, by the wayward +feelings of man--for we here say nothing of vice or corrupt +conduct--made more cruel than those of Moloch and Chiun. There is many a +bloodless Iphiginia in those days, whose sufferings are unknown and +unsung, because confined to the heart that broke over them and concealed +them in death. The young, tender, and devoted female, who, for the love +she bears to her parents, consents to intermarry with rich age, to +embrace dry bones, to extend her sympathies to churlishness, caprice, +and ill-nature, or, what is worse, to the asthmatic giggle of a +superannuated love, while all the while her heart, cheated of its +tribute and swelling with indignation, requires to be watched by her +with vigilance and firmness, the cruelty of which she herself +feels--presents a form of self-sacrifice possessing claims on the pity +of mankind beyond those of the boasted self-immolation of ancient +devotees. + +The silence and dejection of our bride were construed, by her parents, +into that seemly and becoming sedateness which sensible young women +think it proper to assume on the eve of so important a change in their +condition as marriage; while the happy bridegroom had come to that time +of life when he is pleased with submission, though it be expressed +through tears. No chemical menstruum has so much power in the +dissolution of the hardest metals as the self-complacency of an old +lover has in construing, according to his wishes, the actions, words, or +looks of the young woman who is destined to be his bride. Silence and +tears are expressive of happiness as well as of grief; and, so long as +the desire of the ancient philosopher is uncomplied with by the gods, +and there is no window to the heart, that organ in the young victim may +break while the sexagenarian bridegroom is enjoying the imputed silent, +restrained happiness of the object of his ill-timed affection. + +The sadness and melancholy of the apparently-resigned Effie Mearns had +no effect on the noise and show of the preparations for her marriage +with her old lover. The marriages of old men are well known to be +celebrated with higher bugle notes from the trumpet of fame than any +others. A sumptuous dinner was to be given to the neighbouring lairds, +and the cotters were to be fed and regaled on the green opposite to the +mansion. Dancing and music were to add their charms to the gay scene; +and it was even alleged that the light of a bonfire would lend its +peculiar aid, in raising the joy of the guests, predisposed to hilarity +by plenteous potations, to the proper height suited to the conquest of +the old bridegroom over, at once, a young woman and old Time. + +For days previous to the eventful one, Effie Mearns was not heard to +open her lips. She looked on all the gay preparations for her marriage +as if they had been the mournful acts of the undertaker employed in +laying the silver trimming on the coffin lid of a lover. The bedside of +her sick parent, who was still unable to rise, was the place where she +sat "shrouded in silence." She heard the conversations of her father and +mother about the progress of the preparations, without exhibiting so +much interest as to show that she understood them. Misgivings crossed +the minds of the old couple, and brought tears to their eyes, as they +contemplated the animated corpse that sat there, waiting the nod of the +master of ceremonies, and ready to perform the part assigned to it in +the forthcoming orgies of mournful joy; but they had gone too far to +recede, and it was even a subject of satisfaction to them that the +period of the celebration was so near, for otherwise they might have had +reason to fear that their daughter would not have survived the +intermediate time. When the bridegroom called, his ears were alarmed by +the voices of the parents, who saw the necessity of endeavouring to hide +the condition of their daughter; and he was satisfied, if he got, free +and unrestrained, "a feast of the eyes." His love was still expressed by +silent gazing; for it was too deep in his old heart for either words or +tears; if, indeed, there was moisture enough in the seat of his +affection for the suppliance of the _softest_ expression of the soft +passion. + +The eventful day arrived. The marriage was to take place in the cottage, +where David Mearns still lay confined to bed. The sick man wore a +marriage favour attached to the breast of his shirt!--for Laird +Cherrytrees would be contented with no less a demonstration of his +participation in his unparalleled happiness. The still silent bride +_submitted_ passively to all the acts of her nimble dressers, whose +laugh seemed to strike her ears like funeral bells; yet she tried--poor +victim! to smile, though the clouded beam came through a tear which, by +its steadfastness, seemed to belong to the orb. The bridegroom came at +the very instant when he ought to have come--the hand of the clock not +having had time to leave the mark of notation. He was dressed in the +style of his earliest days, with cocked hat, laced coat, and a sky-blue +vest, embroidered in the richest manner; while a new wig, ordered from +the metropolis, imparted to him the freshness of youth. His cheek was +flushed with the blood which joy had forced, for a moment, from where it +was more needed, at the drying fountain of life; and his eye spoke a +happiness which his parched tongue could not have achieved, without +causing shame even to himself. Everything was new, spruce, perking, +self-complacent. The clergyman next came, and all was prepared. + +Throughout all this time and all these preparations, not the slightest +change had been observed on the bride. After she was dressed, she took +her seat again, silently by the side of her father's sickbed, where she +sat like a statue. The ceremony was now to commence, and she stood up, +when required by the clergyman, as if she obeyed the command of an +executioner. It was noticed that she seemed to incline to be as near as +possible to her father's bed; and her unwillingness or inability to come +forward forced the clergyman and the bridegroom some paces from the +situation they at first held. The ceremony proceeded till it came to the +part where the consent of the parties is asked. The happy bridegroom +pronounced his response, quick, sharp, and with an air of conceit, which +brought a smile to the faces of the parties present. There was now a +pause for the consent of the bride. All eyes were fixed on her +death-like face. A severe struggle was going on in her bosom; yet her +countenance was unmoved, and no one conjectured that she suffered more +than sensitive females often do in her situation. The clergyman repeated +his question. There was still a pause--the eyes of all were riveted on +her. "I _canna_, I _canna_!" at last she exclaimed, in a voice of agony, +and fell back on the bed--a corpse! + +Six months after the death of Effie Mearns, Lucy Cherrytrees was +married, without faint or swoon, to Lewis Campbell, who returned home, +in spite of his reported death. The union was against the consent of the +Laird, who soon died of either a broken heart or old age--no doctor +could have told which. + +[Footnote 1: This story will suggest the remembrance of a popular ballad, but the +similarity is casual; for the circumstances are here true, if they may +not be found of every-day occurrence somewhere about the temple of +Mammon.--ED.] + + + + +GLEANINGS OF THE COVENANT. + + + + +XIV.--JAMES RENWICK. + + +In the times in which we live, party spirit is carried very far. Many +honest tradesmen, merchants, and shopkeepers, are ruined by their votes +at elections. The ordinary intercourse of social life is obstructed and +deranged. Friends go up to the polling station with friends, but +separate there, and become, it may be, the most inveterate enemies. +This, our later reformation of 1832, has cost us much; but our +sufferings are nothing to those which marked the two previous +reformations from Popery and Prelacy. In the one instance, fire and +faggot were the ordinary means adopted for defending political +arrangements; in the other, the gallows and the maiden did the same +work, and the boots and the thumbikins acted as ministering engines of +torture. The whole of society was convulsed; men's blood boiled in their +veins at the revolting sights which were almost daily obtruding upon +their attention; and their judgments being greatly influenced by their +feelings, it is not to be wondered at that they should, in a few +instances, have overshot, as it were, the mark--have sacrificed their +lives to the support of opinions which appear now not materially +different from those which their enemies pressed upon their acceptance. +It is a sad mistake to suppose that the friends of Presbytery, during +the fearful twenty-eight years' persecution of Charles and James, died +in the support of certain doctrines and forms of church government +merely. With these were, unhappily, or rather, as things have turned +out, fortunately, combined, political or civil liberty, the +establishment and support of a supreme power, vested in King, Lords, +and Commons--instead of being vested, by usurpation, merely in the King +alone. By avoiding to call Parliaments, and by obtaining supplies of +money from France and otherwise, the two last of the Stuart Despots had, +in fact, broken the compact of Government, and had exposed themselves +all along, through the twenty-eight years of persecution, to +dethronement for high treason. This was the strong view taken by those +who fought and who fell at Bothwell Bridge, and this was the view taken +by nine-tenths of the inhabitants of Scotland--of the descendants and +admirers of Bruce and Wallace--of Knox and Carstairs. James Renwick, the +last of the martyrs in the cause of religion and liberty, was executed +in Edinburgh in his twenty-sixth year. He was a young man of liberal +education, conducted both at the college of Edinburgh, and Groningen, +abroad--of the most amiable disposition, and the most unblemished moral +character--yet, simply because he avowed, and supported, and publicly +preached doctrines on which, in twelve months after his execution, the +British Government was based, he was adjudged to the death, and +ignominiously executed in the presence of his poor mother and other +relatives, as well as of the Edinburgh public. Mr Woodrow, in his +history of this man's life, alludes to some papers which he had seen, +containing notices of Mr Renwick's trials and hair-breadth escapes; +prior to his capture and execution--which, however, he refrains from +giving to the public. It so happens that, from my acquaintance with a +lineal descendent of the last of the Martyrs, I have it in my power, in +some measure, to supply the deficiency; his own note, or +memorandum-book, being still in existence, though it never has been, nor +ever will, probably, be published. + +It was in the month of January 1688, that Mr Renwick was preaching, +after nightfall, to a few followers, at Braid Craigs, in the +neighbourhood of Edinburgh. The night was stormy--a cold east wind, with +occasional blasts of snow--whilst the moon, in her second quarter, +looked out, at intervals, on plaids and bonnets nestled to the leeward +of rocks and furze. It was a piteous sight to view rational and immortal +creatures reduced to a state upon the level with the hares and the +foxes. Renwick discoursed to them from the point of a rock which +protruded over the lee side of the Craigieknowe. His manner was solemn +and impressive. He was a young man of about twenty-five years of age; +and his mother, Elspeth Carson, sat immediately before him--an old woman +of threescore and upwards--in her tartan plaid and velvet hood. Her son +had been born to a larger promise, and had enjoyed an excellent academic +education; and much it had originally grieved the old woman's heart to +find all her hopes of seeing him minister of her native parish of +Glencairn, blasted; but his conscience would not allow him to conform; +and she had followed him in his wanderings and field-preachings, through +Ayrshire, Renfrewshire, and all along by the Pentland Hills, to +Edinburgh, where a sister of hers was married, and lived in a +respectable way on the Castle Hill. This evening, after psalm-singing +and prayer, Mr. Renwick had chosen for his text these words, in the +fourth verse of the eighteenth chapter of the book of Revelation--"Come +out of her, my people." The kindly phrase, "my people," was beautifully +insisted upon. + +"There ye are," said Renwick, stretching out his hand to the darkening +sleet; "there ye are, a poor, shivering, fainting, despised, persecuted +remnant, whom the great ones despise, and the men of might, and of war, +and of blood, cut down with their swords, and rack with their tortures. +Ye are, like ye'r great Master, despised and rejected of men; but the +Master whom ye serve, and whom angels serve with veiled faces, and even +He who created and supports the sun, the moon, and the stars, +He--blessed be His name!--is not ashamed to acknowledge ye, under all +your humiliation, as _His_ people. 'Come out of her,' says He, '_my +people_.' O, sirs, this is a sweet and a loving invitation. Ye are '_His +people_,' the sheep of His pasture, after all; and who would have +thought it, that heard ye, but yesterday, denounced at the cross of +Edinburgh as traitors, and rebels, and non-conformists, as the +offscourings of the earth, the filth and the abomination in the eyes and +in the nostrils of the great and the mighty? 'Come out!' says the text, +and out ye have come--'done ere ye bade, guid Lord!' Ye may truly and +reverentially say--Here we are, guid Lord; we have come out from the +West Port, and from the Grassmarket, and from the Nether Bow, and from +the Canongate--out we have come, because we are thy people. We know thy +voice, and thy servants' voice, and a stranger and a hireling, with his +stipend and his worldly rewards, will we not follow; but we will listen +to him whose reward is with him; whose stipend is Thy divine +approbation; whose manse is the wilderness; and whose glebe land is the +barren rock and the shelterless knowe. Come out of _her_. There _she_ +sits," (pointing towards Edinburgh, now visible in the scattered rays of +the moon,) "there she sits, like a lady, in her delicacies, and her +drawing-rooms, and her ball-rooms, and her closetings, and her +abominations. Ye can almost hear the hum of her many voices on the wings +of the tempest. There she sits in her easy chair, stretching her feet +downwards, from west to east, from castle to palace! But she has lost +her first love, and has deserted her covenanted husband. She hath gone +astray--she hath gone astray!--and He who made her hath denounced +her--He whose she was in the day of her betrothment, hath said--She is +no longer mine; 'come out of her, my people'--be not misled by her +witcheries, and her dalliance, and her smiles--be not terrified by her +threats, and cruelties, and her murderings--she is drunk, she is +drunk--and with the most dangerous and intoxicating beverage, too--she +is drunk with the blood of the saints. When shipwrecked and famishing +sailors kill each other, and drink the blood, it is written that they +immediately become mad, and, uttering all manner of blasphemies, expire! +Thus it is with the 'Lady of the rock'--she is now in her terrible +blasphemies, and will, by and by, expire in her frenzy. And who sits +upon her throne?--even the bloody Papist, who misrules these unhappy +lands--he, the usurper of a throne from which by law he is +debarred--even the cruel and Papistical _Duke_, whom men, in their folly +or in their fears, denominate 'KING'--he, too, is doomed--the decree +hath gone forth, and he will perish with her, because he would not _come +out_." + +"Will he, indeed, Mr Bletherwell? But there are some here who must +perish first." So said the wily and infuriated Claverhouse, as he poured +in his men by a signal from the adjoining glen, (where the lonely +hermitage now stands in its silent beauty,) and in an instant had made +Renwick, and about ten of his followers--the old woman, his mother, +included--prisoners. This was done in an instant, for the arrangements +had been made prior to the hour of meeting, and Claverhouse, attired in +plaid and bonnet, had actually sat during the whole discourse, listening +to the speaker till once he should utter something treasonable, when, by +rising on a rock, and shaking the corners of his plaid, he brought the +troop up from their hiding-places, amidst the whins and the broom by +which the glen was at that time covered. Renwick, seeing all resistance +useless, and indeed forbidding his followers, who were not unprovided +for the occasion, to fire upon the military, marched onwards, in +silence, towards Edinburgh. As they passed along by the land now +denominated "Canaan," they halted at a small public-house kept by a +woman well known at the time by the nickname of "Red-herrings," on +account of her making frequent use of these viands to stimulate a desire +for her strong drink. Over her door-way, indeed, a red-herring and a +foaming tankard were rudely sketched on a sign-board, (like cause and +effect, or mere sequence!) in loving unity. The prisoners were +accommodated with standing-room in Tibby's kitchen; while the soldiers, +with their leader, occupied the ben-room and the only doorway--thus +securing their prisoners from all possibility of escape. Refreshments, +such as Tibby could muster, consisting principally of brandy and ale, +mixed up in about equal proportions of each, were distributed amongst +the soldiers--who were, in fact, from their long exposure in the open +air, in need of some such stimulants; whilst the poor prisoners were +only watched, and made a subject of great merriment by the soldiers. The +halt, however, was very temporary; but, temporary as it was, it enabled +several of the members of the field-meeting to reach Edinburgh, and to +apprise their friends, and what is termed the mob of the streets, of the +doings at "Braid Craigs." Onwards advanced the party--soldiers before +and behind, and their captives in the middle--till they reached the West +Port, at the foot of the Grassmarket. It was near about ten o'clock, and +the streets were in a buz with idle 'prentices, bakers' boys, +shoemakers' lads, &c. The march along the Grassmarket seemed to alarm +Clavers, for he halted his men, made them examine their firelocks, +spread themselves all around the prisoners, and, advancing himself in +front, and on his famous black horse, with drawn sword and holster +pistols, seemed to set all opposition at defiance. The party had already +gained the middle of that narrow and winding pass, the West Bow, when a +waggon, heavily loaded with stones, was hurled downwards upon the party, +with irresistible force and rapidity--Clavers's horse shied, and escaped +the moving destruction; but it came full force into the very midst of +the soldiers, who, from a natural instinct, turned off into open doors +and side closes; in this they were imitated by the poor prisoners, who +were better acquainted with the localities of the West Bow than the +soldiery. In an instant afterwards, a dense and armed mob rushed +headlong down the street, carrying all before them, and shouting aloud, +"Renwick for ever! Renwick for ever!" This was taken as a hint by the +prisoners, who, in an instant, had mixed with the mob; or sunk, as it +were, through the earth, into dark passages and cellars. "Fire!" was +Claverhouse's immediate order, so soon as the human torrent had reached +him; and _fire_ some of the soldiers did, but not to the injury of any +of the prisoners, but to that of a person--a bride, as it turned +out--who, in her curiosity or fear, had looked from a window above; she +was shot through the head, and died instantly. But, in the meantime, the +rescue was complete--Claverhouse, afraid manifestly of being shot from a +window, galloped up the brae, and made the best of his way to the +Castle, there to demand fresh troops to quell what he called an +insurrection: whilst, in the meantime, the men, after a very temporary +search or pursuit, marched onwards, with their muskets presented to the +open windows, in case any head should protrude. But no heads were to be +seen; and the soldiers escaped to the guard-house (to the Heart of +Midlothian) in safety. Here, however, a scene ensued of a most +heart-rending nature. Scarcely had the men grounded their muskets in the +guard-house, when a seeming maniac rushed upon them with an open knife, +and cut right and left like a fury. He was immediately secured, but not +till after many of the soldiers were bleeding profusely. They thrust him +immediately, bound hand and foot, into the black-hole, to await the +decision of next morning; but next morning death had decided his +fate--he had manifestly died of apoplexy, brought on by extreme +excitement. His mother, who had followed her son when he issued forth +deprived seemingly of reason, having lost sight of him in the darkness, +had learned next morning of his fate and situation. She came, +therefore, with the return of light, to the prison door, and had been +waiting hours before it was opened. At last Clavers arrived, and ordered +the maniac to be brought into his presence, and that of the Court, for +examination. But it was all over; and the distorted limbs and features +of a young and handsome man were all the mark by which a fond mother +could certify the identity of an only son. From this poor woman's +examination, it turned out that her son was to have been married on that +very day to a young woman whom he had long loved; but that he had been +called to see her corpse, after she was shot by the soldiery, and had +rushed out in the frantic and armed manner already described. The poor +woman, from that hour, became melancholy; refused to take food; and, +always calling upon the names of her "bonny murdered bairns," was found +dead one morning in her bed. + +In the meantime, James Renwick had made the best of his way down the +Cowgate, and across, by a narrow wynd, into the Canongate, where a +friend of his kept a small public-house. He had gone to bed; but his +wife was still at the bar, and two men sat drinking in a small side +apartment. He asked immediately for her husband, and was recognised, but +with a wink and a look which but too plainly spoke her suspicion of the +persons who were witnesses of his entrance. Hereupon he called for some +refreshment, as if he had been a perfect stranger, and, seating himself +at a small table, began to read in a little note-book which he took from +his side pocket--"four, five, six, seven--yes, seven," said he--"and it +has cost me seven pounds my journey to Edinburgh." This he said so +audibly as to be heard by the persons who were sitting in the adjoining +box, that they might regard him as a stranger, and unconnected with +Edinburgh. But, as he afterwards expressed it, he deeply repented of the +attempt to mislead. The Lord, he said, had justly punished him for +distrusting his power to extricate him, as he had already done, from his +troubles. The men, after one had accosted him in a friendly tone about +the weather, or some indifferent subject, took their departure; and Mrs +Chalmers and he, now joined by the husband, enjoyed one hour's canny +crack ere bedtime, over some warm repast. The whole truth was made known +to them; but, though perfectly trustworthy themselves, they expressed a +doubt of their customers, who were known to be little better than hired +informers, who went about to public-houses, at the expense of the +Government, listening and prying if they could find any evidence against +the poor Covenanters. Next day, even before daylight, the house was +surrounded by armed men, and Renwick was demanded by name. Mr Chalmers +did not deny that he was in the house, but said that he came to him as +to a distant relation, and that he was no way connected with his +doctrines or opinions. In the meantime, Renwick was aroused, and had +resolved to sell his life as dearly as possible. He was a young and an +active man, and trusted, as he owned with great regret afterwards, to +his strength and activity, rather than to the mercy and the wisdom of +his Maker. So, rushing suddenly down stairs, and throwing himself, +whilst discharging a pistol, (which, however, did no harm), into the +street, he was out of sight in a twinkling; but, in passing along, his +hat fell off; and this circumstance drew the attention and suspicion of +every one whom he passed, to his appearance. One foot, in particular, +pressed hard upon him from behind, and a voice kept constantly crying, +"Stop thief!--stop thief!" He ran down a blind alley, on the other side +of the Canongate, and was at last taken, without resistance, by three +men, one of whom--and it was the one who had all along pursued him--was +the person who had accosted him last night in the public-house, +respecting the weather. He was immediately carried to prison, where he +remained--visited indeed by his mother--till next assizes, when he was +tried, condemned, and afterwards executed--the Last of the Martyrs! + +The conversation which he had with his mother, his public confessions of +faith, and adherence to the covenanted cause, as well as his last +address, drowned at the time in the sound of drums--all these are given +at full length in Woodrow, (the edition of Dr Burns of Paisley), to +which I must refer the reader who is curious upon such subjects. In this +valuable work will likewise be found the inscription placed upon a very +handsome cippus, or monument of stone, erected to his memory. We give it +to the reader. There is another, if we mistake not, in the Greyfriars of +Edinburgh, somewhat in the same style. They are both equally simple and +touching. + + In memory of the late + REVEREND JAMES RENWICK, + the last who suffered to the death for attachment to the + Covenanted Cause of Christ + in Scotland. + Born near this spot, 15th February, 1662, + and executed at the + Grassmarket, Edinburgh, + 1688. + "The righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance." + Ps. cxli. and 6. + Erected by subscription, 1828. + +The late James Hastings, Esq. gave a donation of the ground. The +subscriptions, amounting to about L100, were collected at large from +Christians of all denominations; and the gentleman who took the most +active part in suggesting and carrying through the undertaking, was the +Rev. Gavin Mowat, minister of the Reformed Presbyterian Congregation at +Whithorn, and formerly at Scar-brig, in Penpont, Dumfries-shire. The +monument is placed upon the farm of Knees, at no great distance from the +farm-house where the martyr was born. It stands upon an eminence, from +which it may be seen at the distance of several miles down the glen, in +which the village of Monyaive is situated. It was visited last summer by +the author of this narrative; when the resolution, which has now been +very imperfectly fulfilled, was taken. + + + + +XV.--OLD ISBEL KIRK. + + +Isbel Kirk lived in Pothouse, Closeburn, in that very house where that +distinguished scholar, the late Professor Hunter of St Andrew's, was +born. She had never been married, and lived in a small lonely cottage, +with no companions but her cat and cricket, which chirped occasionally +from beneath the hudstone, against which her peat-fire was built. There +sat old, and now nearly blind, Isbel Kirk, spinning or carding wool, +crooning occasionally an old Scotch song, or, it might be, one of +David's psalms, and enjoying at intervals her pipe, a visit from her +next neighbour, Nancy Nivison, or her champit-potatoes--a luxury which +the west country, and that alone, has hitherto enjoyed. Two old Irish +women had settled some time before this on the skirts of the opposite +brae, where they had built a small turf cabin, and lived nobody could +well tell how. They were generally understood to make a kind of +precarious living, by going about the country periodically, giving +_pigs_ or crockery-ware in exchange for wool. Isbel Kirk was a most +simple, honest creature, living on little, but procuring that little by +her industry in spinning sale yarn, weaving garters, and using her +needle occasionally, to assist the guidwife of Gilchristland in +shirt-making for a large family. But the M'Dermots were the aversion of +everybody, and seldom visited even by the guidman of Barmoor, on whose +farm, or rather on the debatable skirts of it, they had sat down, almost +in spite of his teeth. He was a humane man; and, though he loved not +such visitors, yet he tolerated the nuisance, as his wife reckoned them +skilled in curing children's diseases, and in spaeing the young women's +fortunes. John Watson pastured sheep, where corn harvests now wave in +abundance; and his flocks spread about to the doors of the M'Dermots and +Isbel Kirk. These flocks gradually decreased, and much suspicion was +attached to his Irish and heathenish neighbours, for they attended no +place of worship, not even the conformed Curate's; but there was no +proof against them. At last, a search was suddenly and secretly +instituted under the authority of the Laird of Closeburn; and, although +much wool was found, still there were no entire fleeces, nor any means +left of bringing it home to the M'Dermots. + +"Na, na, guidman," said the elder of the two harridans. "Na--ye needna +stir aboot the kail-pot in that way--ye'll find naething there but a +fine bit o' the dead braxy I gat frae the guidman o' Gilchristland, for +helping the mistress wi' her kirn, that wadna mak butter; but there are +folks that ye dinna suspect, and that are maybe no that far off either, +wha could very weel tell ye gin they liked whar yer braw gimmer yows +gang till." + +Being pushed to be more particular, they were seemingly compelled at +last to intimate that auld Isbel Kirk, she and her friend, Nanny +Nivison, could give an account of the stolen sheep, if they liked. The +guidman would not credit such allegations; but the old women persisted +in their averment, and even offered to give the guidman of Barmoor +occular demonstration of the guilt of the twa _saunts_, as they called +them. A few days passed, and still a lamb or an old sheep would +disappear--they melted away gradually, and the guidman began to think +that his flocks must be bewitched, and that the devil himself must keep +a kitchen somewhere about the Chaise Craig, over which Archy Tait had +often seen the _old gentleman_ driving six-in-hand about twelve o'clock +at night. Returning, therefore, one morning to the M'Dermots, and +renewing the conversation respecting Isbel Kirk and Nanny Nivison, it +was agreed that one of the Irish sisterhood should walk over to Isbel's +with him next forenoon, and that she would give him evidence of the fate +of his flocks. Isbel was sitting before her door, in the sunshine of a +fine spring morning, when the guidman and Esther M'Dermot arrived. She +welcomed them kindly into her small but clean and neat cottage; and, +with all the despatch which her blindness would permit of, dusted for +their use an old-fashioned chair, and a round stool, which served the +double purpose of stool and table. The conversation went on as usual +about the weather, and the last sufferer in the cause of the Covenant, +when Esther M'Dermot went into a dark corner, and forthwith drew out +into the guidman's view, and to his infinite astonishment, a sheep's +head, which bore the well-known mark of the farm on its ears. + +"Look there, guidman," said Esther, "isna that proof positive of the way +in which your braw hirsel is disposed of? By Jasus and the holy St +Patrick! and here is a foot too, and twa horns!" + +Poor Isbel Kirk could scarcely be made to apprehend the meaning of all +this--indeed she could scarcely see the evidences of her guilt--and +assured the guidman, in the most unequivocal manner imaginable, that she +was innocent as the child unborn; indeed, she said, what should she do +with dead sheep, or how should she get hold of them, seeing she was old +and blind, and had not enjoyed a bit of mutton, or any other flesh, +meat, since the new year? + +"Ay," responded old Esther; "but ye hae friends that can help ye; dinna +I whiles see, after dark, twa tall figures stealing o'er your way frae +the Whitside linn yonder! I'se warrant they dinna live on deaf nits, +after lying a' day in a dark and damp cave." Isbel held up her hands in +prayer, entreating the Lord to be merciful to her and to his ain +inheritance, and to discomfit the plans of his and her enemies. + +"Ye may pray," said Elspat, "as ye like, but ye'll no mak the guidman +here distrust his ain een, wi' yer praying and yer Whiggery." This last +suggestion of the nightly visitors staggered Mr Watson not a little; he +well knew how friendly old Isbel was to the poor Covenanters, and +brought himself to conclude, under the weighty and conclusive evidence +before him, that Isbel might have persuaded herself that she was +rendering God good service by feeding his chosen people with the best of +his flock. Isbel could only protest her innocence and ignorance of the +way in which these evidences against her came there; whilst the guidman +and Esther took their leave--he threatening that the matter should not +rest where it was, and the old Irish jade pretending to commiserate +Isbel on the unfortunate discovery. + +Next morning, the pothouse was surrounded, and carefully searched by a +detachment of Lag's men, to whom information of Isbel's harbouring +rebels had been (the reader may guess how) communicated. Having been +unsuccessful in their search, they put the poor blind creature to the +torture, because she would not discover, or, perhaps, could not reveal, +the retreat of the persecuted people. A burning match was put betwixt +her fingers, and she was firmly tied to a bedpost, whilst the fire was +blown into a flame by one of the soldiers. Not a feature in Isbel's +countenance changed; but her lips moved, and she was evidently deeply +absorbed in devotional exercise. + +"Come, come, old Bleary," said one, "out with it! or we will roast you +on the coals, like a red herring, for Beelzebub's breakfast." + +"Ye can only do what ye're permitted to do," said the poor sufferer, +now writhing with pain, and suffering all the agonies of martyrdom. "Ye +may burn this poor auld body, and reduce it to its natural dust; but ye +will never hear my tongue betray any of the poor persecuted remnant." + +It is horrible to relate, but the fact cannot be disputed, that these +monsters stood by and blew the match till the poor creature's fingers +were actually burnt off--yet she only once cried for mercy; but, when +they mentioned the conditions, she fainted; and thus nature relieved her +from her sufferings. When she came again to herself, she found that they +had killed the only living creature which she could call companion, and +actually hung the body of the dead cat around her neck; but they were +gone, and her hands were untied. + +During the ensuing night a watch was set upon poor Isbel's house, +thinking, as the persecutors did, that they would catch the nightly +visitants, who were yet ignorant of their friend's sufferings in their +behalf. The men lay concealed among brackens, on the bank opposite to +the pothouse, and near to Staffybiggin, the residence of the M'Dermots. +To their surprise, a figure, about twelve o'clock, came warily and +stealthily around a flock of sheep which lay ruminating in the hollow. +It was a female figure, if not the devil in a female garb. They +continued to keep silent and lie still. At last they saw the whole flock +driven over and across a thick-set bush of fern. One of the sheep +immediately began to struggle; but it was manifestly held by the +foot--in a few instants, two figures were seen dragging it into +M'Dermot's door. This naturally excited their surprise, and, rushing +immediately into the hut, they found the two old women in the act of +preparing in a pit--which, during the day time, was concealed--mutton +for their own use. The murder was now out. These wretched women had been +in the habit, for some years, of supplying themselves from the Barmoor +flocks; the one lying flat down upon her back amongst the furze, and +the other driving the sheep over her breast. Thus the sister who caught, +had an opportunity of selecting; and the best of the wedders had thus +from time to time disappeared. + +Poor Isbel Kirk!--her innocence was now fully established; but it was +too late. Her kind friend Nanny Nivison attended her in her last +illness, and the guidman of Barmoor paid every humane attention. But the +ruffians of a mistaken and ill-advised government had deranged her +nervous system. Besides, the burn never properly healed; it at last +mortified, and she died almost insensible, either of pain or presence. +Her soul seemed to have left its frail tabernacle ere life was extinct. +The example we have here given is taken from that humble source, which +the historian leaves open to the gleaner. Indeed, the histories of those +times give but a very imperfect idea of the atrocities of that +remarkable period. The cottage door must be opened to get at the truth; +but the stately political historian seldom enters. + + + + +XVI.--THE CURLERS. + + +Winter 1684-5 was, like the last, cold, frosty, and stormy. The ice was +on lake and muir from new year's day till the month of March. Curling +was then, as it is still, the great winter amusement in the south and +west of Scotland. The ploughman lad rose by two o'clock of a frosty +morning, had the day's fodder threshed for the cattle, and was on the +ice, besom in hand, by nine o'clock. The farmer, after seeing things +right in the stable and the byre, was not long behind his servant. The +minister left his study and his M.S., his concordance, and his desk, for +the loch, and the rink, and the channel-stane. Even the laird himself +was not proof against the temptation, but often preferred full twelve +hours of rousing game on the ice, to all the fascinations of the drawing +or the billiard-room, or the study. Even the schoolmaster was incapable +of resisting the tempting and animating sound; and, at every peal of +laughter which broke upon his own and his pupils' ears, turned his eyes +and his steps towards the window which looked upon the adjoining loch; +and, at last, entirely overcome by the shout over a contested shot; off +he and his bevy swarmed, helter-skelter, across the Carse Meadow, to the +ice. From all accounts which I have heard of it, this was a notable +amongst many notable days. The factor was never in such play; the master +greatly outdid himself; the laird played hind-hand in beautiful style; +and Sutor John came up the rink "like Jehu in time o' need." Shots were +laid just a yard, right and left, before and behind the tee; shots were +taken out, and run off the ice with wonderful precision; guards, that +most ticklish of all plays, were rested just over the hog-score, so as +completely to cover the winner; inwicks were taken to a hair, and the +player's stone whirled in most gracefully, (like a lady in a country +dance), and settled, three-deep-guarded, upon the top of the tee. Chance +had her triumphs as well as good play. A random shot, driven with such +fury that the stone rebounded and split in two, deprived the opposite +side of four shots, and took the game. The sky was blue as indigo, and +the sun shot his beams over the Keir Hills in penetrating and +invigorating splendour. Old women frequented the loch with baskets; boys +and young lads skated gracefully around; the whisky-bottle did its duty; +and even the herons at the spring-wells had their necks greatly +elongated by the roaring fun. It was a capital day's sport. Little did +this happy scene exhibit of the suffering and the misery which was all +this while perpetrated by the men of violence. Clavers, the +ever-infamous, was in Wigtonshire with his Lambs; Grierson was lying in +his den of Lag, like a lion on the spring; Johnstone was on the Annan; +and Winram on the Doon; whilst Douglas was here, and there, and +everywhere, flying, like a malevolent spirit, from strath to strath, and +from hill to dale. The snow lay, and had long been lying, more than a +foot deep, crisp and white, over the bleak but beauteous wild; the sheep +were perishing for want of pasture; and many poor creatures were in +absolute want of the necessaries of life. (The potato, that true friend +of the people, had not yet made its way to any extent into Scotland). +Caves, dens, and outhouses were crowded with the persecuted flock. The +ousted ministers were still lifting up their voice in the wilderness, +and the distant hum of psalmody was heard afar amongst the hills, and by +the side of the frozen stream and the bare hawthorn. What a contrast did +all this present to the fun, frolic, and downright ecstacy of this day's +sport! But the night came, with its beef and its greens, and its song, +and its punch, and its anecdote, and its thrice-played games, and its +warm words, and its half-muttered threats, and its dispersion about +three in the morning. + +"Wha was yon stranger?" said John Harkness to Sandy Gibson, as they met +next day on the hill. "I didna like the look o' him; an' yet he played +his stane weel, an' took a great lead in the conversation. I wish he +mayna be a spy, after a'; for I never heard o' ony Watsons in +Ecclefechan, till yon creature cast up." + +"Indeed," said lang Sandy, "I didna like the creature--it got sae fou +an' impudent, late at nicht; an' then that puir haverel, Will Paterson, +cam in, an' let oot that the cave at Glencairn had been surprised, an' +the auld minister murdered. If it be na the case--as I believe it isna +hitherto--there was enough said last nicht to mak it necessary to hae +the puir, persecuted saint informed o' his danger." + +"An' that's as true," responded John; "an' I think you an' I canna do +better than wear awa wast o'er whan the sun gaes down, an' let honest +Mr Lawson ken that his retreat is known. That Watson creature--didna ye +tent?--went aff, wi' the curate, a wee afore the lave; they were heard +busy talking together, in a low tone of voice, as they went hame to the +manse. I wonder what maks the laird--wha is a perfect gentleman, an' a +friend, too, o' the Covenanted truth--keep company, on the ice, or off +it, wi' that rotten-hearted, roupit creature, the curate o' Closeburn?" + +"Indeed," replied the other, "he is sae clean daft aboot playing at +channel-stane, that, I believe, baith him, an' the dominie, an' the +factor--forby Souter Ferguson--would play wi' auld Symnie himself, +provided he was a keen and a guid shot! But it will be mirk dark--an' +there's nae moon--ere we mak Glencairn cave o't." + +John Harkness and Sandy Gibson arrived at Monyaive, in Glencairn, a +little after dark. The cave was about a mile distant from the town; and, +with the view of refreshment, as well as of concerting the best way of +avoiding suspicion, they entered a small ale-house kept by an old woman +at the farther end of the bridge. They were shewn into a narrow and +meanly-furnished apartment, and called for a bottle of the best beer, +with a suitable accompaniment of bread and cheese. The landlady, +by-and-by, was sent for, and was asked to partake of her own beverage, +and questioned, in a careless and incidental manner, respecting the +news. She looked somewhat embarrassed; and, fixing her eyes upon a +keyhole, in a door which conducted to an adjoining apartment, she said, +in a whisper-- + +"I ken brawly wha ye are, an maybe, too, what ye're after; but ye hae +need to be active, lads; for there are those in that ither room that +wadna care though a yer heads, as well as those o' some ither folks that +shall be nameless were stuck on the West Port o' Edinbro." + +In an instant, the two young farmers were _butt_ the house, and beside +Tibby Haddow's peat fire. In the course of a short, and, to all but +themselves, an inaudible conversation, they learned that Lag himself, +disguised as a common soldier, was in the next room, in close colloquy +with a person clothed in grey duffle, with a broad bonnet on his head. +From the description of the person, the two Closeburnians had no manner +of doubt that the information obtained last night, in regard to the +existence of a place of refuge in Glencairn, was now in the act of being +communicated. + +"At one o'clock!" said a well-known voice--it was that of Lag, to a +certainty. + +"Yes, at one," responded the stranger, Watson--whose voice was equally +well-known to the farmers--"at one!" And they parted--the one going +east, and the other west--and were lost in the darkness of night. + +It was now past seven, with a clear, frosty night. What was to be done? +It was manifest that the cave was betrayed--at least, that the +_whereabouts_ was known--and it was likewise necessary that this +information should be conveyed to the poor inmate. But where was he to +find a refuge, after the cave had been vacated? It struck them, in +consulting, that if they could get the old woman to be friendly and +assisting, the escape might be effected before the time evidently fixed +upon for taking the cave by surprise. This was, however, a somewhat +dangerous experiment; for, although Tibby M'Murdo was known to be +favourable--as who amongst the lower classes was not?