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diff --git a/58694-0.txt b/58694-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..abdc1ef --- /dev/null +++ b/58694-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,15066 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 58694 *** + + + + + + + + + + + + + HIGHLAND LEGENDS + + BY + SIR THOMAS DICK LAUDER, Bart. + + Author of "The Moray Floods," "The Wolf of Badenoch," + "Lochandu," "Royal Progress in Scotland," &c. + + + TWO VOLUMES IN ONE + + LONDON: HAMILTON, ADAMS, & CO. + GLASGOW: THOMAS D. MORISON + 1880 + + + + + + + + + TO THE + + RIGHT HON. THE COUNTESS GREY. + + +Dear Lady Grey. + +With your permission, I now dedicate these volumes to you. I should +do so with great diffidence, did I not know that everything connected +with Scotland is interesting to you. + +By associating them with a name so universally revered I give them +value; whilst I afford to myself an opportunity of expressing my +admiration of those many virtues and amiable qualities which have +rendered it so much beloved in your person by all ranks who have the +good fortune to come within reach of their influence; and I have thus +also the satisfaction of expressing my warm sense of the kindness I +have received from you and Lord Grey ever since I have had the honour +of being known to you, as well as of assuring you that I am, + +With every possible respect, + + Dear Lady Grey, + Very sincerely and faithfully yours, + THOS. DICK LAUDER. + + + + + + + + +EDITORIAL NOTE TO THE PRESENT EDITION. + + +In this volume the Publishers present to the reading public a new +edition of Sir Thomas Dick Lauder's first collection of Highland +Legends. Originally published under the somewhat misleading title +of "Highland Rambles and Long Legends to Shorten the Way," it has +been thought desirable that the title be abbreviated, and made +more decidedly descriptive of the volume, as the "rambles" form no +important part of the work. In all other respects the present edition +is a verbatim reprint of the work as it came from the hands of the +distinguished Author. + + + + + + + + +CONTENTS. + + PAGE + + SCOTTISH MOORLAND SCENERY, 11 + THE BURNING OF MACFARLANE'S FOREST OF BENLAOIDH, 15 + COMPARATIVELY RECENT DESTRUCTION OF THE FORESTS, 42 + MR. RUSSEL AND THE REAVER, 48 + SCENERY OF THE FINDHORN, 66 + THE CAIRN OF THE LOVERS, 68 + HILL OF THE AITNOCH, 73 + LEGEND OF JOHN MACKAY OF ROSS-SHIRE, CALLED IAN MORE + ARRACH, OR BIG JOHN THE RENTER OF THE MILK OF THE COWS, 78 + MORNING SCENE, 99 + THE LEGEND OF JOHN MACPHERSON OF INVERESHIE, 104 + A STRANGER APPEARS, 126 + LEGEND OF THE FLOATING ISLET, 136 + DOMINIE DELIGHTED, 157 + LEGEND OF ALLAN WITH THE RED JACKET, 164 + FEUDAL HEROES, 199 + GLENGARRY'S REVENGE, 200 + LONG YARNS, 214 + THE LEGEND OF THE BUILDING OF BALLINDALLOCH, 215 + SOMNOSALMONIA, 227 + LEGEND OF THE LAST GRANT OF TULLOCHCARRON, 229 + ANTIQUARIAN DISCUSSION, 255 + LEGEND OF CHIRSTY ROSS, 257 + FRESH LIGHT UPON THE SUBJECT, 282 + LEGEND OF CHIRSTY ROSS CONTINUED, 283 + COMPLIMENTARY CRITICISM, 313 + LEGEND OF GIBBON MORE CUMIN AND HIS DAUGHTER BIGLA, 315 + VELVET CUSHIONS, 346 + LEGEND OF THE RIVAL LAIRDS OF STRATHSPEY, 359 + + + + + + + + +HIGHLAND LEGENDS. + +SCOTTISH MOORLAND SCENERY. + + +The scenery of the less cultivated parts of our native Scotland may, +generally speaking, be said to be checkered, as human life is with its +events; for as, during our pilgrimage here on earth, evil continually +succeeds good, and good evil, so are beauty and deformity seen to +alternate with each other on the simple face of Caledonia. A long +stretch of dreary and uninteresting hill country is often found to +extend between two rich or romantic valleys, so that the lover of +nature has to plod his weary way from the one to the other over many +a mile of sterile desert; and, if he be a pedestrian, through many +a burn, and many a slough too, with little to disturb him, save the +sudden whirr of the grouse, as he bounds off through the air with +the velocity of a cricket-ball,--or the sharp frisp of the snipe, +as he rises like the cork from a brisk bottle of champagne,--or the +wailing teeweet of the green plover, who, like some endless seccatore, +most perseveringly follows his track, unceasingly boring him with +his dull flapping and his tiresome cry. + +When not broken in upon by any such incidents, these wildernesses +are sometimes rather valuable to a solitary traveller. They afford +him time for rumination whilst he is traversing them. They give him +leisure to chew the cud of reflection, and he is thus enabled to +digest the beauties of the valley which he has last devoured, before +he proceeds to feast upon the charms about to be presented to him by +that to which he is hastening. But whatever may be the advantages to +be derived from journeying in any such single state of blessedness, +I am disposed to think that the man who has a cheerful companion or +two associated with him in his pilgrimage, will not be much inclined +to wish them absent in such parts of the way; and as I do not think +that either his moral or his physical digestion will be in any degree +impaired by society, I am quite sure that his intellectual enjoyment +will be thereby much increased. + +My own experience convinced me of the truth of this one fine autumnal +morning, when, in company with two friends, I left the romantic +valley of the Findhorn, to cross the moorlands towards Grantown, a +village which may be called the capital of Strathspey. The sun that +rose upon us, as we took our staves in hand to begin that day's walk, +had continued to display a brighter and merrier countenance than any, +perhaps, which I had ever seen showing face within the precincts of +this vapour-girt island of ours. Yet vain were his friendly efforts to +throw a glow of cheerfulness over the brown heaths and the black plashy +bogs almost entirely covering the tame unmeaning undulations of the +country before us. A scene apparently less calculated to furnish food +for remark or conversation, can hardly well be conceived. But when the +imagination is not altogether asleep, a very trifling hint will set it +a working; and so it was, that the innumerable grey, ghastly-looking +pine stocks of other years, that were everywhere seen pointing out +of the peat-mosses, from amidst tufts of the waving cotton grass, +and wiry rushes, and gaudy ranunculuses, quickly carried our minds +back to former ages by a natural chain of connection, filled them +with magnificent ideal pictures of those interminable forests which +completely covered Scotland during the earlier periods of its history, +and immediately furnished us with a subject for talk. + +Author.--You see yonder hill, called the Aitnoch. Although it is, +as you may easily perceive, the highest in all this neighbourhood, +yet an extensive plain on its summit, almost entirely peat-moss, is +so thickly set with the stocks and roots of pine trees, such as these +you are now looking at, and all fixed, too, like these, in the growing +position, that, if the boles and branches were still standing on them, +it would absolutely be a difficult matter for a deer, or even for a +dog, to force a passage through among them. + +Grant.--I should like much to mount the hill to examine the plain you +speak of. Well as I am acquainted with this north country, I never +heard of it before. + +Author.--It will cost us little more than the additional fatigue +created by its rather rough and steep ascent to do so, for it is not +quite an hundred miles out of our way. + +Clifford.--Phoo! we are not to be tied to ways of any kind. Let us +climb the hill, then, by all means. But, to return to what you were +talking about, can you tell us how, and for what purpose, these vast +forests were annihilated? + +Author.--The charred surfaces which most of these stocks and roots +still exhibit sufficiently prove that fire must have been the grand +instrument of their destruction. The logs which originally grew upon +them, but which are now found lying horizontally under the present +surface, all bear testimony to the same fact in a greater or lesser +degree. Many of these, indeed, when dug up, present a very curious +appearance, the nether part being left almost entire, whilst the upper +side has been hollowed like a spout. This must have been effected by +the flames, which naturally continue to smoulder on the upper surfaces +of the fallen trunks, whilst the moisture of the ground where they +fell extinguished them below. + +Clifford.--Come, that is all very well as to the how; now, let us +have your wherefore. + +Author.--As to the causes of the devouring element being let loose +among these aboriginal forests we might speculate long enough, for +they were probably many and various. Accidental fires may have been +kindled by the rude inhabitants, which afterwards spread destruction +far and wide, as they often do now in the forests of America. Or +they may have been raised with the intention of driving away wild +beasts, or of aiding in their destruction, of annoying enemies, +or even for the more simple purpose of clearing spots of ground for +hunting or for pasture. The causes may have been trivial enough in +themselves. You, Grant, who have travelled so much in Switzerland, +must be aware of the practice which still prevails there, of burning +down large patches of gigantic pine timber on the sides of the Alps, +for no other reason than to allow the sun and the moisture to reach +the surface of the ground, so as thereby to increase the quantity +and value of the pasture growing beneath. + +Grant.--Yes, I can vouch for what you say with regard to the practice +in Switzerland, and I am much inclined to think with you, that instead +of attributing the fall of these mighty Caledonian forests, as many +are disposed to do, to some one great and general catastrophe, we +ought rather to place their ruin to the account of a combination and +reiteration of fortuitous causes, by the increasing frequency of the +repetition of which they were rapidly extirpated in detail. Indeed, in +support of what I now say, I remember having heard a well authenticated +tradition of exactly such an accidental conflagration, which is said +to have taken place so late as the year 1640. + +Author.--I should be glad to hear the particulars of it. Do you think +you can recall them? + +Grant.--I think I can, but you will perhaps find the story rather a +long one. + +Clifford.--Long or short, let us have it by all means. And let me tell +you for your comfort, my good fellow, none of Chaucer's pilgrims could +have begun a story under circumstances so favourable. A parliamentary +speech itself might have some chance of being listened to if uttered +to one whilst passing through so dull a country as this--that is to +say, without one's gun and pointers. + + + + + + + + +THE BURNING OF MACFARLANE'S FOREST OF BEN LAOIDH. + + +The sun had not yet disappeared behind the mountains on the western +side of Loch Lomond, and the unruffled surface of the lake was +gleaming with his parting rays, when the Laird of Macfarlane, as he was +returning from the chase, looked down from the ridge of a hill over +the glorious scene that lay extended beneath him. His eyes travelled +far along the calm expanse of the waters, till they lost themselves +in the distance, amid the tufted and clustering islands which lay +glittering in the fleeting light like gems on the bosom of Beauty. He +then recalled them along the romantic undulations and irregularities +of its shores, to dwell with peculiar pride and inward satisfaction +on the wide stretch of those rich and smiling pastures which he could +call his own, and on the numerous herds of cattle which his vassals +were then driving to their home-grazings for the night. All was still +and silent around, save when the quiet of the balmy evening air was +gently broken by those rural sounds which, when blended together +and softened by distance, as they then were to Macfarlane's ear, +never fail to produce a musical harmony that thrills to the very +heart of the true lover of nature. The lowing of the cattle--the +occasional prolonged shouts of the herdsmen--the watchful bark of +their attendant dogs, careful to permit no individual of their charge +to stray from the main body--the shrill and solitary scream of the +eagle, coming from the upper regions of the sky, as he soared to his +place of repose amid the towering crags of Ben Lomond--and, lastly, +the mingled cawing of the retreating army of rooks as they wheeled away +in black battalions, to seek for undisturbed roost among the branches +of that forest which then filled the whole country from Loch Lomond +to Glen Urchay with a dark and interminable sea of foliage,--such +were the sounds that came in mellow chorus on the delighted ear of +Macfarlane. He sat him down on a mossy stone to rest for a while, +that his eyes and his ears might have fuller enjoyment. His faithful +sleuth-hounds and braches, overcome with fatigue, quickly stretched +out their wearied bodies in ready slumber around him; and his numerous +followers no less gladly availed themselves of their lord's example +to ease their tired shoulders of the heavy loads which the success +of that day's woodcraft had imposed upon them. + +Macfarlane was a stern chief of the olden time. Yet, what heart, +however stark or rude, but must have been subdued and softened beneath +the warm influence of those emotions which such a scene, and such +sounds, and such an evening combined to excite? As he sat apart from +his people he was melted into a mood of feeling which he had rarely +experienced during his life of feudal turmoil. His thoughts insensibly +stole upwards in secret musings, which gradually exhaled themselves in +grateful orisons to that Heaven whence he felt that all the blessings +he possessed had so liberally flowed; and although these prayers +were inwardly breathed in the formal and set terms prescribed by his +church, yet his soul more fully and effectually suffused itself into +them than it had ever done before. That mysterious and uncontrollable +desire which man often feels to hold converse with his Creator alone, +gradually stole upon him; and, having ordered his attendants to precede +him, he arose soon after their departure, to saunter homewards through +the twilight in that calm and dreamy state of religious reflection +which had rarely ever before visited his stormy mind. + +As he slowly descended the mountain side that slopes down to the +Arroquhar, the course of the little rill, which he followed, led him +into a grove of natural birches, and his silent footstep betrayed him +into an involuntary intrusion on the privacy of two lovers. These were +his foster brother, Angus Macfarlane, and Ellen, a beautiful maiden, +who was about to become his wife. The wedding-day was fixed, as the +Laird of Macfarlane well knew; and as his heart was at this moment +brimful of kindly feeling, the sight of this betrothed pair made it +run over with benevolence. + +"What ho! my fair Ellen," cried he, as, chased away by her modest +confusion, her sylph-like form was disappearing among the tender +foliage of the birchen bushes like some delicate thing of air, +"dost fear the face of thy chief? Knowest thou not that Macfarlane's +most earnest wish ever is to be held as the father of his meanest +clansman? and think ye that he would be less than a father to thee, +sad posthumous pledge of the worthiest warrior that ever followed the +banner of Loch Sloy, or for whom a gallant clan ever sung a wailing +lament? But ha!" exclaimed he, as he kindly took her hand to detain +her; "why dost thou look so sad? By this light, such as it is, it +would seem as if the tear-drop had been in that blue eye of thine. My +worthy Angus could never have caused this? He loves thee too well +ever to give pain to so soft and confiding a heart as thine." + +"Angus never could wilfully give me pain," said the maiden earnestly, +and throwing down her eyes, and blushing deeply as she said so. + +"Ha!" said Macfarlane, in a playful manner, "now I think on't, yours +may have been the tears of repentance, seeing that you most wickedly +have seduced my trusty master herdsman from his duty this evening, +and that he hath left his people and his beasts to take care of one +another, that he might come over the hill here to whisper soft things +into thine ear, under the clustering woodbine, that wreathes itself +through the holly there, and fills the air thus with its delicious +perfume." + +"My good lord, I would humbly acknowledge my fault, and crave your +pardon," replied Angus; "I must confess that I did leave the lads +and the cattle to come to keep tryst here with Ellen. But albeit +that she had some small share of blame in this, her tears fell not +from compunction for any such fault. Say, shall I tell the cause, +Ellen?--They fell because of a strange vision which her old Aunt +Margery saw last night." + +"A vision!" exclaimed Macfarlane seriously; "tell me, Ellen, what +did she see?" + +"It was last night, my lord," replied Ellen, "that my Aunt Margery came +over to my mother's cottage to settle some matters regarding--a--a--I +mean, to speak with my mother of some little family affairs, which kept +her better than an hour after nightfall, when, as she was crossing the +hill again in her way home, she suddenly beheld a red glowing gleam +in the sky, and turning to look behind her, the whole of the forest +below seemed to be on fire. She rubbed her eyes in her astonishment, +and when she looked again the vision had disappeared." + +"Strange!" said Macfarlane seriously. + +"But this was not all," continued Ellen, with increased earnestness +of manner, and shuddering as she spoke, "for by the light that still +gleamed in the sky, she beheld a dark object at some distance from +her on the heath. It moved towards the spot where she was. Trembling +with fear, she stood aside to observe it, and on it continued to come, +gliding without sound. A single stream of faint light fell upon it +from a broken part of the sky, and showed the figure and the features +of--of--of you, Macfarlane." + +"What, my figure! my features!" exclaimed the laird, in a disturbed +tone; and then, commanding himself, he quietly added, "Awell, and +saw she aught else?" + +"She did, my lord," added Ellen, much agitated, "for, borne over +your right shoulder she beheld a human corse; the head was hanging +down, and the pale fixed features were those of--of--my betrothed +husband!" Overpowered by her feelings, Ellen sank down on a mossy bank, +and wept bitterly. + +"Let not these gloomy fancies enter your head at a time like this, +Ellen," said Macfarlane, roused by her sobbing from the fit of gloomy +abstraction into which her narration had thrown him. "If not altogether +an unaccountable and unreal freak of imagination, it can be interpreted +no otherwise than felicitously for you. The burning forest is but a +type of the extent and the warmth of your mutual affection, and the +dead figure of Angus only shadows forth the fact that your love will +endure with life itself." + +"There needed not such a vision to tell us these truths," said Angus +energetically. + +"Yet do we often see matters as palpable as these, as wonderfully +vouched for by supernatural means," said the chief. "Get thee home +then, Ellen; and do thou see her safe, Angus, and let her not suffer +her young mind to brood on such dreary and distressing phantasies as +seem now to fill it. Be yours the joyous anticipations of the bride +and bridegroom three days before they are made one for ever. Ere +three days go round your indissoluble union shall be blessed by the +happiest influence of the warm sunshine of your chief's substantial +favour. Meanwhile, may good angels guard you both!--Good night." + +With these words, Macfarlane sought his way home, musing as he went, +impressed, more than he even wished to own to himself, with the strange +tale he had heard, and when he could contrive to rid himself of it, +turning in his thoughts from time to time certain benevolent schemes +which suggested themselves to him for the liberal establishment of +Angus and his bride. + +The next day's sun had hardly reddened the eastern sky, so as to +exhibit the huge dark mass of Ben Lomond with a sharp and well-defined +outline on its glowing surface, when the herdsmen of the Laird of +Macfarlane arose and left their huts, with the intention of driving +their cattle across the dewy pastures back to the slopes of the +mountains. The thick summer mist still hung over the lower grounds; +and the men wandered about hallooing to each other whilst employed in +actively looking for the animals of which they had the charge. They +had left them the previous evening feeding in numerous groups among +herbage of the most luxuriant description. They were well aware +that it was much too fragrant not to tie them, by the sweetest and +securest of all tethers, to the vicinity of those spots where they +had been collected in herds; and they were quite sure that the animals +never would have left them voluntarily. But all their shouting and all +their searching appeared to be unsuccessful, and the more unsuccessful +they were likely to be the more were their exertions increased. All +was clamour, confusion, and uncertainty, till sunrise had somewhat +dispelled the mist that had hitherto rolled its dense and silent +waves over the bottom of the valley; and then one herdsman more active +and intelligent than the rest, having climbed the mountain that sends +forth its root to form the boundary between the enchanting mazes of the +beautiful oak and birch-fringed lakes of Ballochan and the long stretch +of Loch Lomond's inland sea, and having looked up Glen Falloch, and +far and wide around him to the full extent that his eyes could reach,-- + +"We are harried!" shouted he in Gaelic to his anxiously inquiring +comrades below. "Not a horn of them is to be seen! I can perceive a +large herd of deer afar off yonder, clustered together in the open +forest glade, but not a horn or hide of cow, ox, quey, or stirk, do I +see within all the space that my eyes can light upon; and unless the +muckle stone, the Clach-nan-Tairbh, down below there has covered them, +as tradition tells us it covered the two wild bulls, when the fury of +their battle was said to have been so great as to shake it down from +the very craig upon them, our beasts are harried every cloot o' them!" + +"My curses on the catterans that took them then!" exclaimed Angus +Macfarlane, the master of the herdsmen--"and my especial curses, too, +because they have thus harried them the very night when I chanced to +be wandering! But if they are above the surface of the earth we must +find them; so come, lads, look about ye sharply." + +Like an eager pack of hounds newly uncoupled, who have been taught +by the huntsman's well-understood voice that a fresh scent is at +hand, the herdsmen now went dodging about, looking for the track of +those who had so adroitly driven off a creagh so very numerous and so +immensely valuable. Long experience and much practice in such matters +soon enabled Angus to discover the country towards which the freshest +hoof-prints pointed, and in a short time the whole band were in full +and hot pursuit of the reavers. + +"They are Lochaber men, I'll warrant me!" said Angus, whose sagacity +and acuteness left him seldom mistaken; and guessing shrewdly at the +route they would probably take, he resolved to follow them cautiously +with his assistants, that he might dog their footsteps and spy out +their motions, whilst he sent one back as a messenger to the Laird +of Macfarlane, to report to him the daring robbery that had been +committed on him. + +If you have been able to conceive the calm that settled upon +Macfarlane's mind when the placidity of the previous evening had +brought it so much into harmony with all the surrounding objects of +nature, that it might almost have been said to have reflected the +unruffled image of Loch Lomond itself, you may easily imagine that the +intelligence which he now received operated on him as some whirlwind +would have done on the peaceful bosom of the lake. The eyes of the +dark-browed chief kindled up into a blaze of rage, and shot forth red +lightnings, and his soul was lashed into a sudden and furious storm +ere the messenger had time to unfold half of his information. + +"What! all harried, said you?--Bid the pipers play the gathering! Shout +our war-cry of Loch Sloy! We'll after them with what of our clansmen +may be mustered in haste. By the blessed rood, we'll follow them to +Lochaber itself, but we'll have back our bestial!" + +But Macfarlane was not one who allowed his rage to render him +incapable of adopting the proper measures for the sure attainment of +his object. A numerous party of his clan was speedily assembled, all +boiling with the same indignation that excited their chief. Macfarlane +himself saw that each man was equipped in the most efficient manner +for celerity of movement; and when all were in order, he instantly +set forward at their head, taking that direction which was indicated +to him by the intelligence which the messenger had brought him. + +In their rapid march through the great forest, they threaded its +intricacies, partly trusting to their local knowledge, partly to their +leader's judgment of the probable route of the reavers, partly guided +by the fresh tracks which they now and then fell in with, and partly +by certain signal marks which the wily Angus had from time to time left +behind him, by breaking the boughs down in a particular direction. Once +or twice they encountered some individual of the party of herdsmen +in advance, whom Angus had stationed in their way to give his chief +intelligence; and at last, as the sun was fast declining towards the +west, another man appeared, who came to meet them in breathless haste. + +"Well! what tidings now?" demanded the laird. + +"They are Lochaber men, sure enough," replied the man. + +"Pshaw! I never doubted that," said Macfarlane impatiently; "but, +quick! tell me whither you have tracked them. We have no time to lose." + +"I'm thinking you may take your own leisure, Macfarlane," replied +the man, "for I'm in the belief that they are lodged for the best +part of this night, tethered as they are with the tired legs of the +beasts." And so he went on to explain that they had been traced into +what was then one of the thickest parts of the forest, to a spot +lying between Loch Sloy and what is now the wide moss of the Caoran, +stretching south-east from Ben Laoidh. + +"Then they cannot be far distant from the bothy of the lochan, where +I slept when we last hunted in that quarter?" said the chief. + +"Sure enough, you have guessed it, Macfarlane," replied the man, +"sure enough they are there, and Angus and Parlane, and the rest, +are watching them. By all appearance there's a strong party of the +limmers, and I'll warrant me they keep a good guard." + +"Let them guard as they may, our cattle are our own again," said the +chief, with a laugh of anticipated triumph; "Saint Mary! but we'll +make these gentlemen of Lochaber pay for their incivility, and for +the unwilling tramp they have given both to us and to our beasts! Not +a man of them shall escape to tell the tale!" + +A general exclamation burst from his followers. "Not a man of +them!" was echoed around, and they besought Macfarlane to lead them +instantly to the slaughter. + +"No!" replied he sternly, "I have said, and I now swear by the +roof-tree of my fathers, and by the graves where they rest, that not +a man of these vermin shall escape! and Macfarlane has never yet said, +for weal or for woe, what he did not make good to the very letter. But +no advantage must be lost by rashness. Every precaution must be taken +coolly and deliberately, so that not a man of them may ever return to +parent, to wife, or to child. Lochaber shall wail for them from one end +of it to the other, and the men of that country shall pause long before +they again attempt to lay hand even on a cat belonging to Macfarlane." + +Having thus checked their impatience, he marched them slowly onwards, +without noise, till he discovered a thicket by the side of a brook, +where, sheltered and concealed by an overhanging bank, his men could +rest and refresh themselves without being observed, and there he +patiently halted to wait for the night, and for further intelligence. + +Impenetrable darkness had settled over the forest, and the Macfarlanes +had sat long in silence, listening eagerly to catch the distant but +welcome sound of the lowing of the cattle, that came on their ears +faintly at intervals, and assured them that they were now within +a short march of their enemies, when the cracking of the withered +branches of the firs at some distance ahead of them made them stand +to their arms and look sharply out from their ambush. Human footsteps +were evidently heard approaching. Not a word was uttered by those in +the thicket, but every eye that peered from it was steadily fixed +on a natural break among the trees growing on a bank, that rose +with a gentle slope immediately in front of their position, where +the obscurity being less absolutely impervious, they might at least +be enabled to see something like the form of any object that came, +however imperfectly it might be defined. The sounds slowly advanced, +till at length one human figure only appeared on the knoll that crowned +the bank. It stood for some moments, as if scrutinising every bush +that grew in the hollow below. It moved--and then it seemed to stop, +as if in hesitation. Macfarlane's henchman raised his arquebuse, +and proceeded to light a match for its lock. The click of the flint +and steel made the figure start. + +"It is a patrol of the Lochaber men," whispered the henchman, raising +the piece to his shoulder to take aim; "I'll warrant they have got hold +of Angus and the rest. But I'll make sure of that fellow at any rate." + +"Not for your life!" replied Macfarlane in the same tone, whilst +he arrested his hand. "The whole forest would ring with the report, +and all would be lost." + +Seizing a crossbow from one of his immediate attendants, he bent it, +and fitted a quarrel-bolt to it, and, having pointed it at the object +on the summit of the knoll, he challenged in such an under tone of +voice as might not spread alarm to any great distance, whilst, at the +same time, he was quite prepared to shoot with deadly certainty of +aim the moment he saw the figure make the smallest effort to retreat. + +"Ho, there!" cried the chief. + +"Ho, there!" replied the figure, starting at the sound, and turning +his head to look eagerly around him. + +"Where grew your bow, and how is it drawn?" demanded Macfarlane, +in the same tone. + +"It grew in the isles of Loch Lomond, and it is drawn for Loch Sloy," +was the ready reply. + +A long breath was inhaled and expired by the lungs of every anxious +Macfarlane, as he recognised the well-known voice of Angus, the +master herdsman. + +"Advance, my trusty Angus," said the chief; "the brake is full of +friends." + +Angus had never left his post of watch until he was satisfied that the +Lochaber men were in such a state of repose as to ensure to him time +enough to return to meet his chief. He then planted some of his people +to keep their eyes on the enemy, whilst he found his way back alone, +to make Macfarlane fully aware of their position. The plunderers +lay about a mile from the spot where the chief had halted. The +great body of them, consisting of some thirty or more in number, had +retired into the hunting-bothy, before the door of which a sentinel +was posted, to give alarm in case of assault. To prevent the cattle +from straying away, they had driven them together into a large open +hollow, immediately in front of the knoll on which the bothy stood; +and to take away all risk of their escape or abstraction, four men +were stationed at equal distances from each other, so as to surround +them. The poor animals were so jaded with their rapid journey, +that they drew themselves around the shallow little lochan or pool +in the bottom of the hollow, from which the bothy had its name, and +having lain down there, they showed so much unwillingness to rise +from their recumbent position, that the watchmen soon ceased to have +any apprehension of their running away. The men rolled themselves up +in their plaids, therefore, and each making a bed for himself among +the long heather, they indulged in that sort of half slumber to which +active-bodied and vacant-minded people must naturally yield the moment +they are brought into an attitude of rest. + +Macfarlane had no sooner made himself perfectly master of all these +circumstances, than he at once conceived his murderous plans--took his +resolution--gave his orders; and, having cautioned every man of his +party to be hushed as the grave, they proceeded, under the guidance +of Angus, to steal like cats upon their prey--foot falling softly and +slowly after foot, so that if they produced any sound at all, it was +liker the rustle of some zephyr passing gently over the heather tops, +than the pressure of mortal tread. + +Whilst they were proceeding in this cautious manner, Angus, who was at +the head of the men, was observed suddenly to raise his crossbow, and +to point it in the direction of Macfarlane, who was, at that moment, +some ten or fifteen paces before the party. Filled with horror, the men +who were nearest to him sprang upon him to prevent so great a treason +as the murder of their chief. Angus was felled to the ground--but +his bolt had already flown--and, with a sure aim too, for down fell +among the heath, weltering in his blood, and with an expiring groan, +not the chief of the Macfarlanes, but one of the Lochaber men. The +quick eye of Angus had detected him standing half concealed by the +huge trunk of a tree, exactly in the very path of the chief. Three +more steps would have brought Macfarlane within reach of the very +dirk of the assassin, which was already unsheathed, and ready to +have been plunged in his bosom. Amazement fell upon all of them for +some moments. Macfarlane could with difficulty comprehend what had +happened; but when he was at length made to understand the truth, +he ran towards Angus. He was already raised in the arms of those of +his friends who had so rashly judged and punished him, but who were +now sufficiently ashamed and repentant of their precipitation. + +"Look up, my brave Angus," said Macfarlane to his clansman, as he +began to revive; "look up to thy chief, grateful as he is for that +life which thou hast preserved to him!--Heaven forbid that it were +at the expense of thine own life; and that, too, taken by the too +zealous hands of Macfarlanes." + +"Fear not for me," replied Angus, somewhat faintly, "I was but stunned +by the blow; and he that gave it me would have been well excused if +he had given me a death-wound, if I could have been justly suspected +of traitorie to my chief; and well I wot the bare suspicion of such +villainy is wound enough to me." + +"Nay, nay, Angus," said Macfarlane; "you must not think so deeply of +this accident. The judgment was necessarily as sudden as the action, +and no wonder that it was faulty. But, how came this stray man to be +patrolling about? Are we betrayed or discovered, think ye?" + +"I would fain trust that we are not," replied Angus. "As we watched, +we saw one man leave the bothy to go out and spy around their post, +as we guessed; but, as we afterwards saw a man come in again, we took +him to be the same, when, I'll warrant me, he has been the fellow +whom the first man went out to relieve. But, if we were deceived, the +fault is luckily cured now, for this is doubtless the very man who"---- + +"Aye," said the chief interrupting him; "the very man, indeed, who +would have certainly taken my life, had it not been for thine alert +and timely aid. What do I not owe thee, my trusty Angus! But stay; +let him sit down and rest for a brief space, till he recovers his +strength, and then, if I mistake not, we shall bloodily revenge his +passing injury." + +They now again moved forward, with much circumspection, until they at +length began to perceive a distant light, which occasionally twinkled +in advance of them. As they proceeded, the light became broader, +though it was still broken by the intervention of the thick-set stems +of the forest. But after groping their way onwards with redoubled care +for some hundred yards farther, it burst forth fully and steadily on +their eyes, as the trees ceased suddenly, and they found themselves +close to the very edge of the open hollow described by Angus, and in +the middle of the herdsmen who had been left by him as spies. After +using their eyes very earnestly and intently for a little time, they +could now perceive the surface of the shallow pool, which lay in the +still shadow, in the centre of the bottom below them, and they could +dimly descry the dusky mass of cattle lying crowded together around +it. As the Macfarlanes stood peering into the obscurity, a low and +melancholy voice of complaint would every now and then burst from some +individual beast, reminiscent of the rich Loch Lomond pasture from +which it had been driven, and bitterly sensible of the sad change of +fortunes which a few hours had brought to it. The figures of the four +watchmen were as yet invisible; but the whole face of the opposite +knoll being free from wood, the door of the hunting bothy was clearly +defined, by the bickering blaze of faggots that burned in the middle +of the floor within, distinctly displaying the sentinel as he walked to +and fro across the field of its light. The thick wooding of the forest +that encircled this natural opening came climbing up the rear of the +knoll until its tall pines clustered over the back of the bothy itself, +and the existence of high grounds rising with considerable abruptness +at no great distance, if not previously known, could only have been +guessed at by the greater density of the shade which prevailed over +everything that was beneath the lofty horizon, the limits of which +were easily distinguished by the partial gleam that proceeded from the +sky above it. There the clouds were now every moment growing thinner +and thinner, as the driving rack skimmed across the face of heaven +with a velocity that proclaimed an approaching hurricane. + +In obedience to the orders already given to them by their chief, +the Macfarlanes retreated a few steps into the thick part of the +skirting forest, the dark foliage of which arose everywhere around +this naturally open space, and beneath its impenetrable concealment +they made a silent movement to right and left, during which they +posted single men at equal distances from each other, until they had +completely surrounded the hollow, the bothy, and the whole party of +Lochaber men, together with their booty. This manoeuvre was no sooner +silently and successfully executed, than four choice young herdsmen, +remarkable for their daring courage as well as for their strength and +agility, were selected by Angus. These had well and accurately noted +the respective spots where each of the Lochaber watchmen had lain +down, and after some consultation, each had one of them assigned to +him as his own peculiar object of attack. Having gone around the edge +of the wood till each man was opposite to his slumbering enemy, they +glided down the sloping edges of the hollow, armed with their dirks +alone, and they crept on their bellies towards the bottom, drawing +themselves like snakes silently and imperceptibly through the long +heather. Full time was to be allowed for each man to reach his prey; +and although the period was not in reality very long, yet you will +easily believe that it passed over the heads of the Macfarlanes with a +degree of anxiety that made it appear long enough. The moment the four +herdsmen began to descend into the deep shadow which filled the sides +of the hollow, their figures were entirely lost to the view of those +who were stationed within the skirt of the surrounding forest. Every +heart beat with agonising suspense. The smallest accident might ruin +all. An occasional prolonged moan was heard to come from some of the +cattle, and all felt persuaded, however contrary it might be to reason, +that each succeeding recurrence of it must awaken the slumberers. But +at length, whether from the operation of some peculiar instinct, +or from some remarkable sense of smell which these creatures have +occasionally proved that they possess, it happened that they really +did become sensible of the approach of some of those who were wont to +attend on them, I know not; but all of a sudden some ten or a dozen of +them sprang up to their legs, and changed their long low moan into that +sharp and piercing rout into which it is frequently known to graduate. + +"Look out! look out there!" cried one of the Lochaber watchmen in +Gaelic, and half raising himself as he spoke. + +"Look out!" cried one of the others laughing, "I'm thinking that I +would need the blazing eyes of the devil himself to be able to look +at anything here." + +"What's the matter?" shouted the sentinel at the door of the bothy; +and as he said so, he halted in the midst of his walk, and bent his +body forward in all directions in his eagerness to descry the cause +of the alarm. + +"Tut, nothing," replied another of the watchmen, "all's well, I +warrant me." + +"Aye, aye," said another, "we're safe enough from all surprise this +night; for, as Archy says, it would need the fiery e'en of the red +de'il himself to grope a way through the forest in such darkness +as this." + +"It's dark enough to confound an owl or a bat, indeed," said the +watchman who first spoke, "but mine are eyes that can note a buck +on Ben Nevis' side of an autumn morning a good hour before the sun +hath touched his storm-worn top; and, by St. Colm, I swear I saw some +dark-looking thing glide over the lip of the bank yonder." + +"It must have been a dark-looking thing, indeed, to have been visible +there," replied his comrade; "but if it were not fancy, it must have +been a fox or a badger." + +"Be it what it might," replied the man, "I swear I saw the back of +the creature as it came creeping over the round of the bank." + +"What, think ye, makes the' cattle rout so strangely?" demanded +the sentinel. + +"That which makes the pipes skirl so loudly," replied one of the men +below, "a stomach full of wind. I promise you the poor beasts got but +a scanty supper ere the sun went to. And here, unless they can eat +gravel or sand in this hole, or heather as hard as pike-heads, they +have little chance of filling their bellies with aught else but wind." + +A noise of talking was now heard within the bothy, where all had +been so quiet previously, and immediately afterwards the doorway was +darkened by the figures of two or three men, who came crowding out to +gaze ineffectually around them. Some talking took place between them +and the sentinel; and Macfarlane and his people gave up all hope of +the success of the manoeuvres they had planned. But after some moments +of most painful suspense, the talk of the Lochaber men terminated in +a loud laugh, produced, no doubt, by some waggish remark made against +some individual of the little knot, after which the figures retired +into the hut. The sentinel resumed his silent walk, and the watchmen in +the hollow below seemed to relapse into their former state of slumber. + +The silence that now prevailed was not less deep and intense than the +darkness that sat upon this wild forest scene, where the plunderers +lay unconsciously surrounded by their mortal foes. Macfarlane moved +cautiously round the circle of his men, to assure himself that +all were prepared, and sufficient time having now expired to have +allowed the slumber of security to have again crept over his victims, +he took a matchlock from his henchman, and stepping forth from under +the trees, he pointed it with a deliberate and unerring aim at the +sentinel, as he stood for a moment directly opposed to the full +light proceeding from the doorway. He gave fire. This was the fatal +signal--instantaneously fatal to him against whom the deadly tube was +levelled, who sprang into the air and fell without a groan, pierced +through the very heart. But it was not fatal to him alone; for ere the +report of the shot had re-echoed from the surrounding heights of the +forest, or its myriads of feathered inhabitants had been roused by it +on the startled wing, the dirks of the four Macfarlane herdsmen had +bathed themselves in the life's-blood of the four Lochaber watchmen; +so that their living slumbers were in one moment exchanged for those +of death. The wild war-shout of "Lochsloy! Lochsloy!" arose at once +from every part of the ring of the Macfarlanes, who environed the +place; and each man keeping his eyes on the light that issued from +the bothy, on they ran towards it as to a centre from all parts of +the circle. So sudden was the attack, that those within had hardly +time to start from their sleep, and to hurry in confusion to the +door, ere the Macfarlanes were upon them. The clash of arms was +terrific, and the slaughter fearful. At once driven back in a mass, +the remnant of the Lochaber men barricaded the doorway in despair, +and determining to die hard, they fired many shots from behind it, +as well as from a small window hole near it; but discharged as these +were from a crowded press of men, where no aim could be taken, no +very fatal effect could be produced by them. On the other hand, the +assailants could do nothing, till Macfarlane kindled a slow-match, +and prepared to thrust it into the dry heather that covered the roof. + +"Macfarlane!" cried Angus, eagerly endeavouring to interpose; "for the +love of the Virgin fire not the thatch! Think of old Margery's vision!" + +Macfarlane did think of it; but, alas! he thought of it too late; +for the slow match had been already applied--had already caught +fatally; and in one instant it had burst into a blaze, that, amidst +the pitchy darkness of that night, would have been a magnificent +spectacle, could any one have beheld it without those dreadful emotions +naturally excited by the cruel cause that created it, and the horrible +circumstances that attended it. In one moment more the whole of the +wooden structure was in flames, and inconceivably short was the period +in which the tragedy was consummated. Loud and piteous were the cries +for mercy; but they fell on ears which revenge had rendered deaf +to mercy's call. The half-burned Lochaber men, yelling like demons, +rushed in desperation forth from the blazing walls; but dazzled by +the glare, they only rushed to certain destruction on the spears of +the Macfarlanes, and were hewn down by their trenchant claymores, +or despatched with their ready dirks: so that ere a few brief moments +had fled away, all those who had been so recently reposing in fancied +security, with the full pulses of robust life beating vigorously +within their hardy frames, were heaped up in one reeking mass of +carnage before the burning bothy. + +"Let us rid the earth of these carcases!" said Macfarlane after +a pause; for now that the keenness of revenge and the exciting +eagerness of enterprise had been fully satiated by success, he was +half horror-struck with the ghastly fruits of it, which he thus beheld +piled up before him. In obedience to his command, the whole of the +dead bodies were immediately gathered together, and thrown within +the burning bothy, where they were quickly covered with branches and +half-decayed pieces of wood, hastily dragged from the forest, till the +fire that was thus created shot up far above the trees in one spiral +pillar of flame, bearing on its capital a black smoke that poisoned +the air with the heavy and sickening taint with which it was loaded. + +The Macfarlanes stood for a while grouped in front of it, in silent +contemplation of its fitful changes; but its light showed little +of the flush of triumph on their sullen brows. Each man held dark +communing with his own gloomy thoughts. Their chief, leaning on the +deadly instrument which had given the fatal signal, looked on the +scene with a cloud on his brow not less dark than that of the murky +smoke itself. Whatever his reflections were, there was a restless +and uneasy expression on his countenance. He started, for a dreadful +sound came crashing through the forest. It was like that which might +well have announced the coming of the demon of destruction or the +angel of vengeance; and before he could mutter the Ave-Maria which +mechanically came to his lips, that hurricane which the careering +rack of the clouds had been for some time unheededly announcing, +came rushing upon them with the swiftness of lightning and with +resistless force. In one moment the frail wooden walls of the bothy, +already yielding to the influence of the combustion, were levelled +with the ground; and some six or eight of the tallest pines which stood +nearest to them behind, were laid across them with all their branches +in one heap by the blast. Macfarlane and his men were driven down on +their faces, and compelled to cling to the knoll on hands and knees, +like flies to a mushroom top. So tremendous was the violence of the +tempest, that they could not rise from their crouching position, +nor even dare to lift up their heads without the certainty of being +whirled off their feet, and dashed to atoms against the boles of the +neighbouring trees. This furious fit of the elements endured not long; +but when a sudden lull of nature did allow them to assume the erect +position, how terrible! how appalling was the scene they beheld! + +The funeral pile which they had themselves kindled for the massacred +men of Lochaber, now arose in one broad resistless tower of fire, +crowned, as it were, with many a pointed pinnacle of flame, that +appeared to pierce the very sky, lighting up every part of the +surrounding elevations, nay, every little crevice in the rocks, +and every tree, bush, or petty plant that grew upon their rugged +surface. If the spectacle was grand before, it was now sublime beyond +all imagination. But, alas! the Macfarlanes were occupied with +other contemplations; for the huge fallen pines which had so much +augmented the conflagration, had formed a train of communication +from the burning bothy to the thick forest immediately behind it; +and the flames had spread so rapidly far and wide on every side, +that already the whole of the surrounding circle of wood presented +nearly one dense and lofty wall of fire through which there was hardly +any door of escape left for them. For one instant, and for that one +instant only, something like dismay appeared in Macfarlane's eye, +as he first gazed around him, and then cast a glance full of anxious +expression towards his faithful clansmen. + +"Perhaps I might have shown more mercy," half-muttered he to +himself. "But if it be the will of Heaven to punish me, oh! why should +these poor fellows suffer for the sin of their chief? My brave men," +continued he aloud, "we cannot stand here. The air already grows hot +and scanty. Follow me, and let us try to burst through yonder point +where the flames seem to burn thinnest. Come on." + +Followed by his people, Macfarlane rushed down the sloping face of +the knoll, with the intention of cutting across the open space by the +most direct line towards the spot he had indicated; but they had not +gone many steps ere the hurricane again came sweeping over the woods +with all its former fury,--the enormous pines bent and groaned as if +from the agony they were enduring,--the violence of the conflagration +was increased tenfold,--the wall of fire by which they were environed +was speedily closed in, so as to annihilate every lingering hope of +escape,--and the Macfarlanes were compelled to throw themselves again +flat on the ground, and to scramble down into the bottom of the hollow, +to avoid being scorched up like moths by the fire which the uncertain +whirlwind darted suddenly hither and thither in different directions, +and to escape the risk of being snatched up into the air and launched +amid the burning pines. + +It had happened so far well for the sufferers, that the cattle, +terrified by the shouts of the conflict, and still more by the first +blaze of the bothy, had fled up the bank from the hollow, and, +forgetting their fatigue, they had charged full-tilt through the +forest, routing and bellowing in that direction which led to their +own Loch Lomond pastures, from which they had been so unwillingly +driven. The small space towards the bottom of the hollow, therefore, +was thus left entirely disencumbered of them; so that when the +Macfarlanes were forced down thither, they were enabled to gather +around the shallow pool of water in the centre of the place. There they +endeavoured to defend themselves against the flying embers, by rolling +up their bodies tight in their plaids. But although they were rid of +the cattle, they were not left as the only occupants of the spot; for +the place was soon covered with swarms of mice, weasels, adders, frogs, +toads, and all the minuter sorts of animals, like them driven into the +centre of the circle by the scorching heat of the devouring element +that surrounded them. For now the flames raged fiercer than ever, and +the dense canopy of smoke that covered the comparatively small space +where they lay, was so pressed down upon them by the fury of the blast, +that it appeared to shut out the very air; and they seemed to breathe +nothing but fire and burning dust and ashes. Their very lungs seemed +to be igniting, whilst at every temporary accession of the tempest, +the half-consumed tops of the blazing pines were whirled among them +like darts, inflicting grievous bruises and burns on many of them. + +And now, as if to consummate their afflictions and their miserable +fate, the long, dry, and wiry heath that grew within the open space +where they lay, was laid hold of by the fire; and the flames, running +along the ground from all sides towards the centre, threatened +them with instant, awful, and inevitable death. But one resource +now remained; and to that they were not slow in resorting. They +rolled themselves into the shallow pool, and wallowed together in +a knot. They gasped like dying men, and their eyeballs glared and +started from their sockets with the agony they endured; and in their +utter despair they sucked the muddy water of the lochan in which they +lay, to cool their burning mouths and throats. Macfarlane felt as +if they had been already consigned to the purifying pains of that +purgatory through which, as his religion told him, their guilty +souls must pass. Their bewildered brains spun round, and strange +and terrific shapes seemed to pass before their eyes. Some short +ejaculations for mercy were breathed, but not a groan, nor a word, +nor a sound of complaint, was permitted to escape from any one of +their manly breasts, even although the pool, their last frail hope, +was now fast drying up from the intensity of the heat. + +After a complication of indescribable torments, which made the +passing minutes seem like hours, the force of the hurricane suddenly +slackened for a short time, and the thick surface of heath around them +having been by this time burnt out, and the trees which grew upon the +immediate confines of the circle having had their boughs and foliage +consumed and their trunks prostrated, the open space within which +they were enclosed grew wider in its limits, and consequently the air +became more abundant and freer in its circulation; so that they began +gradually to revive. By degrees they were enabled to raise themselves +in a weak and half-suffocated state from what was now reduced to little +more than the mere mud of the pool. Then it was that their chief, +though himself much overcome by the conjunction of his own bodily +and mental sufferings, was roused to active exertion by that anxious +desire to preserve his people which now sprang up within him, to the +utter extinguishment of all consideration for his own person. He was +so faint, that it was with some difficulty he could ascend the knoll; +but he hastened to climb it, that he might endeavour to discover from +thence whether any hope was likely to arise for them. There he found +that the bothy, and the fuel and pine trees that had been heaped upon +it, had already sunk into a smoking hillock of red-hot ashes, from the +smouldering surface of which the ghastly half-consumed skulls of his +Lochaber foes were seen fearfully protruding themselves. The undaunted +heart of Macfarlane quailed before a spectacle so unlooked for and +so unwelcome at such a moment. He started back and shuddered as their +blackened visages met his eye, grinning, as it were, with a horrible +fiend-like expression of satisfaction at his present misery. He +turned from the sight with disgust, not unmingled with remorse, and +then sweeping his eyes around the now far-retreating circle of the +burning forest, and reflecting on the imminent destruction which he +and his clansmen had so recently escaped, and looking to the peril +by which they were yet environed, he crossed himself, threw his eyes +upwards, uttered an inward prayer of penitence and of thankfulness, +and then he bravely prepared himself to take every advantage of +whatever favourable circumstances might occur. + +After scanning the blazing boundary all around with the most minute +attention, Macfarlane thought he could perceive one narrow blank in +the continuity of the fiery wall. His knowledge of the forest enabled +him to be immediately aware that the blank was occasioned by a ravine +which he knew was but partially covered with wood, through which a +stream found its way. He took his determination; and summoning his +people around him, and pointing out this distant hope of escape, +he called to them to follow him. With resolute countenances they +immediately began to make their difficult and hazardous way over the +torrid and smoking ground, among the red-hot trunks of the pine-trees +which stood half-consumed--smouldering fallen logs--tall branchless +masts, which still blazed like upright torches, and which were every +moment falling around them, or those which had already fallen, or +which had been broken over, hanging burning in an inclined position +across their way--whilst they were, every now and then, tripped and +thrown down by some unseen obstacle among the scorching embers; and +ever and anon each returning gust of the hurricane whirled up around +them an atmosphere of ignited dust and cinders, almost sufficient to +have deprived them of the breath of life. But still, with their heads +half-muffled in their plaids, they persevered, till the increasing +heat of the air they inhaled and of the ground they trod on, and the +multiplication of the difficulties they had to encounter, would have +been enough of themselves to have convinced them of their approach +to the more active theatre of the conflagration, even if its fiery +enclosure, and the groaning and crashing of the falling timber, had +not been but too manifestly before their eyes and loud in their ears. + +The difficulties and dangers of their progress now became infinitely +multiplied. Hitherto their endeavours to keep together had been +tolerably successful; but now each individual could do no more than +take care of himself, and every cloud of burning cinders that blew +around them produced a greater separation among them, till finally +they became so dispersed, that when the chief reached the head of the +narrow ravine, through which he had hoped that he might have led them +in a body, he cleared the burning dust from his eyes, looked everywhere +around him eagerly for his people, and, to his bitter mortification, +he beheld no one but his trusty Angus, who, amidst all the obstacles +and hazards through which they had passed, had still contrived to +stick close to his master. Old Margery's vision came across his mind, +and, in the midst of the burning heats to which he was subjected, +the blood ran cold to his heart. He cast his eyes down the trough of +the ravine, over which clouds of flame and smoke were then rolling, +and there, indeed, he did, at transient intervals, behold a handful +of his clansmen toiling through the perilous passage. He shouted +aloud to bid them stay; but the overwhelming roar of the whirlwind, +combined with that of the combustion of the neighbouring trees, +rendered his voice altogether powerless. Distressing doubts arose +within him as to the fate of those who appeared to be amissing; but +the rapid growth of the conflagration around him compelled him to +shake off all such thoughts, and summoning up his sternest resolution, +he rushed down into the ravine, with Angus at his back, as if he had +been rushing to an assault under the spirit-stirring influence of the +war-cry of the Macfarlanes. And few assaults indeed could have been so +hazardous, for, ever and anon, huge burning pines were precipitated +from the steeps above, so that even the water-course itself was in +a great measure choked up by their hissing and smoking ruins. But +still Macfarlane fought his way onwards amidst burnings and bruises, +many of them occasioned by his frequently looking round with anxious +solicitude for the safety of his faithful follower; but, in spite of +all these difficulties and perils, he had already made considerable +progress down the ravine, when, in one instant, he was deprived of +all sense by the sudden descent of an enormous pine, which he could +neither avoid nor see. + +When the chief recovered from his swoon, he found himself lying on +his back, in a shallow part of the little stream, which there crept +along between two great stony masses. He had been struck down by the +spray and smaller branches of the upper boughs of the tree, which, +fortunately for him, had rested across the great stones in such a +manner as to form an arch over his body, and as this arch naturally +produced a rush of air under it, he was thus saved alike from being +crushed to death and from suffocation. Raising himself on his hands +and knees, he made his way out from under the burning boughs, and got +up so stunned and battered, that some moments elapsed ere he quite +recovered his recollection. Recent events then crowded fast to his +mind, and with these his anxiety for the safety of Angus recurred +more strongly than ever. He called loudly and frequently on him by +name, but the well-known voice of his faithful follower came not in +return. A lurid light was thrown down into the depth of the ravine by +the conflagration which was spreading widely above. He moved anxiously +around the tree, looking earnestly everywhere underneath the smoking +branches, till at last the manly countenance of Angus Macfarlane met +his eye. The forehead exhibited a fearful ghastly-looking wound, and +his body was lying so crushed down beneath the boughs that pressed +upon it, as to take away all chance that a spark of life remained +within it. With desperate strength and anguish of mind the chief drew +his claymore, and hewed away the interposing branches, till he had +so far relieved the body as to be able to draw it forth. He eagerly +felt for the pulses of life, but they were for ever stilled. + +"Alas, alas, my faithful Angus!" cried Macfarlane, "art thou gone for +ever! Alas, thy fate was indeed too truly read! But I cannot leave +thee to feed the devouring flames, or to be a banquet for the ravens +when this awful burning shall have passed away. Alas! I promised +to provide for thy bridal, and now, since it hath pleased Heaven to +dispose it otherwise, it shall not be said that thy chief permitted +thee to lack funereal rites!" + +With these words Macfarlane stooped him down, and raised the body +of Angus upon his shoulders. The way down the water-course was +obstructed by the huge half-consumed trunks of the fallen pines, +which lay in every direction across, resting irregularly on the +large blocks of slippery stone, with their branches interwoven like +hurdles. But Macfarlane, weakened as he was by the accumulated fatigue +and suffering he had undergone, staggered on under his burden with +an unsubdued spirit, determined to bear it so long as his limbs were +able to sustain his own person. Inconceivable was the toil which he +underwent, and many were the hairbreadth 'scapes which he made from +instantaneous destruction. But still he persevered with undiminished +courage, until his heroic exertions were at length rewarded by his +reaching a spot of comparative safety, beyond the fiery barrier which +had so long environed him. But here he only stopped to breathe for +a moment, for, toil-spent, exhausted, and bruised, and faint as he +was, he was still compelled, by a regard for his own life, to urge +onwards over the smoother ground which he now trod, with longer and +less cautious strides. His way was illuminated for an immense distance +before him, by the triumphant conflagration that came roaring after +him, and it was still gaining fresh strength every succeeding moment +from the furious aid it was receiving from the increasing hurricane. + +As he bore his burden resolutely onwards, his uncertain path led him +across a mossy patch of heath, where there were but few trees. There +the lurid light of the conflagration, reflected as it was from the +heavens, was sufficient to show him a white figure advancing hastily +towards him. It was a maiden's slender form--she came--she uttered +one wild and piercing shriek, and then she sank down amid the long +heath. Macfarlane laid the body of Angus upon a small hillock, and +ran to her aid. It was Ellen. He flew to a rill hard by, and brought +water in his bonnet. She still breathed, but, as he lifted her head +on his knee, each succeeding inspiration became fainter and fainter, +till her fair bosom ceased to heave, and her lovely features settled +into the marble stillness of death. Her frenzied efforts had been +greater than her delicate frame could bear, and the severe mental +shock which she received had suddenly expelled her pure spirit from +its earthly tenement. + +Macfarlane leant over her for a time, altogether absorbed in the +intensity of those feelings to which human nature compelled him to +yield. But it was not long till the increasing roar of the advancing +conflagration, which was now fearfully extending the breadth of its +line of march, roused him from his stupor. What could he now do? Was +he to abandon both, or even one of the bodies of those, the memory of +whom he so much cherished, in order to consult his own safety? or was +he to peril his own life for the purpose of performing a pious but by +no means an imperatively necessary duty? He hesitated for a moment--a +transient and accidental gleam disclosed to him the honest countenance +of Angus--his heart filled with many an old recollection--his lip +quivered--his eyes became moist--he moved towards the hillock where +the body of Angus lay, and, stooping down hastily, he raised it again +to his right shoulder, and then, passing onwards, he put his left arm +around the slim form of Ellen, and lifting it up, he laboured on under +the weight of both, with the long hair of the maiden sweeping over +the tops of the purple heath as he went. Louder and louder came the +roar of the conflagration behind him. He quickened his steps, toiling +on every moment more and more breathlessly. But again the trees grew +thicker as he advanced, and his way became more and more encumbered +by their stems. The heat of the advancing flames now came more and +more sensibly upon him, yet still he struggled on, firmly resolved +not to relinquish either of his burdens till dire necessity should +compel him to do so. The moment when this alternative was to arrive +seemed to be fast approaching--nature was becoming exhausted--when his +ears caught a shout which he well knew must come from some of his own +clansmen. Faint as he was, the chief was not slow in replying to it; +and, to his great relief, he was soon joined by some of those from whom +he had been separated during the earlier part of their dreadful and +bewildering retreat. He was now speedily relieved of both his burdens, +and the flagging spirits of all of them being in some degree restored +by this meeting, they again pushed on with renewed exertions, and +without a halt, for some miles, during which they picked up several +stragglers, whose bruised and blackened figures gave sufficient +evidence of the dangers and difficulties they had passed through. + +Worn out almost to death, this remnant of the Macfarlanes with +difficulty climbed the gentle slope of a considerable eminence that +lay in their way, and as they wound over the summit of it, where the +trees grew somewhat thinly, Macfarlane, as he looked behind him, had +at last the satisfaction to perceive that they had now gained so much +on their pursuing enemy as to render them secure of a safe and easy +retreat. Many, I trow, was the cross that was signed, and the broken +thanksgiving that was uttered ere the chief and this fragment of his +followers threw themselves down to rest awhile, and to contemplate the +awful scene of destruction from which they had so wonderfully escaped, +of which their present commanding position gave them a full view. + +The flames had now spread for miles in every direction over the +thickest parts of the forest, rising over the crested ridges +and swelling elevations, and diving into the deepest valleys and +hollows. It seemed like one great billowy sea of fire, agitated as +it was from time to time by the hurricane, which, as it approached +its termination, came in gusts, violent in strength, but short in +duration. As each of these successively swept over the blazing woods, +its terrible roar was mingled with the fearful crash of thousands +of gigantic pines, which were levelled like reeds before it. These, +as they fell, tossed up myriads of mimic stars and meteors into +the firmament, which, being surrounded by a zone of dense and inky +clouds on its horizon, shone from within that circumference to its +very centre, like one vast concave plate of red-hot brass. The scene +was enough to humble the proudest heart. The very deer were terrified +into an unwonted degree of familiarity with man, for a herd of them +that came sweeping over the brow of the eminence, flying in terror +from the devouring flames, halted by them, and mingled with them, as +if to claim protection from them. The dauntless heart of Macfarlane +himself sank within him, as the whole desolating circumstances of +this terrible night came crowding to his mind. It was wrung by a deep +pang as he recalled the horrible spectacle of the massacred men of +Lochaber; he wept like a child when he again looked on the inanimate +bodies of those whose appointed bridal-day must now become that of +their funeral. He groaned deeply as he gathered from his people around +him the sad fate of many of those who were not now to be seen among +them; and when such thoughts as these could be so far subdued as to +permit him to gaze on the red and resistlessly devouring element, +which was so rapidly annihilating his forest, he pictured to himself +the melancholy devastation it would produce over his wide domains, +and the destruction it would occasion to his hunting grounds, and +already, in imagination, he beheld the sable livery of mourning that +must soon be spread over his hitherto magnificent territory. And +how well his anticipations were verified, we know from the fact, +that ere many days went round the whole of the forest covering that +country for above twenty-five miles in length, and of a breadth +corresponding to that extent, was completely burned down, and the +mosses which afterwards originated from it, and which still exist, +are full of the embalmed witnesses of this terrible calamity. + + + + + + + + +COMPARATIVELY RECENT DESTRUCTION OF THE FORESTS. + + +Author.--Your legend, my dear Grant, is extremely valuable as matter +of history. The preservation of the circumstances which fortuitously +caused the destruction of one vast extent of forest, enables us easily +to imagine those which may have contributed to the annihilation of +all the rest. + +Grant.--Doubtless, it does. + +Author.--It appears that many of those tracts of woodland must have +perished at periods much more recent than we should at first sight be +led to suppose; and it now occurs to me, that I lately heard enough +to convince me that this was the case with the forests covering the +bare country you are now looking at. Both of you know enough of it to +be aware that the upper part of Strathspey, far beyond those distant +hills, is somewhat about eight and twenty or thirty miles from Cawdor +Castle; and you know that bare heaths, such as we see before us, +now cover the whole of that stretch of country, with two exceptions; +I mean that of the picturesque forest of Dulnan, immediately to the +south of the Bridge of Carr, and that presented by the now almost +exhausted forest of Dulsie, the remnants of which you may see behind us +yonder to our right, running along the trough of the river Findhorn, +and covering part of the hills to the north of it. In the whole of +the space I have mentioned, these are the only fragments of woodland +left to interrupt the dull monotony of the moors. + +Clifford.--I was over it all this very season. It is not very easy +for me to conceive that it could have ever been wooded at all. 'Tis +excellent grouse ground every bit of it. But, as to timber, if there +be any, it is all buried beneath the heathery sod. + +Author.--True. Yet a respectable man, perfectly worthy of credit, +assured a friend of mine, that in his grandfather's younger days, the +state of this part of the country was very different. The old man he +alluded to lived near Aviemore. He sent his son, who was the father of +my friend's informant, on some errand to Fort George. He had himself +become blind from age, and as he had not travelled that way for many +years, he earnestly questioned his son after his return. "What sort of +a country is that you have been seeing?" said he; and when his son had +described it as having pretty much the same appearance as it now wears, +"Och, hey!" exclaimed the old man, "what a change! When I was a youth, +I used to go in underneath the shade of the forest on this side of +the woods of Dulnan, and I hardly ever saw the sun again till I got +out of it below Cawdor Castle!" + +Grant.--That is a very curious fact. Why that would bring the +existence of the forests of this part of the country down to within +three generations; and, even allowing that your friend's informant +was advanced in life when he told the story, and that his father and +grandfather were rather patriarchal in the endurance of their lives, +yet I think the evidence you have brought forward would enable us +safely to say, that these moors we now look upon were still covered +with wood at the beginning of the eighteenth century. + +Author.--Such, certainly, ought to be our conclusion. Is it not +surprising, then, that I have never been able to pick up any account, +legendary or otherwise, of the circumstances which must have produced +the extirpation of these forests at a period comparatively so recent. + +Clifford.--From the roots and trunks which are left, it would appear +that the trees were almost entirely pines. + +Author.--The pine is certainly the prevailing tree, but it is by no +means the only one. Birches, alders, and hazels are common, and oaks +of immense size, some of them three or four feet in diameter for a +great way up the stem, are dug up in various parts of these moors, +and many of them in situations where it is now matter of astonishment +that such monarchs of the wood could have been produced; for they +are found high on the hills yonder above Dulsie, as well as in the +mosses far up the courses of the rivers Dorback and Divie. + +Clifford, with enthusiasm,--With what a different scene should we now +be surrounded, if we could conjure up all these ancient tenants of the +soil, like the reanimated bodies of dead warriors from their graves, +as told in some fairy tale of my childhood, to live again, and to +wave their leafy banners triumphantly over these hills and hollows! + +Grant.--It would be a very different scene indeed. + +Author.--Aye, truly it would. Conceive the bleak face of these moors +so covered, and then carry your imagination back into remote ages, +and let us endeavour to people it in fancy with the animals which must +have roamed through its endless wildernesses, and couched within the +protection of its almost impervious thickets. + +Clifford.--What a country for sport! + +Author.--Let us picture to ourselves the myriads of birds of all kinds +which winged their flight over the boundless ocean of its foliage, +as it was blown into billowy motion by the breezes, or which nestled +among its branches as it quietly settled itself to repose, and we +shall not only have produced out of these wastes a gorgeous landscape, +most romantic in its character, but we shall have opened a wide field +for the speculations of the naturalist. + +Clifford.--Yes; but, talking of the romantic character of your +landscape, what would all that be to the ancient figures to be found +in it? Fancy, only fancy the figures! Think of the dress, the arms, +the hunting-implements, and the houses of its human inhabitants! Would +we could have but one glimpse of them truly as they were! + +Author.--If you were to go far enough back for them, you would fill +our forests with a race of men, rude as the scenes in which they +lived and roamed, and the whole sketch would be one for which we +could hardly now find any really existing resemblance, save in the +wilds of North America. + +Grant.--Your view of the matter is probably correct enough. + +Author.--I believe it to be very correct; and, now I think of it, +a discovery was made some eight or ten years ago, which would seem to +bear evidence to the former existence of this ideal picture in which +we have been indulging. Some labourers, who were employed in digging +in a moss on Lord Moray's estate of Brae-Moray, to our left there, +found a curious bundle, they took from under ten feet of a solid +peat stratum. The bundle was about two feet long by one foot thick, +and in form it very much resembled such a cloak-bag as you may have at +times seen strapped behind a horseman's saddle. A careless inspection +of it would have led one to believe that it was covered with leather +tanned with the hair on it, and it looked, for all the world, like +that of one of those strange old trunks which were frequently to be +seen bristling like bears among the uncouth baggage on the top of +our ancient Flies and Diligences. When I first saw it, a piece of it +had been torn up by the curious peasants who had found it, and the +aperture they had thus made enabled us to become instantly acquainted +with the nature of the mass within, which proved to be tallow. + +Grant.--Tallow!--Adipocere, I suppose. That fatty substance into +which animal fibre is frequently converted by long immersion in water. + +Author.--No such thing, I assure you. It was pure tallow; and the +whole appearances connected with it were very easily explained. It +was evident that the tallow, fresh taken from the recent carcase, had +been pressed into the raw hide the moment it had been stripped from +the newly slain animal, and the whole had been stitched or rather +laced up with thongs cut from the skin itself. The perfect state +of the leather into which the skin had been converted, exhibited a +beautiful proof of the extent to which the chemical principle tannin +exists in peat moss. No modern tan-pit could have performed the process +more effectually. Nor were the preservative properties of moss less +established by it; for the tallow was quite entire and uncorrupted, +and perfectly inodorous and tasteless. On first inspection it presented +a hard appearance, so much so indeed, that it might have been mistaken +for chalk; but the moment heat was applied, it melted as readily as +fresh tallow would have done. + +Clifford.--By your account of this strange mass, it might have been +valuable for the candlemakers, if not for culinary purposes. Pray, +what became of it? + +Author.--The noble proprietor of the estate where it was found gave it +me at my request; and with his permission I sent it to the Museum of +the Edinburgh University. But whilst it remained in my possession, +I never could look at it without its bringing to my mind what we +have so often read of in North American travels,--I mean the Indian +practice of killing an elk, or a deer, or a buffalo, bundling up the +tallow of the creature in its raw hide with all manner of expedition, +with the future purpose of making pemmican of it, and so marching +off with it on their shoulders, leaving the flesh to feed the wolves +and the bears. And really I cannot divest myself of the conviction +that the mass of tallow I have described belonged to a period of the +history of this country when the state of its inhabitants differed +but little from that of those nomade North American tribes. + +Grant.--It certainly does appear to give no small degree of probability +to your fancy. + +Clifford.--Nay, but might not some of your cattle-lifters of a +much later date have performed all that you suppose your savages to +have done? + +Author.--The circumstance of the bundle being found beneath ten feet of +solid moss, which had formed over it since the time it was left there, +together with the various layers of trees found in the same bog, +lying one over the other, would seem to forbid any such apparently +modern explanation, and to throw back the period of its deposition +to a very remote era indeed. + +Grant.--Undoubtedly; and the probability is, that the tallow was the +produce of no vulgar beast, but rather that of some of the bisons or +magnificent wild cattle of the ancient Caledonian forests. + +Author.--Certainly. But I have since had another lump of tallow sent +me, which had all the evidences of a much more modern origin. It was +found on the farm of Drumlochan, on the south side of the Findhorn, +about a mile below Dulsie Bridge yonder; and it was covered by a +little more than two feet of moss. Its form was very peculiar; for it +was round one way and flat the other, like a North Wiltshire cheese, +which it very much resembled in shape and size. It had indeed every +appearance of having been pressed into a cheese shape until it had +become firm enough to be removed. It had no covering of any kind on +it; and although in hardness and consistence it was quite like the +matter of the other mass, yet it must strike every one that its form, +and the comparatively small depth at which it was found, render it +probable that its origin was much more recent. I sent it to the Museum +of the Northern Institution at Inverness. + +Clifford.--Ah! I shall be right at last, I find. This surely may have +been the work of some of these freebooters of whom I have heard you +speak,--of some of those very limmers, for example, who, as you once +told me, stole Mr. Russel's cattle. + +Author.--Oh no. That story is much too modern even for this last mass +of tallow. + +Grant.--Bravo! Have you a tale of cattle-stealing to tell also? Allons, +let us have it. I have a fair right to demand it of you. + +Author.--There is little in my tale; and I fear it will tell but tamely +after yours. Besides, I have already given an abridgment of it in an +early number of a well-known magazine. But as you may not have seen +it, and as we are now in the very scene where part of its events took +place, we may sit down under the lee of yonder large stone on the brow +of the hill, and I shall there give you the particulars of it, whilst +you are enjoying the prospect which that elevated position commands. + +By the time we had reached the spot I had indicated, my friends were +not sorry to rest a while, and I began as follows:-- + + + + + + + + +MR. RUSSEL AND THE REAVER. + + +The decided though cruel measures which followed the defeat of +Culloden, whilst they were sufficient to extinguish the hopes of the +Highlanders who had so enthusiastically espoused the cause of Charles, +were ill calculated to subdue their warlike spirits. They were driven, +it is true, to seek shelter in those rocky and inaccessible fastnesses +which their highest glens afforded them; but there, amidst the wildest +and most solitary scenes of nature, they permitted their minds to +brood in bitter reflection over all their wrongs--over all those +tragedies which history itself has blushed to record--their wives +and children massacred amidst the midnight conflagration of their +humble dwellings, or perishing in their flight through the snows of +winter. But heroism such as theirs was not to be crushed even by such +calamities as these,--calamities which were calculated to have bowed +down less lofty and indomitable spirits to the very dust. With them +the effect was like that which would result from some puerile attempt +to curb and arrest the mountain cataract. They were divided, as its +stream might be, into smaller and less important bodies, and their +power was no longer so forcible as when they were united together in +one stream, but each individual portion seemed to gain a particular +character and consequence of its own by its separation from the main +body, where it had hitherto flowed undistinguished and unobserved. + +It was thus that, lurking in little parties, in retreats only +known to themselves, among craggy ravines and pine-clad precipices, +they now resumed that minor and predatory warfare which they had +been wont to wage against the inhabitants of the more civilised +parts of Scotland,--I mean that which consisted in plundering those +richer districts of their cattle. Perhaps no inconsiderable degree +of political animosity may have mingled itself in many instances +with the other motives that prompted these marauding expeditions +in the later times of which I am speaking. But, be this as it may, +we must not look upon those who were engaged in them as we do upon +the wretched cow-stealers of the present day. That which is now +considered as one of the most despicable of crimes was then, in the +eyes of the mountaineer, esteemed as an honourable and chivalrous +profession. In his untamed imagination no one was looked upon with +so much admiration and envy as that individual who might be chosen +as the leader of a daring band to harry the low country of its live +stock; for these proud sons of the Gael had ever held the inhabitants +of the plains in the most sovereign contempt, and they regarded them +and their more favoured pastures in no other light than as so many +nurses and nurseries, destined by Heaven to rear the cattle which +they were born to consume. I can instance one well authenticated +example which displays this opinion in its true light. The Laird of +Grant, the great chieftain of the glen of Urquhart, having had his +cattle driven off by a party of Camerons, and having sent a strong +remonstrance to Cameron of Lochiel himself by a special ambassador, +had his herds immediately restored to him, with a most courteous +letter of apology, which, I believe, still exists, assuring him that +his stupid fellows had entirely mistaken his orders, which were, that +they should not begin to plunder until they had reached "Moray-land, +where every gentleman was entitled to take his prey." + +It was soon after the middle of the last century that Mr. Russel, +a gentleman of Morayshire, who resided at Earlsmill, near Tarnaway +Castle, to the north of the Findhorn, and about ten miles from hence, +was alarmed one morning by the unpleasant intelligence, that a strong +body of Highlanders had come before daybreak and carried off the whole +of his cattle from this very farm of the Aitnoch, which he had at +that time taken as a hill-grazing. Mr. Russel was an extremely active +and intelligent man; and although he did not make all the warlike +preparations which your friend the Laird of Macfarlane did, yet he +was not deficient either in promptitude of decision or in readiness +of action. After putting a few questions to the scared and breathless +messenger, he lost not a moment in summoning and arming his servants; +and, instead of taking this way--towards the Aitnoch, he struck at once +diagonally across the country in a westerly direction, and marched with +great expedition, in order, if possible, to reach a part of the deep +glen of the Findhorn, some miles above Dulsie yonder, in such time as +to enable him to intercept the plunderers. You may trace with your eye +the dark shadow of the glen, which sinks deep and abruptly into the +bosom of those purple mountains which you see retreating behind each +other in misty perspective. That is the grand pass into the Western +Highlands, and Mr. Russel was well aware that if he did not succeed in +arresting his cattle before the robbers had made their way through it, +the boundless wastes to which it led would render all further search +after them quite hopeless. Having reached the course of the river, +Mr. Russel and his party made their way down the steep hill-side, +forded the stream to its southern bank, and, carefully examining the +ground to ascertain whether any fresh footprints were to be observed, +they took their stand, satisfied that they had been so far successful. + +The spot chosen by Mr. Russel for his ambuscade was in the midst of +that most beautiful range of retired and tranquil scenery known by +the name of The Streems. There the hollow glen is so profound and so +narrow in many places, that one of those little clusters of cottages +which are now found here and there sprinkled in the pastoral bottom +has the name of Tchirfogrein, a Gaelic appellation implying that it +never sees the sun. There were then no houses near the place they +had selected, but the party lay concealed behind some huge fragments +of rock, shivered by the wedging ice of the previous winter from the +summit of a lofty crag that hung half across the narrow holm where +they had taken up their position. A little farther down the river the +passage was contracted, and there was no approach from that point but +by a rude and scrambling footpath irregularly worn along the steep face +of the mountain, and behind them the glen was equally confined. Both +extremities of the small amphitheatre thus enclosed were then, though +they are not now, shaded by dense thickets of birch, hazel, and holly, +whilst a few wild pines found a scanty subsistence for their roots on +the face of the crags in midway air, and were twisted and writhed by +lack of nutriment into the most fantastic and picturesque forms. The +stillness of an unusually calm and breathless air hung over this +romantic scene, and it was lighted by the now declining sun of a +serene summer day, so that half the narrow haugh was in broad and +deep shadow, that was strongly contrasted with the brilliant golden +light falling on the tufted tops of the trees of a wooded bank on +the opposite side of the river. + +Mr. Russel and his small party had not long occupied their post +when, as they listened in the silence of the evening, they heard the +distant lowing of the cattle and the wild shouts of the reavers as +they came faint and prolonged up the hollow trough of the glen. The +sounds gradually drew nearer and nearer, and increased in volume as +they were swelled and re-echoed from the rocks on either side. At +length the crashing of the boughs announced the appearance of the +more advanced part of the drove; and the tired animals began to issue +slowly from among the tangled wood, or to rush violently forth as +the shouts of their drivers were more or less impetuous, or their +blows chanced to light upon them. As they appeared individually, +they gathered themselves into a group on the level open sward, where +they stood bellowing, as if quite unwilling to proceed any farther. + +In rear of the last stragglers of the herd Mr. Russel now beheld, +bursting singly from different parts of the brake, a party of fourteen +Highlanders, all in the full costume of the mountains, and wearing +the well-known tartan of a western clan. All of them were armed with +the dirk, pistol, and claymore, and the greater number of them carried +antique fowling-pieces. Mr. Russel's party consisted of not more than +ten or eleven persons; but they were well armed, and they were people +upon whom he could depend. Exhorting them to be firm, therefore, +he drew them suddenly forth from their ambush, and ranged them up in +array upon the green turf. The robbers appeared to be confounded for a +moment, and uttered some uncouth exclamations of surprise; but a shrill +whistle from their leader made them quickly recover their presence of +mind, and they rushed forward in a body, and formed themselves in order +of battle in front of their spoil. Mr. Russel and his party stood their +ground with determination, whilst the leader of the enemy seemed to be +holding counsel with himself as to what he should do. He was a little +spare athletic man, with long red hair curling over his shoulders, +and with a pale and thin, but acute visage. After leaning upon his +gun for a time, and surveying the party opposed to him with the eye +of a hawk, he shouldered his piece and advanced slowly a few paces +in front of his men, until he considered himself to be sufficiently +within earshot, and, raising his voice,-- + +"Mr. Russel," cried he, in very correct English, though with a Highland +accent, "are you for peace or war? If for war, look to yourself. But +if you are for peace and treaty, order your men to stand fast, and +let you and me advance and meet each other half way." + +"I will treat," replied Mr. Russel; "but can I trust to your keeping +faith?" + +"Trust!" exclaimed the other in an offended tone, and with an imperious +air; "methinks you may well enough trust to the word and honour of +a gentleman." + +"I am content," said Mr. Russel. + +The respective parties were now ordered to stand their ground, and the +two leaders advanced about seventy or eighty paces each towards the +middle of the open space, with their loaded guns cocked and presented +at each other; and having abridged the distance that divided them to +some ten or twelve paces, they halted, and the negotiation commenced. A +certain sum was demanded for the restitution of the cattle. Mr. Russel +had not so much money about him; but he offered to give all he had +in his pocket, which amounted to a sum not a great deal short of +what the robber had asked. After some little conversation this was +accepted. The bargain was concluded, the money was paid, the guns +were uncocked and shouldered, and the two hitherto hostile parties +advanced to meet each other and to mingle together in perfect harmony. + +"And now, Mr. Russel," said the leader of the band, "you must look +at your beasts, to see that none of them are wanting." + +"They are all here but one small dun quey," said Mr. Russel, after +a minute examination of the herd. + +"Ha!" cried the Highland leader, darting an angry glance of inquiry +around his men, "how is this? Ewan, I would speak with you." + +A tall handsome dark man, whom he had thus addressed, then moved a +little way apart with him, and a conversation ensued between them +in Gaelic, the sound of which could only be heard, whilst ever and +anon the leader's eyes glanced towards one or other of his people; +and his voice and gestures indicated anything but satisfaction. At +last he returned towards the group. + +"Mr. Russel," said he, "you may make your mind easy about the dun +quey. On the word of a gentleman, she shall be on your pasture before +daylight to-morrow morning." + +The treaty being thus happily concluded, and the cattle taken +possession of by those who were wont to have the charge of them, +Mr. Russel and the Highland leader shook hands and parted, and each +took his own way, attended by his followers. + +Clifford, interrupting the narrative, Ah! I have a shrewd suspicion +that the cheese-shaped lump of tallow you spoke of will turn out, +after all, to have been the produce of poor Dunny. + +Author.--Have patience, and you shall hear. + +We shall leave Mr. Russel and his people to return down the glen with +the rescued herd, that we may inquire a little into the motions of +the reaver and his men. They had no sooner threaded the mazes of the +brake which shut in the upper end of the dell that was the scene of +the strange negotiation I have described, than the leader halted them, +in order to hold a conference. + +"Ewan," said he to him who seemed to act as his second in command, +"this is an awkward affair, and you have been much to blame. You had +charge of the rear, and not a beast should have strayed. But your +carelessness has brought my honour into pledge; and, by all that is +good, you must redeem it. I have said that the dun quey shall be on +Mr. Russel's pasture in the morning; and, dead or alive, she must be +there, for a gentleman's word must be kept." + +"I own I have not been so sharp as I should have been," said Ewan, +with a mortified air; "but I think I have enough of cleverness in me +to enable me to promise you, on the word of a gentleman, that your +word shall be made good." + +"See that it be so, then," said the leader somewhat sternly, as he +walked slowly away up the glen. "Take what strength you please with +you, but see that you save both my honour and your own." + +His comrades crowded around Ewan, proffering him their friendly aid +to enable him to search for and recover the quey. But he courteously +declined all their kind offers; and tightening his plaid over his body +with the utmost composure, he sprang up the almost perpendicular face +of the southern mountain with the agility of a deer, and disappeared +over the brow of it, without permitting his breath to come much quicker +there than it had done whilst he was in talk with his companions in +the deep glen below. + +Ewan wandered not over the moors and mosses which you see stretching +over the mountain far off yonder like one who was bewildered, or +like a hound at fault. Circumstances had arisen to his mind, which +had afforded him some clue to the search he had undertaken; and of +that clue he had at once laid hold, with a determined resolution to +unravel it as speedily as possible to the end. His course, therefore, +was taken at once; and it was a most direct one. You see that singular +opening in the country between us and Strathspey? Perhaps you may +remember that there is a narrow pass there, where a small lake fills +the bottom of the defile, and where the face of the mountain that +rises over it has all the appearance of having been shaven down by the +sword of some giant. The strange tradition of the country indeed is, +that it was done by the mighty Fingal, by way of trying the temper of +a claymore which he had not yet put to the proof. Well does the weapon +seem to have performed its office; and in honour of it the place has +ever since been called Beemachlai, or the cut of the sword. Ewan then +had no sooner breasted the mountain that hung over the Findhorn, than +he turned his face directly southward, and took his way in a straight +line for the pass; and despite of the ravines and burns, and peat-pots +and moss-hags, and all the other difficulties and obstructions that +lay in his road, and the darkness of the evening which settled down +upon that wild hill to make all these difficulties ten times greater +than they otherwise would have been, he, in a wonderfully short period +of time, found himself planted in the narrow path that ran between +the loch of Beemachlai, on the one hand, and the mountain that rises +from its western margin on the other. + +But before taking up his post, the cautious Ewan stooped down, and +carefully passed his hand over the whole surface of a bare spot, +of some dozen or so of square yards in extent, which he knew must +necessarily have been crossed by every man or beast travelling that +way, to ascertain whether any fresh footprints had been made in the +soft black surface of the moss. His experience in such investigations +was so great as to enable him perfectly to satisfy himself that no +animal at least had recently trodden there; and with this assurance +he stationed himself in the very hollow of the pass, and, seated on +a bank, he turned his head towards the north, whence the path came +downwards along the base of the hill, and kept eager watch both with +eyes and ears. The moon was at this time but young, and the sky was +partially covered with thin fleecy clouds; so that when it did rise, +it gave but a scanty and uncertain light, though it was enough to +pourtray the bold profile of Fingal's hill on the calm bosom of the +lake, as well as to enable any one to distinguish a human figure at +some little distance. + +Ewan had not remained long in this position, when he distinctly heard +the short sharp cry used by Highlanders for urging on a bullock. It +was occasionally repeated; and by and bye it was followed by the +faint sound of the footsteps of a beast and its driver, which grew +upon his ear. Ewan bent his head towards the ground, that he might +the better catch the figures of both against the sky; and ere they had +already come within fifty yards of him, he rubbed his hands together +with satisfaction to find that his judgment had not deceived him, and +starting up to his feet, he planted himself directly in the middle +of the path, so that his figure threw a broad shadow across it; and +leaning on his gun, he calmly waited the advance of him who came. He +was a tall--nay, almost a gigantic man, with an awkward shambling +gait; and he held the dun quey by a long halter with his left hand, +whilst he drove her on with a huge rough stick which he carried in +his right. He halted the moment that Ewan's dark figure appeared. + +"What is it that stands there? Answer, in the name of God!" cried he +in Gaelic, and in a tone that manifested great alarm. + +"Methinks a foul thief like you had little ado with any such name, +Gilliesh," replied Ewan resolutely. "What devil tempted you to steal +the dun quey from our herd?" + +"What devil told you that I had stolen her?" demanded Gilliesh, +much relieved to find that he had to deal with nothing more than +mortal flesh. + +"Did I not see thee lurking among the birches on the Doun of +Dulsie?" said Ewan; "and did I not know that thou couldst be there +for no good end; and when the quey was missed, did I not put that +and that together to help my guessing, and have I not guessed rightly?" + +"What an you have?" replied Gilliesh; "'tis but a poor prize I have +gotten after all, and hardly worth your tramping so far for. You had +surely enough, without grudging me this bit dwining beast." + +"Such base thievery cannot be suffered," said Ewan, "besides, I have +reasons of my own for what I do. Come away, then, and give me the +rope; and bless your stars that you escape, for this time at least, +being hanged by one. The beast must back with me, and you may take +your own way home to Dulnan side at your leisure, and thank your good +fortune that you get there in a whole skin." + +"Well may you speak so bold indeed," said Gilliesh bitterly, "with +that big black gun in your hand, ready to bring me down in a moment +like a muir-cock off a hillock. But by the great oath, ye would crack +less crouse if ye stood there before me with nothing but your claymore +by your side." + +"Ye lie, ye thieving vagabond," cried Ewan, "I'll stand at all times +before you or a better man with this good sword alone. See here, +my gun shall rest against this rock; and on the word and honour of +a gentleman, I'll never touch stock or lock of it till I shall have +chastised thee to thy heart's content, if thou wilt so have it." + +"Be it so," said the crafty Gilliesh; "and I'll tether the quey to +this moss-fir stump here, and let her stand by to see the stour, +and to be the prize of him who may prove himself to be the better man." + +It would have been a sight of some interest to have watched the +preparations for this very extraordinary single combat. On the part of +Ewan they consisted merely in his placing his gun against the rock with +great tranquillity and with great care, and then drawing his claymore +from its scabbard, and twisting the folds of his plaid tightly over his +left arm, ere he put himself into the proper position for action. As +for Gilliesh, he had no sooner tied the end of the quey's halter to the +moss-fir stump, than he drew a broadsword of a magnitude so tremendous, +as well corresponded with his almost Philistian height. The bare, +flat, mossy piece of ground already noticed was the arena on which +they were to contend; and if it was free from prints of any kind when +Ewan examined it a brief space before, it was now destined ere long +to have enow of them impressed upon it by the coming struggle. Aware +of the great advantage which Gilliesh had over him from his superior +height, and still more from the greater sweep of his arm and sword, +Ewan approached his adversary very cautiously at first. On the other +hand, numerous, and rash, and awkward, were the cuts and the thrusts +which Gilliesh attempted to make; but they were given with a force +and a fury that rendered it necessary for Ewan to use all the skill +of which he was master, to enable him to dodge and to parry them. Now +and then their blades came into fearful contact; and when they did so, +the shearing of them together produced a sheet of flame that gave a +temporary illumination to the deep shadow which a projecting bank threw +over that part of the lake immediately below. As their desperate play +went on, the clashing of the glowing steel struck terror into the timid +animal that had occasioned the fight; and the powerful efforts which +her fear impelled her to make having at last burst her tether from its +fastening, she fled away beyond hearing of the fray. Meanwhile, the +combat continued to rage, and as it went on the combatants gradually +shifted their ground until they had changed places. On the part of +Gilliesh this was not done without its intention; for no sooner did +he find himself within reach of Ewan's gun, than he seized it up, and +presented it without scruple at its owner, and without one shadow of +remorse drew the trigger. But the hammer fell harmless into the empty +pan. Ewan sprang upon him in a moment, and, ere he could recover the +use of his sword, he gave him one desperate cut across the temple +that brought him to the earth with his face bathed in blood. + +"Villain!" cried Ewan, as he stood over his prostrate foe with the +point of his sword at his throat. "Traitor that thou art, wouldst +thou have been a murderer as well as a thief? Had not a stray stag +crossed me at a distance as I came over the hill, and tempted me to +take an idle chance shot in the twilight, when my haste would not +allow me to load again, I should have been at this moment stretched +out a corpse by thy treachery." + +"Spare my life!" cried the wretch piteously. + +"Spare thy life!" replied Ewan contemptuously, as he quietly picked up +his gun, and proceeded to load it; "I have no mind that thy worthless +and cowardly life should stain this good sword of mine with dishonour, +nor do I choose that it should be the means of cheating the gallows of +what so justly belongs to it. Gather thyself up, then, as thou mayest, +and take thy way to Dulnan side; for, by all that is good, if thou dost +show thine ugly visage again to me, like a grim ghost on the moor, +I'll not miss thy big body as I did that of the stray stag, but I'll +open a door in it wide enough to allow thy rascally soul to issue forth +and to join its kindred malignant spirits of the swamp and the fen." + +With these words Ewan threw his gun over his shoulder, and set out +in search of the stray heifer. It was some time before he found her, +and a still longer time after he had found her before he caught her, +and after he had caught her it was but the commencement of a most +toilsome night with her, ere he could compel her, tired as she was, +to travel through bog and mire to the place of her destination. But be +this as it may, Ewan saw that the reaver's word was made good,--next +morning the dun quey was seen grazing with the rest of the herd on +the farm of the Aitnoch. Nobody could tell how she came there; but +the eagerness with which she plucked at the pasture, and her jaded +and draggled appearance, afforded sufficient evidence of the length +and nature of the night journey she had been compelled to perform. + +It was not very long after this that Mr. Russel happened accidentally +to have ridden up to his farm here one morning, and, as he was +engaged in moving about looking at his stock, his attention was +attracted by a long drove of cattle, which he observed straggling +up yonder opposite bank of the Dorback branch of the river Divie, +to the eastward there, evidently with the intention of crossing at a +ford a little way above. At first sight there appeared to be little +remarkable in this, for he well knew that to be a common track, +travelled by all whose route lay through this country, stretching +up the south side of the Findhorn. But the drovers and their herd +had no sooner passed the Dorback, and gained its western bank, and +begun to advance in a direction pointing towards the course of the +Findhorn, than Mr. Russel recognised the same Highland party and +the same bold leader from whom he had so recently recovered his own +cattle. Some of the men who were about him were led, from certain +circumstances, to know that the drove of beasts which they now saw +had been carried off from Gordonston, the seat of Sir Robert Gordon, +about thirty miles distant in the Laigh of Moray. Mr. Russel was in +habits of friendship with Sir Robert, and he quickly came to the +resolution that he should allow no such hostile and predatory act +to be done to him if he could help it, and above all that he should +not facilitate it by permitting a passage for the robbers and their +booty through his territory. He was here not only in the midst of +his own people, but he was, moreover, in the very centre of Lord +Moray's estate of Brae-Moray, of which he had the entire management, +and accordingly he resolved to avail himself of these circumstances, +and he determined immediately to arrest them. With this intention he +hastily collected all the dependants who were within his reach, and, +before the robbers came up with their booty, he found himself at the +head of double their number of well-armed men. + +When the party arrived within hearing, Mr. Russel hailed the leader, +and at once plainly told him that he could not stand by and suffer +the cattle of his friend Sir Robert Gordon to be thus harried, +far less could he tamely permit them to be thus driven through his +farm. He therefore called upon the robber to halt, assuring him that +if he offered to advance with his party, or to persist in driving the +cattle one step farther, it should be at his own peril, and he must +take the consequences; for that nothing but force should compel him +to give them way. + +"Mr. Russel!" cried the leader, stepping before the rest with a +haughty air, "this is not what I expected from you after what has +already passed between us. You stopped and recovered your own beasts, +and nobody could blame you; but, sir, it is not like a gentleman to +offer to hinder me from taking cattle from anybody else." + +"My principles are very different," said Mr. Russel, with great +coolness. + +"I tell you again," cried the little man, "that you will be acting +unjustly if you persevere, and that you have no right to do so." + +"I am determined to persevere notwithstanding," said Mr. Russel, +with great strength of emphasis and firmness of expression. + +"Then, sir, I must caution you that you had better take care what +you do," said the Highlander. + +"I am prepared for all consequences," said Mr. Russel. + +"Well, well, sir," said the Highlander frowning, "we cannot help +it; you are in your own kingdom here, and you must have your own +way; but, I bid you take heed--you'll rue this yet,--look well to +yourself." So saying, he called to his followers in Gaelic, who, +with much apparent dissatisfaction, abandoned the cattle, and the +whole party took the road to the hills, muttering dark threats and +half-smothered imprecations against Mr. Russel. + +These denunciations were little heeded, and were probably soon +forgotten by him against whom they were uttered, or if they were +remembered at all it was only to produce greater vigilance on the +part of those who had the charge of his stock. But it so happened +that, during the course of the ensuing winter, some express business, +connected with his charge of Lord Moray's affairs, carried Mr. Russel +to Edinburgh. When he was on his return homewards, he arrived late one +stormy and tempestuous night at the solitary inn of Dalnacaerdoch, +situated, as everybody knows, at the southern extremity of that +part of the great Highland road leading through the savage pass of +Drumouachter. Seeing that it was quite hopeless to think of prosecuting +his journey that night in such weather, he took a hasty supper and +went to bed, with the resolution of rising as early next day as the +lack of light at that season would permit. + +He was accordingly up in the morning, and in the saddle before he +could well see his horse's ears, and he set out through the snow for +the inn of Dalwhinnie, situated at the northern end of the pass, +attended only by a single servant. He had not proceeded far into +the wild and savage part of that solitary scene, where high poles, +painted black, are erected along the edge of the road to serve as +beacons during winter, to prevent travellers from deviating from +the road and being engulphed in the snow-wreaths, when by the light +of the dawn, he descried a man, at some two or three hundred yards' +distance, who came riding towards him. As he came onwards, Mr. Russel +had time to remark that he exhibited a thin spare figure which was +enveloped in a long dark brown cloak or greatcoat. He rode one of the +loose made garrons of the country, of a dirty mouse colour, having +no saddle, and no other bridle than a halter made of small birchen +twigs, twisted into a sort of rope, called by the common people a +woodie. In spite of himself, the recollection of the Highland reaver +and his angry threats darted across Mr. Russel's mind; and he was +somewhat alarmed at first, when he observed that he who approached +carried in his hand, poised by the middle, a very long fowling-piece, +of that ancient character and description which gave our ancestors +excellent hope of killing a wild duck sitting in the water half-way +across a lake of half a mile broad. Mr. Russel instinctively pulled +out his pistols and examined their locks, and he made his servant do +the same by his; but the inequality of such weapons, compared with +that which I have this moment described, was only thereby rendered +the more woefully apparent to both of them. Mr. Russel rode slowly +but resolutely on however, with his eyes intently watching every +motion of him who came, and who was now drawing nearer and nearer +to them. The stranger himself seemed to advance cautiously; but no +sooner had he come close enough to enable him to recognise a human +countenance, than he pushed up his shying steed by the application +of ardent and repeated kicks; and, when he had at length succeeded +in compelling him forward, to Mr. Russel's no inconsiderable relief, +he recognised in him--the landlord of the inn of Dalwhinnie! + +"Keep us a', I'm glad I ha'e forgathered wi' ye in time, +Mr. Russel!" he exclaimed in a south country tone and dialect, and +without waiting for the ordinary preliminary salutations. + +"Why, what's the matter?" demanded Mr. Russel. + +"Matter!" replied the man; "a matter o' murder, gif I'm no far +mistane." + +"Mercy on me! Who has been murdered?" cried Mr. Russel. + +"I didna say that ony body was murdered," answered the man; "but, +an ye persevere on your road through the pass, I'm thinkin' that +somebody will be murdered." + +"What makes you fancy so?" asked Mr. Russel. + +"Were ye no to hae been at my hoose last night?" demanded the +Dalwhinnie landlord. + +"I did so intend," said Mr. Russel; "but the road turned out to be +so much heavier than I had anticipated, that all I could do was to +reach Dalnacaerdoch, and that at a late hour." + +"It was the yespecial providence o' Heevin that you didna get forrit," +said the landlord, throwing up his eyes as if in thanksgiving, +"for, if you had, you would have been assuredly a cauld corp at this +precious moment." + +"A corpse!" exclaimed Mr. Russel, "what has put that into your head?" + +"Troth, as sure as ye are noo sittin' on your horse," replied the +landlord, "ye wad hae been murdered, though you had had mair lives +nor a cat." + +"Explain yourself, I entreat you!" said Mr. Russel. + +"It's an awfu' story," said the landlord, shuddering at the mere +recollection of it. "It was at the dead hour o' the night, ye see, +whan we war a' sound sleepin' in our beds, we war a' alarumed wi' +a sudden noise and rissellin' in the yard, an' afore we kent whar we +wuz, the hoose was filled wi' better nor twa dizzen o' great muckle +armed hillan'men, wi' blackit faces. Aweel! they lighted great big +lunts o' moss-fir at the kitchen fire, and cam' straught to my bedside, +brandishin' their pistols and durks, and lookin' as if they wad eat me +up.--'Whar's Mr. Russel sleepin'?' cries they.--'Gentlemen,' says I, +'as sure as death, Mr. Russel's no in this hoose.'--'We ken better,' +says they, 'we ken he was to be here this night.'--'Some mistak, +gentlemen,' says I, 'I'm dootin' that ye maun hae made some mistak, +for Mr. Russel's not only no here, but, an' ye'll believe me, troth I +didna even expeck him.'--A' this only made them waur. They threatent +and swoore at me like very rampawgin deevils, and then they begud +to search ilka hole and bore and cranny and corner in the hoose; an' +no contented wi' the hoose, they rummaged a' the oothooses, lookin' +even into places whaur it was just simply impossible that a very cat +could ha'e concealed hersel', an' forcin' me alang wi' them a' the +time, half naked, an' near hale dead wi' fear. And syne, whan they +could find neither you nor your horses, preserve us a' what a furious +hillant yell they did set up!--they war just a'thegither mad wi' rage +and disappointment; an' some o' them war for burnin' the very hoose, +that they might mak' sure that ye warna lurkin' somewhere aboot it +after a'. At length, a stiff, stern wee body, wha seemed to be their +captain, seelenced them in a moment; and having spoken to them for some +time in Gaelic, their violence was moderated, or rather it seemed to be +converted into downright hunger and drouth, for they begud to look for +bread and cheese, and ither eatables, and whisky, for themsel's. Weel +I wot, I gied them what they wanted wi' gude heart and wull, houpin' +to get the sooner quite o' them; and little payment, I trow, did I +expeck for my cheer. But what think ye, sir? As I'm a sinner, they +honestly paid me every farden o' their shot afore they ga'ed awa." + +"Have you any notion as to whither they went after they left your +house?" demanded Mr. Russel. + +"Some o' our herds war sayin' that their tracks i' the snaw lay +towards Loch Ericht," replied the landlord; "and gif so be the case, +I'se warrant that they have darned themsel's in some o' the queer +hidy-holes aboot the craigs there awa'. And, I'll be bailed, they'll +be ready to come back again or e'er ye ken whaur ye are, to murder +you clean oot o' hand; for surely they maun contrive somehoo or ither +to ha'e gude information." + +"It is certainly most strange how they could have known so well what +my plans were," said Mr. Russel. + +"Troth, sir, they're just deevils incarnate," continued the landlord; +"but ye maun on no account think o' gaein' on, Mr. Russel, for, gif +ye do, ye gang to certain death. Gae ye yere ways back to Blair or +Dunkeld, for I'm dootin' ye'll no be safe nae gate else, and I'll +send ower into Morayshire for some o' your ain fouk, weel accoutred +and furnished, to convoy ye safe hame." + +Mr. Russel was no coward, but he well knew the nature of the +Highlanders he had to deal with. And what could the pistols of two +men do against two dozen of well-armed assassins, springing on them +at unawares by the way, or attacking them in their beds? After some +little consideration, therefore, he deemed it most prudent to take the +landlord's advice; and, accordingly, after he had thanked the honest +fellow for the zeal he had manifested for his safety, and after the +landlord had looked suspiciously around him and scanned the faces +of the hills to their very tops with strong signs of apprehension, +earnestly praying to God that their interview might not have been +overlooked and watched by any of the robbers or their spies, they +parted; and Mr. Russel and his servant retraced their steps at a good +round pace. + +After nearly a week's delay at Dunkeld, Mr. Russel was enabled +to renew his journey at the head of a well-armed party of between +thirty and forty of his own people, who came to escort him. They +travelled along with great caution, but they did not perceive the +smallest show of hostility till they got into the middle of the +Pass of Drumouachter. Then, indeed, they observed that they were +reconnoitred from the rough face of one of the hills overhanging the +road, by a body of more than twenty armed mountaineers. They seemed +to have issued from the recesses of one of those Corries, or ravines, +which there yawn over the valley like gashes on the lofty brow of a +warrior; and after some minutes apparently spent in consultation, +they began to move along the steep acclivity in a line parallel +to the road which Mr. Russel pursued. Their dark tartans waved in +the wind, and their figures were boldly relieved against the glazed +and brilliant surface of the snow they trod on. A certain degree of +hesitation seemed to mark all their movements, which appeared to have +a manifest reference to those of the party below. Mr. Russel marched +on with a steady and resolute pace, his men keeping a sharp lookout +in all directions, and being perfectly prepared to resist any sudden +attack. But the mountaineers, being conscious of an inferiority +of strength which rendered any open attempt on their part quite +hopeless, did not venture to assault so large and so well armed +a band. After skirting along the hill-sides for five or six miles, +they seemed gradually to slacken their pace, till the whole body came +to a halt on a prominent point of the mountain, where they remained, +following Mr. Russel and his people with their eyes, and probably with +their curses also, so long as they remained within sight. Mr. Russel +thought it prudent to halt but for a short time at Dalwhinnie; and +well was it for him that he did not tarry there all that night, for +the house was again surrounded and searched by an overwhelming force, +whilst Mr. Russel was urging his way homewards with an expedition +that enabled him to reach his residence in perfect safety. + +Whether a natural or accidental death, or some other cause, put an +end to any further attempts on the part of the vindictive mountaineer, +I know not; but certain it is, that Mr. Russel was never more troubled +either by him or by his people. + + + + + + + + +SCENERY OF THE FINDHORN. + + +Clifford.--In justice to your story, I must say that it is much more +interesting than the scene where it was enacted, if we may judge from +the specimen at this moment before us. + +Grant.--Nay, but take the trouble to carry your eyes entirely over the +foreground, and behold the sun gleaming afar off yonder on the broad +sheet of the Moray Firth, with those bold dark headlands called the +Sutors defending the entrance of the Bay of Cromarty beyond, backed +by the blue mountains of Ross-shire and Sutherland in the distance. + +Clifford.--These are indeed features that would give dignity +to any scene; but you must admit that this unmeaning flat which +stretches everywhere from under our feet is sufficiently tiresome, +notwithstanding the laudable efforts that are making to cover it +with plantations. + +Author.