--to the +non-conformists, yet she might not choose to run the immense risk of +ruin and even death, which might result from her knowingly giving +harbour to a rebel. So, by way of sounding the old woman--who lived in +the house by herself, her granddaughter, who was at service in the town, +only visiting her occasionally--they proposed to stay all night in the +house, as they were in hourly expectation of a wool-dealer who had made +an appointment to meet them here, but who, owing to the heavy roads, had +manifestly been detained beyond the appointed time. The old woman had +various objections to this arrangement; but was at last persuaded to +make an addition to her fire, to put half-a-dozen bottles of her best +ale on the table, with a tappit hen, and what she termed "a wee drap o' +the creature," and to retire to rest about eight o'clock, her usual +hour, they having already paid for all, and promised not to leave the +house till she rose in the morning. At this time, about eight o'clock, +the night had suddenly became dark and cloudy, and there was a strange +noise up amongst the rocks overhead. It was manifest that there was a +change of weather fast approaching. At last the snow descended, the wind +arose, and it became a perfect tempest. Next morning, there were three +human beings in Tibby's small _ben_, busily employed in discussing the +good things already purchased, as well as in higgling and bothering +about the price of wool. The weather, which had been exceedingly +boisterous all night, had again cleared up into frost, and the +inhabitants of Monyaive were busied in cutting away the accumulated snow +from their doors, when in burst old Tibby's granddaughter, and, all at +once, with exceeding animation, made the following communication:-- + +"Ay, granny, ye never heard what has taen place this last nicht. I had +it a' frae Jock Johnston. Ye ken Jock--he's oor maister's foreman, an' +unco weel acquent wi' the dragoons that lodge in the Spread Eagle. Weel, +Jock tells me that Lag was here last nicht, in disguise like, an' that +they had gotten information, frae ane o' their spies like, aboot a cave +up by yonder where some o' the puir persecuted folks is concealed; an' +that, aboot ane o'clock o' this morning--an' an awsome morning it +was--they had marched on, three abreast, through the drift, carrying +strae alang wi' them an lighted matches; an' that they gaed straight to +the cave, an' immediately summoned the puir folks to come out and be +shot; and that they only answered by a groan, which tellt them as +plainly as could be, that the puir creatures were there; and that they +immediately set fire to the straes at the mooth o' the cave, and fairly +smoked them (Jock tells me) to death. Did ye ever hear the like o't?" + +"O woman!" responded the grandmother, "but that is fearfu'!--these are +indeed fearfu' times; there is naebody sure o' their lives for +half-an-hour thegither, wha doesna gae to hear the fushionless curates!" + +At this instant, one of the dragoons drew up his horse at the door, +asking if a man, such as he described, with a blue bonnet and a grey +duffle coat, had returned late last night, or rather this morning, to +bed. Old Tibby answered, in a quavering voice, that the man mentioned +had left her house about eight o'clock, and had not yet returned. The +dragoon appeared somewhat incredulous; and, giving his horse to the girl +to hold, he dashed at once and boldly into the room, where the three +persons already mentioned were seated. The young farmers questioned +immediately the propriety of his conduct; but he drew his sword, and +swore that he would make cats' meat of the first that should lay hold +upon him. He had no sooner said so, than a man sprang upon him from the +fireside, and, striking his sword-arm down with the poker, immediately +secured his person by such means as the place and time presented. The +fellow roared like a bull, blaspheming and vociferating mightily of the +crime of arresting a king's soldier in the discharge of his duty. But he +was hurried into a concealed bed, tied firmly down with ropes and even +blankets, and made to know that, unless he was silent, he might have to +pay for his disobedience with his life. When old Tibby saw how things +were going on, and that her house might suffer by such transactions, +she sallied forth as fast as her feeble limbs and well-worn staff would +carry her, exclaiming as she went--"We'll a' be slain--we'll a' be +slain!--the laird o' Lag will be here--and Clavers will be here--and the +King himself will be here--an' we'll a' be murdered--we'll a' be +murdered!" At this moment, the trooper appeared in his regimentals, +mounted his horse, and was off at full gallop. The granddaughter, now +relieved from holding the dragoon's horse, followed her grandmother, and +brought her lamp to the house; but, to their infinite surprise, there +was nobody there save the very cursing trooper whom she had seen so +recently ride off. His voice was loud, and his complainings fearful; but +neither Tibby nor her granddaughter durst go near him, as they were +fully convinced that he was a devil, and no man, since he had the power +at once of mounting a horse and flying rather than riding away, and, at +the same time, of lying cursing and swearing in a press bed in the +_ben_. At last a neighbour heard the tale, and, being less +superstitions, relieved the unfortunate prisoner from his rather awkward +predicament. He swore revenge, and to cut poor old Tibby into two with +his sword; but he found, upon searching for his weapon, that it was +absent, as well as his clothes, which had been forcibly stripped from +him when he was tied--and that without leave--and that he had nothing +for it but to thrust himself into canonicals--in which garb he actually +walked home to his quarters, amidst the shouts of his companions, and to +the astonishment of all the staring villagers. + +As he was making the best of his way to hide his disgrace in the Spread +Eagle, he was told that his commanding officer, Sir Robert Grierson, had +been wishing to speak with him, for some time past. Upon appearing +immediately in the presence of authority, he was questioned in regard to +the mission on which he had been despatched, and was scarcely credited +when he narrated the treatment which he had met with, and the loss which +he had sustained. A detachment was immediately despatched in quest of +the thief, the _wool-merchant_, who had so cleverly supplied himself +with a passport from the king; and, after our soldier's person had been +unrobed, and attired for the present in his stable undress, Lag set out +with a few followers, to examine the cave, in order to be assured of Mr +Lawson's death. "They may gallop off with our horses," said Lag, in a +jocular manner, by the way; "but they will not easily gallop off with +the old choked hound, who has led us so many dances over the hills of +Queensberry and Auchenleck." At last, they arrived at the mouth of the +cave, and entered. Black and blue, and severely bruised, lay the dead +body before them. "Ah, ha!" said Lag, making his boot, as he expressed +it, acquainted with old Canticle's posteriors. "Ah, ha! my fleet bird of +the mountain, and we have caught you at last, and caught you +_napping_--ha, ha! Why don't you speak, old fire and brimstone? What! +not a word now!--and yet you had plenty when you preached from the Gouk +Thorn, to upwards of two thousand of your prick-eared, purse-mouthed, +canting followers. Come, my lads, we have less work to do now; we will +e'en back to quarters, and drink a safe voyage into the Holy Land, to +old Dumb-and-flat there!" So saying, he reined up his horse, and was on +the point of withdrawing the men, when one of them, who had eyed the +body, which was imperfectly seen in the dark cave, more nearly than the +rest, exclaimed--"And, by the Lord Harry, and we are all at fault, and +the game is off, on four living legs, after all--off and away! and we +standing drivelling here, when we should be many miles off in hot +pursuit of this cunning fox who has contrived to give us the slip once +more." + +"What means the idiot?" vociferated Grierson. + +"Mean!--why, what should I mean, Sir Robert, but that this here piece +of carrion is no more the stinking corpse of old Closeburn, than I am a +son of the Covenant!" + +It turned out, upon investigation, that this was the body of the +informer Watson, who had preceded Lag to the cave during the terrible +drift; had been observed by John Harkness and Sandy Gibson, who were +then employed in removing Lawson to the small inn; and, after a drubbing +which disabled him from moving, he had been left the only tenant of the +cave. When Grierson came, as above mentioned, from the drift and the +cold, as well as the beating, he was unable to speak; but his groans +brought his miserable death upon him; and Lawson, by assuming the +dragoon's garb and steed, was enabled to escape, and to officiate, as +has been already mentioned in a former paper, for several years before +his death, in his own church, from which he had been so long and so +unjustly driven. Thus did it please God to punish the infamous conduct +of Watson, and to enable his own servant to effect his escape. The +dragoon's horse was found, one morning at day-light, neighing and +beating the hoof at old Tibby's door. It soon found an owner, but told +no stories respecting its late occupant, who was now snugly lodged in +William Graham's parlour in the guid town of Kendal. Graham and he were +cousins-german. + + + + +XVII.--THE VIOLATED COFFIN. + + +AN effort has, of late, been made to repel the allegations which, for +past ages, have been made against the infamous instruments of cruelty +during the twenty-eight years' persecution. The Covenanters have been +represented as factious democrats, setting at defiance all constituted +authority, and exposing themselves to the vengeance of law and justice. +These sentiments are apt to identify themselves with modern politics; +but we hope we will never see our country again devastated by +oppression, cruelty, and all the shootings, and headings, and hangings +of the Stuart despotism repeated. It becomes, therefore, the duty of +every friend of good and equal government to put his hand to the work, +and to support those principles under which Britain has flourished so +long, and every man has sat in safety and in peace under his own vine +and his own fig-tree. No train of reasoning, or of demonstration, +however, will suffice for this. The judgment is, in many occasions, +convinced of error and injustice, whilst the heart and the conduct +remain the same. There must be something in accordance with the +decisions of the judgment pressed home upon the feelings. There must be +vivid pictures of the workings of a system of misrule placed before the +mind's eye, so that a deep and a human interest may be felt in the +picture. The reader must open the doors of our suffering peasantry, and +witness their family and fireside bereavements. He must become their +companion under the snow-wreath and the damp cave--he must mount the +scaffold with them, and even listen to their last act and testimony. How +vast is the impression which a painter can, in this way, make upon the +spirit of the spectator! Let Allan's famous Circassian slave be an +instance in point; but the painter is limited to a single point of time, +and the relation which that bears and exhibits to what has gone before +or will come after; but the writer of narrative possesses the power of +shifting his telescope from eminence to eminence--of varying, _ad +libitum_, time, place, and circumstances--and thus of making up for the +acknowledged inferiority of written description of narratives to what is +submitted, as Horace says, "_Oculis fidelibus_," by his vast and +unlimited power of variety. The means, therefore, by which past +generations have been made to feel and acknowledge the inhumanities, the +scandalous atrocities of those blood-stained times, still remain +subservient to their original and long tried purposes; and it becomes +the imperious duty of every succeeding age to transmit and perpetuate +the impressions of abhorrence with which those times were regarded and +recollected. This duty, too, becomes so much the more necessary, as the +times become the more remote. The object which is rapidly passed and +distanced by the speed of the steam-engine, does not more naturally +diminish in dimensions to the eye, as it recedes into the depths of +distance, than do the events which, in passing, figured largely and +impressively, lose their bulk and their interest when removed from us by +the dim and darkening interval of successive centuries; and the only +method by which their natural and universal law can be modified, or in +any degree counteracted, is by a continuous and uninterrupted reference +to the past--by making what is old, recent by description and +imagination; and by more carefully tracing and acknowledging the +connection which past agents and times have, or may be supposed to have, +upon the present advancement and happiness of man. Had the devotedness +of the Covenanter and Nonconformist been less entire than it was--had +the arbitrary desires of a bigoted priesthood and a tyrant prince been +submitted to--then had the Duke of York been king to the end of his +days--Rome had again triumphed in her priesthood; and we at this hour, +if at all awakened from the influence of surrounding advancement to a +sense of our degradation, had been only enacting bloody Reformation, +instead of bloodless Reform, and suffering the incalculable miseries +which our forefathers, centuries ago, anticipated. Nay, more, but for +the lesson taught us by the friends of the Covenant and the conventicle, +where had been the great encouragement to resist political oppression in +all time to come, when the proudly elevated finger may point to the +record, which said, and still says, in letters indeed of blood--"A +people resolved to be free, can never be ultimately enslaved." The +Covenant had its use--and, immense in its own day, and in its immediate +efforts, it placed William, and law, and freedom on the throne of +Britain; but that is as nothing in the balance, when compared with the +less visible and more remote effects of this distinguished triumph:--It, +throughout all the last century, maintained a firm and unyielding +struggle with despotism, sometimes indeed worsted, but never altogether +subdued; and it has, of late years, issued in events and triumphs too +recent and too agitating to be now fairly and fully discussed. Nor will +the influence of the Covenant cease to be felt in our land, till God +shall have deserted her, and left her entirely to the freedom of her own +will, to the debasing influence of that luxury and corruption which has +formed the grave of every kingdom that has yet lived out its limited +period. + +These Gleanings of the Covenant have been written under the impression, +and with the view above expressed; and it is hoped that the following +narrative, true in all its leading circumstances, and more than true in +the "vraisemblable," may contribute something to the object thus +distinctly stated. + +The funeral of Thomas Thomson had advanced from the Gaitend to the +Lakehead. The accompaniment was numerous--the group was denser. Thomas +had lived respected, and died regretted. He was the father of five +helpless children, all females, and his wife was manifestly about to be +delivered of a sixth. Just as the procession had advanced to the house +of Will Coultart, a troop of ten men rode up. They had evidently been +drinking, and spoke not only blasphemously, but in terms of +intimidation.--"Stop, you cursed crew," said the leader. "He has escaped +law, but he shall not escape justice. Come here, lad;" and at once they +alighted from their horses, seized the coffin, and opening the lid, were +about to penetrate the corpse through and through. "Stop a little," said +John Ferguson, the famous souter of Closeburn; "there are maybe twa at +a bargain-making;" so saying, he lifted an axe which he took up at a +wright's door, and dared any one to disturb them in their Christian +duty. A "pell-mell" took place, in the midst of which poor Ferguson was +killed. He had two sons in the company, who, seeing how their father had +been used, rushed upon the dragoons, and were both of them severely +wounded. In the meantime, Douglas of Drumlanrig came up, and, +understanding how things went, ordered the soldiers to give in, and the +wounded men to be taken care off. All this was wondrous well; but what +follows is not so. The body of Ferguson was carried to Croalchapel; and +the two sons accompanied it, with many tears. Douglas seemed to feel +what had happened, and could not avoid accompanying the party home. He +entered the house of mourning, where there was a dead father, a weeping +widow, and two wounded sons. He entered, but he saw nothing but Peggy. +Poor Peggy was an only sister of these lads--an only daughter of her +murdered father. Douglas was a man of the world! Oh, my God, what a term +that is! and how much misery and horror does it not contain. Peggy was +really beautiful; not like Georgina Gordon, or Lady William, or Mrs +Norton, or Lady Blessington; for her beauty depended in no degree upon +art. Had you arrayed her in rags, and placed her in a poor's-house, she +would have appeared to advantage. Peggy, too, (the God who made her +knows,) was pure in soul, and innocent in act as is the angel Gabriel! +she never once thought of sinning, as a woman may, and does (sometimes) +sin; she lived for her father, whom she loved--and for her mother, whom +she did not greatly dislike. But her mother was a stepmother, and Peggy +liked her father. Guess, then, her grief, when Peggy saw her father +murdered, her brothers wounded, and knew the cause thereof. "Lift her," +said Douglas to his men, after he had, in seeming humanity, seen the +corpse and brothers home; "lift her into Red Hob's saddle, and carry +her to Drumlanrig." No sooner said than done. The weeping, screaming +girl was lifted into the saddle, and conveyed, per force, to Drumlanrig. +At that gate there stood a figure clothed in dyed garments. It was the +elder brother of Peggy, he who had been least injured of the two. He +stood with his sword in his hand, and dared any one who would conduct +his sister into the abode of dishonour. Douglas snapped, and then fired +a pistol at him, but neither took effect. In the meantime, the brother +was secured, and the sister was carried into the "Blue Room," well known +afterwards as the infamous sleeping-chamber of old "Q." The not less +infamous, though ultimately repentant Douglas, advanced into the +chamber. The poor girl seemed as if she had seen a snake; she shrunk +from his approach and from his blandishments. She had previously opened +the window into the green walk; she had taken her resolve, and, in a few +instants, lay a maimed, almost mangled being, on the beautiful walks of +Drumlanrig. Douglas was manifestly struck by the incident, but not +converted. He took sufficient care to have the poor girl conveyed home, +and to have the brothers provided for, but his hour was not yet come. It +was not till after his frequent conversations with the minister of +Closeburn, that he came to a proper sense of his horrible conduct. But +what was the awful devastation of this family. The poor beauteous flower +Peggy, who was about to have been married to a farmer's son, +(Kirkpatrick of Auchincairn,) was by him rejected. He called at the +house sometime afterwards, with a view to see her; but he came full of +suspicion, and therefore unwilling to receive the truth. He had heard +the whole story, and must have known that his Peggy was at least as pure +in mind as she had been beautiful in person; but he belonged not +naturally to the noble stock of the family to which he was to have been +allied, and gave himself up to prejudice. The girl was still in bed, to +which, from her bruises, she had been confined for months. The meeting +might have been one which a poet would have gloried in describing, or a +painter in delineating and embellishing, with hues stolen from the arc +of Heaven! Alas! it was one only worthy of the pencil of a +Ribera--fraught with cruelty, and abounding in selfishness and +dishonour. The girl, as she turned her pale yet beautiful face on him, +told him the truth, and watched, with tears in her eyes, the effect of +her narrative on one whose image had never been absent from her mind, if +indeed it had not supported her in her struggle, and nerved her to the +purpose which preferred death to dishonour. Her bruises and wounds spoke +for her, and, to any one but her lover, would have proved that he was a +part of the object of her sacrifice. It was all to no purpose. The +eloquence of truth, of love, of nature, were lost upon him; nothing +would persuade him that the object of his love had not been degraded. He +turned a cold glance of doubt upon her, and turned to leave the room. +Peggy rushed out of bed, and, maimed and weak as she was, would have +stopped him. Her energies failed her--her lover was gone; and her +mother, roused by the cries of her pain, came and assisted her again +into bed. Poor Peggy heard no more of Kirkpatrick. She sickened and +died?--no! far worse!--she became desperate, married a blackguard, and +lived a drunkard; the sons were banished for firing at Douglas, as he +passed in his carriage through Thornhill; and the poor mother of the +whole family became--shall I tell it I--an object of charity! Thus was, +to my certain knowledge, at least to that of my ancestors, a most +creditable and well-doing family ruined, root and branch, by the +persecutors--or, in other words, by those who, without knowing what they +did, regarded the "Covenant" as an unholy thing, and fought the foremost +in the ranks of oppression and uniformity. + +Now, there is not a word of this in Woodrow, or Burns, or even in the +MS. of the Advocate's Library; and yet we can assure the reader, that +the material facts are as true as is the death of Darnley, or the murder +of Rizzio! God bless you, madam! you have, and can have, and ought to +have no notion whatever of the united current of _horribility_, which +ran through the whole ocean of cruelty during these awful and most +terrific times! May the God that made, the Saviour that redeemed, and +the Holy Spirit that prepares us for heaven, make us thankful that in +_those times_ we do not live; and that such men as Woodrow and Burns +(the first and the last) have been raised up, to vindicate and to +justify such men as then suffered in their families, or in their +persons, for the covenanted cause of the Great Head of our Presbyterian +Church! + + + + +THE SURGEON'S TALES. + + + + +THE MONOMANIAC. + + +In some of my prior papers, I have had occasion to make some oblique +references to that disease called _pseudoblepsis imaginaria_--in other +words, a vision of objects not present. Cullen places it among local +diseases, as one of a depraved action of the organs contributing to +vision; whereby, of course, he would disjoin it from those cases of +madness where a depraved action of the brain itself produces the same +effect. In this, Cullen displays his ordinary acuteness; for we see many +instances where there is a fancied vision of objects not present, +without insanity; and, indeed, the whole doctrine of spirits has +latterly been founded on this distinction.[2] From the very intimate +connection, however, which exists between the visual organs and the +brain itself, it must always be a matter of great difficulty--if indeed, +in many cases, it be not entirely impossible--to make the distinction +available; for there are cases--such as that of the conscience-spectre, +and those that generally depend upon thoughts and feelings of more than +ordinary intensity--that seem to lie between the two extremes of merely +diseased visual organs and diseased brains; and, in so far as my +experience goes, I am free to say that I have seen more cases of +imaginary visions of distant objects, resulting from some terrible +excitement of the emotions, than from the better defined causes set +forth by the medical writers. Among the passions and emotions, again, +that in their undue influence over the sane condition of the mind, are +most likely to give rise to the diseased vision of _phantasmata_, I +would be inclined to place that which usually exerts so much absorbing +power over the young female heart. The cause lies on the surface. In the +case of the passions--of anger, revenge, fear, and so forth--the feeling +generally works itself out; and, in many cases, the object is so +unpleasant that the mind seeks relief from it, and flies it; while, in +the emotions of love, there is a morbid brooding over the cherished +image that takes hold of the fancy; the object is called up by the spell +of the passion placed before the mind's eye, and held there for hours, +days, and years, till the image becomes almost a stationary impression, +and is invested with all the attributes of a real presence. I do not +feel that I would be justified in saying that I am able to substantiate +the remark I have now made by many cases falling under my own +observation; the examples of _monomania_ in sane persons are not very +often to be met with; and I have heard many of my professional brethren +say, that they never experienced a single instance in all their +practice. + +The case I am now to detail, occurred within two miles of the town of +----. The patient was a lady, Mrs C----, an individual of a nervous, +irritable temperament, and possessed of a glowing fancy, that, against +her will, brought up by-past scenes with a distinctness that was painful +to her. She had lately returned from India, whither she had accompanied +her husband, whom she left buried in a deep, watery grave in the channel +of the Mozambique. I had been attending her for a nervous ailment, which +had shattered her frame terribly, while it increased the powers of her +creative fancy, as well as the sensibility by which the mental images +were invested with their chief powers over her. She suffered also from a +tenderness in the _retina_, which forced her to shun the light. How this +latter complaint was associated with the other, I cannot explain, +unless upon the principle which regulates the connection between the +sensibility of the eye and the heated brains of those who labour under +inflammation of that organ. I was informed by her mother, Mrs L----, as +well as her sister, that she had come from India a perfect wreck, both +of mind and body; and, for a period of eighteen months afterwards, could +scarcely be prevailed upon to see any of her friends--shutting herself +up for whole days in her room, the windows of which were kept dark, to +prevent the light, which operated like a sharp sting, from falling upon +her irritable eyes. It was chiefly with a view to the removal of this +opthalmic affection, that I was requested to visit her; and I could very +soon perceive, that the visionary state of her mind was closely +connected with the habit of dark seclusion to which she was necessitated +to resort, for the purpose of avoiding the pain produced by the rays of +the sun. On my first interview, I found her sitting alone in the +darkened room, brooding over thoughts that seemed to exert a strong +influence over her; but she soon joined me in a conversation which, +diverging from the subject of her complaint, embraced topics that +brought out the peculiarity of her mind--a strong enthusiastic power of +portraying scenes of grief which she had witnessed, and which, as she +proceeded, seemed to rise before her with almost the vividness of +presence; yet, with her, judgment was as strong and healthy as that of +any day-dreamer among the wide class of mute poets, of whom there are +more in the world than of philosophers. + +I could not detect properly her ailment, and resolved to question her +mother alone. + +"Did you not notice anything peculiar about my daughter?" she said. + +"The love of a shaded room, resulting from an irritability in the organs +of sight, is to me no great rarity," I replied. + +"Though her fit has not been upon her," rejoined she, with an air of +melancholy, "it is not an hour gone since her scream rung shrilly +through this house, as if she had been in the hands of fiends; and, to +be plain with you, I left you to discover yourself what may be too soon +apparent. I fear for her mind, sir." + +"I have seen no reason for the apprehension; but her scream, was it not +bodily pain?" + +"I could wish that it had been mere bodily pain; but it was not. You +have not heard Isabella's history," she continued, in a low, whispering +tone. "She has experienced what might have turned the brain of any one. +I discovered something extraordinary in her about six months ago. One +evening, when the candles were shaded for the relief of her eyes, and I +and Maria were sitting by her, she stopped suddenly in the midst of our +conversation, and sat gazing intensely at something between her and the +wall; pointing out her finger, her mouth open, and scarcely drawing her +breath. I was terror-struck; for the idea immediately rushed into my +mind, that it was a symptom of insanity; but I had no time for +thought--a scream burst from her, and she fell at my feet in a faint. +When she recovered, she told us that she had seen, in the shaded light +of the candle, which assumed the blue tinge of the moonlight, the figure +of a dead body sitting upright in the waters, with the sailcloth in +which he was committed to the deep wrapped around him, and his pale face +directed towards her. At the recollection of the vision, she shuddered, +would not recur to the subject again, but betrayed otherwise no +wandering of the fancy. Several times since, the same object has +presented itself to her; and, what is extraordinary, it is always when +the candle is shaded; yet she exhibits the same judgment, and I could +never detect the slightest indication of a defect in the workings of her +mind. I sent for you to treat her eyes, and left it to you to see if +you could discover any symptoms of a diseased mind." + +"Was the object she thus supposes present to her, ever exposed in +reality to the true waking sense?" said I, suspecting a case of +_monomania_. + +"Did she not tell you?" rejoined she. "Come." + +And leading me again into her daughter's darkened apartment, she +whispered something in her ear, retired, and left us together. + +"Your mother informs, me, madam," said I, "that you have seen _what +exists not_; and I am anxious, from professional reasons, to know from +yourself whether I am to attribute it to the creative powers of an +active fancy, or to an affection of the visual organs, that I have read +more of than I have witnessed." + +She started, and I saw I had touched a tender part--probably that +connected with her own suspicions that her mother and sister deemed her +insane. + +"It was for this purpose, then, that you have been called to see me?" +she replied, hastily. "It is well; I shall be tested by one who at least +is not prejudiced. My mother and sister think that I am deranged. I need +not tell you that I consider myself sane, although I confess that this +illusion of the sense, to which I am subjected, makes me sometimes +suspicious of myself. Will you listen to my story?" + +I replied that I would; and thus she began:-- + +Experience, sir, is a world merely to those who live in it--it exists +not--its laws cannot be communicated to the heart of youth; the +transfusion of the blood of the aged into the veins of the young to +produce wisdom, is not more vain than the displacing of the hopes of the +young mind by the cold maxims of what man has felt, trembled to feel, +and wished he could have anticipated, that he might have been prepared +for it. Such has ever been, such is, such will ever be, the history of +the sons and daughters of Adam. What but the changes into which I--still +comparatively a young woman--have passed--not, it would almost seem, +mutations of the same principle, but rather new states of +existence--could have wrung from a heart, where hope should still have +lighted her lamp, and illuminated my paths, these sentiments of a dearly +purchased experience? When I and George Cunningham, my schoolfellow, my +first and last lover, and subsequently my husband, passed those +brilliant days of youth's sunshine among the green holms and shaggy +dells of ----; following the same pursuits--conning the same +lessons--indulging in the same dreams of future happiness, and training +each other's hearts into a community of feeling and sentiment, till we +seemed one being, actuated by the same living principle: in how happy a +state of ignorance of those changes that awaited me in the world, did I +exist? I would fall into the hackneyed strain of artificial fiction +writing, were I to portray the pleasures of a companionship and love +that had its beginning in the very first impulses of feeling; with a +view to set off by contrast the subsequent events that awaited us, when +our happiness should have been realized. + +When a woman of sensibility says she loves a man, she has told, through +a medium that works out the conditions of the responding powers of our +common nature, the heart, more than all the eulogistic eloquence of the +tongue could achieve, to show the estimate she forms of the qualities of +the object of her affections; but when she adds that that love +originated in the friendship of children, grew with the increase of the +powers of mind and body, and entered as a part into every feeling that +actuated the young hearts, she has expressed the terms of an endearment +so pure, tender, exclusive, and lasting, that it transcends all the +ordinary forms of the communion of spirits on earth. The attachment is +different from all others--it stands by itself; and to endeavour to +conceive its purity and force by any factitious mixture of friendship, +and the ordinary endearments of limited time and favourable +circumstances of meeting, would be as vain as all hypothetical +investigation into the nature of feeling must ever be. I cannot tell +when I first knew the young man whose name I have mentioned under an +emotion that shakes my frame; the syllables were a part of my early +lispings, and I cannot yet think that they are unconnected with a being +that has now no local habitation upon earth. Our parents were intimate +neighbours; and the woods and waters of ----, if their voices--sweeter +than articulated intelligence--could imitate the accents of man, would +tell best when they wooed us into that communion, which they cherished, +and witnessed, with an apparent participation of our joy, to open into +an early affection. The power of mutual objects of pleasure and +interest, especially if they are a part of the lovely province of +nature--the rural landscape, secluded and secreted from the eyes of all +the world besides, with its dells and fountains, birds and flowers--in +increasing the attachment of young hearts, has been often observed and +described; but we felt it. These inanimate objects are generally, and +were to us, not only a tie, but they shared a part of our love, as if in +some mysterious way they had become connected with, and a part of us. +The often imputed association of ideas is a poor and inadequate solution +of this work of nature: it is the effect put for the cause; the common, +boasted philosophy of man, who invents terms of familiar sound to +explain secrets eternally hidden from him. If we who felt, as few have +ever felt, the influence of these green, umbrageous shades--with their +nut-trees, bushes, flowers, and gowany leas; their singing birds, and +nests with speckled eggs; their half-concealed fountains of limpid +water, and running streams, and beds of white pebbles--in nourishing and +increasing our young loves, could not tell how or why they were invested +with such power; the philosopher, I deem, may resign the task, and say, +with a sigh, that it was nature, and nature alone, who did all this; and +the secret will remain unexplained. + +We enjoyed ten years of this intercourse--I calculate from the fifth to +the fifteenth year of our youth--and every one of these years, as it +evolved the ripening powers of our minds, so it strengthened the +mingling affections of our hearts. We became lovers long before we knew +the sanctions and rights, and duties of pledged faith; we were each +other's by a troth, a thousand times spoken; exchanged and felt in the +throbbing embrace, the burning sighs, and the eloquent looks, that were +but the natural impulses of a feeling we rejoiced in, yet scarcely +comprehended. My heart, recoiling from the thoughts of after years, +luxuriates in the memory of these blissful hours; and, were not the +theme exhausted a thousand times by the eloquence of rapt feeling, +speaking with the tongue of inspiration, I could dwell on these early +rejoicings of unsullied spirits for ever. + +My dream was not scattered--it was only changed in its form and hues, +when my youthful betrothed was removed from home, to go through a course +of navigation to fit him for the service of the sea, to which the +intentions of his father, and his own early wishes, led him. I could +have doubted my existence sooner than the faith of his heart; and he was +only gone to make those preparations for attaining a position in society +that would enable him to realize those fond and bright prospects we had +indulged in contemplating among the woods that resounded to pledges +exchanged in the face of heaven. The first place of his destination was +London, from whence, for a period of about three years, I heard from him +regularly by letters, which breathed with an increased warmth the same +sentiments we had repeated and interchanged so often during the long +period of our prior intercourse. Some time after this, he sailed to +India; then were my thoughts first tinged by the changing hues of +solitude; and my hopes and fears bound to the wayward circumstances of a +world which had as yet been to me a paradise. + +I heard nothing from him for two long years after he left London. A +portrayment of my thoughts during that period would be a thousand times +more difficult than for the painter to seize and represent the changing +hues of the gem that, thrown on a tropic strand, reflects the endless +hues of the earth and sky. I trembled and hoped by turns but every idea +and every feeling were so strongly mingled with reminiscences of former +pleasures, the prospects of future happiness, the fears of a change in +his affections, or of his death, that I could not pronounce my mind as +being, at any given moment, aught but a medium of impressions that I +could not seize or fix, so as to contemplate myself. All I can say is, +that he was the presiding genius of every emotion with which my heart +was influenced; and, to those who have loved, that may be sufficient to +shew the utter devotion of every pulse of my being to the deified image +enshrined within my bosom. Now came the period of the realizing of my +dreams. George Cunninghame came back, and married me. + +We had scarcely been two months married when my husband, whom I loved +more and more every day, got, by the influence of powerful friends, the +command of a large vessel--the _Griffin_--engaged in the trade to India. +It was arranged that I should accompany him, that, as we had been +associated from our earliest infancy, (our separation had been only that +of the body, and interfered not with the union of the immaterial +essence), we should still be together. In this resolution I rejoiced; +and, though by nature a coward, my love overcame all my terrors of the +great deep. The day was fixed for our departure. A lady passenger and +two servants were to go with us to the Cape, from whose society I +expected pleasure; and every preparation which love could suggest was +made to render me happy. We left the Downs on a calm day of December, +and went down the Channel with a rattling gale from the north. Life on +board of an Indiaman has been a thousand times described; and, would to +heaven I had nothing to detail but the ordinary conduct of civilized +men! Our chief officer was one Crawley, and our second a person of the +name of Buist--the only individual my husband had no confidence in being +Hans Kreutz, the steward, a German, who was whispered to have been +engaged as a maritime venatic, or pirate, in the West Indies: and, if +any man's character might be detected in his countenance, this +foreigner's disposition might have been read in lineaments marked by the +graver of passion. Part of what I have now said may have been the result +of after experience; yet I could perceive shadowings of evil at this +time, which I had not the knowledge of human nature to enable me to turn +to any account. + +With a series of gentle breezes and fine weather, we came to the Cape, +where Mrs Hardy and her two servants were put ashore. One of the +servants had agreed to accompany me to Madras, and was to have come on +board again, to join us, before we left Table Bay. Whether she had +changed her mind, or been detained by some unforeseen cause, I know not, +but the boat came off without her; and all the information that I could +get was, that she was not to be found. I trembled to be left on board of +a vessel without a female companion, and strongly insisted upon George +to delay his departure until another effort should be made to endeavour +to find a servant in Cape Town; but, a favourable wind having sprung up +at that moment, Crawley remonstrated, in his peculiar mode of abject +petitioning; and my husband, having himself seen the advantage of +seizing the favourable opportunity for taking and accomplishing the +passage of the Mozambique, we departed, under a stiff gale; and, in a +short time, reached the middle of that famous Channel, where the fears +of the seamen have been so often excited by the reputed cannibalism of +the natives of Madagascar. At this time I was strangely beset by nightly +visions of terror, which I could impute to no other cause than the +stories that George had repeated to me of the wild character of these +savages. During the day, but more especially during the blue, +sulphurous, flame-coloured twilight of that region--I often fixed my eye +on the long, dark, umbrageous coast--followed the ranges of receding +heights--threaded the deep recesses of the valleys, that seemed to end +in dark caves, and peopled every haunt with festive savages performing +their unholy rites over a human victim, destined to form food for +creatures bearing that external impress of God's finger which marks the +lords of the creation. Those visions were always connected, in some way, +with myself; and I could not banish the idea, which clung to me with a +morbid power of adherence, that I might, alone and unprotected, be cast +into some of these cimmerian recesses, and be subjected to the +unutterable miseries of a fate a thousand times worse than death, and +what might follow death, by the usages of of eaters of human beings. +There was no cause for any such apprehensions; and I am now satisfied +that these dark creations of my fancy were in some mysterious way +connected with a disordered state of my physical economy; but I was not +then aware of such predisposing causes of mental gloom, and still +brooded over my imagined horrors, till I drove rest and sleep from my +pillow, and disturbed my husband with my pictured images of a danger +that he said was far removed from me. From him I got some support and +relief; but the faces of the men I saw around me, and especially those +of Crawley and Kreutz, seemed, to me, rather to reflect a corroboration +of my fears, than to afford me encouragement and support. The grim +visions retained their power over me; and, the wind having fallen off +almost to a dead calm, I found myself fixed in the very midst of the +scenes that thus nourished and perpetuated them. The depression of mind +produced by these frightful day-dreams and nightmares, made me sickly +and weak. I could scarcely take any food; every piece of flesh presented +to me, reminded me of the feasts of the inhabitants of that dark, dismal +island that lay stretching before me in the vapours of a tropical +climate, like a land of enchantment called up by fiends from the great +deep; the dyspeptic nausea of sickness was the very food of my gloomy +thoughts; and the co-operative powers of mind and body tended to the +increase of my misery, till I seemed a victim of confirmed hypochondria. + +We were still fixed immovably in the same place: all motive powers +seemed to have forsaken the elements--the sea was like a sheet of glass, +the sails hung loose from the masts, and the men lay listless about, +overcome with heat, and yawning in lethargy. It was impossible to keep +me below. I required air to keep me breathing, and felt a strange +melancholy relief from fixing my eyes on the very scene of my terrors. +Every effort to occupy my mind was vain; and I lay, for hours at a time, +with my eyes fixed on the shore, piercing the deep, wooded hollows, +following the faint traces of the savages as they disappeared among the +thick trees, and investing every naked demon with all the +characteristics of the followers of the mysterious midnight rites in +which I conceived they engaged when the hour of their orgies came. I +often saw individuals--rendered gigantic by the magnifying medium of the +thick vapour--come down to the beach, and fix their gaze on us for a +time, and then pace back again to the wooded recesses. Sometimes, when +unable to sleep, I crept up from the cabin, and sat and surveyed the +silent scene around me--the hazy moon, throwing her thick beams over the +calm sea--the dark shadows of unknown birds sailing slowly through the +air, and uttering at intervals sounds I had never heard before--the +fires of the inhabitants among the trees on the coast, that sent up a +long column of red light through the atmosphere, and exhibited the +flitting bodies of the naked beings as they danced round the objects of +their rites. It is impossible for me, by any language of which I have +the power, to convey an adequate conception of my feelings during these +hours. They were realities to me; and, therefore, whatever may be said +against fanciful creations, I have a right to claim attention to states +of the mind and feelings that belong to our nature in certain positions. +At a late hour one night, I was engaged in those gloomy watchings and +reveries, when Kreutz came to me, and said the captain had been taken +suddenly ill. I turned my eyes from the scene along the shore I was +surveying, and fixed them for a moment on his face, where the light of +the moon sat in deep contrast with the long bushy hair that flowed round +his temples. A shudder--that might have been accounted for from the +state of my mind and the nature of the communication he had made to me, +but which I instinctively attributed, at the time, to the expression of +his face--passed over me, and, starting up, I hurried into the cabin off +the cuddy, where I found George under the grasp of relentless spasms of +the chest and stomach. He was stretched along on the floor, grasping the +carpet, which he had wound up into a coil, and vomiting violently into a +bason which he had hurriedly seized before he fell. + +'Good God, Isabella!' he exclaimed, 'what is this? I am dying. That +villain Cr ----' + +And, whether from weakness or prudence, he stopped, with the guttural +sound of these two letters, Cr, which applied equally to Crawley as to +Kreutz, and left me in doubt which of them he meant. At this moment +Buist the mate entered the cabin; and my agitation and the necessity of +affording relief to the sufferer, took my mind off the fearful subject +hinted at by the broken sentence I had heard. With the assistance of +Buist, I got him placed on the bed. There was no doctor on board, and I +was left to the suggestions of my own mind, for adopting means to save +him. These were applied, but without imparting any relief. The painful +symptoms continued, and he got every moment worse. Neither Crawley nor +Kreutz appeared; and when Buist went out to bring what was deemed +necessary for the patient, I hung over him, and asked him what he +conceived to have been the cause of his illness; but my question +startled him--he looked up wildly in my face; his mind was directed +towards heaven; and the means of salvation through the redeeming +influence of a believed divinity of Him who died on the cross, was the +subject alone on which he would speak. The scene, at this moment, around +me was extraordinary, and, though I cannot say I had any distinct +perception of the individual circumstances that combined to make up the +sum of my horrors, I can now see, as through a dark medium, the +co-operating elements. There was no candle in the cabin; the light of +the moon through the windows filling the apartment with a blue glare, +and tinging his pallid face with its hues. My mind, wrought up by the +dreamy visions I had indulged in previously, and labouring under a +disease which imparted to every feeling its own eliminated gloom, saw +even the darkest circumstances of my condition in a false and unnatural +aspect. The scenes of our youth and early love; the impressions of the +religious sentiments he was muttering in broken snatches; the view of +his approaching death; the dark means by which it was accomplished; my +condition after he should die, in the power of men I feared; the orgies +of the natives I had been contemplating; the deep grave, so fearful in +its dead calmness; and the monsters that revelled in it, to which he +would be consigned--all flitted through my brain; but with such +rapidity--driving out, by short energies, the more engrossing thoughts +concerned in the manner of his recovery--that I could not particularize +them, while I drew, by some synthetic process of the mind, their general +attributes, and thus increased the terror of the scene. + +Two hours passed, and every moment made it more apparent that my husband +was posting to death. There was no sound heard throughout the ship +except the dull tread of the watch; and, at intervals, the whispers of +Crawley, as he communed stealthily with Buist, who went out of the cabin +repeatedly, to carry intelligence of the state of the sufferer. For +about three quarters of an hour he had been raving wildly. The detached +words he uttered raised, by their electric power, the working of my +fancy which filled up, by a train of thoughts scarcely more within the +province of reason, the chain of his wandering ideas. No connected +discourse on the subject of his illness, though mixed up with all the +reminiscences of an affection that had lasted since the period of +infancy, or the prospects that awaited me in the unprecedented position +in which I was about to be thrown, could have distracted me in the +manner effected by these insulated vocables, wrung by madness from +expiring life and reason. They ring in my ears even yet, when the beams +of the moon shine through the casements; and, even now, I think I see +that dimly lighted cabin, and my husband lying before me in the agonies +of death. I became, as if by some secret sympathy, as much deranged as +himself. As I watched him, I cast rapid looks around me--out upon the +still deep, in the direction of the fearful island--upon the articles of +domestic use lying in confusion, and exhibiting dimly-illuminated sides +and dark shades. It seemed to me some frightful dream; and, when I +turned my eyes again on the pale face which had been the object of my +excited fancy for so many years, saw the struggles of expiring nature, +and heard the wild accents that still came from his parched lips, I +screamed, and tore my hair in handfuls from my head. In that condition, +I saw him die; and the increase of my frenzy, produced by that +consummation of all evils, made me rush out, and forward to the side of +the ship. I felt all the stinging madness of the resolution to die--to +fly from the man who, I feared, had murdered him--to escape from that +island of cannibals, where I thought I would be left by my relentless +foes, by plunging into the deep, when Crawley, who had heard of his +demise, seized me, and dragged me back. + +This paroxysm was succeeded by a kind of stupor that seized my whole +mind and body. I sat down on a cot in the side of the cabin, and saw +Kreutz bring in a light. The glare of it startled me; but it was only as +a vision that could not awake the sleeper. They proceeded to lay out my +husband on a table. They undressed him--for his clothes were still on; +and I saw them take a large sheet, wrap it round him, and pin it firmly +at all the folds. When their labours were finished, they took each a +large portion of brandy, and Crawley came forward and offered me a +portion. I had no power to push it from me. He held it to my mouth; but +my lips were motionless; and, tossing it off himself, he and the others +went out of the cabin. No precaution was taken to keep me within; but +the frenzy that had previously impelled me to self-destruction had +subsided, and I shuddered at what a few moments before appeared to me to +be a source of relief. I sat for hours in the position in which they +left me, gazing upon the dead body before me, but without the energy to +rise and look at the features of him who had formed the object of my +earliest devotions, the subject of all my fondest dreams of early youth +and matured womanhood, now lying there lifeless. I had scarcely, during +that period, consciousness of any object, but of a long, white figure +extended on the table, with the moonlight reflected from it. The stupor +left me--I cannot tell at what hour; and the first movement of living +energy in my brain was a stinging impulse to rush forward and seize the +body. I obeyed it, without a power to resist; and, tearing off the +folds, laid bare the face, which was as placid as I had ever seen it, +when, watching over him, I used to steal a look of him, during the hours +of night, as he slept by my side, in the moonlight that stole through +the cabin-window. In my agony, I clung to him--kissed the cold +lips--called out 'George! George!'--threw the folds of the sheet over +the face--again looked round me for some one to comfort me--felt the +consciousness of my perilous position--and, as a kind of refuge from the +despair that met me on every hand, withdrew again the folds, and acted +over again the frenzied parts of a madness that mocked the miseries of +the inmates of an asylum. + +I must have exhausted myself by the excitement into which I was thrown; +for, some time afterwards, I found myself lying upon the cot, and +wakening again to a consciousness of all the ills that surrounded me. +The light of the moon had given place to the dull beams of earliest +dawn, which were only sufficient to shew me the extended figure on the +table, and the confusion into which the furniture of the cabin was +thrown. I heard the sounds of several footsteps in the cuddy. Sounds of +voices struck my ear; and, rising up, I crawled forward to a situation +where I could hear the communings from which my fate might be known. + +'When the wind starts,' said Crawley--'it will be from the north--we +should turn and make all speed for Rio, where we may dispose of the +cargo, and then run the vessel to the West Indies. How do the men feel +disposed, Kreutz--all braced and steady?' + +'All but Wingate and Ryder, who are watched by the others,' replied the +German. 'These dogs would mutiny, ha! ha!--mein gut friend Buist is +against their valking the plank; but they must either come in or go out. +Teufel! no mutineers aboard the Griffin.' + +'Right, Hans,' said Crawley. 'Get Murdoch to knock together the +boards--we will bury him to-morrow; but the wife, man, what is to be +done with her?' + +'Put her ashore, to be sure,' responded Kreutz. 'There is not von +difficulty there. The natives will be glad of her, and we want her not. +If this calm were gone, all would be gut and recht. That is the von +thing only that troubles me.' + +'If there is no wind,' said Crawley, 'to carry us out of the channel, +there is none to bring any one to us.' + +At this moment, I thought they heard some movements, produced by a +nervous trembling that came over me, and forced me to hold by a chair. +Some whisperings followed. Kreutz went away, and Crawley entered. I had +just time to retreat to the other side of the body of my husband. His +manner was now that which was natural to him--harsh and repulsive. He +ordered me peremptorily to the lower cabin. I had no power to resist, or +even to speak; but I saw, in the order, the eternal separation of me and +George; and, rushing forward, I withdrew the covering from his face, to +take the last look--to imprint the last kiss on his cold lips. The act +operated like the stirrings of conscience on the cowardly man of blood. +His averted eye glanced for an instant on the body, and, seizing the +coverlet, he wrapped up the countenance, and, taking me by the arm, +hurried me down to the apartment set apart for passengers. This cabin +was darker than the captain's, from some of the windows having been +changed into dead lights; and I considered myself pent up in a dungeon. +Hitherto my feelings had been, in a great measure, the result of +existing moving circumstances; but now I was left to reflection, in so +far as that act of the mind could be concerned in the attempt to picture +the extremities of a fate that seemed as unavoidable as unparalleled. +The diseased visions that had distracted me before any real evil +occurred, were changed, from their dreamy, shadowy character, to +realities. The lengthened trains of images that were required to satisfy +the cravings of hypochondria, fled; and, in their place, there was one +general, overwhelming fear, that seemed to engross all my thinking +energies, and left no power to particularize the visions of danger that +awaited me among the savages. There was only one presiding, prevailing +idea that served as the rallying point of my terrors; and that was the +dead body of George, with the white sheet in which he was swathed, and +the peculiarly-formed oaken table on which he was placed, and at which +we used to dine upon all the dainties to be found on board an Indiaman. +It was the steadfastness of this idea that excluded the images of the +fearful deep recesses--the Bacchanalian orgies of the savages--their +anthropophagous rites, their midnight revels; but retained, as it were, +hanging round it, the fear they had engendered, as a more complex +feeling. After Crawley had left me, I had thrown myself down on a +couch--an act of which I retained no consciousness; for afterwards, when +daylight began to break in through the only window that was not closed +up, I started to my feet, and did not know, for some time, that I was +separated from the corpse; the vision of which had, during the interval, +been so vivid, that it combined the conditions of figure and locality as +perfectly as if the object had been before me. + +On the deck I now heard the sound of several loud voices, and afterwards +a scuffle, accompanied with the tramping of feet. There was then silence +for a time; but my ears were stung, on a sudden, by a scream, succeeded +by a plash, as if some one had been precipitated into the sea. A +gurgling noise, as if the individual were drowning, followed; and the +suspicion rushed into my mind, that they had made an example (to terrify +the others) of one of the men who had rebelled against the authority of +the mutineers. A silence, as deep as that of death, succeeded, which +lasted about an hour, at the end of which period the sound of the saw +and hammer were distinctly heard. I recollected the orders of Crawley, +for Murdoch, the carpenter, to prepare George's coffin. The knocking +continued for a considerable time, and produced such an effect upon me +that the ideas, which had been, as it were, chained up by the freezing +influence of the prevailing vision of the extended and rolled-up body, +broke away and careered through my mind with the velocity, +unconnectedness, and intensity, that belong to certain states of excited +mania. Images of the past and the future were mixed up in confusion; and +every succeeding thought stung me with increased pain, till the idea of +suicide again suggested itself, bringing in its train that which +destroyed it--the terror of an avenging God, who will pass judgment on +the takers of their own lives. I started, and sought forgiveness; and, +for the first time under this agony, felt the soft action of the balm of +a confided trust in Him who has mercy in endless stores for the good, +but who poured his fury even upon the house of Israel, for the blood +they shed upon the land. But, must I confess it, the relief I felt from +this high source was immediately again lost in the cold shiverings of +instinctive fear, as I heard the knocking cease, knew the coffin was +finished, and perceived, from the sounds in the cabin off the cuddy, +that they were putting the body into the rudely constructed box, with a +view of burying him in the deep sea. + +Some indescribable emotion, at this time, forced me towards the cabin +window, although the sight of the water was frightful to me. It was +still and calm as ever, and the light was already sufficient to enable +me to see far down in its green recesses. I could not take my eye from +it. There were numerous creatures swimming about in it, some of which I +had got described to me, but many of them I had never seen before. They +seemed more hideous to me now than they had ever appeared when, on +former occasions, I sat and watched their motions. The large +bull-mouthed shark was there, rolling his huge body in apparent +lethargy, and turning up his white belly in grim playfulness, as if in +mockery of my misery. It had a charm about its truculent savageness that +riveted my attention, while it shook my frame. It was connected in my +mind with the fate of George's body, which, every moment, I expected to +hear plash in the sea, in the midst of that shoal of creatures with +strange forms and ravenous maws. An exacerbation of these sickly +feelings made me lift my eyes; but it was only to fix them on the not +less fearful island that lay before in the far distance, and now, in the +fogs of the morning, through which the red sun struggled to send his +beams, appeared a huge mass of inspissated vapour lying motionless on +the surface of the sea. The very indistinctness of this hazy vision +stimulated my fancy to its former morbid activity, and I saw again the +mystic wooded ravines, sacred to the rights of cannibalism, of which I +myself was doomed to be the object. + +From this dream I was roused by the loud tread of men's feet over my +head, as if the individuals were bearing a load that increased the +heaviness of their steps. I was at no loss for the cause--they were +carrying the coffin with the body in it to midship, where it was to be +let down into its watery grave. In a short time afterwards, a gurgling +of the waters met my ear, and, struggling to the foot of the companion +ladder, I would have rushed upon deck if my strength would have +permitted; but I fell upon the steps, and, lying there, heard a cry from +some of them. I gathered, from the detached words I heard, that the +bottom of the coffin had given way, from its insufficiency and the +weight that had been put in it to make it sink; and that the body had +gone down, while the chest swam on the surface. Several feet were now +heard rapidly in motion, and the voice of Kreutz, who was running aft, +fell on my ear. + +'Teufel!' I heard him say, 'we shall have that grim corpse when the +gallenblase--ha!--ha!--the gall bladder has burst, rising like von geist +from the bottom of the deep sea, and staring at us. Hell take the +stumper, Murdoch!' + +These words, uttered by the German, were followed by some expression +from Crawley, no part of which I could make out, except the oaths +directed against the carpenter. The sounds died away; but I heard enough +to satisfy me of the fact that George's body had been consigned to the +deep with only the shroud to defend it against the attacks of the +ravenous creatures I had been contemplating. My mind was again forced, +and with increased energy, into the train of gloomy meditations +suggested by what I had heard; and so vivid were the visions that obeyed +the excited powers of my imagination, that I forgot, as I lay brooding +over them on the sofa to which I had staggered, the danger that next +awaited myself. I could not now look at the sea, for I feared to meet +the fact which would add probation to my imaginations--that the animals +I had seen there had disappeared to crowd round the prey that had been +given to them. Yet the actual vision of that dear form, mutilated, torn, +and devoured, could not, I am satisfied, have produced more insufferable +agony, than accompanied and resulted from the diseased imaginings in +which my fancy was engaged. The process that I pictured going on in the +bottom of the sea, was coloured by hues so sickly, and attended by +circumstances so distorted and grim, that all natural appearances, +however harrowing, must have fallen short of the power they exercised +over me. The positions in which I imagined him to be placed, were varied +in a greater degree than ever I had seen the human body; the expressions +of the countenance, though fixed by death, and not likely to be changed, +became as Protean as the changing postures of the limbs; and the marine +monsters that gambolled or fought around him for the prize, were +invested with forms, colours, and attributes, of a kind not limited to +what I had ever seen in the deep. The only idea that seemed to remain +stationary, and not liable to the mutations into which all the others +were every moment gliding, was the colour of the body, which was that of +the green medium in which he lay. That sickly hue pervaded all parts; +and even the dark or light colours of the inhabitants of the deep, +partook, more or less, of the prevailing tint. It seemed to be the +universal of all particulars, as time or space is the medium or +condition of existence of all thought and matter; I felt the +impossibility of any idea being true that did not partake of it; and, so +strongly was the feeling of the ex-natural that accompanied it, that +even now I cannot look at anything green without shuddering. + +I cannot tell how long I was under the dominion of this train of +thought. I was, in a manner, torn from it by the entrance of Kreutz with +some food for me. He growled out a few words of mixed German and +English, and left it on the table. It is needless to say that I could +eat nothing. Even before these misfortunes overtook me, my appetite had +left me; but now I loathed all edibles. After having been roused from +the train of morbid imaginings in which I had been engaged, and which I +clung to as if they imparted to me some unnatural satisfaction, I felt +(and it is a curious fact) a recoiling disinclination to resume the grim +subject, and even resorted to some imbecile and despairing efforts to +avoid it. It was not that I expected any relief from forbearing: every +other subject that could be suggested by my position was equally fraught +with tears and pains; but that having, as I now suppose, exhausted, for +the time, the diseased workings, the view of an effort to call up again +the thoughts that had been as it were supplied by disease, penetrated me +with a sensation beyond the powers of endurance. For two or three hours +afterwards, my attention was directed to the proceedings upon deck; but +I could hear little beyond indistinct mutterings, and occasional sounds +of the treading of feet over me. The calm, which had lasted for many +days, still continued; and, until a wind sprung up, no effort could be +made by the mutineers to retrace their progress through the channel, and +proceed to their projected destination. At last the shades of night +began to fall; exhausted nature claimed some relief from her sufferings; +but the drowsiness that overcame me, was only a medium of a new series +of imaginings still more grotesque and unnatural than those that had +haunted me during the day. + +When the morning dawned, I expected every moment the execution of the +purpose I had heard declared by Crawley, to put me ashore on the island; +and, during moments of more rational reflection, I could not account for +my not having been disposed of in this way on the previous day. The +terrors of that destiny were as strong upon me as ever; but, I must +confess, that the view of real evil, almost unprecedented, as it seemed, +in its extent and peculiarity, produced feelings entirely different from +what resulted from the prior musings of my hypochondriac fancy: I would +not be believed were I to say that the expected reality was not much +more painful than the sickly vision. The miseries were of different +kinds, proceeding from different causes, operating upon a mind in two +different states. There was something in my own power. I was not +justified in committing suicide as a mode of escape from an affliction +that God might have seen meet to put upon me; but all my reasonings on +this subject fled before the view of this next calamity that awaited me. +An extraordinary thought seized me, that I was not bound to hold life, +when, through my own body and sensibilities, God's laws were to be +overturned, and my sufferings were to be made a shame in the face of +heaven. I secreted a knife in my bosom, and sat in silent expectation of +the issue. I was again supplied with meat; but, on this occasion, +Crawley brought it to me--and here began a new evil. He resumed, +partially, his former dastardly sneaking manner; made love to me; +offered me the honour of being still a captain's wife, and accompanied +the offer with, obliquely-hinted threats of a due consequence of my +rejection of his suit. I spurned him; but I cannot dwell on the details +of this proceeding. His suit was persisted in for two or three days, +when, roused to madness, he told me, that next day, if I consented not, +I would be wedded to the natives of Madagascar. I traced the outline of +the knife through the covering of my bosom, and defied him. + +The next night was clear, and somewhat chill--indications of a cessation +of the calm. The rudeness of Crawley had had the effect of keeping my +mind from falling into the grasp of the demon of diseased fantasy; but, +now my fate was fixed, I had no more to fear from him; and towards +midnight, I fell again into the train of imaginings that had formerly +haunted me. I had opened the cabin window for air--having felt a +suffocating oppression of the chest during the day, proceeding from the +extreme heat and the confined apartment. My eyes were again fixed in the +direction of the island. I could see the dark shade of the land lying +upon the gilded waters. All was still; my thoughts sought again the +deep--the grave of George, the fancied condition of his body; and, as my +ideas diverged to the calm scene around, it appeared to me as if all +nature were dead, and that my own pulsations were the only living +movements on earth. Lights now began to move along the shore, and then a +fire blazed up into the firmament. The bodies of the savages flitted +before it; I had seen the same appearances before; but I was now +connected with these orgies in a more _real_ manner than formerly. They +ceased, and my mind again sought the recesses of the green deep, where +all I loved on earth lay engulfed. My eye at times wandered over the +surface of the waters; but I feared to look downwards into their bosom. +My attention was suddenly fixed by an object in the sea. I put up my +hands and rubbed my eyes. Was I deceived by a fancy? No! a dead body was +there, not four yards distant from where I sat. It was that of my +husband, rolled up in the same white sheet in which I had seen him +extended on the oak table, and with his head raised somewhat above the +surface, by the weights placed in the shroud having, as I afterwards +thought, descended to the feet. A part of the sewing had been torn off +the head, which was bare--the face was openly exposed to me, the moon +shone upon it; I could perceive the very features, and even the +lustreless eyes, that seemed fixed on the ship. There was not a breath +of wind to ruffle the surface of the sea, which shone with a blue lustre +in the light of the moon; and the body was as motionless as if it had +been fixed on the earth. I have described, hitherto, what actually +befell me, with the various states of my mind under extraordinary +circumstances of pain and depression. My fancies belonged as much to +nature as the facts which excited and nourished them, and must be +believed by those who have studied the workings of the mind, even +unconnected with the principles and facts of pathology. This was, +however, no vision of the fancy, but a reality resulting from well-known +physical laws. I sat, fixed immovably, at the window, and felt no more +power of receding from it, than I formerly had of resigning my musings. +My eyes were fixed upon that countenance which had been the _beau ideal_ +of love's idolatry--the fairest thing on earth, and the archetype of my +dreams of heaven. I could not fly from it, horrible as it seemed in its +blue glare and ghastly expression. I loved it while it shocked me; and +all my powers of thinking were bound up in freezing terror. I felt the +hair on my head move as the shrivelling skin became corrugated over my +temples. That, and the occasional throbbings of my heart, were the only +motions of any part of my being; but the body I gazed at seemed to be as +immovable, and its eyes seemed not less steadfastly fixed on me than +mine were on it. + +How long I sat in this position I know not. There was no internal +impulse that moved me to desist. I could, I thought, have looked for +ever. Certain fearful objects possess a charm over the mind--and this +was one of them; but I have sometimes thought that the power lay in +producing the negative state of mental paralysis; for the instant my +attention was called to a strange noise upon the deck, I was suddenly +recalled to a natural sense of the fear it inspired. The sounds I heard +were a mixture of exclamations and objections, pronounced in tones of +fear and anger. I turned away my face from the dead body, with a strong +feeling of repugnance to contemplate it again; and, groping my way to +the companion-ladder, listened to what was going on above. Kreutz and +Crawley were in communication. + +'There is more than chance in that frightful appearance,' I heard +Crawley say. 'And this calm too--it will never end. God have mercy on +us! Is there no man that will undertake to sink the body? I cannot stand +the gaze of these white balls. See! the face is directed towards me; and +yet I did not do the deed, though I authorized it. Will no one save me +from the glare of the grim avenger? I will give twenty gold pieces to +the man who will remove it to the deep. Go forward, Kreutz, and try if +you can prevail upon a bold heart to undertake the task!' + +'Pho, man!' responded the German--'all von phantasy--anybody would have +risen in the same way--Teufel! I heed it not von peterpfenning. But the +men are alarmed, and begin to say that the captain has not got fair +play. Hush! seize your degen. There is von commotion before the mast.' + +I now heard a tumult in the fore part of the vessel and began to +suspect that the crew had been led to believe that George had died a +natural death, and had been by some means prevailed upon to work the +vessel, when the wind rose in another direction, under the command of +Crawley. The noise increased, and with it the fears of the cowardly +villain whose conscience had been awakened by such strange means. Kreutz +had left him to try to pacify the men; and the tones of his +terror-struck voice continued to murmur around. + +'There it still is,' he groaned, as his attention seemed to be divided +between the sight he contemplated and the tumult, 'gazing steadfastly +with these lack-lustre eyes for revenge. It is on me they are +fixed--immovably fixed--as a victim which the spirit that floats over +the body in that dead light of the moon demands, and will get. There is +a God above in that blue firmament, who sees all things. I am lost. +These men obey the call of a power that chooses that grim apparition as +its instrument to call down destruction on my head. Ha! Kreutz has no +influence here; the avengers are prepared.' + +A step now came rapidly forward, and Kreutz's voice was again heard. + +'If you will not try to quell them,' said he, 'all is lost. They swear +the captain has been murdered, and that verdamt traitor Buist heads them +on. Donner! shall Hans Kreutz die like one muzzled dog? On with degen in +hand, and it may not be too late! We have friends among the caitiffs; +strike down the first man; his blut will terrify them more than that +staring geist, which is, after all, only von natural body, with no more +spirit in it than the bones of my grandmutter. Frisch! frisch! auf, man! +come, come, dash in and strike the first mutineer!' + +The cowardly spirit of Crawley was acted upon by the stern German; for I +heard him cry out-- + +'Hold there, men! what means this tumult--'sdeath?' + +The rest of his words were drowned by the noise; but I heard the sounds +of his and Kreutz's feet as they rushed forward. In an instant, the +sound like that of a man falling prostrate on the deck, met my ear; and +then there rose a yell that rung through every cranny of the ship. All +seemed engaged in a desperate struggle. The words 'Revenge for our +captain!' often rose high above all the other sounds. The clanging of +many daggers followed; several bodies fell with a crash upon the deck, +and loud groans, as if from persons in the agonies of death, were mixed +with the cries of those who were struggling for victory. The tramping +and confusion increased, till all distinct sound seemed lost in a +general uproar. I got alarmed, and left my station at the foot of the +companion-ladder; but I knew not whither to fly. I took again my seat at +the window, as if I felt that there was an opening for me from which I +might fly from the fearful scene. My agitation had banished from my mind +for an instant the vision of the body; and I started again with +increased fear as my eyes fell upon the corpse that had apparently been +the cause of the uproar. It was still there, as motionless as before; +yet, I thought, still nearer to me. I saw the features still more +distinctly than ever, and found my mind again chained down by the charm +it threw over me. The sounds for a time seemed to come upon my ear from +a far, far distance, or like those heard in a dream; and like a dreamer, +too, I struggled to get away from a vision that I at once loved and +trembled at. The noises on deck seemed as those of the world, and the +object before me the creation of the fancy that bound my soul, but left +the sense of hearing open to living sounds. While in this state, I was +suddenly roused by a rush of several men into the cabin; they held +daggers in their hands and their countenances were besmeared with blood. +I looked at them, under the impression that they were my enemies, and +that the cause of Crawley had triumphed; but I was soon undeceived--they +told me that both he and Kreutz lay dead upon the deck, and that the +victorious party were determined to complete the voyage and take the +ship to Madras. The removal of one evil from a mind borne down by the +weight of many, only leaves a greater power of susceptibility of the +pain of what remains. The moment I heard of my own personal safety, I +recurred again to the subject that affected me more deeply than even the +fears of being consigned to the natives of the island--the dead body of +George was still in the waters. The men understood and appreciated my +sufferings. I again went to the cabin window, and, pointing to the +corpse, implored Buist, who was present, to get it taken up and buried. +He replied, that that had already been agreed upon, and orders were +given to that effect. Several of the men volunteered of themselves to +assist. A boat was put out, and I watched the solemn process. I saw them +drag up the body from the sea, and would have flown to the deck to +embrace once more the dearest object of my earthly affections; but I was +restrained from motives of humanity. I had reason to suppose that it had +been dreadfully mutilated, and that was the reason why I was saved the +pain of the sad sight. That same evening it was consigned again to the +deep; and with it sunk the bodies of his murderers, Crawley and Kreutz. + +Next day, a breeze sprang up, and bore us away from that fatal place. My +eyes were fixed on it till I could see no longer any traces of that +island which had caused me so many fears. In a short time, we arrived in +India, where I remained about two months, and returned again with the +Griffin to Britain. + +"Now, sir," she continued, "all these things are in the course of man's +doings in this strange world. It is also very natural that I should +think of him. But a more dreadful effect has followed. I shudder when I +think of it." + +She stopped and looked at me, as if she were afraid to touch upon the +subject of the visual illusion. I told her that I understood the cause +of her fears; and having questioned her, I satisfied myself from her +answers that I had at last discovered a case of true _monomania_, in +which the patient conceived that she saw, with the same distinctness as +when she looked from the cabin window of the _Griffin_ the corpse of her +husband swimming in the sea, with the head and chest above the waters, +surrounded with the same blue moonlight, and every minute circumstance +attending the real presence. + +I meditated a cure; but I frankly confess that it was my anxious wish to +witness her under the influence of the fit; and, with that view, I +purposed waiting upon her repeatedly in the evenings, when, under the +shaded light of the candle, it generally came over her. I was baffled in +this for several weeks, chiefly, I presume, from the circumstance of my +presence operating as an engagement of her mind; but one evening when I +was sitting with her mother in another room, the sister came suddenly, +and beckoned me into that occupied by my patient. The door was opened +quietly and, on looking in, I saw, for the first time, a vision-struck +victim of this extraordinary disease. She sat as if under a spell, her +arms extended, her eyes fixed on the imaginary object, and every sense +bound up in that which contemplated the spectre vision. The fit +ended with a loud scream; she fell back in her chair, crying +wildly--"George!--George!" and lay, for a minute or two, apparently +insensible. + +I continued my study of this extraordinary case for a considerable +period; and, while I administered to her relief, I got her to explain to +me some things which may be of use to our profession. I need not say +that I was able to penetrate the dark secret of the seat of either the +pathology or the metaphysique of the disease. That it was connected with +the irritability of her nerves, and the affection of the eyes, there can +be little doubt; because, as she mended in health, the fits diminished +in number, and latterly went off. I may, however, state that, from all I +could learn from her, the fit was something of the nature of a +dream--all the objects around her, at the time, being as much unnoticed +as if they existed not; and although she was possessed with an absolute +conviction that the body of her husband was actually at the time +present, it was precisely that kind of conviction that we feel in a +vivid dream. + +[Footnote 2: HIBBERT'S _Philosophy of Apparitions_; BREWSTER'S _Letters on +Natural Magic_; SCOTT'S _Letters on Witchcraft_, _&c._] + + + + +THE FOUNDLING AT SEA. + + +About the year 1708 or 1710, the good ship _Isabella_, Captain Hardy, +sailed from the port of Greenock for Bombay, being chartered by the East +India Company to carry out a quantity of arms and ammunition for the use +of the Company's forces. + +The _Isabella_ carried out with her several passengers; amongst whom +were a lady, her child--a girl about three years of age--and a +servant-maid. This lady, whose name was Elderslie, was the wife of a +lieutenant in the British army, who was then with his regiment at +Calcutta, whither she was about to follow him; he having written home +that, as he had been fortunate enough to obtain some semi-civil +appointments in addition to his military services, he would, in all +probability, be a residenter there for many years. The lieutenant added +that, under these circumstances, he wished his "dear Betsy, and their +darling little Julia, to join him as soon as possible." And this, he +said, he had the less hesitation in requiring, that the appointments he +alluded to would render their situation easy and comfortable. It was +then in obedience to this invitation that Mrs Elderslie and her child +were now passengers on board the _Isabella_. + +For about six weeks the gallant ship pursued her way prosperously--that +whole period being marked only by alternatives of temporary calms and +fair winds. The vessel was now off the coast of Guinea; and here an +inscrutable Providence had decreed that her ill-fated voyage--for it was +destined to be so, flattering as had been its outset--should terminate. +A storm arose--a dreadful storm--one of those wild bursts of elemental +fury which mock the might of man, and hoarsely laugh at his puny and +feeble efforts to resist their destructive powers. For two days and +nights the vessel, stript of every inch of canvass, drove wildly before +the wind; and, on the morning of the third day, struck furiously on a +reef of rocks, at about half a mile's distance from the shore. On the +ship striking, the crew--not doubting that she would immediately go to +pieces, for a dreadful sea was beating over her, and she was, besides, +every now and then, surging heavily against the rock on which she now +lay--instantly took to their boats, accompanied by the passengers. All +the passengers? No, not all. There was one amissing. It was Mrs +Elderslie. About ten minutes before the ship struck, that unfortunate +lady, together with two men and a boy, were swept from the deck by a +huge sea that broke over the stern; sending, with irresistible fury, a +rushing deluge of water, of many feet in depth, over the entire length +of the ship. Neither Mrs Elderslie nor any of the unhappy participators +in her dismal fate were seen again. + +In the hurry and confusion of taking to the boats, none recollected that +there was still a child on board--the child of the unfortunate lady who +had just perished; or, if any did recollect this, none chose to run the +risk of missing the opportunity of escape presented by the boats, by +going in search of the hapless child, who was at that moment below in +the cabin. In the meantime, the overloaded boats--for they were much too +small to carry the numbers who were now crowded into them, especially in +such a sea as was then raging--had pushed off, and were labouring to +gain the shore. It was a destination they were doomed never to reach. +Before they had got half-way, both boats were swamped--the one +immediately after the other--and all on board perished, after a brief +struggle with the roaring and tumbling waves that were bellowing around +them. + +From this moment, the storm, as if now satisfied with the mischief it +had wrought, began to abate. In half an hour it had altogether subsided; +and the waves, though still rolling heavily, had lost the violence and +energy of their former motion. They seemed worn out and exhausted by +their late fury. + +The crew of the unfortunate vessel had left her, as we have said, in the +expectation that she would shortly go to pieces; but it would have been +better for them had they had more confidence in her strength, and +remained by her; for, strange to tell, she withstood the fury of the +elements, and, though sorely battered and shaken, her dark hull still +rested securely on the rock on which she had struck. The wreck of the +_Isabella_ had been witnessed from the shore by a crowd of the natives, +who had assembled directly opposite the fatal reef on which she had +struck. They would fain have gone out in their canoes to the unfortunate +vessel when she first struck, as was made evident by some unsuccessful +attempts they made to paddle towards her; but whether with a friendly or +hostile purpose, cannot be known. On the storm subsiding, however, they +renewed their attempts. A score of canoes started for the wreck, reached +it, and, in an instant after, the deck of the unfortunate vessel was +covered with wild Indians. Whooping and yelling in the savage excitement +occasioned by the novelty of everything around, they flew madly about +the deck, scrambled down into the hold, tore open bales and packages, +and possessed themselves of whatever most attracted their whimsical and +capricious fancies. While some were thus occupied in the hold, others +were ransacking the cabin. It was here, and at this moment, that a scene +of extraordinary interest took place. A huge savage, who was peering +curiously into one of the cabin beds, suddenly uttered a yell, so +piercing and unusual, that it attracted the notice of all his wild +companions; then, plunging his hand into the bed, drew forth, and held +up to the wondering gaze of the latter, a beautiful little girl of about +three years old. It was the daughter of the unfortunate Mrs Elderslie. +The unconscious child had slept during the whole of the catastrophe, +which had deprived her, first of her parent, and subsequently of her +protectors, and had only awoke with the shout of the savage who now held +her in his powerful, but not unfriendly grasp; for he seemed delighted +with his prize. He hugged the infant in his bosom, looked at it, laughed +over it, and performed a thousand antics expressive of his admiration +and affection for the fair and blooming child of which he had thus +strangely become possessed. The child, for some time, expressed great +terror of her new protector and his sable companions, calling loudly on +her mother; but the anxious and eager endearments of the former +gradually calmed her fears and quieted her cries. + +In the meantime, the plunder of the vessel was going on vigorously in +all directions--above and below, in the cabin and forecastle, till, at +length, as much was collected as the savages thought their canoes would +safely carry. These, therefore, were now loaded with the booty; and the +whole fleet, shortly after, made for the shore. + +In one of these canoes was little Julia Elderslie and her new protector, +who, by still maintaining his friendly charge over her, shewed that he +meant to appropriate her as a part of his share of the plunder. + +On reaching the shore, the kind-hearted savage, as his whole conduct in +the affair shewed him to be, consigned his little protegee to the care +of a female--one of the group of women who were on the beach awaiting +the arrival of the canoes, and who appeared to be his wife. + +The woman received the child with similar expressions of surprise and +delight with those which had marked her husband's conduct on his first +finding her. She turned her gently round and round, examined her with a +delighted curiosity, patted her cheeks, felt her legs and arms, and, in +short, handled her as if she had been some strange toy, or as if she +wished to be assured that she was really a thing of flesh and blood. + +For two days the natives continued their plunder of the wreck. By the +third, the vessel had been cleared of every article of any value that +could be carried away; and on this being