--It is monotonous enough, to be sure; but how often do we +find inestimable worth concealed under an unpretending exterior. The +apparently dull stretch of country before you is a pregnant example +of this; for the charms of the river Findhorn that bisects it from +west to east are so buried in its bosom as to be quite overlooked +from hence. Grant will tell you, that if you were to follow the +river upwards through all the mazes of its deep and shadowy glen, +you would find that it exhibits scenery of the wildest and most +magnificent character. + +Grant.--Nay, it is hardly fair to refer him to me; for although I +have a full impression of its grandeur upon my mind which will not +easily be effaced, I can give him no very accurate account of its +pools or its streams, as regards their excellence for salmon angling. + +Clifford.--Pho! none of your jokes, Mr. Grant. Although I like fishing +and shooting, you know very well that I enjoy wild nature as much as +either of you. + +Grant.--Ha! ha! ha! I know you do, my dear fellow. + +Clifford.--And, moreover, I have so much admired the scenery, as well +as the fishing-pools of the river lower down, that if what you now +speak of equals that with which I am already so familiar, it must be +magnificent indeed. + +Author.--I think that it in many respects surpasses all that you have +hitherto seen. In truth, I know no river scenery in Great Britain +at all to be compared in sublimity to that of the Findhorn about +Ferness. Indeed, it rises more into that great scale of grandeur +exhibited by some of the Swiss gorges than anything I have ever met +with at home. But you must take the first opportunity of visiting it, +Clifford. And then, in addition to the treat that nature will yield +you during your ramble, and the good fishing which you will certainly +have, I think you will be much gratified by the inspection of that +interesting relic of antiquity, The Cairn and Pillar of the Lovers, +which you will find there. + +Clifford.--What! ha! ha! ha! some Pyramus and Thisbe,--some Petrarch +and Laura,--among your heroes and heroines of the pemmican, I suppose! + +Author.--No, no. The lonely obelisk, and the cairn from which it +rises, may indeed have stood on the green holm of Ferness, with the +rapid Findhorn sweeping around them, for ages. They may have been +there whilst the great forests still spread themselves thickly over +the country, but you would judge wrong if you supposed them to have +co-existed with my savages of the pemmican; for there must have been +some considerable approach to civilisation amongst a people who could +have cut and transported that great mass of rough-grained sandstone, +of which the obelisk is formed, from the nearest quarries of the +same rock, some fifteen or twenty miles off, to the spot where it +has ever since stood, not to mention the beautiful hieroglyphical +carvings with which it has been ornamented. + +Clifford.--Is there no legend attached to the monument? + +Grant.--There is; and our friend has woven it into a little poem, +which he once repeated to me. + +Clifford.--Poem! come, let's have it! You need not fear to give it +to me now, you know; for there is no birch at hand to punish you for +your false quantities. + +Author.--To tell you the truth, I am quite tired of repeating the story +in prose; so, lame though my stanzas may be, I shall prefer risking +your criticism. But you must remember, that it is one thing to climb +a rugged heathery hill like this, and another thing to mount Parnassus. + + + + + + + + +THE CAIRN OF THE LOVERS. + + + The raven of Denmark stretched his broad wing, + And shot his dark flight o'er Moray's fair fields; + And Findhorn's wild echoes were heard to ring + With ill-omened croak, and the clash of shields. + And the yelling shouts of the conflict broil, + As Dane and Scot met in mortal toil,-- + And cruel and fierce was the battle tide + That raged on rocky Findhorn's side; + And red was his wave, as it wailed away, + By that plain where his slaughtered warriors lay. + + Yet stark stern in death was each hero's frown! + Each fell not till crushed by an hundred foes! + But, though hordes of Norsemen had borne them down, + Dire vengeance had soothed their dying throes. + For the bloody fight had not been won + Till drooped to the west the slanting sun, + And his golden beams a bright glory shed + Around each dying hero's head, + And lighted his soul with a cheering ray, + E'er his dim eye closed on the parting day. + + But Findhorn's dark heights, and his wizzard wave, + Were lighted anon by far fiercer rays, + Calling bosoms abroad, that beat warm and brave, + To muster around the tall beacon's blaze. + And now, as afar o'er the plains they look, + Where glistens with flame each winding brook, + Red ruin enwraps both tower and town, + And wild Norsemen's shouts reach the beacon Doun; + And by shrieks of woe their hearts are wrung, + Till each Scottish breast to revenge is strung. + + Whose steed-tramp resounds down the woody glen? + Who bears, as he rides, his proud crest so high, + His brow circled with gems, as chief of men, + And gold shining bright on his panoply? + 'Tis Fergus the King! The broad signal fire, + And the Norsemen's ravage, have roused his ire; + And, see how his clustering horsemen sweep + From the forest dark and the dingle deep! + And, hark to the tread of the many feet + That crowd to those heights where the waters meet! + + Full little does Sewyn, the Norse King, know, + As his ruthless Danes rifle the peaceful plain, + That the Pass of the Dhuie conceals a foe + Of far other mould than the shepherd swain. + And far other herds, and far other flocks + Than shepherds may feed, lie hid by these rocks. + He doubts not but all who a spear could wield + Have fall'n in the strife of one bloody field. + Onward he presses, and, blindly led, + Go his Norsemen, with hopes of plunder fed. + + The current was rapid, the stream was deep, + And the cumbered waters foamed high and flashed, + As horsemen and foot, from the shore so steep, + Through the Dhuie in thick confusion dashed. + But scarce were they rid of the rushing tide, + Nor yet had they formed on the meadow's side, + When by bursting yells the skies were rent, + With the gleam of arms glowed the firmament, + And down, like the lightning's fiery shower, + Came King Fergus' force on King Sewyn's power. + + And quailed the black raven of Denmark then, + And he cowered his wing, and he croaked his fear; + And wide with the eagle's scream rang the glen, + As eager she snuffed up her feast so near; + And each Norseman's heart, though ne'er so bold, + With panic-dread grew sick and cold, + Nor dared they abide the battle shock, + But fled away like some startled flock, + Or some scattered herd of timid deer, + When the howl of the gaunt mountain wolves they hear. + + The slaughter was wide, and the vengeance deep, + That the Moray-men took of their Danish foes; + But yet deeper revenge did Findhorn reap + As high, in his anger, his billows rose. + For he had wailed that his wave before + The dye of his children's life's-blood bore; + But now, full glutted with hostile dead, + He reared him aloft, shook his oak-crowned head, + And, roaring with fearful revelry, + He swept off his spoils to his kindred sea. + + Who sits her and sighs on the castled isle + That on Loch-an-Dorbe's dark breast doth float? + And why lights her eye with a radiant smile + As the moonbeam falls soft on that little boat? + A fairy thing it seems to be, + It glides o'er the wave so silently; + And like such sprites of witching power + It vanished beneath a shadowy tower, + As its slender side lost the moonbeam's ray, + Nor left it one trace of its liquid way. + + That maiden who sat in the castled isle + Scanned that little boat with no idle gaze; + And I ween that her eyes with their radiant smile + Had hope blent with love in their glowing rays. + Malvina she was that maiden fair, + King Fergus' daughter, who sat her there. + She's gone!--and her pulse may hardly beat, + As in silence move her trembling feet + To the dungeon where lonely her lover lies, + And wastes the night in despairing sighs, + The son of King Sewyn in battle ta'en, + The gallant Prince Harrold, the brave young Dane. + + She unlocked the bolts with a master key, + And Prince Harrold sprang forth to his lady's side. + "Love favours our flight!" softly whispered she, + "At the postern stairs doth the boat abide." + Then they stole away by the shadowy wall. + Yet she sighed to quit her father's hall, + And her bosom heaved, and she dropped a tear, + Whilst her lover essayed to hush her fear, + And she clung to his arm as the little boat + Did o'er the wide lake in silence float. + + 'Twas a right trusty page that gave them way, + And he landed them 'neath the greenwood tree, + Where tied to the oak was a courser grey; + Prince Harrold to saddle sprang merrily. + The fair Malvina behind him placed, + With snow-white arms her lover embraced. + The sun rose to welcome the bonny bride, + As they fled them straight to the Findhorn's side; + But its stream was swollen and barred their flight, + And drove them for refuge to Dulsie's height. + + "Go, bring me Prince Harrold," King Fergus cried, + His royal eyes sparkling with beams of joy, + "My daughter Malvina shall be his bride, + And Moray be freed from the Dane's annoy. + Envoy to me hath King Sewyn sent, + And peace shall their bridal knot cement." + But Harrold was gone and Malvina fair! + Yet a sharp-witted page could teach him where, + And quick spoke the boy; for the King had told + Such glad tidings, I ween, as made him bold. + + "To boat!" cried King Fergus, with eager haste, + And--"To horse!" when he touched the farther shore, + And furious he spurred through the forest waste, + As to Findhorn's stream his swift course he bore. + The lovers from Dulsie's wooded height + Saw Moray's lord coming in kingly might. + 'Twas better to tempt the swollen tide, + Than captive be torn from his bonny bride. + Harrold lifted Malvina to saddle again, + And down Dulsie's slope urged his steed amain. + + Oh, Findhorn shrieked loud to warn them away! + But louder yet did the water-fiends yell, + Rebellious they laughed at his empty sway, + As vainly he strove their wild rage to quell. + And the sire's despairing cry was vain, + "Malvina! my child! oh, turn again!" + But the lovers, twined on the courser grey, + Were swept from his outstretchd eyes away, + And he smote his bosom and tore his hair + As adown the big stream he sought the pair. + + Why tarries the knight in his lonely way + At yon cairn on flowery Ferness holm? + Why scans he yon pillar, so rough and grey, + That rises from out its rudely-heaped dome? + 'Twas there the love-twined youth and maid, + Unsevered in death, were sadly laid; + And there did King Fergus and Sewyn weep + When they found them locked in death's cold sleep, + And Findhorn still lingers around their grave, + And sighs for their fate with repentant wave. + + + + + + + + +HILL OF THE AITNOCH. + + +Author.--See now how innumerable the stumps of the trees are here. They +are peeping up through the moss in every direction. Conceive what a +thick pine wood this must have once been. + +Grant.--You were certainly guilty of no great exaggeration when +you said that a deer could hardly have penetrated it whilst it was +standing in all its gloomy grandeur. + +Clifford.--It is well for our comfort that we can now pass so easily +over its fallen majesty; and methinks the sooner we escape from so +dreary a scene the better. + +Author.--Let us keep more this way, then. A short walk will now bring +us to the southern brow of the hill, whence a new scene will open +on us. + +Clifford, who first reaches the point.--Ha! what have we here? A dark +lake,--its waves rolling sluggishly eastward, and breaking gently on +a narrow stripe of yellow gravelly beach,--bare rocky hills without +a tree,--and an island covered with the ruins of a very extensive +castle. What do you call this wild and lonely scene? + +Author.--That is Loch-an-Dorbe, with its ruined castle. + +Grant.--The remains of the castle seem to be very extensive. + +Author.--They are said to occupy a space of not less than an hundred +yards square. + +Clifford.--This, then, is the very castle whence your Danish prince +escaped with his lady-love. Let me tell you, that if their grey steed +had not gone with a somewhat freer pace than your verses do, the old +king of the castle would have caught them ere they had covered half +the way to Dulsie. + +Grant.--I'll warrant me those huge round towers and massive curtains +have many strange and eventful histories attached to them. + +Clifford.--Come, Signore Cicerone, prelect to us about it, if you +please. + +Author.--Loch-an-Dorbe was one of the few royal or national fortresses +which Scotland possessed. When Edward the First traversed this +country with his army in 1303, he came to Loch-an-Dorbe in the month +of September, and occupied it for some time; and Edward the Third +considered it as a place of so much importance, that he and Edward +Baliol marched all the way from Perth to its relief in August, 1336, +when Catherine de Beaumont, widow of David de Hastings, Earl of Athol, +and her son were besieged in it by the brave Sir Andrew Moray, then +Governor of Scotland. Sir Andrew would have been overwhelmed by the +superior force of the English monarch, had he not baffled pursuit +by crossing the river Findhorn at the celebrated pass, the Brig of +Randolph, so called, as you know, from Randolph, Earl of Moray, Regent +of Scotland. Another important historical fact is connected with this +castle. It was here that William Bullock was confined. After abandoning +the cause of Baliol, and after having risen to high honours under David +the Second, he was enviously and maliciously accused of treason; and +having been thrown into one of the dungeons within these massive walls, +he was cruelly allowed to perish of cold and hunger. We also know that +the famous Alexander Stewart, son of King Robert the Second, and who, +from his ferocious disposition, was surnamed the Wolf of Badenoch, +possessed and inhabited this castle. It was from hence he is supposed +to have issued when he made his famous descent into the low country +of Moray, and fired the Cathedral of Elgin, reducing that magnificent +structure, that speculum patriæ et decus regni, as it was called, +and many other religious edifices in the town, to a heap of ruins. + +Clifford.--Oh, you have told us enough, in all conscience, about that +wild beast; "adesso parliamo d'altro." + +Author.--I am at a stand, so far as the history of Loch-an-Dorbe +is concerned, excepting that I may add, that in more recent times +it was possessed by the Earls of Moray, and passed from their hands +into those of the Campbells of Cawdor, and thence to the Grants of +Grant. I have seen at Cawdor Castle a massive iron gate, believed +to have been that of the Castle of Loch-an-Dorbe, which tradition +says was carried off from thence by Sir Donald Campbell of Cawdor, +who bore it on his back all the way across the moors till he set it +down where it is now in use, the distance being not less than some +twelve or fifteen miles. But this is a story much too marvellous for +belief in these matter-of-fact days of ours. + +Clifford.--It is incredible enough, to be sure. Yet I have a story, +a well authenticated story too, which I think will almost match it. + +Grant.--Out with it then. + +Clifford.--No, I promise you you don't get my stories at so very +easy a rate; and for this simple reason, that they are by no means +so plenty as yours. Besides, I have just been thinking that with +this warm breeze, that so gently ripples the surface of the lake, +I could kill a handsome dish of trouts this afternoon, if trouts +there be within its watery world. Why might we not loiter off the +remainder of the day about this lake? + +Grant.--I like the idea much. I perceive a nice looking cottage on +the other side, where I dare to say we may find lodging for the night. + +Author.--That cottage is a shooting-lodge belonging to the proprietor; +and were he there in person, we should not lack a kind and hospitable +reception. But at present its doors are locked, and its rooms void. + +Clifford.--There is a house, then, here on the nearer shore, +immediately below us; why should we not go there? + +Author.--'Tis but a smoky uncomfortable place; but it may do well +enough for a shelter for one night, and if you are content to abide +there, so am I. + +Clifford.--Pho! as to comfort, I am a soldier, and can rough it. I +have lain out all night to kill the enemies of my country, and would +do no less at any time for a good day's shooting or fishing. + +Author, addressing gilly, who was leading a pony with panniers,--Go +down thither, then, and see our quarters made as comfortable as may be. + +Clifford.--Aye, that will do. Come along, let us to work without more +hesitation or talk. I am all impatience. + +Having sent round to borrow the proprietor's boat, we embarked on the +lake, and were soon intensely occupied in all the exciting anxieties +of the angle. Our success was various and unequal, like that of man +in the great lottery of human life. It was not always when basking in +the sunshine that we were most successful. Sometimes a warm shadow +would cross the lake, and the trouts would rise and hook themselves +three at a time on our lines. The bottom of the boat became alive, +and shone and glittered with the growing numbers of our golden and +silver captives. Anon, every cast we made was in vain; and then, when +the foolish fish began again to bite, our eagerness was such, that we +forgot each other's lines; and the loss of hooks, the destruction of +the finer parts of our tackle, and the fracture of delicate top pieces, +became the result of our numerous and grievous entanglements. Poor +Clifford could not account for a sudden cessation of his luck at the +very time that ours appeared to be doubled, and he went on in no very +good humour, flogging the water unsuccessfully, whilst Grant and I +were catching two and three at each cast; till at last, to his great +chagrin, he found that he had been all the while fishing without flies, +which were uselessly and most provokingly sticking in the rough coat +and around the neck and head of my great Newfoundland dog Bronte, to +the poor brute's great inconvenience. He did not fail to make up very +quickly for this bad luck, however. Our evening was altogether most +delightfully spent; for when we grew tired of the angle, we landed on +the island, and wandered among the extensive ruins which cover it. We +then sat on the mouldering walls of the castle till we saw the sun +sink behind the western hill; after which we returned to the shore, +and sought our place of retreat. + +It was a small old-fashioned house, once used as a sort of hunting +lodge. It consisted of two stories, with little else than one ruinous +room in each, the whole being filled with the great smoke that arose +from the kitchen fire. But the exercise we had had, added to our +hunger, prepared us for being pleased with any accommodation; and +after a supper well eked out by a fritto of the delicious trouts we +had taken, we drew our stools around the fire, to enjoy a temperate cup +of pure Highland whisky, diluted with water from a neighbouring spring. + +Grant.--Now for your story, Clifford. + +Clifford.--'Tis of a famous Highlander, called John Mackay, of +Ross-shire. I got the narrative, with all its nationalities, from an +old Scottish brother officer of mine, a certain major of the name of +Macmillan, who knew the hero of it well. + +Grant.--I should have hardly looked for such a story from a Sassenach +like you. + +Clifford.--Tut. You know very well that my mother was a Highlandwoman, +and that I have moreover always had a strong feeling for Scotland, +and especially for the Highlands, as well as for everything connected +with these romantic regions, where, let me tell you, I have had some +wanderings as well as you. + +Author.--We admit your right to tell your story. So now, come away +with it without further preface. + +Clifford.--If I tell you anything, I must very nearly tell you all +honest John's life. Have you patience for so long a narrative? + +Grant.--We shall give you the full duration of the burning of these +moss-fir faggots. Will that serve you? + +Clifford.--I think my story will have expired before them. And by +that time we shall all be nearly ready for our blankets and heather; +for such, I presume, will be our fate to-night. + + + + + + + + +LEGEND OF JOHN MACKAY OF ROSS-SHIRE, CALLED IAN MORE ARRACH, +OR BIG JOHN THE RENTER OF THE MILK OF THE COWS. + + +My old Highland major told me, what perhaps you know better than I do, +I mean, that some half century or more ago, before sheep were quite so +much in fashion in the Highlands as I believe they now are, and when +cattle were the only great staple of the country, the proprietors of +the glens had them always well filled with cows. In those times it +was the custom in Ross-shire to allow one calf only to be reared for +each two cows of the herd. Each calf with its pair of cows was called +a Cauret; and these caurets were let to renters, who, as they might +find it most advisable, took one or more of them in lease, as it were, +according as their circumstances might dictate; and the renter being +obliged to rear one calf for the landlord for each cauret he held, +he was allowed the remainder of the milk for his own share of the +profit. These milk-renters were called arrachs; and John Mackay, +the hero of my story, was called Ian More Arrach, from his lofty +stature, and from his being one of these milk-renters. According to +my informant the major, who personally knew him, Ian well merited +the addition of More; for he declared that he was the most powerful +man he had ever beheld. + +It so happened that Ian went down on one occasion into Strath-Connan, +to attend a great market or fair that was held there, probably to +dispose of his cheese; and as he was wandering about after his business +was over, his eye was caught, exactly like those of some of our simple +trouts of the lake here, by the red and tinsel, and silk and wool, +and feather glories of a recruiting sergeant and his party. He had +never seen anything of the kind before, and he stood staring at them +in wonderment as they passed. Nor did his solid and substantial form +fail to fill the sergeant's eye in its turn; but if I am to give you +a simile illustrative of the manner in which it did so, I must say +that it was in the same way that the plump form of a well-fed trout +might fill the greedy eye of a gaunt pike. He resolved to have him as +a recruit. The party was accordingly halted immediately opposite to +the spot where Ian was standing; and after one or two shrill shrieks +of the fife, and a long roll of the drum, the martial orator began an +oration, which lasted a good half-hour, in which he largely expatiated +on the glories of a soldier's life, and the riches and honours it +was certain one day or other to shower on the heads of all those who +embraced it. The greater part of this harangue was lost upon Ian More +Arrach, partly because he but very imperfectly understood English, +and partly because his senses were too much lost in admiration. But +when the grand scarlet-coated gentleman approached him with a smiling +air, and gaily slapping him on the back, exclaimed,-- + +"Come along with us, my brave fellow, and taste the good beef and +mustard, and other provender, that King George so liberally provides +for us gentlemen of his army, and drink his Majesty's health with us +in his own liquor. Come, and see how jollily we soldiers live!" + +His wits returned to him at once, and he quickly understood enough of +what was said to him, to make him grin from ear to ear, till every +tooth in his head was seen to manifest its own particular unmingled +satisfaction, and his morning's walk from his distant mountain +residence having wonderfully sharpened his appetite, he followed the +sergeant into a booth with all manner of alacrity, and quietly took +his seat at a table that groaned beneath an enormous round of beef, +flanked by other eatables, on which the hungry recruits fell pell-mell, +and in demolishing which Ian rendered them his best assistance. The +booth or tent was constructed, as such things usually are, of some +old blankets stitched together, and hung over a cross-stick, that +was tied horizontally to the tops of two poles fixed upright in the +ground. It was the ambulatory tavern of one of those travelling ale +and spirit sellers who journey from one fair or market to another, +for the charitable purpose of vending their victuals and drink to the +hungry and thirsty who can afford to pay for them. The space around the +interior of the worsted walls of this confined place was occupied with +boxes, vessels, and barrels of various kinds; and whilst the landlord, +a knock-kneed cheeseparing of a man, who had once been a tailor, +sat at his ease in one corner reckoning his gains, his wife, a fat, +bustling, red-nosed little woman, was continually running to and fro +to serve the table with liquor. Many were the loyal toasts given, +and they were readily drank by Ian, more, perhaps, from relish of +the good stuff that washed them down, than from any great perception +he had of their intrinsic merit. His head was by no means a weak +one. But the sergeant and his assistants were too well acquainted +with all the tricks of their trade not to take such measures as made +him unwittingly swallow three or four times as much liquor as they did. + +"Now, my gallant Highlander," exclaimed the sergeant, when he thought +him sufficiently wound up for his purpose, "see how nobly his Majesty +uses us. Starve who may, we never want for plenty. But this is not +all. Hold out your hand, my brave fellow. See, here is a shilling +with King George's glorious countenance upon it. He sends you this +in his own name, as a mark of his especial favour and regard for you." + +"Fod, but she wonders tat sae big an' braw a man as ta King wad be +thinkin' on Ian Arrach at a', at a'," said the Highlander, surveying +the shilling as it lay in the palm of his hand; "but troth, she wonders +a hantel mair, tat sin King Shorge was sendin' ony sing till her ava, +she didna send her a guinea fan her hand was in her sporran at ony +rate. But sic as it be, she taks it kind o' ta man," and saying so, +he quietly transferred into his own sporran that which he believed +to have come from the King's. + +"That shilling is but an arnest of all the golden guineas he will by +and bye give you," said the sergeant; "not to mention all those bags of +gold, and jewels, and watches which he will give you his gracious leave +to take from his enemies, after you shall have cut their throats." + +"Tut, tut, but she no be fond o' cuttin' trotts," replied Ian; +"she no be good at tat trade at a', at a'." + +"Ha! no fears but you will learn that trade fast enough," said the +sergeant. "You mountaineers generally do. You are raw yet; but wait +till you have beheld my glorious example--wait till you have seen me +sheer off half a dozen heads or so, as I have often done, of a morning +before breakfast, and you will see that there is nothing more simple." + +"Och, och," exclaimed Ian, with a shrug of his shoulders that spoke +volumes. + +"Aye, aye," continued the sergeant, "'tis true you cannot expect that +at the very first offer you are to be able to take off your heads quite +so clean at a blow as I can do. Indeed, I am rather considered a rare +one at taking off heads. For example, I remember that I once happened +to take a French grenadier company in flank, when, with the very +first slash of my sword, I cut clean through the necks of the three +first file of men, front rank and rear rank, making no less than six +heads off at the first sweep. And it was well for the company that +they happened only to be formed two deep at the time, for if they +had been three deep, no less than nine heads must have gone." + +"Keep us a'!" cried some of the wondering recruits. + +"Nay," continued the sergeant; "had it not been for the unlucky +accident that by some mistake the fourth front rank man was a leetle +shorter than the other, so that the sword encountered his chin-bone, +the fourth file would have been beheaded like the rest." + +"Och, och!" cried Ian again. + +"But," continued the sergeant, "as I said before, though you cannot +expect to take up this matter by nattral instinck, as it were, yet I'll +be bail that a big stout souple fellow like you will not see a month's +sarvice before you will shave off a head as easily as I shave this here +piece of cheese, and----confound it, I have cut my thumb half through." + +"Her nanesell wunna be meddlin' wi' ony siccan bluidy wark," said Ian, +shaking his head, and shrugging his shoulders. "She no be wantan' +to be a boutcher. But, noo," added he, lifting up a huge can of ale, +"she be biddin' ye a' gude evenin', shentilmans, and gude hells, +and King Shorge gude hells, an' mony sanks to ye a'; and tell King +Shorge she sall keep her bit shullin' on a string tied round her neck +for a bonny die." And so rising up, Ian put the ale can to his head, +and drained it slowly to the bottom. + +"But, my good fellow," said the sergeant, who had been occupied, +whilst Ian's draught lasted, in tying up his thumb in a handkerchief +and giving private signals to his party, "you are joking about bidding +us good evening--we cannot part with you so soon." + +"Troth she maun be goin' her ways home," said Ian, "she has a far +gate to traivil." + +"Stuff!" cried the sergeant; "surely you cannot have forgotten that +you have taken King George's money, and that you have now the great +privilege of holding the honourable and lucrative situation of a +gentleman private in his Majesty's infantry, having been duly and +volunteerly enlisted before all these here witnesses." + +"Ou, na," said Ian gravely and seriously; "she didna list--na, na, +she didna list; troth na. So wussin' ta gude company's gude hells +wanss more, an' King Shorge's hells, she maun just be goin' for she +has a lang gate o' hill afore her." + +"Nay, master, we can't exactly part with you so easily," said the +sergeant, rising up. "You are my recruit, and you must go nowhere +without my leave." + +"Hoot, toots," replied Ian, making one step towards the door of +the booth; "an' she has her nane leave, troth, she'll no be axan' +ony ither." + +"I arrest you in the King's name!" said the sergeant, laying hold of +Ian by the breast. + +"Troth, she wudna be wussin' to hort her," said Ian, lifting up the +sergeant like a child before he knew where he was; "but sit her doon +tere, oot o' ta way, till her nanesell redds hersell of ta lave, +and wuns awa'." + +Making two strides with his burden towards a large cask of ale that +stood on end in one corner of the place, he set the gallant hero +down so forcibly on the top of it, that the crazy rotten boards +gave way, and he was crammed backwards, in a doubled up position, +into the yawning mouth of the profound, whilst surges of beer boiled +and frothed up around him. Ian would have charitably relieved the man +from so disagreeable a situation, which was by no means that which he +had intended him to occupy; but, ere he wist, he was assailed by the +whole party like a swarm of bees. The place of strife was sufficiently +narrow, a circumstance much in favour of the light troops who now made +a simultaneous movement on him, with the intention of prostrating him +on the ground, but he stood like a colossus, and nothing could budge +him; whilst, at the same time, he never dealt a single blow as if at +all in anger, but ever and anon, as his hands became so far liberated +as to enable him to seize on one of his assailants, he wrenched him +away from his own person, and tossed him from him, either forth of +the tent door, or as far at least as its bounds would allow, some +falling among the hampers and boxes--some falling like a shower upon +the poor owners of the booth--and some falling upon the unfortunate +sergeant. The red-nosed priestess of this fragile temple of Bacchus +shrieked in sweet harmony with the groans of the knock-kneed and +broken-down tailor, and in the midst of the melee, one unhappy recruit, +who was winging his way through the air from the powerful projectile +force of Ian More, came like a chain-shot against the upright poles +of the tent--the equilibrium of its whole system was destroyed--down +came the cross-beam--the covering blankets collapsed and sank,--and, +in a moment, nothing appeared to the eyes of those without but a mighty +heap, that heaved and groaned underneath like some volcanic mountain in +labour previous to an eruption. And an eruption to be sure there was; +for, to the great astonishment of the whole market people, Ian More +Arrach's head suddenly appeared through a rent that took place in the +rotten blanket, with his face in a red hot state of perspiration, and +his mouth gasping for breath. After panting like a porpoise for a few +seconds, he made a violent effort, reared himself upon his legs, and +thrusting his feet out at the aperture which had served as a door to +the tent, he fled away with all the effect of a fellucca under a press +of sail, buffeting his way through the multitude of people and cattle, +as a vessel would toss aside the opposing billows; and then shooting +like a meteor up the side of the mountain that flanked the strath, he +left his flowing drapery behind him in fragments and shreds adhering +to every bush he passed by, bounded like a stag over its sky line, +and disappeared from the astonished eyes of the beholders. + +It were vain to attempt to describe the re-organisation of the +discomfited troops, who, when their strange covering was thus +miraculously removed, arose singly from the ground utterly confounded, +and began to move about limping and cursing amidst the bitter wailings +of the unhappy people whose frail dwelling had so marvellously fled +from them. The attention of the party was first called to their gallant +commander, who, with some difficulty, was extracted from the mouth +of the beer barrel, dripping like a toast from a tankard. His rage +may be conceived better than told. His honour had been tarnished, and +his interest put in jeopardy. He, whose stirring tales of desperate +deeds of arms and fearful carnage had so often extended the jaws of +the Highland rustics whom he had kidnapped, and raised their very +bonnets on the points of their bristling hair with wonder,--who +could devour fire as it issued from the mouth of a cannon,--and +who could contend single-handed against a dozen of foes, to be so +unceremoniously crammed, by the arm of one man, into a beer barrel, +in the presence of those very recruits, and to be afterwards basely +extracted from it before the eyes of the many who had listened to +his boastful harangues. And then, moreover, to be choused out of the +anticipated fruits of his wily hospitality, as well as of a silver +shilling, by the flight of the broad-shouldered Celt, whom he thought +he had secured, and of whom he expected to have made so handsome a +profit. All this was not to be borne, and, accordingly, wide as was +Ross-shire, he determined most indefatigably to search every inch of +it until he should again lay hands on him. From the inquiries made on +the spot, it was considered as certain that Ian More had gone directly +home to his lonely bothy, in a high and solitary valley some dozen +of miles or so from the place where they then were; and as one of +the recruits knew the mountain tracks well enough to act as guide, +he collected the whole of his forces, amounting to nearly double the +number of those who had been engaged in the battle of the booth, and +after having refreshed and fortified them and himself with all manner +of available stimuli, he put himself at their head, and set forward +on his expedition at such an hour of the night as might enable them +to reach the dwelling of Ian More Arrach before he was likely to +leave it in the morning in pursuit of his daily occupation. + +Ian More was but little acquainted with the tricks of this world; +and no wonder, for the habitation in which he lived, and from which +he rarely migrated, was situated in one of those desert glens which +are to be found far up in the mountains, where they nurse and perhaps +give birth to the minuter branches of those streams, which, running +together in numbers, and accumulating as they roll onwards through +wider and larger valleys, go on expanding with the opening country +until they unite to water the extended and fertile plains in some +broad and important river. The ascent to the little territory of which +Ian More was the solitary sovereign was by a steep and narrow ravine +among rocks, down which the burn raged against the opposing angles, +like a wayward child that frets and fumes against every little obstacle +that occurs to the indulgence of its wishes. Higher up its course was +cheerful and placid, like the countenance of the same child, perhaps, +when in the best humour and in the full enjoyment for the time being +of all its desires, laughing as it went its way among water-lilies, +ranunculuses, and yellow marigolds, meandering quietly through a deep +and well-swarded soil that arose from either side of it in a gently +curving slope to the base of two precipitous walls of rock, within +the shelter of which the caurets of Ian More had ample pasture for a +stretch of about a quarter of a mile upwards to the spot where the +cliffs, rising in altitude, and apparently unscalable, shut in the +glen in a natural amphitheatre. There the burn issued from a small +circular lochan; and it was on the farther margin of this piece of +water, and immediately at the foot of the crags behind it, that the +small sod hovel of Ian More Arrach was placed, so insignificant a +speck amid the vastness of the surrounding features of nature as to be +hardly distinguished from the rock itself, especially when approached, +as it now was, in the grey light of the morning, until the sergeant +and his party had come very near to it. + +The leader of the enterprise felt that no time was to be lost in a +survey, lest, whilst they were hesitating, Ian might perceive them, +and again make his escape. A simultaneous rush, therefore, was made +for the door; but, albeit that Ian generally left it unfastened, +he had somehow or other been led to secure it on this occasion, by +lifting a stone of no ordinary size, which usually served him as a +seat, and placing it as a barricade against it on the inside. Their +first attempt to force it being thus rendered altogether unavailing,-- + +"John Mackay, otherwise Ian More Arrach, open to us in the name of +King George," cried the sergeant, standing at the full length of his +pike from the door, and poking against it with the point of the weapon. + +"Fat wud King Shorge hae wi' Ian More," demanded the Highlander. + +"Come, open the door and surrender peaceably," cried the sergeant; +"you are the King's lawful recruit. You have been guilty of mutiny +and desartion; but if you will surrender at discretion, and come +quietly along with us, it is not unlikely that, in consideration of +your being as yet untaught, and still half a savage, you may not be +exactly shot this bout, though it is but little marcy you desarve, +considering how confoundedly my back aches with the rough treatment I +had from you. Keep close to the door, my lads," continued he, sinking +his voice, "and be ready to spring on him the moment he comes out." + +Whilst the sergeant yet spoke, the whole hovel began to heave like some +vast animal agonised with internal throes. The men of the party stood +aghast for one moment, and in the next the back wall of the sod edifice +was hurled outwards, and the roof, losing its support, fell inwards, +raising a cloud of dust so dense as utterly to conceal for a time +the individual who was the cause and instrument of its destruction. + +"Ha! look sharp, my lads!" cried the sergeant; "be on your mettle!" + +The words were scarcely out of his mouth when the herculean form +of Ian More arose before his eyes from amidst the debris and dust, +as did the figure of the Genii from the jar before those of the +fisherman in the Eastern fable. + +"There he is, by Jupiter!" cried the sergeant, involuntarily retreating +a step or two. "On him--on him, and seize him, my brave boys!" + +The nature of the spot seemed to forbid all hope of escape. The party +blocked up the space in front of the bothy, and the narrow stripe of +ground that stretched along between the lake on the one hand, and the +cliffs on the other, grew more and more confined as it ran backwards, +until it disappeared altogether at a point about an hundred yards +distant, where the crags rose sheer up out of the water. In this +direction Ian More moved slowly off, after throwing on the throng of +his assailants a grim smile, which, however, had more of pity than of +anger in it. Before he had taken a dozen steps the most forward of +the party were at his skirts. He turned smartly round, and suddenly +catching up the first man in his arms, he sent him spinning through +the air into the lake as if he had been a puppy dog. The next in +succession was seized with astonishment, but before he could shake +himself free of it, he was seized by something more formidable, +I mean by the iron hands of Ian More, who flung him also far amid +the waters after his fellow. A whole knot of those who followed them +sprang upon him at once, but he patted them off, one after another, +as if they had been so many flies, and that he had been afraid to +hurt them; but, as it was impossible for him to accommodate his hits +with mathematical precision to the gentleness of his intentions, +some of the individuals who received them bore the marks of them for +many a day afterwards. The ardour of the attack became infinitely +cooled down. But still there were certain fiery spirits who coveted +glory. These, as they came boldly up, successively shared the fate of +those who had gone before them. Some were stretched out, as chance +threw them, to measure their dimensions on the terra firma, whilst +others were hurled hissing hot into the lake, where they were left +at leisure to form some estimate of their own specific gravity in +a depth of water which was just shallow enough to save them from +drowning. Meanwhile, the object of their attack continued to stalk +slowly onwards at intervals, smiling on them from time to time, as he +turned to survey the shattered remains of the attacking army that now +followed him at a respectful distance, and halted every time he faced +them. The sergeant, like an able general, kept poking them on in the +rear with his pike, and upbraiding them for their cowardice. Meanwhile +Ian gradually gained ground on them, and having produced an interval +of some twenty or thirty yards between himself and them, just as +they thought that he had arrived at a point where farther retreat +was impossible, he suddenly disappeared into a crack in the face +of the cliff, hitherto unobserved, and on reaching the place they +found that the fearless mountaineer had made his slippery way up the +chimney-like cleft, amidst the white foam of a descending rill that +was one of the main feeders of the lochan, into which it poured. + +"The feller has vanished into the clouds," said the sergeant, +shuddering with horror as he looked up the perilous rocky funnel, +and, at the same time, secretly congratulating himself that Ian had +not stood to bay. "He has vanished into the clouds, just out of our +very hands, as I may say. Who was to think of there being any such +ape's ladder as this here?" + +The party returned, sullen and discomfited, to the strath, and their +leader now gave up all hopes of capturing Ian More Arrach either by +stratagem or force. But his thirst for the large sum which he expected +to realise by producing such a man at headquarters rendered him quite +restless and unremitting in his inquiries, the result of which was, +that he found out that Lord Seaforth, then, I believe, Lord Lieutenant +of the County, might do something towards apprehending the runaway. He +accordingly waited on his lordship to request his interference for +procuring the seizure of John Mackay, surnamed Ian More Arrach, a +deserter from His Majesty's service. Lord Seaforth inquired into the +case, and believing that the man had been fairly enlisted, he procured +his immediate appearance at Brahan Castle, by going the right way to +work with him. There, it so happened, that Lord Rae was at that time +a visitor, and Lord Seaforth called in his aid to work upon Ian More, +who bowed to the ground in submission to the wishes of his chief. + +"This is an unlucky business, Ian More," said Lord Rae, "it seems that +you have deserted from the King's service, after having accepted his +money, and that, moreover, you have twice deforced the officer and +party. Your case, I fear, is a bad one. Depend upon it, they will have +you if it should cost them the sending of a whole regiment after you; +and then, if you give them so much trouble, no one can say what may +be the consequence. Take my advice and give yourself up quietly. I +shall write to your commanding officer in such terms as will save +you from any very bad consequences; and with the recommendations +which you shall have, there is no saying but you may be an officer +ere long. All the Mackays are brave fellows; and if all I have heard +be true, it appears that you are no disgrace to the name." + +Ian was too proud of the interest taken in him by his noble chief, to +dispute his advice or wishes for one moment. He would have sacrificed +his life for him. And accordingly, abandoning his mountain-glen and +his caurets, he surrendered himself to the sergeant, who implicitly +obeyed the instructions he received from Lord Rae to treat him kindly, +particularly as they were backed up with a handsome douceur; and Ian +was soon afterwards embarked to join his regiment, then quartered +in Guernsey. + +The regiment that Ian More was attached to was almost entirely +a new levy, and the recruits were speedily put on garrison duty, +frivolous perhaps in itself, but probably given to them more as a +lesson, in order that they might become familiar with it, than from +any absolute necessity for it. It so happened, that the first guard +that Ian mounted, he was planted as a night sentinel on the Queen's +Battery. The instructions given to his particular post were to take +especial care that no injury should happen to a certain six-pounder, +which there rested on its carriage; and when the corporal of the guard +marched Ian up as a relief, he laughed heartily to hear the earnest +assurances which he gave, in answer to the instructions he received +from the man he was relieving, "Tat not a bonn o' ta body o' ta wee +gunnie sould be hurt, at a', at a', while he had ta care o' her." + +And Ian kept his word; for he watched over the beautiful little piece +of ordnance with the greatest solicitude. It so happened, however, +that whilst he was walking his lonely round, a heavy shower of rain +began to fall, and a bitter freezing blast soon converted every +particle of it into a separate cake of ice, which cut against his +nose and eyes, and nearly scarified his face, so that much as he had +been accustomed to the snarling climate of the higher regions of the +interior of Scotland, he felt as if he would lose his eyesight from +the inclemency of the weather; and then he began to reason that if +he should lose his eyesight, how could he take care of the gun? His +anxiety for the safety of his charge, united to a certain desire for +his own comfort, induced him gravely to consider what was best to be +done. He surveyed the gun, and as he did so, he began to think that +it was extremely absurd that he should be standing by its side for +two long hours, whilst he might so easily provide for its security in +some place of shelter; and accordingly he quickly removed it from its +carriage, and poising it very adroitly on his shoulder, he carried +it deliberately away. + +Strong as Ian was, the position and the weight of the six-pounder, +considerably more than half a ton, compelled him to walk with a stiff +mien and a solemn, measured, and heavy tread. He had to pass by two or +three sentinels. These were all raw unformed recruits like himself, +and full of Highland superstitions. Each of them challenged him in +succession as his footstep approached; but Ian was too much intent on +keeping his burden properly balanced to be able to reply. He moved +on steadily and silently therefore, with his eyeballs protruded and +fixed, from the exertion he was making, and with his whole countenance +wearing a strange and portentous expression of anxiety, which was +heightened by a certain pale blue light that fell upon it from one +part of the stormy sky. Instead of attempting to oppose or to arrest +such a phantom, which came upon them in the midst of the tempest like +some unearthly being which had been busied in the very creation of it, +each sentry fled before it, and the whole rampart was speedily cleared. + +It was not many minutes after this that the visiting sergeant went +his rounds. To his great surprise, he was not challenged by the +sentry upon Ian More's post; and to his still greater astonishment, +he was permitted to advance with impunity till he discovered that +Ian More was not there. But what was yet most wonderful of all the +gun of which he was the especial guardian was gone. + +"Lord ha' mercy on us!" exclaimed the corporal, "I see'd the man +planted here myself alongside the piece of ordnance; what can have +become of them both?" + +"Tis mortal strange," said the sergeant. "Do you stand fast here, +corporal, till we go down the rampart a bit, to see if we can see +anything." + +"Nay, with your leave, sergeant," said the corporal, "I see no use +in leaving me here to face the devil. Had we not better go and report +this strange matter to the officer of the guard?" + +"Nonsense,--obey my orders; and if you do see the devil, be sure you +make him give you the countersign," said the sergeant, who had had +all such fears rubbed off by a long life of hard service. + +On walked the sergeant along the rampart. The other sentries were +gone also. One man only he at last found, and him he dragged forth +from under a gun-carriage. + +"Why have you deserted your post, you trembling wretch?" demanded +the sergeant. + +"Did you not see it, then?" said the man, with a terrified look. + +"See what?" asked the sergeant. + +"The devil, in the shape of Ian More Arrach, with his face like a +flaming furnace, shouldering a four-and-twenty pounder," replied the +man; "och, it was a terrible sight." + +"By jingo, my boy, your back will be made a worse spectacle of before +long, if I don't mistake," said the sergeant. + +By this time a buzz of voices was heard. The guard had been alarmed +by the fugitive sentries, whose fright had carried them with ghastly +looks to the guard-room. The guard had alarmed the garrison, and the +whole place was thrown into confusion. Soldiers, non-commissioned +officers, and officers, were seen running and heard vociferating +in all directions, lanterns and flambeaux were everywhere flitting +about like fire-flies, and soldiers' wives and children were heard +screaming and crying. The cause of the tumult was reported in a +thousand different ways. Some of the least rational of the women and +juveniles even believed and asserted that an enemy had landed on the +island; whilst those who really were aware that the true cause of +the uproar was Ian More's mysterious disappearance, were employed in +searching everywhere for him and the six-pounder; but he was nowhere +to be found, and wonder and astonishment multiplied at every step. + +At length the tumult rose to such a height that the commanding +officer was roused, and hurrying on his clothes, he came running +to the Queen's Battery to know what all the hubbub was about. The +place was filled with a crowd of all ranks, each individual of which +was ready to hazard his own conjecture in explanation of this most +unaccountable event. All gave way at the colonel's approach. After +hearing what had happened, he inquired into the circumstances so +far as they were known; he listened calmly and attentively to the +various accounts of those who had been making ineffectual search, +and having heard all of them patiently to an end-- + +"This is very strange," said he; "but well as you have searched, it +appears to me that none of you seem to have ever thought of looking +for him in his barrack-room. Let us go there." + +Off went the colonel accordingly to the barrack-room, followed by as +many curious officers and soldiers as could well crowd after him; and +there, to be sure, snug in bed, and sound asleep, lay Ian More Arrach, +with the piece of artillery in his arms, and his cheek close to the +muzzle of it, which was sticking out from under the blanket that +covered both of them. The spectacle was too ridiculous even for the +colonel's gravity. He and all around him gave way to uncontrollable +bursts of laughter, that speedily awaked Ian from the deep sleep in +which he was plunged. He stared around him with astonishment. + +"What made you leave your post, you rascal?" demanded the sergeant +of the guard, so much provoked as to forget himself before his +commanding officer. + +"Nay, nay," said the colonel, who already knew something of Ian, +from the letter which he had received from his chief, "you cannot say +that he has left his post; for you see he has taken his post along +with him." + +"Is na ta wee bit gunnie as weil aside her nanesell here?" said Ian, +with an innocent smile. "Is she na mockell better here aside her +nanesell, nor wi' her nanesell stannin' cauld an' weet aside her +yonder on ta Pattry?" + +"Well, well," said the colonel, after a hearty laugh. "But how did +you manage to bring the gun here?" + +"Ou troth her nanesell carried her," replied Ian. + +"Come, then," said the colonel, "if you will instantly carry it back +again to the place whence you took it, nothing more shall be said +about it." + +"Toots! but she'll soon do tat," said Ian, starting out of bed, +and immediately raising the gun to his shoulder, he set out with it, +followed by the colonel and every one within reach; and, to the great +astonishment of all of them, he marched slowly and steadily towards +the battery with it, and replaced it on its carriage, amidst the loud +cheers of all who beheld him. + +As Ian was naturally a quiet, sober, peaceable, and well-behaved +man, a thorough knowledge of his duty soon converted him into a most +invaluable soldier; and nature having made him a perfect model, both as +to mould and symmetry of form, the colonel, who took a peculiar fancy +to him, soon saw that he was altogether too tall and fine looking a +man to be kept in the ranks. Accordingly he had him struck off from +the ordinary routine of domestic duty, and drilled as a fugleman, +in which distinguished situation Ian continued to figure until his +services were terminated by an unlucky accident. + +It happened one evening that the colonel of an English regiment dined +at the mess of the Highland corps. In the course of conversation +this gentleman offered a bet that he had a man who would beat any +individual who could be picked from among the Highlanders. One of the +Highland officers immediately took him up, and engaged to produce +a man to meet the English champion next morning. By break of day, +therefore, he sent for Ian More Arrach, and told him what had occurred, +and then added--"You are to be my man, Ian; and I think it will be +no hard thing for you who shouldered the six-pounder to pound this +boasting pock-pudding." + +"Troth na," said Ian, shaking his head, "ta pock-pudden no done her nae +ill,--fat for wad she be fighten her? Troth her honour may e'en fight +ta man hersell, for her nanesell wull no be doin' nae siccan a thing." + +"Tut! nonsense, man," said the officer, "you must fight him, aye and +lick him too; and you shall not only carry off the honour, but you +shall have a handsome purse of money for doing so." + +"Na, na," said Ian, "ta man no dune her nae ill ava, an she'll no be +fighten for ony bodey's siller but King Shorge's." + +"Surely you're not afraid of him," said the officer, trying to rouse +his pride. + +"Hout na!" replied Ian More, with a calm good humoured smile; "she +no be feart for no man livin'." + +"So you won't fight," said the officer. + +"Troth na," said Ian, "she canna be fighten wissout nae raison." + +"Surely your own honour, the honour of the regiment, the honour of +Scotland, the purse of gold, and my wishes thus earnestly expressed, +ought to be reasons enough with you. But since you refuse, I must go +to Alister Mackay; he will have no such scruples, I'll warrant me." + +This last observation was a master-stroke of policy on the part of +the officer. Alister Mackay was a stout athletic young man; but he +was by no means a match for the English prize-fighter. Nor did the +officer mean that he should be opposed to him; for he only named him, +knowing that he was a cousin of Ian More's, and one for whom he had the +affection of a brother; and he was quite sure that his apprehension +for Alister's safety would be too great to allow him to be absent +from the field, if it did not induce him to take his place in the +combat. And it turned out as he had anticipated. Ian came, eagerly +pressing forward into the throng; and no sooner did he appear than +the officer pointed him out to the Englishman as the man that was to +be pitted against him; and as the Highlanders naturally took it for +granted that the big fugleman was to be their man, they quickly made +a ring for him amidst loud cheering. + +"Come away, Goliah! come on!" cried the Englishman, tossing his hat +into the air, and his coat to one side. Ian minded him not. But the +growing and intolerable insolence of the bully did the rest; for, +presuming on Ian's apparent backwardness, he strode up to him with +his arms akimbo, and spat in his face. + +"Fat is she do tat for?" asked Ian simply of those around him. + +"He has done it to make people believe that you are a coward, and +afraid to fight him," said the Highland officer who backed him. + +"Tell her no to do tat again," said Ian seriously. + +"There!" said the boxer, repeating the insult. + +Without showing the smallest loss of temper, Ian made an effort to lay +hold of his opponent, but the Englishman squared at him, and hit him +several smart blows in succession, not one of which the unpractised +Highlander had the least idea of guarding. + +"Ha!" exclaimed the Highland officer, "I fear you will be beaten, Ian." + +"Foo!" cried Ian coolly, "she be strikin' her to be sure, but she be +na hurtin' her. But an she disna gie ower an her nanesell gets one +stroak at her, she'll swarrants she'll no seek nae mair." + +The Englishman gave him two or three more hard hits that went against +his breast as if they had gone against an oaken door; but at last +Ian raised his arm, and swept it round horizontally with a force that +broke through all his antagonist's guards; and the blow striking his +left cheek as if it had come from a sledge hammer, it actually drove +the bones of the jaw on that side quite through the opposite skin, +and, at the same time, smashed the whole skull to fragments. The man +fell like a log, dead on the spot, and horror and astonishment seized +the spectators. + +"Och hone! och hone!" cried Ian More, running to lift him from the +ground, in an agony of distress, "She's dootin' she kilt ta poor man." + +Ian was thrown into a fit of the deepest despair and sorrow by this +sad catastrophe, sufficiently proving to every one around him that his +heart was made of the most generous stuff; and, indeed, the effect +of the horrible spectacle they had witnessed was such as to throw a +gloom on all who were present, and especially on those who were more +immediately concerned with the wager. The case was decidedly considered +as one of justifiable homicide. It was hushed up by general consent, +and a pass was granted to Ian to return to Scotland. + +As he was slowly journeying homeward, Ian happened to spend a night +at Stonehaven, and, as he was inquiring of his landlord as to the +way he was to take in the morning, the man told him that he might +save some distance by taking a short cut through the park of Ury, +the residence of Mr. Barclay of Ury, who, as you probably know, +was even more remarkable for feats of bodily strength than his son, +Captain Barclay, the celebrated pedestrian. + +"Ye may try the fut-road through the park," said Ian's host; "but +oddsake, man, tak' care an' no meet the laird, for he's an awfu' +chiel, though he be a Quaker, and gif ye do meet him I rauken that +ye'll just hae to come yere ways back again." + +"Fat for she do tat?" demanded Ian. + +"Ou, he's a terrible man the laird," continued the landlord. "What +think ye? there was ae night that a poor tinker body had putten his +bit pauney into ane of the laird's inclosures, that it might get a +sly rug o' the grass. Aweel, the laird comes oot in the mornin', and +the moment he spied the beast, he ga'ed tilt like anither Samson, and +he lifted it up in his airms and flang it clean oot ower the dyke. As +sure as ought, gif he meets you, an' he disna throw you owre the dyke, +he'll gar ye gang ilka fit o' the road back again." + +"Tuts! she'll try," replied Ian. + +Soon after sunrise, Ian took the forbidden path, and he had pursued +it without molestation for a considerable way, when he heard some one +hallooing after him; and turning his head to look back, he beheld a +gentleman, whom he at once guessed to be the laird, hurrying up to him. + +"Soldier!" cried Mr. Barclay, "I allow no one to go this way, so thou +must turn thee back." + +"She be sorry tat she has anghered her honour," said Ian bowing +submissively, "but troth it be ower far a gate to gang back noo." + +"Far gate or short gate, friend, back thou must go," said Mr. Barclay. + +"Hoot na! she canna gang back," said Ian. + +"But thou must go back, friend," said the laird. + +"Troth, she wunna gang back," replied Ian. + +"But thou must go back, I tell thee," said the laird, "and if thou +wilt not go back peaceably, I'll turn thee back whether with thy will +or not." + +"Hoot, toot, she no be fit to turn her back," said Ian with one of +his broad good-humoured grins. + +"I'll try," said the laird, laying his hands on Ian's shoulders to +carry his threat into immediate execution. + +"An she be for tat," said Ian, "let her lay doon her wallet, an' +she'll see whuther she can gar her turn or no." + +"By all means, good friend," said the laird, who enjoyed a thing of +the kind beyond all measure. "Off with thy wallet, then. Far be it +from me to take any unseemly advantage of thee." + +The wallet being quietly deposited on the ground, to it they went; +but ere they had well buckled together, Ian put down the laird beside +the wallet with the same ease that he had put down the wallet itself. + +"Ha!" cried the laird, as much overcome with surprise at a defeat which +he had never before experienced, as he had been by the strength that +had produced it. "Thou didst take me too much o' the sudden, friend, +but give me fair play. Let me up and I will essay to wrestle with +thee again." + +"Weel, weel," said Ian coolly, "she may tak' her ain laizier to rise, +for her nanesell has plenty o' sun afore her or night." + +"Come on then," said Mr. Barclay, grappling again with his antagonist +and putting forth all his strength, which Ian allowed him full time +to exert against him, whilst in defiance of it all he stood firm and +unshaken as a rock. + +"Noo! doon she goes again!" said Ian, deliberately prostrating the +laird a second time, "an' gif tat be na eneugh, she'll put her toon +ta tird time, sae tat she'll no need nae mair puttens toon." + +"No, no," said the laird panting, and, notwithstanding his defeat, +much delighted not only with the exercise he had had, but that he had +at last discovered so potent an antagonist. "No, no, friend! enough +for this bout. I own that thou art the better man. This is the first +time that my back was ever laid on the grass. Come away with me, +good fellow, thou shalt go home with me." + +Ian's journey was not of so pressing a nature as to compel him to +refuse the laird's hospitable offer, and he spent no less than fourteen +days living on the fat of the land at Ury, and Mr. Barclay afterwards +sent a man and horses with him to forward him a few stages on his way. + +On his return to Strath-Connan, Ian was welcomed by many an old friend, +and he speedily felt himself again rooted in his native soil. He soon +re-edified his bothy; but he did so after that much improved and much +more comfortable style of architecture which his large experience of +civilised life had now taught him to consider as essential. He again +took readily to his caurets, and to the simple occupations attendant +on the care and management of them, which he forthwith increased to +a considerable extent by increasing their numbers; and every day he +grew wealthier and wealthier by means of them. The taste which he +had now had of society, led him more frequently to visit the gayer +and livelier scenes of the more thickly inhabited straths; and it +was seldom that a market, a marriage, or a merry-making of any kind +occurred, where Ian's sinewy limb and well turned ankles were not +seen executing the Highland fling to a degree of perfection rarely +to be matched. These innocent practices he continued long after he +was a husband and a father, yea, until he was far advanced in life. + +If Ian had a spark of pride at all, it was in the circumstance that +the calves of his legs were so well rounded, that however much his +limbs might be exercised, they always kept up his hose without the +aid of a garter, an appendage to his dress which he always scorned to +wear. One night a large party of friends were assembled in his house +to witness the baptism of a recently born grandson. After the ceremony +and the feast were both over, the young people got up to dance, and, +old as he was, Ian More Arrach was among the foremost of them. To +it he went, and danced the Highland fling with his usual spirit and +alacrity, snapping his fingers and shouting with the best of them. But +alas! when the dance was over, he suddenly discovered that his hose had +fallen three inches from their original position, betraying the sad +fact that his limbs had lost somewhat of their original muscle. This +was to him a sad sinking in the barometer of human life. He surveyed +his limbs for some time in silence with a melancholy expression; +and then, with something like a feeling of bitterness, which no one +had ever seen take possession of him before, he exclaimed,-- + +"Tamm her nanesell's teeths! She may weel gie ower ta fling, noo tat +her teeths wunna haud up her hose!" + + + + + + + + +MORNING SCENE. + + +The shrill and persevering crow of a cock, who roosted on the rafters +immediately over our heads, gradually succeeded in drawing up Grant +and myself from the deep Lethean lake of slumber into which both +had been plunged, and we arose yawning and most unwillingly from our +simple couches, ere yet the sun had peeped above the horizon. With one +consent we stole to the outer door in our dressing gowns and slippers, +to inhale a few draughts of pure air, and to inform ourselves as to +the state of the weather. A perfect calm prevailed, and the landscape +was lying under one general sombre shadow, which made it so difficult +to distinguish objects, that we could not even trace the exact line of +boundary of the still waters of Loch-an-Dorbe. One glow of an aurora +hue made the summit of the opposite hill to gleam faintly, but that +was enough to produce a corresponding fragment of bright reflection +on the bosom of the lake. In the middle of that warm spot rested a +little boat with two men in it, one of whom was seated at the oars +to keep it steady, whilst the other was standing in the stern eagerly +occupied in fishing. + +Grant, rubbing his eyes,--Can that possibly be Clifford? + +Author.