ascertained, a general division +of the spoil, accumulated on the shore, took place. + +It was a scene of dreadful confusion and uproar, and more than once +threatened to terminate in bloodshed; but it eventually closed without +any such catastrophe. The partition was effected, the encampment was +broken up, and the whole band--men, women, and children, all loaded with +plunder--commenced their march into the interior; the little Julia +forming part of the burden of the man who had first appropriated her; a +labour in which he was from time to time relieved by his wife. + +From three to four years after the occurrence of the events just +related, a Scotch merchant ship, the _Dolphin_ of Ayr, Captain +Clydesdale, bound for the Cape of Good Hope, while prosecuting her +voyage, unexpectedly run short of water, in consequence of the bursting +of a tank, when off the Gold Coast of Africa. + +On being informed of the accident, the captain determined on running for +the land for the purpose of endeavouring to procure a further supply of +the indispensable necessary of which he had just sustained so serious a +loss. + +The vessel was, accordingly, directed towards the coast, which she +neared in a few hours; and, finally, entered a small bay, which seemed +likely to afford at once the article wanted, and a safe anchorage for +the ship while she waited for its reception. + +By a curious chance, the bay which the _Dolphin_ now entered was the +same in which the _Isabella_ had been wrecked upwards of three years +before. But of that ill-fated vessel there was now no trace; a +succession of storms, similar to that which had first hurled her on the +rocks, had at length accomplished her entire destruction: she had, in +time, been beaten to pieces, and had now wholly disappeared. + +There was then no appearance of any kind, no memorial nor vestige by +which those on board the _Dolphin_ might learn, or at all suspect that +the locality they were now in had been the scene of so deep a tragedy as +that recorded in the early part of our tale. + +All unconscious of this, the _Dolphin_ came to within pistol-shot not +only of the reef, but of the identical spot on which the _Isabella_ had +been wrecked. + +Having come to anchor, a boat, filled with empty watercasks, was +despatched from the ship for the shore. In this boat was the captain, +first mate, and a pretty numerous party of men, all well armed, in case +of any interruption from the natives. + +On landing, Captain Clydesdale, the mate, and two men, leaving the +others in the boat, set out in quest of water. The search was not a +tedious one. When they had walked about a quarter of a mile inland, the +gratifying noise of a waterfall struck upon their ears. Following the +delightful sound, they quickly reached a rocky dell into which a crystal +sheet of water, of considerable breadth, was falling from a height of +about fifteen feet; and, after sportively circling about for a moment in +a deep but clear pool below, sought the channel which conducted to the +sea, found it, and glided noiselessly away. + +Delighted with this opportune discovery, Captain Clydesdale despatched +one of the men who was along with him to the boat, to order the others +up with the water casks. + +Having seen the people commence the task of filling the latter, the +captain and mate, each armed with a musket, cutlass, and brace of +pistols, started for a walk a little farther inland, in order to obtain +a view of the country. For nearly an hour they wandered on, now scaling +heights, and now forcing their way through patches of tangled brushwood, +without meeting with any adventure, or seeing anything at all +extraordinary. They had now gained the banks of the stream which, lower +down, formed the cascade at which the water casks were filling; and this +they proposed to trace downwards, as its banks presented a clear and +open route, till they should reach the point whence they had started. + +While jogging leisurely along this route, the adventurers, by turning a +projecting rock, suddenly opened a small bight or hollow, sheltered on +all sides, except towards the river, by the high grounds around it. In +the centre of this little glen was an Indian encampment! Alarmed at this +unexpected sight, the captain and mate abruptly halted, and would have +again retreated behind the projecting rock or knoll which had first +concealed them, and taken another route, but they perceived they were +seen by a group of male natives who were lolling on the grass in front +of the wigwams. On seeing the white men--who now stood fast, aware that +it was useless to attempt to retreat--the Indians sprang to their feet +with a loud yell, and rushed towards them. The captain and mate +instinctively brought down their muskets; for reason would have shown +them that resistance was equally useless with flight. The hostile +attitude, however, which they had assumed, had the effect of checking +the advance of the natives, who suddenly halted, and, to the great +relief of the captain and mate, made friendly signs of welcome to them. + +Confiding in and returning these signs, the latter raised their muskets +and advanced towards the party, who now also resumed their march towards +the strangers. They met, when, after some attempts at conversation, +conducted on the part of the natives with great good-humour, but, on +both sides, altogether in vain, one of the former suddenly ran off at +full speed towards the wigwams, into one of which he plunged, and +instantly reappeared, leading a female child of six or seven years of +age by the hand. As he advanced towards the captain and mate, he kept +pointing to the child's face, then to his own, then towards those of the +strangers, and laughing loudly the while. + +With an amazement which they would have found it difficult to express, +Clydesdale and his companion perceived that the child, now produced, was +fair, of regular features, smooth hair, and without any trace of African +origin. Exposure to a tropical sun had deeply embrowned her little +cheeks; but enough of bloom still remained, as, when coupled with other +characteristics, left no doubt on the minds of the captain and his mate +that the child, however it had come into its present situation, was of +European parentage. + +His curiosity greatly excited by this extraordinary circumstance, Mr +Clydesdale now endeavoured to obtain some account of the child from the +natives; but he could make little or nothing of the attempted conference +on this subject. From what, however, he did gather, he came to the +conclusion--a very accurate one, as the reader may guess--that a +shipwreck had taken place on the coast, and that the child had been +saved by the natives. + +Believing this to be the case, Captain Clydesdale now became anxious to +know whether any others had escaped; but could not make himself +understood. At length one of the savages, of more apt comprehension than +the others, seemed to have obtained a glimmering of the import of the +captain's queries, and fell upon an ingenious mode of replying to them. +Grasping Mr Clydesdale by the arm, he conducted him to a small pool of +water that was hard by. He then took a piece of bark that was lying on +the ground, placed about a dozen small pebbles on it, and launched it +into the pool. Then stooping down, he edged it over, till the stones +slid, one after the other, into the water, until one only remained. +Allowing the piece of bark now to right itself, and to float on the +water, he pointed to the single stone it carried, and then to the child; +thus intimating, as Mr Clydesdale understood it, and as it was evidently +meant to signify, that all had perished excepting the little girl. + +While this primitive mode of communication was going on, the man who had +brought the child to Captain Clydesdale had returned to his wigwam, and +now reappeared, carrying several articles in his hand, which he held up +to the former. Mr Clydesdale took them in his hand, and found them to +consist of fragments of a child's dress, made, as he thought, after the +fashion of those in use in Scotland. On the corner of what appeared to +be the remains of a little shift, he discovered the initials, J. E. But +the most interesting relic produced on this occasion, was a small +locket, containing some rich black hair on one side, and on the other +the miniature of a young man in a military uniform, with the same +initials, J. E., engraven on the rim. This locket, the man who brought +it gave Captain Clydesdale to understand, had been found hanging around +the neck of the child when first discovered. + +Satisfied now, beyond all doubt, of the child's European descent, Mr +Clydesdale approached her, took her kindly by the hand, and, hoping to +make something of her own testimony, began to put some questions to her; +but, to his great disappointment, found that she did not understand him, +although he spoke to her both in French and English. The little girl, in +truth, he soon discovered, neither understood nor spoke any language but +that of the tribe in whose hands she was. + +It appeared, however, sufficiently clear to Captain Clydesdale, that a +shipwreck had taken place on the coast, and that at no very great +distance of time, and that the child before him had been on board of the +unfortunate vessel. Various circumstances, too, led him to the belief +that the ship had been a British one; and in this opinion he was joined +by the mate. + +The result of the Captain's reflections on these points, was a +determination to take the child to Scotland with him, if he could +prevail upon her present possessors to part with her, and to take his +chance of making some discovery regarding her on his return home. + +Having come to this resolution, he hastened to make known to the natives +his wish to have the little girl; and was well pleased to perceive that +the proposal, which they seemed at once to comprehend, was not received +with any surprise, far less indignation. Encouraged by this reception of +his overture, Captain Clydesdale now addressed himself particularly to +the man who appeared to be the guardian, or, perhaps, proprietor of the +child, and, unbuckling his cutlass from his side, presented it to +him--making him, at the same time, to understand that he offered it as +the price of the little girl. The man demurred. Captain Clydesdale +pulled a clasp-knife out of his pocket, and made signs that he would +give that also, provided the locket and fragment of shift, with the +initials on it, were given along with the child. This addition to the +first offer had the desired effect. The cutlass and knife were accepted, +the locket and shift given in exchange, and the little hand of the girl +placed in Captain Clydesdale's, to signify that she was now his +property. After some farther interchange of civilities with the natives, +the captain, his mate, and the little Julia Elderslie--for, we presume, +the reader has been all along perfectly aware that the child in question +was no other than that unfortunate little personage--proceeded on their +way towards the place where the watering party had been left. This spot +they reached in safety, after about an hour's walking, and found the men +waiting their return--the casks having been already all filled and +shipped. + +In half an hour after, the boat was alongside the _Dolphin_, and little +Julia was handed upon deck; and, in less than another hour, the ship was +under weigh, and prosecuting her voyage to the Cape, where she +ultimately arrived in safety. During this time, Captain Clydesdale had +discovered in his Ponakonta--the name given to little Julia by the +Africans, and by which he delighted to call her--a disposition so docile +and affectionate, and a manner so gentle and unobtrusive, that he +already loved her with all the tenderness of a parent, and had secretly +resolved that he would adopt her as his own, and as such bring her up +and educate her, if no one possessed of a better right to discharge this +duty to her should ever appear. + +In about six months after the occurrence of the events just related, the +good ship _Dolphin_ arrived safely at the harbour of Ayr, all well; and +the little demi-savage, Ponakonta, in high spirits, and already +beginning to jabber very passable English--an acquisition which still +more endeared her to her kind-hearted protector, who took great delight +in listening to her prattle, and in questioning her regarding her life +amongst the Africans--of which she was now able to give a tolerably +intelligible account. She had, however, no recollection whatever of the +shipwreck, nor of any incident connected with it. Some dreamy +reminiscences, indeed, she had of her mother; but, as might have been +expected, considering how very young she was when that catastrophe +happened which had deprived her of her parent, they were too vague and +indefinite to be of the slightest avail towards throwing any light on +her parentage. + +On arriving at Ayr, Captain Clydesdale's first step, with regard to his +little charge, was to avail himself of every means he could think of to +make her singular history, with all its particulars, publicly known, in +the hope that it might bring some one forward who stood in some +relationship to her. The worthy man, however, took this step merely as +one that was right and proper in the case, and not, by any means, from +any desire to get rid of his little protegee. On the contrary, if truth +be told, he would have been sadly disappointed had any one appeared to +claim her. Nothing of this kind occurring, after a lapse of several +weeks, Captain Clydesdale--who, although pretty far advanced in years, +was unmarried, and had no domestic establishment of his own, being +almost constantly at sea--placed little Julia under the charge of some +female relatives, with instructions to give her every sort of education +befitting her years; for all of which--boarding, clothing, and +tuition--he came under an obligation to pay quarterly--giving a handsome +sum, in the meantime, to account. Having thus disposed of his protegee, +and satisfied that he had placed her in good hands, which was indeed the +case, Captain Clydesdale went again to sea--his destination, on this +occasion, being South America. + +The worthy man, however, did not go away before having a parting +interview with his little Ponakonta, whom he kissed a thousand times, +nor before he had entreated for her every kindness and attention, during +his absence, at the hands of those whom he had now constituted her +guardians. It was upwards of two years before Captain Clydesdale +returned from this voyage; for it included several trading trips between +foreign ports; and thus was his absence prolonged. + +Great was the good man's delight with the improvement which he found had +taken place on his little charge since his departure. She now spoke +English fluently; had made rapid progress in her education; and gave +promise of being more than ordinarily beautiful. Captain Clydesdale had +the farther satisfaction of learning that she was a universal +favourite--her gentle manners and affectionate disposition having +endeared her to all. + +On first casting eyes on her protector, after his return from South +America, little Julia at once recognised him, flew towards him, flung +her arms about his neck, and wept for joy--calling him, in muttered +sounds, her father, her dear father. Deeply affected by the warmth of +the grateful child's regard, Captain Clydesdale, with streaming eyes, +took her up in his arms, hugged her to his bosom, and kissed her with +all the fervour of parental love. Soon after, Captain Clydesdale again +went to sea; and, by and by, again returned. Voyage after voyage +followed, of various lengths; and, after the termination of each, the +worthy man found his interesting protegee still advancing in the way of +improvement, and still strengthening her hold on the affections of those +around her. + +Time thus passed on, until a period of nine years had slipped away; and +when it had, Julia Elderslie--who now bore, and had all along, since her +arrival in Scotland, borne, the name of Maria Clydesdale--was a blooming +and highly accomplished girl of sixteen. + +It was about this period that Captain Clydesdale began to think of +retiring from the sea, and of settling at home for the remainder of his +life. He was now upwards of sixty years of age, and found himself fast +getting incompetent to the arduous duties of his profession. +Fortunately, he was in a condition, as regarded circumstances, to enable +him to effect the retirement he meditated. He was by no means rich; but, +having never married, he had accumulated sufficient to live upon, for +the few remaining years that might be vouchsafed him. + +Part of Captain Clydesdale's little plan, on this occasion, was to rent +or purchase a small house in the neighbourhood of the village of +Fernlee, his native place, in the west of Scotland; to furnish it, and +to take his adopted daughter to live with him as his housekeeper. All +this was accordingly done; a house, a very pretty little cottage, with +garden behind, and flower-plot in front, was taken, furnished, and +occupied by Mr Clydesdale and his protegee. Here, for two years, they +enjoyed all the happiness of which their position and circumstances were +capable--and it was a happiness of a very enviable kind. No daughter, +however deep her love, could have conducted herself towards her parent +with more tenderness, or with more anxious solicitude for his ease and +comfort, than did Maria Clydesdale towards her protector. Nor could any +parent more sensibly feel, or more gratefully mark the affectionate +attentions of a child, than did Captain Clydesdale those of his Maria. + +He doated on her, and to such a degree, that he never felt happy when +she was out of his sight. + +More than satisfied with her lot, Maria sought no other scenes of +enjoyment than those of her humble home; and coveted no other happiness +than what she found in contributing to that of her benefactor. + +Thus happily, then, flew two delightful years over the old man and his +adopted child; and, wrapped up in their felicity, they dreamt not of +reverses. But reverses came; Misfortune found her way even into their +lonely retirement. Within one week, Captain Clydesdale received +intelligence of the total loss of two vessels of which he was the +principal owner, and in which nearly all that he was worth was invested. +The blow was a severe and unexpected one, and affected the old man +deeply. Not on his own account, as he told his Maria, with a tear +standing in his eye, but on hers. "I had hoped," he said, "to leave you +in independence--an humble one indeed, but more than sufficient to place +you far beyond the reach of want. But now----" And the old man wrung his +hands in exquisite agony of grief. + +Infinitely more distressed by the sight of her benefactor's unhappiness +than by the misfortune which occasioned it, Maria flung her arms about +his neck, and said everything she could think of to assuage his grief +and to reconcile him to what had happened. Amongst other things, she +told him that the accomplishments which his generosity had put her in +possession were more than sufficient to secure her an independence, or, +at least, the means of living comfortably; and that she would +immediately make them available for their common support. + +"There are a number of wealthy families around us, my dear father," she +said, "from which I have no doubt of obtaining ample employment. I can +teach music, drawing, French, sewing, etc.; and will instantly make +application to the various quarters where I am likely to succeed in +turning them to account. Besides, father," she continued, "it is +probable that we shall soon have some great family in Park House; and, +in such case, I might calculate on obtaining some employment +there--perhaps enough of itself to occupy all my time." + +To all this the old man made no reply--he could make none. He merely +took the amiable girl in his arms, embraced her, and bade God bless her. + +Although the mention by Miss Clydesdale of the particular residence +above named appears a merely incidental circumstance, and one, +seemingly, of no great importance, it is yet one, as the sequel will +shew, so connected with our story, that a particular or two regarding it +may not be deemed superfluous. + +Park House was a large, a magnificent mansion, with a splendid estate +attached, both of which were, at this moment, in the market. The house +was within a quarter of a mile of Captain Clydesdale's cottage, and the +reference in the advertisements to those who wished to see the house and +grounds, was made to the captain, who, with his usual readiness to +oblige, had undertaken this duty--a duty which he had already discharged +towards several visitors--none of whom, however, had become purchasers. +It was about a week after the period last referred to--namely, that +marked by the circumstance of Mr Clydesdale's losses--that a gentleman's +carriage drove up to the little gate which conducted to that worthy +man's residence. From this carriage descended a tall military-looking +man, of apparently about sixty years of age, who immediately advanced +towards the house. Captain Clydesdale, who saw him approaching, hastened +out to meet him. The latter, on seeing the captain, bowed politely, and +said-- + +"Captain Clydesdale, I presume, sir?" + +"The same, at your service, sir," replied the honest seaman. + +"You are referred, to, sir, I think, as the person to whom those wishing +to see Park House and grounds should apply." + +"I am," replied Mr Clydesdale; "and will be happy to shew them to you, +sir." + +"Thank you," said the visitor. "It is precisely for that purpose I have +taken the liberty of calling on you. I have some idea of purchasing the +estate, if I find it to answer my expectations." + +"Will you have the goodness to step into the house, sir, for a few +moments, and I will then be at your service?" said Captain Clydesdale. + +The gentleman bowed acquiescence, and, conducted by the former, walked +into the house, and was ushered into a little front parlour, in which +Miss Clydesdale was at the moment engaged in sewing. On the entrance of +the visitor, she rose, in some confusion, and was about to retire, when +the latter, entreating that he might not be the cause of driving her +away, she resumed her seat and her work. Having also seated himself, the +stranger now made some remarks of an ordinary character, by way of +filling up the interval occasioned by the absence of Captain Clydesdale. +Many words, however, had he not spoken, nor long had he looked on the +fair countenance of his companion, when he seemed struck by something in +her appearance which appeared at once to interest and perplex him. From +the moment that this feeling took possession of the stranger, he spoke +no more, but continued gazing earnestly at the downcast countenance of +Maria Clydesdale; who, conscious of, and abashed by the gaze, kept her +face close over the work in which she was engaged. From this awkward +situation, however, she was quickly relieved by the entrance of Captain +Clydesdale, who came to say that he was now ready to accompany his +visitor to Park House. The latter rose, wished Miss Clydesdale a good +morning; accompanying the expressions, however, with another of those +looks of interest and perplexity with which he had been from time to +time contemplating her for the last five or ten minutes, and followed +the captain out of the apartment. + +"That interesting and very beautiful young lady whom I saw at your house +is your daughter, sir, I presume?" said the stranger to Captain +Clydesdale, as they proceeded together towards Park House. + +"Yes, sir, she is: that is, I may _say_ she is; for I have brought her +up since she was a child; and she has never, at least, not since she was +five or six years of age, had any other protector than myself. She never +knew her parents." + +"Ah! a foundling," said the gentleman. + +"Yes, but under rather extraordinary circumstances. I found her amongst +the savages of the coast of Guinea." + +"On the coast of Guinea!" exclaimed the stranger, in much amazement. +"Very extraordinary, indeed. What are the circumstances, if I may +inquire?" + +Captain Clydesdale related them as they are already before the reader; +not omitting to mention the fragment of shift, with the initials on it, +and the locket with hair and miniature, which he still carefully kept. + +On Captain Clydesdale concluding, the stranger suddenly stopped short, +and, looking at the former with a countenance pale with emotion, +said--"Good God, sir, what is this? I am bewildered, confounded. I know +not what to think. It is possible. Yet it cannot be. My name, sir, is +Elderslie, General Elderslie. I have just returned from the East Indies, +where I have been for the last seventeen years. Shortly after my going +out, my wife and child, a daughter, embarked on board the _Isabella_ +from Greenock, to join me at Calcutta. The ship never reached her +destination; she was never more heard of; but there was a report that +she was seen, if not bespoken, off the Gold Coast; and from there being +no trace of her afterwards, it is more than probable that she was +wrecked on these shores; and, O God! it is probable also, although I +dare not allow myself to believe it, that this girl is--is my child! Let +us return, let us return instantly," he added, with increasing +agitation, and now grasping Captain Clydesdale by the arm, "that I may +see this locket you speak of. I gave such a trinket to my beloved, my +unfortunate wife. The initials you mention correspond exactly. My +child's name was Julia Elderslie; my own Christian name is James; and +the same initials are thus also on the rim of the locket." + +"It is precisely so!" said Captain Clydesdale, with a degree of surprise +and emotion not less intense than those of the general's. "There _are_ +the initials of J. E. also on the locket; and now that my attention is +called to the circumstance, there is a strong resemblance between the +miniature it encloses, and the person now before me." + +"Let us hasten to the house, for God's sake! captain," said the general, +with breathless eagerness, "and have this matter cleared up, if +possible." + +They returned to the house. Captain Clydesdale put the locket and the +fragment of the little shift, which bore the initials J. E., into the +hands of the general. He glanced at the latter, examined the former for +an instant with trembling hands, staggered backwards a pace or two, and +sank into a chair. It was the identical locket which, some twenty years +before, he had given to his wife. The miniature it contained, introduced +into the trinket at a subsequent period, was his own likeness. + +"Bring me my child, Captain Clydesdale," said the general, on recovering +his composure; "for I can no longer doubt that your adopted daughter is, +indeed, my Julia." + +Captain Clydesdale left the apartment, and in a moment returned leading +in Julia Elderslie, who had hitherto been kept in ignorance of what was +passing. On her entrance the general rushed towards her, took her by the +left hand, gently pushed the sleeve of her gown a little way up the +wrist, saw that the latter exhibited a small brown mole, and +exclaiming--"The proof is complete; you are--you are my daughter, the +image of your darling but ill-fated mother," took her in his arms in a +transport of joy. + +The feelings of Julia Elderslie, on this extraordinary occasion, we need +not describe, they will readily be conceived. Neither need we detain the +reader with any further detail; seeing that, with the incident just +mentioned, the interest of our story terminates. + +It will be enough now, then, to say, that General Elderslie, who had +amassed a princely fortune, bought the estate and mansion of Park House. +That he took every opportunity, and adopted every means he could think +of, of shewing his gratitude to Captain Clydesdale, for the generous +part he had acted towards his daughter. That this daughter ultimately +inherited his entire fortune; the general having never married a second +time; and that she finally married into a family of high rank and +extensive influence in the west of Scotland. + + + + +THE ASSASSIN. + + +At a late hour of an evening in the beginning of the year 1569, mine +host of the Stag and Hounds--the principal hostelry of Linlithgow at the +period referred to--was suddenly called from his liquor--the which +liquor he was at the moment enjoying with a few select friends who were +assembled in the public room of the house--to receive a traveller who +had just ridden up to the door. + +Much as Andrew Nimmo--for such was the name of mine host--much, we say, +as Andrew loved custom, it was not without reluctance that he rose to +leave his party to attend the duties of his calling on the present +occasion. He would rather he had not been disturbed; for he was in the +middle of an exceedingly interesting story, when the summons reached +him, and was very unwilling to leave it unfinished. But business must be +attended to; its demands are imperative; and no man, after all, could be +more sensible of this than mine host of the Stag and Hounds. So, however +reluctant, from his seat he rose, and, telling his friends he would +rejoin them presently, hastened out of the apartment. + +On reaching the door, Andrew found the traveller had dismounted. He was +standing by the head of his horse--a powerful black charger--and +seemingly waiting for some one to relieve him of the animal. + +This duty Andrew now performed; he took hold of the bridle, after a word +or two of welcome to his guest, and asked whether he should put up the +horse and supper him? + +"What else have I come here for?" replied the stranger, gruffly. "Surely +put him up; but I must see myself to his being properly suppered and +tended. If we expect a horse to do his duty, we must do our duty by +him. So lead the way, friend!" + +Damped by the uncourteous manner of the traveller, Andrew made no +further reply than a muttered acquiescence in the justice of the remark +just made, but instantly led the horse away towards the stable; calling +out, as he went, on John Ramsay, the ostler, to come out with the +buet--_i.e._ lantern; for it was pitch dark, and a light, of course, +indispensable. + +With the scrutinizing habits of his calling, mine host of the Stag and +Hounds had been secretly but anxiously endeavouring to make out his +customer; to arrive at some idea of his rank and profession, if he had +any; but the darkness of the night had prevented him from noting more +than that he was a man of tall stature, and, he thought, of a singularly +stern aspect. + +When Ramsay had brought the light, however, mine host obtained farther +and better opportunities of pursuing his study of the stranger; and, +besides having his former remarks confirmed, now discovered that he had +the appearance of a person of some consideration, his dress being that +of a gentleman. + +"Fine beast that, sir!" adventured mine host, after a silence of some +time, during which the latter and his guest had been standing together +overlooking the operation of John Ramsay as he fed and littered the +animal, whose noble proportions had elicited the remark. "Poorfu' beast, +sir," continued Mr Nimmo. "I think I hae never seen a better." + +"Not often, friend, I daresay," replied the stranger, who was standing +erect, with folded arms, and carefully marking every proceeding of the +ostler. "For a long run and a swift, he is the animal for a man to trust +his life to." + +Mine host was startled a little by the turn given to this remark: it +smelt somewhat, he thought, of the highway; or, at any rate, seemed to +carry with it a somewhat suspicious sort of reference. He was, however, +much too prudent a man to exhibit any indication of an opinion so +injurious to the character of his guest, and, therefore, merely said +laughingly-- + +"That he weel believed that if a man war in sic jeopardy as required his +trusting to horse legs for his life, he wad be safe aneuch on sic a +beast as that, especially if he got onything o' a reasonable start." + +"Yes, give him ten minutes of a start, and there's not a witch that ever +rode over North Berwick Law on a broomstick that'll throw salt on his +tail, let alone a horse and rider of flesh and blood!" replied the +stranger, with a grim smile. "_I'll_ trust my life to him," he added, +emphatically, "and have no fears for the result." + +The tendence on the much prized animal which was the subject of these +remarks having now been completed, mine host and his guest left the +stable, and proceeded to the house, which having entered, the former +ushered the latter into the public room, being the best in the house, +and the only one fit for the reception, as our worthy landlord deemed +it, of a personage of the stranger's apparent quality. + +The latter at first shewed some reluctance to enter an apartment in +which there was already so many people assembled; for it was still +occupied by the company formerly alluded to; but, on being told by mine +host that he should have a table to himself, in a distant part of the +room, if he did not wish for society, he expressed himself reconciled to +the arrangement, and, walking into the apartment, took his place at its +upper end; then throwing himself down in a chair, having previously laid +aside his hat, cloak, and sword, he commenced a vigilant but silent +scrutiny of the party by which the table that occupied the centre of the +apartment was surrounded. While he was thus employed, the landlord, who +had gone for a moment about some household business, approached him to +receive his orders regarding his night's entertainment. The result of +the conference on this subject, was an order for supper, and for a +measure of wine to be brought in, in the meantime, until the former +should be prepared. The landlord bowed, and retired to execute his +commissions. In a minute after, a pewter measure of claret, with a tall +drinking glass, stood before the stranger. He filled up the latter from +the former, drank it off, and again set himself to the task of +scrutinizing the company before him--a task to which he now added that +of listening to their conversation, which seemed to be of a nature to +interest him much, if one might judge from the earnest intensity of his +look, and the varying but strongly marked expression of countenance with +which he listened to the various sentiments of the various speakers. The +subject of the conversation was the Regent Murray--his proceedings, +government, and character. + +"Aweel, folk may say what they like o' the Regent," said one of the +speakers, "but I think he's managing matters very weel on the whole, and +I wish we may never hae a waur in his place. He's no a man to be trifled +wi'; and if he keeps a tight rein hand, he doesna o'erride the strength +o' his steed. He's a strict, justice-loving man; that I'll say o' him." + +"Then ye say mair o' him than I wad, deacon," said another of the party. +"His strictness I grant ye; but as to his justice, there was unco little +o't, I think, in his treatment o' his sister: his conduct to that poor +woman has been most unnatural, most savage, selfish, and unfeelin. +That's my opinion o't, and it's the opinion o' mony a ane besides me." + +"Weel, weel; every are has his ain mind o' thae things, Mr Clinkscales," +replied the first speaker; "but for my part, I'll ay ride the ford as I +find it; that's my creed." + +"Has ony o' ye heard," here interposed another of the party, "o' that +cruel case o' Hamilton's o' Bothwellhaugh? Ane o' the Queen's +Hamilton's," added the querist. + +Some said they had, others that they had not. For the benefit of the +latter, the speaker explained. He said that Hamilton of Bothwellhaugh +was one of those who had been forfeited for the part he took at the +battle of Langside. That the person to whom his property was given by +the Regent, had turned Hamilton's wife out of her home, unclothed, and +in a wild and stormy night; and that the poor woman had died in +consequence of this cruel treatment. + +"An' what's Hamilton sayin to that?" inquired one of the party. + +"They say he's in an awfu takin about it," replied the first speaker, +"an' threatenin vengeance, richt an' left; particularly against the +Regent." + +"I think little wonder o't," said another of the party. "It's a shamefu +business, and aneuch to mak ony man desperate." + +"But is't true?" here inquired another. + +The reply to this question came from a very unexpected quarter: it came +from the stranger, who, starting fiercely to his feet, and stretching +towards the company with a look and gesture of great excitement, +exclaimed-- + +"Yes, gentlemen, true it is--true as God is in heaven--true in every +particular. An eternal monument to the justice and clemency of the +tyrant Murray. The wife of Bothwellhaugh was turned naked out of her own +house in a cold and bitter night, and died of bodily suffering and a +broken heart. She did--she did. But"--and the stranger ground his teeth +and clenched his fist as he pronounced the word--"there will be a day of +count and reckoning. The vengeance, the deadly vengeance of a ruined, +deeply injured, and desperate man, will yet overtake the ruthless, +remorseless tyrant." + +Having thus delivered himself, the stranger again retired to his former +place, reseated himself, and relapsed into his former silence; although +the deep and laboured respiration of recent excitement, which he could +not subdue, might still be distinctly heard even from the farthest end +of the apartment. + +It was some time after the stranger had retired to his place before the +company felt disposed to resume their conversation. The incident which +had just occurred, the energy with which the stranger had spoken, and +the extreme excitement he had evinced, had had the effect of throwing +them all into that silent and reflective mood which the sudden display +of anything surprising or interesting is so apt to produce even in our +merriest and most thoughtless moments. + +At length, however, the chill gradually wore off; the conversation was +resumed, at first in an under tone, and by fits and starts; by and by it +became more continuous; and, finally, began to flow with all its +original volume and freedom. No more allusion, however, was made by any +of the party to the case of Bothwellhaugh. This was a subject to which, +after what had taken place, none seemed to care about returning. Neither +did the stranger evince any desire to hold farther correspondence with +the revellers; but, on the contrary, appeared anxious to avoid it; nay, +one might almost have supposed that he regretted having obtruded himself +upon them at all, and that he could have wished that what he had uttered +in an unguarded moment had remained unsaid. Be this as it may, however, +he sought no farther intercourse with the party, but having hastily +despatched the supper which was placed before him, and finished his +measure of wine, he glided unobserved out of the apartment, and, +conducted by his host, retired to the sleeping chamber which had been +appointed for him. + +On the following morning, the stranger, who was sojourning at the Stag +and Hounds, went out to transact, as he told his landlord, some business +in the town; saying, besides, that he would not probably return till +evening. + +Strongly impressed by the manner and appearance of his guest, and not a +little awed by his grim and fierce aspect, he of the Stag and Hounds +could not help following him to the door, when he departed, and +furtively looking after him as he stalked down the main street of the +town; and much, as he looked at him, did he marvel what sort of business +it could be he was going about. This, however, was a point on which the +worthy man had no means of enlightening himself, and he was therefore +obliged to be content with the privilege of muttering some expressions +of the wonder he felt. + +In the meantime, the stranger had turned an angle of the street, and +disappeared--at least from the view of the landlord of the Stag and +Hounds. Not from ours; for we shall follow and keep sight of him, and +endeavour to make out what he was so curious to know. + +Having passed about half-way down the main street of the town, the +former suddenly halted before a large unoccupied house, with a balcony +in front. It was a residence of the Archbishop of St Andrew's. Standing +in front of this house, the stranger seemed to scan it with earnest +scrutiny. He looked from window to window with the most cautious and +deliberate vigilance, and appeared to be noting carefully their various +heights and positions. While pursuing this inquiry, he might also have +been frequently observed glancing, from time to time, on either side, as +if to see that no one was marking the earnestness of his examination of +the building. + +Having apparently completed his survey of the front of the house, the +stranger passed round to the back part of the building, and proceeded to +the gate of the garden, which lay behind, and through which only was the +house accessible on that side. On reaching the gate, the stranger +paused, looked cautiously around him for a few seconds, when, observing +no one in sight, he hastily plunged his hand beneath his cloak, drew out +a key, applied it to the lock, opened the gate, passed quickly in, and +closed the door cautiously behind him. + +With hurried step the intruder now proceeded to the house, drew forth +another key, inserted it into the lock of the main door, turned it +round, applied his foot to the latter, pushed it open, and entered the +building; having previously, as in the former instance, secured the door +behind him. Ascending the stair in the inside of the house, the +mysterious visitant now commenced a careful examination of the various +apartments on the second floor; and at length adopting one--a small +room, with one window to the front--made it the scene of his future +operations. These were, the laying on the floor a straw mattress, which +he dragged from another apartment, and hanging a piece of black +cloth--which he also found in the lumber-room, from whence he had taken +the mattress--against the wall of the apartment opposite the window. + +Having completed these preparations, the secret workman went up to the +window, knelt down on the mattress, and levelling a stick, or staff, +which he found in the apartment, as if it had been a musket, seemed to +be trying where he might be best situated for firing at an object +without. This experiment he tried repeatedly; shifting his position from +place to place, until he appeared to have hit upon one that promised to +suit his purpose. + +This ascertained, he rose from his knees; threw down the staff; glanced +around the apartment, as if to see that all was right; descended the +stair; came out of the house, locking the door after him; crossed the +garden, and passed out at the gate, locking that also before he left, +and with the same precaution that he had used at entering; that is, +looking around him to see that no one marked his proceedings. + +The guest of the Stag and Hounds now returned to his inn, from which he +had been absent about two hours. At the door he was met by mine host, +who, touching his cap, asked if "his honour intended dining at his +house, as it was now about one of the clock," the general dinner-hour of +the period. + +Without noticing the inquiry of his landlord-- + +"Be there any armourers in this town of yours, friend?" he said, "where +I could fit me with some weapons I want." + +"Yes, indeed, there be one, and a main good one he is," replied the +other. "Tom Wilson, I warrant me, will fit your honour with any weapon +you can desire, from a pistolet to a culverin; from a two-handed sword +of six feet long, to a dagger like a bodkin. And as for armour, you may +have anything, everything from head-piece to leg-splent; all of the best +material, and first-rate workmanship." + +"Where is this man Wilson's shop?" inquired the stranger. + +"See you, sir," replied the other; "see you yonder projecting corner, +beyond the palace entrance?" + +"I do." + +"Well, sir, three doors beyond that, you will find Wilson's shop; and, +if your honour chooses, you may use my name with him, and he will not +serve you the worse, or the less reasonably, I warrant me. It is always +a recommendation to Tom to be a guest at the Stag and Hounds." + +Without saying whether or not he would avail himself of the privilege +offered him of using his name, the mysterious stranger hastened away in +the direction pointed out to him, and, in half a minute after, he was in +the workshop of Wilson the armourer. + +"Your pleasure, sir," said that person, advancing towards his customer +from an inner apartment. + +"Have you a good store of fire-arms, friend?" inquired the latter. + +"Pretty fair, sir; pretty fair," replied the armourer "What description +may you want?" + +"Why, I want a carbine, friend--something of a sure piece--that will +carry its ball well to the mark. None of your bungling articles, that +first hang fire, and then throw their shot in every direction but the +right one. I would have a piece of good and certain execution." + +"Here, then, sir, here is your commodity," said the armourer, +disengaging a short and heavy gun from an arms'-rack that occupied one +side of the shop. "Here is a piece that I can recommend. It will be the +fault of the hand or the eye when this barker misses its mark, I warrant +ye. I'd take in hand myself to smash an egg with it, with single ball, +at fifty yards distance. I have done it before now with a worse gun." + +"I will not require any such feat from the piece as that, friend," said +Wilson's customer, drily; and having taken the gun in his hand, he began +to examine the lock, and to see that the piece was otherwise in +serviceable condition. Being satisfied that it was, he demanded the +price. It was named. The money was tendered, and accepted, and the +stranger departed with his purchase; having, however, previously +received from the armourer, in lieu of luck's-penny, although he offered +to pay for them, half a dozen balls, and a few charges of powder, to put +the capability of the gun to immediate trial. This, however, its new +proprietor did not think necessary; but, instead, returned to the +archbishop's house with it; and, after loading and priming it, placed it +in a corner of the apartment, which we have described him as having put +into so strange a state of preparation. + +Leaving the house with the same cautious and stealthy step as before, +the stranger again returned to his inn; but it was now to leave it no +more for the night. + +"What news stirring, friend?" said he to the landlord. + +"Naething, sir," replied he, as he laid the cloth for his dinner; "only +that the Regent will pass through the town to-morrow. I hear he'll be +this way about twelve o'clock. The magistrates, I understand, hae gotten +notice to that effect." + +"So," replied the stranger. "Then we shall have a sight." + +"A brave sight, sir, for he is to be accompanied by a gallant cavalcade, +and the trades of the town are to turn out with banners and music to do +him honour. It will be a stirring day, sir, and I trust a good one for +my poor house here; for such doings make people as thirsty as so many +dry sponges." + +To these remarks the guest made no reply, but proceeded with his dinner; +the materials for which having, in the meantime, been brought in, and +placed on the table by another attendant. + +On the following morning, the little town of Linlithgow exhibited a +scene of unusual bustle. Hosts of idlers were seen gathered here and +there, along the whole line of the main street; and persons carrying +trades' banners--as yet, however, carefully rolled up--might be seen +hurrying in all directions to the various mustering-places of their +crafts. An occasional discharge of a culverin too; and, as the morning +advanced, a merry peal of bells heightened the promise of some impending +event of unusual occurrence. By and by, these symptoms of public +rejoicing became more and more marked: the groups of idlers increased; +the banners were unfurled; the firing of the culverins became more +frequent; and the bells either really did ring, or appeared to ring more +furiously. + +It was when matters thus bespoke the near approach of a crisis--which +crisis, we may as well say at once, was the advent of the Regent--that +the mysterious lodger at the Stag and Hounds ordered his horse to be +brought to the door. The horse was brought; the stranger settled his +bill; and, saying to his landlord that he would witness the sight from +horseback more advantageously than on foot, mounted, and rode off in the +direction of the approaching cavalcade. In this direction, however, he +did not ride far; for, on gaining the eastern extremity of the town, he +suddenly wheeled round, and rode back in rear of the line of street, +until he reached the gate of the garden behind the mansion of the +Archbishop of St Andrew's, in which the mysterious preparation before +described had been made. + +Having arrived at the gate, he dismounted, opened it, led in his horse, +and fastened him to a tree close by. This done, he removed the lintel, +or cross-bar, over the gate. The latter, contrary to his practice on +former occasions, he now left wide open, and proceeded towards the +house, into which he disappeared. + +In less than a quarter of an hour after, the Regent had entered the +town. He was on horseback, surrounded by a number of friends, also +mounted, and followed by a numerous party of armed retainers. + +As the cavalcade penetrated into the town, the crowd, which the occasion +had assembled, gradually became more and more dense, and the progress of +the Regent and his party consequently more slow; until, at length, they +were so packed in the narrow street, with the human wedges that were +forcing themselves around them, that it was with great difficulty they +could make any forward progress at all. + +Becoming impatient with the delay thus occasioned, although carefully +concealing this impatience, the Regent, who was now directly opposite +the house of the Archbishop of St Andrew's, kept waving his hand to the +crowd, as if entreating them not to press so closely, that he might pass +on with more speed. The crowd endeavoured to comply with the wishes of +the Regent, but their efforts only added to the confusion, without +mending the matter in other respects. It was at this moment that all +eyes were suddenly directed towards the house of the Archbishop of St +Andrew's, in consequence of a shot being fired from one of the windows. +When these eyes looked an instant after again towards the Regent, he was +not to be seen; he had fallen from his horse, mortally wounded: a ball +had passed through his body. It was Hamilton of Bothwellhaugh who had +fired the fatal shot. + +The friends and retainers of the Regent, seconded by the town's people, +flew to the house of the archbishop, and endeavoured to force the door, +in order to get at the murderer but it had been barricaded by the wily +assassin, and resisted their efforts long enough to allow of his +escaping from the house, mounting his horse, and darting through the +garden gate at the top of his utmost speed. He was pursued; but, thanks +to his good steed, pursued in vain, and subsequently escaped to France; +having done a deed which the moralist must condemn, but which cannot be +looked upon as altogether without palliation. + + + + +THE PRISONER OF WAR. + + +I had been preserved, through divine mercy, from one of the most +lingering and fearful deaths. I was rescued, I scarce knew how, after +the grim king of terror held me in his embrace, and all hope had fled. +As consciousness returned, my heart thrilled at the recollection of the +miseries I had endured while floating, a helpless being, on the bosom of +the ocean.[3] I shuddered to think, while I lay feeble as an infant in +the cabin of the vessel which was bearing me to my home, and whose +humane crew had been the means of my deliverance, that I was still at +the mercy of the winds and waves; but kind nursing, aided by youth and a +good constitution, quickly brought strength; and I was enabled, after a +few days, to come upon deck. On my first attempt, when my head rose +above the deck as I ascended the companion-ladder, and my eyes fell upon +the boundless waste of waters, a chill of horror shot through my frame. +Like a lone traveller who had suddenly met a lion in his path, I stood +paralysed; every nerve and muscle refused to act. I must have fallen +back into the cabin, had not my hand instinctively clung to their hold +for a few seconds. I could not withdraw my fixed gaze, while all I had +suffered rushed upon me like a hideous dream. Slowly my faculties +returned, when I ascended the deck, where I sat for a few hours. Each +day after this brought additional strength; so that, before we made +soundings, I was as strong and cheerful as I had ever been in my life. +The weather was squally, and I assisted the crew as much as was in my +power; and, when not so occupied, lay listlessly looking over the ship's +bows that bravely dashed aside the waves that rolled between me and the +home I now longed to reach, or walked the deck musing upon the joy my +return would impart to my over-indulgent parents. + +As we neared the shores of Scotland, a circumstance occurred that both +greatly surprised and alarmed me. This was a sudden change in the +manners and temper of the crew. Care and anxiety took the place of their +wonted cheerfulness; the joyous laugh, or snatch of song, no longer +broke the monotonous hissing of the waves that rippled along the sides +of the vessel, or the dull whistle of the wind through the rigging. At +the first appearance of every sail that hove in sight, I could perceive +every eye turned to it with a look of alarm until she was made out. +Fearful of giving offence to my benefactors, I made no remark on the +subject for some time, although I felt disappointed at what I +saw--attributing it to cowardice; yet they were all stout, young, +resolute-looking fellows at other times. This scene of alarm, and +appearance of a wish to skulk below or conceal themselves, had occurred +twice in the course of the forenoon. After the last ship we encountered +was made out to be a merchant-brig, I could no longer refrain from +delivering my sentiments of the greater number of the crew, but +addressing the mate, said-- + +"Mr Ross, it is fortunate for us that these strange sails have turned +out to be British merchantmen. Had they proved to be French privateers, +we should have made but a poor stand, I fear, notwithstanding our eight +carronades." + +"What makes you think so?" said he. + +"Why, there is not a vessel that heaves in sight," said I, "but the men +look as if they wished themselves anywhere but where they are." + +"Avast there, my man!" said he. "What! do you mean to say that they +would not stand by their guns while there was a chance? Yes, they would, +and long after; and, if you think otherwise, all I say is, you form +opinions and talk of what you know nothing about." + +Casting an angry look at me--the only one he ever gave--he squirted his +quid over the bulwarks, and was walking away, when I stopped him. + +"If I have given you offence, Mr Ross, nothing was farther from my +intention. I cannot but observe the alarm caused by every sail that +heaves in sight until she is made out to be a friend. Now, the little +time I was at sea, before I fell overboard and was saved by you, every +sail that hove in sight made the hearts of all on board leap for joy." + +"Ho! ho!" and he laughed aloud. "Are you on that tack, my messmate? You +are quite out in your reckoning, and becalmed in a fog; but I shall soon +blow it away. There is not a man on board with whom I would not go into +action with the fullest reliance upon his courage; and, were we to meet +a French privateer, you would quickly see such a change as would satisfy +you that my confidence is not misplaced. Every face, that the moment +before expressed anxiety and alarm, would brighten up with joy; every +man would stand to his gun as cheerfully as to the helm. It is their +liberty the poor fellows are afraid of being deprived of by our own +men-of-war--the liberty to toil for their parents or wives where they +can get better wages than the Government allows. Danger, in any form, +they meet undaunted when duty calls; it is for their countrymen they +quail. Were the smallest sloop-of-war in the British navy to heave in +sight, and a boat put off from her with a boy of a midshipman and eight +or ten men, every one on board, who had not a protection, would shake in +his shoes at her approach; yet, against an enemy, every man would stand +to his gun until his ship was blown out of the water." + +A new and painful feeling came over me as he spoke. I was myself an +entered seaman, and, of course, liable to impressment; but the idea of +being taken had never occurred to me. I wondered that it had not, after +the scenes I had witnessed in the frigate; but my longing for home had +entirely engrossed my mind. I was, indeed, home-sick, and weary of the +sea. From this moment, no one on board felt more alarm than I did at the +sight of a top-royal rising out of the distant waters. My feelings were +near akin to those of a felon in concealment. + +At length we reached the Moray Firth, in the evening, and arrangements +were made for as many of the crew as could be spared to be landed at +Cromarty, where the vessel was to put in. This was to avoid the danger +of impressment in the Firth of Forth. I gave the captain an order upon +my father for my passage, and the expense he had been at on my account, +as I was to leave, with the others in the boat, as soon as we were off +the town, which we hoped to reach in the morning. My anxiety was so +great that I had kept the deck since nightfall. It was intensely dark; +nothing broke the gloom but the flashes of light that gleamed for a +moment upon the waves, as they rippled along the sides of the vessel, +and the dull rays of the binnacle-lamp before the man at the helm. Bell +after bell was struck, still I stood at the bows, leaning upon the +bowsprit, unmindful of the chill wind from under the foretopsail, +anxiously watching for the first tints of dawn. Tediously as the night +wore on, I thought, when morning dawned, it had fled far too fast. + +The dark clouds began at length to melt away in the east, and the +distant mountain-tops to rise like grey clouds above the darkness that +still hid the shores from our view. Gradually the whole face of nature +began to emerge from the morning mists. We were just off the Sutors of +Cromarty. My heart leapt for joy at the near prospect of being once more +on firm ground, and so near home. Several of the crew had now joined +me, and all eyes were directed to the entrance of the bay. Only a few +minutes had elapsed in this pleasing hope--for it was still dullish on +the horizon--when the report of a gun from seaward of us, so near that I +thought it was alongside, made us start and look round. Each of us +seemed as if we had been turned into stone by the alarming sound; while, +so sudden was the revulsion of feeling, in my own case, that my heart +almost ceased to beat. There, not half-a-league to windward of us, lay a +frigate, with her sails shaking in the wind, and a boat, well-manned, +with an officer in her stern, putting off from her. + +So completely were we overcome by the sudden appearance of this dreaded +object, which seemed to emerge from darkness, as the sun's first rays +fell upon and whitened her sails, that we stood incapable of thought or +action. The well-manned barge was carried, by the faint breeze and +impetus of her oars, almost as swift as a gull on the wing. The report +of the gun brought the captain and mate upon deck before we had +recovered from our stupor. + +"Bear a hand, men!" cried Ross, as he sprung upon deck. "Man the +tacklefalls! clear the boat! and give them a run for it at least." + +Roused by his voice, every nerve was strained, the boat lowered, and we +in her, ready to push off, when the captain called over the side-- + +"My lads, do as you think for the best; but it is of no use to try. The +frigate's boat will be under our stern ere you can gain way." + +I stood in the act of pushing off, when the object we were going to +strain every nerve to avoid swept round the stern, and grappled us. We +hopelessly threw our oars upon the thwarts, and prepared to reascend the +vessel, to settle with the captain and bring away our chests. As for +myself, I had no call to leave the boat. All I possessed in the world +was upon my person, and half-a-guinea given me by the captain to carry +me home. The other three were getting their bags and chests ready to +lower into the boat, having got their wages from the captain, when he +called me to come on deck. I obeyed; when he said to the midshipman in +command of the boat-- + +"Sir, to prevent any unpleasant consequences arising to this poor +fellow, Elder, here, I shall let you know how he came on board of us. He +belonged to the _Latona_, and is no deserter, I assure you. Ross, bring +here our log-book, and satisfy the gentleman if he wishes." Ross obeyed; +and having examined it, the captain told the wretched state in which I +had been picked up, and the way in which I had accounted to him for the +accident. During the recital, he looked hard at me, no muscle of his +face indicating either pity or surprise. When the captain ceased to +speak, he only said-- + +"Well, my lad, you have for once had a narrow escape--you must hold +better on in future. I shall report to the captain, and get the D from +before your name. Tumble into the boat, my lads. Good day, captain." +And, in a few minutes afterwards, I was on board the _Edgar_, +seventy-four, and standing westwards for the Firth of Forth. + +It was strange the change that came over the impressed men, when there +was no longer any hope of escape. Like true seamen, they bent to the +circumstance they could not remedy, and were, as soon as they got on +board, as much at home, and more cheerful, than they had been for many +days before. As for myself, I took it much to heart, and was very +melancholy when we entered the Firth and stood up to the roadstead. I +could hardly restrain my feelings when the city of Edinburgh came in +sight, and when I thought of the short distance in miles that divided me +from my parents and home--that home I had left so foolishly in the hopes +of being back at the conclusion of the war, which I now found was raging +more furiously, if possible, than when I left, and with much less +prospect of its termination. I would stand for hours gazing upon the +White Craig, the eastern extremity of the Pentland Hills, and wish I was +upon it, until my eyes were suffused with tears. I begged hard for the +first lieutenant to give me leave to go on shore, if only for +eight-and-forty hours, to visit my parents; but he refused my request, +fearful of my not returning. Several of the hands on board, natives of +Edinburgh, who had been long in the _Edgar_, obtained leave. With one of +them I sent a letter to my father, who came the following day. It was a +meeting of sorrow, not unmixed with upbraidings, on his part, for what I +had done; but we parted with regret--he to do what he could to obtain my +discharge, I under promise not to act so precipitately in future, if I +was once more a free agent. What steps were taken I know not, for next +morning we received orders to sail for the Nore. We had many faces on +board that looked as long as my own, for there were still several who +had obtained promise of leave whose turn had not come round. Wallace, +one of the mess I was in, had not been in his native city for ten years, +having been all that time voluntarily on board of men-of-war, either at +home or on foreign stations. He was to have had two days' leave the very +morning we sailed, and had doomed ten gold guineas, which he had long +kept for such purpose, to be expended in a blow-out in Edinburgh, among +his relations and friends. When the boatswain piped to weigh anchor, +Wallace, who was captain of the foretop, ran to his berth, opened his +chest, took out his long-hoarded store, and came on deck with it in his +hand. His looks bespoke rage and disappointment, bordering upon +insanity. He gazed upon the distant city that shone upon the gently +swelling hills glancing back the sun's rays, then at the purse of gold +in his hand. He seemed incapable of speech. A bitter smile curled his +lip, bespeaking the most intense scorn. I looked on, wondering what he +meant to do. It was but the scene of a minute. Suddenly raising his +hand, he threw the purse and gold over the side with all his force, +exclaiming:--"Go, vile trash! what use have I for you now? The first +action may lay me low!" Then, as if relieved from some oppressive load, +he mounted the rattlings to his duty with a smile of satisfaction; and +we bore away for the Nore, where I was draughted on board the _Repulse_, +sixty-four, and departed upon a cruise along the coast of Brittany; at +times lying off Brest harbour, and at others, standing along the coast +in search of the enemy. Employed in this monotonous duty, month followed +month, and year after year passed away. + +It was now the year 1799. The century was drawing to a close; but the +interminable war seemed only commencing. I had become almost callous to +my fate. We were standing along, under a steady breeze, as close in +shore as we could with safety to the vessel. It was the dog-watch; and I +had only been a short time turned in when our good ship struck upon some +sunken rocks with such force that I thought she had gone to pieces. +Every one in a moment turned out. The night was as dark as pitch, and +the sea breaking over us, while we lay hard and fast. Everything was +done to lighten her in vain. She was making water very fast, in spite of +all our exertions at the pumps. Still there was not the smallest +confusion on board. Our discipline was as strict, and our officers as +promptly obeyed, as they were before our accident. As the tide rose, the +wind shifted, and blew a gale right upon the shore, causing the ship to +beat violently. Day at length dawned, and there, not one hundred fathoms +from our deck, lay a rocky and desolate-looking shore. We had been +forced over a reef of sunken rocks that were not in our charts; and, +during the darkness, as was supposed, had been carried in-shore by some +current; but, however it had happened, there we were, in a serious +scrape, the sea breaking over our decks, and our hold full of water. + +Soon after daybreak we could perceive the peasantry crowding down to the +water's edge. Everything had been done that skill and resolution could +accomplish, to save the vessel, but in vain. We had nothing before our +eyes but instant death. The sea ran so high that no boat could live for +a moment in the broken water between us and the shore. The French +peasantry were making no effort for our safety, but running about and +looking on our deplorable situation, with apparently no other feeling +than that of curiosity. At this time, James Paterson, an Edinburgh lad, +volunteered to make the attempt to swim to the shore with a log-line, +and fearlessly let himself over the side. It was, to all appearance, a +hopeless attempt; for every one felt assured that he would be beat to +death against the rocks that lined the beach, on which the waves were +beating with great fury. + +It was a period of fearful suspense; yet, dreadful as our situation was, +there was not the least unnecessary noise on board. All was prompt +attention and obedience. The weather was extremely cold, and the sea, at +times, making a complete breach over the ship, which we expected every +moment to go to pieces. As for myself, I meant to stow below and perish +with her, rather than to float about, bruised and maimed, and drown at +last. One half of the crew were only dressed in their shirts and +trousers, without shoes or stockings, as they had leaped from their +hammocks. When she struck, we had no leisure to put on more than our +trousers. Thus we stood, holding on by the nettings, or anything we +could lay hold of, to prevent our being washed off the decks, with our +eyes anxiously watching the progress of the brave Paterson, who swam +like an otter, the boatswain and his mates serving out the line to him. +We saw him near the rocks, and the people making signs to him. This was +the point of greatest danger, but, by the aid of the peasants, he +surmounted it. + +Those on the beach gave a shout, which we replied to from the deck. A +hawser was made fast to the line, and secured on shore. It was not until +now that we began to hope; and with this hope arose an anxiety on the +part of every one to save what they could. I strove to reach my chest, +in which were a pair of new shoes and five guineas, but my efforts, like +those of the others, were vain; our under decks were flooded several +inches, and everything was loose and knocking about in the most furious +manner, from the rolling and pitching of the vessel upon the rocks, so +that I was but too happy to reach the decks without being crushed to +death. All I regretted was my shoes; the money I cared not for, and do +not think I would have taken it, as we expected to be plundered as soon +as we got to the beach. + +After a great deal of fatigue, we all got safe to land, and now the +plundering began. There were no regular soldiers on the spot, but a +great many of the peasantry had firelocks and bayonets, and stood over +us, stripping those of the men, who had them, of their jackets and hats. +At first, we were disposed to resist, but soon found it to be of no use. +One of the fellows seized the chain of the watch belonging to one of our +men, and was in the act of pulling it from the pocket, when the owner, +Jack Smith, struck him to the ground with a blow of his fist. The next +moment poor Smith lay a lifeless corpse upon the sand, felled by a +stroke from the butt end of a musket. + +There was no one present who seemed to have or who assumed any +authority, to whom our officers might appeal for protection; they were +not more respected than the men; all were searched and robbed as soon as +they arrived from the wreck. Poor Smith's fate taught us submission, +even while our bosoms burned with a desire for vengeance. One of my +messmates said aloud--"I would cheerfully stand before the muzzle of one +of the old _Repulse's_ thirty-twos, were she charged to the mouth with +grape well laid, to sweep these French robbers from the face of the +earth." As for myself, they took nothing from me. I had twopence in the +pocket of my trousers; when I saw what was going on, I took it out and +held it in my hand while they searched me. I more than once thought they +were going to strip me of my nether garments, and give me in exchange a +pair of their own gun-mouthed rags, which would scarcely have reached my +knees; for several of them looked at them as if they felt inclined to +make the exchange; but I escaped, and felt thankful. + +We stood for several hours shivering upon the beach without food, fire, +or water, while the plunderers were busy picking up anything that +drifted ashore, but still keeping a strict watch over us; at length, the +chief magistrate of a neighbouring small town arrived, and to him our +officers complained of the usage we had received. He only shook his +head, and shrugged his shoulders, when the body of Smith was pointed out +to him. What could we do? A grave was dug for him on the spot where he +was murdered, and we were marched off into the interior. It was well on +in the afternoon before we reached the place where we were to halt. It +was a small poverty-stricken-like town, with an old ruinous church and +churchyard, surrounded by high walls, with an iron gate close by. Into +this chill, desolate place, we were crowded by the soldiers, the gate +locked upon us, and sentinels placed around the building. Here we +remained until the evening, when there was served out to every man a +small loaf, black as mud; yet, black as it was, I never ate a sweeter +morsel; for neither I nor any of my companions had tasted any food since +the evening before. + +But how shall I express the horror we felt when we found we were to +remain where we were, in this old, ruined charnel-house of a church, +which could scarcely contain us all, unless we stood close together. To +lie down was out of the question; and, although we could, there were +neither straw, blankets, nor covering of any kind, to screen us from the +cold. We implored in vain to be removed; but these privations, bad as +they were, did not annoy us so much as the idea of spending the long +dark night in such a miserable place. By far the greater number of us +believed as firmly in the reality of ghosts as we did in our own +existence; and, of all places in the world, a church and churchyard, +from time immemorial, have been their favourite haunts, and the terror +of all who believe in their reality--even those who affect to disbelieve +in the visits of spirits to this earth, feel sensations which they would +not choose to own, when in a churchyard, in a dark night, with +gravestones and crumbling human bones around them. Of all men seamen are +the most superstitious, and give the most ready credence to ghost +stories. The unmanning feeling of fear, that had not touched a single +heart in the extremity of our danger from the storm, was now strongly +marked in every face, exaggerated by a horror of we knew not what. Fear +is contagious--we huddled together, and peered fearfully around, +expecting every moment to see some appalling vision or hear some +dreadful sound. Our sense of hearing was painfully acute--the smallest +noise made us start; but our feelings were too much racked to remain +long at the same intensity--they gradually became more obtuse as the +night wore on, until we at length began to entertain each other with +fearful stories of ghosts; feeling a strange satisfaction in increasing +the gloomy excitement under which we laboured. Had any of us begun a +humorous story, with the view of diverting our thoughts from their +present bent, and the circumstances we were in, I am certain he would +have been silenced in no gentle manner. + +We might have been about two hours or less in this state, in the most +intense darkness--our own whispers being all that we could recognise of +each other, even although in contact--when a low pleasant murmur +suddenly fell upon our ears: It was the voice of Dick Bates, who, having +either been requested, or, moved by his present situation, had, of his +own accord, commenced singing in an under tone his favourite ballad of +"Hozier's Ghost." Now, Dick was the best singer in the whole crew, with +a voice like a singing bird; it was at this moment so low that, had it +been broad daylight, he would have appeared only to have been breathing +hard; yet it was at this time distinctly heard by all, and made our +flesh creep upon our bones, although a strange kind of pleasure was +mingled with the feeling. We scarcely breathed when he came to the +lines-- + + "With three thousand ghosts beside him, + And in groans did Vernon hail-- + Heed, O heed my fatal story, + I am Hozier's injured Ghost." + +I thought the whole was present before me, and I could see the scene the +poet described, and shuddered when he breathed forth-- + + "See these ghastly spectres sweeping + Mournful o'er this hated wave, + Whose pale cheeks are stained with weeping-- + These were English captains brave. + + "See these numbers pale and horrid! + These were once my seamen bold. + Lo! each hangs his drooping forehead + While his mournful tale is told." + +I believe there was not a man in the old church who did not think he saw +the ghastly train of spectres flitting before his eyes, and who did not +feel every nerve thrill, and every hair of his head stand on end. Many +were the tales of superstition and of terror related, until overpowered +nature sank into sleep; but I have since often reflected that, of all +the accounts of fearful sights I heard, they were all related at second +hand, from the authority of others. No one asserted they themselves had +ever seen anything out of the ordinary course of nature except Bob +Nelson, and his was calculated to lead a more prejudiced observer +astray. It was as follows-- + +"It was during a voyage I made to New York from Greenock, in the brig +_Cochrane_, that I once saw, with my own eyes, a strange sight, such as +I hope never to witness again. Our cargo consisted of dry goods, and we +had several emigrants as passengers; in particular, a family of six in +the cabin, the husband and wife, with four children; they were wealthy, +and had sold off their farm stock to purchase land, and settle somewhere +in America. When they came on board at the quay of Greenock, they were +accompanied by a great many relations and friends, who took a most +affectionate leave of them; in particular one old woman, the mother of +the emigrant's wife. Her wailings were most pitiable; she wrung her +hands, and stood as if rooted to our decks. I heard her say more than +once-- + +"'Mary, I feel I shall never see you more, nor these lovely babes. O why +will you leave your aged mother to go mourning to her grave?' + +"Her daughter looked more like one dead than alive, as she lay sobbing +upon the breast of her husband, her mother holding one of her hands +between both of her's. Poor soul, she looked as if her heart was +breaking, but spoke not; at length, the husband said-- + +"'O woman, have you no feeling for your daughter?' + +"The old woman's grief seemed, all at once, turned into rage: she let +her daughter's hand drop, and, raising her hands, cursed him for +depriving her of her daughter; concluding with-- + +"'But, James, remember what I say; dead or alive, I shall yet see my +Mary.' + +"The poor young woman was carried below in a faint and the old dame was +conveyed from the deck by the friends, for we were by this time cast +loose, and leaving our berth. For several days I saw nothing of the +farmer's family, as they were very sick; but the children had now begun +to play about the deck, and their father would leave the cabin for a +short time, once or twice a-day, for his wife remained very ill, and +confined to her bed. The haglike appearance of the old woman, in her +rage, had made a great impression on me, and had evidently sunk the +spirits of the young people; for I often saw, when the husband came on +deck, that he was much dejected. I felt it strange that the figure of +the old woman often occurred to my mind when I looked at him; and I +several times dreamed I saw her in my sleep, as I had seen her in +Greenock, but her appearance was more pale and hideous, and had so great +an effect upon me, that I always awoke in an agony, and cursed her from +my heart. + +"About mid-passage we met with westerly gales and rough weather, which +caused the passengers to keep below for several days, and retarded our +passage much. It was blowing very hard. It was my turn at the wheel. In +the midwatch we had occasional showers. The clouds were scudding along +in immense bodies over the face of the moon, which was just at the full, +so that we had, at times, bright moonlight for a minute or two, then +gloom; but the night was not dark. I might have been at the wheel half +my time or so. My eye was fixed ahead to watch the set of the waves, +save when I glanced to the compass. I thought I saw something upon the +bowsprit in the gloom that was not there a moment before. I looked aloft +to see for a break in the clouds that the moon might shew me more +distinctly what it was. I looked ahead again, and there it still was, +but nearer the bows of the vessel. Still I could not make out what it +was. Soon a burst of moonlight shone forth, and I saw it resembled a +human figure, but whether man or woman I could not tell, for the moon +was as suddenly obscured as it had shone forth. I felt very queer; being +certain it was none of the crew--for the whole watch was aft at the +time--and I was sure that all the passengers were below, and no one had +come on deck since the watch had been changed. I looked at the spot +where I had seen it, and it was gone. I felt the greatest inclination to +tell what I had seen; but the fear of being laughed at, made me say +nothing of it at this time; I, however, never wished so much for +anything in my life as that my spell at the wheel was over, and the +watch passed. When, at length, I was released, I crept to the foxa, and +tumbled into my hammock, but could not close an eye for thinking of what +I had seen. + +"Well, my mates, I was then, as I am now, in a pretty mess, and wished +myself as heartily out of the _Cochrane_ as we all do ourselves out of +this old foundered hulk of a church. I was fairly aground with fear, and +felt all of a tremble for the nights I must pass on board before we +reached New York, where I was determined to leave the brig if I saw any +more such sights. For a few days the gale continued, sometimes blowing +very hard, at others more moderate, but nothing uncommon occurred. At +length it abated, and we had pleasant weather. I began to think I had +been deceived, and was glad I had not spoken of what I had seen to any +of the crew. It was the afternoon, towards evening. I was again at the +wheel. The sun was setting in a bed of clouds, as gaily coloured as a +ship rejoicing--the colours of all nations floating aloft, from the +point of her bowsprit to the end of her jib-boom. The four children were +playing upon deck, laughing and full of joy at being once more relieved +from their long confinement in the cabin. I looked at their innocent +gambols and at the beautiful sky by turns, as much as my duty would +allow, and felt more happy than I had done since we sailed. It was so +pleasant to look ahead; for every face on deck wore a pleasing and +happy aspect. I looked again at the children's gambols; but I almost +dropped at the wheel. My hands and limbs refused to do their office. +There, before me, close by the children, stood the exact representation +of the old woman--so stern, so unearthly was her look, that I cannot +express it; but she was pale as the foam on the crest of a wave. I could +not call out. I had no power either to move tongue or limb. The yawing +of the vessel called the attention of the mate to me, who sung out to +hold her steady. I heard him, but could not obey. My whole faculties +were engrossed by the fearful vision. My eyes appeared as if they would +have started out of my head. One of the crew seized the wheel. All +looked at me with astonishment. I stood rivetted to the spot, pointing +to where the spectre stood; but no one saw anything but myself. The +captain was below in the cabin, with the farmer and his wife--the latter +of whom was known to all the crew to be very ill. As I looked to the +unearthly figure, attracted by a power I could not resist, the children +continued their play. The features of the old woman, I thought, relaxed, +and a sadness came over them, but it was of unearthly expression. The +figure glided from the children to the cabin-companion, and disappeared +below, when it as suddenly came again upon deck, accompanied by the +farmer's wife, pale and wasted. Both gazed upon the children. The young +woman appeared to wring her hands in great distress, as I had seen her +before she was carried below; but the old woman hurried her over the +side of the brig, and I saw no more of them. When they disappeared, my +faculties returned. I trembled as if I had been in an ague, and the cold +sweat stood in large drops upon my forehead. The mate and crew thought +that I had been in a fit, until I told them what I had seen. They looked +rather serious, but were much inclined to laugh at me. The mate began to +jaw me a little on my fancies. All had passed in a minute or two. +Scarce had the mate spoken a dozen of words, when the captain hurried +upon deck, much affected, and called to one of the female steerage +passengers to go instantly to the cabin and assist, as he feared the +farmer's wife was dead. The mate ceased to speak, and the rest of the +crew looked as amazed as I did at the strange occurrence. The captain +came to us. When he heard my strange story, he shook his head, and only +said it was a remarkable occurrence; but I had been deceived by some +illusion, and commanded us not to speak of it, for distressing the poor +husband. We resolved to obey him, as we were by this time nearly in with +the land, and expected to make it next day, which we did; and the poor +farmer was helped ashore, almost as death-like as the body of his wife, +which was buried in New York. I sailed several trips afterwards in the +_Cochrane_, but never saw anything out of the common afterwards in her +or anywhere else." + +The first rays of the rising sun shone upon us all sound asleep, as +quiet and undisturbed as if we had passed the night under the roofs of +our fathers' houses; but I was cold, stiff, and sore when I awoke. I had +passed the night upon a flat gravestone outside of the church, for want +of room within, without any covering but my shirt and trousers--all I +had saved from the wreck. There was not a character engraved on the +stone that was not as distinctly marked on my body. It was of no use +grumbling or being cast down--we were fairly adrift, and must go with +the current. It was now that the buoyancy of a sailor's mind burst +forth. The old church and churchyard resounded with shouts and laughter, +that made the French sentinels think we had all gone mad. Some were busy +at leap-frog, others were pursuing each other among the ruins and +tomb-stones--all were in active exertion for the sake of warmth, and to +beguile the time; while the French gathered outside wherever they could +obtain a sight of us, and looked on in amazement at our frolics. I am +certain they were not without fear for us; for a few of the lads had +contrived to clamber to the top of the ruins; and were amusing +themselves by antics, at the hazard of their necks, and throwing small +pieces of lime at us below. The officer in command called to them to +come down; but they knew not what he said. Some of them cried out, in +answer to his call--"Speak like a Christian if you want us to understand +you, and don't wow like a dog." At this moment, Nick Williams, one of +our maintop men, had scaled the highest point of the walls, and had, at +the risk of his life, contrived to perch himself upon the crumbling +stone, and was huzzaing most vociferously. It was a daring and foolhardy +feat. A shout of admiration rose from the outside of the walls, when a +real British cheer answered it from within. Whether the officer was +enraged at the apparent defiance and disobedience to his commands, I +know not, but several muskets were fired through the rails of the gate, +and the balls recoiled from the walls. A shout of rage burst from us; +and a serious conflict was only prevented by the prudence of the petty +officers who were among us; for the enraged seamen had begun to collect +stones from the base of the ruined walls to hurl at the dastardly +guards, who were shouting, _"Vive la Nation!" "Vive la Republique!"