--Let us ascertain whether he is in his bed or not. + +Grant.--Aha! his gite is empty and cold! What an indefatigable +fisherman! + +Author.--Depend upon it, we shall not see him here for some hours +to come. + +Grant.--Then I shall employ the intervening time in repose. + +Author.--And I shall follow your good example. + +The very profound sleep into which we both of us sank, was at length +interrupted by the return of Clifford with a beautiful dish of +fresh trouts. + +Clifford.--You lazy fellows! See what a glorious morning's work I have +had while you have been snoring away like a couple of tailors. Look +how large and how fine they are! There is one now, twice as big as +any that was killed last night. + +Author.--We are certainly greatly obliged to you for quitting your +couch so early in order to procure us so luxurious a breakfast. + +Clifford.--I don't think that either of you deserve to share in +it, though in truth you are already sufficiently punished for your +indolence by missing the fine sport I have had, and therefore I shall +act towards you with true Christian charity. Come then, my girl, +get your fire up and your frying-pan in order, and I'll stand cook. + +Grant.--You must have had a delicious morning of it. + +Clifford.--Charming! The effect of the sunrise on the lake was +enchanting, and the jumping of the trouts around me perfectly +miraculous. + +Grant.--I am surprised that you could tear yourself away so soon. + +Clifford.--I believe I should have been there for some hours to come, +had not my barefooted boatman told me that it was time to get on shore, +for that the clouds which we saw heaping themselves up to the westward, +threatened to discharge a storm upon us. + +Grant.--I suspect that the fellow will turn out to be a true +prophet. What a dreadful blast that was! Let us hurry out to witness +the effects of it. + +What a change had now taken place in the scene! The sun was already +high above the horizon; but dense clouds hid his face from our view, +and threw a deep inky hue over the whole face of nature, excepting +only where the western blast took its furious course athwart the +wide surface of the lake, lashing it up into white-crested billows, +the sharp and fleeting lights of which acquired a double share of +brilliancy amidst the general murky hue that prevailed everywhere +around. The spray dashed over the island and the grey towers of the +castle. The flocks of sea-mews, kittywakes, and other waterfowl that +frequented the ruined walls, were whirled about in confused mazes, +like fragments of foam carried into the air, and were utterly unable +to direct their flight by their own volition. Nothing could be more +sudden nor more sublime than this effect! It was so grand, and at +the same time so transient, that nothing but the ready eye and the +matchless mind of the Reverend John Thomson, of Duddingstone, our +great Scottish Salvator, could have seized and embodied it. It passed +away as speedily as it had come. A heavy shower of rain fell after +it was gone; and after that had ceased, all was stillness and sunshine. + +When we again set out to pursue our way, which led by the margin of +the loch, its waters were rippling gently with every light zephyr +that fanned them, and sparkling and glowing under the untamed rays +of the broad sun, whilst the sea-birds were partly wheeling over the +deep with all their wonted variety and regularity of evolution, and +partly dipping into the water, and partly resting in buoyant repose +upon its swelling bosom. + +Having waved our last adieu to Loch-an-Dorbe from the summit of a knoll +at some distance from the lower end of it, we took our course across +the moorland, where the views on all sides were peculiarly dull and +dreary. A black turf hut was now and then visible, proving that it +was at least possible for human beings to live in this bare district; +but all signs of cultivation were limited to a few wretched patches +of arable ground lying along some of the small burns that here and +there intersected the peat-mosses. Nothing could be more miserable +than the country, or than the humble dwellings of its natives; and yet +even here we fell in with a picture of human felicity that strongly +arrested our attention. + +A group of ragged urchins were sporting on a little spot of greensward +before the door of one of these hovels, and shouting and laughing +loudly at their own fun. The youngest was mounted on a huge gaunt-sided +sow, with a back as sharp as that of a saw; whilst two elder imps, +one on either side, were holding him in his seat, and another was +urging on the animal, by gently agitating the creature's tail. All +this was done without cruelty, and in the best humour. The father and +mother had been in the act of building up their next year's stock of +peats into a stack, that rested against the weather gable of their +dwelling, so that it might do the double duty of sheltering them +from the prevailing blast, as well as furnishing them with food for +their kitchen fire. But the merry scene that was passing below had +become too touchingly attractive to the hearts of both the parents, +and their labour was arrested in the most whimsical manner; for the +man sat perched on all-fours on the top of the frail edifice he was +engaged in rearing, grinning with broad delight at the gambols of +his half-naked progeny; and his wife's attention having been arrested +whilst she was in the very act of tossing up an armful of the black +materials of her husband's architecture, she still stood fixed like a +statue, with her arm raised, quite unconscious of the inconvenience of +her attitude, and entirely absorbed in her enjoyment of the spectacle, +her whole countenance beaming with the maternal joy she felt, and +giving way to sympathetic roars of merriment. + +Grant.--You see it is not in the power of poverty altogether to +extinguish human happiness. + +Author.--Nay, no more than riches can ensure it. + +Clifford.--How different the hard fortune of that poor creature from +the sunshiny lot of those women of quality and fashion whom we have +seen figuring in fancy dresses, and glittering like dancing Golcondas, +at Almacks; and yet how much more heart and honesty and true mirth +there is in that rustic laugh of hers than in all the hollow gaiety +of that professed temple of pleasure. + +Author.--This merry Maggy of the moor here has indeed received but +a small share of the good things of this life, compared with that +which has been showered on the proud heads of those wealthy and +titled exclusives. But individual happiness must not by any means +be measured by the degree of wealth. And then, when we direct our +thoughts to our prospects of happiness in a future life, and reflect +how apt those favourites of fortune are to be led astray by that very +abundance which has been heaped upon them here below, we cannot but +congratulate Maggy there as having at least the safer, if not the +better, share of the treasures of this world. + +Grant.--True; and we have the authority of almost every moral poet, +from Horace to our Scottish Allan Ramsay, for the great truth that even +happiness in this world is to be more readily found in a comfortable +middle state than in either of the extremes,-- + + + "He that hath just enough can soundly sleep, + The o'ercome only fashes folk to keep." + + +Clifford.--Ha! ha! sermons and poetry for pilgrims in the desert! But +then arises the difficult question, what is it that constitutes +that "just enough" which the poet holds to be the talisman of human +happiness. + +Grant.--Give economy fair play, and it will make that talisman out +of anything. + +Author.--And so, on the other hand, extravagance could never possess +it, even if the subterranean treasures of Aladdin, or the diamond +valley of Sinbad, were to be placed at its disposal. + +Clifford.--Your allusion to the Arabian tales puts me in mind of +our story-telling; and the subject we have now accidentally got upon +brings to my recollection a remarkable story which you once related +to me, Grant. + +Grant.--You mean the legend of John Macpherson of Invereshie. + +Clifford.--The same. Pray tell it to our friend here. + +Grant.--If you, who have heard it before, have no objections to the +repetition of it, I can have none to the telling of it. + + + + + + + + +THE LEGEND OF JOHN MACPHERSON OF INVERESHIE. + + +The John Macpherson of whom I speak lived in the very beginning of +the seventeenth century. He was the same laird who is well known +as having got the Crown charter of the lands of Invereshie. He +was a tall handsome Highlander, with a somewhat melancholy cast +of countenance. His manners were simple and unassuming, and though +untaught by any instructor but nature, they were so much the reverse +of vulgar that they might have even been called elegant. He was +warm in his affections, kind in his intercourse with all around him, +extremely bold and determined in any difficult or desperate juncture, +and resolute and stern in his purpose when suddenly called on to deal +with a matter of deep or stirring moment, and further--though that +belonged to him less as anything peculiar than as a characteristic +of the time he lived in--he was superstitiously alive to all those +incidents or appearances that might chance to wear the semblance of +ominous or fatal portent; and such as these did not unfrequently +present themselves in days when the fables of Highland demonology +reigned over the strongest minds with an absolute despotism. + +Living, as Macpherson did, almost entirely among his native mountains, +his time was very happily as well as prudently divided between the +chase of the red-deer, in which he particularly delighted, and those +attentions which he found it necessary to bestow on the concerns of +his landed territory; in looking to the well-being of his people, +and the health, prosperity, and multiplication of those large herds +of cattle which spread themselves over the broad sides of his hills, +and brushed through the ancient fir forests or the birchen groves +that shaded his glens. In this way his worldly means so increased, +that he became an object of no inconsiderable solicitude to such of the +neighbouring lairds and ladies as happened to have unmarried daughters; +and so many were the fair parties presented to his choice, that, +being attracted in all directions, he remained hanging, like a bunch +of ripe grapes, in the fluctuating breezes of doubt and indecision, +that threatened in time to dry and shrivel him up into an old bachelor. + +Whilst Macpherson was still in this negative condition, he happened +to visit the castle of a certain chief. The company were assembling in +the great hall to wait for the banquet, and he stood ensconced within +the deep recess of one of its antique windows, where he had vainly +endeavoured to retreat from the assaults of some three or four most +agreeable spinsters, who, being of a certain age, less scrupulously +adopted measures which were much too bold for their younger rivals +to have ventured upon. Having brought him to bay in a place whence +he could not retreat without rudeness, each commenced the discharge +of her own independent fire against him, whilst, at the same time, +little spiteful shots of malice, both from their tongues and their +eyes, were every now and then interchanged from one fair competitor +to another. This scene was going on, much to the amusement of the +spectators, but very much to the annoyance of the victim of this +persecution, when a sudden buzz from the company directed Macpherson's +attention to the door of the hall, where entered a lady of surprising +beauty and grace of mien. By a natural impulse, which he could neither +explain nor command, Macpherson burst unceremoniously from among his +tormentors, and stepped forward to gaze upon her as she moved easily up +the hall. The intelligent eyes of the lovely stranger fell upon him, +and fixed themselves upon him with a species of fascination which +touched him to the soul. He was sensibly conscious of the resistless +power of this influence, but at the same time he felt that it was a +fascination of much too agreeable a nature for him to allow himself +to struggle against it. He at once abandoned his heart to all its +ecstasies, as a thirsty fly would yield itself up to the delicious +temptation of quaffing the nectar from the cup of some beauteous +and fragrant flower; and he gazed on her face with a rapture which +he had never before experienced. Nor was all this very surprising, +for she who thus attracted him had been born and educated in the +metropolis,--had even mixed in the gay and splendid scenes of a court, +and her dress and manners lent so dazzling an air to the lustre of her +natural charms, that, compared to her, the native beauties congregated +from all parts of the vast strath of the Spey, fresh and lovely, +graceful and intelligent, as fame has ever held its ladies to be, +appeared before her as so many dim and feeble fixed stars in the path +of some brilliant and glorious planet. + +Invereshie's natural modesty made him shrink from asking for that +very introduction for which his whole heart burned. But the lady was +the niece of his host; she had recently arrived with the intention of +residing with him for some months, and the introduction came in the +ordinary course of etiquette. He was seated by her during the greater +part of that evening. Something more than mortal as she at first +appeared to be in his eyes, he soon found, on a nearer approach, that +she had nothing about her either overawing or repulsive. He listened +to her Syren tongue with an eagerness which until then had been quite +a stranger to him. The hours flew like minutes. He suddenly perceived +that every guest was gone but himself. He hurried away in confusion, +and rode home in a delirium of delight so perfectly novel to him, +that he two or three times seriously questioned himself by the way +whether reason was still really holding her dominion over his brain, +and the continual presence of the lady's image there almost convinced +him that she had usurped the throne of that judicious goddess. + +Macpherson was soon drawn back to the castle of his friend by an +attraction which was quite irresistible. The impression made upon +him by a first acquaintance was powerfully strengthened by a second +meeting,--a third and a fourth visit soon succeeded,--and their +interviews became more and more frequent, as he began to perceive, +with a certain air of triumph, that his attentions, offered at +first with becoming deference, were much more graciously received +than those which came from any of his brother lairds. His hunting +expeditions became less numerous, and even his wonted prudential +daily superintendence of his rural concerns gave way to a new and +much more seductive occupation. He gradually became almost a constant +inmate in his friend's castle. But, in devoting so much of his time +to attendance on her who had thus gained so overwhelming a dominion +over his heart, he consoled himself for this unusual neglect of his +affairs, by reflecting that the prize he coveted was so rare as to be +universally considered beyond all price--a gem far richer than any +of those that adorned his brooch; and that besides all its glitter +and sparkle, it was not without considerable intrinsic value also, +seeing that, in addition to her other advantages, the lady's tocher +was such as might well satisfy a much more avaricious man than he +knew himself to be. + +As for the lady, I have only to say of her, that she was a woman. There +are few of the fair sex whose bosoms have not been visited by a certain +spirit of romance at one period or other, and, indeed, it may be matter +of doubt whether those who have altogether escaped from this visitation +are much to be envied. It is that which makes many a town-bred girl +sigh for love and a cottage, until such fancies are extinguished +by maturer judgment. The soul of her of whom I speak had been deeply +embued with this poetry of life, and as yet she had seen no good reason +for ridding herself of it. She was all enthusiasm. Invereshie's gay +white tartan--his plumed bonnet and jewelled ornaments--his gallant, +though unobtrusive, bearing--his firm tread and independent gait--the +resolute and heroic character that sat upon his brow, and yielded a +calm illumination to his pensive eye--and, above all, the enchanting +scenery of his river--the sparkling Feshie--its wild glen, and the +prospective witchery of a Highland life, painted as it was with all the +glowing colours of her fervid fancy, and with a thousand adventitious +attractions which that fancy threw around it, had conspired to do as +much execution on her heart as her manifold charms had wrought upon +his. The visions of town gaiety and grandeur, which had hitherto +filled her young mind, speedily melted away. Rural circumstances +and rural imagery occupied it entirely. She suddenly became fond of +moonlight walks, of wandering on the banks of the magnificent river +that wound majestically through the wide vale where she then resided, +and of musing amid the checkered shadows which evening threw over the +ruins of an ancient chapel and burial-ground, embraced by one bold +and beautiful sweep of the stream at no great distance from the castle. + +She was one night seated on a grey moss-covered stone, one of the +many frail memorials of the dead which were scattered through this +retired spot, her eyes now lifted in admiration of the glorious orb +that silently held its way through the skies above, and now thrown +downwards to its image trembling in the mimic heaven then floating +on the broad bosom of the stream below, when Invereshie, who had been +called away by some express affair, was returning at a late hour to the +castle. These were times, be it again remembered, when superstition +held all mankind under her thrall, and when the boldest Highlander, +who would have fearlessly rushed on death in the battlefield, would +have quailed before the idle phantoms of his own imagination. + +Invereshie's nurse had early embued his mind with a firm faith in +all the wildest of these imaginings, and with him this belief, then +so common to all, had grown with his growth and strengthened with +his strength. The horse that he rode started aside and snorted with +affright when, on bursting from the deep shade of the grove that +partly embosomed the burial-ground, he first saw the white figure +of the lady before him; and it argued a more than common courage in +the horseman, therefore, that he should have checked the flight of +the terrified animal in order to ascertain the nature of the object +he beheld. The moonbeams shone fully and clearly on a face which he +could not for a moment mistake; yet their pale light shed so chilling +and unearthly a lustre over its well-known features, that, taken in +combination with the hour and the place, it made him hesitate for +a moment whether he really beheld the form of her whom he so much +loved, or whether that which presented itself to him was one of those +unsubstantial appearances which he believed evil spirits had power to +assume for the bewilderment and destruction of mortals. But the sound +of the trampling of his horse's hoof had fallen upon the lady's ear +while it was yet afar off; as it drew nearer, the fluttering of her +heart had whispered to her that it was Invereshie who came; and ere +he had recovered from his surprise, she arose and saluted him in that +voice which had now become as music to his ear. His blood, chilled +and arrested as it had for a moment been by superstitious dread, now +went dancing to his heart in a rushing tide of joy. He sprang from his +horse, and eagerly availing himself of so favourable an opportunity, +where all eyes but those of God were absent, he made a full and +animated confession of his passion; and that little solitary field +of the dead, which had been accustomed for so many ages to scenes +of woe and bereavement alone, was now once more doomed to witness +the pure effusions of two as happy hearts as had ever been united +together before its neighbouring altar, now so long dilapidated. + +"Macpherson!" said the lady, with that enthusiasm which so strongly +characterised her, "never forget this solemn hour and place, and +let the image of that bright moon be ever in your memory; for it has +witnessed your vows, and beheld thee pledge thyself to me for ever!" + +"Never! never can I forget it, lady!" replied Invereshie, with a +depth of feeling equal to her own. + +"Tis well!" said the lady. "And now it were better to shun the +observation of prying eyes. This private converse of ours, at the +witching hour of night, when none but spirits of the moon are abroad, +might be misinterpreted. We must part here!" And ere he wist, she +had disappeared among the brushwood. + +"The witching hour of night!" muttered Invereshie to himself, +as he stood rivetted to the spot, overpowered by the surprise in +which he was left by the strange and sudden manner in which she had +vanished from his sight. There was something, he thought, marvellous +and supernatural in it. His eyes wandered round the silent churchyard +where he had found her seated. A thousand superstitious tales connected +with that spot rushed upon his memory. It was there that in popular +belief the wicked spirit of the waters often appeared to bewilder +lated travellers, and to lure them to their destruction. He thought +of the power which evil beings were supposed to have in re-animating +the remains of the dead, or of thrusting forth human souls from their +earthly habitations, in order that they might themselves become the +tenants of the fairest and most angelic forms. His reason and his +judgment were in vain opposed to these terrific phantoms of the brain. + +"The witching hour of night!" groaned he deeply. + +The hand which he had but a moment before so warmly pressed, and +which had sent a fever of joy through every fibre of his frame, now +seemed to have conveyed to him an icy chillness that ran through every +vein till it froze his very heart; and as he hurriedly and almost +unconsciously mounted his horse to prosecute his way towards the +castle, his mind was perplexed and tortured by strange and mysterious +doubts and misgivings, which continued to haunt both his waking and +his sleeping dreams during the remainder of that eventful night. + +But as the dawn of morning swept away the fogs which hung upon the +mountain-tops, so did it dissipate the gloomy visions which had +thus for a few hours shrouded the lofty soul of Invereshie. Reason +resumed her judgment-seat, and a little calm reflection brought a +blush of shame into his cheek, occasioned by what he was now disposed +to believe to have been his own weakness. Every manly feeling within +him was aroused. Arraying himself in his richest attire, he sought +for an audience of his friend the chief, and readily gained from him +an uncle's and a guardian's consent to his union with her to whom his +vows of love had been so recently plighted. Overjoyed at Invereshie's +disclosure, the chief led him to the great hall, at that time thronged +with guests, and having taken his seat to preside over the morning's +meal, he called for a grace cup, and, drinking to the health of the +happy pair, he publicly announced the alliance which had been that +morning agreed on. + +All eyes were instantly turned on her to whom the flowing goblet +had been so joyfully drained. But whether it was from the sudden +swelling of those emotions naturally enough arising from this +public declaration, or whether it was owing to some fortuitous cause +altogether unconnected with what was then passing, no one could say; +but, whatever might be the cause, her brilliant eyes had become fixed +and glazed, the roses had fled from her cheeks, and she fell gently +back in her chair, her lovely features exhibiting the ghastly hue of +death. A chill shudder came over Invereshie's heart. Pushing back +the seat in which he sat, he gazed with horror upon the spectacle +before him. Again was his mind unmanned, and a vision of the unearthly +appearance which the lady had presented to him when he first beheld +her seated among the graves beneath the moonlight of the previous +night rushed upon his imagination. Overpowered by his feelings, +he remained as if unconscious of what was passing around him. Nor +was he at all observed amidst the general panic. The women shrieked, +the guests arose in confusion, they crowded around the lady, and she +was borne off to her apartment by the attendants. + +For several hours the lady lay on her couch so perfectly exanimate, +that every individual in the castle believed that she was dead, and +mournful preparations were begun to be made for the funereal obsequies +of her in whose animating smiles they had so recently rejoiced, and in +whose bridal festivities they had anticipated that they were so soon +to participate. Eloquent was the silence of that grief which reigned +everywhere within the walls, unbroken save by the sobbing of those who +hung around the couch of her who had already lived long enough among +them to have gained the hearts of all who had approached her. But ere +long it happily gave way to unrestrained joy; for, to the amazement of +her attendants, the warm blush of life gradually began to revisit her +cheeks,--the heaving of her bosom gently returned,--her eyelids slowly +unsealed themselves,--the pulse resumed its former action,--the tide +of life speedily carried renewed vigour into every limb,--her eyes +regained their wonted brightness,--and, to the unspeakable surprise +and delight of every one, she returned to the hall with a light and +airy step, and with a sensible accession to her usual gaiety of heart, +apparently resulting from its temporary slumber. + +But hers was a gaiety that touched no responsive chords in Macpherson's +bosom. He had stood as it were appalled, a motionless spectator of +the various wonderful changes which had been so strangely produced +upon her; and he remained for some time sunk in silent abstraction, +ill befitting an ardent lover who had thus had his soul's idol so +miraculously restored to him from the very jaws of the grave. Those who +were about him marvelled and whispered together. But his moody musings +were quickly overcome by the lady's enchanting voice of gladness. The +laughing sunshine that darted from her eyes soon dissipated those +sombre clouds that overshadowed his brow. He again became the willing +slave of every word and glance that fell from her. The fascination +under which he was held increased every moment; and not many days +went by ere the Laird of Invereshie, surrounded by a great gathering +of his clansmen and followers, and proudly riding by her bridle-rein, +led her home as his bride to the blithe sound of the bagpipe. + +As he approached the mansion of his fathers, Invereshie was met by +crowds of women and children and old men, who thronged about the +cavalcade with eager curiosity to behold their future lady, whom they +greeted with shouts of gratulation that suffused her lovely cheek +with blushes of joy, and flushed her husband's brow with a pride +which he had never felt before. An event so interesting to all his +dependants had made even the most aged and infirm to leave their humble +dwellings. Some of those who had come from great distances were mounted +on the shaggy little horses common to the country. The creatures +were caparisoned in the rudest and most characteristic manner; and +they formed many picturesque groups, which every now and then called +forth expressions of surprise and delight from her who was the fair +cause of their assemblage. One of these was peculiarly striking. + +Under an old twisted mountain ash stood a ragged red-headed boy, +holding the withy that served as a halter to a pony, whose bones, +exhibiting many an angle beneath his rough white skin, showed that +he had arrived at an age but rarely reached by any of his long-lived +race. From either side of the wooden saddle that filled his hollow +back hung a huge pannier of the coarsest kind of wicker-work, and from +each of these arose the plaided head and pale parchment features of +an old woman. So very withered were these ancient crones, that, worn +down and weak as was the animal that bore them, their wasted frames +seemed scarcely to add anything, in his estimation, to the weight of +the baskets that contained them. There was something, at first sight, +indescribably ludicrous in the picture they presented; and the bride, +who was by no means insensible to such emotions, could not resist +giving way for an instant to the laughter which it excited in her as +she drew near to them. It so happened that the line of march of the +procession brought her close past the tree under which these strange +figures were stationed. No sooner had she come opposite to it, than +one of them, remarkable for the length of her grey elf-like locks, +which streamed from beneath the uncouth mutch that covered her head, +reared herself up from amidst the heap of tartan stuff that enveloped +her person. Stretching out her bare and skeleton arm, her red and gummy +eyelids expanded themselves so as to bring fully into action a pair +of piercing black eyes that flashed with a fire which even extreme +age had been unable to tame, and which now lent a fearful animation +to her otherwise spectral features. She glared into the lady's face +with a fixed gaze and a wild expression that blenched her cheek, and +at once banished everything like mirth or joy from her bosom. In vain +did the lady try to avert her eyes from an object which was now to +her terrific,--they seemed as if enchained to it by a power like that +of the basilisk; and to add to her misery some accidental obstacle +created at that very moment a stop in their onward march. Anxiously +did she wish to have taken refuge in conversation with her husband, +but he was just then employed in replying to the warm compliments of +some humble well-wisher, who addressed him from the opposite side of +the way. Meanwhile the bony and toothless jaws of the old woman seemed +to be moved by a temporary palsy, created by her anxiety to utter +something which the lady dreaded to hear. But her very eagerness +apparently deprived her of the power of speech; for though her +skinny lips were seen to move, no sound proceeded from them except +an inarticulate muttering, the import of which was lost amidst the +din and bustle of the crowd. But although the lady gathered not the +sense, the lurid lightnings that shot from the eyes of this miserable +looking wretch told her that the words, if words they were, could +have conveyed no prayer of benediction. A sudden failure of nature +came over the lady, and she must have dropped from her saddle to the +ground, had not her husband's attention been recalled to her at that +moment by the renewal of the onward movement of the march. Altogether +unconscious of what had caused this apparent faintness, nor indeed +being quite aware of the full extent of it, his arm was ready to +uphold her. Her vital spirits rallied at his touch. She recovered +her seat, and then calling his attention to the object of her alarm, +who was by this time left some short way behind them,-- + +"Tell me," said she, "tell me, I entreat thee, who is that fearful +looking old woman under yonder tree?" + +"That," replied he, "is my old nurse Elspeth Macpherson, one who is +believed by all to be gifted with more than mortal powers." + +"Her eye is indeed terrible!" replied the lady shuddering. + +"Why shouldst thou be afraid of her?" said Macpherson, in a graver +tone. "She can never be terrible to thee? Great as her wisdom and +great as her powers undoubtedly are, they can never come to me or +to mine but to succour and to bless. From my cradle upwards hath she +been as a guardian spirit to me, averting all misfortunes that might +have assailed me; and, twined as thy future fate now is with mine, +my love," continued he with a forced smile, "trust me, dearest, +that her searching eye will be continually over it and on it." + +An involuntary tremor seized the lady at the very thought of her fate +being under the control of an eye the piercing and unfriendly influence +of which was still so strong upon her mind. She forebore to reply; +but she could not exclude a train of very unpleasant reflections, which +even the rapidly succeeding circumstances of the gay Highland pageant, +in which she performed so prominent a part, failed for a while in +removing. For some time, too, her husband rode by her side wrapped up +in silence and abstraction, till rousing himself from what appeared +to be a dreaming fit, he addressed to her some kind expressions, +which fell on her soul like balm, and by degrees regaining her wonted +cheerfulness, she at length rode onwards distributing sunshine and +sweetness on all sides, in return for the many warm welcomes that +were showered on her, till she was finally lifted from her saddle +at the door of her future home, by the nervous arm of the enraptured +Invereshie, amidst the deafening shouts of his friends and retainers. + +Invereshie's hospitable board was spread with more than its usual +liberality on this joyful occasion; and, according to the custom +of the time, its feast and revelry endured for many days. As his +lady's previous nurture and education had accustomed her to much +nicety of domestic arrangement, and to many luxuries then altogether +unknown in the Highlands, he exerted himself to the utmost to lessen +the disagreeable effect of that change which he was conscious she +must experience on her first entrance into his family. He strove +to anticipate every wish; and when he had failed in anticipating +her wishes, he spared neither pains nor expense to gratify them the +moment she had breathed them. He procured comforts and rarities of +all sorts from great distances, and at a cost which he would have +considered most alarming, had he not trusted that it would cease +with the departure of the guests who thronged his house to welcome +his newly married wife. But time wore on, and the lady seemed to have +no inclination to get rid of either. + +There is a prudent and useful old saying--"begin with a wife as you +mean to end with her." It would have been well for Macpherson that +he had acted upon this principle. Instead of boldly bringing down his +lady's ideas at once to that pitch which would have been in rational +harmony with his own habits, as well as with his circumstances, to +which her strong attachment to him would have most probably insured her +ready submission, he had himself done all in his power to give a false +colour to things, which he now felt it a very delicate and difficult +matter to attempt to remove. Meanwhile she went innocently enough on +in obedience to that bent which her education had given her, in the +full persuasion that she was only doing that which her duty, as his +wife, prescribed to her. Yielding to her resistless importunity and +attractions, the neighbouring gentry were drawn around her, as if by +some magic spell; and many of them became, in a manner, domesticated +at her husband's hearth. Then every succeeding day brought to the +old house some new friend from afar, whom she had been dying to +make acquainted with that man of whom she was so proud, and to whom +her whole heart was now devoted, that she might prove how much she +had gained by relinquishing the world for a prize so inestimable; +and for the entertainment of persons so cultivated as these were, +it naturally followed that more refined schemes of pleasure and +amusement were devised which, whilst they gratified Invereshie at +the time, by exciting universal admiration at the tasteful genius +of his lady who had conceived them, made him afterwards wince at +the large and repeated demands which were made on his treasury, for +purposes altogether foreign to the whole pursuits of his former life, +and which the whole tenour of it had led him to consider as vain and +unprofitable. He wondered that her ingenuity could be so enduring, +and still comforting himself with the hope that each particular +instance of it that occurred must necessarily be the last, he was +still doomed to be astonished every succeeding day by new and yet +more expensive projects. Amidst all this bustle and occupation, +her speech was ever of the delights of her Highland Solitude, as she +called their residence, whilst her thoughts seemed to be unceasingly +employed in endeavours to invent means of depriving it of all claim +to any such title, by filling it with as large a portion as she could +of the gay crowd and vanities of a city. Of all these vanities none +were so galling to the honest heart of Invereshie as the arrival of +a certain knot of gallant rufflers from the court--men of broad hats +jauntingly cocked to one side, and balanced by long feathers of various +hues--who flaunted it in silken cloaks, and strutted it in long-piked +shoes; all of which, in his eyes, seemed to sort but ill with the +manly Celtic garb worn by himself and his Highland friends. But much +as it irked him to be compelled to receive such popinjays as these, +and irritated as he frequently was by their unblushing impudence, +he submitted calmly to that which the rules of hospitality dictated, +and even repressed all outward appearance of his dissatisfaction; and +he was rendered the more ready to impose this restraint on himself, +by the reflection that most of these gay gallants were in some way +or other related to or connected with his wife; and he felt that, +as her kinsmen or friends, they claimed the full extent of a Highland +welcome. But these southern summerfly cousins were no sooner gone than +they were succeeded by clouds of fresh and yet more thirsty insects of +the same genus; and these tormentors not only contributed, in their +own persons, largely to augment the consumption of those luxuries +which had been so recently introduced into his house, and to the +promotion of those extravagancies which were conceived and executed +more especially for their amusement; but the more simple natives of +the glens also were soon taught by their infectious example to relish +them quite as much as they did. + +Invereshie was long silent under all this; but he did not suffer the +less deeply in secret on that account. The ardent love with which +he adored his wife, and that certain mistaken chivalrous notion of +delicacy, which has been already noticed as operating so strongly +on his feelings, long prevented him from attempting to restrain the +expenses of so fascinating a woman, who had brought him money enough to +furnish at least some apology for the expenditure she occasioned. But +ample as her tocher had once appeared to him, he soon began to see +that it was melting rapidly away under those immense drains which she +was daily applying to it; and at length, with more of love than of +chiding in his tone, he ventured to speak to her on the painful subject +which had so long oppressed him. But alas! whilst he did speak to her, +her very eye unmanned him, and what he did bring himself to say was +couched in terms so gentle and so general, as neither to convey to +her any very useful or impressive lesson, nor even any very definite +idea of the extent to which she had erred. The lady flung her snowy +arms around his neck, bedewed his face with her tears, and made many +earnest and sincere protestations, all of which she sincerely intended +most sacredly to fulfil. Macpherson was enraptured. He blamed himself +for what he called his severity--kissed away the precious drops from +her eyes with a more than ordinary glow of affection. They were the +happiest pair in the universe, and in a few days her extravagance +was going on at its usual rapid pace, whilst she was all the while +in the most perfect belief that she was giving the fullest attention +to his wishes. + +Many were the scenes of this description that afterwards, from time +to time, took place between Invereshie and his lady. The kind of +life into which he was now so unwittingly and unwillingly plunged, +allowed him few moments for sober reflection. But when such moments +did occur, they were bitter ones indeed. At such times gloomy and +harrowing recollections, and dreadful and appalling doubts would +steal over his soul, putting his very reason to flight before them, +and his flesh would creep, and his hair would bristle, whilst his +mind was thus yielding to its own speculative misgivings as to the +mysterious nature of that fascination which could thus drag him on +to certain ruin in despite of his own better judgment. But resolute +as was his natural character, and deep as were his determinations at +such times, they were all put to flight at once by the first bewitching +love-glance of his lady's eye. + +Things had gone on in this way for months, growing worse and worse +every day, when Invereshie, oppressed by that gloom which now clung +more frequently and more closely to him, set out one morning very +early to join some of his neighbours in a distant chase of the deer. He +was that day more than usually successful; and his attendants having +been left behind to bring home the spoils, he was compelled to return +in the evening alone. The sun was getting low as he came down into +the upper part of his own deep and precipitous Glen Feshie, and the +shaggy faces of its eastern mountains were broadly lighted up by its +rays, thus rendering the crags on its western side, and the shadows +they threw across the wooded bottom, doubly obscured by the blazing +contrast. As the laird advanced, he came suddenly in view of a cottage +perched on the summit of a little knoll, and sheltered by one huge +twisted and scathed pine alone, the bared limbs of which permitted +the spot to be gladdened by a lingering sunbeam, to which the dense +forest that surrounded it forbade all entrance elsewhere. This was the +habitation of his nurse, whose strange appearance has been already +described. She and the old crone her sister, who was believed to +be scarcely less gifted than herself, were seated on settles at the +door, availing themselves of what yet remained of the glowing light +to twine a thrifty thread with distaff and spindle. The laird seldom +passed this way without visiting old Elspeth; and on this occasion he +turned from his direct path the more readily, because his conscience +accused him that he had somewhat neglected her of late. The continual +round of dissipation in which he had been for some time whirled, had +not permitted him once to see her since that accidental glance he had +had of her on the day she appeared at his marriage pageant. On that +occasion, too, he felt that she should have been a guest at that table +where his humbler friends were entertained; but he remembered that +although she had been invited, she did not appear. The recollection +of that joyous day shot across his mind like the gleaming lightning +of a summer night, only to be succeeded by a deeper gloom, arising +from the recurrence of all that had passed since. Unperceived by +the frail owners of the cottage, he wound his way towards it with a +sinking heart. In approaching it, he was compelled by the nature of +the ground to make a half circuit around the knoll, which thus brought +him up in rear of it; and he was about to discover himself to the two +old women, by turning the angle of the gable of the little building, +when his steps were almost unconsciously arrested by hearing his own +name pronounced, and he halted for a moment. It was his nurse who +was speaking to her sister emphatically and energetically in Gaelic; +and that which he heard might have been nearly interpreted thus:-- + +"Och hone, Invereshie!" exclaimed she in a shrill tone of lament, +as if she had been apostrophising him in his own presence. "Och +hone! what but the black art of hell itself could have so cast the +glamour o'er thee, my bonny bairn, that thou shouldst sit and see +thy newly-chartered hills and glens melt from thy grasp as calmly and +silently as yonder pine-clad rock beholds the sunshine creep away from +its bosom, and never once come to seek counsel, as thou wert wont, +from these lips which never lied to thine ear." + +"Witchcraft!" muttered her sister; "wicked witchcraft is at work +with him." + +"Witchcraft!" cried the nurse with an emotion so violent as fearfully +to agitate her whole frame; "witchcraft, said ye? The prince of +darkness is himself at work with him. The foul fiend, in a woman's +form, is linked to him. Bethink thee of her moonlight wanderings by the +waters,--her unhallowed midnight orgies among the graves of the dead, +where they say she is still seen to walk while he is sleeping,--her +sudden death, for death it was, on that ill-starred morning which +proclaimed their union,--the strange reanimation of the corpse by +the foul fiend that now possesses it,--the momentary sinking, and +terror, and confusion of that wicked spirit when he quailed before +the gaze of mine own gifted eye, shot from beneath the shade of the +spell-dispersing rowan-tree;--bethink thee of these things, sister +Marion, and wonder not that mine unwilling lips should have been +urged to mutter a curse where my heart would have fain poured forth +a blessing." + +"I saw, I saw," replied the other crone, "thine eye was, indeed, +then most potently gifted, sister, and thy will was not thine own." + +"Och hone, och hone!" wailed out the nurse again, "that I should +live to see my soul's darling thus rent away from the care of Heaven, +handed over to the powers of hell, and doomed to destruction both here +and hereafter! Och hone, willingly would I give my worthless life if +I could yet save him! Och hone, if I could but pour my burning words +into his ear, so that his eyes might be opened, and that he might +stent his heart-strings to the stern work of his own salvation." + +The unhappy laird had already heard enough. He felt as if the deadly +juice of upas had found its way into his veins. His whole frame was, +as it were, paralysed. He leaned against the gable of the cottage for +some moments, during which he was almost unconscious of thought or of +existence; and then, with his limbs failing under him, he staggered, +giddy and confused, down the side of the knoll into the pathway below, +and sank exhausted upon a mossy bank, where he lay for a time in a +state nearly approaching to insensibility. Starting up at last with an +unnatural effort which he had no reason left to guide, and regardless +of all pathway, he hurried along by the brink of the stream with a fury +as wild as that which impelled its rushing waters. Slackening his pace +by degrees, as his bewildered recollection began to return to him, he +at length stopped, and resting against a rock, his scattered thoughts +returned thickly upon him. At first he resolved to go back to hold +converse with his nurse, but ere he had well conceived this idea, he +rejected it as an idle waste of time; for the fresh recurrence to his +recollection of all she had uttered flashed conviction too strongly +on his mind to render any further question necessary. Those dark and +mysterious doubts which had so long tortured him from time to time +during his moody musings, now reared themselves into one gigantic, +horrible, and overwhelming certainty, to dwell on which, even for an +instant, filled him with an agony that brought large drops of cold +perspiration to his brow. His jaws chattered against each other, and +a cold shudder ran through his whole system, like that which precedes +the last shiver of death. Again, a burning fever seized his brain, +and he struck his forehead with the palm of his hand, and he wept +and groaned aloud. Relieved by this sudden burst of affliction, he +started from his resting-place, and knocking violently on his breast, +as if to summon up all of man that was yet left within him,-- + +"Invereshie!" cried he, addressing himself in unconscious soliloquy, +"Invereshie! where is thy boasted resolution? Whither hath thy +courage fled? But it shall come to thee now!" said he, setting his +teeth together, and clenching his hands. "Hah! nor mortal nor demon +shall keep me in this unhallowed state of enchantment, if it be in +the power of fire or of water to break the spell. Let me think," +said he again, striking his forehead, as if to rouse up his sharpest +intellect; and then after a pause, during which he strode for a few +turns backwards and forwards beneath the deep shadow of the rock, +"I have it!" he exclaimed, and he urged on his steps with reckless +haste towards his home. + +The distant murmurs of its mirth and its revelry came on his ears +whilst he was yet above a bowshot off,--an arrow itself could not +have rent his heart more cruelly. He flew forward, and brushing +almost unnoticed through the crowd of serving-men in gay attire +that obstructed his entrance, he sought a lonely chamber, where, +in darkness and in silence, he sat brooding over his misery, and +nursing the terrible purpose that possessed him. Every now and +then his soul was stung to madness by the shouts of mirth, the +music, and the other sounds of jollity which, from time to time, +arose from the festal hall below, until, unable longer to bear the +torture he suffered, he rushed forth again into the woods. There he +wandered for some hours to and fro, torn by his contending passions; +for love was still powerful within him, and would, even yet, often +rise up for a time to wrestle hard with the wizard Superstition, who +had now so irrecoverably entangled and bemeshed his judgment. But +ever as the recurrence of the tender emotion was felt within him, +he summoned up his sterner nature to exorcise it forth as something +unholy. At length the broad moon arose, lighted up the bold front +of the lofty Craigmigavie, spread its beams over the far-stretched +surface of Loch Inch, shed a pale lustre on the distant Craigou, +the Macpherson's watch-hill, and fully illuminated the wild scenery +and the sparkling waters of the Feshie, and the noble birches that +wept over its roaring rapids, and its deep and pellucid pools. + +It is not for me to say what were these mysterious associations +which came over the mind of Invereshie as he beheld the ample disc +of the glorious luminary arise over the mountain top, and launch +itself upward to hold its silent and undisturbed way through the +immensity of ethereal space. They seemed to bring an artificial calm +to his bosom. But it was the calm of a mind irrevocably wound up to +a determined purpose. And now, with his arms folded with convulsive +tightness over his breast, as if to prevent the possibility of that +purpose escaping thence, he stalked with a steady and resolute step +towards the house. + +It was now midnight. The revelry which had raged within its walls was +silent, and the guests, wearied with the feast and the dance, and the +tired servants, were alike buried in sleep. John of Invereshie stole to +his lady's chamber. She, too, had retired to rest, and that deep and +quiet sleep which results from purity and innocence of soul had shed +its balm upon her pillow. Her lamp was extinguished, but the moonbeams +shone full through the casement directly on the bed where her beautiful +form was disposed, and touched her lovely features with the pale +polished glaze of marble. Had it not been for her long dark eyelashes, +and those raven ringlets that, escaping from their confinement, +had strayed over her snowy neck, she might, in very deed, have been +mistaken for some exquisitely sculptured monumental figure. For one +moment Invereshie's purpose was shaken. But it was for one moment only; +for as memory brought back to him the lonely churchyard, her appeal to +the moon, the mysterious events that followed their nocturnal meeting, +and all those after circumstances which had combined to produce that +awful and to him infallible judgment which accident had led him to +hear his old nurse pronounce, his dread purpose became firmly restored +to his mind. He stretched forth his hand and griped the wrist of the +delicately moulded arm that lay upon her bosom. The lady awoke in +alarm, but instantly recognising her husband, her fears were at once +tranquillised, and springing from her recumbent posture, she threw +herself on his neck. Surprised thus unexpectedly into her embrace, +Invereshie stood silent and motionless. Love thrilled through every +fibre with one last expiring effort. Aware of the potency of its +influence over his heart, he threw his eyes upwards, and--ignorant +and unhappy man!--blinded by the dark and bewildering mists of the +wild superstition that had dominion over him, he actually prayed to +Heaven to give him power to go through with his work; and then, with +a fixed composure, gained from that fancied aid which he imagined he +was thus experiencing, he calmly and quietly turned to the lady. + +"Dost thou see yonder moon?" said he; "never was there sky so fair, +or scene so glorious. The night, too, is soft and balmy. Say, will +ye wander forth with me a little while to note how the eddies of the +Feshie are distilled into liquid silver by her beams?" + +"Let me but wrap me in my robe and my velvet mantle, and I will forth +with you with good will," replied the lady, quite overjoyed to be thus +gratified by her husband in the indulgence of her romantic propensity +for such walks. "How kind in you, my love, to think thus of my fancies +when rest must be so needful for you." And having hastily protected her +person from the night air, she slipped her arm within her husband's, +and with a short light step, that but ill accorded with the solemn +and funereal stride of him on whom she leaned, she tripped with him +down stairs and across the dewy lawn. + +"It is, indeed, a most glorious scene!" exclaimed the enraptured +lady. "But, in truth, thou saidst not well, Invereshie, in saying +that never was there sky so fair or scene so glorious." Then smiling +in his face, and sportively kissing his cheek, she innocently added, +"I trust thou art no traitor." + +"Traitor!" exclaimed Invereshie, with a sudden start that might have +betrayed him to any one less unsuspicious. + +"Aye, traitor in very deed!" replied the lady laughing. "Traitor +truly art thou if thou canst forget the lonely churchyard where you +bound yourself to me for ever, and that broad moon which then shed +over us her magic influence!" + +"Magic influence!" groaned Invereshie in a deep and hollow tone +of anguish. + +"Alas! are you unwell, my dearest?" earnestly exclaimed his anxious +and affectionate wife. "I fear you have already done too much to-day; +and your kindness to me would make thee thus expose thyself when +thou wouldst most need repose. See yonder dark cloud, too, pregnant +with storm. Look how it careers towards the moon; might not one fancy +that some demon of the air bestrode it? Had we not better return to +bed? Thou art not well, my love. Come, come, let us return." + +"No!" replied Invereshie, in a tone calculated to disguise his feelings +as much as possible. "I shall get better in the air. A sickness, a +slight sickness only; a little farther walk will rid me of my malady." + +The lady said no more; and Invereshie walked onwards with a slow, +firm, but somewhat convulsive step, treading through the checkered +wood by a path that wound among green knolls covered with birches +of stupendous growth, and that led them to the rocky banks of the +Feshie. There they reached a crag that projected over a deep and rapid +part of the stream. Its waves were dancing in all the glories of that +silver light which they borrowed from the bright luminary that still +rode sublimely within a pure haven in the lowering sky, its brilliancy +increased by contrast with the dense, and pitchy, and portentous cloud +that came sailing sublimely down upon it, like a huge winged continent. + +"Invereshie!" cried the lady, her feelings strongly excited by the +grandeur and beauty of the scene; and bursting forth in rapturous +ecstacy, "do we not seem like the beings of another world as we stand +on this giddy point, with the moon thus pouring out upon us all its +potent enchantment?" + +"Now God and Jesu be my guides but I will try thine enchantment!" cried +Invereshie. + +Steeling up his heart to the deed, and nerving his muscular arms to +the utmost, he lifted the light and sylph-like form of his lady. One +piercing shriek burst from her as he poised her aloft,--a benighted +traveller heard it at a distance, crossed himself, and hurried onwards +with trembling limbs,--and ere the lady had uttered another scream, +Invereshie had thrown her, like a breeze-borne snow-wreath, far +amid the bosom of the waves. The wretched man bent forward from the +rock, his fingers clenched, his teeth set together, and his eyeballs +stretching after the object which his hands had but just parted with. + +"Holy Virgin, she floats!" cried he as he beheld her, by the light +of the moonbeam playing on the ripple that followed her form as it +was hurried down the stream, supported by her widespread mantle. + +"Help! oh help! my love! my lord!