_ Our +boatswain, who was a cool and resolute old tar, seeing that the storm +was still on the verge of bursting out--for we looked upon their cries +as insulting as their balls--by a happy thought, struck up the national +air, "God save the King," which we sung with an enthusiasm and strength +of lungs never, I am certain, surpassed before or since. If it had no +melody, it had a tone and sound equivalent to both. Many who still held +the stones in their hands, which they had lifted to hurl at the guards, +struck them together like cymbals, in regular time, to increase the +noise. The effect was most exhilarating and produced the desired effect +of turning our angry feeling into good-humour. So pleased were we, that +we gave them "Rule Britannia" in the same style, until we forgot, in our +enthusiasm, that we were prisoners, hungry, cold, and naked. Scarce had +the last loud cadence died away, when the gate was thrown open, and a +miserable allowance of the same black bread was served out to us, with +plenty of water, and the gate once more shut against us. + +It was very strange that, among more than five hundred of us, not one +knew a word of French, and there were none of those who entered the +enclosure could speak a word of English, so that we knew not what those +who had the power over us meant to do. We conjectured that they intended +to keep us where we were until we were exchanged; and had already begun +to canvass the possibility of breaking out of the hated church and yard, +and making a bold push for our liberty, in the following night, by +overpowering our guards, seizing their arms, and passing along the +coast, until we reached some of the small ports, and making prizes of +all the vessels in it, and setting sail for England. A council was +actually deliberating in the church, composed of the petty officers and +a few of our picked hands, when our attention was roused by the sound of +martial music approaching the churchyard, where it halted, and we were +soon after turned out, and numbered to the officer in command. + +The party who had just arrived consisted of two companies of soldiers of +the line, regularly clothed and armed, as the French troops were; while +those under whose charge we had been were only the armed peasantry of +the neighbourhood. We hoped the change would be for our advantage. We +saw at once we were going to be conveyed into the interior. Go where we +must, we felt we could not be worse fed, lodged, or used than we had +been. No harsh word was used to us by the regular troops; and, before we +had been a few hours on the road, we understood each other well enough +by dumb show, and marched on in good humour; we walking in the middle of +them like a drove of bullocks, as frolicsome as children, singing, +laughing, and putting practical jokes upon each other, to beguile the +way. Scarce had we travelled a couple of miles, until my bare feet +became sore from the small stones and bruises; yet I limped on in the +best manner I could, and as cheerfully as possible. I was in the front +as we were on the point of entering a village; the soldiers in file +enclosing us on either side, and bringing up the rear, so that we could +not walk faster or slower than they chose. A few hundred yards from the +entrance of the village, those in front turned round, and pointing to +the fowls of various kinds that were feeding on the highway before us, +made signs which we readily understood, and nodded significantly; they +then drew to each side of the road, and we behind them, leaving a gap in +the middle of the way like the prongs of a fork closed at the base. The +ducks, hens, and other fowls became alarmed as we came close upon them, +and ran for shelter to the vacant space in the middle, when the front +closed, and all were secured by those in the centre; the poor people, +their owners, calling in vain for restitution of their property. The +soldiers would not allow them to come within their ranks; and, at night, +when we stopped, the former procured wood for us to dress the stolen +fowls, after having received their proportion. This, I confess, was a +species of robbery; but we were starved by the allowance of government, +and we were in an enemy's country, who had plundered the shipwrecked +mariner cast upon their shores. We thought, therefore, although, of +course, the reasoning was wrong, that, in appropriating whatever we +could lay hands upon, we were merely making fair and just reprisals for +the losses we had sustained at the hands of our captors; but, the truth +is, we troubled ourselves very little about the right or wrong of the +matter, for we were lodged either in large empty barns, or ruined +churches, all the way to Rennes, and could, from hunger, have eaten a +jackass when we were allowed to rest for the night. Even yet, I remember +the relish a small piece of a roast pig or fowl had, without either +bread or salt, at this time, for we were not scrupulous what we lifted +that would eat, if we could carry it. In one village, five pigs +disappeared in this manner, and only the great weight of the parent +prevented her following them. At the time, it had not the appearance of +theft; there was so much fun in it that it resembled a great hunt, for +every eye was in quest of game, and all was done so quietly and +dexterously that there was not the least confusion or noise. We closed +so rapidly that the prey had no means of escape, nor room to move until +it was despatched; yet the people, as we passed, were often very kind to +us, so far as was in their power, for they appeared to be miserably +poor. When we reached Rennes my feet were so sore, swelled, and cut, +that I walked with great pain; numbers of us were in the same situation. +We did not pass straight through the town, but were halted, for some +time, in the market-place, while the inhabitants came in crowds to gaze +at the English prisoners; and a miserable sight we were. We might have +been here about half an hour, when a beautiful young lady came to where +we were, with a young woman behind her carrying a large basket filled +with shoes. I thought she had come to sell them, as so many were +barefoot. I saw her giving them to the men, and hirpled to the spot, and +looked with an anxious eye at the store which was diminishing fast. I +had still retained the twopence, and resolved to make an effort to +obtain a pair, but felt backward, conscious I had no equivalent to give +for them; holding out my coppers, I pointed to a pair which I thought +would answer me; I felt ashamed, and looked to the ground, pointing to +my feet when I had attracted her attention, for she was looking in +another direction. She took the shoes and gave them to me. I proffered +my little cash; she gently put my hand aside, and, by a sign, made me +know that I was welcome to them. I never saw a female so lovely as this +young lady; her clear, black eyes were swimming in tears, and her face +covered with blushes; her looks were so mild, so benevolent, she looked +like an angel sent from heaven to administer to our wants. Never before +or since have I felt the same sensation so intensely. It was delightful; +it was painful. I felt a choking in my throat. I could have wept, and +have found relief in it, but I was surrounded by those who would have +made sport of my emotion. I retired a few paces to make way for others, +in silence. I dared not utter a sound, lest my feelings had overpowered +me, but stood and gazed at the lovely creature until she retired. I felt +as if everything to be esteemed on earth was concentrated in her person +and mind. Had I been an admiral I would have gloried in calling her +mine; had it been necessary I could have faced death or any danger, to +free her from trouble or grief, with a feeling of joy and exultation. +Many a time has this fair creature been embodied in my mind's eye, as +fair and lovely as she was then, but I never saw her again. + +Many others of the good inhabitants of Rennes administered to our wants. +I got, besides the shoes, a substitute for a jacket, and a straw hat +from an old man. Indeed, we saw in our route scarce any others except +old men, women, and boys. Women were driving the carts, and working in +the fields, and doing the work done by the men in Britain. From Rennes +we were marched to Perche, our final destination, in the same manner as +we had been from the coast, and lodged in prison; but I found it no +prison to me: men were so scarce at this time in France that we were +allowed to work out of prison if we chose, and only visited once a-week +to pass muster, and receive our allowance--so I soon found a master, or, +more properly, he found me in prison--a cart and plough-wright residing +a short distance from town. + +Citizen Vauquin, in secret, was a staunch Royalist; but, in his common +conversation, a Republican. To me he was extremely kind, but our +communications were very limited, from my want of knowledge of French; +but I was picking it up with rapidity, and we soon contrived to +understand each other pretty well. + +It was now well on in the spring, and the weather warm and agreeable. I +was busy at my work, when Vauquin, who was a stout, hale old man, came +to me; there was something comic in the expression of his countenance, +joy and vexation seemed by turns to pass over it, and at times to +struggle for mastery; he looked cautiously around lest any one might +overhear us, then said-- + +"Ah, France! beautiful France! these cursed Democrats have dimmed your +glory, and ruined you! We have lost our fleet in Egypt, and we fly +before the Germans. What can we have but defeat, while the best blood in +France either has been shed by her sons, or languishes in obscurity. +Could we be freed from the ruffians that tyrannize over us in any way +but this? We have suffered much, and must suffer more, before we see the +glories of France shine as they once shone in the courts of her kings. +Ha! Elder, your sailors are the devils that humble France; from your +riches the seas are covered with your ships, and the brave French, +plundered by their rulers, have few. What could be done with sixteen +ships when fifty were upon them?" + +Piqued by his national vanity, I replied-- + +"Had Nelson had half the number, there would have been no fighting." + +"Why no fighting, Monsieur?" said he. + +"Because they would have run if they could," replied I; "or struck when +they saw no chance--that's all I have to say on the subject. If you +please let us change it, my friend." + +"By all means," said he, "let us change it. We are a ruined and undone +people since we lost our King. The great nation are a people without a +head; and, when a house wants the head, all goes wrong." + +"You and I are at one on this point," replied I. "But how comes it that +you are as democratic as any one in the neighbourhood when politics is +the subject of discourse? It is not so in Britain. Every man speaks his +mind; yet we have a king and a kingly government. I was led to believe, +before I left home, that in France alone there was liberty: for all men +were equal--freedom and equality being the law of the land." + +"O Monsieur Elder!" exclaimed he, "freedom and equality are the worst +tyranny, as I shall shew you by my sad experience. When all men make the +law, who is to obey? Better one tyrant than one million; for, when every +one thinks he is a law-maker, no one thinks of obeying the law farther +than it pleases himself. Listen to me; and you shall hear the truth as I +have experienced it, and many thousands in France as well as I:-- + +"When first the people of France began to give attention to the writers +and haranguers against the oppression which we, no doubt, suffered, no +one was more enthusiastic than I was for the removal of the abuses; and +I thought no sacrifice could be too great to have them removed. I was, +at the time, carpenter to the great chateau which you see in the +distance. Our old lord, who was a severe master, had died only a few +years before, and had not the love of a single peasant in his wide +domains; but his son was the reverse of his parent--the friend and +benefactor of every one on his estate; yet he inherited a fund of +animosity which it would have taken years of his kindness and humanity +to have obliterated. In this state of matters, the troubles broke out. +He was on the side of the people, and aided, as far as in him lay, the +cause of improvement in the state, until the factions in Paris--who, +ruling the silly multitude, led them to believe that they were ruled by +them--struck at the root of all good government by insulting and +imprisoning the King. From this time, he took no active part in the +commotions, but remained at his chateau. I was his overseer, and managed +his affairs. I loved him with all my soul, for he was worthy of my love. +My ideas went still farther than his went, and I felt not displeased +with anything that had as yet occurred; for I knew the tenacity with +which the aristocracy clung to their privileges; but the cunning and +designing men who, under the faint shew of obeying the people, ruled +them at their will for mischief and disorder, ultimately, by taking the +life of the King, took the key-stone out of the arch which sheltered the +people, and brought the whole fabric of civil order about their ears. I +was confounded at the blindness I had laboured under; and, from that +hour, my whole ideas changed. But, alas! it was too late; and even those +that had lent a willing hand trembled at the mischief they had done. +Benefits are soon forgot; but the remembrance of injuries are indelible. +Numbers of needy plunderers had arrived from Paris, and overspread these +peaceful plains like evil spirits, rousing the worst feeling of our +peasantry into action. As yet, no serious outrage had been committed in +this quarter; but I too plainly saw that it would not long be deferred. +I requested my dear master to fly, as many others had done; for blood +had begun to flow like water in Paris and the provinces--not the blood +of the guilty, but the blood of the noble and virtuous; for, alas! +France had become the arena in the remorseless war of poverty against +property. The whole fabric of social order had been dissolved, and men +had returned to their original state of barbarism; like jackalls or +wolves, only banding together when they scented plunder. To be rich or +nobly born was a crime of the deepest dye, only to be atoned by blood. +I, with extreme pain, saw the storm gathering, and could only deplore +it; and what added to my anguish, was, I dared not argue against them; +for our old and worthy magistrates had been deposed, and others, more in +the spirit of the times, appointed. As yet, no blood had been shed in +Perche, but numbers were immured in prison; and, had I given the least +cause of suspicion, I would have been placed beyond the power of lending +that aid to the distressed which I was resolved to afford them, or +perish in the attempt. Several times I had entreated my young lord to +fly, and avoid the storm; but my entreaties were in vain. He thought far +too well of his fellow-men. + +"At length a rumour reached us that two commissioners were on their way +to the chateau to sequestrate it for the use of the state: immediately +there was a violent commotion amongst the people--fearful of losing +their share of the plunder, all marched in a tumultuous manner to +assault it. Aware of what might ensue--for blood had begun to flow--I +got my young lord disguised as one of my workmen, and set to his +bench--that very one at which you work--and joined the crowd as they +approached the chateau. To prevent suspicion, no one shouted louder than +I, 'Down with the Tyrants!'--'Down with the Aristocrats!'--'_Vive la +Nation!_'--'_Vive la Republique!_' We entered the chateau, which was +searched in vain for my young lord. It was now that the true spirit of +the peasantry shewed itself in all its deformity; everything of value +was in a short time carried off or destroyed; while every quarter +resounded with execrations and cries for blood--the oppressions of the +father were alone remembered. How it occurred I have yet to learn, but +the youthful aristocrat was discovered in my shop; this was a severe +blow to me, for I was immediately seized by the furious crowd, charged +by them with the worst of crimes in their eyes, the concealing from them +a victim of their rage. It was a fearful hour. I expected to have been +torn to pieces upon the spot. My presence of mind did not forsake me: I +begged to be heard before the fatal daggers that were brandished around +reached my heart. I stood firm until a pause of the storm, when I +appealed to them not for mercy, but for revenge--revenge upon my lord +before I died. "I have been betrayed," I cried, "by some one. I appeal +to yourselves for my former love of my country. Let me die, but let it +be for my country, and let me be revenged upon the tyrants. Fire the +chateau!--'_Vive la Nation_,' '_A bas les Aristocrats_,' '_Vive la +Republique_'--and let me die by the light of the stronghold of tyranny +enveloped in flames." + +"I now breathed more freely. Shouts rent the air; for like a weathercock +is a mob--ever pointing as the last breath of wind blows. '_Vive +Vauquin!_' resounded from every lip; the chateau was enveloped in +flames; its owner immersed in a dungeon to await his doom, already fixed +before the mock forms of justice were gone through. Think not the worse +of me for the part I acted; every paper and article of plate had been +concealed for some days before. To save, if possible, his life, no one +was louder in denouncing my lord than myself, for his having dared to +conceal himself in my shop. At my return, I began seriously to turn over +in my mind what steps I was next to pursue for his safety, now rendered +difficult, almost beyond my power to overcome. I feared not death, nor +any danger to myself, could my object have been attained by it. There +was not a moment to be lost; the following day was to have been the day +of his trial and death. The commissioners had arrived from Paris, and a +fete was resolved to be got up to welcome them. In a state of anxiety I +can hardly describe, I bustled about and waited upon the commissioners; +but my chief object was to ascertain the exact spot where the +aristocrats were confined. My lord was my chiefest care, for however +much I had, at the commencement of the revolution, wished for the +abused power of the nobles to be reduced, I had no wish for their ruin, +far less their murder; judge my horror when I learned that he was in the +lower dungeon of the prison, to which there was only one entrance +through the guard-room, which was constantly filled by the soldiers on +guard. With a heart void of hope I returned to my home. In an agony of +mind I threw myself upon my couch, that if possible I might exclude +every other thought but the one that I wished to fix my whole attention +upon: while I walked about, I felt like one distracted. At length, I was +so fortunate as to call to mind having, when a boy, heard my father tell +that he had assisted my grandfather in securing a door into the lower +dungeon, that led into another even more loathsome, where the Huguenots +were wont to be confined in the time of Louis the Fourteenth; this had a +door which led into the outer court of the prison, the walls of which +were in the hinder part, ruinous and neglected, as few of the present +people in authority knew of such a dungeon; the old door having been +long built up. A faint ray of hope shot through my mind; I started from +my bed, and, concealing what tools I judged to be necessary, proceeded +to the jail without being perceived--this was rendered the more easy as +every one was engaged preparing for the fete. I remained under the +shelter of the ruined wall until it was quite dark. A voice of mirth and +revelry sounded in the front of that prison, whose gloomy walls and +strong iron barred windows might, and no doubt did, enclose hearts more +sorrowful than mine, but none more anxious. My situation, solitary as it +was, was full of peril--I might be missed at the fete, and suspicion +roused if I was so fortunate as to succeed; but I allowed no selfish +thought to intrude. I was so fortunate as to find the low arched door I +had heard my father speak of; after considerable labour it yielded to my +efforts, and I entered the low and noisesome vault which had heard and +re-echoed the groans of so many victims of tyranny whose only fault was +adhering to the dictates of their consciences against an intolerant +priesthood. So baleful was the air I breathed, that I was forced to +retire, or I had fallen to the damp floor; again I entered, for I heard +the voice of my lord in prayer, and felt a new sort of assurance arise +in my mind; there was no distinguishing one object from another, so +impenetrable was the darkness, and the faint sound appeared to come from +no particular side of the dungeon. I commenced groping with my hands, +from the entrance, along the walls; it was a loathsome task, for they +were damp and ropy, and loathsome reptiles ever and anon made me +withdraw my fingers; still I groped on. At length I succeeded; the door +was forced to yield to my skill and efforts; all that divided me from +him I sought was the strong planks and plaster. I struck a sharp single +blow upon it, and paused--the voice of my master had ceased from the +commencement of my work upon the second door. It was a period of intense +anxiety, lest he should alarm his guards, if any of them had been in his +dungeon. To my first signal no answer was made: he knew not that he had +a friend so near, willing to sacrifice everything for his rescue. I +struck a second blow, and again listened; I heard him utter a faint +exclamation of surprise, and all was again still. The third time I +struck, and I heard a movement on the other side: the plaster was +struck, piercing a small hole, and we were enabled to communicate. I +found he was alone in his dismal dungeon. It was agreed that I was to +return in two hours with a disguise for him, after I had appeared at the +fete; and, in the meantime, I loosened the fastening so as he could +easily force it away should any thing happen to prevent my return; and, +these arrangements being made, I took my departure, in the same stealthy +manner in which I had reached him. + +"With my heart still anxious but more at ease, I joined the festive +throng, and, joining in the dance for a short time, then retired, got +all ready, returned, with a view to relieve my lord from his dungeon, +and had the unspeakable pleasure to see him beyond its walls, dressed as +a peasant girl. Our parting was brief but sincere, my wishes for his +safety were equal to the extent of my love, but I have never heard of +him since; whether he went for La Vendee, or joined the allied army, I +never knew. As soon as I saw him safe out of the town, I returned to the +joyous group, and was among the last to leave it. My share in the escape +of my noble master was never even suspected; but from this time I have +wished the fall of the tyrants that have ruled France with a rod of +iron, and for the return of our King and nobility, until which time we +can never hope for tranquillity. I am not displeased at what can assist +in aiding their overthrow but I feel, as a true Frenchman, humbled at +every defeat our brave forces sustain. I love the beautiful fields of +France and all her sons, but I hate the demagogues who at present rule +her destinies." + +Had I not been an exile against my will, I never had been more happy in +my life than I was at this time. I, no doubt, was a prisoner of war; but +it was only in name. I never saw my prison but once a-week, when I +appeared at the muster to receive my jail allowance, and returned to +citizen Vauquin's in a few hours after, or strayed where I chose within +the proscribed distance. Our visits to the prison always gave rise to an +afternoon of merriment and pleasure--a meeting of friends. Not one of us +wished to escape, or desired an exchange. + +I was always a fortunate fellow. The four months I was here I improved +much in my drawing, and found the instructions of poor Walden of the +utmost service to me; and I was much benefited by a relation of +Vauquin's, who had studied the arts at Paris. It was thus I spent my +evenings; but I was never as yet allowed to enjoy my good fortune long. +We were ordered to be marched to the coast at Saint Malos, where a +cartel was to be in readiness to receive us. I bade adieu to my kind +friend, Citizen Vauquin, not without regret, and set out for the coast. +There was not a trace of pleasure at our release among us; we had no +cause, at least nine-tenths of us. For, as Bill Wates had foretold, off +Jersey we were brought too by the _Ramillies_, and crowded on board her. +The greater part were draughted to other men-of-war, but in her I +remained until she was paid off, at the peace. + +[Footnote 3: See "The Man-of-war's Man."] + + + + +WILLIE WASTLE'S ACCOUNT OF HIS WIFE. + + "Sic a wife as Willie had! + I wadna gie a button for her." + BURNS.[4] + + +"It was a very cruel dune thing in my neebor, Robert Burns, to mak a +sang aboot my wife and me," said Mr William Wastle, as he sat with a +friend over a jug of reeking toddy, in a tavern near the Bridge-end in +Dumfries where he had been attending the cattle market; "I didna think +it was neebor-like," he added; "indeed it was a rank libel upon baith +her and me; and I took it the worse, inasmuch as I always had a very +high respect for Maister Burns. Though he said that I 'dwalt on Tweed,' +and that I 'was a wabster,' yet everybody kenned wha the sang was aimed +at. Neither did my wife merit the description that has been drawn o' +her; for, though she was nae beauty, and hadna a face like a wax-doll, +yet there were thousands o' waur looking women to be met wi' than my +Kirsty; and to say that her mither was a 'tinkler,' was very +unjustifiable, for her parents were as decent and respectable people, in +their sphere o' life, as ye would hae found in a' Nithsdale. Her faither +had a small farm which joined on with one that I took a lease o', when I +was about one-and-twenty. Kirsty was about three years aulder; and, +though not a bonny woman, she was, in many respects, as ye shall hear in +the coorse o' my story, a very extraordinary one. I was in the habit o' +seeing her every day, and as I sometimes was working in a field next to +her, I had every opportunity o' observing her industry, and that, frae +mornin' till nicht, she was aye eident. This gave me a far higher +opinion o' her than if I had seen her gaun about wi' a buskit head; and +often, at meal-times, I used to stand and speak to her owre the dyke. +But, after we had been acquainted in this manner for some months, when +the cheerfu' summer weather came in, and the grass by the dyke-sides was +warm and green, and the bonny gowans blossomed among it, I louped owre +the dyke, and we sat doun and took our dinners together. I couldna have +believed it possible that a bit bare bannock and a drap skim milk wad +gang doun sae deliciously, but never before had I partaken o' onything +that was sae pleasant to the palate. One day I was quite surprised, when +I found that my arm had slipped unconsciously round her waist, and, +drawing her closer to my side, I seighed, and said--'O Kirsty, woman!' + +"She pulled away my hand from her waist, and looking me in the face, +said--'Weel, Willie, man, what is't?' + +"'Kirsty,' said I, 'I like ye.'" + +"'I thocht as meikle,' quoth she, 'but could ye no hae said sae at +ance.'" + +"'Perhaps I could, dear,' said I; 'but ye ken true love is aye blate; +however, if ye hae nae objections, I'll gang yont, after fothering time +the micht, and speak to yer faither and mither; and if they hae nae +objections, and ye have yer providin' ready, wi' yer guid-will and +consent, I shall gie up oor names, and we shall be cried on Sabbath +first.' + +"'Oh,' said she, 'I haena lived for five-and-twenty years without +expectin' to get a guidman some day; and I hae had my providin' ready +since I was eighteen, an' a' o' my ain spinnin' and bleachin', an' the +lint bocht wi' what I had wrocht for; so that I am behauden to naebody. +My faither and mither have mair sense than to cast ony obstacle in the +way o' my weelfare; and, as ye are far frae bein' disagreeable to me, if +we are to be married, it may as weel be sune as syne, and we may be +cried on Sunday if ye think proper.' + +"'O Kirsty, woman!' cried I, and I drew my arm round her waist again, +'ye hae made me as happy as a prince! I hardly ken which end o' me is +upmost!' + +"'Na, Willie,' said she, 'there is nae necessity for ony nonsensical +raptures, ye ken perfectly weel that yer head is upmost, though I hae +heard my faither talk about some idiots that he ca's philosophers, who +say that the world whirls roond aboot like a cart-wheel on an axle-tree, +and that ance in every twenty-four hours our feet are upmost, and our +head downmost; but it will be lang or onybody get me to believe in sic +balderdash! As to yer being happy at present, it shall be nae faut o' +mine if ye are not aye sae; and if ye be aye as I would wish ye to be, +ye will never be unhappy.' + +"Such, as near as I can recollect, is not only the history, but the +exact words o' oor courtship. Her faither and mither gied their consent +without the slightest hesitation. I remember her faither's words to me +were--'Weel, William, frae a' that I hae seen o' ye, ye appear to be a +very steady and industrious young man, and ane that is likely to do weel +in the world. I hae seen, also, wi' great satisfaction, that ye are very +regular in yer attendance upon the ordinances; there hasna been a +Sabbath, since ye cam to be oor neebor, that I hae missed ye oot o' yer +seat in the kirk. Frae a' that I hae heard concernin' ye, also, ye hae +always been a serious, sober, and weel-behaved young man. These things +are a great satisfaction to a faither when he finds them in the lad that +his dochter wishes to marry. Ye hae my consent to tak Kirsty; and, +though I say it, I believe ye will find her to mak as industrious, +carefu', and kind a wife, as ye would hae found if ye had sought through +a' broad Scotland for ane. I will say it, however, and before her face, +that there are some things in which she takes it o' her mother, and in +which she will hae her ain way. But this is her only faut. I'm sure +ye'll ne'er hae cause to complain o' her wasting a bawbee, or o' her +allowing even the heel o' a kebbuck to gang to unuse. It is needless for +me to say mair; but ye hae my full and free consent to marry when ye +like.' + +"Then up spoke the auld guidwife, and said--'Weel, Willie, lad, if you +and Kirsty hae made up yer minds to mak a bargain o' it, I am as little +disposed to oppose yer inclinations as her faither is. A guid wife, I +sincerely believe, ye will find her prove to ye; and though her faither +says that in some things she will be like me, and have her ain way, let +me tell ye, lad, that is owre often necessary for a woman to do, wha is +striving everything in her power for the guid o' her husband and the +family, and sees him, just through foolishness, as it were, striving +against her. Ye are strange beings you men-folk to deal wi'. But ye +winna find her a bare bride, for she has a kist fu' o' linen o' her ain +spinnin', that may serve ye a' yer days, and even when ye are dead, +though ye should live for sixty years.' + +"I thought it rather untimeous that the auld woman should hae spoken +aboot linen for oor grave-claes, before we were married; and I suppose +my countenance had hinted as much, for Kirsty seemed to hae observed it, +and she said--'My mother says what is and ought to be. It is aye best +to be provided for whatever may come; and as Death often gies nae +warning, I wadna like to be met wi' it, and to hae naething in the house +to lay me out in like a Christian.' + +"I thought there was a vast deal o' sense and discretion in what she +said; and though I didna like the idea o' such a premature providing o' +winding-sheets, yet, after she spoke, I highly approved o' her prudence +and forethought. + +"It was on a Monday afternoon, about three weeks after the time I have +been speaking o', that Kirsty, wi' her faither, and mother, and another +young lass, an acquaintance o' hers, that was to be best-maid, cam yont +to my house for her and me to be married. I had sent for ane o' my +brothers to be best-man, and he was with me waiting when they came. She +was not in the least discomposed, but behaved very modestly. In a few +minutes the minister arrived, when the ceremony immediately began, and +within a quarter of an hour she was mine, and I was hers, for the term +o' oor natural lives. + +"From the time that I took the farm, I had no kind o' dishes in the +house, save a wooden bowie or twa, four trenchers, three piggins, and +twa bits o' tin cans, that I had bought from a travelling tinker for +twopence a-piece, and which Kirsty afterwards told me, were each a +halfpenny a-piece aboon their value. I dinna think that I had tasted tea +aboon a dozen times in the whole course o' my life; but, as it was +coming into general use, I thought it would look respectfu' to my bride, +before her faither and mother, if I should hae tea upon oor marriage +day, and I could ask the minister to stop and tak a dish wi' us. I +thought it would gie a character o' respectability to oor wedding. +Therefore, on the Saturday afore the marriage, I went to Dumfries, and +bought half a dozen o' bonny blue cups and saucers. I never durst tell +Kirsty how meikle I gied for them. It was with great difficulty that I +got them carried hame without breaking. I also bought two ounces o' the +best tea, and a whole pound o' brown sugar. + +"I had a servant lassie at the time, the doohter o' a hind in the +neighbourhood; she was necessary to me to do the work about the house, +and to milk twa kye that I kept, to mak the cheese, and a part o' the +day to help the workers out wi' the bondage. + +"'Lassie,' said I, when I got hame; 'do ye ken hoo to mak tea?' + +"'I'm no very sure,' said she; 'but I think I do. I ance got a cup when +I wasna weel, frae the farmer's wife that my faither lives wi'. I'll +try.' + +"'Here, then,' says I; 'tak care o' thir, and see that ye dinna break +them, or it will mak a breaking that ye wouldna like in your quarter's +wages.' So I gied her the cups and saucers to put awa carefully into the +press. + +"'O maister,' says she; 'but noo, when I recollect, ye'll need a +tea-kettle, and a tea-pat, and a cream-pat, and teaspoons.' + +"'Preserve me!' quoth I, 'the lassie is surely wrang in the head! Hoo +mony articles o' _tea_ and _cream_ hae ye there? The parritch kettle +will do as weel as a tea-kettle--where can be the difference? Your +tea-pats I ken naething aboot, and as for a cream-pat, set down the +cream-bowie; and as for spoons, ye fool, they dinna sip tea--they drink +it--just sirple it, as it were, oot o' the saucer.' + +"'O sir,' said she; 'but they need a little spoon to stir it round to +mak the sugar melt--and that is weel minded, ye'll also require a +sugar-basin.' + +"'Hoots! toots! lassie,' cried I, 'do ye intend to ruin me? By yer +account o' the matter, it would be almost as expensive to set up a tea +equipage, as a chariot equipage. No, no; just do as the miller's wife o' +Newmills did.' + +"'And what way micht that be, sir?' inquired she. + +"'Why,' said I, 'she took such as she had, and she never wanted! Just +ye tak such as ye have--cogie, bowie, or tinniken, never ye mind--show +ye your dexterity.' + +"'Very weel, sir,' said she; 'I'll do the best I can.' + +"But, just to exemplify another trait in my wife's character, I will +tell ye the upshot o' my cups and saucers. I confess that I was in a +state of very considerable perturbation; not only on account o' what the +lassie had told me about the want o' a tea-kettle, tea-pat, and so +forth, but also that, including the minister, there were seven o' us, +while I had but six cups; and I consoled mysel by thinking that, as +Kirsty and I were now _one_, she might drink oot o' the cup and I wad +tak the saucer, so that a cup and saucer would serve us baith; and I was +trustin to the ingenuity o' the lassie to find substitutes for the other +deficiencies, when she came ben to where we were sitting, and going +forward to Kirsty, says she--'Mistress, I have had the twa ounces o' tea +on boiling in a chappin o' water, for the last twa hoors--do ye think it +will be what is ca'ed _masked_ noo?' + +"'Tea!' said my new-made wife, wi' a look o' astonishment; 'is the +lassie talking aboot _tea_? While I am to be in this house--and I +suppose that is to be for my life--there shall nae poisonous foreign +weed be used in it, nor come within the door, unless it be some drug +that a doctor orders. Take it off the fire, and throw the broo awa. My +certes! if young folk like us were to begin wi' sic extravagance, where +would be the upshot? Na, na, Willie,' said she, turning round to me, +'let us just begin precisely as we mean to end. At all events, let us +rather begin meanly, than end beggarly. I hae seen some folk, no aboon +oor condition in life, mak a great dash on their wedding-day; and some +o' them even hire gigs and coaches, forsooth, to tak a jaunt awa for a +dozen o' miles! Poor things! it was the first and last time that ony o' +them was either in gig or coach. But there shall be nae extravagance o' +that kind for me. My faither and mither care naething about tea, for +they hae never been used to it, and I'm sure that our friends here care +as little; and, asking the minister's pardon, I am perfectly sure and +certain, that tea can be nae treat to him, for he has it every day, and +it will be standing ready for him when he gangs hame. The supper will be +ready by eight o'clock, and those who wish it, may tak a glass o' +speerits in the meantime--as it isna every day that they are at my +wedding.' + +"Her faither and mother looked remarkable proud and weel-pleased like at +what she said, just as if they wished to say to me--'There's a wife for +ye!' But I thought the minister seemed a good deal surprised, and in a +few minutes he took up his hat, wished us much joy, and went away. For +my part, I didna think sae much aboot my bride's lecture, as I rejoiced +that she thereby released me from the confusion I should have +experienced in exposing the poverty o' my tea equipage. + +"It was on the very morning after oor marriage, and just as I was gaun +oot to my wark--'Willie,' says she, 'I think we should single the +turnips in the field west o' the hoose the day. The cotters' twa bondage +lasses, and me, will be able to manage it by the morn's nicht.' + +"'O, my dear,' quoth I, 'but I hae nae intention that ye should gang out +into the fields to work, noo that ye are my wife. Let the servant-lass +gang out, and ye can look after the meat.' + +"'Her! the idle taupie!' said she, 'we hae nae mair need for her than a +cart has for a third wheel. Mony a time it has grieved me to observe her +motions, when ye were out o' the way--and there would she and the other +twa wenches been standing, clashing for an hour at a time, and no +workin' a stroke. I often had it in my mind to tell ye, but only I +thought ye might think it forward in me, as I perceived ye had a +kindness for me. But I can baith do all that is to do in-doors, and +work out-by also, and at the end o' the quarter she shall leave.' + +"'Wi' a' my heart,' says I, 'if ye wish it;' for it struck me she micht +be a wee thocht jealous o' the lassie; 'but there is no the sma'est +necessity for you working out in the fields; for though she leaves, we +can get a callant at threepence a-day, that would just do as muckle +out-work as she does, and ye would hae naething to attend to but the +affairs o' the hoose.' + +"'O William!' replied she, 'I'm surprised to hear ye speak. Ye talk o' +threepence a-day just as if it were naething. Hoo mony starving families +are there, that threepence a-day would mak happy? It is my maxim never +to spend a penny unless it be laid out to the greatest possible +advantage. Ye should always keep that in view, every time ye put yer +hand in your pocket. He that saves a penny has as mony thanks, in the +lang run, as he that gies it awa. Threepence a-day, not including the +Sabbath, is eighteenpence a-week; noo, you that are a scholar, only +think how much that comes to in a twelvemonth. There are fifty-twa weeks +in the year--that is fifty-twa shillings; and fifty-twa sixpences +is--how much?' + +"'Twenty-six shillings, my dear,' said I, for I was quite amused at her +calculation--the thing had never struck me before. + +"'Weel,' added she, 'fifty-two shillings and twenty-six shillings, put +that together, and see how much it comes to.' + +"'Oh,' says I, after half a minute's calculation, 'it will just be three +pounds, eighteen shillings, to a farthing.' + +"'Noo,' cried she, 'only think o' that!--three pounds eighteen shillings +a-year; and ye would throw it away, just as if it were three puffs o' +breath! Now, William, just listen to me and tak tent--that is within twa +shillings o' four pounds. It would far mair than cleed you and me, out +and out, frae head to foot, from year's end to year's end. But at +present the wench's meat and wages come to three times that, and +therefore I am resolved, William, that while I am able to work, we shall +neither throw away the one nor the other. It is best that we should +understand each other in time: therefore, I just tell ye plainly, as I +said yesterday, that as I wish to end, I mean to begin. This very day, +this very morning and hour, I go out wi' the bondage lassies to single +the turnips; and, at the end o' the quarter, the lazy taupie +butt-a-house maun walk aboot her business.' + +"'Weel, Kirsty, my darling,' says I, 'your way be it. Only I maun again +say, that I had no wish or inclination whatever to see you toiling and +thinning turnips beneath a burning sun, or maybe taking them up and +shawing them, when the cauld drift was cutting owre the face keener than +a razor.' + +"'Weel, William,' quoth she, 'it is needless saying any more words about +it--it is my fixed and determined resolution.' + +"'Then, hinny,' says I, 'if ye be absolutely resolved upon that, it is +o' no manner o' use to say ony mair upon the subject, of course--your +way be it.' + +"So the servant lassie was discharged accordingly, and Kirsty did +everything hersel. Wet day and dry day, whatever kind o' wark was to be +done, there was she in the middle o' it, by her example spurring on the +bondagers. Even when we began to hae a family, I hae seen her working in +the fields wi' an infant on her back; and I am certain that for a dozen +o' harvests, while she was aye at the head o' the shearers, there was +aye our bairn that was youngest at the time, lying rowed up in a blanket +at the foot o' the rig, and playing wi' the stubble to amuse itsel. + +"There were many that said that I was entirely under her thumb, and that +she had the maister-skep owre me. But that was a grand mistake, for she +by no means exercised onything like maistership owre me; though I am +free to confess, that I at all times paid a great degree o' deference to +her opinions, and that she had a very particular and powerfu' way o' +enforcing them. Yet, although I was in no way cowed by her, there wasna +a bairn that we had, from the auldest to the youngest, that durst play +_cheep_ before her. She certainly had her family under great subjection, +and their bringing up did her great credit. They were allowed time to +play like ither bairns--but from the time that they were able to make +use o' their hands, ye would hardly hae found it possible to come in +upon us, and seen ane o' them idle. All were busy wi' something; and no +ane o' them durst hae stepped owre a prin lying on the floor, without +stooping doun to tak it up, or passed onything that was out o' its place +without putting it right. For I will say for her again, that, if my +Kirsty wasna a bonny wife, she was not only a thrifty but a tidy ane, +and keepit every ane and every thing tidy around her. + +"She was a strange woman for abhorring everything that was new-fangled. +She was a most devout believer in, and worshipper o' the wisdom o' oor +ancestors. She perfectly hated everything like change; and as to +onything that implied speculation, ye micht as weel hae spoken o' +profanation in her presence. She said she liked auld friends, auld +customs, auld fashions; and was the sworn enemy o' a' the innovations on +the practices and habits that had been handed doun frae generation to +generation. I dinna ken if ever she heard the names Whig or Tory in her +life; but if Tory mean an enemy o' change, then my Kirsty certainly was +a Tory o' the very purest water. + +"I dinna suppose that she believed there was such a word as +_improvement_ in the whole Dictionary. She would hae allooed everything +to stand steadfast as Lot's wife, for ever and for ever. But, however, +just to gie ye a specimen or twa o' her remarkable disposition:--I think +it was about sixteen years after we were married, that I took a tack o' +an adjoining farm, which was much larger than the ane we occupied. I was +conscious it would require every penny we had scraped thegither, and +that we had saved, to stock it. My wife was by no means favourable to my +taking it. She said we kenned what we had done, but we didna ken what we +might do; and it was better to go on as we were doing, than to risk oor +a'. I acknowledge that there was a vast deal o' truth in what she said; +but, however, I saw that the farm was an excellent bargain, and I was +resolved to tak it, say what she might; and therefore, though she was +said to domineer owre me, yet, just to prove to every person round about +that I was not under a wife's government, I did tak it. I had not had it +twa years, when I began to find that thrashing wi' the flail would never +answer. Often, when the markets were on the rise, and when I could hae +turned owre many pounds into my ain pocket, I found it was a'thegither +impossible for me to get my corn thrashed in time to catch the markets +while they were high; and I am certain that, in the second year that I +had the new farm, I lost at least a hundred pounds frae that cause +alone--that is, I didna get a hundred pounds that I micht hae got, and +that was much the same as losing it oot o' my pocket. Thrashing machines +at that period were just beginning to come into vogue, but there was a +terrible outcry against them; and mony a ane said that they were an +invention o' the Prince o' Darkness; for my part I wish he would +never do mair ill upon the earth, than invent sic things as +thrashing-machines. Hooever, I saw plain and clearly the advantage that +the machine had owre the flail, and I was determined to hae ane. But +never did I see a woman in such a steer as the mention o' the thing put +Kirsty in! She went perfectly wild aboot it. + +"'What, William!' she cried, 'what do ye talk aboot?' Losh me, man, have +ye nae mair sense?--have ye nae discretion whatever? Will ye really rush +upon ruin at a horse-race? Ye talk aboot getting a machine! How, I ask +ye, how do ye expect that ever ye could prosper for a single day after, +if ye were to throw oor twa decent barn-men oot o' employment, and their +families oot o' bread? I just ask ye that question, William. Does na the +proverb say--'Live and let live;' and hoo are men to live, if, by an +invention o' the Enemy o' mankind, ye tak work oot o' their hands, and +bread oot o' their mouths?" + +"'Dear me, Kirsty!' said I, 'hoo is it possible that a woman o' your +excellent sense can talk such nonsense? Ye see very weel that, if I had +had a machine, I micht hae made a hundred pounds mair than I did by last +year's crops--that, certainly, would hae been a good turn to us--and, +tak my word for it, it is neither in the power nor in the nature o' the +Evil One to do a guid turn to onybody.' + +"'Willie,' quoth she, 'ye talk like a silly man--like a very silly man, +indeed. If the Enemy o' mankind hadna it in his power to do for us what +we tak to be for oor guid, hoo in the warld do ye think he could tempt +us to our hurt? I say, that thrashing-machines are an invention o' his, +and that they are ane o' the instruments he is bringing up for the ruin +o' this country. It is him, and him alone, that is putting it into your +head to buy ane o' his infernal devices, in order that he may not only +ruin you, baith soul and body, by filling ye wi' a desire o' riches, an' +making ye the oppressor and the robber o' the poor, but that, through +your oppression and robbery, he may ruin them also, and bring them to +shame or the gallows!' + +"'Forgie me, Kirsty,' said I, 'what in a' the world do ye mean? Hoo is +it possible that ye can talk aboot me as likely to be either an +oppressor or a robber o' the poor? I'll declare there never was a beggar +passed either me or my door, that ever I saw, but I gied him something. +I'm sure, guidwife, ye baith ken better o' me, and think better o' me +than to talk sae.' + +"'Yes, William,' said she, 'I did think better o' ye; but I noo see +distinctly that the Enemy is leading ye blindfolded to your ruin. First, +through the pride o' your heart, he tempted ye to tak this big farm, +that, as ye thocht, ye might hasten to be rich; and now he is seducing +ye to buy ane o' his diabolical machines for the same end, and in order +that ye may not only deprive honest men and their families o' bread, +but, belike, rather than starve, tempt them to steal! And what ca' ye +that but oppressing and robbing the poor? Hooever, buy a machine!