--'twas madness!--'twas accident!--but +oh! mercy and save me!--save or I am lost for ever!" + +"She floats!" hoarsely muttered Invereshie, drawing his breath rapidly, +and with a croaking sound in his throat that spoke the agonising +torture he was enduring. "Ha! she floats! by Saint Mary then was the +old woman right! Ha! she struggles at yonder tree!" He sprang from +the rock to the margin of the stream, and scrambled towards the spot +whither the eddy had whirled the already sinking lady. She had caught +with a death-grasp by one frail twig of an alder sapling, though her +strength was fast failing. Invereshie's eyes glared over her face as +her head and her long dripping hair half emerged from the water. + +"Help!--oh save!--oh help!" was now all she could faintly utter, +whilst her expiring looked fixed itself upon her husband. + +"Help, saidst thou? thou canst well help thyself by thy foul +enchantments!" cried Invereshie. "Blessed Saint Michael be mine +aid! thou hadst well-nigh taken from me my all, fiend that thou art; +thou may'st e'en take that twig with thee, too!" and drawing from +his belt his skian dhu, he sternly divided the sapling at its very +root. As it parted from its hold, the lady disappeared amid the rough +surges of the rapid stream, and the blindness which superstition had +thrown over him fell at once from her distracted husband. + +"Holy angels, she sank!" exclaimed Invereshie with a maddening yell +that overwhelmed for a moment the very roar of the flood. "My love! my +wife! O murderer! murderer!" + +He rushed wildly among the waters to save her. But the impenetrable +cloud which had been all this time careering onwards, at that very +instant blotted out the moon from the firmament, and left his soul +to the midnight darkness of remorse and despair. + + + + + + + + +A STRANGER APPEARS. + + +Our friend Grant's sad story of John Macpherson of Invereshie and +his unhappy lady produced so powerful an effect on his auditors, +that we continued to walk on in silence for some time after he had +concluded, each of us musing after his own fashion. We had been +accidentally joined by a stranger, a stout made athletic little man, +in an old-fashioned rusty black coat and waistcoat, corduroy breeches, +and grey worsted stockings. In one hand he carried a good oaken +stick, and in the other a little bundle, tied up in a red cotton +handkerchief. This personage walked sturdily forth from a small +house of refreshment by the wayside a few minutes before our friend +had commenced his narrative; and we had been too much occupied with +our own conversation at the time of his appearance to notice him +further than by exchanging with him the customary "good day to you" +of salutation. But the stranger, having taken even this much as +a sufficient introduction among pedestrians travelling in the same +direction in so lonely a country as that we were then passing through, +ventured to continue to keep pace with us in such a way as to be +all the while within earshot of what was said. To the story of John +Macpherson he listened with most unremitting attention; and to our +no small surprise he was the first person to open his mouth to make a +comment upon it, now that it was ended. After taking a short trot of +several yards, to bring himself abreast of our friend the narrator, and +at the same time taking off a very well worn hat with an air of marked +respect towards him whom he was addressing, he spoke as follows:-- + +Stranger.--Might I be so bold, sir, as to offer a few remarks, +critical, historical, and explanatory on the fragment of Macpherson +history which you have just finished rehearsing? + +Grant (somewhat surprised).--Certainly, sir; I shall be very glad to +hear them. + +Stranger (with a grave and solemn air).--Why, then, courteous sir, +whilst I am altogether wishful to render unto your tale every such +praise as may be justly found to be due to it as the produce of +one remarkable for that sort of inventive genius which caused Homer +to contrive so pretty a story out of the bare facks of the Trojan +War, and which enabled Virgil to interest us so much with that long +tale which he tells, by exaggerating those few dry adventures which +befell the Pious Æneas as he fled from Troy to found a new kingdom +in Italy, yet must I honestly admit that I cannot compliment the +historical fragment which you have given furth to your friends for +being parteeklarly verawcious. + +Clifford.--Bravo! Well done, old fellow. Ha! ha! ha! You beat +Touchstone all to sticks. Never heard the lie more ingeniously given +in my life. + +Stranger (with great earnestness, and very much abashed).--Howt no, +sir. Upon my solemn credit, I meant no such-an-a-thing. I only meant to +convey to this gentleman, and that with all due respect and courtesy, +my humble opinion, that in a grave piece of history, having reference +to a brave and honourable Highland clan, the true yevents should +be closer stuck to than it may be necessar to do where the subject +matter is nothing better than such dubious and unimportant trash as +that which the auncient Greek and Latin poets had to deal with. + +Grant (a little nettled).--And what reason have you to suppose that +this is not the true and authentic statement of the facts of John +Macpherson's history as they really occurred? I gave them as I got +them from another. You do not suppose that I altered or invented them? + +Stranger (with an obsequious inclination of his body).--Howt away, +no, no. No such-an-a-thing. If you got them from another I have no +manner of doot but you have rehearsed them simply as ye had them, +without adding, or eiking, or paring, or changing one whit. But, +nevertheless, the real facks have been sorely and most grievously +tampered with by some one. + +Grant.--Indeed. And how came you to know anything about this Macpherson +story? and what is your authority for saying that the facts have been +tampered with? + +Stranger (with oracular gravity).--Firstly, or, in the first place, +I beg to premeese, that I am a schoolmaster; and therefore it is that +I am greatly given to accurate and parteeklar inquiry. Secondly, or, +in the second place, having daily practeesed myself into a habit of +correcting the errors of my scholars, it is not very easy for me to +pass silently by the blunders of other folk. And, thirdly, or, in +the third place, and to conclude, I am a Macpherson myself; and as +it is natural that I should on that account be all the more earnest +and punctilious in expiscating the facks connected with the history +of that great clan, so is it also to be presumed that I may have had +greater opportunity for conducking such an investigation. And so, +having premeesed this much, I may add, by way of an impruvment on +the subject, that I shall be just as well pleased to correct your +version of this history as I should be to correct the theme of any +of my own boys. + +Grant (smiling).--I am truly obliged to you for this gratuitous offer +of your tuition. + +Stranger (whom I shall now call Dominie Macpherson).--Not in the +very least obliged to me, sir. The greatest pleasure of my life is +to instruct the ignorant; and in yespecial I deem it a vurra high +honour and delight to me to have this opportunity of instructing such +a gentleman as you. Proud truly may I be of my scholar. + +Clifford (with mock gravity).--The master and the scholar, methinks, +are quite worthy of each other. + +Dominie (with a bow to the speaker).--I am greatly obligated to you for +the compliment, sir (then turning to Grant with a more confident and +self-satisfied air than he had hitherto ventured to assume).--Firstly, +or in the first place, then, sir, you must be pleased to know that +John Macpherson of Invereshie did not espoose a south country woman; +for his wife was a Shaw of Dalnabhert, on Spey-side there. Secondly, +or in the second place, the leddy never had any such extraordinar +fascination over him as you have described her to have; for she +was in reality so ill-natured a woman, that she and her goodman +were continually discording and squabbling together. In the third +place, or, as I should say, thirdly,--and it being one of the few +conditions in which your tale in some sort agrees with the true +history,--she was undoottedly so great a spendthrift, that many was +the bitter quarrel that arose 'twixt her goodman and her, because +of her extravagances. But, fourthly, or in the fourth place, the +worthy John Macpherson did not throw the lady into the Feshie; and +this is a fack which I would in yespecial crave you to correct in any +future edition, seeing that it brings an evil and scandalous report +upon the said John, and would seem to smell of murder, when the true +parteeklars of the history, known to me from the time I was a babe, +are as follows, to wit:--It happened one day that the dispute between +them ran to a higher pitch than common, and the lady left the house +with the intention of fleeing to her father at Dalnabhert. There was +neither bridge nor boat upon Feshie at that same time; but the woman +was so demented with rage that she plunged into the water with the +determination of wading through. Well, she had not gone three steps +into the ford when she was carried off her legs entirely; but her +body being buoyed up by reason of her petticoats, of which it is said +that she was used to wear not less than four (my grandmother, honest +woman, did the same), she floated down the stream into the deep water, +until being brought by the swirl of an eddy near to a jutting out rock, +she caught at a twig or branch that grew near the edge, and held by it +like grim death. And here I must admit that, fifthly, or in the fifth +place, Macpherson did of a surety apply the edge of his skian dhu to +the bit twiggy she had a grip of. But, then, most people charitably +believe that it was nothing else but pure courtesy that induced him +to do so to the lady; for, as appearances most naturally caused him +to believe that she had taken to the water with the full intent of +making away with herself by drowning, he thought that the least that +he as her husband could in common civility do, was to render to her +what small help he could towards the effecting of her purpose. And +then, as to his parting with her in these memorable words--which, to +the great edification of all the wives of Badenoch, have since become +a proverb in that country, to wit, "you have already taken much from +me, you may take that with you too," it must strike you as being most +evident, gentlemen, that if Macpherson was to part with his lady at +all, he could not have parted with her in terms more truly obliging, +or with words more generously liberal. But the most extraordinary +and most important deviation from fack, of which the author of your +romance has been guilty, yet remains to be noticed; for, in the sixth +place, or sixthly, Macpherson, who seems in the whole matter to have +had no other intention than that his lady should get a good dookie +(as we say, Scottice) in the Feshie, whereby to extinguish the fire +of her rage, did not only most gallantly jump into the water to try +to save her life, but he actually did save it, or at least the lady's +life was saved somehow or other, seeing that she was afterwards the +mother of Æneas Macpherson of Invereshie, the direct ancestor of the +present worthy Laird of Invereshie and Ballindalloch. + +The modest yet dignified air of triumph which the schoolmaster +gradually assumed, as he thus went on unfolding fact after fact, and +which was considerably augmented as he approached the conclusion of +this his critical oration, very much amused us all. + +Grant (with an assumed gravity).--I see that I have not only to do +with a gentleman of liberal classical acquirement, with one, too, who, +blessed with great acumen, has made the art of criticism an especial +study, but with a person who is also great as an authority touching +the particular historical point which is now in question. And yet, +daring as it may be in one of my inexperience to enter the arena with +an opponent so powerful, I may perhaps be permitted to observe, in +defence of that version of this piece of history of which I have been +possessed, that the apparent discrepancy between it and that which +you are disposed to consider as the true statement, is, in truth, +little or nothing in importance, and may, after all, be very easily +reconciled. For, if we attend to the circumstances, we shall find, +firstly, or in the first place, that there is nothing before us that +may render it impossible for us to believe that Miss Shaw of Dalnabhert +might not have received a boarding school education at Edinburgh, as +many young ladies of Badenoch unquestionably do, yea, and an education, +too, which might have well enough fitted her to have mingled in the +gaieties of a court. Secondly, or in the second place, as to the +discordings which you say took place between her and her husband, I +think you must do me the justice to recollect that these were alluded +to in my narrative, though they were delicately touched on, as you +will allow that all such family quarrels should be. But even if you +do not admit the propriety of this, you must at least grant that if +I fell into an error at all in this respect, it was less an error of +fact than of deeree. In the third place, or thirdly, the evidence of +both authorities is agreed as to the fact of the lady's extravagance, +as well as in the important circumstance that her extravagance was +the cause which ultimately led the parties to the brink of the river +Feshie. Fourthly, or in the fourth place, the conflicting statements +in the two several reports regarding the mode in which the lady first +got into the water will appear to be of little or no moment when we +give to them a due consideration. We are nowhere informed that any +one was present but Macpherson and his wife; and when we reflect +that these two individuals must have been at the time in a state of +excitement and agitation so very great as altogether to deprive them +of the power of judging distinctly of anything, it would be quite +vain for us to look to either of them for any accurate statement as +to how the matter occurred. All accounts, however, are agreed as to +the use made by Macpherson of the skian dhu. As to your sixthly, or +in the sixth place, I think you will be disposed candidly to admit, +that as my informant saw fit to carry his narrative only to a certain +point of time, so as to break off at the black cloud and the despair, +it is not only perfectly possible, but extremely probable, that he +meant to tell, in his second chapter, of the happy recovery of the +lady from the waters of the Feshie,--of the perfect reconcilement of +the pair,--of her reformation in all respects,--of the retrenchment +of her expenditure,--of the disappearance of all dandies with plumed +hats and piked shoes,--of the happy birth of the young Æneas,--and +of his merry christening, with many other matters which the historian +has now left us darkly to guess at. + +The astonished critic was utterly confounded by our friend's reply, so +solemnly and seriously uttered as it was; and after one or two "hums" +and "has!" and a "very true!" or two, he fell back some footsteps in +rear of us; and notwithstanding divers malicious attempts made on the +part of Clifford to bring him once more into the fight, he relapsed +into an humble and attentive listener. + +Author.--Your tale, Grant, brings to my recollection a circumstance +which, as tradition tells us, happened after the celebrated Raid +of Killychrist. + +Grant.--I am not aware that I ever heard of the Raid of Killychrist, +celebrated though you call it. + +Author.--I believe the outline of the story of that raid has been given +somewhere or other in print by a literary friend of mine, though, to +tell you the truth, I have never as yet had the good fortune to see +it. But I will cheerfully give you my edition of it, such as it is, +if you are willing to listen to it. + +Clifford.--But stop for one moment; and, ere you begin your story, +tell me, if you can, what that strange scarecrow looking figure is, +which we see standing in yonder green marshy islet near the edge of +the small lake immediately before us? + +Author.--That figure has excited much speculation. It for some time +greatly puzzled myself. I passed by this way more than once in the +belief, from the cursory view I had of it, that it was a solitary +heron. But my curiosity was excited at last, by observing that it +was invariably and immovably in the same spot in the islet, whilst +I discovered to my no small wonder, that the islet itself was never +found by me twice successively in the same part of the little lake, +being sometimes stationed in the middle of it and at other times +somewhere towards either end, or near to either of the sides. + +Clifford.--Come, come! ha! ha! ha! you are coming magic over us +now. You don't expect that we are to believe any such crammer as this! + +Author.--I assure you that what I state is strictly and literally true, +though I must admit that you have some reason for doubt until you have +a further explanation; and I am glad that I have it in my power to give +it to you as it was given to myself by an intelligent man who lives +in this neighbourhood. What you see is in reality a floating island. + +Clifford.--A floating island! I know that you Scots are said to be +fond of migration; but I had no idea that any part of your soil was +in the habit of making voyages either for profit or pleasure. + +Author.--Nay, nor does a Scot himself often move from any station +where he finds himself comfortable, except it may be for the purpose +of migrating into some other which may hold out yet greater advantages +than that which he possesses. But this whimsical islet shifts its +position without reason, exactly like an idle Englishman, who, +without any fixed object, moves from one spot of Europe to another, +he cannot himself tell why, and merely as the breezes of caprice may +blow him about. + +Grant.--A Roland for your Oliver, Master Clifford! But (addressing +Author) tell us how you account for this strange phenomenon? + +Author.--The mass, as you see, is not very large. Its extent is only +a few yards each way. It is composed of a light, fibrous, peaty soil, +which was probably originally torn from its connecting foundation +by the influx of some sudden flood, aided by a contemporaneous and +tempestuous wind. Being once fairly turned adrift in the lake, +we can easily conceive that its specific gravity must have been +every succeeding day lessened by the growth of the matted roots of +the numerous aquatic plants that grew on it, till it rose more and +more out of the water, and became at length so very buoyant as to be +transported about by every change of the wind. + +Clifford.--Bravo! You have lectured to us like a geologist; and I must +confess, with as much show of reason in your theory as those of many +of these antediluvian philosophers can pretend to. But you have yet +to play the part of the zoologist, and to give us some account of that +strange animal, human being or beast, alive or stuffed, as it may be, +that so strangely stands sentry yonder in the midst of it. One might +almost fancy it to be one of Macbeth's weird sisters. + +Grant.--It has indeed a most uncouth and ghostly appearance when seen +at this distance. It looks so much like some withered human figure, +where we cannot easily reconcile it to reason that any human figure +could possibly be. + +Author.--Yes; and when we think what its effect must be when it is +seen by a stranger, sailing slowly over the surface of the little +lake, impelled by a whistling wind, at that hour when spirits of all +kinds are supposed to have power to burst their cerements, when the +moon may give sufficient light to display enough of its wasted and +wizard looking form to beget fearful conceptions, without affording +such an illumination as might be sufficient to explain its nature, +we may easily believe that many are the rustic hearts that sink +with dread, and many are the clodpate heads of hair that bristle up +"like quills upon the fretful porcupine," whilst whips and spurs are +employed with all manner of good will on the unfortunate hides of +such unlucky animals as may chance to be carrying lated travellers +past this enchanted lake towards their distant place of repose. + +Clifford.--I can well enough conceive all this. But you have yet to +tell us what the figure really is. + +Author.--Notwithstanding its imposing appearance, it is nothing more, +after all, than a figure made of rushes and rags carelessly tied +about a pole by some of the simple shepherds of these wilds. It is +comparatively of recent creation; but I understand that the islet is by +no means of modern origin, though I am led to believe that, like other +more extensive pieces of earth, it has undergone many changes since its +first creation. It must have been liable to be increased and diminished +by various natural causes at different periods of its history. + +Dominie Macpherson (half advancing into the group, with a chastened +air, and more obsequious inclination of his body than he had ever +yet used.)--If I may make so bold as to put in my word--ha--hum. If +I might be permitted to make so bold as to speak, I can assure you, +gentlemen, that the bit island yonder has long existed. I have known +these parts for many a long year; and I can testify to the fack, +from my own observation, added to and eiked out by that of men who +were old when I was born. Superstitious people call it the witches' +island, and believe that the weird sisterhood hold it under their +yespecial control and governance. + +Clifford.--Much better sailing in it than in a sieve. But have +you gathered none of the adventures of the Beldams to whom you say +it belongs? + +Dominie.--God forbid, sir, that I should say it belongs to such uncanny +people! But truly there is a very strange story connected with it. + +Clifford.--A story, Mr. Macpherson, pray let's have your story +without delay, if you please, that we may forthwith judge whether +you are to rank higher in the world of letters as an historian or as +a critic. "Perge Domine!" + +Grant.--You will gratify us much, sir. + +Dominie.--I shall willingly try my hand, sir; and if you find not +the sweetness of Homer or Maro in my narrative, at least you shall +be sure of that accuracy as to fack which so much distinguished the +elegant author of the Commentaries. + +Clifford (with mock gravity).--Doth the narrative touch your own +adventures, my friend? Are you, like Cæsar, the historian of your +own deeds? + +Dominie.--Not so, sir; but I had all the facks from my father, +who knew the hero and heroine, and all the persons whose names are +mentioned in it. + +Clifford.--Ha! you have a hero, then, and a heroine too? Why that, +methinks, looks somewhat more like romance than history. + +Grant (smiling).--Be quiet, Clifford! You forget that you are all this +while keeping us from our story. Pray, sir, have the goodness to begin. + +The schoolmaster bowed; and taking a central place in the line of +march, he proceeded with his narrative in language so mingled with +quaint and original expressions, that I cannot hope, and therefore +do not always pretend, to render it with the same raciness with which +it was uttered. + + + + + + + + +LEGEND OF THE FLOATING ISLET. + + +I must honestly tell you, gentlemen, that my story hath much the +air of a romance, as well as much of love in it, and many of the +other ingredients of such like vain and frivolous compositions; but +you shall have the facks as told me by my much honoured father, who, +being a well-employed blacksmith, not many miles from the spot where +we now are, may be said to have been the chronicler of the passing +yevents of his day. + +Awell, you see, it happened that a well-grown, handsome, proper looking +young shepherd lad, called Robin Stuart, had possessed himself of +the young affections of a bonny lassie, the daughter of Donald Rose, +one of the better sort of tenants of these parts. Their love for one +another had grown up with them, they could not well say how. Its +origin was lost in the innocent forgetfulness of their childhood, +as the origin of a nation is buried in the fabulous history of its +infancy; but, however born, this they both felt, that it had grown +in strength and vigour every day of their lives, until with Robin it +began to ripen into that honest and ardent attachment natural to a +manly young heart, which was responded to on the part of bonny Mary +Rose by all the delicacy and softness that ought to characterise the +modest young maiden's return of a first love. But however natural +it was for the tender heart of the daughter to beat in unison, or, +as I may say, to swing in equal arcs with that of her lover, just as +if they had been two pendulums of like proportions and construction, +it was equally selon les règles, as the modern men of Gaul would say, +that the churlish and sordid old tyke of a father, who had been +accustomed to estimate merit more by the rule of proportion than +anything else, exactly perhaps as he would have valued one of his own +muttons according to the number of its pounds, should have stormed +like a fury when he actually deteckit the callant Robin Stuart in +the very ack of making love to his daughter in his own house! + +A desperate feud of some years' standing had made Donald the declared +enemy of Robin's father, old Harry the herd of the Limekilns, a +cognomen which he had from the circumstance of his cottage being +placed on the side of yonder hill of that name, so called from +a prevailing tradition that the lime used in the building of the +Castle of Loch-an-Dorbe was brought in the state of stone in creels +on horses' backs from the quarries near to Grantown, and burned +there. Old Harry was a poor man and a herd, whilst Donald Rose was +wealthy, and especially prided himself on being a Duniwassel, or small +gentleman, so that there thus existed three most active awgents, to +wit, enmity, avarice, and pride, which combined to compel him to put +an instantaneous stop to all such proceedings between Robin Stuart +and his daughter Mary. Without one moment's delay, he thrust the +young shepherd, head and shoulders, violently forth from his door, +and smacking the palm of his hand significantly and with great force +and birr on his dirk sheath, so as to cause the weepon to ring again-- + +"I'll tell ye what it is, my young birkie," said he, in a voice like +thunder, "gif I catch ye again within haulf a mile o' my dochter, +ye sall ha'e a taste o' sweetlips here! An' as for you, Mary, an' ye +daur to let siccan a beggarly chield as that come within a penny stane +cast o' ye, by my saul but I'll turn ye out ower my door hauld wi' as +leetle ceremony as I ha'e done the same thing to Rab himsell yonder!" + +But, as one of the ancient heathen poets hath it, love is a fire which +no storm can extinguish; it feeds itself with hope, and only burns the +brighter the more it is blown against by adverse blasts. You know, +gentlemen, how Pyramus and Thisbe contrived to hold secret converse +together. Though Robin and Mary had no crack in a wall through which to +pour the stream of their mutual love,--nay, although their respective +dwellings were some mile or two separate from each other, yet many were +the private meetings which the youth and maiden contrived to obtain, +during which they employed their time in fostering their mutual hopes, +and in strengthening their belief that better and happier days were +yet in store for them. And happy indeed would have been those days +of their anticipation, if they could have proved happier than were +those stolen hours which they thus occasionally enjoyed together. + +Now, it happened one beautiful day, in the beginning of summer, +that Donald Rose rode off from his door to go to a distant market, +whence there was no chance of his returning till late at night. The +old saying hath it, that when the cat is away the mice will play. This +was too favourable an opportunity to be lost by a pair of young lovers +so quick-sighted as Robin and Mary. It had been marked by both of them +for some weeks before it came; and the farmer's long-tailed rough grey +garron had no sooner borne his master's bulky body in safety along +the ticklish and treacherous path that went by a short cut through +the long moss, and over the distant rising ground, than Robin Stuart, +true to his tryst, appeared to escort his bonny lassie on a ramble of +love. No one was at home to spy out their intentions but old Mysie +Morrison, the good-natured hireling woman of all work; and she was +too much taken up with her household affairs to trouble her head +about watching the young lad and lass. Indeed, if she had thoughts +of them at all, she was too much attached to her young mistress, +and too well acquainted with her secret, and too shrewd to betray +her either by design or by accident. + +As you may see, gentlemen, there was no great choice of pleasure walks +in this bleak destrick, but the two young creatures were so taken +up with each other, and so full of joy in each other's company, that +the dreariest spot of it was as a rich and blooming garden in their +delighted eyes. They tripped along merrily together, and bounded like +roe deer over the heathery knolls, scarcely knowing, and not in the +least caring, which way they went, until they found themselves by the +side of the little lochan which we have but just left behind us. It +was then the season when the wilderness of this upland country was +clad in a mantle of wild flowers, and thereabouts especially they +grew in so great variety and profusion that it seemed as if the +goddess Flora had resolved to hold her court in that place. There, +then, they resolved to rest a while; and Robin, producing the simple +contents of a little wallet which he carried under his plaid, they +sat down together and feasted luxuriously. + +When they had finished their meal the lovers began to waste the +hours in idle but innocent sport. They roamed about here and there, +gathering the gaudy flowering plants that grew around them; and +after filling their arms with these wildling treasures, they again +seated themselves side by side, to employ their hands in arranging and +plaiting them into rustic ornaments. Whilst thus occupied they were too +happy and too much taken up with their own pleasing prattle to think +of the progress of the sun, who was all this time most industriously +urging his ceaseless journey over their heads, without exciting any +of their attention, except in so far as his beams might have lent a +livelier hue to the gay garlands they were weaving for each other, +or yielded a fresher glow to the cheeks, or a brighter sparkle to +the eyes, of those who were to wear them. + +Whilst they were thus so happily and so harmlessly occupied, they went +on, with all the innocent simplicity of rustic life, repeating over +and over again to each other their solemn vows of eternal love and +fidelity, as if they could never have been tired of these their sweet +and sooth-fast asseverations, whilst, at the same time, they uttered +them with a copiousness of phraseology and a variety of dialogue +truly marvellous in such a muirland pair as they were. It would have +absolutely astonished all your writers of novelles to have overheard +them, and it would have puzzled any of these fiction-mongers to have +invented the like. + +"Oh that your father was but as poor and as humble as mine, +Mary!" exclaimed the youth at last, "or, rich and proud as he is, that +you could leave him and content yoursel' wi' bein' a poor man's wife!" + +"Na, Robin!" replied she, shaking her head gravely, and then laying +her hand upon his arm, and looking up wistfully into his eyes, "you +would never ask me, my father's ae bairn, to leave him noo that he +has grown auld, and that my dear mother has left us baith and gane to +heeven! Gif, indeed, he could be but brought to look wi' a kind ee on +you--then--then"--continued she, with a faultering tongue, whilst she +blushed deeply, and threw her eyes down amidst the heap of flowers +that lay at her feet,--"then, indeed, we might baith be his bairns." + +"Oh! I wish again that he were but a poor man!" cried Robin +enthusiastically, "for then might thir twa arms o' mine mak' me as gude +a match in his een as a' the bit tocher he could gie might warrant him +to look for. Weel and stoutly wad I work for sic a prize as you, Mary!" + +"An' weel wad I be pleased that ye should ha'e it, Robin, little +worth as it is!" said Mary, with an expression of undisguised +fondness. "Though I could na gie up my father, I could gie up a' +my father's gowd, gif it wad but bring you hame to help him. And +gif it warna for him," added she, with a tear trembling in her eye, +"I trow I could gang wi' you to the warld's end, an' I war never to +see anither human face!" + +"O Mary!" exclaimed Robin, in a transport, "I could live wi' you in +a desert. I could live wi' you in some wee uninhabited spot in the +midds o' the muckle ocean, aye, though it war nae bigger than the +bit witches' island there afore ye, aye, and as fond o' flittin' +as it is too, and that we sould never leave its wee bit bouns." + +There was something so absurdly extravagant in the very idea of two +people being confined together to a space of a few yards square, +to live the sport of every varying breeze that might blow over +the surface of the deep, that Mary's gravity was fairly overcome, +notwithstanding the high pitch of devoted feeling to which she had +been wound up at the moment. She could not control herself; and she +gave way to loud peals of laughter, in which her lover as heartily +joined her. "See!" cried she, the moment she could get her breath, +whilst she pointed sportively to the little floating islet which +was at that moment lying motionless, and almost in contact with the +shore near to the spot where they were sitting, "see, see, Robby, +how our wee bit fairy kingdom is waitin' yonder to bid us welcome!" + +"Come, then, my queen, let us take possession o 't then in baith our +names!" cried Robin, in the same tone, and gaily and gallantly seizing +her hand at the same time, he, with great pretended pomp and ceremony, +led her, half laughing, and half afraid, towards the place where the +island rested. + +At the time my story speaks of the borders of the loch were less +encroached upon by weeds and rushes than you have seen that they now +are, and the island lay, as if it had been moored, as mariners would +say, in deep water close to the shore. It was, therefore, but a short +step to reach it, and Robin easily handed the trembling Mary into it +with as much natural grace, I'll warrant me, as the pious Æneas himself +could have handed Queen Dido. The lassie's light foot hardly made its +grassy surface quiver as it reached it; but, full of his own frolic, +and altogether forgetful for that moment of the precarious and kittle +nature of the ground he had to deal with, he sprang in after her with +a degree of force which was far from being required to effect his +purpose, and so great was the impetus which he thus communicated to +the floating islet, that it was at once pushed several yards away from +the shore. With one joint exclamation of terror both stood appalled, +and they silently beheld the small fragment of ground that supported +them moving, almost insensibly, yet farther and farther towards the +middle of the loch, so long as any of the force which Robin had so +unfortunately applied to it remained, and then it settled on the +motionless bosom of the deep and black looking waters, at such a +distance even from the bank which they had just left as to forbid +all hope of escape to those who could not swim. + +Fled indeed, gentlemen, was now all the mirth of this unlucky +pair. Poor Mary was at once possessed by a thousand fears; and even +the firmer mind of her companion, though sufficiently occupied with +its anxiety for her, was not without its full share of those individual +superstitious apprehensions naturally produced by the place where they +were, and which secretly affected both of them. Neither of them could +resist the belief that supernatural interference had had some share +in producing their present distress. But whatever Robin's private +thoughts may have been, he was too manly to allow them to become +apparent to Mary. Plucking up some long grass and sedges, therefore, +and making them into a large bundle, he took off his jacket, threw it +over it, and by this means made a dry seat for her in the very middle +of the quivering and spongy surface of the islet. Then casting his +red plaid over his shoulder, he stood beside her, now bending over +her to whisper words of comfort and encouragement into her ear, and by +and by stretching his neck erect, that his eyes might have the better +vantage to sweep around the whole circuit of the dull and monotonous +surface of the surrounding wastes. How mixed, yet how antagonist +to each other were the ideas which now passed rapidly through his +mind! At one moment he felt a strange and indescribable rapture as +the mere thought crossed him that this small floating spot of earth +did indeed contain no other human being but himself and her whom he +would wish to sever from all the world besides, that she might be the +more perfectly dependent on himself alone, and therefore the more +indissolubly bound to him; and then would he utter some endearing +words to Mary. Then, again, the shivering conviction would strike +him, that although there was no human being but themselves there, +there might yet be other unknown and unseen beings in their company +that neither of them wist of, and he looked fearfully around him, +scanning with suspicious eye, not only the whole surface of the lake, +but every little nook and crevice of the shore. And then bethinking +him of night, he lifted up his eyes with anxious solicitude from +time to time, to note the position of the sun, whose progress he and +his fair companion had previously so much disregarded; and great was +his internal vexation when he perceived how rapidly his car was now +rolling downwards, not, as the auncient poets would say, in his haste +to lay himself in the lap of Thetis, but as if he had been eager to +escape behind yon great lump of a muirland hill yonder to the westward. + +But a yet more trying discovery soon began to force itself upon his +attention. The islet on which they stood seemed, as he narrowly +measured it with his eye, to have sunk some inches into the +water! Already in idea he felt its bubbling wavelets closing over +his own head and the dear head of her whom he so much loved! His +heart grew sick at the very thought. Summoning up courage, however, +he contrived to allow no outward sign to betray his feelings to Mary; +and taking certain marks with his eye, he set himself to watch them +with an anxiety so intense, and with a look so fixed, that he was +unable rationally to reply, either by word or sign, to anything that +the poor lassie said to him, so that she began at length to entertain +new apprehensions at the wild expression which his countenance +exhibited. By degrees, however, she became more assured, for, after +long and accurate observation had led him to believe that at least no +very rapid change was taking place, his features gradually relaxed, +and hers were for the time relieved by that very sympathy which had +so enchained them. + +And now the sun was fast approaching the horizon, and Robin's eyes were +eagerly employed in endeavouring to penetrate even the most distant +shadows that were rapidly settling down upon the hills, behind which +he was about to disappear, whence they began to spread themselves +over the wide extent of brown moors and black mosses that stretched +everywhere around them. As the light passed away, his glances flew +more hastily in every direction, in the vain search for some human +being. Above all, he earnestly surveyed the road where he for some time +sanguinely hoped that he might discover some one returning from the +market, who might yet lend them an aid, though he felt that it quite +defied him to form any rational conception as to what the nature of +that aid could be. Again, he would most inconsistently shrink back, +and instinctively shut his eyes, as if that could have concealed his +person, from very dread that Donald Rose might come home that way +and discover them in this their distressing and dangerous situation, +for he was fully aware that he had but little chance of rising in the +old man's estimation by having thus had the misfortune to bring the +life of his only child into so great peril. As he thus ruminated, +he remembered that although this was not old Donald's shortest way +home, yet it was that which he was most likely to take towards night, +as being the best. And he moreover distinctly perceived, that if he +did come that way before it was dark, he could not fail to discover +them. For as the rugged and irregular muirland road wound round nearly +one-third of the whole margin of the little loch, by reason of its +having to cross the bit brook that issues from its western extremity, +it was self-evident that no one could travel that way without having +his eyes intently fixed, for a considerable time, in a direction that +must compel him to survey the whole surface of the sheet of water, +so that not a duck or a dab-chick could yescape them. And what if +the farmer did not come? Might they not be discovered by some other +hard-hearted person, who, instead of assisting them, might be so wicked +as to carry the news of their situation directly to old Rose, whose +rage, he felt persuaded, would be enough to burn up the waters of the +loch. Such a finis to the adventure was the least misfortune they could +look for from the malice of those evil spirits of the islet, by whom +he believed that he and Mary had been thus entrapped. Anxious as he +had at first been to descry some one, he now longed for night to fall +down on them and render them invisible. Then the utter hopelessness +of eventual concealment occurred to him, for he reflected that the +farmer must return home at some hour during the night; that when +he did so return, he must find his daughter absent, and that his +ungovernable fury would not be diminished by the tormenting suspense +in which he would be kept regarding her until next day, when they +should certainly be discovered. Robin's mind was tossed to and fro +among such unpleasant thoughts as these, till they were all put to +flight by the overwhelming force of that superstitious dread which +taught him to believe that night would soon give an uncontrolled +power to those evil beings who had thus so cruelly used them. + +"Oh, for a breeze of wind!" cried poor Robin in his agony, as a +thousand formidable and ghastly shapes began to dance before his +disturbed fancy. And-- + +"Oh, for a breeze!" sighed the soft and tremulous voice of Mary +Rose, whose mind had all this while been silently following the same +irregular train of thought, and sympathetically participating in the +distressing emotions which had been agitating her lover. + +And now the sun went down in a blaze of glory beyond the western hills, +and his last beams took leave of the surface of the water, after +having shed a radiance over it, as well as a cheerful glow over the +countenances of the two lovers, that but ill assorted with the misery +of soul which they were enduring. By degrees a soft summer exhalation +began to arise from the bosom of the loch, as well as from all the +neighbouring pools, peatpots, and marshes. But balmy, and cheering, +and invigorating as it was to all the parched offspring of nature +that grew in this desert, which opened their bosoms to receive it, +and gratefully exhaled their richest perfumes, it chilled the very +hearts of the lovers, as night fell darkly and dismally around them. + +"Robin," said Mary in a voice that quivered from the effects of the +chilling damp, combined with those secret terrors which were every +instant taking more and more powerful possession of her, in spite +of all her reason and resolution to resist them. "Robin, put on your +jacket, you will starve." + +"Mair need for me, Mary, to gie ye this plaid o' mine," replied he +in a tender tone. "Here, tak' it about ye, my dearest lassie, and +keep up a gude heart." + +"Na, I'll no tak' nae mair aff ye," said Mary gently, refusing to +allow him to throw the plaid over her. + +"Let me--let me gie ye haulf o't then," said he, with a modest +hesitation. + +After some little further discussion, the matter was at last arranged, +for Mary stood up by Robin's side, and the ample plaid having been +thrown over both of them, somewhat in the manner of a tent, the +edges of it were held together by her lover's nervous arm, so as in a +great measure to exclude the cold damp air. If it was not altogether +shut out, Robin at least for some time felt none of its influence, +for, finding himself thus the sole protector of his beloved Mary, +his heart burned within him with love and pride, and all thoughts of +evil spirits were banished for a time. + +Things had not been long accommodated in this manner, when Mary +complained that her feet began to grow cold and wet, and the change in +Robin's thoughts may be conceived when he too became convinced that the +water was certainly somehow or other gaining upon them. The darkness +was now such as to render it impossible for him to make any such minute +observation as he had done before. He could only now guess vaguely, +and his whole frame shivered with horror as the suspicion crossed him, +that the unusual weight which the islet now bore having pressed it +downwards, the upper and more porous parts of it, which were formerly +comparatively dry, had imbibed a greater quantity of water than usual, +and the specific gravity of the whole being thus increased, it was +gradually sinking, and must soon be altogether submerged. I say not +that the poor lad reasoned thus upon pheelosophical principles, but, +nevertheless, he did come to the conclusion that this treacherous bit +of ground was sinking fast. How long or how short a time it might +possibly take before the awful catastrophe should arrive, was more +than he had any means of determining. He had nothing now left but to +nerve himself with resolution to enable him to conceal his fears and +his horrors from Mary, though, at the same time, he could not help +clinging to her with an earnestness and a wildness of manner that +did anything but allay her terrors. Dark as the night was, all those +superstitious fancies which had disturbed their minds were banished +by the overpowering conviction of speedily approaching dissolution +which individually possessed them in secret. The black gulf by which +they were environed seemed, in the mind's eye of each of them, to +be yawning to swallow them up; and the thought that they should die +in each other's arms, was the only consolation that visited their +afflicted souls in that awful moment. + +"Let us pray to the Lord!" said Mary solemnly, "for our death-hour +is come!" + +Robert, who would now have deemed it to be a sinful ack to speak to +her of hope, which he had himself so utterly abandoned, immediately +obeyed her command. You know, gentlemen, that it is the glorious +preevilege of our Scottish peasantry to receive education from the +pious and well conducked teachers of our parochial schools. Even the +youngest men are thereby exerceesed in prayer, so that it becomes +so much of a habit with them, that they are at all times prepared +to pour out their souls in extemporaneous offerings to the Deevine +Being. You can easily understand, therefore, that at such a moment when +convinced that he himself, and she whom he loved beyond all yearthly +things, were about to be summoned to the footstool of their Creator, +his prayer was solemn, yearnest, simple, and sublime. So certain did +the sealing of their doom now appear, that he put up few petitions +for present help in this world. The whole force of his supplication +was directed to their salvation through the merits of a Saviour, +in that on which they were so soon to enter, and Mary clung closer +to him as he spoke, and continued to follow all his expressions, now +internally and now audibly, with a fervour that sufficiently proved +the intensity of her faith and hope. + +Whilst the poor creatures were thus employed a dim gleam of light from +the eastern horizon seemed as if struggling through the dense fog that +hung over the loch, and soon afterwards a gentle passing breath of +air was distinctly felt by both of them. It murmured around them, and +fanned them, as it were, for a moment, and found its way even within +the hollow of the plaid. Its voice was to them as the voice of their +guardian angel, and it refreshed their drooping souls, although they +knew not very well how it did so. In a very few minutes afterwards, +however, the mist being broken up by the influence of a full moon that +had just risen, began to collect itself into distinct spiral columns, +which dissipated themselves one after another, as if they had been +so many spirits melting into air. The long wished-for breeze then +at length came singing most musically as it skimmed over the surface +of the perfumed heath. And it had not long curled the hitherto still +surface of the loch, till Robin and Mary began to perceive that the +half-drowned island was sensibly increasing its distance from the +shore whence they had taken their departure. There was something very +fearful in this, and the poor lassie clung closer to her lover. But +with all their fears it now seemed as if Hope was sitting beckoning to +them on the opposite shore, towards which the breeze was so evidently, +though so slowly, propelling them. + +The moon now shone forth in full radiance, and speedily dissipated +the broken fragments of the fog that yet remained. One mass only, +denser than the rest, still hung poised over their heads, naturally +maintained in that position by the attraction of the damp floating +earth they stood on. To their great joy they perceived that the breeze +was increasing, and that their motion was gradually accelerating. + +"Mary, my dear," cried Robin, "keep a gude heart; I'm thinking that +we'll maybe mak out yet. Let's hoize up the plaid till it catches +mair o' the wund." + +And, accordingly, they raised their arms and kept the plaid high over +their heads, till it was bellied out by the breeze like the lugsail +of a herring buss, and their velocity was tripled. + +They were thus moving gallantly onwards, in anxious expectation that +a very few minutes more would moor them in safety to the shore, so +that there might yet be time for Mary to hurry home before her father +should arrive to question her absence, when they suddenly perceived +a horseman riding along the road which sweep't around the end of +the loch they were now nearing so fast. What think ye, gentlemen, +was the astonishment, dread, and mortification of the poor lassie +and her lad when they beheld the moonbeams reflecked from a face as +broad and as pale as the disc of the luminary from which they had been +last projected? It was Donald Rose himself! As their supporting bit +of earth drifted onwards with them, they stood together for a moment +petrified with surprise and fear, whilst they beheld him check his +horse, and turn his head towards the loch, as if to gaze at them; +and then, with one shriek from Mary and a deep groan from Robin, +which might have made a good treble and bass for the psalmody of the +martyrs, both the two of them, by one simultaneous movement, sank +down together among the rank grass and water-weeds in which they +were standing, and the folds of the plaid collapsing around them, +both were completely shrouded beneath it. There they lay, abandoning +themselves to their perverse fate, and fearing to move or speak, until, +in a very few seconds, they were drifted to the very spot where they +too well knew that the enraged farmer must be already standing like +a roaring lion ready to devour them; and they were thus prostrated, +as it were, at the very feet of him whose ungovernable rage they had +so much reason to wish to have avoided. + +The floating island had touched the terra firma for some seconds, but +still the conscious pair dared not to peep from beneath the covering +that enveloped them. They lay, as I might say, as quiet as two mice +in a bag of meal. They uttered not a word. They hardly even dared +to breathe. But tremblingly in need of support under circumstances +so very trying, the poor lassie Mary clasped her Robin about the +waist with an energy equal to the terror she was moved by. It was +the feeling of this her utter dependence upon him for support and +defence that first subdued Robert's own fears, and awakened him to +a sense of his own dignity as a man. + +"An' ye'll hae but a thoughty o' patience, Maister Rose, I'll tell +ye a' aboot it," said he, commencing his peroration from beneath the +plaid, somewhat sotto voce, as the degenerate modern Romans would +say. But gaining greater boldness as he heard the sound of his own +voice, and that his words remained as yet unanswered, he went on +to speak, gradually raising his tone as he did so, and at the same +time erecting his person by slow degrees from his abject attitude, +though without unveiling himself. + +"Ye may think as ye like, Maister Rose, but I canna help lovin' Miss +Mary; I maun love her spite o' mysell, an' gin ye wad hae me no to +love her nae mair, ye maun just dirk me here at aince. But for the +sake o' a' that's good!" continued he, blubbering from very emotion, +"dinna offer to hurt ae hair o' her bonny head, for by my troth an' +ye do, Maister Rose!"---- + +These last words were uttered in so loud and impassioned a key, +that it sufficiently indicated the nature as well as the resolute +determination of the threat that was intended to follow, even if the +furious action of the uplifted arm and clenched fist had not left it +quite unequivocal. So violent was the effect, that the plaid which +had risen along with the speaker, and which had up to this point +continued to muffle his head and eyes, was suddenly thrown off. + +"Gude keep hus a' he's gane!" cried Robin with a stare of horror. "As +I'm a leevin' man!--as I houp and believe I am"--continued he, pinching +his own arms and thighs as he said so, to convince himself of the fack +that he really was alive, "it was your father's wraith we saw, Mary!" + +Half fainting from the effect of the complication of terrors which had +surrounded her, Mary Rose was hardly conscious of what Robin had said, +and he for his part having gained that self-command of which the sudden +nature of his alarm had for a moment deprived him, now bit his lip +and studiously avoided uttering one word that might convey to her the +least inkling of that conviction which had just then flashed upon him, +or that might distress her mind with any share of that superstitious +dread which at this moment so completely filled his own. + +"He's gane indeed, dear Mary," said he as he gently assisted her +to rise; "let's be thankful that we're safe on dry land, and let me +help you hame to your ain house as fast as I can, and may the Lord +be aboot us!" + +Adjusting his plaid over her, and placing his arm around her slender +waist to support her tottering steps, he guided her homewards by the +light of the moon through the rugged moor by a short path. Often as +they went did each of them secretly remember how auspiciously the +morning sun had shone upon them as they had danced lightly together +over the blooming heather! But they were both too much sunk by the +unfortunate issue of their day's adventures, believing as they, +poor things, foolishly did, that the powers of evil themselves had +combined to thwart them; they were too much sunk, I say, to be able +to utter much more than monosyllables to each other, or such words at +least as were expressive of gratitude to Heaven for having permitted +them to yescape with life, whilst an indefinite dread of the fate +that awaited them hung secretly lowering over each of their minds. + +Lights blazed within the white-washed windows of Donald Rose's cottage +as it appeared on a knoll before Mary's dizzy eyes. Whether these +might indicate her father's presence or not, she could not daur to +guess. The poor lassie was so feared, that she hesitated to approach +the door herself; yet she felt that there was still greater danger +there for Robin, and, with a delicate pressure of the young lad's hand, +she bade him tenderly farewell. + +"Robin, haste ye hame to the Limekilns," said she. "Ye maunna face +my father. Leave me to face him mysell." + +"No!" said Robin boldly and with peculiar emphasis, "I ha'e noo faced +mair than your father, Mary; and sae I'm no ga'in' to flee your +father himsell, though he does wear a durk. Gif he be comed hame, +ye may the mair want my help to meet him." + +Fearfully alarmed for the consequences, and still more apprehensive for +her father's wrath against him than against herself, she endeavoured +to argue with him on the folly of his rashness; and whilst they were +both engaged in an animated and somewhat imprudently loud discussion +on this subject, they were startled by the voice of Mysie Morrison, +who came suddenly upon them from the cottage. + +"Bless ye, my bairns, is that you?" exclaimed this good domestic. "What +i' the warld has keepit ye sae lang oot daffin'? An' is that the end o' +a' your courtin' after a', that you're to come hame an' end it that +gate wi' a colly-shangy?" + +"Has my father come back frae the market yet, Mysie?" tremblingly +demanded Mary. + +"Na, he's no come hame yet," replied the old woman, "and I'm thinkin' +that he'll no be comin' hame the night noo. I 'se warrant he's been +weel set wi' some drouthy customer, an' he'll hae staid whar he +wuz. But come ye're ways in, my bairns, an' get some meat; I trow ye +maun be clean starvin'." + +With Robin's recollection of the spectre which he had beheld riding +by the loch-side he had little heart, at that hour, to cross the wide +muir that lay between Donald Rose's house, where he then was, and his +father's cottage on the hill of the Limekilns. He much preferred the +risk of meeting Donald's substantial body of flesh and blood, dirk +and fury and all, within the four walls of a well lighted up room, +to having his moonlight path crossed upon the heath by the terrific +simulacrum or wraith which had already blasted his sight. In addition, +therefore, to the seducing attractions which Mary's society held out +to him, coupled with those urgent admonitions which he was receiving +at that moment from hunger and thirst, he had thus some vurra strong +and powerful secret reasons for preferring to remain, to which he did +not choose to give utterance. Mary, for her part, was sorely buffeted +between her wishes and her fears. She had every desire to do that +hospitality to her lover which her own faintness began to remind her +must now be so highly necessary to him. On the other hand, she had +the strongest apprehension that her father might suddenly return, in +spite of all that Mysie had said to the contrary, and she thus hung +for a moment in dootful equilibrio, as a body may say, between the two +opposing forces which were thus operating on her. But Mysie, who was +much less timorous, having done all she could to assure her that there +was no danger of a surprise, she at length hushed her fears and tacitly +yielded to her wishes. She and Robin, therefore, were soon seated +over some comfortable viands by a blazing hearth, whilst Mysie, with +a judgment and prudence that might have well befitted an attendant of +Queen Dido herself when she took refuge from the storm with the Trojan +king in the cave, retired to make security doubly sure, by setting +herself to watch at the window of the neighbouring apartment, where, +by the light of the moon, she might see her master return, so that she +might give timeous notice to Robin Stuart to yescape by the back-door, +whilst old Rose was occupied in putting his horse into the stable. + +This was well enough arranged in the old woman, gentlemen. Caius +Julius Cæsar himself could not have made better dispositions to +have prevented a night surprise. But, as our immortal bard, William +Shakespeare, hath it, in the words which he hath put into the mouth +of the lively Rosalind, time goes at different paces with different +individuals. Upon this occasion it certainly went fast enough with +Robin Stuart and Mary Rose. For, though their minds were for a short +time crossed occasionally by very fearful visions of the past, of +some of which they dared hardly to speak to each other, yet these +were soon banished altogether by their mutual smiles, and by the +ardent and endearing expressions which they went on interchanging +together. Swift flew the minutes, and their conversation was still +waxing more and more interesting. They were seated close together; +and, as their tender dialogue became more intensely moving, Robin's +arm had unconsciously found its way around Mary's waist, whilst +hers had fallen carelessly over his shoulder, and had accidentally +carried with it the folds of his plaid, which she had not yet thrown +off. The cheerful gleam from the blazing moss-fir faggots threw a +strong effect of light from the ample chimney over their figures. They +indeed believed, from their inaccurate calculation, that this their +felicity had endured for some short half hour only, whilst, by the +drowsy account of old Mysie, who had sat nodding, and every now and +then catching her head up to save it, if she possibly could, from +dropping irrecoverably into the lap of Morpheus, the god of sleep, +four good hours had gone by. As the truth probably lay between, I +shall take the mean of these two extremes, and therefore I may say, +with some degree of confidence, that about two hours had yelapsed when +she at last yielded to the soporific influence, and fell into a sleep +so profound, that ere it had endured for ten minutes, ten cannons or +ten claps of thunder could hardly have awakened her; and whilst matters +were in this state the door of the apartment where Robin and Mary were +so comfortably seated as I have just described them to be,--the door +of the apartment was suddenly opened, and Donald Rose himself, covered +with mud from neck to heel, and with a countenance pale and haggard +as death, entered,--followed, gentlemen, still stranger to tell, +by--Harry Stuart, the herd of the Limekilns! The surprise by which +the lovers were thus taken was perfectly complete. Their presence of +mind was altogether gone. They started up together at once, without +even attempting to unfold or withdraw their arms from the different +positions which they had respectively assumed, whilst the drapery +of the plaid hung over both of them, mingled with the garlands which +they still wore. They stood as if they had been converted into statues. + +"Gude keep us a' frae evil!" cried Donald Rose the moment he entered, +whilst, to their utter astonishment, he started back as he said so, +his eyes glaring at them with a ghastly look of fear and horror +that was much too natural not to be perfectly genuine. "Gude keep +us frae a' evil, are ye wraiths or are ye real? The same plaid! the +same garlands! and the same guise! Speak! speak! what are ye? But I +see," continued he, after a pause, during which he recovered himself +a little; "I see, Gude be thankit! that ye are baith flesh and bluid." + +"Aye, flesh and bluid we are," said Robin Stuart, summoning up all +his resolution and speaking in a determined tone. "We are flesh and +bluid truly, and I trust that we shall soon be one flesh and one +bluid too! Our souls are already as one! sae let not ane auld man's +avarice rend asunder twa leal hearts already joined by Heeven!" + +"Joined by Heeven, indeed, Rabby!" replied old Rose, with a solemn +and mysterious air; "and Heeven forbid that sic a miserable vratch +as I am sould daur to interfere. What Heeven hath joined let not man +put asunder! O bairns! bairns!" continued he, as he swopped himself +down into his great oaken elbow chair, as if quite overcome with +fatigue both of body and mind; "och, bairns! bairns! what ane awfu' +gliff I hae gotten this blessed night! As I was on my road hame frae +the market--an' at a decent hour, too,--for the drover an' me had +but three half mutchkins a-piece whan we pairted at Grantown--whan +I was on my road hame, as I was sayin', an' just as I was gaein' to +pass round this end o' the Witches' Loch, to cross at the bit fuirdy +yonder, what does I see, it gars my very flesh a' creep again to think +on't--what does I see, I say, but your twa figures, as plain as I see +ye baith at this precious moment, in thay very garments ye hae on, an' +wi' thay very garlands about your necks, an' shouthers, an' breasts, +an' baith claspit thegither, as ye war just yenoo whan I came in. I +say, I saw ye baith in that very guise, an' in that very pouster, +comin' skimmin' o'er the surface o' the deep water o' the loch, wi' +that very red plaid aboon ye baith for a sail. But, Gude proteck us +a'!--what think ye?--The full moon was just risen in the east, an' +her very light was shinin' through the twa spirits, an' aboot them +there was a kind o' a glory, just like unto the mony coloured brugh +that ye hae nae doot aften seen about the moon hersel'. Och me, +it wuz a grusome sight! I wish I may e'er won ower wi't!" + +Robin and Mary exchanged intelligent glances with each other during +this part of old Rose's narrative; but he was too much overpowered +with what he had seen, and too full of his subject, to observe what +passed between them. + +"Tak a wee drap o' this, father," said Mary, handing him a brimming +cuach; "you will be muckle the better o't." + +"Thank ye, thank ye, my bonny bairn!" said the farmer, giving her back +the empty cuach, and kindly patting her head as he did so. "I'm sure, +my dauty, it was ill my pairt to cross ye as I did. But, stay!--whaur +was I?--Weel, ye see, just as the twa speerits war comin' whush athort +the loch upon me far faster than ony wild duke could flee,--the very +dumb brute that I was on started back wi' fear, whurled aboot in a +moment, an' whuppit me awa' back o'er the moss in spite o' mysel', +regairdless o' ony road; and I trow I never stoppit till I wuz on the +t'ither side o' Craig Bey, whar, by good luck, I forgathered wi' Harry +o' the Limekilns there--fear, like death, will pit oot the fire o' +the auldest feud; and whan Harry heard the cause o' my flight,--for +whan he met me I was fleein' like a muir-cock down the wund,--I +say, whan Harry heard o' what an a sight I had seen, an' he bein', +as it were, in some degree conneckit wi' it, as weel as mysel', +I trow he wuz as glad to hae me wi' him as I wuz to hae him wi me, +wi' the houp o' keepin' aff waur company. Harry had nae better wull +to gae by the Witches' Loch than I had, and sae we cam' ower by the +short cut through the lang moss thegither. A bonny road, truly, for +sic an afu' late hour of the night, for a' that we had the moon, as +ye may see well eneugh by the dabbled state o' my trews. I'm sure my +puir beast 'ill no be able to crawl the morn after a' the gliffin', +an' galloppin', aye, an' I may say soomin' too, that he has had, +for I hae some doots gif there be ae moss hole atween Craig Bey an' +this hoose that he has na' had to swatter through." + +"Let me get dry stockin's for ye, father," said Mary. + +"Na, my dauty, its no worth while for a' the time!" replied +Donald. "An' noo, Harry, man," continued he, turning to his companion, +who had been all this while standing near the door, "cum ben, man, +an' sit doon; what for dinna ye sit doon? An' noo, I say, although +ye are but a poor man, Harry, an' no just sae weel come by deschent +as I am, wha, as ye are maybe awaur, am come o' a cousin sax times +removed of the Laird of Kilravock himself, which a' the warld kens +to be ane o' the maist auncientest families in Scotland,--I say, +though ye are no just descended frae siccan honourable forebears, +yet ye are ane honest man." + +"I trust that I am sae, neebour," said Harry modestly, but with his +head yereck, as ane honest man's always should be. + +"Aweel, aweel!" cried old Rose impatiently, "as I was gaein' to say, +we's just owerlook a' thae things, an' souther up a' oonkindness that +may hae been atween us, an' sae we'll mak' the best o't, an' hae your +laddie an' my lassie buckled thegither as soon as the minister can mak' +them ane. Come, man, gie's your hand on't!" + +"Wi' a' my heart!" replied Harry Stuart, with a good-natured chuckle; +"an' I'll tell ye what it is, Carl, maybe ye'll find after a' that +the son o' Harry the herd o' the Limekilns is no just sae bare a +bargain as ye wad hae yemagined. The herdin' trade gif it maks little +it spends less; an' I hae na been at it for better nor fifety years +without layin' by a wee bit pose o' my ain; an' gif a gude bien bit +hill farmie can be gotten for the twa, I'se no say but I may come doon +wi' as muckle as may buy the best end o' the plenishen an' stockin'." + +"That's my hearty cock!" exclaimed old Rose, slapping Harry soundly +on the back. "Mary, my dauty! I was sae muckle the better o' the wee +drap ye gied me yon time, that I think neither Harry nor me wad be +the waur o' anither tasse." + +It would be yequally vain and unnecessar, gentlemen, for me to attempt +to describe the happiness of the two lovers, or the general joy of +that night. If Homer or Maro were alive, and here present, they would +fail to do justice to such a theme. I may shortly conclude by simply +telling you, however, that Mysie's slumbers were rudely broken by the +stentorian voice of her master,--that she was speedily put to work +at her yespecial occupation in the kitchen,--that the rustic feast +was quickly spread,--that the bowl circulated, or, rather, to speak +with a due regard to fack, that it passed backwards and forwards +very frequently from lip to lip of the two thirsty seniors,--that +the young couple were in Elysium,--that the old men were garrulously +joyous,--that Mysie was frantic, and danced about like a daft woman, +and that the sun peeped in upon them from the distant eastern hills +ere they even began to think of terminating their revels. + + + + + + + + +DOMINIE DELIGHTED. + + +Grant.--Why, sir, you are quite as great as a story-teller as you +are as a critic. + +Clifford.--Homer or Maro could never have held a candle to you! Why +your floating island would beat a steamer. But, joking apart, we are +really much obliged to you for the very interesting story you have +told us. + +Dominie (bowing).--I am yespecially proud and happy that you are +pleased with it, sir. + +Author.--We are all very much indebted to you indeed, for you have +helped us very agreeably over the most dreary part of our road. + +The good man rose an inch or two higher than he had hitherto appeared, +and his cheek glowed with satisfaction. + +We had now come to the Pass of Craig-Bey, where the Grantown country +opened to us. A rocky hill arose on our right, wildly wooded with +tall Scottish pines, whilst, on our left, the ground declined +into a hollow, through which the dark streamlet that drains the +extensive peat-bog, whence the villagers of Grantown are supplied +with fuel, throws itself into a deep rocky ravine, along which our +road skirted. At some distance to our left, and on the farther side +of the glen, a beautiful smiling portion of Highland country arose in +swelling grounds, simply cultivated, amidst natural birchen groves; +whilst every now and then we had a transient view directly downwards, +where the stream threw itself into a fairy little holm, surrounded by +tall castellated rocks, richly tinted with warm coloured mosses, and +rising picturesquely from among woods of golden-leaved aspen and birch. + +Clifford.--Is there no story connected with that beautiful spot below? + +Author.--The place is called Huntly's Cove. It has its name from some +cavity in the crag, which is said to have been the place of concealment +of George, second Marquis of Huntly, in the time of Charles I. + +Clifford.--I forget his history at this moment. + +Author.--He was married, if I remember rightly, in 1609, to the Lady +Anne Campbell, eldest daughter of Archibald, seventh Earl of Argyll; +and he was, therefore, brother-in-law to Archibald, the eighth Earl of +Argyll, who so strenuously exerted himself in the cause of the people +against King Charles I., and who, as you may recollect, was appointed +by the Convention of Estates, 16th April, 1644, commander-in-chief of +the forces raised to suppress the insurrection of his brother-in-law, +this very Marquis of Huntly of whom we are now talking. The Marquis, +you know, rose in arms for the King in the north; but Argyll marching +against him, dispersed the Royalists, and obliged Huntly to fly to +Strathnaver, in Sutherland. Huntly again appeared in arms in 1645, +and refused to lay them down even when commanded by the King, who +was then under the control of the Parliament of 1646. He was exempted +from the pardon granted on the 4th March, 1647, and he was that same +year taken prisoner. I remember the peerage account of him states +that his capture took place in Strathnaver--a blunder occasioned by +the circumstance of his having fled to that district of country upon +the first-mentioned occasion. It was in Strathaven that he was taken, +and the similarity of names assisted in producing the confusion. Before +his capture he lay concealed in Strathaven, or as it is very commonly +called Stradaun, and when more than ordinarily alarmed by an increased +activity in the search for him, he used to come over to hide himself +here for greater security. I think it was an ancestor of the present +Sir Neil Menzies of Castle Menzies who took him, but the legendary +circumstances have escaped me, if I ever knew them. + +Grant.--Thus it is that some of our most curious and valuable +traditions are lost. + +Clifford.--It is truly provoking that it should be so. As we have +Roxburghe, and Bannatyne, and Maitland Clubs for the preservation +and printing of old writings, would it not be a meritorious thing to +establish a Legend Club, the object of which should be to proceed +systematically throughout every part of the British dominions to +collect and write down all the legendary and traditionary matter +which may yet remain? + +Grant.--There is no doubt that an immense mass of materials might +thus be gathered together for the use of the novelist and playwright. + +Clifford.--Nay, nay, Grant; but joking apart, I do think that although +the great mass might be rubbishy enough, and, perhaps, much fitter +for the compounder of melodramas than for anything else, croyez moi +on doit cependant trouver des perles, ou plutot des diamants, dans ce +grand fumier. And then when you think that the numerous fitful beams +of light which might proceed from these recovered diamonds should be +concentrated into one focus, it is not very impossible that history +itself might receive some fresh illumination from the flame that +might be kindled. + +Author.--Your scheme is amusing enough, and by no means undeserving +of attention; but I conceive that the utility of such a society as you +speak of would very much depend upon the efficiency of its secretary. + +Clifford (with an arch look).--Why, no doubt, it would so. And +therefore I should propose to confer that important and distinguished +post upon our new acquaintance, Mr. Macpherson here, seeing that he +is so much given to searching out the truth of such things, and that +he has, moreover, proved himself to be so able a narrator of them +after he has found them out. + +Dominie (his eyes glistening with pride and delight as he again +advanced to fill that place in the line of march which he had occupied +during the time we were listening to his tale).--What could be more to +my mind than such an occupation! And yet, sir, seeing that I am already +planted as a teacher of youth in a comfortable house in Caithness, +with a small garden and a cow's grass appended thereto; to all which +there falls to be added a salary, which, though small, yet sufficeth +for my mainteenance, who have no wife or "charge of children," as Lord +Chancellor Bacon hath it, save that of the children of other people, +whence there arises to me not expense but yemolument, it would be +well to know what sum of money by the year might be incoming to the +holder of that secretaryship of which you have spoken; seeing that +prudence bids us be sure that we move not our right foot until our +left be firmly set down. + +Clifford.--As to the matter of revenue, I fear there would be more of +honorary dignity than of edible income attached to the situation. I +would, therefore, earnestly advise you, since I now learn that your +lot has already been so pleasantly cast, to hold your right foot +fast in Caithness, where, were the society to go on, you might be +appointed one of its honorary corresponding members. + +Dominie.--Thank you, sir, your advice is good. I could by no means +afford to throw away my cow's grass and potato-yard to the dogs, to +say nothing of my salary, without something better. I shall therefore +e'en hold as I am. + +Clifford.--What mountain is that which I see rising blue and grand +yonder in the eastern distance? + +Grant.--I have now a right to step forward as your cicerone, Clifford, +for this is the country of the great clan to which I belong. Yet I must +confess that I have no great knowledge of its history. I can at least +tell you, however, that the mountain you are inquiring about is Ben +Rinnes, the hill which rises over the ancient house of Ballindalloch, +at the junction of the rivers Avon and Spey. Ballindalloch belongs +to an old family of the Grants. + +Dominie.--I could tell you a curious legend about the building of the +Castle of Ballindalloch, were it not deemed presumption in me to tell +of the Grants in presence of so accomplished a member of the clan. + +Grant.--Sir, I shall cheerfully trust to you to do justice to the +Grants, and especially to the Grants of Ballindalloch; for since the +Macphersons are now engrafted on the family of that house, I think +you will be disposed to say nothing that may be in anywise to their +disparagement. + +Dominie.--God forbid that I should. They have always been kind friends +of mine. + +Clifford.--I protest against any more stories till after dinner. I +presume we shall find an inn at Grantown, and I therefore beg leave +to move that all lengthened communications be adjourned until we are +fairly set in to be comfortable for the evening. + +Grant.--Agreed. Now, then, follow me in at this gate that opens to our +left here, and through this plantation, and I, as your cicerone here, +shall show you something worth looking at. + +We had no sooner burst from the confinement of the trees, than a wide +and extensive and grand prospect opened to us. From the immediate +foreground the eye ran gently down some sloping cultivated inclosures, +till, passing over the widespread woods by which these were surrounded, +it swept with eagle flight across the wide valley of the Spey and the +endless forests of Abernethy, and rested with joy and with a feeling +of freedom on the blue chain of the Cairngorum mountains, rising +huge and vast above these minor dependent hills that were congregated +about their bases. To the left our view was bounded by tall groves of +timber-trees, chiefly beeches, and after penetrating these, the lofty +bulk of Castle Grant presented itself within an hundred yards of us. + +Clifford.--I think it will not be considered as any breach of the rule +we have just laid down, if you should give us an outline, in three +words, of the history of this the feudal residence of your chiefs. + +Grant.--All I can tell you regarding it is, that it has been the +seat of the chief of our clan ever since the fourteenth century, when +the surrounding lands were taken from the Cumins and bestowed on the +Grants by the Crown. Another large cantle of the ancient possessions +of the Cumins came into the family by the marriage of Sir John Grant +with Matilda or Bigla, the heiress of Gilbert Cumin of Glenchearnich. + +Dominie.--True, true, sir, I have a curious story about that. You see, +gentlemen, Gilbert Cumin, whose cognomen was Gibbon More---- + +Clifford.--You will forgive me for interrupting you, sir, but you +will recollect, that although we allowed Grant to tell us what he knew +about the castle, we have just laid it down as a rule, that we are to +have no more long stories upon empty stomachs. Let us hasten to see +the interior of this chateau, and then to Grantown and to dinner with +what appetite we may. You shall dine with us, and I shall book you +for there giving us Gibbon More, or any More you may be possessed of. + +Dominie.--Your pun is most excellent, sir, ha! ha! ha!--your reproof +is most just, and your invitation most kind, and readily accepted. And +as I can be of little use to you here, gentlemen, perhaps I shall +be most benefeecially employed, both for your interest and my own, +by stepping my ways on to Grantown, and looking to the preparation +for your accommodation and entertainment at the inn. + +Author.--No, no, sir, we have already secured all that by the gilly +who has preceded us with the pony. We cannot part with you so, your +information may be useful to us. + +Clifford.--This huge pile seems to have been built at various periods, +and with no great taste. That tower is the only picturesque part +about it. + +Grant.--That is called the Cumin's Tower, and it is perhaps the only +very old fragment of the building. The most modern part is the northern +front, the style of which is quite inappropriate. + +Clifford.--Come, let us hasten to discuss the interior; my appetite at +present is sufficiently sharp, yet it is for something more digestible +than granite and mortar. + +We hurried through the castle, admired the great hall, some fifty +feet by thirty in size, and were particularly delighted with some of +the old family portraits, which are extremely curious as to costume. + +Clifford.--What a fierce old white-bearded fellow that is in the bonnet +and tartan plaid, drawing a pistol as if he was about to shoot us. I +should not like to meet in a wood with such an one as he appears to +have been, unless I met him as a friend. + +Dominie.--That is old Robert Grant of Lurg. I can tell you many a story +about him. He was surnamed old Stachcan, or the Stubborn; and--a---- + +Clifford.--Unless you are determined to deserve that surname, as +well as ever the said Robert Grant did, you had better attempt no +more stories till after dinner, my good friend. And now, methinks, +we have seen enough of these bearded, belted, and bonneted heroes; +and if you have no objections, I think we may as well proceed to +march into quarters for the night. + +A walk of little more than a mile brought us to the village of +Grantown, and a period of time something less than a couple of hours +found us all seated, after a very good dinner, round a cheerful fire, +each preparing to light his cigar, and moderately to sip the fluid +that was most agreeable to him. + +Clifford (opening his tablets).--Let me see what my book +says. Ha!--Legend of the Raid of Killychrist--Building of +Ballindalloch--Gibbon More--Old Stachcan! The raid comes first--the +raid stops the way,--so drive on with the raid if you please. + +Author.--Since you desire it, I shall do so, in order, as you say, +to get it out of the way. But I must tell you that the Raid of +Killychrist does in fact form so small a part of that which I have +to narrate to you, that I might rather call it the Legend of Allan +with the Red Jacket. + +Clifford.--Pray call it what you please, but quocunque nomine gaudet, +let us have your legend, if you please, without further loss of time. + + + + + + + + +LEGEND OF ALLAN WITH THE RED JACKET. + + +As a prelude to the legend of the Raid of Killychrist, or Christ's +Church, I must condemn you to listen to a considerable portion of the +previous history of the great rival clans of MacDonell and MacKenzie, +which led to that event. A deep-rooted feud had existed for many years +between these two neighbouring Highland nations, as I may well enough +call them. So savage was their mutual hatred, that no opportunity was +lost, upon either side, of manifesting the bitterest hostility towards +each other. They were continually making sudden incursions with fire +and sword into each other's territory,--burning cottages--destroying +crops--driving away cattle--levying contributions on defenceless +tenants--carrying off hostages, and massacring such unfortunate +individuals or straggling parties as might happen to fall in their +way, without always showing much regard to age or sex. It was one +unvarying history of rapine and bloodshed, uninterrupted except at +such times and for such periods when both parties happened to be too +much exhausted to act on the offensive. + +It was fortunate for the MacDonells, that about the beginning of the +seventeenth century Donald MacAngus MacDonell of Glengarry, chief +of the clan, had so harried the MacKenzie country in one dreadful +and destructive raid, and had so swept away its wealth and thinned +its people, as to have rendered them comparatively innocuous for a +number of years; for, during the lapse of these, he became so old +and infirm, as to be not only quite unable for any very active or +stirring enterprise, but he would have been unequal to the defence +of his own territories against the inroads of his neighbours. He had +two sons, but neither of them was old enough to relieve him of the +cares and fatigues incidental to the government of such a clan. Angus +the eldest, indeed, although only some fifteen or sixteen years of +age, was extremely bold and impetuous. Like the most forward and +best-grown eaglet of the aerie, he would have often rashly braved, +with unpractised wing, the storms which raged around the cliff where +he was bred, had it not been for the wholesome restraint which the +old man was with difficulty enabled to put upon him, and which he +could hardly enforce, even with the assistance of his nephew, Allan +MacRaonuill MacDonell of Lundy, who being then in the prime of life, +acted as captain or chief leader of the clan Conell. + +Allan of Lundy, so called from the loch of that name near Invergarry, +was the pride and darling of the clan, and it was not wonderful that +he should have been so, for he possessed all those qualities which +were likely to endear him to Highlanders in those savage times. He was +remarkable for his great activity of body, for his wonderful agility +in leaping, and his extraordinary swiftness of foot, and endurance +in running. But these were not the qualities which the clansmen most +especially prized in him; for, whilst he was kind to every one who bore +the name of MacDonell, he was ever ready to visit those who were their +enemies with the most ruthless and remorseless vengeance. He delighted +in wearing a splendid jacket of scarlet plush richly embroidered with +gold, and when the day of battle came, the brave MacDonells always +looked to that jacket as to a rallying point, with as much devotion +and confidence as they looked to the banner of the chief himself, +for they were always certain to see it in the front of every charge, +and in the rear of every retreat. It was from this that he acquired +his most distinguished cognomen, that of Allan with the red jacket. + +It was not surprising that a youth of a haughty and impetuous temper, +like that of Angus MacDonell, could ill brook the well intended +admonitions which he received from a cousin, upon whose interference +in the affairs of the clan he was taught, by the vile insinuations +of certain sycophantish adherents, to look with a jealousy which +was but an ill requital for all Allan of Lundy's affection towards +him. That affection, though it came from a bosom which was capable +of nursing that fierce and cruel spirit which animates the tiger, +was deep and sincere. It was an affection which had its basis in +gratitude, in love, and in veneration for the old chief, his uncle, +who had been to Allan as a father, and, therefore, it was born with +the birth of the boy Angus. It was an affection which had grown +stronger and stronger every day with the growth of its object, on +the development of whose character the future happiness and glory, +or misery and disgrace, of the clan, must depend. It was an affection, +in short, which nothing could shake, and which even the often unamiable +conduct of Angus towards him could never for one moment chill. + +It happened one rainy and tempestuous night, that whilst a party of +clansmen, returning from some distant expedition, were approaching the +gate of Invergarry Castle, they suddenly encountered a tall man wrapped +up in an ample plaid. He started when the MacDonells came upon him. + +"Friend or foe?" cried the leader of the party. + +"A friend!" coolly replied the other, "unless you are prepared to tell +me that the days are past when a MacIntyre may claim hospitality from +a MacDonell." + +"The day can never come when a MacIntyre shall not be welcome to a +MacDonell," replied the other. "Are they not but as a limb of the +goodly pine stock of clan Conell? say, what wouldst thou here?" + +"I am a wayfaring man," answered the stranger, "and all I would ask +is shelter and hospitality for an hour or twain, till this tempest +blow by." + +"Thou art come in the very nick of time, my friend," said the +MacDonell, "for, hark! the piper has gone to his walk, and he is +already filling his drone as a signal for us to fill our stomachs. The +banquet is serving in the hall, so in, I pray thee, without more delay; +trust me, we are as ready as thou canst be for a morsel of a buck's +haunch, or a flagon of ale." + +The old chief of the MacDonells had already occupied his huge +high-backed chair on the dais, at the upper end of the hall, and his +eldest son Angus, and his cousin Allan of Lundy, the captain, and +the other chieftains of the clan, had taken their seats around him, +and the greater part of the places at the board had been filled, +as rank might dictate, down to the very lower end of it, when the +stranger was announced,-- + +"Give him entrance!" cried the hospitable old chief. "This is a +night when the very demons of the storm seem to have been let loose +to do their worst. No one would drive his enemy's dog to the door in +such a tempest. Were he a MacKenzie we could not see him refused a +shelter from so bitter a blast. A MacIntyre, then, may well claim a +hearty welcome." + +The door of the hall was thrown open, and the stranger entered. He +doffed his bonnet, and bowed respectfully to the chief, and to +those assembled, yet his countenance remained partly shrouded by +the upper folds of his plaid, which had been drawn over his head +as a shelter from the fury of the elements, and it now hung down +thence so as entirely to conceal his person. There was enough of him +visible, however, to show that he was a tall, broad-shouldered, and +very athletic man, in the prime of life, with large fair features, +small sharp eyes, overhanging eyebrows, severe expression, and a +profusion of yellow hair and beard that very much assisted in veiling +his face. The retainers who were nearest to him eagerly scrutinised +his plaid, as such persons were naturally enough wont to do; but it +was so soiled with the mud-water of the mosses in which it seemed to +have been rolled, that knowing as some of them were in the tartans +of the different clans, they could not possibly make out the set of +that which he wore. They saw enough, however, to satisfy them that +it was green, and as they knew that to be the prevailing hue of the +tartan of the MacIntyres, they examined no further. + +"Friend, thou art welcome!" said the chief; "a MacIntyre is always +welcome to a MacDonell. Take your seat among us as your rank may +warrant, and spare not the viands or liquor with which the board +abounds--Slainte!" and with this hospitable wish of health and welcome, +he emptied the wine cup which he held in his hand. + +"Thanks!" said the stranger, bowing his head with an overstrained +politeness; and without more ado he seated himself in a retired +and rather darksome nook, near the lower end of the board, where he +immediately engaged himself deeply, and without any very great nicety +of selection, with such eatables and drinkables as came within his +reach, so that he speedily ceased to be any further interruption +to the conversation which had been begun at the head of the table, +to which everyone had been most attentively listening when he came in. + +"What sort of hunting had you to-day, Angus?" said Allan of Lundy. + +"I brought down a royal stag," replied Angus, with an air of sullen +dignity. + +"That was well," replied Allan of Lundy; "it was as much as I did." + +"And why should I not do as much as you, cousin?" demanded Angus +somewhat peevishly. + +"When you come to your strength, Angus, you may perhaps do more," +replied Allan. + +"My body," said Angus haughtily, "aye, and my mind, too, are strong +enough for everything that a chief of Glengarry may be called upon to +perform. And now I think on't, father," continued he, turning towards +the chief, "I grow tired of this wretched mimicry of war which I +have so long waged against the deer of our hills. I would fain hunt +for bolder game. It is time for me to be hunting the Cabar Fiadh +[1] of the MacKenzies! Why should our ancient enmity against them +have slept so long? We seem to have forgotten the disgrace of that +ignominious day, never to be washed out but in rivers of MacKenzie +blood, when fifty galleys of our clan fled from before the Castle of +Eilean Donan, defended as it was by no other garrison than Gillichrist +MacCraw and his son Duncan alone, when a single arrow from the boy's +quiver pierced our chief, and dispersed his formidable armament. Let +us hasten to wipe away so foul a disgrace." + +The speech of the young chief of Glengarry had been repeatedly cheered +during the time he was speaking; and he finished amidst vociferous +applause. The stranger in the green plaid halted in his meal to bend +an anxious attention to everything he uttered. + +"Angus," said the old chief, "you have spoken unadvisedly, boy. These +are subjects fitter for the private chamber of council than for the +festive board. You, moreover, seem to have forgotten that the quiet +which the MacKenzies are forced to keep, is owing to some successful +enterprises of my own, from the humbling effects of which they have +not even yet recovered." + +"If that be the case, father," cried Angus energetically, "let us +keep them down when we have them down! Let me finish what you so nobly +began. Promise me that you will grant me to lead a raid against these +stags-heads. Promise me, dear father!" + +"A raid! a raid led by the young chief!" cried the vassals, starting +up from the table as one man with enthusiastic shouts. + +"Aye," said Angus, "and the young chief shall not go unattended. Every +warrior of the name of MacDonell, nay, every marching man who can +trace one drop of his blood to the clan Conell, shall share in the +glory to be gathered in the first raid of Angus MacDonell against +the MacKenzies!" + +"All shall go! all shall go!" cried the clansmen who were present. + +"Aye, all shall go!" cried the young chief, warming more and more +with the applause he was receiving. "And here, as a good omen of our +success, here have we this night a MacIntyre among us. You, sir," +continued he, addressing himself to the stranger in the green plaid, +"you shall bear a message from me to your chieftain. Tell him to whom +you owe service, that the tenth day of the new moon shall be the day +of our gathering. It is long since our war-cry of Craggan-an-Fhithick +has rung in a MacKenzie's ear!" + +"Craggan-an-Fhithick!" shouted the clansmen. + +"Tell him to whom you owe service, that Craggan-an-Fhithick shall +once more rend the air," said Angus; "and that the young chief of +Glengarry shall lead a raid against the MacKenzies, of the fame of +which senachies and bards shall have to speak for ages to come." + +"I shall surely bear your message to him to whom I owe service," +said the man in the green plaid, after rising slowly, and making a +dignified but respectful bow. And then putting on his bonnet, and +gathering his plaid tightly about him, he paced solemnly and silently +out of the hall, and departed. + +"Methinks you have been somewhat rash and hasty in this matter, +Angus," said the chief, with a cloud on his brow. "I have as yet +given no consent. What think you of this affair, Allan of Lundy?" + +"Much as I am wearying to wreak my vengeance on the MacKenzies," +replied Allan of Lundy, "I do think that my young cousin has been +somewhat precipitate in this matter. A year or two more over his head +would have confirmed his strength, and made him fitter for enduring +the fatigue of such an enterprise. He is too young and unripe as yet +to be gathered by death in the bloody harvest of the battlefield. The +loss of one of so great promise would be a severe blow to our clan." + +"The loss of me, indeed?" cried Angus, with a lip full of a contempt +which it had never before borne towards Allan of Lundy, and which +Allan of Lundy could not believe had any reference to him. "If you +did lose me you would only thereby be the nearer to my father's seat." + +"Speak not so, Angus!" said Allan with a depth of feeling to which +he was but little accustomed. "Speak not so, even in jest." + +"Come then, MacDonells," cried Angus again, "let our gathering be +for the tenth day of the new moon, and let the dastard MacKenzies +once more quail before our triumphant war-cry of Craggan-an-Fhithick!" + +"Craggan-an-Fhithick!" re-echoed the clansmen, with a shout that +might have rent the rafters; and deep pledges instantly went round +to the success of the expedition. + +At this moment Ronald MacDonald, the chief's younger son, a shrewd +boy of some eight or ten years of age, entered the hall,-- + +"What has become of the stranger in the green plaid?" cried he eagerly. + +"He is gone," answered several voices at once. + +"Then was he a foul and traitorous spy," said the boy. "When my brother +was speaking about the raid, I perceived that he was devouring every +word he was uttering. His grey eye showed no friendly sympathy. I +resolved to watch him, and the more I did so, the more were my +suspicions strengthened. I was struck with the dirty state of his +plaid. As it was green it might have been MacIntyre. But to make sure +of this I borrowed old nurse's shears, and whilst he was intent on +what Angus was saying, I contrived to get near to him unperceived; +and I clipped away this fragment, which nurse has since washed--and +see!" said he, holding it up to the light of a lamp that all might +have a view of it. "See! it has the alternate white and red sprainge +of a base and double-faced MacKenzie!" + +"MacKenzie, indeed, by all that is good!" cried the old chief. "Out +after him, and take him alive or dead!" + +"Fly!--after him!--out! out!--let us scour the country!--haste, +haste!--out, out!" were the impatient cries that burst from every one +in the hall, and in an instant there was a rushing, and a running, and +a mounting in haste, and a flying off in all directions. Shouts came +from different quarters without the castle walls; and by and by all +was silence, for those who had gone in various ways after the fugitive +were already out of hearing; and after a night of fruitless toil, they +returned in wet and draggled parties of two and three, each expecting +to hear those accounts of success from others which they themselves +had it not in their power to give, and all were equally disappointed. + +It now suits my narrative best to leave the Castle of Invergarry for +a while, in order to notice what passed some little time afterwards +in that of Eilean Donan, where Kenneth MacKenzie, Lord Kintail, +was seated in his lady's apartment trifling away the hours. A page +entered in haste. + +"My lord," said he, "Hector Mackenzie of Beauly is here, and would +fain have an audience." + +"Hector of Beauly!" exclaimed Lord Kintail, "what, I wonder, can +he want? With your leave, my lady, let him be admitted. Hector," +continued his lordship as his clansman entered, "where have you come +from, you look famished and jaded?" + +"'Tis little wonder if I do, my lord," said Hector, "for the last +meal of meat that I ate, and though good enough of its kind, it was +but a short one, was in the Castle of Invergarry." + +"The Castle of Invergarry!" cried his lordship in astonishment. + +"Aye, in the Castle of Invergarry, my lord," continued Hector; "and +if my meal there was short, I have had a long enough walk after it +to help me to digest what I ate." + +"Are you in your right mind, Hector?" demanded his lordship. "Quick, +explain yourself." + +"I cannot say that I altogether intended to honour the Glengarry +chief's board with my presence," said Hector, drawing himself up; "but +having some trifling occasion of my own to pass through the Glengarry +country, I rolled my plaid in a moss-hole, and took the wildest way +over the hills; and thinking that I might pass unnoticed amidst the +darkness and howling of a most tempestuous night, I ventured so near +to the castle, that before I knew where I was, a band of MacDonells +were suddenly upon me. Seeing that there was nothing else for it but +to brave the danger, I had presence of mind enough to pass myself +for a MacIntyre, was invited into the castle, sat at the same table, +and feasted with the old raven and his vassals, and heard that young +half-fledged corby Angus MacDonell plan and arrange a raid of the +whole clan Conell and its dependent families against the MacKenzie +country. Taking me for a MacIntyre, he told me to bear his message to +him to whom I owed service. To give obedience to his will, therefore, +I have travelled without stop or stay, or meat or drink, save what I +took from the running brooks by the way, in order that I may now tell +you, my lord, to whom I owe service as my chief, that the MacDonells' +gathering is to be for the tenth day of the moon, when their fire +and sword will run remorseless through our land." + +"Hector, you are a brave man," said Lord Kintail, "you shall be +rewarded for this. Meanwhile hasten to procure some refreshment and +repose; for assuredly you must sorely need both." + +I presume that it is scarcely necessary for me to tell you that Lord +Kintail and his lady had a speedy and very anxious consultation +together. She was a woman of very superior talents, of quick +perception, and equally ready in devising expedients as prompt in +carrying them into execution. It was at once agreed between them, +that this was too serious and impending a danger to admit of delay in +preparing to resist it. Feeling, as they did, that the clan had not +yet altogether gathered its strength since the last sweeping raid which +old Donald MacAngus, chief of the clan Conell, had committed on their +territories, both saw the necessity of losing no time in procuring all +the foreign aid they could obtain. It was therefore agreed between them +as the best precaution that could be taken, that Lord Kintail should +forthwith set out for Mull to procure auxiliary troops from his friend +and kinsman MacLean. Preparations were instantly made accordingly in +perfect secrecy for his departure; and in the course of little more +than an hour after the communication of Hector's intelligence, his +lordship's galley stood out of Loch Duich and through the Kyles of +Skye, and left the straits with as fair a north-eastern breeze as if +he had bought it from some witch for the very purpose of wafting him +to Mull. But secrets are difficult to keep; for notwithstanding the +privacy of all these arrangements, not only Lord Kintail's destination, +but the cause and object of his voyage, was known. Had the discovery +been traced, perhaps it might have been found to have originated with +my lady's woman, from whom it gradually spread, until it was quickly +whispered, with every proper and prudential caution as to silence, +into every ear in the Castle of Eilean Donan, whence it spread like +wildfire over the whole district. + +The MacDonells, too, could have their scouts as well as the +MacKenzies. When the hubbub occasioned by the hurried and hopeless +chase after the false MacIntyre had subsided, a patient, painstaking, +and most sagacious Highlander set off to try what he could make of it; +and having once found a trace of the track the MacKenzie had taken, +he never lost sight of it again, until he had followed him so far +into the enemy's territories, that he had to thank a most ingenious +disguise which he wore for saving his neck from being brought into +speedy acquaintance with the gallows-tree of Eilean Donan. This man +returned immediately to Invergarry with the intelligence that the +projected raid of the MacDonells was as well known in Kintail as it +was in Glengarry, and that Lord Kintail himself had gone to Mull to +procure the powerful aid of his cousin MacLean. + +Young Angus of Glengarry was furious when he found that all his +schemes, so well laid as he thought they had been, for establishing +his own glory and that of the clan, had been thus baffled. + +"If that yellow-bearded buck's-head shall ever chance to cross my +path again," said he, "young as my arm is, he shall have a trial of +my sword." + +"Thy spirit is good, boy," said Allan of Lundy; "'tis like that of +your father and your grandfather before you. But it will be wise +in you to check its rashness until your sinews are better able to +back it up. That same Hector MacKenzie whom we saw here among us, +is moulded for some other sort of work than to give and take gentle +buffets with a boy." + +"Thank thee, kind kinsman, for thy care of me," replied Angus, in +anything but an agreeable tone. + +"'Tis true what Allan says," observed the old chief. "I rejoice in thy +spirit, boy; it recalls to me mine own early days. But for the sake +of the clan Conell, to whom your life is precious, and," added he, +with a voice that age, or perhaps some strong feeling operating upon +age, made falter, "and for the sake of your old father, who doats +upon you, for the sake of your sainted mother, let me not have to +mourn over the too early fate of her first-born!" + +"I shall not be rash, I shall be prudent, father," replied Angus, +considerably touched by the old man's appeal. "But why should we +not hasten to strike some blow ere their succours shall have time +to arrive?" + +"There is something in that," said Allan of Lundy. "And since my young +cousin so burns to flesh his maiden sword, there can be no safer +way of his doing so, or with the certainty of a more easy victory, +than by making a sudden attack on the shores of Loch Carron." + +"Safety! easy victory!" muttered the young chief, with an expression +of offended dignity and ineffable contempt. "But 'tis well," added he, +too much filled with joy at having any enterprise at all in prospect, +to allow any other feeling to occupy his mind for a moment; "let us +not lose time in talk. If we are to move with the hope of a surprise, +it were fitting that not one moment be lost. Let all within reach be +speedily summoned. By to-morrow's dawn we must march to Loch Hourn, +where our galleys are lying. Said I not well now, father?" + +"Let it be so then, my son," said the chief, with a sigh which he +could not check; "and oh! may all that is good attend and guard you!" + +The sun rose with unclouded splendour over the mountains to the +eastward of Loch Carron, and poured out a stream of golden radiance +over the surface of its waters, which were gently lifted into tiny +waves by a western breeze. The whole of this Highland scene was glowing +and smiling. The early smoke was tinged with brighter tints of orange, +blue, and yellow, as it curled upwards from the humble chimneys of +the cottages which were scattered singly or in small groups among +irregular shreds of cultivation, that brightened the strip of land +bordering the shore. The whole happy population was astir, and little +boats were pushing forth from every creek amidst the sparkling waves, +their crews eagerly engaged in preparing their nets and lines for +fishing. Already had some of the old men taken their seats on their +accustomed bench, to inhale the fresh breath of life from the pure +morning air, and to look listlessly out to sea, that they might idly +speculate on the wind and the weather. It was hardly possible that +eye could have looked upon a more peaceful scene. + +Suddenly some two or three boats, which had gone down the little +frith during the night, for the purpose of reaching a more distant +fishing ground by the early dawn, were seen returning with all sail, +and toiling with every oar. Curiosity first, and then alarm, brought +out the inhabitants from the interior of their lowly abodes. The +nearer fishing-boats drew their lines and half-spread nets hastily in, +and there was one general rush, each individual crew making towards +that point of the shore which was nearest, without any regard to the +consideration whether it was the point most adjacent to their home or +not. By this time all eyes were straining seaward, to discover what +it was that created all this panic, when, one after another, there +came sailing round the distant point, galley after galley, till a +considerable fleet of them had appeared, their white sails filled with +the favouring breeze, and shining with a borrowed lustre from the rich +stream of light that poured aslant upon them from the newly-risen sun. + +What a scene of dismay and confusion now arose! Clamorous +discussions began among the timid spectators,--all action seemed +to be paralysed. None appeared to think of arming, where the force +of the armament that was advancing was manifestly so resistlessly +overwhelming. There were but few who had any doubts as to what clan +it might probably belong; and these doubts were speedily removed +as the fleet came on, by the appearance of the displayed red eagle, +with the black galley that formed the bearings on the broad banner +of Glengarry, together with the crest of the raven on the rock, +with the appalling motto of Craggan-an-Fhithick. + +And now a bugle was heard to blow shrilly from the leading vessel, +and in an instant the several galleys darted off from one centre +towards different parts of the loch; and the defenceless inhabitants +of the hamlets and cottages might be seen abandoning their dwellings +and flying inland. And no sooner did the prow of each vessel touch +the bottom, than the armed men which it contained were seen rushing +breast-deep through the tide towards the shore, the broadswords +in their hands flashing in the morning light. One band was led by +the brave young chief of Glengarry, shouting his war-cry, with the +faithful and affectionate Allan of Lundy by his side, intent on little +else but to protect his precious charge from harm. + +There were but few men of the MacKenzies there to make a stand, +and those who tried to do so were scattered, overpowered, and +cut down. Wild were the shrieks that arose, as the miserable and +comparatively defenceless people, leaving their wretched houses and +boats to destruction, and their effects and cattle to be plundered, +fled away towards the mountains. The impatient Angus no sooner +reached the dry land, than he rushed impetuously after the flying +MacKenzies,--and soon indeed did he overtake the rearward; but it +was composed of the women, the aged, and the young, and these he +passed by and left unharmed behind him to press on after those who +might be more worthy of his sword. On he hurried for miles after the +fugitives, calling on them from time to time to halt and yield to +him but one fighting man as an opponent. But his appeal was in vain; +and tired, and disappointed, and chagrined, he stopped to breathe, +and he gnashed his teeth in a disappointment which even the friendly +counsels of Allan of Lundy could not allay. + +"I'll warrant I could soon catch those caitiffs who are disappearing +so swiftly over the hill-top yonder," said he; "but I care less to-day +about taking the life of a MacKenzie or two, than I do about keeping +the MacKenzies from taking thine." + +"Thank ye, cousin," replied Angus, his mortification by no means +moderated by this well-meant speech. "I hope this arm will defend +the citadel of my life's blood from all harm without other aid." + +As Angus returned slowly towards the shore, he was somewhat shocked +to discover that some of his followers had been less scrupulous in the +use of their swords than he had been; and he met with spectacles which +informed him of deeds of atrocity and of blood wantonly perpetrated. He +beheld those cottages in flames which were lately smoking in peace; +and his heart smote him that he was now too late to prevent that +carnage in which the grey hairs of the old were blended in one common +slaughter with the fair locks of the young and helpless. + +There was no glorious triumph or splendid achievement to gild the +horrors of this day, or to stifle that disgust which they naturally +excited in a young man even of those times. Little pride or pleasure +had he in the miserable articles of plunder which he saw his ruthless +clansmen bearing off with blood-stained hands to their galleys; and +he sat him down with Allan of Lundy, in a faint and feverish state +of disquietude of mind, on one of those patriarchal benches which had +been so lately and so placidly occupied by some of those elders of the +hamlet whose lips were now cold, and whose hearts had now ceased to +beat. I need not tell how long the young chief was compelled to tarry +there, in the endurance of thoughts that bid defiance to all repose +of mind, until he beheld the various bands of skirmishers return +each to its own vessel, after having spread ravage and devastation, +and fire and sword and murder, far and wide around that which was +lately so happy a district. + +It happened that the Lady Kintail had gone on the battlements of +her Castle of Eilean Donan, in order to enjoy the fresh air and the +beautiful scenery of those twin sea-lochs which branch off from one +another at the spot near to which that rocky island lies which gives +name to the building that stands upon it, when, as she cast her eyes +northward, she beheld a scattered crowd of people rushing down towards +the point which creates the narrow ferry of Loch Ling. Some boats were +moored there, and as she saw them hastily loose and put to sea to cross +over to the castle, her anxiety to know what news they bore became so +great, that she hurried down to the little cove where the landing-place +was, that she might the sooner gain the intelligence they brought. + +"The MacDonells!" cried these scared and unhappy people. "The +MacDonells are upon us, lady! They have burnt and harried all Loch +Carron! and, och hone! we are ruined men!" + +"Och aye, my lady! och hone! we're all harried, and murdered, and +burned!" cried some half a dozen of them at once. + +"Answer me like rational men," said the Lady Kintail impatiently, +"and do not rout and roar like a parcel of stray beeves. How is +'t say ye? the MacDonells!" + +And then proceeding to question them, she, by degrees, gathered from +them that which had at least some resemblance to a true statement of +what had happened. + +The lady was nothing daunted by all she heard. Her first step was +to despatch certain trustworthy scouts to reconnoitre, and to bring +her accurate information how matters stood; and then she retired +to hold counsel with some of those leaders among her clansmen in +whom she had most confidence. With their advice and assistance every +precaution was immediately taken to secure the safety of the castle, +as well as to receive into it such a garrison and stock of provisions +as might enable her to hold it out until her husband's return, against +whatever force might be brought to attack it; and her heroic heart beat +so high with the resolute determination of resistance, that she felt +something like a pang of disappointment when her scouts returned with +intelligence that taught her to believe she had no reason to expect any +assault. One of her people, who was no other than Hector of Beauly, +brought back the most perfect information regarding the motions of +the enemy. They were already glutted with slaughter, cumbered with +spoil, and, in a great measure, sickened of their enterprise; and, +from the top of a hill, he had seen their galleys weighing to stand +out of Loch Carron. + +"They are tired of their raid for this time," said the lady with +bitterness. "It has been undertaken, I'll warrant, but as a first +fleshing for that young corby of an evil nest,--that Angus MacDonell; +and his young beak having been once blooded by this mighty exploit +done against women, old men, and children, he will be carried home +to croak his triumph to his dotard old sire, and then he will be +mewed up in safety till his wings grow long enough to admit of his +flying in earnest. Would I had a good man or two who would deliver +him a message from me, as he passes homewards through the Kyle Rhea +in his dastard flight to Loch Hourn." + +Now, as we have no map here, I must remind you that there are three +sea-lochs on that part of the coast of Scotland, all of which debouche +into the western sea. Of these Loch Carron is the most northerly, +and Loch Hourn the most southerly, and that Loch Duich, which lies +between both, opens through the expansion at its mouth, which is +called Loch Alsh, into the narrow strait between the Isle of Skye +and the mainland, which is called the Kyle Rhea. + +"Would I had a good man or two who would deliver a message from me to +that young chough Angus MacDonell as he passes through the Kyle Rhea," +repeated the lady. + +"That most willingly will I, most noble lady," cried Hector of +Beauly. "Have I not carried one message from the young Glengarry to +my lord, and shall I not claim the honour of carrying that which the +Lady Kintail has to send to the young Glengarry?" + +"Thanks, gallant Hector!" replied the lady. "Then shalt thou speak +it from the mouth of a cannon! Trust me thou shalt make him hear on +the deafest side of his head." + +Then calling him aside, she quickly explained to him the scheme she +had conceived; and desiring him to select the individuals whom he +should most wish to have in his party, and to choose the boat which +he considered best fitted for such an expedition, she ordered two +small cannon to be put on board, together with sufficient ammunition +for their use; and as no time was to be lost, he and his brave and +well-armed companions leaped immediately into the little craft, and +pushed off. They pulled with all their strength, and with the utmost +expedition, down through Loch Alsh to that isolated rock called the +Cailleach, which lies close off the eastern angle of the Isle of Skye, +and near to the northern entrance of the narrow strait of the Kyle +Rhea. There they secretly ensconced themselves to await the return +of the MacDonells. + +The night fell cold and calm, and the moon arose clear and bright, +illuminating every part of these narrow seas, and every headland +and rock that projected into them from either shore. It was in the +latter part of the year, and by slow degrees some fleecy clouds +arose from the horizon, and, after spreading themselves like a film +of gauze over the expanse of heaven, they thickened in parts into +denser masses, whence, as they passed overhead, some small, thin, +and light particles of snow began to fall gently and rarely, such +as the sky usually sends down as its first wintry offering to the +earth. This was enough to complete the concealment of the party, +hid as they were beneath the shadowy side of the rock, without much +obscuring the surface of the sea elsewhere. There then they lay, +with everything prepared, waiting impatiently for their prey. + +At length a distant sound of oars was heard, for there was not a +breath of air in these land-locked seas to render a sail available; +and the breaking of the billows on the shore, though hoarse, was +neither so loud nor so frequent as to disturb the listeners. All ears, +and all eyes, too, were on the stretch. The measured sound of the oars +grew stronger, keeping time to a low murmuring chant which proceeded +from those who pulled them, more for the purpose of preserving the +regularity of the stroke than for any music that they might have +made. By and by a galley appeared, dimly seen at some distance, and, +as it drew nearer, it was at once known to be that which contained +young Angus MacDonell from the broad banner that floated over it, +though there was not light enough to descry the bearings of Glengarry. + +"Now, my gallant cannoniers," said Hector to those who had the +charge of the small pieces of artillery, "be prepared. Remember, +when I give the word, you go first, Ian, and then you are to follow, +Hamish, in about as much time as you might easily count ten without +hurrying yourself. But fail not to attend to my word. In the meanwhile, +see that you level well." + +On came the young chief's galley. It approached the rock with a +course which pointed to pass it clear at some fathoms distance to +the eastward of it. But whilst it was yet in progress towards it, +Hector, with great expedition and adroitness, pointed his first piece, +and watched his time; and his fatal + +"Now!" resounded over the surface of the deep. + +Ere yet the lint-stock had been applied to the touch-hole, the galley +was seen to quiver. Every motion of it indicated the alarm that +had already been struck into its crew and helmsman by this ominous +word. But the boom! of the first gun followed with the quickness of +lightning; and the accuracy of the shot was told by the crashing of +the balls with which it had been crammed upon the timbers of the hull +and upper works, as well as by the cursing and confusion of the people +on board, the groans and plaints of the wounded, and the swerving of +the galley from its course. + +"That has done some small work, I'll warrant," said Hector, as he +stooped to point the second piece. "Are you ready, Hamish? Now!" + +And boom! went the second gun with yet more decided effects. In the +panic produced by this shot the helm was left to itself, the oars +were abandoned, the galley swung round with the tide, and in a few +seconds it was driven full upon the rock. + +"Angus of Glengarry!" cried a voice like thunder. "I, Hector MacKenzie, +bore thy message to him to whom I owe service, and I have now brought +thee the answer!" + +Singling out the young chief, and springing upon him like a tiger, +he stabbed him to the heart with a left-handed blow of his dirk, ere +the unhappy youth had recovered his footing from the shock which the +little vessel received on the rock. The next moment saw his corpse +floating on the waves. + +But Hector's broadsword was instantly needed to defend his own +head. Desperate was the conflict which Allan of Lundy maintained with +this hero of the MacKenzies. There was something awful in the wild +yells of the combatants, the clashing of their claymores, the groans +of the dying, and the choking and gasping of the drowning. The very +sea-birds, which had been roused in clouds by the flash and roar of +the two cannon shots, and which had soared about for some moments, +screaming in affright at this rude and unwonted intrusion upon their +solitary slumbers, now winged themselves in terror away. The crew of +the galley were in a few seconds overpowered from the vantage ground +possessed by the assailants, as well as by the sudden nature of the +assault itself; and the slaughter was dreadful. The fearless Allan +of Lundy fought furiously hand to hand with Hector, backed as the +MacKenzie champion was by those who came to aid him after putting +their own opponents to death. Terrific were the blows he dealt around +him, and murderous were the wounds inflicted by the broad blade of +his sweeping sword. But the number of those who were thus opposed to +him individually went on increasing as his people fell around him, +until all were gone; and he saw that he must be overwhelmed and taken +if he should any longer attempt to continue his resistance. At once +he took his resolution, and bounding boldly into the air, he dived +into the bosom of the sea, leaving his astonished enemies filled with +doubt and suspense as to his fate. + +"He's food for the fishes like the rest of them," said some of the +MacKenzies. + +"The foul fiend catch him but yonder he goes!" cried one of them, +as he saw him rise to the surface at some distance from the rock. + +"To your oars, men of Kintail!" cried Hector, "to your oars, I say, +and let him not escape!" + +Meanwhile, stoutly did Allan of Lundy breast the tide, and so great +was the confusion that prevailed among the Kintail men, that ere they +could push off the boat, man the oars, and make her start ahead, the +powerful swimmer had made considerable way against the billows. Soon, +however, would they have diminished the distance he had gained, and +soon would he have been the prey of those who thirsted so eagerly +for his life, had not the other galleys at that moment appeared; +their prows bearing gallantly onwards with the favouring tide, making +the sea foam and hiss again with the sweep of their numerous oars, +and the rapid rush of their course. In an instant the Kintail boat +altered the direction of her head, and shot away off in an easterly +direction; her rowers bending to their work like men who were anxious +to escape from a pursuing danger. Allan with the red jacket was easily +recognised amid the waves; but ere they could get him into the galley +that first came up, the boat of the MacKenzies was already lost +to their eyes in the gloom that brooded over the more distant part +of the straits. Hopeless of overtaking her, the MacDonells, after +bewailing the calamity that had befallen them, and looking for some +time in vain for the remains of their young leader, pursued their +sad and darksome voyage, with the pipes playing a wailing lament, +until they reached Loch Hourn, whence most of them were to prosecute +their melancholy march back to Invergarry Castle. + +The lady of Kintail was no sooner informed of the success of her +enterprise, than she despatched a quick-sailing boat to the island +of Mull to bear the news to her lord. This boat was observed to +pass southwards by the MacDonells, as they were lying by for a short +repose. The object of its voyage was quickly guessed at, but Allan +of Lundy judged it unwise to interrupt it. + +"It is toiling to work out our revenge," said he to his people. "It +goes to invite the lord of Kintail homewards. See that ye who are to +tarry here keep a lively watch for him, and so shall his blood pay +for that of our lamented young chief. Would that I could have remained +to have wreaked my vengeance on his head! But I have other duties to +perform,--I must go to soothe a bereaved father's sorrow. Alas! how +shall I break the news of this sad affliction to the old man!" + +I need hardly tell you that the old chief of the MacDonells remained +in a state of extreme mental anxiety after the departure of Angus with +the expedition. He felt that not only the honour of the clan, but the +honour and the life of his son, were at stake. He was restless and +unhappy; yea, he cursed himself and his feeble limbs because he had +not been able to go, as he was once wont to do, at the head of his +people. Twenty times in the course of every hour did he fancy that +he heard the triumphant clangour of the pipes played to his son's +homeward march, and as often was he disappointed. At last something +like their shrill music at a distance did strike upon his ear. + +"Hah!" cried he with an excited countenance, "heard ye that?