--buy +ane, and ye'll see what will be the upshot! If ye dinna repent it, say +I'm no your wife.' + +"I confess her words were onything but agreeable to me, and they rather +set me a hesitating hoo to act. Hooever my mind was bent upon buying the +machine. I had said to several o' my neebors that I intended to hae ane +put up; and I was convinced that, if I drew back o' my word, it would be +said that my wife wouldna let me get it, and I would be made a general +laughing-stock--and that was a thing that I held in greater dread than +even my wife's lectures, severe as they sometimes were; therefore, +reason or nane, I got a machine put up. It caused a very general outcry +amongst a' the 'datal' men and their wives for miles round. At ae time I +even thocht that they would mob me and pull it to pieces. But all their +clamour was a mere snaw-flake fa'ing in the sea, compared wi' the +perpetual dirdum that Kirsty rang in my ears about it. She actually +threatened that judgments would follow, and I didna ken a' what. But, on +the morning o' the day that I yoked the horses into it, and began to +thrash wi' it for the first time I declare to you that she took the six +bairns wi' her, and absolutely went to her faither's, vowing to work for +them until the blood sprang from her finger-ends, rather then live wi' a +man that would be guilty o' such madness and iniquity. + +"But having heard before dinner-time that I had had to employ a woman at +sixpence a-day to feed into the machine she came back as fast as her +feet could carry her, wi' a' the bairns behint her, and ordering the +stranger away, began to feed the machine hersel', and the bairns carried +her the sheaves. + +"I saw that out o' a spirit o' pure wickedness, she was distressing +hersel' far beyond what there was the sma'est occasion for. It was as +clear as day, that indignation was working in her heart, like barm +fermenting in a bottle, and just about half an hour before we were to +leave off thrashing for the nicht, she was seized with a very alarming +pain in the breast. I saw and said it was a hysterical affection, and +was altogether the consequence o' the passion that she had given way to +on account o' the unlucky machine. She, however, denied that there were +such diseases in existence as either hysterical or nervous affections. +They were sham disorders, she said, that cam into the country wi' tea +and spirit-drinking; and she assuredly was free from indulging in either +the ane or the other. But she grew worse and worse, and was at last +obliged to sit down upon some straw on the barn-floor. I ventured +forward to her, and said--'Kirsty, woman, ye had better gang awa into +the house. Ye will do yersel' mair ill by sittin there, for there is a +current o' air through the loft, which, after you being warm with +working, may gie ye your death o' cauld. Rise up, dear, and gang awa +into the house, and try if a glass o' usquebae will do ye ony guid.' + +"Maister Burns, the poet, has said-- + + 'She has an ee, she has but _ane_;' + +but, certes, had he seen the look that she gied me as I then spoke to +her, he would hae been satisfied that she had _twa_! I saw it was o' nae +manner o' use for me either to offer advice or to express sympathy. The +wife o' an auld man that was called John Neilson, and who for several +years had been our barn-man, came into the machine-loft at the time, and +wi' a great deal o' concern she asked my wife what was like the matter +wi' her. Now this auld Peggy Neilson had the reputation, for miles +round, o' being an extraordinary _skilly_ woman. There wasna a bairn in +the parish took a sair throat, or got a burnt foot, or a cut finger, or +took a _dwam_ for a day or twa, but its mother said--'I maun hae Peggy +Neilson spoken to aboot that bairn, before it be owre late.' Kirsty, +therefore, told her hoo she was affected, when the other, wi' the +confidence o' a doctor o' medicine brought up at the first college in +the kingdom, said--'Then, ma'am, if that be the way ye feel, there is +naething in the warld sae guid for ye as a blast o' the pipe. I aye +carry a tinder-box and flint and steel wi' me, and ye are welcome to a +whuff o' my cutty.' + +"Now, Kirsty was a bitter enemy to baith smoking and snuffing in +general; but she had great faith in the skill o' Peggy Neilson, and wad +far rather hae done whatever she advised than followed the prescription +o' the best doctor in a' the land. She took the auld woman's pipe, +therefore, and began to blaw through a spirit o' pain and perverseness +at the same moment. As I anticipated, it soon made her dizzy in the +head, and she had to be led to the house. Hooever, in a short time, the +pain she had been suffering was greatly abated, though whether the +smoking contributed towards removing it or not, I dinna pretend to say. +Just as she had been taen to the house, we were dune wi' thrashing for +the day, and I was very highly gratified wi' the day's wark. + +"But I was very tired, and as soon as I had had my sowens I went to bed. +I several times thought, and remarked it, that there was a sort o' burnt +smell about. + +"'Ay,' said Kirsty, who by this time was a great deal better; 'they who +will use the engines o' forbidden agents maun expect to smell them, as +in the end they will feel them.' + +"Being conscious it was o' nae use to reason wi' her, for she in general +had the better o' me in an argument, I tried to compose mysel' to +sleep. But it was in vain to think o' closing my een, for the smell o' +burning grew stronger and stronger, and I was rising again, +saying--'There is something burning aboot somewhere, and I canna rest +until I hae seen what it is.' + +"'Nor let other folk rest either,' said Kirsty. + +"Just at that moment, oor eldest dochter, who was as perfect a picture +o' beauty as ever man looked upon wi' eyes o' admiration, and who being +alarmed by the smell, as well as me, had gane oot to examine from what +it proceeded came running oot o' breath, crying--'Faither! faither!-the +barn and everything is on fire!' + +"'O goodness!' cried I, as I threw on part o' my claes in the twinkling +o' an ee; 'what wretch can hae been sae wicked as to do it!' + +"'It's a judgment upon ye,' said Kirsty, 'for having such a thing about +the place, after a' the admonitions ye had against it. I said ye would +see what would be the upshot, and it hasna been lang o' coming.' + +"'O ye tormenter o' my life!' cried I, as I ran oot o' the house; 'it's +your handy-work!' + +"'Mine!' exclaimed she. 'O ye heartless man that ye are, how dare ye +presume either to say or think sic a thing!' and she followed me out. + +"The whole stackyard was black wi' smoke--it was hardly possible to +breathe--and a great sheet o' fire, like the mouth o' a fiery dragon, +was rushing and roaring out at the barn-door. I didna ken what to do; I +was ready to rush head foremost into the middle o' the flames, as if +that I could hae crushed them out wi' the weight o' my body; and I am +persuaded that I would hae darted right into the machine loft, where the +flames were bursting through the very tiles, as frae the mouth o' a +volcano, had not my wife, and our eldest daughter Janet, flewn after me +and held me in their arms, the one crying--'Be calm, William--do +naething rashly--let us see to save what can be saved;' and the other +saying--'Faither! faither! dinna risk your life.' + +"Now, there was a hard frost owre the entire face o' the ground, and +there wasna a drop o' water to be got within a quarter o' a mile; and +the whole o' my year's crop, with, the exception o' what had that day +been thrashed, was in the stackyard. I shouted at the pitch of my voice +for assistance, but the devouring flames soon roared louder than I did. +Kirsty, wi' her usual presence o' mind, began to clear away the straw +from around the barn, to prevent the fire from spreading, and she called +upon the bairns and me to follow her example. She also ordered a laddie +to set the horses out o' the stables, and the nowt oot o' the +'courtine,' and drive them into a field, where they would be oot o' +danger. A' our neighbours round aboot, in a short time arrived to our +assistance; but a' our combined efforts were unavailing. The wood wark +o' the machine was already on fire--the barn roof fell in, and up flew +such a volley o' smoke and firmament o' fire as man had never witnessed. +The sparks ascended in millions upon millions; and as they poured down +again like a shower o' fire, every stack that I had broke into a blaze, +and the whole produce o' my farm, corn, straw, and hay became as a +burning fiery furnace. It became impossible for ony living thing to +remain in the stackyard. From end to end, and round and round, it was +one fierce and awful flame. The heat was scorching, and the dense smoke +was baith blinding and suffocating. Every person was obliged to flee +from it. The very cattle in the field ran about in confusion, and moaned +wi' terror, and the horses neighed wi' fright, and pranced to and fro. I +stood at a distance, as motionless as a dead man, gazing wi' horror upon +the terrific scene o' desolation, beholding the destruction o' my +property--the burning up, as I may say, o' a' my prospects. The teeth in +my head chattered thegither, and every joint in my body seemed oot o' +its socket; and the raging o' destruction in the stackyard was naething +to the raging o' misery in my breast; and especially because I coudna +banish frae my brain the awfu' thought that the hand o' the wife o' my +bosom had lighted the conflagration. While I was standing in this state +o' speechless agony, and some around about me were pitying me, while +others in whispers said--'He had nae business to get a thrashing +machine, and the thing woudna hae happened,' Kirsty came forward to me, +and takin' me by the hand, said--'William, dinna be silly--appear like a +man before folk. Our loss is nae doubt great, but in time we may get +ower it; and be thankfu' that it is nae waur than it is like to be--for +your wife and bairns are spared to ye, and we have escaped unskaithed.' + +"'Awa, ye descendant o' Judas Iscariot!' cried I; 'dinna speak to me!' + +"'William,' said she, calmly, 'what infatuation possesses ye, +man?--dinna mak a fool o' yoursel'.' + +"'Awa wi' ye!' cried I, perfectly shaking wi' rage. + +"'Dear me!' I heard a neighbour remark to another; 'how gruffly he +speaks to Kirsty! I aye thought that she had the upperhand o' him, but +it doesna appear by his manner o' speaking to her.' + +"Distracted, wretched, and angry as I was, I experienced a sort o' +secret pleasure at hearing the observation. I had shewn them that I +wasna a slave tied to my wife's apron-strings, as they supposed me to +be. Kirsty left me wi' a look that had baith scorn and pity in it. But +oor auldest lassie, my bonny fair-haired Janet--to look upon whose face +I always delighted beyond everything on earth--came running forward to +me; and throwing her arms about my neck, sobbed wi' her face upon my +breast, and softly whispered--'Dinna stand that way, faither, a' body is +looking at ye; and dinna speak harshly to my poor mother--she is +distressed enough without you being angry wi' her.' I bent my head upon +my bairn's shouther, and the tears ran doun my cheeks. + +"By this time, everything was oot o' the house; and the fire was +prevented from reaching it, chiefly through the daring exertions o' a +hafflins laddie, whose name was James Patrick, who was the son o' a +neebor farmer, and who, though no aboon seventeen years o' age, I +observed was very fond o' oor bonny Janet; for I had often observed the +young creatures wandering in the loaning thegither; and when ye +mentioned the name o' the ane before the other, the blood rose to their +face. + +"Next morning, the stackyard, barn, byres, and stables, presented a +fearful picture o' devastation. There was naething to be seen but the +still smoking heaps o' burnt straw and roofless buildings, wi' wreck and +ruin to the richt hand and to the left. Some thought that the calamity +would knock me aff my feet, and cause me to become a broken man--and I +thought myself that that would be its effect. But Kirsty was determined +that we should never sink while we had a finger to wag to keep us aboon +the water. Cheap as she had always maintained the house, she now keepit +it at almost no expense whatever. For more than two years, nothing was +allowed to come into it but what the farm produced, and what we had +within ourselves, neither in meat nor in claething. + +"But though I witnessed all her exertions, nothing could satisfy my mind +that she was not the cause o' the destruction o' the machine, and +through it o' all that was in and about the stackyard. The idea haunted +me perpetually, and rendered me miserable, and I could not look upon my +wife without saving to mysel--'Is it possible that she could hae been +guilty o' such folly and great wickedness.' I was the more confirmed in +my suspicion, because she never again mentioned the subject o' the +machine in my hearing, neither would she allow it to be spoken aboot by +ony ane else. + +"What gratified me maist, during the years that we had to undergo +privation, was the cheerfulness wi' which all the bairns submitted to +it; and I couldna deny that it was solely to her excellent manner o' +bringing them up. Our Janet, who was approaching what may be called +womanhood, was now talked o' through the hale country-side for her +beauty and sweet temper; and it pleased me to observe, that, during our +misfortune, the attentions o' James Patrick (through whose skilful +exertions oor house was saved frae the conflagration) increased. It was +admitted, on all hands, that a more winsome couple were never seen in +Nithsdale. + +"Oor auldest son, David, who was only fifteen months younger than his +sister, had also grown to be o' great assistance to me. Before he was +seventeen he was capable o' man's work, which enabled me to do with a +hind less than I had formerly employed. My landlord, also, was very +considerate; and, the first year after the burning, he gave me back the +half o' the rent, which I, with great difficulty, had been able to +scrape thegether. But when I went hame, and, in the gladness o' my +heart, began to count down the money upon the table before Kirsty and +the bairns, and to tell them how good the laird had been--'Tak it up, +William!' cried she, 'tak it up, and gang back wi' it--he would consider +it an obligation a' the days o' our lives. I will be beholden to neither +laird nor lord! nor shall ony ane belonging to me--sae, tak back the +money, for it isna ours!' + +"'Bless me!' thought I, 'but this is something very remarkable. This is +certainly another proof that she really is at the bottom o' the +fire-raising. It is the consciousness o' her guilt that makes her +shudder at and refuse the kind kindness o' the laird.' + +"'It is braw talking, Kirsty,' said I, 'but I see nae necessity for +persons that hae been visited wi' a misfortune such as we met wi', and +wha hae suffered sae much on account o' it, to let their pride do them +an injury or exceed their discretion. Consider that we hae a rising +family to provide for.' + +"'Consider what ye like,' quoth she, 'but, if ye accept the siller, +consider what will be the upshot. Ye would hae to be hat in hand to him +at all times and on all occasions. Yer very bairns would be, as it were, +his bought slaves. No, William, tak back the money--I order ye!' + +"'Ye _order_ me!' cried I, 'there's a guid ane!--and where got ye +authority to order me. If ye will hae the siller taen back, tak it back +yersel.' + +"Without saying another word, she absolutely whipped it off the table, +every plack and bawbee, into her apron; and, throwing on her rockelay +and hood, set aff to the laird's wi' it, where, as I was afterwards +given to understand, she threw it down upon his table wi' as little +ceremony as she had sweept it aft' mine. + +"Ye may weel imagine that baith my astonishment and vexation were very +considerable. I had seen a good deal o' Kirsty, but the act o' taking +back the siller crowned a'! + +"'Losh!' said I, in the pure bitterness o' my spirit, 'that caps +a'!--that is even worse than destroying the machine, wi' the stacks and +stabling into the bargain!' + +"'What do ye mean about destroying the machine, faither?' inquired Janet +and David, almost at the same instant--'who do ye say destroyed it?' + +"'Naebody,' said I, angrily, 'naebody!'--for I found I had said what I +ought not to hae said. + +"'Really, faither,' said Janet, 'whatever it may be that ye think and +hint at, I am certain that ye do my mother a great injustice if ye +harbour a single thought to her prejudice. It may appear rather +proud-spirited her takin back the siller, though I hae na doubt, in the +lang run, but we'll a' approve o' it.' + +"'That is exactly what I think, too,' said David. + +"'Oh, nae dout!' said I, 'nae dout o' that!--for she has ye sae learned, +that everything she does, or that ony o' ye does, is always right; and +whatever I do must be wrang!' and I went oot o' the house in a pet, +driving the door behind me, and thinking about the machine and the loss +o' the siller. + +"Hooever, I am happy to say, that although Kirsty did tak back the money +to the laird and leave it wi' him, yet, as I have already hinted to ye, +through her frugal management, within a few years we got the better o' +the burning. But there is a saying, that some folk are no sooner weel +than they're ill again--and I'm sure I may say that at that time. I no +sooner got the better o' the effects o' ae calamity, until another +overtook me. Ye hae heard what a terrible dirdum the erecting o' +toll-bars caused throughout the country, and upon the Borders in +particular. Kirsty was one o' those who cried oot most bitterly against +them. She threatened, that if it were attempted to place ane within ten +miles o' oor farm, she would tear it to pieces with her ain hands. + +"'Here's a bonny time o' day, indeed!' said she, 'that a body canna gang +for a cart-load o' coals or peats, or tak their corn, or whatever it may +be, to the market, but they must pay whatever a set o' Justices o' the +Peace please to charge them for the liberty o' driving along the road. +Na, na! the roads did for our faithers before us, and they will do for +us. They went alang them free and without payment, and so will we; for I +defy any man to claim, what has been a public road for ages, as his +property. Only submit to such an imposition, and see what will be the +upshot. But, rather than they shall mak sic things in this +neighbourhood, I will raise the whole countryside.' + +"Unfortunately in this, as in everything else, she verified her words. A +toll-bar was erected within half-a-mile o' oor door Kirsty was clean +mad about it. She threatened not only to break the yett to pieces, but +to hang the toll-keeper owre the yett-post if he offered resistance. I +thought o' my machine, and said little; and the more especially because +every ane, baith auld and young, and through the whole country, so far +as I could hear, were o' the same sentiments as Kirsty. There never was +onything proposed in this kingdom that was mair unpopular. And, I am +free to confess, that, with regard to the injustice o' toll-bars, I was +precisely o' the same way o' thinkin' as my wife--only I by no means +wished to carry things to the extremes that she wished to bring them to. + +"I ought to tell ye, that our laird was more than suspected o' being the +principal cause o' us having a toll-bar placed so near us, so that we +could neither go to lime, coals, nor market, without gaun through it. I +was, therefore, almost glad that my wife had taken back the siller to +him, lest--as I was against raising a disturbance about the matter--folk +should say that my hands and tongue were tied wi' the siller which he +had given me back; for, if I didna wish to be considered the slave o' my +wife, as little did I desire to be thought the tool o' my landlord. But, +ae day, I had been in at Dumfries in the month o' July, selling my wool; +I had met wi' an excellent market, and a wool-buyer from Leeds and I got +very hearty thegether. He had bought from me before; and, on that day, +he bought all that I had. I knew him to be an excellent man, though a +keen Yorkshireman--and, ye ken, that the Yorkshire folk and we Scotchmen +are a gay tight match for ane anither--though I believe, after a', they +rather beat us at keeping the grip o' the siller; but as I intended to +say, I treated him, and he treated me, and a very agreeable day we had. +I recollect when he was pressing me to hae the other gill, I sang him a +bit hamely sang o' my ain composing. Ye shall hear it. + + Nay, dinna press, I winna stay, + For drink shall ne'er abuse me; + It's time to rise and gang away-- + Sae neibors ye'll excuse me. + + It's true I like a social gill, + A friendly crack wi' cronies; + But I like my wifie better still, + Our Jennies an' our Johnnies. + + There's something by my ain fireside-- + A saft, a haly sweetness; + I see, wi' mair than kingly pride, + My hearth a heaven o' neatness + + Though whisky may gie care the fling, + It's triumph's unco noisy; + A jiffy it may pleasure bring, + But comfort it destroys aye. + + But I can view my ain fireside + Wi' a' a faither's rapture;-- + Wee Jenny's hand in mine will slide, + While Davy reads his chapter. + + I like your company and yer crack, + But there's ane I loo dearer, + Ane wha will sit till I come back, + Wi' ne'er a ane to cheer her. + + A waff o' joy comes owre her face + The moment that she hears me; + The supper--a' thing's in its place, + An' wi' her smiles she cheers me. + +However, I declare to you, it was very near ten o'clock before I left +the house we are sitting in at present, and put my foot in the stirrup. +But, as my friend Robin says-- + + 'Weel mounted on my grey mare Meg,' + +I feared for naething; and, though I had sixteen lang Scots miles to +ride, I thought naething aboot it; for, as he says again-- + + 'Kings may be great, but I was glorious, + Owre a' the ills o' life victorious!' + +But, just as I had reached within about half a mile o' the toll-bar +that had been erected near my farm, I saw a sort o' light rising frae +the ground, and reflected on the sky. My heart sank within me in an +instant. I remembered the last time I had seen such a light. I thought +o' my burning stackyard, o' my ruined machine, and o' Kirsty! My first +impulse was to gallop forward, but a thousand thoughts, a thousand fears +cam owre me in an instant; and I thought that evil tidings come quick +enough o' their ain accord, without galloping to meet them. As I +approached the toll-bar, the flame and the reflection grew brighter and +brighter; and I heard the sound o' human voices, in loud and discordant +clamour. My forebodings told me, to use Kirsty's words, what would be +the upshot. I hadna reached within a hundred yards o' the bar, when, +aboon a' the shouting and the uproar, I heard her voice, the voice o' my +ain wife, crying--'Mak him promise that it shall ne'er be put up +again--mak him swear to it--or let his yett gang the gaet o' the +toll-yett!' + +"In a moment all that I had dreaded I found to be true. At the sound o' +her voice, hounding on the enraged multitude, (though I didna altogether +disapprove o' what they were doing,) I plunged my spurs into my horse, +and galloped into the middle o' the outrageous crowd, crying--'Kirsty! I +say, Kirsty! awa hame wi' ye! What right or what authority had ye to be +there?' + +"'Hear him! hear him!' cried the crowd, 'Willie has turned a toll-bar +man, and a laird man, because the Laird once offered him the half o' his +rent back again! Never mind him, Kirsty!--we'll stand yer friends!' + +"'I thank ye, neighbours,' said she, 'but I require nae body to stand as +friends between my guidman and me. I ken it is my duty to obey him, that +is, when he is himsel', and comes hame at a reasonable time o' nicht; +but not when he is in a way that he doesna ken what he's saying, as he +is the nicht.' + +"'Weel done, Mistress Wastle!' cried a dozen o' them; 'we see ye hae the +whip-hand o' him yet!' + +"'The mischief tak ye!' cried I, 'for a wheen ill-mannered scoundrels; +but I'll let every mother's son and dochter among ye ken whase hand the +whip is in!' + +"And, wi' that, I began to lay about me on every side; but, before I had +brought the whip half-a-dozen o' times round my head, I found that the +horse was out from under me; and there was I wi' my back upon the +ground, while, on the one side, was a heavy foot upon my breast, and, on +the other, Kirsty threatening ony ane that would injure a hair o' her +husband's head; and my son David and James Patrick rushing forward, +seized the man by the throat that had his foot upon my breast, and, in +an instant, they had him lying where I had lain; for they were stout, +powerfu' lads. + +"But when I got upon my feet, and began to recover from the surprise +that I had met wi', there did I see the laird himsel, standing trembling +like an ash leaf in the middle o' the unruly mob--and, as ringleader o' +the whole, my wife Kirsty shaking her hand in his face, and endeavouring +to extort from him a promise, that there never should be another +toll-bar erected upon his grounds, while he was laird! + +"'Kirsty!' I exclaimed, 'what are ye after? Are ye mad?' + +"'No, William!' cried she, 'I am not mad, but I am standing out for our +rights against injustice; and sorry am I to perceive that, at a time +when everybody is crying out and raising their hand against the +oppression that is attempted to be practised upon them, my guidman +should be the only coward in the countryside.' + +"'William Wastle!' said the terrified laird, whom some o' them were +handling very roughly, (and principally, I must confess, at the +instigation o' Kirsty,) 'I am glad to see that I have one tenant upon my +estate who is a true man; and I ask your protection.' + +"'Such protection as I can afford, sir,' said I, 'ye shall have; but, +after the rough handling winch I have experienced this very moment, I +dout it is not much that is in my power to afford ye.' + +"'Get yer faither awa to his bed, bairns!' cried my wife, as I was +driving my way through the crowd to the assistance o' the laird; and +I'll declare, if my son David, and James Patrick, didna actually come +behind me, and, lifting me aff my feet, carried me shouther-high a' the +way to my bedroom; and, in spite o' my threats, expostulations, and +commands, locked me into it. + +"Weel, thought I, as I threw myself down upon the bed, without taking +aff my claes, (partly because I found my head wanted ballast to tak them +aff,) I said unto mysel--'This comes o' having a wise and headstrong +wife, and bairns o' her way o' bringing up. But if ever I marry again +and hae a family, I shall ken better how to act.' + +"Notwithstanding all that I had undergone and witnessed, in the space o' +ten minutes, I fell fast asleep; and the first thing that I awoke to +recollect--that is, to be conscious o'--was my daughter Janet rushing to +my bedside, and crying--'Faither! faither! my mother is a prisoner!--my +poor dear mother, and James Patrick also!--and I heard the laird saying +that they would baith be transported, as the very least that could +happen them for last night's work, which I understand will be punished +more severely than even highway robbery!' + +"I awoke like a man born to a consciousness o' horror, and o' naething +but horror. All that I had seen and heard and encountered on the night +before, was just as a dream to me, but a dismal dream I trow. + +"'Where is yer mother?' I gasped, 'or what is it that ye are saying, +hinny? and--where is James Patrick?' + +"'Oh!' cried my darling daughter, 'before this time they are baith in +Dumfries jail, for pu'ing down and burning the toll-yetts, and +threatening the life o' the laird. But everybody says it will gang +particularly hard against my mother and poor James; for, though every +one was to blame, they were what they ca' ringleaders.' + +"I soon recollected enough o' the previous night's proceedings to +comprehend what my daughter said. I hurried on my claes, and awa I flew +to Dumfries. But I ought to tell ye, that the laird's servants had +ridden in every direction for assistance; and having got three or four +constables, and about a dozen o' the regular military, all armed wi' +swords and pistols, they made poor Kirsty and James Patrick, wi' about a +dozen others, prisoners, and conveyed them to Dumfries jail. + +"When I was shewn into the prison, Kirsty and James, and the whole o' +them, were together. 'O Kirsty, woman!' said I, in great distress, +'could ye no hae keepit at hame while my back was turned! Why hae ye +brought the like o' this upon us? I'm sure ye kenned better! _Was the +destruction o' the machine and the stackyard no a warning to ye!_' + +"'William,' answered she, 'what is it that ye mean?--is this a time to +cast upon me yer low-minded suspicions? Had ye last nicht acted as a +man, we micht hae got the laird to comply wi' our request; but it is +through you, and such as you, that everything in this unlucky country is +gaun to destruction; and sorry am I to say that ill o' ye--for a kind, a +good, and a faithfu' husband hae ye been to me, William.' + +"'O sir!' said James Patrick, coming forward and taking me by the hand, +'may I just beg that ye will tak my respects to yer dochter Janet; and, +I hope, that whatever may be the issue o' this awkward affair, that she +will in no way look down upon me, because I happen to be as a sort o' +prisoner in a jail.' My heart rose to my mouth, and I hadna a word to +say to either my wife or him. + +"'Weel," said I, as I left them, 'I must do the best I can to bring +baith o' ye aff; and, to accomplish it, the best lawyers in a' Scotland +shall be employed.' + +"But to go on--at a very great expense, I, and the faither o' James +Patrick, had employed the very principal advocates that went upon the +Dumfries circuit; and they tauld us that we had naething to fear, and +that we might keep ourselves quite at ease. + +"I was glad that my son David hadna been seized and imprisoned, as weel +as his mother and James Patrick, for he also had been ane o' the +ringleaders in the breaking doun and burning o' the toll-bars, and in +the assault upon the laird. But he escaped apprehension at the time, and +I suppose they thought that they had enough in custody to answer the +ends o' justice and the law, and, therefore, he was permitted to remain +unmolested. + +"Now, sir, comes the most melancholy part o' my story. I had a quantity +o' wool to deliver to the Yorkshire buyer, I hae already mentioned, upon +a certain day. My son David was to drive the carts wi' it to Annan. It +was sair wark, and he had but little sleep for a fortnight thegether. It +caused him to travel night and day, load after load. Now, I needna tell +ye, that at that period the roads were literally bottomless. The horse +just went plunge, plunging, and the cart jerking, now to ae side, and +now to another, or giein a shake sufficient to drive the life out o' ony +body that was in it. Now, the one wheel was on a hill, and the other in +a hollow; or, again, baith were up to the axle-tree in mud, or the horse +half-swimming in water! And yet people cried out against toll-bars! But, +as I hae been telling ye, my son David had driven wool to Annan for a +fortnight, and he was sair worn out. The roads were in a dreadful +state--worse than if, now-a-days, ye were to attempt to drive through a +bog. + +"Ae night, when he was expected hame, his sister Janet, and mysel' sat +lang up waiting upon him, and wondering what could be keeping him, when +a stranger rode up to the door, and asked if 'one Mr William Wastle +lived there?' I replied 'Yes!' And, oh! what think ye were his tidings, +but that my name had been seen upon the carts, that the horses had stuck +fast in the roads, and that my son David, who had fallen from the +shafts, had either been killed, or drowned among the horses' feet! + +"I thought his brothers and sisters, and especially Janet, would have +gane oot o' their judgment. As for me, a' the trials I had had were but +as a drap in a bucket when compared wi' this! + +"But, after I had mourned for a night, the worst was to come. Hoo was I +to tell his poor imprisoned mother!--imprisoned as she wis for opposing +the very thing that would hae saved her son's life! + +"Next day I went to Dumfries; but I declare that I never saw the light +o' the sun hae sic a dismal appearance. The fields appeared to me as if +I saw them through a mist. Even distance wasna as it used to be. I was +admitted into the prison, but I winna--oh no! I canna repeat to ye the +manner in which I communicated the tidings to his mother! It was too +much for her then--it would be the same for me now! for naething in the +whole coorse o' my life ever shook me so much as the death o' my poor +David. But I remember o' saying to her, and I declare to you upon the +word o' a man, unthinkingly--'O Kirsty, woman! had we had toll-bars, +David might still hae been living!' + +"'William, William!' she cried, and fell upon my neck, 'will ye kill me +outright!' And, for the first time in my life, I saw the tears gushing +down her cheeks. Those tears washed away the very remembrance o' the +machine, and the burning o' the stacks. I pressed her to my heart, and +my tears mingled wi' hers. + +"I believe it was partly through our laird that baith Kirsty and James +Patrick were liberated without being brought to a trial. Her +imprisonment, and the death o' our son, had wrought a great change upon +my wife; and I think it was hardly three months after her being set at +liberty, that we were baith sent for to auld John Neilson the barnman's, +whose wife Peggy lay upon her death-bed. When we approached her bedside, +she raised herself upon her elbow, and said--'The burning o' yer barn +and stackyard has always been a mystery--hear the real truth from the +words o' a dying and guilty woman. Yer machine had thrown my husband out +o' employment, and when yer wife there gied me back the pipe, a whuff o' +which I said would do her good, _I let the burning dottle drap among the +straw_--nane o' ye observed it--ye were a' leaving the barn. Now, ye ken +the cause--on my death-bed I make the confession.' + +"I declare I thought my heart would hae louped out o' my body. I pressed +my wife, against whom I had harboured such vile suspicions, to my +breast. She saw my meaning--she read my feelings. + +"'William,' said she, kindly, 'if ye hae onything on yer mind that ye +wish to forget, so hae I; let us baith forget and forgie!' + +"I felt Kirsty's bosom heaving upon mine, and I was happy. + +"Within six months after this, James Patrick and our dochter Janet were +married; and an enviable couple they then were, and such they are unto +this day. And, as for my Kirsty, auld though she is, and though the sang +says-- + + 'I wadna gie a button for her,' + +auld, I say, as she is, and wi' a' her faults, I would gie a' the +buttons upon my coat for her still, and a' the siller that ever was in +my pouch into the bargain." + +[Footnote 4: Mr Allan Cunningham, in his Life of Burns, states the +following particulars respecting Willie's wife:--viz., that "He was a +farmer, who lived near Burns, at Ellisland. She was a very singular +woman--tea, she said, would be the ruin of the nation; sugar was a sore +evil; wheaten bread was only fit for babes; earthenware was a +pickpocket; wooden floors were but fit for thrashing upon; slated roofs, +cold; feathers good enough for fowls. In short, she abhorred change: and +whenever anything new appeared--such as harrows with iron teeth--'Ay! +ay!' she would exclaim, 'ye'll see the upshot!' Of all modern things she +disliked china most--she called it 'burnt clay,' and said 'it was only +fit for haudin' the broo o' stinkin' weeds,' as she called tea. On one +occasion, an English dealer in cups and saucers asked so much for his +wares, that he exasperated a peasant, who said, 'I canna purchase, but I +ken ane that will. Gang there,' said he, pointing to the house of +Willie's wife, 'dinna be blate or burd-moothed; ask a guid penny--she +has the siller!' Away went the poor dealer, spread out his wares before +her, and summed up all by asking a double price. A blow from her +crummock was his instant reward, which not only fell on his person, but +damaged his china. 'I'll learn ye,' quoth she, as she heard the saucers +jingle, 'to come wi' yer brazent English face, and yer bits o' burnt +clay to me!' She was an unlovely dame--her daughters, however, were +beautiful."--ED.] + + + + +THE STONE-BREAKER. + + +If any of our readers had had occasion to go out, for a couple of miles +or so, on the road leading from Edinburgh to the village of Carlops, any +time during the summer of the year 1836, they would have seen a little +old man--very old--employed in breaking metal for the roads. The exact +spot where _we_ saw him, was at the turn of the eastern shoulder of the +Pentland Hills; but the nature of his employment rendering him somewhat +migratory, he may have been seen by others in a different locality. In +the appearance of the old stone-breaker, there was nothing particularly +interesting--nothing to attract the attention of the passer-by--unless +it might be his great age. This, however, certainly was calculated to do +so; and when it did, it must have been accompanied by a painful feeling +at seeing one so old and feeble still toiling for the day that was +passing over him; and toiling, too, at one of the most dreary, +laborious, and miserable occupations which can well be conceived. Had +the old man no children who could provide for the little wants of their +aged parent, without the necessity of his still labouring for them--who +could secure him in that ease which exhausted nature demanded? It +appeared not. Perhaps it was a spirit of independence that nerved his +weak arm, and kept him toiling so far beyond the usual term of human +capability. Probably the proud-spirited old man would break no bread but +that which he had earned by the sweat of his brow and the labour of his +hands. Perhaps it was so. At any rate, this we know, that, at the early +hour of five in the morning, as regularly as the morning came, the old +stone-breaker had already commenced his monotonous labour. But this was +not all. He had also, by this early hour, walked upwards of four +miles--for so far distant was the scene of his occupation from the place +of his residence, Edinburgh. He must, therefore, have left home between +three and four o'clock, and this was his daily round, without +intermission, without variation, and without relaxation. A bottle of +butter-milk and a penny loaf formed each day's sustenance. His daily +earnings, labouring from five in the morning till six at night, averaged +about ninepence! Hear ye this, ye who ride in emblazoned carriages! Hear +ye this, ye loungers on the well-stuffed couch!--and hear it, ye +revellers at the festive board, who have never toiled for the luxuries +ye enjoy! Hear it, and think of it! But of this person we have other +things to tell; and to these we proceed. + +One morning, just after he had commenced the labours of the day, a young +man, of about four or five and twenty years of age, accosted him, wished +him a good morning, and seated himself on the heap of broken metal on +which the old man was at work, and did so seemingly with the intention +of entering into conversation with him. This was a proceeding to which +the latter was much accustomed, it being a frequent practice with the +humbler class of wayfarers. The advances of the stranger, therefore, in +the present instance, did not for a moment interrupt his labours, or +slacken his assiduity. He hammered on without raising his head, even +while returning the greetings that were made him. + +"A delightful view from this spot," said the young man, breaking in upon +a silence which had continued for some time after the first salutations +had passed between them. + +"Yes," said the old man, drily; and, continuing his operations, he again +relapsed into his usual taciturnity; for, in truth, he was naturally of +a morose and uncommunicative disposition. Undeterred by his cold, +repulsive manner, the stranger again broke silence, and said, with a +deep-drawn sigh-- + +"How I envy these little birds that hop so joyously from spray to spray! +Their life is a happy one. Would to God I were one of them!" + +The oddness of the expressions, and the earnestness with which they were +pronounced, had an effect on the labourer which few things had. They +induced him to pause in his work, to raise his head, and to look in the +face of the speaker, which he did with a smile of undefinable meaning. +It was the first full look he had taken of him, and it discovered to him +a countenance open and pleasing in its expression, but marked with deep +melancholy, and telling, in language not to be misunderstood, a tale of +heart-sickness of the most racking and depressing kind. + +"Has your lot been ill cast, young man, that ye envy the bits o' burds +o' the air the freedom and the liberty that God has gien them?" said the +old man, eyeing the stranger scrutinizingly, with a keen, penetrating +grey eye, that had not even yet lost all its fire. + +"It has," replied the latter. "I have been unfortunate in the world. I +have struggled hard with my fate, but it has at length overwhelmed me." + +The old man muttered something unintelligibly, and, without vouchsafing +any other reply, resumed his labours. After another pause of some +duration, which, however, he had evidently employed in _thinking_ on the +declaration of unhappiness which had just been made him-- + +"Some folly o' your ain, young man, very likely," said he, carelessly, +and still knapping the stones, whose bulk it was his employment to +reduce. + +"No," replied the young man, blushing; but it was a blush which he who +caused it did not see. "I cannot blame myself." + +"Nae man does," interposed the stone-breaker; "he aye blames his +neighbours." + +"Perhaps so," rejoined the stranger; "but you will allow that it is +perfectly possible for a man to be unfortunate without any fault on his +own part." + +"I hae seldom seen't," replied the ungracious and unaccommodating old +man; and he hammered on. + +"Well, perhaps so," said the youth; "but I hope you will not deny that +such things _may_ be." + +"Canna say," was the brief, but sufficiently discouraging rejoinder. + +"Then let us drop the subject," said the stranger, smilingly. "Each will +still judge of the world by his own experience. But, methinks, your own +case, my friend, is a hard enough one. To see a man of your years +labouring at this miserable employment, is a painful sight. Your debt to +fortune is also light, I should believe." + +"I hae aye trusted mair to my ain industry than to fortune, young man. I +never pat it in her power to jilt me. I never trusted her, and +therefore, she has never deceived me; so her and me are quits." And the +old man plied away with his long, light hammer. + +"Yet your earnings must be scanty?" + +"I dinna compleen o' them." + +"I daresay not; but will you not take it amiss my offering this small +addition to them?" And he tendered him a half-crown piece. "I have but +little to spare, and that must be my apology for offering you so +trifling a gift." + +The man here again paused in his operations, and again looked full in +the face of the stranger, but without making any motion towards +accepting the proffered donation. + +"I thocht ye said ye war in straits, young man," he said, and now +resting his elbow on the end of his hammer. + +"And I said truly," replied the former, again colouring. + +"Then hoo come ye to be sportin yer siller sae freely? I wad hae thocht +ye wad hae as muckle need o' a half-croon as I hae?" + +"Perhaps I may," replied the stranger; "but that's not to hinder me from +feeling for others, nor from relieving their distresses so far as I +can." + +"Foolish doctrine, young man, an' no' for this warl. It's nae wunner +that ye're in difficulties. I guessed the faut was yer ain, and noo I'm +sure o't. Put up yer half-croon, sir. I dinna tak charity." + +"I hope, however, I have not offended you by the offer? It was well +meant." + +"Ou, I daresay--I'm no the least offended; but tak an auld man's advice, +an' dinna let yer feelins hae the command o' yer purse-strings, +otherwise ye'll never hae muckle in't." + +And the churlish old stone-breaker resumed his labours, and again +relapsed into taciturnity. Silent as he was, however, it was evident +that he was busily thinking, although none but himself could possibly +tell what was the subject of his thoughts; but this soon discovered +itself. After a short time, he again spoke-- + +"What may the nature an' cause o' yer defeeculties be, young man, an' I +may speer?" he said--"and I fancy I may, since ye hae been sae far free +on the subject o yer ain accord." + +"That's soon told," replied the stranger. "Three years ago, an aunt, +with whom I was an especial favourite, left me two hundred and fifty +pounds. With this sum I set up in business in Edinburgh in the +ironmongery line, to which I was bred. My little trade prospered, and +gradually attained such an extent that I found I could not do without an +efficient assistant, who should look after the shop while I was out on +the necessary calls of business. In this predicament I bethought me of +my brother, who was a year older than myself, and accordingly sent for +him to Selkirkshire, where he resided with our father, assisting him in +his small farming operations; this being the business of the latter. My +brother came; and, for some time, was everything I could have +wished--sober, regular, and attentive; and we thus got on swimmingly. +This, however, was a state of matters which was not long to continue. +When my brother had about completed a year with me, I began to perceive +a gradual falling off in his anxiety about