--my boy +comes at last. Heard ye not the sound? Though I be old, yet is mine +ear sharp when it watches for the coming of my gallant boy! Help +me to the barbican, that I may behold him! Well do I remember the +time when I first came back in triumph! It was on that memorable +occasion when----Merciful Heaven!" exclaimed he after a pause, +occasioned by the unexpected appearance at that moment of Allan of +Lundy, who had come on before the rest, and who now entered the hall +with downcast and sorrowful looks, and with his arms folded across +his bosom. "Merciful Heaven! Speak Allan! Tell me why look ye so +sad? Where is my Angus? Where is my boy?" + +"Alas! alas!" said Allan of Lundy, "I cannot--cannot tell thee that +it is well with him." + +"What!--wounded?" cried the old chief; "so was I in my first field. He +must look for such fate as fell to the lot of those who have lived +before him." + +"Alas! alas!" cried Allan of Lundy, weeping at the old man's words, +"Alas! his fate has indeed come too soon!" + +"Hush!" said the old chief, suddenly starting and stretching +his ear to listen. "What strains are these the bagpipes are +playing?--a coronach! Ah! then am I a bereft father! Oh! my +boy!--bereft!--bereft!--bereft!" and, springing convulsively from his +chair, he smote his breast violently, his head turned round to one +side, his neck suddenly stiffened, his eyes rolled fearfully, and then +protruding themselves from their sockets, they became horribly fixed +and glazed, his breath rattled in his throat, and sinking back into his +chair, he had died before Allan of Lundy could rush forward to his aid. + +Now indeed did the coronach raise its wild lament on the pipes, the +women mixing with it their wailings, and the men their groans. It +was for their old chief--their ancient strength, Donald MacAngus +MacDonell, and for the young and promising flower of their hopes, +Angus, the eldest son and heir of Donald. The days of mourning, +though not long, were sad, and the funeral obsequies of the chief +were performed with all the solemnity, and pageantry, and ceremonial +that were due to them, whilst those of his son were denied to them +by the unhappy nature of his death. + +The council of the clan had already determined that Allan of Lundy +should govern for the young Ronald, who being in boyhood was deemed +quite unfit for so weighty and important a charge. The experienced +warrior assumed the important trust with his usual boldness and +confidence, though altogether overpowered by that honest and unfeigned +grief which oppressed his heart for the loss of those relatives whom +he had so long held dear. But his warlike and revengeful spirit was not +long suffered to remain so clouded, for he had hardly been installed in +the situation, to which the universal suffrages of the clan had raised +him, when a breathless messenger from Loch Hourn entered the hall. + +"What news?" cried Allan impatiently--"say, has the young blood of +our lamented Angus been avenged? Has the red tide from Kintail's +heart been mingled with the angry currents of the narrow seas?" + +"Alas, no!" replied the messenger, "no such good fortune has attended +us!" + +"How then?" demanded Allan, "methinks that if your leader had but +followed the simple guidance which I gave him ere we parted, our +grief might have been now somewhat assuaged by the thought that we +had made that woman a widow who hath caused our woe, and that clan +mourners who were rejoicing over the grief which they have wrought +to us. But speak quickly, what hath happened?" + +"Your counsel was strictly followed," replied the messenger. "Our +fleet of boats were all ready to be launched, and our men were lying +prepared to embark at the first signal. Whilst all were on the watch, +a galley appeared in sight, and we began to hurry on board. Suddenly +we perceived that she was steering directly for the island where we +lay, and we all went on shore again in the belief that she was the +vessel with those friends we looked for from Ardnamurchan." + +"Quick, quick! what then?" cried Allan of Lundy. + +"On she came with her prow direct towards the port," replied the +messenger, "and she continued to keep it so till she came within hail +of the very entrance of it. Then the pipes played up Cabar Fiadh, and, +ere she tacked to bear away again with all her oars out and hoisting +her canvas to the uttermost, a hoarse voice came thundering from on +board,--'The Lord Kintail here sends you his greeting by the hands +of his captain, the captain of Cairnburgmore;' and in the same moment +they poured out so murderous a storm of bullets from their falconets +upon us who were then actively launching our boats to be after her, +that many of our men were killed and wounded. The confusion among +us was great, and she escaped to so great a distance before we were +ready to pursue, that all pursuit became vain." + +"Curses be on her and on her crew!" cried Allan of Lundy, gnashing his +teeth in bitterness; "it seems as if some fiend helped them! Curses be +on Cairnburgmore! and curses be on the freight his galley carried! But +I will be revenged on these MacKenzies! Here I swear," continued he, +drawing his sword and striking it against the banner of the MacDonell +that was then floating at the upper end of the hall. "Here do I +solemnly swear to make so terrible a reprisal on the MacKenzies, +that men's flesh shall creep upon their bones as they listen to the +tale of it; and yet shall it be but as an earnest of what I shall +inflict on that accursed clan for the grief and sorrow they have so +lately wrought us!" + +These then, gentlemen, were the circumstances that preceded and gave +birth to the celebrated Raid of Killychrist, and after so long a +preliminary history, I shall now hasten to give you the particulars +of that horrible piece of atrocity. + +It was Saturday, and the most active preparations were instantly +ordered by Allan of Lundy to be made for a night-march. He had heard +that there was to be a numerous gathering of the MacKenzies next day +in the church of Killychrist, or Christ's Church, a short mile or +two above the little town and priory of Beauly. Putting himself at +the head of a determined band of followers therefore, he took his way +across the mountains with inconceivable expedition, so that he found +himself, early on the Sunday morning, in the heart of the MacKenzie +country, and crossing the river Beauly, he was soon at the church of +Killychrist, and he surrounded it with his MacDonells before any of +his miserable victims were in the least aware of his presence. + +The church was filled with all ranks of the clan, but there was a +great proportion of the higher class among them. Psalms were singing, +and all within the sacred building were absorbed in that attention +or abstraction which attends real or pretended devotion. + +Suddenly the doors were taken possession of by the armed MacDonells, +with the grim and unrelenting Allan of Lundy at their head. In an +instant the nasal chant of the psalmody was drowned by the screams +of the timid, who already saw nothing but death before them, and +by the exclamations of those who sought to make resistance, and to +fight their way through their foes. But utterly impervious were the +serried spear points that bristled through the low-arched doorways, +as well as through every narrow lancet window of the holy fane; and +stern and resolute, and utterly devoid of feeling, were the war-scarred +countenances of those whose ferocious eyes glared in upon them. + +All was now panic and confusion among the MacKenzies, who filled the +area of the church, where individuals crowded and jostled so against +each other, that few could draw a dirk, much less a claymore from +its sheath. Meanwhile shouts were heard without, and immediately +afterwards those of the MacDonells who kept the doors and windows +gave way for one single instant; but it was only to admit of the +approach of a number of their comrades, who speedily threw in heaps +of blazing faggots together with stifling balls of rosin and sulphur, +and other combustibles. In an instant the ancient carved screens and +other woodwork of the interior were ignited, and the very clothes +of the unfortunate people caught fire; and still heaps upon heaps +of inflammable materials were hurled incessantly inwards, until all +within was in one universal blaze. + +"They have light enow within I trow,--they lack not light from +without," cried the remorseless Allan of Lundy; "shut and fasten the +doors and windows, and block them up with sods." + +His orders were speedily obeyed, and those within were now left to +their agonising fate; but well I ween that the fancy of no one can +imagine what were the horrors conveyed in those sounds that came half +stifled from within the walls of that church. Even to Allan of Lundy +they became utterly intolerable. + +"Alister Dhu!" cried he to the piper, "play up, man!--up with your +hoarse melody, and drown these sounds of torture and death that fill +our ears, as if we had been suddenly transported to the regions of +hell. Play up, I tell you!" + +The piper instantly obeyed his command, and blew up loud and +shrill; and, after having made his instrument give utterance to a +long succession of wild and unconnected notes, altogether without +any apparent meaning, he began his march around the walls of the +church, playing extemporaneously that pibroch which, under the name of +Killychrist, has ever since been used as the Pibroch of Glengarry. For +a brief space of time, the horrible sounds which came from within the +building continued to mingle themselves with the clangour of the pipes; +but by degrees these became fainter and fainter, and the piper had +not made many circles around the church till the shrieks, the groans, +and the wailings had ceased; their spirits had been released from +their tortured bodies, and all was silent within its walls. + +Allan of Lundy had no desire to unbar this scene of horror, that he +might look upon his work ere he went. The preservation of his people, +moreover, required that he should retreat as expeditiously as he +possibly could. He was well aware that the whole MacKenzie country +must very speedily be alarmed; that all of the clan who were within +reach would be immediately in arms, and that the body of MacDonells +which he had with him would be as a mere handful compared to that +of his foes, if he should allow them time to assemble. He moved off +therefore with the utmost expedition; but, with all the haste he could +use, he could not shake off the MacKenzies, who collected in irregular +numbers and followed him, harassing his rear and his flanks, whilst, +like a lion retreating before the hunters, he marched on boldly, +endeavouring to beat away the assailing crowds by halting from time +to time as he went, and charging back upon them with resistless fury, +making many a brave MacKenzie bite the dust. But still they continued +to increase in force by fresh accessions. + +At length he had recourse to a manoeuvre which he hoped might have +distracted the attention of his foes. He hastily divided his little +band into two parties, and having given secret orders to a trusty +leader to start off at the head of one band in the direction of +the Bridge of Inverness, and so to pursue his way homewards by the +south side of Loch Ness, he commanded the other to follow himself, +intending to hold directly onwards over the hills by the route which +they had come during the preceding night. This plan so far succeeded, +that the MacKenzies were for some time much baffled and perplexed. But +after some considerable delay, they recovered themselves so far as +to divide their men also in the same manner; and one large body, +under the command of Murdoch MacKenzie of Redcastle, followed hard +after the first party of the MacDonells, whilst MacKenzie of Coull +pressed onwards on the retreating steps of the captain of Glengarry. + +Availing himself of the temporary check which his pursuers had thus +met with, Allan of Lundy and his party made extraordinary exertions, +by which they gained so much ground on their pursuers, that they fairly +left the MacKenzies out of sight. They were thus enabled to rest for +a little while, like a tired herd of chased deer, in the hills near +the burn of Altsay. But their repose was short. The pack of their +enemies, who were following on their track, soon opened in yells +like those of hounds when they came in view of them, and they were +compelled to stand to their arms. A very sanguinary skirmish was the +consequence, fought with great success on the part of the MacDonells, +who slew numbers of their enemies; but this availed them little, for +still the MacKenzies came crowding and gathering on in fresh numbers, +whilst the ranks of Glengarry were every moment growing thinner and +thinner. Retreat, therefore, became again expedient. + +Allan of Lundy made one desperate charge that scattered his foes +over the hill-side, and then his bugle unwillingly gave the word +of command for his brave MacDonells to retire. They did so with the +utmost expedition, and at the same time with all the steadiness and +coolness which became them. But as they moved on, many among their +number were, from time to time, prostrated and sprinkled, man by man, +on the earth, by the distant shots fired at them by their pursuers; +and many a gallant clansman fell whilst endeavouring to cover from +harm the scarlet-clad body of his leader, that conspicuously attracted +the aim of his enemies. At length the number of the MacDonells became +so much reduced, and the pursuit waxed so hot, that even a show of +resistance was rendered utterly vain. + +"Men of Glengarry!" cried Allan of Lundy, "nothing now remains for us +but flight. But ere we fly, let us make one more furious onset against +these cowardly Bodachs. Let us first scatter them to the four winds +of heaven, and then, when I give you a bugle blast, see that ye in +your turn flee off suddenly apart, and so let each try to find his own +way home. I shall shift well enough for myself. Now charge on them." + +Unprepared for this instantaneous assault, the effect of it was +tremendous. Many of the MacKenzies were slain, and the whole of the +remainder were dispersed like a flock of sheep. The MacDonells had +hitherto kept together like a ball; but no sooner did they hear the +shrill blast of Allan of Lundy's bugle, than they burst asunder, and +each individual bounded off in that direction which seemed to offer him +the best chance of baffling his pursuers. As hounds are astonished and +divided by the sudden appearance of a trip of hares starting all at +once from some well-preserved patch of furze, so were the MacKenzies +confused by this new expedient of their enemies. For some time they +stood confounded, until at last they gathered into little irregular +bands, each of which followed that fugitive to whom the eyes of those +that composed it were accidentally directed. But the splendid scarlet +jacket of Allan of Lundy, which was as well known to the MacKenzies as +to the MacDonells, and which upon this occasion particularly struck +them as participating in the hue of that element which had recently +done so cruel work upon the miserable wretches at Killychrist, drew on +him the fixed attention of by far the greatest body. This was exactly +what he wished for, as he saw that in this way even his flight would +be the means of contributing to the safety of his men. + +"After the firebrand!" cried a powerful and athletic champion of +the MacKenzies. "It is Allan with the red jacket himself. After +him! See where he flies along the slope! But I'm thinking that there +is something yonder afore him that will bring him to a check!--after +him! after him!" + +Like greyhound freed from the slips, did this leader of the MacKenzies, +and a great mass of those who followed him, burst away after Allan of +Lundy, who seemed to devour the very ground by the rapidity of his +flight, and the crowd of those that were after him very soon showed +a long tail like that of a comet. + +The MacKenzie champion who had cheered them on to the pursuit, +soon shot far-a-head of the great body of his party, some five or +six of whom only could keep at all near him. He was well aware that +the MacDonell had taken a course which must lead him to a fearful +ravine,--a yawning chasm, something not much less than twenty feet in +width, that seemed to sink black and fearful into that eternal night +which may be supposed to exist in the bowels of the earth. The very +stream that was heard to rush through it was there invisible. It was +this that the MacKenzie leader had counted on as certain to prove +a check to the flying Allan of Lundy. But little did he know that +the bold hero of the MacDonells, trusting in his wonderful powers, +had taken this very course with the hope of being thereby enabled to +rid himself entirely of his pursuers. As Allan flew with a velocity +that seemed to vie with that of the heathcock as he skims over +the heather tops on a hill-side, he looked now and then over his +shoulder to ascertain the state of the pursuit; and perceiving as he +came within a few yards of the ravine, that the MacKenzie leader was +considerably in advance of the handful of stragglers who toiled after +him, he halted, and planted himself firmly in a position to await +his assault. Nor was this halt of his altogether unseasonable; for +his breathing came somewhat hurriedly for a few moments; but before +his enemy came near to him, his lungs were again playing easily; and +if his erect bosom heaved at all, it did so more with indignation and +contemptuous defiance, than from over-exertion. The MacKenzie champion +came to a stop within ten paces of him whom he had been pursuing. + +"Now!" cried he, whilst his words came thick and half-smothered by +the exhaustion under which he laboured. "Now! now, Allan of the red +jacket!--Now I have got ye!--The last time we met, you escaped from +this good claymore by diving like a duck. Do so now, if you can. Dive +now, if you dare, or stand like a man, and face Hector MacKenzie of +Beauly,--Hector MacKenzie who slew"---- + +"Villain!" cried Allan of Lundy, "you need say no more. I thank thee +for thus recalling to me thine accursed visage and name. The very +sight of thee gives a new edge to this reeking blade of mine." + +Allan of Lundy rushed furiously at his foe, who advanced a step or two +to meet him. A terrible single combat ensued. But active and adroit +as the MacDonell leader had ever proved himself to be as a swordsman, +he found in Hector MacKenzie of Beauly a cool, an experienced, and +a powerful opponent. Conscious that his adversary had at that moment +the advantage of him as to wind, and being aware that some five or six +stark fellows of his own clan were fast nearing the scene of action, +he saw that his game lay in protracting the fight, till numbers on his +side might make his enemy an easy prey. He contented himself therefore +with guarding and parrying the furious and not always well-directed +cuts and thrusts of Allan of Lundy, until his aid should arrive to +render his victory sure. They did come up at last, panting like overrun +blood-hounds; and the brave MacDonell had just presence of mind enough +to see that if he meant to save his life from that certain destruction +that awaited it, from the fearful odds by which he was so speedily to +be surrounded, he had no time to lose. With one desperate cut, which, +though guarded, made his adversary reel beneath the very weight of it, +he turned suddenly from him, and ran three or four steps towards the +ravine--halted--threw back on his enemies a withering look of rage and +scorn, and then darting towards the yawning gulf, he sprang over its +fearful separation with the bound of a stag, and uttering a taunting +laugh, he quietly leant upon his sword on the opposite bank to await +the issue. The followers of Hector MacKenzie shuddered involuntarily as +he sprang, but impelled by the rage of disappointment, Hector himself +flew towards the chasm. He checked for a moment on the very brink, +with his plumed bonnet thrown back, and his arms and sword high in +air; and then casting one wild and searching look into the abyss +that yawned beneath his feet, he retreated a few steps, and nerving +himself with all his resolution, he flew at the desperate leap. + +"He is over!" shouted one MacKenzie. + +"God be here, he is down!" cried another. + +Neither of them were accurately right. He had failed in clearing the +chasm by a single inch. His toes scratched away the loose earth and +moss, and down indeed went his feet. His naked claymore dropped from +his hand; but he caught at a young birchen sapling that grew from the +very verge of the rock. It bent like a rope with his weight, and he +hung over the black void into which his trusty weapon had disappeared, +and down which it was still heard faintly clanging as it was dashed +from side to side in its descent. Allan of Lundy looked remorselessly +downwards upon the wretched man whose eyes glared fearfully amidst his +convulsed features, as with extended jaws he uttered some incoherent +and guttural sounds, which even the horrors of his perilous situation +and impending fate could not compel his indomitable spirit to mould +into anything like a petition for mercy from a MacDonell. + +"Hector of Beauly!" cried Allan of Lundy, "would that thou hadst but +reached this solid ground claymore in hand! Then, indeed, might my +revenge have been sweeter and more to my mind. But thy weird will +have it so, and vengeance may not longer tarry. You it was who reft +from us young Angus, the hope of our clan; and this day hast thou +taken many of my brave fellows from me, and many trophies too hast +thou taken. So thou mayest e'en take that too!" + +With one sweep of his claymore he cut the sapling in twain; and the +agonised visage of his powerful foe dropped away and disappeared from +his eyes. No shriek was heard; but Allan of Lundy started involuntarily +backwards as a heavy muffled sound came upwards from the descending +body, as it grazed against the successive projections of the chasm; +and when the prolonged plunge that arose from an immeasurable depth +below, told him of the utter annihilation of what had so lately been +a man as full of life, of action, and of courage, as he still felt +himself to be possessed of. + +Allan of Lundy stood for some moments as if transfixed to the +spot. Wheresoever he gazed around him, the glaring eyeballs +and the convulsed features of Hector of Beauly still haunted his +imagination. But at length a shot from an arquebuse, that passed very +near to him, and cut down a tall plant of bracken [2] immediately +behind him, brought him back to his recollection. He then saw that +a great mass of the pursuing MacKenzies had already joined those two +or three men who had so closely followed Hector of Beauly, and these +were now gathered on the opposite side of the ravine, raging with +fury for the loss of their champion. He felt that it was no time or +place for him to halt to be a butt for them to shoot at. He sprang +again like a deer to the hill. But as he climbed its steep face, +many were the bullets that were sent whizzing after him. By one of +these random shots he was wounded in the leg, not very severely, but +so as to produce a considerable effusion of blood. The MacKenzies +saw that he was hit, and like huntsmen marking the effect of their +discharge against a deer, they stood for some moments to observe him +as he made his way up the hill-side. + +"He flags!" cried one. + +"He faints!" cried another. + +"He is mortally wounded!" cried a third. + +"He moves on!" cried a fourth. + +"Away! away!" cried another. "Away to the ford above the waterfall. He +cannot last long. We shall soon come up with him." + +But the game was of a very superior description to what those who +hunted him supposed; and they soon found that he was not quite so +easily secured as they had calculated. Before they had made their +circuit in order to cross the stream that poured itself headlong +into the ravine which had been so fatal to their champion Hector of +Beauly, the red jacket of Allan of Lundy had disappeared over the +hill-top. But he had left his blood upon his track. A consultation +was held as to what was best to be done. + +"Let us have Rory Bane's trusty sleuth-hound," said one of +them. "See! yonder is his cottage on the other side of the moss." + +The advice was approved of, and with one consent they hastened to +procure the dog. The animal was no sooner put upon the trail of +the fugitive, than he was like to pull down the man who held his +leash. But the steady Highlander kept his hold of him, for he was +well aware that if once let slip the keenness of the animal would +lead him on hot foot till he overtook the MacDonell, in which case +the creature's death would be sealed long ere they could come up +to lend him their aid. In order to benefit by his sagacity, they +required to keep with him, and they found it hard enough work to do +so. With his leash stretched till its collar almost choked him, he +went bounding and yelling after the chase, whitening the very heath +as he passed along with the foam of his mouth, and keeping not only +the man who held him, but all those who were with him, going at a +desperate pace. But still the temporary breathing which the Glengarry +leader had enjoyed at the ravine, and the long start which he had +gained whilst his pursuers were making their circuit to avoid it, +and going out of their way to procure the dog, together with the time +which the hound took in picking up the scent in parts where Allan of +Lundy had forded the mountain streams, enabled that hero, who was so +swift and enduring of foot, to reach the great valley of Loch Ness, +even before the deep baying of the hound had first struck upon his ear. + +Then it was that a shout rang from the echoing face of the mountain +that overhung the lake, for his red jacket had been descried by his +pursuers, and they redoubled their speed. But Allan of Lundy was +now incapable of increasing his. The blood that had continued to +drop from his wound as he ran had now left behind it that incipient +faintness, which the MacKenzies vainly thought had fallen on him at the +time when they saw that the shot had told on him. But many miles of +rough ground had he since fled over with little diminution of speed; +and now the blue waters of Loch Ness stretched as it were from his +feet far up between its retreating mountains. And only now it was +that he felt a growing weakness, that told him that the chase could +not endure a much longer time. Yet still he urged his flying steps, +and still the baying of the hound, and the shouts of his pursuers, +came nearer and nearer to his rear; and now and then a bullet would +whistle among the foliage of the bushes that grew to right or left of +him, or would tear up the turf in his very pathway, as circumstances +gave those who followed him a chance view of him, whilst the echoes +reverberated the sound of the discharge which had sent it. + +Already had he fled for some miles along the rocky and wooded faces +of those mountains which arise from the northern side of Loch Ness, +stopping from time to time for a few seconds on some knoll-top, to +inhale the western zephyrs that blew on him with refreshing coolness +from the wilds of Invergarry. But his exertions were so great and so +long protracted, that even these his native breezes ceased to afford +sufficient renovation to his wearied lungs and beating temples. He +felt himself growing fainter and fainter, and this, too, when his +pursuers, many of whom had but recently joined in the chase, were +every minute gaining upon him more and more. Yet still he laboured +on until even the very mountains seemed to conspire with his enemies +against him. His path became reduced to a narrow and confined track, +by the crags which towered above him on one hand, and the precipices +that stooped sheer down into the loch on the other. All chance of +escape seemed now to have departed from him. In his despair he flung a +hasty glance over the waves that danced below him, and, as he did so, +he descried a little boat about half-way across the sheet of water, +with two or three individuals in it employed in fishing. The shouts +of the MacKenzies now pressed closer and closer upon him. Like a +stricken stag, he took his desperate resolve, and scrambling down to +a pointed cliff that jutted out into vacancy over a deep and still +part of the lake, he stood for a short time to breathe on its giddy +brink. The yells of his enemies rent the air as they rushed wildly +onwards to secure their prey, whilst the hound gave forth his deep +bass to complete their terrific music. They were almost upon him. He +cast his eyes once more downwards, then clasped his arms tightly over +his breast, drew in one full draught of breath; and as the MacKenzies +were clambering hurriedly along the dangerous path with their eyes +fixed eagerly and intently upon his figure, they were astonished +and confounded to perceive Allan of Lundy's well-known scarlet +jacket shooting like a falling star through some fifty or sixty feet +of air into the profound below! So perfectly had he preserved his +perpendicular position during his descent, that he entered the water +like an iron rod, so as scarcely to produce a ripple; and the simple +action of stretching out his arms having instantly brought him like a +cork to the surface, he was seen breasting his way towards the distant +boat, with a vigour only to be accounted for from the circumstance, +that the action he now used had brought a fresh set of muscles into +play. Several random shots were fired at him by the MacKenzies but +unsuccessfully; and he was soon beyond the reach of their bullets. + +Grouped upon the point whence he had thus so miraculously sprung stood +his panting and toilworn pursuers, wondering at this extraordinary +effort of his desperation; whilst the disappointed sleuth-hound +continued to rouse the echoes with his prolonged howlings. And +now they eagerly watched the fate of him whom they not unnaturally +believed to have escaped from their weapons only to be drowned in +the unfathomable depths of the loch. For the little boat was still +far from him, much farther than any strong swimmer could well hope +to reach; and although he swam stoutly enough at first, they began +to perceive that he was striking out more and more heavily, as if +death was fast shackling his powerful sinews. + +But now again, to their grievous disappointment, they saw that those +in the boat had perceived him, and were pulling lustily towards him. + +It happened that the owner of the boat was no other than Fraser +of Foyers, who had come out from his own place near the celebrated +waterfall of that name, on the south side of the lake, to waste a few +idle hours in fishing. He was the staunch ally of the MacDonell; and +although he was at a considerable distance from the spot at the time, +the meteor descent of the red jacket had struck his eyes so forcibly, +that he immediately suspected that something had befallen Allan of +Lundy, whose garment he guessed it to be. Having ordered his men to +row in the proper direction, he soon began to recognise the red speck +forcing its way through the water, and leaving a long line of wake +behind it, while the hostile tartans that waved from the verge of +the cliff, and the echoes that were awakened by the baying of the +hound and the shouts of the men, told him enough of the story to +induce him and his rowers to strain every nerve to save the gallant +captain of Glengarry. And great as were their exertions, they were no +more than were necessary for effecting their object; for they reached +him as he was on the eve of sinking from very exhaustion. Fraser of +Foyers had no sooner saved his friend, than he stood up in his boat +and gave three hearty cheers, and then hoisting his tiny white sail, +he availed himself of a favourable breeze, and bore away for the upper +end of the lake, whilst the MacKenzies followed it with their eyes, +and continued to pour out maledictions upon it, till it was lost in +the yellow haze of the sunset in the western distance. + +The captain of the MacDonells returned to Invergarry Castle, to +brood over the dire, though dear-bought revenge he had reaped in this +terrible raid. His heart was especially filled with savage joy whilst +ruminating on the dreadful death which he had bestowed on him who had +killed his cousin Angus MacDonell. But these triumphant thoughts soon +gave way before that ideal phantom of Hector of Beauly, which never +ceased to haunt his fevered imagination, and which exhibited the last +despairing, yet resolute look of that bold man, ere Allan of Lundy had +cut the only remaining hold he had of earth, and sent him, as it were, +into the very bowels of the infernal regions. Nor did the cries which +arose from the burning church of Killychrist ever leave his ears. + +But few of the MacDonells who partook of this expedition survived with +their leader. Even those who went round by the Bridge of Inverness did +not escape; and it was somewhat remarkable that they died by a fate +worthy of those who had been engaged in so cruel an expedition. Having +been overcome with fatigue, they stopped to refresh themselves in a +house of public entertainment near Torbreck, where they supposed that +they were beyond all risk of further attack. But they were woefully +mistaken; for MacKenzie of Redcastle having followed them thither +with his party, suddenly surrounded them, and burned every one of +them to death. + + + + + + + + +FEUDAL HEROES. + + +Dominie.--That same Allan with the Red Jacket was surely a terrible +chield. I'm thinking that his moral and religious yeddication must +have been vurra much neglected. + +Clifford (gravely).--I should strongly suspect so. + +Dominie.--Something might surely have been made of him by subjeckin +him to proper early nuture and restraint. + +Clifford.--Aye, there is no saying what might have been made of him +if you had had the flogging of him, Mr. Macpherson. + +Dominie.--Preserve me, sir! no salary upon yearth could have tempted +me to undertake the flagellation of such a birky. + +Clifford.--Why, to be sure he might have rebelled a little under +the lash; and if he had once run away from you, you would have been +somewhat troubled to have caught him again. He would have been a +grand fellow for a steeple-chase. He would have beaten the world on +foot across a country. + +Dominie.--These MacKenzies and MacDonells were fearful chaps. I have +many a story about them. + +Grant.--I have a few myself; and a legend which a friend gave me of +a MacDonell of Glengarry and a Lord Kintail has this moment occurred +to me, suggested by its similarity in certain circumstances to part +of that to which we have been listening. + +Author.--Will you favour us with it? + +Clifford.--If he does, it must be by my especial licence. Our friend, +Mr. Macpherson, is first in my book. But as I see he has lighted a +fresh cigar, and as Grant has smoked his to the stump, he may e'en +end it by throwing it into the fire, and commence his tale without +further loss of time. + +Grant.--I bow to your supreme will. + +Clifford.--Pray make it short, if you please, for I begin to be rather +sleepy, and I should be sorry to affront you by yawning. Besides, +I mean to be up betimes to-morrow to try for a salmon. + + + + + + + + +GLENGARRY'S REVENGE. + + +My legend has to do with that very Castle of Eilean Donan with +which yours has already made us so well acquainted. The time of +the action was about the early part of the seventeenth century, and +the great actor in it was a very celebrated MacDonell of Glengarry, +whose name I have forgotten, but who is said to have been remarkable +for his gigantic figure and Herculean strength. The Lord Kintail of +that period was a great favourite with the Court, so that he thereby +rose to great power and influence, which he very naturally employed, +according to the laudable custom of those days, in humbling his +enemies. Amongst these, none bore him a larger share of animosity +than his hereditary foes, the MacDonells of Glengarry. It was not +in their nature tamely to submit to the dominion which Kintail was +permitted to exercise, with comparative impunity, over some of the +other clans. On the contrary, they were frequently disposed not only +to resist themselves, but they also very often found means to stir +up others to resistance, and in this way they sometimes furnished +Kintail with specious grounds for accusing them, when all apology +for doing so might have been otherwise wanting. + +It happened that the chief of Glengarry was on one occasion engaged +for some days in a hunting expedition in that range of his own country +which surrounds the sea lake of Loch Hourn, already so often mentioned +in the last legend. The sun was setting on a mild and beautiful +evening, and the breeze was blowing softly from the sea, when, as +Glengarry was returning from the chase, attended by a small party of +his followers, he espied a couple of galleys standing in towards the +very part of the shore where stood the little group of black bothies, +that at such times formed his temporary place of encampment. Doubtful +whether the approaching vessels might contain friends or foes, he +deemed it prudent to put himself and his people into ambush behind +some broken ground, where they might lie concealed until they could +patiently observe the progress and the motions of those who came, +and so judge as to the result. + +"Knowest thou the rig of those craft, Alaister More?" demanded +Glengarry of his henchman, as they peered together over the black +edge of a moss bank, and scanned the approaching sails with earnest +eyes. "Whence may they come, thinkest thou?" + +"I would not say but they may be Kintail's men," replied Alaister. + +"Kintail's men!" exclaimed Glengarry, "what would bring Kintail's +men here at this time?" + +"I'm not saying that I am just exactly right," replied Alaister, +"but I'm thinking it looks like them." + +"Curses on them!" said Glengarry bitterly, "they are bold to venture +hither while I am here." + +"They are so, I'm thinking," said Alaister; "but it may be that they +have no guess that Glengarry is here. But, troth, that Kintail holds +his head so high now-a-days, that I'm judging his men think themselves +free to thrust in their noses just where they like. He's king of the +north-west, as a man might say." + +"Accursed be his dastard dominion!" said Glengarry, with bitterness of +expression; "and shame upon the slavish fools that yield their necks as +footstools to his pride. Is't not galling to see it? Is't not galling +to see men of wisdom and bravery, such a man as my staunch friend and +ally, MacLeod, for instance, yielding so ready an obedience to one whom +all should unite to oppose, overthrow, and crush as a common enemy." + +"That's very true that you're saying, Glengarry!" observed Alaister; +"but I'm thinking that they are not all just blessed with your +spirit. If they had been so, I'm judging that the MacCraws could not +have been left as they were without help but what they got from you." + +"By all that is good, it was our help alone that saved them," cried +Glengarry in an animated tone. "Half of them would have been hanged +on the gallows-tree but for our interference. The MacKenzies had no +reason to pride themselves on the event of that day, nor had we any +cause to boast of the zeal of those whom we have been wont to reckon +among our allies." + +"Troth, you're not wrong there, Glengarry," said Alaister. "So I'm +judging that we must even go on to trust to our own MacDonell swords +in all time coming; and we have reason to be thankful that their +blades are not just made of cabbage stalks." + +"Thank God, indeed, that they are made of better metal!" said +Glengarry, smiling proudly. "And small as this our party is, would, +with all my heart, that these were Kintail's men, with Kintail himself +at the head of them!" + +"I should not be that sorry to see Kintail," said Alaister. + +"We should give him a hotter welcome than this cold coast might lead +him to look for," said Glengarry. + +"We'll not be slow in giving him that same, I'm thinking," said +Alaister. + +"Stay! dost thou not make out a banner yonder?" demanded Glengarry. + +"I'm thinking I do see something like a banner," replied Alaister. + +"With this failing light we cannot hope even to guess at the bearing +with which it may be charged," said Glengarry, straining his eyes, +"but if that be a banner, as I believe it to be, then is there +certainly a chief there. Look to your arms, MacDonells, and let us +be prepared for what may happen!" + +By degrees the galleys drew nearer and nearer; but as the night +was falling fast, their forms grew less and less distinct as their +bulk swelled in the eyes of the MacDonells, till at last they came +looming towards the shore like two dark opaque undefinable masses, +which were suddenly reduced, by the displacement of their sails, +to about one-fourth part of the size they had grown to. For a time +they were rocked to and fro until their keels became fixed in the +sand by the receding tide. The dusky figures they contained were +then seen pouring out from them, and passing like shadowy spectres +across a gleam of light that was reflected on the wet sand from the +upper part of the sky; and they showed so formidably in numbers, as +to render some short council of war necessary before assaulting them +with an inferior force, not from any fear of defeat on the part of +him who took this precaution, but dictated by his prudence to prevent +all risk of the escape of those whom they were about to attack. + +Whilst Glengarry was thus concerting his measures, the strangers +were seen moving a body towards the cluster huts, which stood at +something less than an hundred yards from the water side, and speedily +disappeared within their walls, and lights soon afterwards began to +start up within them, as if they were preparing to make themselves +comfortable for the night. Glengarry observed this, and in order that +he might lull all apprehension of attack, he resolved to give them +full time to employ themselves in cookery, or in whatever occupation +they might find to be necessary. + +The broken ground which concealed the MacDonells discharged a small +rill, that ran between the banks of mossy soil, in a diagonal line, +and opened on the sand at a point almost opposite to the spot where the +two galleys were lying. No sooner was the chief of Glengarry satisfied +that the time was come when the assault could be most opportunely made, +than he led his handful of men silently down between the hollow banks +of the brook, so as to get unperceived between the enemy and their +vessels. So far everything went well with them, but as they debouched +from the mouth of the water-course, the partial light that gleamed +from the upper part of the sky glanced unexpectedly on the blades of +their naked claymores, and instantly a loud bugle blast blew shrilly +from on board the nearer of the two galleys. + +"Dunvegan! Dunvegan!" cried a loud voice from the bothies, after the +bugle had ceased. + +In an instant their little black heaps gave forth their living +contents, some armed, and others with blazing torches of moss-fir, +plucked suddenly from the great fires they had kindled. + +"'Tis MacLeod!" said Glengarry in a peevish tone, that sufficiently +betrayed the disappointment he felt that his well-concerted scheme of +attack was thus rendered useless. "'Tis but MacLeod, then, after all!" + +"Hoo!" said Alaister, "sure enough it's MacLeod, and no one else. So +we'll be supping, I'm thinking, and drinking together like friends, +instead of fighting like wild cats." + +"Would it had been otherwise!" said Glengarry, "much as I love MacLeod, +I would at this moment rather a thousand times have encountered the +Lord of Kintail. By the rood, but I was more i' the humour for dealing +in blows than pledging in beakers! But since it could not be Kintail, +I rejoice that it is MacLeod, for as I could desire no better foe +than the one, I can have no worthier friend than the other." + +"Both good of their kind surely, I'm thinking," said Alaister. + +Nothing could exceed the joy and cordiality of the friends at thus +meeting so unexpectedly. The fattest buck of the chase was dragged +towards a fire, kindled for culinary purposes in one of the huts, +steaks cut from its haunch were added to the fare which MacLeod's +people were preparing, and after a hasty and unceremonious meal, +the two chiefs retired with some of those in whom they reposed most +confidence, into a separate bothy, where they might have leisure for +full converse over a cup of wine. + +"To what happy accident am I to attribute our meeting thus in +Knoidart?" demanded Glengarry. + +"If I had not chanced thus to meet you here," said MacLeod, "I should +have gone on to Invergarry Castle, as I originally intended. But it +is well that I am saved so long a journey." + +"Nay, by all that is friendly, that is not well said of you, MacLeod," +said Glengarry. "But I shall not be baulked of your visit. We shall +break up hence, and set forward thither before to-morrow's dawn. If +there be deer on my hills, fish in my streams, steers in my pastures, +or wine in my castle-vaults, thou shalt be feasted like a prince as +thou art." + +"That may not be," said MacLeod, "for this is no time for you to devote +to friendship and feasting. Thou knowest not that the object of this +voyage of mine was no other than to warn thee of certain wicked plots +that are about to be brought to bear against thee." + +"What! some evil machinations of the accursed Kintail, I warrant me," +said Glengarry. + +"Thou hast guessed, and guessed rightly too," replied MacLeod. + +"Cowardly villain that he is!" cried Glengarry, "what has he done?" + +"Thou knowest that he is in high favour at Court," said MacLeod. "They +even talk now of his being made an earl. But be that as it may, he +hath somehow or other acquired the means of using the King's ear. And +foully doth he misuse it, by pouring poison into it to further his +own ambitious and avaricious views, to the injury of the innocent." + +"'Tis like the cold-hearted knave," said Glengarry. "But what, I pray +thee, hath he said of me?" + +"I know not what he may have said of thee," answered MacLeod, "but I +know that he must have sorely misreported thee, seeing that through +certain channels he hath persuaded his Majesty to arm him with letters +of fire and sword and outlawry against thee." + +"What said'st thou?" cried Glengarry, choking with his rising anger; +"did I hear thee aright? Letters of outlawry, and of fire and sword, +put into the hands of MacKenzie of Kintail, to be executed against +me! Oh, impossible!" + +"What I tell thee is too true," said MacLeod. + +"The dastard dare not use them!" cried Glengarry, grinding his teeth +from the violence of his rage. + +"Backed by the King, as he now is, he may dare do anything," said +MacLeod. + +"I defy him though he be backed by the King," cried Glengarry in +a fury; "aye, and though both were backed by the black monarch of +hell? God forgive me for coupling the name of a sovereign whom I +would fain love and honour, if he would but let me, with those of +MacKenzie of Kintail, and that devil whom he delights to serve." + +"Moderate your passion, Glengarry," said MacLeod, "and listen to +me quietly, until I put thee in possession of all that is brewing +against thee." + +"I am calm," said Glengarry. + +"It is my duty as a friend of thine to tell thee, then," said MacLeod, +"that a meeting is summoned for three days hence at the Castle of +Eilean Donan of all those whom Kintail chooses to call the King's +friends in these north-western parts, who are called together for +the ostensible purpose of giving him counsel how best to put in force +those letters against thee, which he affects to be deeply grieved to +have been charged with." + +"Hypocritical villain!" cried Glengarry. + +"I am one of those friends of the King who are thus summoned," said +MacLeod, "and my present object was to prove to thee, that although +I may be so ranked, I am not the less a friend of thine. I wished to +make thee fully aware of the whole state of matters before I go to +Eilean Donan to swell, as in regard to my own safety I must needs do, +that majority which he looks for to strengthen his hands against thee." + +"Thou hast proved thyself a friend indeed," said Glengarry, after +ruminating a few seconds. "Thou hast proved thyself to be that old +and steady friend of mine which I always have believed, and ever will +believe thee to be. And now it is my turn to ask thee, whether thou +hast ever found me in one instance to fail thee?" + +"Thou hast never failed me, Glengarry," said MacLeod, "and I trust +our clans shall be ever linked together like one bundle of rods." + +"Aye!" said Glengarry, with a bitter laugh, "a bundle of rods which I +trust may one day be well employed in scourging this pitiful tyrant +of the north-west. I love thee too much to demand thine open aid +at present. But haply thou mayest well enough find some excuse for +not going to this meeting thou speakest of. An excuse, mark me, +to be sent after the day is past. Thou canst be grievously ill, or +anything may serve as an apology, if an apology should be required; +for I have friends at Court, too, and I may yet find the means so to +bring things into proper joint, as to render apologies more necessary +from Kintail than from us. All that I ask of thee then is, that you +may not appear at this nefarious assemblage at Eilean Donan." + +"MacDonell," replied MacLeod, "I know the risk I run, but I am ready to +incur any risk for so old a friend as thou art, especially in a case +where the securing aid in arms rather than in council is so evidently +the object of Kintail in calling us together. Say no more then; we +shall weigh hence for Dunvegan by to-morrow's dawn, and be assured +nothing shall drag me thence to be marshalled against thee in any way." + +"Thank thee--thank thee!" said Glengarry, cordially shaking MacLeod +by the hand. "This is no more than I expected of thy generosity and +good faith. Thy kind and friendly information shall not be thrown away +upon me. I shall start for Invergarry Castle by to-morrow morning's +sunrise. But thou shalt hear from me without fail. And if thy little +finger be but brought into jeopardy, thou shalt have my neck to answer +for it." + +This important conversation between the two chiefs being now ended, +they gave themselves up to the enjoyment of that good fellowship and +revelry which arose between their two clans. Small was that portion +of the time subjected to the rule of night which was by them devoted +to slumber, and soon were they both astir each to pursue his separate +way; and as the rising sun was glancing on the arms of Glengarry and +his people as they wound inland over the muirland hills, they looked +back towards Loch Hourn, and beheld the galleys of MacLeod winging +their way for Skye, under a favouring land breeze, that seemed to +have been begotten by the genial beams of morning, which then poured +a flood of brilliant light after them as they flew over the trembling +surface of the waters. + +The tide was fully up around the little island which gives name to the +Castle of Eilean Donan, and the ferry-boat was moored on the landward +side of the strait, when the shades of night began to descend upon it, +and upon the whole of the surrounding scenery, on the evening of that +day which was fixed for the gathering that Lord Kintail had summoned. + +"A plague take this MacLeod," said the boatman in Gaelic to his +assistant, as they sat glued to their benches, listening with envy to +the sounds of mirth that came to their ears from within the castle +walls. "A plague upon this MacLeod, who keeps us waiting here in +the cold when we might be warming our toes at a blazing fire, and +cherishing our noses with a goodly flagon of ale!" + +"A plague upon him, with all my heart," echoed the other man. "Is it +for him alone that we are condemned to tarry here?" + +"Aye, Donald," said the master, "MacLeod is the only man awanting, +it seems; and, sure enough, I think there be plenty without him. Hast +thou ever before seen such an inpouring of eagles' wings into the +Castle of Eilean Donan? There is surely something a-brewing." + +"Whatever may be brewing, Master Duncan, we seem to have but little +hope of drinking of it," said the man, laughing heartily at his +own joke. + +"Faith, Master Donald, they may be brewing some browst which +neither you nor I would be very eager to drink," replied the master; +"I would rather be turning up a creaming cup of the castle ale than +have aught to do with any such liquor. But hold, heard ye not the +tread of men? Come, loose the rope, and to your oars. That will be +MacLeod at last. Who comes there?" cried he, as he dimly perceived +a small party of men approaching the spot where the boat lay. + +"MacLeod!" cried a voice in reply, and immediately a tall and +bulky figure, completely enveloped in an ample plaid, advanced, +and after having given some secret directions to his followers, to +which the impatient boatmen neither cared nor tried to listen, he +stepped solemnly and silently alone into the boat, and was speedily +rowed across. + +The hall of Eilean Donan was that night crowded beyond all former +precedent. The feast was already over, and Lord Kintail was then +presiding over the long board, where flowing goblets were circulating +among the numerous guests, who were all his friends or allies, or +who at least feared to declare themselves to be otherwise. But fully +aware of the uncertain materials of which this great assemblage was +composed, the chief of the MacKenzies had most prudently intermingled +the stoutest and bravest individuals of his own clan among these +strangers; and, as was customary in these rude times, each man sat +with his drawn dirk sticking upright in the board before him, ready +for immediate use, in case of its services being required; and this +precaution was the more naturally adopted upon the present occasion, +because every one at that table was jealous and doubtful of those +sitting to right and left of him. + +On a sudden the door of the hall was thrown open, and a huge man +strode slowly and erectly into the middle of it. He was muffled up +in a large dark plaid, of some nameless tartan; and it was so folded +over the under part of his face as completely to conceal it; whilst +the upper part of his features was shrouded by the extreme breadth +of the bonnet he wore. His appearance produced a sudden lull in the +loud talk that was then arising from every mouth, the din of which +had been making the vaulted roof to ring again. The name of "MacLeod" +ran in whispers around, and Lord Kintail himself having for a moment +taken up the notion that had at first so generally seized the company, +he signed to his seneschal to usher the stranger towards the upper +end of the table where he himself sat, and where a vacant chair on +his right hand had been left for the chief of Dunvegan. + +The stranger obeyed the invitation, indeed; but he sat not down. He +stood erect and motionless for a moment, with all eyes fixed upon him. + +"MacLeod!" said the Lord Kintail, half rising to acknowledge his +presence by a bow, "thou art late. We tarried for thee till our +stomachs overmatched our courtesy. But stay, am I right? art thou +MacLeod or not? Come, if thou art MacLeod, why standest thou with thy +face concealed? Unfold thyself and be seated; for there are none but +friends here." + +"I am not MacLeod!" said the stranger, speaking distinctly and +deliberately, but in a hollow tone from within the folds of his plaid. + +"Who art thou, then, in God's name?" demanded Kintail, with some +degree of confusion of manner. + +"I am an outlawed MacDonell," replied the stranger. + +"A MacDonell!" cried Kintail, with manifest agitation. "What wouldst +thou under this roof?" + +"I am come to throw myself on thy good faith, Lord Kintail, with the +hope that thou mayest be the means of procuring a reversal of the +hard sentence which hath been so unjustly passed upon me and my clan." + +"I must first know more of thee," said Kintail. "I can give no promise +until I know who thou art." + +"I said I was a MacDonell," replied the other. + +"That is a wide name," said Kintail. "Heaven knows that for the peace +of the earth it holds too many that bear that name." + +"That may be as men may think," said the stranger, with greater +quickness of articulation. + +"What MacDonell art thou, then?" demanded Kintail. "Pray, unmuffle +thy face." + +"One MacDonell is like another," said the stranger carelessly. + +"That answer will not serve me," said Kintail. "I must see thy +face. And methinks it is a bad sign of thee, that thou shouldst be +ashamed to show it." + +"Ashamed!" said the stranger, with emphasis--and then, as if commanding +himself,--"In times of feud like these," added he, after a pause, +"thou canst not ask me to uncover my face before so promiscuous +a company as this, where, for aught I know, I may have some sworn +and deadly personal enemies, who may seek to do me wrong. But give +me thy solemn pledge, Lord Kintail, that I shall suffer no skaith, +and then thou shalt see my face." + +"I swear to thee before this goodly assemblage," said Kintail, "that +whoever thou mayest be, or whatever enemies of thine may be amongst +us, thou shalt be skaith-less. Nay, more; for thy brave bearing thou +shalt have free assoilzieing from outlawry and all other penalties, +be thou whom thou mayest, with one exception alone." + +"Whom dost thou except?" demanded the stranger, eagerly advancing +his body, but without unveiling his face. + +"Glengarry himself," said Lord Kintail. + +"By all that is good, Glengarry may well be a proud man by being +so distinguished," said the stranger, with great energy both of +voice and of action. And then, after a short pause, he made one +bold step forward, and throwing wide his plaid, and standing openly +confessed before them all, he exclaimed in a voice like thunder,--"I +am Glengarry!" + +There was one moment of fearful silence, during which all eyes were +turned upon the chief of the MacDonells with the fixed stare of +people who were utterly confounded. Then was every dirk plucked from +the board by the right hand of its owner, and the clash which was +thus made among the beakers and flagons was terrific; and the savage +looks which each man darted upon his neighbour, in his apprehension +of treachery, where each almost fancied that the saving of his own +life might depend on the quick dispatching of him who sat next to +him, presented a spectacle which might have frozen the blood of the +stoutest heart that witnessed it. But ere a stroke was struck, or a +single man could leave his place, Glengarry sprang on Kintail with the +swiftness of a falcon on its quarry; and ere he could arm himself, +he seized his victim with the vice-like gripe of his left hand, and +pinned him motionless into his chair, whilst the dirk which he had +concealed under his plaid now gleamed in his right hand, with its +point within an inch of the MacKenzie's throat. + +"Strike away, gentlemen," said Glengarry calmly; "but if that be your +game, I have the first cock!" + +The MacKenzies had all risen, it is true. Nay, some of them had even +moved a step forward in defence of their chief. But they marked the +gigantic figure of Glengarry; and seeing that the iron strength he +possessed gave him as much power over Lord Kintail as an ordinary +man has over a mere child, and that any movement on their part must +instantly seal his doom, each man of them stepped back and paused, +and an awful and motionless silence once more reigned for some moments +throughout the hall. + +"Let any man but stir a finger!" said Glengarry in a calm, slow, yet +tremendous voice, "and the fountain of Lord Kintail's life's-blood +shall spout forth, till it replenish the goblet of him who sits in the +lowest seat at this board! Let not a finger be stirred, and Kintail +shall be skaithless." + +"What wouldest thou with me, MacDonell?" demanded Kintail, with +half-choked utterance, that gave sufficient evidence of the rudeness +of that gripe by which his throat was held. + +"Thou hast gotten letters of outlawry and of fire and sword against +me and against my clan," said Glengarry. + +"I have," said Kintail. "They were sent me because of thy rescue of +certain men of the MacCraws, declared rebels to the King." + +"I ask not how or whence thou hadst them," said Glengarry. "But I +would have them instantly produced." + +"How shall I produce them, when thou wilt not suffer me nor any one +to move?" said Kintail. + +"Let thy chaplain there--that unarmed man of peace--let him produce +them," said Glengarry. + +"Go then, good Colin," said Kintail to the chaplain, "go to yonder +cabinet, thou knowest where they lie. Bring them hither." + +"This is well!" said Glengarry, clutching the parchments with his armed +hand from the trembling ecclesiastic, and thrusting them hastily into +his bosom. "So far this is well. Now sit thee down, reverend sir, +and forthwith write out a letter from thy lord to the King, fully +clearing me and mine in the eyes of his Majesty from all blame, and +setting forth in true colours my own loyalty and that of my brave +clan. Most cruelly have we been belied, for before these gentlemen +I do here swear that, as God shall be my judge, he hath nowhere more +faithful subjects." + +"Use thy pen as he dictates," said Kintail, "for if he speaks thus, +I will freely own he hath been wronged in the false rumours which +have been conveyed to me, and through me to his Majesty." + +"'Tis honest at least in thee to say so much, Lord Kintail," said +Glengarry, "and since thou dost grant me this, thine amanuensis here +may as well write me out a short deed pledging thee to the restitution +of those lands of mine which were taken from me, by the King's order, +on former false statements of delinquency. And be expeditious, +dost thou hear, lest thy good lord here may suffer too long from +the inconvenience of this awkward posture in which thou art thyself +detaining him by thy slow and inexpert clerkship." + +"Write as thou art bid, and as expeditiously as may be," said Kintail, +sincerely coinciding with Glengarry's last recommendation. Accordingly, +the papers were made out exactly as he desired, signed by Kintail, +and then placed in the capacious bosom of the MacDonell chief. + +"All this is so far well," said Glengarry. "Now swear me solemnly +that I shall be permitted to return home without molestation, and +that thou wilt faithfully, and truly, and honestly observe all these +thine engagements." + +"I swear!" said Kintail, "I solemnly swear that thou shalt pass hence +and return into thine own country, without a hair of thy head being +hurt; and I shall truly and faithfully observe everything I have +promised, whether in writing or otherwise." + +"Then," said Glengarry, quietly relinquishing his grasp, sheathing +his dirk, and coolly seating himself at the board as if nothing had +happened; "then let us have one friendly cup ere we part,--I would +pledge to thy health and to thy rooftree, my Lord Kintail!" and, +saying so, he filled a large goblet of wine and drained it to the +bottom, turning it up when he had finished, to show that he had done +fair justice to the toast. + +"Glengarry!" said Kintail, "thou shalt not find me behind thee in +courtesy. Thine to be sure hath been in certain respects somewhat +of the roughest to-night, and I must own," continued he, chafing his +throat, "that a cup of wine never could come to me more desirably than +at this moment, so I now drink to thee as a friend, for enemies though +we have ever been, thy gallant courage has won my full applause." + +"And I repeat the pledge, and in the same friendly guise, Kintail," +said Glengarry taking him by the hand, and squeezing it till this +demonstration of his new-born friendship became almost as inconvenient +to the chief of the MacKenzies, as the effects of his ancient enmity +had so lately been. "And now I must bid you all God-speed in a parting +draught,--Slainte!" + +"One cup more, Glengarry, to Deoch-an-dorrus!" said Kintail. + +"With all my heart," said Glengarry, and this last pledge was a deep +one. Again he squeezed Kintail's hand, till he made the tears come +into his eyes. "Be assured," said he, "thy letter to the King is in +safe hands, my Lord Kintail, for I shall see it delivered myself." + +"Lights and an escort there for Glengarry!" cried Lord Kintail; +and the bold chief of the MacDonells, bowing courteously around him +to all that were assembled in the hall, left them full of wonder at +his hardihood, whilst he was marshalled with all due ceremonial and +honour to the boat, and ferried across to his impatient people. He +found that his little knot of MacDonells, with Alaister More at their +head, had been kept so long in a state of anxiety, and they had begun +to doubt and to fear so much for his safety, that they were on the +very eve of resolving to endeavour to break into the castle, that +they might ascertain what had befallen him, or to die in the attempt. + +"My horse, Alaister!" cried Glengarry, as soon as his foot had touched +the shore; and throwing himself into the saddle, he let no grass +grow at his heels till he reached the capital, and was presented at +Court, where he speedily re-established himself in the good opinion +of his sovereign. + + + + + + + + +LONG YARNS. + + +Clifford (yawning).