the interests of our little +business. I remonstrated with him on one or two occasions of palpable +neglect; but this, instead of inducing him to greater vigilance, had the +effect only of rendering him more and more careless. But I did not then +know the worst. I did not then know that, in place of aiding, he was +robbing me. This was the truth, however. He had formed an infamous +connection with a woman of disreputable character, and the consequence +was the adoption of a regular system of plunder on my little property, +to answer the calls which she was constantly making on my unfortunate +relative. + +"About this time I took ill, and, not suspecting the integrity of my +brother, although aware of his carelessness, I did not hesitate to trust +him with the entire conduct of my affairs. Indeed, I could not help +myself in this particular; he best knowing my business, and being, +besides, the natural substitute for myself in such a case. For three +months was I confined, unable to leave my own room; and, when I did come +out, I found myself a ruined man. In this time, my brother had +appropriated almost every farthing that had been drawn to his own +purposes; and had, moreover, done the same by some of my largest and +best outstanding accounts; and, to sum up all, he had fled, I knew not +whither, on the day previous to that on which I made my first appearance +in my shop after my recovery. That is about ten days since." + +"Did the rascal harry ye oot an' oot?" here interposed the old +stone-breaker, knapping away with great earnestness. + +"No; there was a little on which he could not lay his hands--some +considerable accounts which are payable only yearly; there was also some +stock in the shop; but these, of course, are now the property of my +creditors." + +"But could ye no get a settlement wi' them, an' go on?" inquired the +other, still knapping away assiduously. "I'm sure if you stated your +case, your creditors wadna be owre hard on ye." + +"Perhaps they might not; but there is one circumstance that puts it out +of my power to make any attempt at arrangement. There is one bill of +fifty pounds, due to a Sheffield house, on which diligence has been +raised, and on which I am threatened with instant incarceration. In +truth, it is this proceeding that has brought me here so early this +morning. I expected to have been taken in my bed, as the charge was out +yesterday, and I am here to keep out of the way of the messengers. I am +thus deprived of the power of helping myself--of taking any steps +towards the adjustment of my affairs." + +"An' could ye do any guid, think ye, if that debt wur paid, or in some +way arranged?" inquired the other. + +"I think I could;" said the party questioned. "My good outstanding debts +are yet considerable, and so is the stock in the shop; so that, had a +little time been allowed me, I could have got round. But all that is +knocked on the head, by the impending diligence against me. That settles +the matter at once, by depriving me of the necessary liberty to go about +my affairs." + +"It's a pity," said the man, drily. "Wha's the man o' business in +Edinburgh that thae Sheffield folk hae employed to prosecute ye? What +ca' ye him?" + +"Mr Langridge." + +"Ou ay, I hae heard o' him. An will he no gie ye ony indulgence?" + +"He cannot. His instructions are imperative, otherwise he would, I am +convinced; for he is an excellent sort of man, and knows all about me +and my affairs. Indeed, so willing was he to have assisted me, that, +when the bill was first put into his hands, he wrote to his clients, +strongly recommending lenient measures and bearing testimony, on his own +knowledge, to the hardship of my case; but their reply was brief and +peremptory. It was to proceed against me instantly, and threatening him +with the loss of their business if he did not. For this uncompromising +severity they assigned as a reason, their having been lately 'taken in,' +as they expressed it, to a large extent, by a number of their Scotch +customers. So Mr. Langridge had no alternative but to do his duty, and +let matters take their course." + +"True," replied the monosyllabic stone-breaker. It was all he said, or, +if he had intended to say more, which, however, is not probable, no +opportunity was afforded him; for at this moment three labouring men of +his acquaintance, who were on their way to their work, came up and began +conversing. On this interruption taking place, the young man rose, +wished him a good morning, which was merely replied to by a slight nod, +and went his way. + +At this point in our story, we change the scene to the writing chambers +of Mr. Langridge, and the time we advance to the evening of the day on +which our tale opens. + +It will surprise the reader to find our old stone-breaker, still wearing +the patched and threadbare clothes, the battered and torn hat, and the +coarse, strong shoes, which had never rejoiced in the contact of +blacking brush, in which he prosecuted his daily labours, ringing the +door-bell of Mr Langridge's house, about eight o'clock in the evening. +It will still more surprise him, perhaps, to find this man received, +notwithstanding the homeliness, we might have said wretchedness, of his +appearance, by Mr Langridge himself with great courtesy, and even with a +slight air of deference. + +On his entering the apartment in which that gentleman was, the latter +immediately rose from his seat, and advanced, with extended hand, +towards him. + +"Ah, Mr Lumsden," he exclaimed, "how do you do? I hope I see you well. +Come, my dear sir, take a chair." And he ran with eager civility for the +convenience he named, and placed it for the accommodation of his +visiter. + +When the old man was seated-- + +"Well, my dear sir," said Mr Langridge, "I am sorry to say that _your +rents_ have not come so well in this last half-year as usual. We are +considerably short." And the man of business hurried to a large green +painted tin box, that stood amongst some others on a shelf, and bore on +its front the name of Lumsden, and from this drew forth what appeared to +be a list or rent roll, which he spread out on the table. "We are +considerably short," he said. "There's six or eight of your folks who +have paid nothing yet, and as many more who have made only partial +payments." + +"Ay," said the man, crustily, "what's the meanin' o' that? Ye maun just +screw them up, Mr Langridge; for I canna want my siller, and I winna +want it. Hae thae folk Thamsons, paid yet?" + +"Not a shilling more than you know of," replied Mr Langridge. + +"Weel, then, Mr Langridge, ye maun just tak the necessary steps to +recover; for I'm determined to hae my rent. I'm no gaun to aloo mysel' +to be ruined this way. They wadna leave me a sark to my back, if I wad +let them. Ye maun just sequestrate, Mr Langridge--ye maun just +sequestrate, an' we'll help oorsels to payment, since they winna help +us." + +"Oh, surely, surely, my dear sir. All fair and right. But I would just +mention to you, that though, latterly, they have been dilatory payers--I +would say, shamefully so--they are yet decent, honest, well-meaning +people, these Thomsons; and that, moreover, there is some reason for +their having been so remiss of late, although it is, certainly, none +whatever why you should want your rent." + +"No, I fancy no," here interposed the other, with a triumphant chuckle. + +"No, certainly not," went on Mr Langridge, who seemed to know well how +to manage his eccentric client; "but only, I would just mention to you, +that the _reason_ of the dilatoriness of the Thomsons, is the husband's +having been unable, from illness, to work for the last three months, and +that, in that time, they have also lost no less than two children. It is +rather a piteous case." + +"An' what hae I to do wi' a' that?" exclaimed the other, impatiently. +"What hae I to do wi' a' that, I wad like to ken? Am I to be ca'ed on to +relieve a' the distress in the world? That wad be a bonny set o't. Am I +to be robbed o' my richts that others may be at ease? That I winna, I +warrant you. See that ye recover me thae folk's arrears, Mr Langridge, +by hook or by crook, and that immediately, though ye shouldna leave them +a stool to sit upon. That's _my_ instructions to _you_." + +"And they shall be obeyed, Mr Lumsden," replied the man of +business--"obeyed to the letter. I merely mentioned the circumstance to +you, in order that you might be fully apprized of everything relating to +your tenants, which it is proper you should know." + +"Weel, weel, but there's nae use in troublin' me wi' thae stories. I +dinna want to be plagued wi' folk makin' puir mouths. There's aye a +design on ane's pouch below't. By the bye, Mr Langridge," continued he, +after a momentary pause, "hae ye a young chield o' an airnmonger in your +hauns enow about some bill or anither that he canna pay." + +"The name?" inquired Mr Langridge, musingly. + +"Troth that I cannot tell you; for I never heard it, and forgot to +speer." + +"Let me see--oh, ay--you will mean, I dare say, a young man of the name +of John Reid, poor fellow?" + +"Very likely," said the client; "Is he a young man, an airnmonger to +business, and hae ye diligence against him enow on a fifty pound bill, +due to a Sheffield hoose?" + +"The same," replied Mr Longridge. "These are exactly the circumstances. +How came you, Mr Lumsden," he added, smilingly, "to be so well informed +of them?" + +"I'll maybe explain that afterwards; but, in the meantime, will ye tell +me what sort o' a lad this Mr Reid is? Is he a decent, weel-doin' young +man?" + +"Remarkably so," replied Mr Langridge, "remarkably so, Mr Lumsden. I can +answer for that; for I have known him now for a good while, and have had +many opportunities of estimating his character." + +"Then hoo cam he into his present difficulties?" + +"Through the misconduct of a brother--entirely through the misconduct of +a brother." And Mr Langridge proceeded to give precisely the same +account of the young man's misfortunes, and of the present state of his +affairs, that he himself had given to the old stone-breaker, as already +detailed to the reader. When he had concluded-- + +"It seems to me rather a hard sort o' case," said the client. "But could +you no help him a wee on the score o' lenity?" + +"I would willingly do it if I could; but it's not in my power. My +instructions are peremptory. I dare not do it but with a certainty of +losing the business of the pursuers, the best clients I have." + +"Naething, then, 'll do but payin' the siller, I suppose?" said the +other. + +"Nothing, nothing, I fear. My clients seem quite determined. They are +enraged at some smart losses which they have lately sustained in +Scotland, and will give no quarter." + +"Then I suppose if they _war_ paid, they would be satisfied," said the +stone-breaker. + +"Ha, ha, ha! Mr Lumsden, no doubt of _that_," exclaimed Mr Langridge, +laughing. "That would settle the business at once." + +"I fancy sae," said the other, musingly. Then, after a pause--"An' think +ye the lad wad get on if this stane were taen frae aboot his neck?" + +"I have no doubt of it--not the least," replied Mr Langridge, "for I +have every confidence in the young man's industry and uprightness of +principle. But he has no friend to back him, poor fellow: no one to help +him out of the scrape." + +"Ye canna be quite sure o' that, Mr Langridge," said the old man. "What +if I hae taen a fancy to help him mysel?" + +"You, Mr Lumsden!--you!" exclaimed Mr Langridge in great surprise. "What +motive on earth can you have for assisting him?" + +"I didna say that I meant to assist him--I only asked ye, what if I took +a fancy to do't?" + +"Why, to that I can only say that, if you have, he is all right, and +will get his head above water yet. But you surprise me, Mr Lumsden, by +this interest in Reid. May I ask how it comes about?" + +"I'll tell you a' that presently, but I'll first tell you that I _do_ +mean to assist the young man in his straits. I'll advance the money to +pay that bill for him. Will ye see to that, then, Mr Langridge? Put me +doon for the amount oot o' the funds in your hauns, and stay further +proceedins." + +Mr Langridge could not express the surprise he felt on this +extraordinary intimation from a man who, although there were some good +points in his character, notwithstanding of the outward crust of +churlishness in which it was encased, he never believed capable of any +very striking act of generosity. Mr Langridge, we say, could not +express the surprise which this unlooked-for instance of that quality +in Mr Lumsden inspired, nor did he attempt it; for he justly considered +that such expression would be offensive to the old man, as implying a +belief that he had been deemed incapable of doing a benevolent thing. Mr +Langridge, therefore, kept his feelings, on the occasion, to himself, +and contented himself with promising compliance, and venturing a +muttered compliment or two, which, however, were ungraciously enough +received, on the old man's generosity. + +"But whar's the young man to be fand?" inquired the latter. + +"Why, that I cannot well tell you," replied Mr Langridge; "for I was +informed, in the course of the day, by the messengers whom I employed to +apprehend him, that he had left his lodging early in the morning, no +doubt in order to avoid them, and they could not ascertain where he had +gone to." + +"Humph, that's awkward," replied the client. "I wad like to find him." + +"I fear that will be difficult," replied Mr Langridge; "but I will call +off the bloodhounds in the meantime, and terminate proceedings." + +"Ay, do sae, do sae. But can we no get haud o' the lad ony way?" + +At this moment, a rap at the door of the apartment in which was Mr +Langridge and his client, interrupted further conversation on the +subject. + +"Come in," exclaimed the former. + +The door opened, and in walked two messengers, with Reid a prisoner +between them. We leave it to the reader to conceive the latter's +surprise, on beholding his acquaintance of the morning, the old +stone-breaker, seated in an arm-chair in Mr Langridge's writing-chamber. +But while he looked this surprise, he also seemed to feel acutely the +humiliation of his position. After a nod of recognition, he said, with +an attempt at a smile, and addressing himself to the old man-- + +"You see they have got me after all, my friend. But it was my own doing. +On reflection, I saw no use in endeavouring to avoid them, and gave +myself up, at least, threw myself in their way, in order to encounter +the worst at once, and be done with it." + +"I daresay ye was richt, after a'," replied the stone-breaker; "it was +the best way. Mr Langridge," he added, and now rising from his seat, +"wad ye speak wi' me for a minnit, in another room?" + +"Certainly, Mr Lumsden," replied Mr Langridge. + +"Will we proceed with the prisoner?" inquired one of the messengers. + +"No, remain where you are a moment, till I return;" and Mr Langridge led +the way out of the apartment, followed by the old stone-breaker. When +they had reached another room, and the door had been secured-- + +"Noo, Mr Langridge, anent what I was speaking to ye about regarding this +young man wha has come in sae curiously upon us, juist whan we were +wanting him--I dinna care to be seen in the matter, sae ye maun juist +manag't for me yersel." + +"Had ye no better enjoy the satisfaction of your own good deed in +person, Mr Lumsden, by telling Mr Reid of the important service you +intend doing him?" + +"I'll do naething o' the kind," replied the old stone-breaker, testily. +"I dinna want to be bothered wi't. Sae juist pay ye his bill and +charges, Mr Langridge, an' keep an e'e on his proceedins afterwards, an' +let me ken frae time to time hoo he's gettin on." + +With these instructions Mr Langridge promised compliance; and, on his +having done so, the stone-breaker proposed to depart; but, just as he +was about doing so, he turned suddenly round to his man of business, +and said-- + +"About the Tamsons, Mr Langridge, ye needna, for a wee while, tak thae +staps again them that I was speakin aboot. Let them alane a wee till +they get roun a bit." + +"I'll do so, Mr Lumsden," replied the worthy writer, who, the reader +will observe, had accomplished his generous purpose dexterously. He knew +his man, and acted accordingly. + +"What's their arrears, again?" inquired the other. + +"Half-a-year's rent--L3, 17s.," replied Mr Langridge. + +"Ay, it's a heap o' siller--no to be fan at every dyke side. An' then, +there's this half-year rinning on, an' very near due. That'll mak--hoo +much?" + +"Just L7, 14s. exactly, Mr Lumsden." + +"Ay, exactly," replied the latter, who had been making a mental +calculation of the amount, and had arrived, although more slowly than +his experienced lawyer, at the same result. "A serious soom," added the +client. + +"No trifle, indeed, Mr Lumsden," said Mr Langridge; "but it's safe +enough. They're honest people." + +"Ye'r aye harpin on that string," replied the stone-breaker, surlily; +"but what signifies their honesty to me, if they'll no pay me my rent?" + +"True, very true," said the law agent. "That's the only practical +honesty." + +"See you an' get thae arrears, at ony rate, oot o' them, _if_ ye can, Mr +Langridge; an', if ye canna, I suppose we maun juist want them. Ye +needna push owre hard for them either, since they're in the state ye +say. But ye'll surely mak the present half-year oot o' them. That maun +be paid. Mind _that_, at ony rate, maun be paid, Mr Langridge." And +saying this, he placed his old tattered hat, which he had hitherto held +in his hand, on his head, and left the house. + +On his departure, Mr Langridge hastily entered the apartment in which, +he had left the messengers with their prisoner. + +"We're just waiting marching orders, Mr Langridge," said the latter, on +his entering, and making an attempt at playfulness, with which his +spirit but ill accorded. "My friends here are getting tired of their +charge, and anxious to be relieved of him." + +"Are they so, Mr Reid?" replied Mr Langridge, smiling. + +"Why, then, we had best relieve them at once." Then turning to the +principal officer--"Quit your prisoner, Maxwell--the debt is settled. Mr +Reid, you are at liberty." + +The blood rushed to poor Reid's face, and then withdrew, leaving it as +pale as death, and yet he could express no part of the feelings which +caused these violent alternations. At length-- + +"Mr Langridge," he said, "what is the meaning of this? How do I come to +be liberated?" + +"By the simplest and most effectual of all processes, Mr Reid," replied +the worthy writer, smiling; "by the payment of the debt." + +"But _I_ have not paid the debt, Mr Langridge. I _could_ not pay the +debt." + +"No; but somebody else might. The short and the long of it is, Mr Reid, +that a _friend_ has come forward, and settled the claim on which +diligence was raised against you. The bill, with interest and all +expenses, _is_ paid, and you are again a free man." + +Again overwhelmed by his feelings, which were a thousand times more +eloquently expressed by a flood of silent tears than they could have +been by the most carefully rounded periods, it was some time before the +young man could pursue the conversation, or ask for the further +information which he yet intensely longed to possess. On recovering from +the burst of emotion which had, for the moment, deprived him of the +power of utterance-- + +"And _who_, pray, Mr Langridge, is this friend--this friend indeed?" + +"Why, I do not know exactly whether I am at liberty to tell you, Mr +Reid," replied Mr Langridge. "The friend you allude to declined +transacting this matter personally with you, which seems to imply that +he did not care that you should know who he was; yet, as he certainly +did not expressly forbid me to disclose him, and as I think it but right +that you should know to whom you are indebted, I will venture to tell +you. Had you some conversation, at an early hour this morning, with an +old stone-breaker, on the highway side, about three or four miles from +town?" + +"I had. The old man that was sitting here when I came in." + +"The same. Well, what would you think if _he_ should have been the +friend in question? Would you expect from his manner, that he _would_ do +such a thing? or, from his appearance and occupation, that he could?" + +"Certainly not--certainly not. The old man--the poor old man, to whom I +offered half-a-crown--who works for ninepence a-day--who never saw me in +his life before this morning--who knows nothing of me! Impossible, Mr +Langridge--impossible; he cannot be the man. You do not say that he is?" + +"But I do though, Mr Reid, and that most distinctly. It is he, and no +other, I assure you, who has done you this friendly service." + +"Then, if it be so, I know not what to say to it, Mr Langridge. I can +say nothing. I trust, however, I shall not be found wanting on the score +of gratitude. I can say no more. But will you be so good as inform me, +if you can, how the good man has come to do me so friendly a service? +Who on earth, or what is he?" + +"Sit down, sit down, Mr Reid, and I'll answer all your questions--I'll +tell you all about him," replied Mr Langridge. + +Mr Reid having complied with this invitation, the latter began:-- + +"The history of the old stone-breaker, my good sir, is a very short and +a very simple one. It contains no vicissitude, and to few, besides +ourselves, would be found possessing any particular interest. Your +friend was, in his youth, a soldier, and served, I believe, in the +American war. At his return home on the conclusion of that war, he was +discharged, still a young man, and shortly after married a woman with a +fortune" (smilingly) "of some five-and-twenty or thirty pounds. With +this sum the thrifty pair purchased two or three cows, and commenced the +business of cowfeeders. They prospered; for they were both saving and +industrious, and, in time, realized a considerable sum of money, which +they went on increasing. This they invested in house property from time +to time, till their possessions of this kind became very valuable. + +"For upwards of forty years they continued in this way, when Mrs Lumsden +died, leaving her husband a lonely widower; for they had no children. On +the death of the former, the latter, who was now an old man, and unequal +to conducting, alone, the business in which his wife's activity and +industry had hitherto aided him, sold off his cows, and proposed to live +in retirement on the rents of his property; and this he did for some +time. Accustomed, however, to a life of constant labour and exertion, +the old man soon found the idleness on which he had thrown himself, +intolerably irksome. He became miserable from a mere want of having +something to do. While in this state of ennui, chancing one day to +stroll into the country, (this is what he told me himself,) he saw some +labouring men knapping stones by the way-side; and strange as the fancy +may seem, he was instantly struck with a desire of taking to this +occupation. He did so, and has, from that day to the present, now +upwards of ten years, pursued it with as much assiduity as if it was +his only resource for a subsistence. He has, as I already told you, no +family of his own; neither has he, I believe, any relation living; or, +if there be, they must be very remote; and, as he strictly confines his +expenditure to his daily earnings as a stone-breaker--some ninepence +a-day, I believe--his wealth is rapidly increasing, and is, at this +moment, no trifle, I assure you. Now, my good sir, when I tell you that +I am the law agent of this strange, eccentric person, and that I manage +all his business for him, I have told you everything about him that is +worth mentioning." + +"There is just one thing, Mr Langridge," said Mr Reid, who had been an +attentive listener to the tale just told him, "that wants explanation: +can you give me the smallest shadow of a reason for the part he has +acted towards me?" + +"Nay, there you puzzle me; I cannot. It appears as unaccountable to me +as to you, although I have known Mr Lumsden now for upwards of fifteen +years." + +"Did you ever know him do a thing of this kind before?" + +"Never! and I must say candidly, that, although he is by no means +deficient in kindness of heart, notwithstanding his rough exterior, I +did not believe him capable of such an act of generosity." + +"It is an extraordinary matter," said Mr Reid; "and although I can have +but little right to inquire into the _motives_ for an act by which I am +so largely benefited--it seems ungracious to do so--yet would I give a +good round sum, if I had it to spare, to know the real cause of this +good man's friendship towards me." + +"Why, that I suspect neither you nor I shall ever know. I question much, +indeed, if the principal actor in this affair himself could give a +reason for what he has done. It seems to me just one of those odd and +unaccountable things which eccentric men, like Mr Lumsden, will +sometimes do; and with this solution of the mystery, and the benefit it +has produced to you, I rather think, Mr Reid, you must be content. I +would, however, add, in order to redeem Mr Lumsden's act of generosity +from the character of a mere whim, that your case was one eminently +calculated to excite any latent feeling of benevolence which he might +possess; and that your manner and appearance--no flattery--are equally +well calculated to second a claim so established. Yourself, and your +peculiar circumstances, in short, had chanced to touch the right chord +in a right man's breast, and hence the response on which we are +speculating." + +Having thus discussed the knotty point of the old stonebreaker's sudden +act of generosity, Mr Langridge invited Mr Reid to put his affairs into +his hands, promising that they should have the advantage, on his part, +of something more than mere professional zeal. This friendly invitation +the latter gladly accepted, and shortly after consigned all his business +matters to the care of the worthy writer, who exerted himself in behalf +of his client with an efficiency that soon placed the latter once more +in the way of well-doing. And well he did; having subsequently realised +a very handsome independency. In the success of the young man, no one +rejoiced more than the old stone-breaker, who frequently visited him in +his shop; sometimes merely for the purpose of seeing him; at others, to +purchase some of those little articles of ironmongery which the due +preservation of his dwelling-house property demanded. Let us state, too, +that, amongst his purchases, were, at different times, the hammer-heads +which he used in his occupation of stone-breaking. + +In their first transaction in this way, there was something curiously +characteristic of the old man's peculiarities of temper. Mr Reid, not +yet perfectly aware of these peculiarities, declined, for some time, +putting any price on a couple of hammer-heads which his friend had +picked out. He would have made him a present of them; and, to the +latter's inquiry as to their price, replied, evasively, and laughing +while he spoke, that he would tell him that afterwards. + +"I tak nae credit, young man," said the stone-breaker, crustily, "tell +me enow their cost." And he pulled out a small greasy leathern purse, +and was undoing its strings, when Mr Reid laid his hand on his arm to +prevent him, at the same time telling him that he would do him a favour +by accepting the hammer-heads in a present. "What is such a trifle +between you and me, Mr Lumsden--you to whom I owe everything?" + +"You owe me a great deal mair than ye're ever likely to pay me, at ony +rate, young man, if this be the way ye transact business," replied the +other, with evident signs of displeasure. "Tell me the price o' thae +hammer-heads at ance, an' be dune wi't. I hae nae broo o' folk that +fling awa their guids as ye seem inclined to do." + +Mr Reid blushed at the reproof, but, seeing at once how the land lay, +with regard to his customer's temper, he now plumply named the price of +the hammers, sevenpence each. + +"Sevenpence!" exclaimed the old man. "I'll gie ye nae such price. +Doonricht robbery! I can get them as guid in ony shop in the toon for +saxpence ha'penny. If ye like to tak that price for them, ye may hae't. +If no, ye can keep them." + +Mr Reid, now knowing his man somewhat better than he did at first, +demurred, but at length agreed to the abatement, and the transaction was +thus brought to a close. + +We need hardly add, that the L50 advanced by the old man to Mr Reid were +subsequently repaid; but the call is more imperative on us to state, +that, on the former's death, which took place about two years after, the +latter found himself named in his will for a very considerable sum. One, +somewhat larger, was bequeathed by the same document to Mr Langridge. +The remainder was appropriated to various charities. And here, good +reader, ends the story of the Stone-Breaker. + + + + +LAIRD RORIESON'S WILL. + + +In the little town of Maybole there lived, some fifty years ago or more, +an old man of the name of George Rorieson, more commonly called Laird +Rorieson. He had been a kind of general merchant, or trafficker in any +kind of commodities which he thought would yield him a profit; and, by +dint of great sagacity, had made some very fortunate hits, and realised +a large sum of money. Having begun the world with a penny, he was +emphatically the maker of his own fortunes--a circumstance he was very +proud of, and loved to sound in the ears of certain individuals who +envied him his riches. Having amassed his money by an accumulation of +small sums, for a long course of years, he had gradually become narrower +and narrower, as his wealth increased; and, by the time he arrived at +the age of sixty, his penurious feelings had become so strong and +deeprooted that he could scarcely afford himself the means of a +comfortable subsistence. + +It is almost needless to say that Laird Rorieson never had courage or +liberality of sentiment sufficient to give him an impulse towards +matrimony; and truly it was alleged that he never oven looked on +womankind with any feelings different from those with which he +contemplated his fellow-creatures generally; and these had always some +connection, one way or another, with making profit of them. But, though +he had no wife, he had a good store of nephews and nieces--somewhere +about twenty--all poor enough, God knows! but all as hopeful as brides +and bridegrooms of a great store of wealth and bliss being awaiting them +on the death of Uncle Geordie. + +The affection which these twenty nephews and nieces shewed to Uncle +George was remarkable; but, somehow or another, the good uncle hated +them mortally, and, the bitterer he became, the more loving they +waxed--so that it was very wonderful to see so much human love and +sympathy thrown away upon an old churl who could have seen all the +devoted creatures at the devil. + +It was indeed alleged that this crabbed miser had no love for any one, +all his affection being expended upon his money-bags: but we are bound +to say that this is not quite the truth; for there was a neighbour of +the name of Saunders Gibbieson, a bachelor, for whom the Laird really +felt some small twinges of human kindness. Saunders Gibbieson was as +true a Scotchman as ever threw the pawkie glamour of a twinkling grey +eye over the open face of an English victim. He was, as already said, a +bachelor; but unlike his friend Geordie, he loved the fair sex, and +vowed he would marry the bonniest lass o' Maybole the moment he was able +to sustain her "in bed, board, and washing." He had scraped together a +few pounds, maybe to the extent of a hundred or two, and looked forward +to making himself happy at no very distant period. He was a famous hand +at a political argument; and there was not a man in Maybole who could +touch him at driving a bargain. + +As already said, Geordie had a kind of feeling towards Saunders, and +there can be no doubt that Saunders had as strong an affection for the +"auld rich grub," as he called him in his throat, as ever had any of the +twenty nephews and nieces already alluded to. In the evenings he often +went in and sat with him; and, by dint of curious jokes, "humorous +lees," and political anecdotes, he contrived to wile, for a few minutes, +the creature's heart from his money-bags, and unbend his puckered cheeks +and lips into a species of compromise between a laugh and a grin. It was +no wonder, then, that Geordie had a kind of liking for Saunders--seeing +he got value in amusement from him, without so much cost as even a +piece of old dry cheese, of a waught of thin ale. On the other hand, it +was difficult to see how Saunders could love the laird; and, indeed, it +was a matter of gossip what could induce a man so much in request as +Saunders Gibbieson to take so much pains in pouring into the "leather +lugs" of an old miser the precious jokes that would have set the biggest +table in Maybole in a roar. + +Now the time came when Laird Rorieson began to feel the first touches of +that big black angel who loves to hug so fondly the sons of men. He was +ill--he was indeed very ill--and it would have done any man's heart good +to see the kindness and sympathy which his twenty nephews and nieces +paid him. Every hour one or other of them was calling at his house; and +his ears were regaled by the sympathetic tones which their love for +their dear uncle wrung from their tender hearts. Oh, it was beautiful to +behold! Such things do credit to our fallen nature. But the old grub +loved it not; and it was even said he cursed and swore in the very faces +of the kind creatures, just as if they had had an eye on the heavy +coffers of gold that lay in his house. This kindness on the part of his +nephews and nieces was thus converted into a kind of poison; for every +time they called, their uncle got into such a passion that his remaining +strength was well-nigh worn out. But he had still enough left to sign +his name; and the ungrateful creature resolved upon leaving all his gold +to found an hospital. He sent for a man of the law, and had a +consultation with locked doors, and all things seemed in a fair way for +the poor nephews and nieces being sacrificed for ever. + +This circumstance came to the ears of Saunders Gibbieson, who had not +been an unattentive spectator of the extraordinary proceedings going on +in the house of his neighbour. As soon as he heard the news, he retired +and meditated, and communed with himself three hours on matters of deep +concernment to him and the generations that might descend from him. The +result of all this study was a resolution alike remarkable for its +eccentricity and sagacity; but Saunders' spirit dipped generally so deep +in the wells of wisdom that there was no wonder it should come forth +drunk, as it were, with the golden policy of cunning. + +Now, all of a sudden, Saunders grew (as he said) very ill--as ill +indeed, or nearly as ill, as Laird Rorieson himself, but, so full was he +of brotherly love towards his neighbour, that his sudden illness did not +prevent him calling upon the latter one night, when there seemed to be +no great chance of their being disturbed by any of the sympathetic +nephews and nieces. He found Geordie very weakly, and sat down by the +bedside, to pour the balm of his friendship and consolation into the +sick man's ear. The Laird received him kindly, and as was his custom, +Saunders got him into a pleasant humour, by telling him something of a +curious nature that had occurred, or had been supposed by Saunders to +have occurred, during the day. He then began the more important part of +his work. + +"You are ill, Laird," said he; "but I question muckle if ye're sae ill +as I am myself. For a long time I've been in a dwinin way, and, though I +hae kept up a fair appearance and good spirits, I've been gradually +getting thinner and weaker. I fear I'm in a fair way for anither warld." + +"I'm sorry to hear't," replied the Laird. "It's a sad thing to dee." And +he shook as he uttered the word. + +"Ay, an' it's a sad thing," said Saunders, "to be tormented in your +illness, wi' thae cursed corbies o' puir relations. The moment I began +to complain I've been tormented wi' a host o' nephews and nieces, wha +come and stare into my hollow een, as if they would count the draps o' +blude that are yet left in my heart." + +"Ay, ay, are you in that plight too, Saunders?" groaned the Laird. "The +ravens have been croaking owre me for twa lang years. They come and +perch on the very bedposts, they croak, they whet their nebs, they look +into my face, and peer into my very heart. It's dreadful--and there's +nae remedy. I've tried to terrify them awa; but they come aye back +again. They've worn me fairly out." + +"I've had many a meditation on the subject, Laird," said Saunders; "and, +between you and me, if there's a goose quill in a' Scotland, I'll hae a +shot at them. I haena muckle i' the warld--a thousand or twa maybe, hard +won, Geordie, as a' gowd is in thae hard times; but the deil a plack o't +they'll ever touch." + +"Ye'll be to found an hospital?" said the Laird. + +"Na, na," answered Saunders. "I'll found nae beggar's palace. I've +studied political economy owre lang to be ignorant o' the bad effects o' +public charities. They relax the sinews o' industry, and mak learned +mendicants. Besides, wha thanks the founder o' an hospital for his +charity? Nane!--nane! A puff or twa in the newspapers about Gibbieson's +mortification would be the hail upshot o' my reward; and sensible folk +would set me doun as an auld curmudgeon, wha hadna heart to love and +benefit a friend." + +"There's some truth in that," muttered the Laird. "It's a pity a body +canna tak his gear wi' him. Sair hae I toiled for it, and, oh! it's +miserable! cruel! cruel! that I should be obliged to leav't to a +thankless warld! But what are ye to do wi'fc, Saivjders?" + +"Indeed, I'm just to leave it a' to you, Laird," said Saunders. "I have +lang liked ye wi' a' the luve o' honest, leal friendship; and, after +muckle meditation, I canna fix on a mortal creature wha is mair deservin +o't than you, my guid auld freend. You have a fair chance o' recovering; +I have nane. Ye may enjoy my gear lang after the turf has grown +thegither owre my grave; and God bless the gift!" + +"Kind, guid man!" cried the Laird, in a voice evincing strong emotion, +either of love or greed. "That _is_ kindness--ay, very different frae +the friendship o' my sisters' and brothers' bairns. After a', I believe +yer richt, Saunders--an hospital has nae gratitude; and what have we to +do wi' a cauld and heartless warld?" + +"There's just ae difficulty I hae," said Saunders. "The will's written +and signed; but I dinna weel ken whar to lay it; for, when I'm dead, +thae deevils o' corbies may smell the bit paper and put it in the fire. +Maybe you would tak the charge o't for me, Laird." + +"Ou ay," answered the Laird. "I'll keep it. The deil o' are o' them will +get it oot o' my clutches." + +"Weel, weel, my dear friend," said Saunders. "I'll put it into a tin +box; the key ye'll find, after my breath's out, in the little cupboard +that's at the foot o' my bed--ye ken the place. They can mak naething o' +the key without the box; and, if you canna find the key, you can force +the box open. Oh, I would like to see you reading the will in the midst +o' the harpies." + +"That's weel arranged, Saunders; ye can set about it as soon as you +like." + +"I intend to do it instantly, Laird," replied the man. "I'll about it +this moment." And he rose and went out of the house. + +In a short time, Saunders returned, holding in his hand a small tin box. +He laid it down upon the table, and, taking out a small key, opened it, +and took out a paper, entitled--"Last Will and Testament." + +"There it is, my good friend," he said; and, replacing the paper in the +box, he locked it and placed it in an escritoire pointed out by the +Laird. He then went away. + +Next day, the lawyer came to carry into effect the charitable resolution +of Laird Rorieson; but he found that a great change had taken place upon +the old man's sentiments. He was now adverse to a mortification, and +said he was resolved upon leaving his fortune to one whom he considered +to be a _real friend_, and, indeed, the only real friend he had upon +earth. The lawyer was surprised when he ascertained that this friend was +Saunders Gibbieson; but it was not his province to object--so he +departed straightway to carry into effect the new resolution of the +testator. + +Two days afterwards, the Laird sent a message to Saunders to come and +speak with him. Saunders obeyed; walking in to him slowly, and +apparently with great effort, as if he had been labouring under a strong +disease. + +"I have been thinking again and again, Saunders," said the Laird, "o' +yer great kindness. You are the first man that ever left me a farthing. +The warld has rugged aff me since ever I had a feather to pick. Nane has +ever offered me either a bite or a sup. You are the only friend I've +ever met upon earth." + +"I hae only obeyed the dictates o' my heart," replied Saunders; "and I +am glad I have dune it, for I feel mysel very weakly, and fear the clock +o' this world's time will be wound up wi' me in a very short period." + +"Maybe no so sune as ye think, Saunders," replied the Laird. "But my +purpose is executed. Saunders, you are my heir. Hand me that box there." + +Saunders took up a small mahogany box that lay on the table, and handed +it to him. + +"Here," continued the Laird, taking out a paper; "here is my will. It's +a' in your favour, Saunders--lands, houses, guids, and chattels, +heritable and moveable. Say naething; you are my heir. Ha! ha! let the +corbies croak. You've dune me a guid service; I winna be ahint ye. Tak +the box into yer ain keeping. I'll keep the key. Awa wi't this instant. +Ha! ha! let the corbies croak." + +Saunders obeyed. He carried the box into his own house, placed it in his +cupboard, locked the door, and put the key into his pocket. + +In about a month afterwards, old Laird Rorieson departed this life. On +the day of his death, his nephews and nieces were in great commotion, +and there was a terrible running to and fro, and much whispering, and +wondering, and gossiping--all on the great subject of the death of Uncle +Geordie. On the day of his funeral, they were all collected, to see +whether there was any will. They, of course, wished that there should be +none, because they, being his heirs, would succeed to all, if there was +no disposition of the old man's effects. By some means, Saunders +Gibbieson contrived to be present along with the expectants. Perhaps he +was allowed to be among them in the character of a witness; but indeed, +so certain were the nephews and nieces of having succeeded in their +efforts to please the dear old man, that they could afford to allow the +presence of any number of witnesses who could vouch for the sacred +gravity of their countenances, and the deep sorrows of their bereaved +hearts. Nor was Saunders less under the affection of lugubriousness +himself; so that it was altogether one of those beautiful sights so +often witnessed on such melancholy occasions, where every indication of +selfishness is banished, and nothing can be observed save that Christian +solemnity which proveth that "the devil hath been cast out of the heart +of man, even when he did appear to be strong." The nephews and the +nieces looked at Saunders, and Saunders looked at them, and so solemn +were these looks, that though the writer was searching about for a will, +no one seemed to care whether he found one or not. It has been said that +"the heart of man is deceitful above all things;" but of a surety the +adage could not have been spoken there, except with the determination to +get it disproved for once in the world, and the blessed object of +shewing to us sons of the seed of Abraham that we are not so wicked as +we are called. + +At length the ominous little box was laid hold of and broken open, +amidst a pretty nonchalance, and lo! there was indeed a paper, bearing +the fearful word "Will," and the faces of the heirs turned as pale as +the paper itself. It was opened; but it was a fair, clean sheet of +paper, and not a drop of ink had stained its purity. "All safe, all +safe," muttered the heirs. + +"Here is another box," said Saunders Gibbieson, holding up the mahogany +one; "let us try it." And he opened it, and took out Geordie's will. The +writer read it aloud. Saunders was sole heir to all the old miser's +possessions, amounting to L10,000. No one could tell the reason why +there were two papers marked "Will," and one of them a blank sheet; and +Saunders, simple man, did not trouble himself to give any explanation. + + +END OF VOL. XVIII. + + + * * * * * + + Transcriber's Notes: Hyphen variations left as printed + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of +Scotland Volume 18, by Alexander Leighton + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WILSON'S TALES OF THE *** + +***** This file should be named 39759.txt or 39759.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/9/7/5/39759/ + +Produced by David Clarke, Mary Meehan and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://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. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +http://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +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/license + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at http://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit http://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. +To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. |