--Now, Mr. Macpherson, your story comes next, +and if it is but of brevity as reasonable as that which we have now +heard,--aw!--aw--I think,--aw-ah-ah-aw!--that in justice to you, +we are bound to hear it ere we go to bed--a--aw-aw. + +Dominie.--I cannot positively say what my story might measure out to +in the hands of ane able story-teller. Some clever chield like Homer, +or Virgil, or Sir Walter Scott, for example, any one of whom could +spin you a thread as if they were working it off by the hundred ells, +with that machine once vurra much used by the Highland wives, called +the muckle wheel. But, plain man as I am, you can never expeck me to +tell anything but the bare facks. Yet I must not let you yemagine, +gentlemen, that there is any fack at all in the foolish fairy story +I am now going to tell you. + +Clifford.--Why, Mr. Macpherson,--aw--aw--ha! if I have any of my +logic left in me at all, I think I can prove that de facto you have +no story to tell. As thus:-- + +You tell nothing but facks. + +In your story there is no fack. + +Therefore you have nothing to tell. + +Quod erat demonstrandum. Ergo, as a corollary, I think we had +better--aw--aw--a--go to bed. + +Grant.--Very ingeniously made out, Clifford. But we know from +experience, that logic and common sense are not always equal to the +same thing, and therefore they are not always equal to one another. So, +to cut the argument short, I now move that Mr. Macpherson do forthwith +begin his story. + +Author.--I second the motion. + +Clifford.--Well, I shall--aw, aw--light another cigar, and if he does +not finish in the smoking of it, I for one shall bowl off to bed. + +Grant.--Come then, Mr. Macpherson, pray take the start of him. + + + + + + + + +THE LEGEND OF THE BUILDING OF BALLINDALLOCH. + + +As you go down the avenue leading from the bridge to the present house +of Ballindalloch, gentlemen, you cross a small rivulet that rushes +headlong with a cheerful sound from the wooded banks rising on your +right hand, the which, after finding its way under the road through +what is commonly called a cundy bridge, throws itself over the rocks +directly into the pellucid stream of the Aven, that accompanies you +on your left. If you should chance to go down that way, and if you +should be tempted to trace that little rill upwards through the wild +shrubbery, and among the tangled roots of the venerable oaks and other +trees which shoot up everywhere in fantastic shapes from its sides, +and by throwing their outstretched arms across its bed here and there, +produce a pleasing contrast of checkered light and shade, you will +find many a nook amid its mazes which a fanciful yemagination might +set apart as a haunt befitting those frisking creatures of the poet's +brain, Oberon and Titania, and where the sly tricks and pawky gambols +of Puck and the fairy folk might well be played. I think, indeed, +that I could almost venture to assert, that no one truly filled with +what may be termed the romance of poetry, could well pass a few hours' +vigil in the thick retirement of that lovely and sequestered grove, +with the full moon piercing through the openings in the canopy of +foliage, and shining directly down the little ravine where that musical +rill flows, its beams converting the rushing waters into silver, and +the dewdrops of every leaf, flower, or blade of grass, on its banks, +into diamonds, without looking to come pop upon some tiny fairy palace, +or to be charmed by some witching sight or sound, that, for the time +at least, may make him forget that he is a mortal. This opinion I +venture to pronounce on the mere internal yevidence afforded by the +spot itself, as well as by the recollections of my own feelings when I +chanced to wander up the place under similar circumstances, with this +simple addition, to be sure, that I had been at a wedding that night, +and had consequently a small drop of toddy in my head. But be that as +it may, the vulgar supposition that it is inhabited by supernatural +beings is borne out by the corroborative testimony of very ancient +tradition. From time immemorial it has been called the Castle Stripe, +and the origin of this name is linked with some old foundations which +are still to be seen on the summit of the bank above, the legendary +history of which I am now going to tell you. + +It is believed that several centuries have passed away since the Laird +of Ballindalloch proposed to build himself a castle or peel-tower for +his more secure abode in times when the prevalence of private feuds +required strength of position and solidity of structure; and having, +doubtless, first and foremost sat down, like a sensible man, to count +the probable cost of his contemplated edifice, he next, with yespecial +prudence, set about considering where he should find the best site to +yerect it on; and after a careful examination of his domains, he at +last fixed on the vurra spot now occupied by those old foundations I +spake of. This place possessed many advantages in his eyes, for, whilst +it was itself overlooked by nothing, it not only commanded a pleasant +prospect over all the haughs and low grounds of his own property, +but it also enjoyed a view of the whole of the lands of Tullochcarron, +lying on the opposite side of the Aven; and between that river and the +Spey, above their point of junction, and this the good man considered +a thing of very great importance at a time when that property was in +the hands of another laird, with whom, if there was not then a quarrel, +yet nobody could say how soon a quarrel might arise. + +This very weighty matter of consideration being thus settled in his +own mind, he began his operations with vigour. Numerous bodies of +masons and labourers were applied to the work. In a few days the +foundations were dug and laid, and several courses of the masonry +appeared above ground, and the undertaking seemed to be going on in +the most prosperous manner, and perfectly to the laird's satisfaction. + +But what was the astonishment of the workmen one morning, when, +on returning by sunrise to their labour, they discovered that the +whole of the newly built walls had disappeared, aye, down to the +vurra level of the ground! The poor fellows, as you may guess, were +terrified beyond measure. Fain would they have altogether desisted +from a work over which, it was perfectly plain, that if some powerful +enemy had not the control, some strange and mysterious fatality must +certainly hang. But in those days lairds were not men to whom masons, +or simple delvers of the ground, could dare to say nay. He of whom I +am now telling you was determined to have his own way, and to proceed +in spite of what had occurred, and in defiance of what might occur; +and having sent round and summoned a great many more workmen in +addition to those already employed, he set them to the work with +redoubled vigilance, and ere the sun of another day went down, he +had raised the walls very nearly to the height which they had reached +the previous evening before their most unaccountable disappearance. + +But no sooner had the light of a new morning dawned, than it was +discovered that the whole work had again disappeared down to the level +of the ground. The people were frightened out of their senses. They +hardly dared to go near the spot. But the terrors which the very name +of the laird carried with it, swallowed up all their other terrors, +as the serpent into which the rod of Moses was converted swallowed +up all those that sprang from the rods of the magicians of Egypt; +and as the laird only became so much the more obstinate from all +these mysterious thwartings which he met with, the poor people were +obliged to tremble in secret, and immediately to obey his will. The +whole country was scoured, and the number of workmen was again very +much increased, so that what by cuffing and what by coaxing (means +which I find it vurra beneficial to employ by turns to stimulate my +own scholars to their tasks), nearly double the usual quantum of work +was done before night. But, alas! the next morning's dawn proved that +the building of this peel-tower of Ballindalloch continued to be like +unto the endless weaving of the web of Penelope, for each succeeding +morning saw the work of the previous day annihilated by means which +no human being could possibly divine. + +"What can be the meaning of all this?" said the laird to Ian Grant, +his faithful henchman, vexed out of all patience as he was at last +by this most provoking and perplexing affair. "Who can be the author +of all this mischief?" + +"Troth I cannot say, sir," replied Ian. "The loons at the work think +that it is some spite taken up against us by the good people." [3] + +"Good people!" cried the laird in a rage. "What mean you by good +people? More likely fiends, I wot." + +"For the love of the Virgin use better terms, Ballindalloch," replied +Ian. "Who knows what ears may be listening to us unseen." + +"If I did not know thee to be as brave a fellow as ever handled a +broadsword, I would say shame on thee, Ian, for a coward!" cried the +laird. "Hark, ye! I would not wilfully anger the good people more than +thou wouldst do. But I cannot help thinking that some bad people, +some of my unfriends, some secret enemies of mine, of mortal mould, +must have, somehow or other, contrived by devilish arts to do me all +these ill turns." + +"It will be easy to find that out, sir," said Ian, "we have only to +plant a good guard all night on the works." + +"That was exactly what I was thinking of, Ian," said the laird, +"and I was a fool not to have thought of it before. Set the masons to +their task again, then, without delay, and see that they be not idle, +and take care to have a night-watch ready to mount over the work the +moment the sun goes to bed. I'll warrant me we shall find out the +scoundrels, or if we do not, we shall at least have the satisfaction +of putting a stop to their devilish amusement." + +None of Ballindalloch's people, however brave, were very much +enamoured of any such duty, however honourable it might have been +considered. But his orders were too imperative to be disobeyed, +and so some dozen or twain of stout handlers of the old broad-bladed +Scottish spear were planted as sentinels to patrol around the walls +during the night. These gallant fellows took care to carry with them +some cordials to keep their spirits up, and by a liberal use of them, +the first two or three dreary hours of darkness passed off with +tolerable tranquillity and comfort, and as time wore on, and their +courage waxed stronger and stronger, they began to be of the laird's +opinion, that however wonderful previous yevents had appeared to be, +there had in reality been nothing supernatural in them; and, moreover, +whatever might be the nature of the enemy, they were by no means +disposed to venture to molest the brave defenders of the new walls. + +Full of these convictions, their contempt of all earthly foes +increased, as their dread of unearthly enemies subsided; and as +there was an ancient and wide-spreading oak-tree growing within about +forty or fifty paces of the walls, they thought that they might as +well retire beneath the shelter of its shade, as some protection from +the descending damps. This they were the more readily induced to do, +seeing that from thence they could quite easily observe the approach +of any suspicious people who might appear. Nay, they even judged that +the cowardly enemy who might otherwise have been scared by observing +so stout an armed band about the walls, might now be encouraged to +show themselves by their temporary concealment. + +"Come away now, Duncan man," said one of these heroes to a comrade, +after they had drawn themselves together into a jovial knot, close +to the huge trunk of the oak. "Come away, man, with your flask. I'm +wondering much whether the juice that is in its body be of the same +mettlesome browst, as that which came with so heart-stirring a smack +out of the vitals of Tom's leathern bottle." + +"Rest its departed spirit, Charley! it was real comfortable and +courage-giving stuff," said another. + +"By Saint Peter, but that's no worse!" said Charley, tasting it and +smacking his lips, "Hah! it went to my very heart's core. Such liquor +as this would make a man face the devil." + +"Fie! let us not talk of such a person," said Tom. "I hope it is +enow, if its potency amounteth even so high, as to make us do our +duty against men like ourselves." + +"Men like ourselves!" cried Charley. "I trow such like as ourselves +are not to be furnished from the banks of either Aven or Spey, aye, +or from those of any other river or stream that I wot of. Give me +another tug of thy most virtuous flask there, Duncan. Hah! I say +again that the power of clergy and holy water is nothing to this. It +would stir a man up to lay the very devil himself. What sayest thou +and thy red nose, old Archy Dhu?" + +"I say that I think thou art speaking somewhat unadvisedly," replied +Archy, stretching out his hand at the same time, and taking the flask +from Charley as he was about to apply it to his lips for the third +time in succession. + +"Stay thy hand, man. Methinks it is my turn to drink." + +"Silence!" said one who had command over them. "Can ye not moderate +your voices, and speak more under breath? Your gabbling will spoil +all." + +"Master Donald Bane hath good reason with him, gentlemen," said +Archibald Dhu, in a subdued tone. "For my part, I shall be silent;" +and well might he say so, seeing that at that moment he turned aside +to hold long and sweet converse with the flask. + +"I tell ye, we must be quiet as mice," said Master Donald. "Even our +half-whispers might be heard by any one stealing towards the walls, +amidst the unbroken stillness of this night." + +The night was indeed still as the grave. Not a leaf was stirring. Even +the drowsy hum of the beetle was hushed, and no sound reached their +ears but the tinkling music of the tiny rill that ran through the +little runnel near them, in its way towards the ravine in the bank, +and the soft murmur of the stream of the Aven, coming muffled through +the foliage from below; when, on a sudden, a mighty rush of wind was +heard to arise from the distant top of Ben Rinnes, which terribly +grew in strength as it came rapidly sweeping directly towards them. So +awfully terrific was the howl of this whirlwind, that the very hairs +of the heads of even the boldest of these hardy spearmen stood stiff +and erect, as if they would have lifted up their iron skull-caps. Every +fibre of their bodies quivered, so that the very links of their shirts +of mail jingled together, and Aves and Paternosters came not only from +the mouths of such brave boasters as Charley, but they were uttered +right glibly by many a bold bearded lip to which, I warrant me, +they had been long strangers. On came the furious blast. The sturdy +oak under which they had taken shelter, beat every man of them to +the ground by the mere bending of its bole and the writhing of its +boughs and branches. Wild shrieks were heard in the air amid the +yelling of the tempest, and a quick discharge of repeated plunges in +the Aven below announced to them that some heavy materials had been +thrown into it. Again, the whirlwind swept instantaneously onwards; +and as it was dying away among the mountains to the north of the Spey, +an unearthly laugh, loud as thunder, was heard over their heads. + +No sooner had this appalling peal of laughter ceased, than all +was again calm and still as death. The great oak under which the +discomfited men of the watch lay, heaped one on another, immediately +recovered its natural position. But fear had fallen so heavily on +these bruised and prostrate men-at-arms, that they dared not even +to lift their bodies to the upright position; but creeping together +around the root of the tree, they lay quivering and shaking with +dread, their teeth chattering together in their heads like handfuls +of chucky stones, till the sun arose to put some little courage +into them with his cheering rays. Then it was that they discovered, +to their horror and dismay, that the whole work done by the masons +during the preceding day at the new building had been as completely +razed and obliterated as it had ever been upon any of the previous +nights. You may believe, gentlemen, that it required some courage to +inform their stern master of the result of their night's watch; and +with one consent they resolved that Ian Grant, the laird's henchman, +should be first informed; and he was earnestly besought to be their +vehicle of communication. + +"Psha!" cried the laird impatiently, when the news reached him. "I +cannot believe a word of this, Ian. The careless caitiffs have trumped +up this story as an apology for their own negligence in keeping a loose +watch. I'll have every mother's babe of them hanged. A howling tempest +and an elrich laugh, saidst thou? Ha! ha! ha! Well indeed might these +wicked unfriends of mine, who have so outwitted these lazy rascals, +laugh till their sides ached, at the continued success of their own +mischief. I'll warrant it has been some of Tullochcarron's people; and +if my fellows had been worth the salt that they devour at my expense, +assuredly we might have had the culprits swinging on the gallows-tree +by this time. So our men may e'en swing there in their stead." + +"If Tullochcarron's people have done these pranks, they must be bolder +and cleverer men than I take them for," said Ian calmly. "But before +we set these poor fellows of ours a-dancing upon nothing, with the +gallows-tree for their partner, methinks we may as well take a peep +into the stream of the Aven, where the wonderful clearness of the +water will show a pebble at the depth of twenty feet. Certain it +is that there came a strange and furious blast over these valleys +last night; and there may be no harm in just looking into the Aven, +to see if any of the stones of the work be lying at the bottom." + +"There can be no harm in that," said the laird, "so let us go there +directly." + +They went accordingly; and to the great surprise of both master +and man, they saw distinctly that the bed of the river was covered +over with the new hammer-dressed stones; and yet, on examining the +high banks above, and the trees and bushes that grew on them, not a +trace appeared to indicate that human exertions had been employed to +transport them downwards thither from the site of the new building. The +laird and his attendant were filled with wonder. Yet still he was +not satisfied that his conjectures had been altogether wrong. + +"If it has been Tullochcarron's people," said he doubtingly, "they +must have enlisted the devil himself as their ally. But let them have +whom they may to aid them, I am resolved I shall unravel this mystery, +cost what it will. I'll watch this night in person." + +"I doubt it will be but a tempting of powers against which mortal +man can do but little," said Ian. "But come what come may, I'll watch +with thee, Ballindalloch." + +"Then haste thee, Ian, and set the workmen to their labour again +with all their might," said the laird, "and let the masons raise the +building as high as they possibly can from the ground before night; +and thou and I shall see whether we shall not keep the stones from +flying off through the air like a flight of swallows." + +The anxious laird remained all day at the work himself; and as you +know, gentlemen, that the master's eye maketh the horse fat, so hath +it also a strange power of giving double progress to all matters of +labour that it looketh upon. The result was, that when the masons +left off in the evening, the building was found to have risen higher +than it had ever done before. When night came, the same watch was +again set about the walls; for the laird wished for an opportunity of +personally convicting the men of culpable carelessness and neglect of +duty. To make all sure, he and his henchman took post on the embryo +peel-tower itself. + +The air was still, and the sky clear and beautiful, as upon the +previous night, and, armed with their lances, Ballindalloch and his man +Ian walked their rounds with alert steps, throwing their eyes sharply +around them in all directions, anxiously bent on detecting anything +that might appear like the semblance of treachery. The earlier hours, +however, passed without disturbance; and the confidence of the laird +and Ian increased, just as that of the men of the guard diminished +when the hour began to approach at which the entertainments of the +previous night had commenced. As this hour drew near, their stolen +applications to their cordial flasks became more frequent; but sup +after sup went down, and so far from their courage being thereby +stirred up, they seemed to be just so much the more fear-stricken +every drop they swallowed. They moved about like a parcel of timid +hares, with their ears pricked up ready to drink in the first note +of intimation of the expected danger. A bull feeding in the broad +pastures stretching between them and the base of Ben Rinnes bellowed +at a distance. + +"Holy Mother, there it comes!" cried Charley. In an instant that hero +and all the other heroes fled like roe-deer, utterly regardless of the +volley of threats and imprecations which the enraged laird discharged +after them like a hailstorm as they retreated, their ears being +rendered deaf to them by the terror which bewildered their brains, +and in the twinkling of an eye not a man of them was to be seen. + +"Cowards!" exclaimed the laird, after they were all gone. "To run away +at the roaring of a bull! The braying of an ass would have done as +much. Of such stuff, I warrant me, was that whirlwind of last night +composed, of which they made out so terrible a story." + +"What could make the fellows so feared?" said Ian. "I have seen them +stand firm in many a hard fought and bloody field. Strange that they +should run at the routing of a bull." + +"And so the villains have left you and me alone, to meet whatever +number of arms of flesh may be pleased to come against us! Well, +be it so, Ian; I flinch not. I am resolved to find out this mystery, +come what may of it. Ian, you have stood by me singly ere now, and +I trust you will stand by me again; for I am determined that nothing +mortal shall move me hence till morning dawns." + +"Whatever you do, Ballindalloch," replied his faithful henchman, "it +shall never be said that Ian Grant abandoned his master. I will"---- + +"Jesu Maria! what sound is that?" exclaimed the laird, suddenly +interrupting him, and starting into an attitude of awe and dread. + +And no marvel that he did so; for the wail of the rising whirlwind +now came rushing upon them from the distant summit of Ben Rinnes. In +an instant its roar was as if a tempestuous ocean had been rolling +its gigantic billows over the mountain top; and on it swept so +rapidly as to give them no further time for colloquy. A lurid glare +of light shot across the sky from south to north. Shrieks,--fearful +shrieks,--shrieks such as the mountain itself might have uttered, +had it been an animated being, mingled with the blast. It was already +upon them, and in one moment both master and man were whirled off +through the air and over the bank, where they were tossed, one over +the other, confounded and bruised, into the thickest part of a large +and wide-spreading holly bush; and whilst they stuck there, jammed +in among the boughs, and altogether unable to extricate themselves, +they heard the huge granite stones, which had been that day employed +in the work, whizzing through the air over their heads, as if they had +been projected from one of those engines which that warlike people, +the ancient Romans, called a balista or catapult; and ever and anon +they heard them plunged into the river below, with a repetition +of deep hollow sounds, resembling the discharge of great guns. The +tempest swept off towards the north, as it had done on the previous +night; and a laugh, that was like the laugh of a voice of thunder, +seemed to them to re-echo from the distant hills, and made the very +blood freeze in their veins. But what still more appalled them, this +tremendous laugh was followed by a yet more tremendous voice, as if +the mountain had spoken. It filled the whole of the double valley +of the Aven and the Spey, and it repeated three times successively +this whimsical command, "Build in the Cow-haugh!--Build in the +Cow-haugh!--Build in the Cow-haugh!" and again all nature returned +to its former state of stillness and of silence. + +"Saint Mary help me!" cried Ian from his position, high up in the +holly bush, where he hung doubled up over the fork of two boughs, +with his head and his heels hanging down together like an old worsted +stocking. "Saint Mary help me! where am I? and where is the laird?" + +"Holy St. Peter!" cried the laird, from some few feet below him, "I +rejoice to hear thy voice, Ian. Verily, I thought that the hurricane +which these hellish--no--I mean these good people raised, had swept +all mortals but myself from the face of this earth." + +"I praise the Virgin that thou art still to the fore, Ballindalloch," +said Ian. "In what sort of plight art thou, I pray thee?" + +"In very sorry plight, truly," said the laird, "sorely bruised and +tightly and painfully jammed into the cleft of the tree, with my nose +and my toes more closely associated together than they have ever +been before, since my first entrance into this weary world. Canst +thou not aid me, Ian?" + +"Would that I could aid thee, Ballindalloch," said Ian mournfully; +"but thou must e'en take the will for the deed. I am hanging here +over a bough, like a piece of sheep's tripe, without an atom of fushon +[4] in me, and confined, moreover, by as many cross-branches as would +cage in a blackbird. I fear there is no hope for us till daylight." + +And in good sooth there they stuck maundering in a maze of speculation +for the rest of the night. + +When the morning sun had again restored sufficient courage to the men +of the watch, curiosity led them to return to ascertain how things +stood about the site of the building which they had so precipitately +abandoned. They were horrorstruck to observe, that in addition to +the utter obliteration of the whole of the previous day's work, the +laird himself, and his henchman Ian Grant, had disappeared. At first +they most naturally supposed that they had both been swept away at +once with the walls of the new building on which they stood, and that +they could never hope to see them again, more than they could expect +to see the stones of the walls that had been so miraculously whirled +away. But piteous groans were heard arising from the bank below them; +and on searching further, Ballindalloch and his man Ian were discovered +and released from their painful bastile. The poor men-at-arms who had +formed the watch were mightily pleased to observe that the laird's +temper was most surprisingly cooled by his night's repose in the +holly bush. I need not tell you that he spoke no more of hanging +them. You will naturally yemagine, too, that he no longer persevered +in pressing the erection of the ill-starred keep-tower on the proud +spot he had chosen for it, but that he implicitly followed the dread +and mysterious order he had received to "Build in the Cow-haugh!" + +He did, in fact, soon afterwards commence building the present Castle +of Ballindalloch in that beautiful haugh which stretched between the +Aven and the Spey, below their junction, which then went by the name +of the Cow-haugh; and the building was allowed to proceed to its +conclusion without the smallest interruption. + +Such is the legend I promised you, gentlemen, and however absurd it +may be, I look upon it as curious; for it no doubt covers some real +piece of more rational history regarding the cause of the abandonment +of those old foundations, which has now degenerated into this wild +but poetical fable. + + + + + + + + +SOMNOSALMONIA. + + +Clifford (asleep).--Ha! ha! ha! There he comes! What a noble +fish! Didn't I tell you I would do for him? Ha! there--there now--I +shall land him beautifully at last. + +Author.--Why, he's asleep, Grant; give him a good shake, will you. + +Clifford (half-awaking).--Oh! oh! oh! what are you at? Will +you throw me into the water, you scoundrels? Hah! what are you +at? Aw--a--a! what a magnificent salmon I had caught when you snapt +my line. Eh!--hah--aw--a--aw. I believe I have been dozing. + +Grant.--Nay, not dozing only, but snoring; and, finally fishing in +your sleep. + +Clifford.--Then am I a fool--aw--a--a--to stay here awake doing +nothing, when I might go to bed and there so happily continue the +sport which you so cruelly interrupted,--aw--a--aw, so good night to +you,--I'm off. + +Taking up his candle, Clifford quickly disappeared, and following +his example, we broke up for the night; and having agreed to devote +the next day to our friend's favourite sport, we invited our new +acquaintance, the schoolmaster, to dine with us again. + +Next day Grant and I spent five or six hours in thrashing the river +without being gratified even with a single rise, whilst Clifford killed +no less than three large salmon and one grilse. We expected that +he would have crowed mightily over us, and we accordingly exhibited +great humbleness of aspect in his presence. But he was magnanimous +beyond our hopes. + +Clifford.--Don't be downcast, my dear friends, your fate had been +mine and mine yours, had we only exchanged our fly-boxes in the +morning. Your flies have been made by some Cockney for fishing in the +New River. These Limerick hooks are the things; they never fail. You +shall try them next time, and I'll warrant your success. + +Clifford picked out the best fish for our dinner, and after a liberal +provision of those ingredients which are supposed to contribute to +the sociality of an evening, + +Author (to Clifford).--Come along, Mr. Secretary, how stands your book? + +Clifford.--Mr. Macpherson is down two or three times over. But, +for aught I know, he may have told all his tales last night while I +slept. By the by, I have to apologise to him for having done so. + +Dominie.--Hout no, sir, I am sure I am well pleased if my tales can in +any manner of way contribute to your happiness, whether it may be by +exciting your interest or mirth, or by lulling you to sweet repose. I +am not the first story-teller whose tales have had a soporific yeffeck. + +Clifford.--Can you favour us then; you will yourself recollect which +of your stories comes first in the list. + +Dominie.--'Pon my word, sir, my memory does not serve me in that +respeck. But I have another story altogether, in which the Laird +of Ballindalloch was also concerned; and, as it has been brought to +my mind, nay, I may say, into my vurra mouth at this moment, by the +pleasing flavour of Mr. Clifford's excellent fish, on which we have +all dined so heartily, I may as well give you that. + +Clifford.--You are a perfect mine of legendary lore, Mr. Macpherson. + + + + + + + + +LEGEND OF THE LAST GRANT OF TULLOCHCARRON. + + +In my legend of yesternight, gentlemen, I think I told you, that one +of Ballindalloch's yespecial reasons for selecking the site he did +for his peel tower was the commanding view which he thence enjoyed +all over the lands of Tullochcarron, lying above the fork of the Aven +and the Spey, and which then belonged to another family of Grants, +with whom he was liable to be frequently at daggers drawn. It is of +the last laird of Tullochcarron, that I am now going to tell you. + +In the earlier part of his life, this laird of Tullochcarron lost a +younger brother, who was killed while fighting bravely by his side in a +feudal skirmish with a former laird of Ballindalloch. Tullochcarron had +a strong affection for this brother, and would have been inconsolable +for his death, had he not left an only son behind him, called Lachlan +Dhu. Tullochcarron was then unmarried, and he therefore instantly +transferred all that which had been his fraternal affection to his +orphan nephew. Accordingly, he set himself to nurture the boy with all +the care and solicitude he could bestow, and with the full intention +of making him his heir. But you are well enough aware, gentlemen, +that yeddication in those days must have been a mere farce. Indeed, +judging from the worthy Dame Julian Berner's Boke of St. Alban's, +the which, I take it for granted, was the gentleman's vade mecum in +its day, it was worse than a farce, nothing being taught there but +hawking and hunting, and the mysteries thereof; as, for example, how +to physic a sick falcon, and such like follies, with all the foolish +vanities of coat armour, and the frivolities of fishing. Eh! I beg +your pardon, Mr. Clifford! I see you are not just altogether pleased +with that observe of mine. But I meant no offence,--as sure as death I +did not. Where was I? Well, as the lad, Lachlan Dhu, grew up, certain +indications of ane evil disposition began to manifest themselves, and +these unpromising buds did so bourgeon through time, that after trying +to prune away the wicked shoots that sprang from them, and finding, +as is often the case, that they only sprouted forth the thicker and +the stronger for the lopping, like the poisonous heads of the hydra, +the good Tullochcarron found himself compelled to abandon his kind +intentions towards the young man, so far as regarded the heirship. But +he still continued to make his house his home, and likewise to show +him all such kindness as an uncle might be expected to use towards +a nephew. + +Being thus disappointed in his views of a successor, the worthy +man set himself to the serious consideration of another plan, and +having cast his eyes about him, they fell upon a fair leddy, whom +he resolved, with her consent, to make his wife, and accordingly, +after a reasonable courtship, they were married. No couple could have +been happier than they were, and his joy was, in due time, rendered +complete by the birth of a son and heir, who was called Duncan. But, +alas! what is yearthly felicity? Fleeting as the wintry sunbeam on a +wall. His beloved wife died soon after the birth of her infant boy, +whom she left as the only remaining hope of his family. + +Lachlan Dhu had nearly reached manhood before his uncle's marriage, +but Tullochcarron had taken especial care, from the very first, +never to allow his nephew to know that he ever had any intention +of leaving him the succession of his estate. There was therefore no +ostensible cause for disappointment or jealousy in Lachlan. But the +youth was sharp enough to have seen the position in which he had so +long stood, and to have drawn his own conclusions; and certain it was, +that jealousy and disappointment did follow his uncle's marriage and +the birth of his cousin Duncan. But young though he might be, he was +already so profound a master of the art of dissimulation, that he +not only most perfectly concealed them, but he actually contrived to +produce so great a seeming change for the better in his own character, +that he gradually succeeded in vurra much effacing the recollection +of his former errors and iniquities from the memory of his kind and +forgiving uncle. + +Duncan Bane, as the young Tullochcarron was called from his fair +complexion, was, in every respect, a contrast to Lachlan Dhu, or Black +Lachlan. Tullochcarron had committed his infant boy to be nursed and +fostered by a respectable lady, a distant relation of the family, who, +though low in circumstances, was high in piety and virtue. To this lady +the infant Duncan opportunely came to supply the place of a child she +had just then lost, and as the little fellow drew his nourishment from +her bosom, all the strength of a mother's attachment fell in tender +sorrow upon him; and he who never knew any other mother, repaid it +with corresponding affection. Tullochcarron was too conscious of the +failure in his attempt at yeddication, in the instance of his nephew, +to risk a repetition of it in the still more interesting case of his +son. He therefore gladly left the tutoring of the boy to the care +of his excellent nurse, who appears to have been as intellectually +gifted as any woman of those barbarous times could have been. It is +true that she must, in all probability, have been tinctured with some +portion of the learning of Dame Julian. For, although nothing remains +to establish that the young man had studied hawking and hunting, +the legend certainly informs us, that he had a complete knowledge +of, and an ardent love for,--hum--ha--I would say for that art of +which it would ill become me to speak dispraisingly, seeing that +we have had this evening so much reason to thank Mr. Clifford for +having so ably and successfully exerceesed it. But--what was much +better--under her godly care the boy's heart was filled with all the +best feelings of religion and humanity. He was amiable, generous, +and kind-hearted, and ever ready on all occasions to sacrifice his +own little interests to those of others; and he was so utterly devoid +of guile himself, that he felt it almost impossible to imagine its +existence in others. It was not wonderful, therefore, that he grew up +with the warmest attachment to his cousin, Lachlan Dhu, who was the +very prince of deceivers, and who well knew how to put on the mask +of kindness. He allowed no opportunity of gaining his young cousin's +affections to pass unprofitably, and so unremitting was his attention +to the young Duncan, that he even succeeded in throwing sand into the +eyes of old Tullochcarron himself, who began to thank Heaven for the +happy change that had taken place on his nephew, and to trust that +he might yet look to him as the future protector of his son's youth +and inexperience, in the very probable event of his being called from +this world before his boy had grown to the years of manhood. + +But the old man was still a hale and hearty carle when his boy's +seventeenth birthday came round. He had indeed been a marvellously +stout and healthy man all his life. The only disease, indeed, with +which he had ever been afflicted was an almost insatiable appetite +for food, which no endeavours of his own could restrain. It was a +never-ending ravenous hunger, for which the poor man was by no means +morally responsible, and from the gnawing effects of which he must +have died, if it had not been frequently and largely administered +to. Nor did he ask for dainties, although there certainly was one +species of food which he preferred to all others when he could get +it in its season, and that was--salmon. Tullochcarron's complaint, +as you may very naturally conceive, grew with his growth, which was +immense, and increased with every additional year that he lived. But, +old as he was, and enormous as he became in bulk, his great strength +remained unimpaired, and he was still able to move about with wonderful +activity in the superintendence of his concerns. + +I have already told you, that although he and Ballindalloch were not +at absolute war, yet there did exist between them that ancient grudge +and jealousy, left by the ill-salved, though apparently bandaged up +wounds of a peace, patched together when both parties had suffered too +much to continue the war. And although the then existing Ballindalloch +was not the man in whose reign and under whose attack Tullochcarron's +much-loved brother had fallen, yet those were times in which the +son was made answerable for his father's sins. The then laird of +Ballindalloch, therefore, succeeded to all that secret animosity +which his father had so industriously laboured to earn. Thus, as one +might say, the military precaution, as well as the civil management of +Tullochcarron's little kingdom, required ane active superintendence and +administration. But although he now scrupled not to employ his nephew +in all duties where he thought his services might be useful to him, +and although he had even begun of late to give occasional occupation +to his son, yet, as they used to say in those days, he was aye upon +the head of his own affairs himself, watched everything with his own +eye, and gave every order of importance from his own mouth. + +Lachlan Dhu, then, having but little else in which to employ himself, +spent most of his time in the chase, and the venison which he slew +was always sure to procure him a blessing from his hungry uncle. As +for Duncan Bane, his whole attention was directed to fishing, and the +salmon which he caught were always sure to be more highly prized than +the best buck that his cousin ever brought from the forest. In strict +attention to the fack, as well as in justice to the character of the +youth himself, I must tell you, that the desire of procuring savoury +dishes for his father, to whom his devoted attachment was excessive, +was one great reason, as well as in some measure an apology,--that +is, I mean, a-a to say, Mr. Clifford, if fishing ever required any +apology at all, which I must confess your excellent salmon of this +day hath led me vurra much to doot; I say it was a good reason for +his following out that quieter sort of sport, instead of that of the +chase, which some of your wild Nimrods would look upon as by much +the more active and manly. But I must likewise inform you, that there +was also a secondary cause that contributed to make him prefer this +occupation to all others. This cause, you will doubtless consider of +inferior strength to the other; but still it is a cause which is in +itself supposed by many to be very powerful in some of its effecks; +the cause I mean was--love. + +Anna Gordon was the eldest of three orphans who were left to the +care of their aunt, who was the vurra lady whom I have already +introduced to you as the nurse and female preceptor of the youth +Duncan Bane. Anna was but a year younger than the young laird of +Tullochcarron. They had grown up together, and had loved one another +like companions, until their attachment insensibly assumed a warmer +character. The penury to which the Gordons and their aunt had been +reduced by circumstances, had hitherto induced Duncan to keep the +mutual passion that subsisted between him and Anna a secret from his +father, who never ceased to talk of some splendid alliance for his son +as one of his most favourite schemes. But as this love of the young +man for the lady waxed stronger, his fondness for fishing was most +strangely and marvellously augmented in a similar proportion. Were I +to attempt to guess at the cause of this whimsical combination of two +predilections apparently so inconsistent with one another, I should +say, that he began daily more and more to take to fishing, because it +furnished him with an apology for more frequently visiting his nurse's +cottage, that was situated on a beautifully wooded knoll rising on the +north bank of the river Aven. It was, moreover, an amusement which +he could pursue without losing the society of her he loved. For as +he loitered along the river's bank with his angle-rod in his hand, +Anna Gordon was ever at his side; and I am doubting much that they +wasted many a good hour in idle talk rather than in fishing. But I am +no more than the simple historian of their tale, therefore it is no +business of mine to defend either him or her from the charge which you +will of necessity bring against both of them for such a mis-spending +of their precious time. However, I'm thinking, gentlemen, that they +must have had some peculiar pleasure in one another's conversation, +or they never would have stolen secretly away thus by them two selves, +as they were continually wont to do, even escaping from Anna's little +sister and brother. The boy, poor little fellow, had been born deaf +and dumb, and could have understood no other language but that of the +eyes; and let me tell you, gentlemen, that learned as I am in tongues, +both ancient and modern, that is one of which I must confess myself to +have no knowledge, though they do say that there is much eloquence in +it when it is rightly comprehended. It was not always an easy matter +to jink these two children, for Duncan Bane had been so kind to both +of them, especially to the poor dumb boy, that wherever he went, +they ran after him like two penny doggies; and as he had too much +good feeling in his composition to allow him to treat them harshly, +he was often obliged to steal their sister Anna away from them when +he wished to have a private saunter with her. + +The lovers had one day escaped from them and all the world in this +manner, for Duncan was anxiously desirous to be alone with Anna, +that he might learn from her why it was that her fair brow wore an +unwonted cloud upon it, and why her large blue eyes seemed to have +been dimmed by recent tears. He was impatient till they reached a +grove by the river's side, which was their ordinary place of retreat +when they wished to be free from all vulgar or prying eyes. + +"Anna," said the youth, the moment they had got within its shade, +"something unpleasant has befallen thee; though thy face cannot be +robbed of its loveliness, yet it wants to-day that smile which is +wont to be the sunshine of my heart." + +"I must try to call it up, then," said she, with an effort to be +playful that could not be mistaken. "I would not have thy heart chill +if I can help it." + +"Nay, but I entreat thee to tell me what has vexed thee, my love!" said +he tenderly. "If I cannot relieve thy distress, let me at least share +it with thee!" + +"I would fain tell thee, Duncan," replied she, "for I would fain shut +up no secrets from thee in that heart which is so entirely thine; +but"---- + +"But what, my dearest?" cried Duncan impatiently; "do not keep me +longer in suspense. There ought, indeed, to be no secrets with either +of us that are not shared between us." + +"There never shall be any on my part," said Anna, throwing down her +eyes. "And yet--and yet I have much difficulty in uttering what I +would now tell thee." + +"Keep me on the rack no longer, my love, I beseech thee!" said Duncan. + +"I will take courage to tell thee, then," said she, "but thou must +first give me a solemn promise." + +"What! of secrecy?" said Duncan. "Methinks thou mayest safely enough +trust to me in that respect." + +"The promise I would exact of thee goes somewhat beyond that of mere +secrecy," said she gravely. "Thou must promise me that thou wilt not +act upon what I have to tell thee, but in such manner as prudence +may permit me to sanction." + +"And dost thou think, my Anna," replied Duncan, "that I could ever do, +or desire to do, anything that thou couldst wish me not to do?" + +"But promise me, solemnly promise me!" said Anna, persevering with +unwonted eagerness in her demand; "do promise me, I entreat thee!" + +"Well, well, I do promise thee,--thus solemnly promise thee," replied +Duncan, kissing the hand which he held. "And now, come! relieve my +anxiety, what is this gloomy secret? This is the first time I have +seen traces of tears in thine eyes since the death of the poor thrush +I gave thee." + +"The present matter is somewhat more serious," said Anna, with a +gravity and dignity of manner which he had never seen her assume +before. "Your cousin, Lachlan Dhu, dared this morning to address me in +odious terms, which he called love. I answered him with a scorn and +a reproof which I had hardly believed my young, weak, and untaught +tongue could have used to one of his manhood. But the Blessed Virgin +lent me language; and he stood so abashed before me, that I trust I +have reason to hope that he will not again dare to repeat his offence." + +"My cousin Lachlan!" exclaimed Duncan, overwhelmed with +astonishment. "My cousin Lachlan, didst thou say? Did my ears hear +thee aright? Impossible!" + +"I grieve to say it is too true," said Anna Gordon. + +"O villain, villain!" cried Duncan. "Most deep and consummate +villain! Can so much apparent goodness be but the mask of deceit and +villainy? But--I must straightway question him! I will drag him from +the disguise which he wears, and--and then!" + +"Remember that solemn promise which you have this moment made to +me," said Anna, calmly taking his hand. "You see how wise it was in +me to secure it. To be the innocent cause of awakening feud between +kinsmen of blood so near, would indeed be a heavy affliction to me; +and were any of that blood to be spilled--were thy blood to flow--but +thou must keep thy solemn engagement to me; and thou must now pledge +me thy word, that never till I give thee leave to do so wilt thou, +even by a look, discover to anyone what I have now told thee." + +"Anna," said Duncan, after some little hesitation, "I will promise +you what you desire; but my promise is given on the faith of a +counter-pledge, which I now expect to have from thee. Promise me, +on thy part, that no such cause of offence shall be again offered to +thee that thou dost not instantly tell me of it." + +"My present frankness should be my best pledge that I will do as thou +wouldst have me," said Anna. "But the promise thou hast given me must +then be held as consequently renewed." + +"I am content," said Duncan. "I am content to trust that you will +not tie me down too rigidly." + +Guileless as Duncan Bane naturally was, he felt it no easy task +to commence and to carry on a train of dissimulation with one with +whom he had been on terms of open and unreserved intercourse of mind +from his childhood, as I may say, save on the one subject of his love +alone. Duncan dreaded that the very next meeting he should have with +his cousin would throw him off his guard. He, therefore, proceeded +forthwith to school himself as to the face and manner he should wear, +and the words he should utter? and so successfully did he do so in +his own judgment, that, after the first interview with his cousin was +over, he congratulated himself that the deep dissatisfaction which +he secretly felt had been entirely shrouded from him who had excited +it. And certainly, whether it was so or not, the crafty Lachlan Dhu +gave him no reason to believe that it was discovered. + +It was on the vurra night after this, however, that the Laird of +Ballindalloch was seated in the cap-house of the great round tower +of the castle he had so lately built, engaged in some confidential +talk with his faithful henchman, Ian Grant, when his favourite old +sleuth-hound, that lay beside his chair, raised up his long heavy +ears and growled; and soon afterwards a step was heard ascending the +narrow screw stair leading to the small apartment where they were. + +"See who is there, Ian," said the laird, in answer to a gentle tap +at the door. + +Ian obeyed, and on opening it one of the domestics appeared to announce +that a stranger, who refused to tell his name, had been brought, at +his own request, to the castle guard-room, having expressed a wish +to be admitted to a private conference with the laird. + +"A stranger demands to have an interview with me after the +watch is set, and yet refuses to tell who or what he is!" cried +Ballindalloch. "By Saint Peter, but this smells of treachery, +methinks! Yet let him appear, we fear him not; let him appear, I say," +repeated he, waving off the attendant. "Ian," continued he after the +man was gone, "look that your dirk be on your thigh." + +"My dirk is here, sir, and sharp," readily replied the henchman, as he +moved towards the door, and planted himself beside it, to be prepared +to strike, if any sudden emergency should require him to do so. + +Again steps were heard ascending the stair, the door opened, and the +doorway was filled by the bulky figure of a man, whose dark features +were almost entirely hid by a blue Kelso bonnet of more than ordinary +breadth, and the ample web of a large hill plaid, of the red Grant +tartan, put on as Highlanders know how to do when they would fain +conceal themselves, completely enveloped the whole of his figure, +as well as the lower part of his face, leaving little more visible +than the tip of his nose and his dark moustachios. For some moments +he stood silent before Ballindalloch. + +"Speak!" said the laird at length. "Thy name and thine errand at this +untimeous hour!" + +"Ballindalloch," replied the stranger, looking around him, and glancing +at Ian, "thou shalt have both incontinently, but it must be in thine +own particular ear alone." + +"Leave us then, Ian," said Ballindalloch, waving him away, whilst +at the same time he stretched forth his hand to lift his claymore +within easier reach of the place where he sat. "Leave us, I say, +Ian! I would be private with this stranger." + +"Uve! uve!" said Ian under his breath; then he moved, hesitated, +shrugged his shoulders, looked at the stranger as if he would have +penetrated him, plaid and all, to the very soul; then he shifted his +position--yet still he did not quit the chamber, but stood and threw +an imploring look of remonstrance towards the laird. + +"Begone, Ian!" said Ballindalloch in a voice of impatience; and Ian +at last vanished at the word. + +"Sir stranger!" said Ballindalloch, "I hope I may now ask thee to +rid me of all this mystery." + +"I am most ready to do so, Ballindalloch," said the other, laying +aside his bonnet and plaid, and showing himself, to all appearance, +entirely unarmed. + +"Lachlan Dhu Grant of Tullochcarron?" exclaimed the laird with +astonishment; "what stirring errand has moved thee hither at such +an hour?" + +"I come to thee but on peaceful private conference," replied Lachlan +Dhu, with a respectful obeisance: "and I use this secrecy because +it is for the interest of both of us, that what I have to treat of +should reach no other ears but our own." + +"Proceed," said Ballindalloch, "thou mayest speak safely here, for +in this place we are beyond all earshot." + +"I need not tell thee, Ballindalloch," continued Lachlan Dhu, "I +need not tell thee, I say, that which is sufficiently notour to all, +that mine uncle, old Tullochcarron's patrimony, would have been mine +as a fair succession, had he not married on purpose to disappoint me." + +"I know this much," said Ballindalloch, not altogether dissatisfied +to see something like discontent in what he naturally held to be +the enemy's camp. "Perhaps thou hast had but scrimp justice in this +matter." + +"Justice!" exclaimed Lachlan Dhu, catching eagerly at his +words. "Justice! I have been deeply wronged. Bred up and cockered +by the old man for a time as his successor, as if it had been with +the very intent of throwing me the more cruelly off, and rendering +the blasting of my hopes the more bitter, from the very fairness of +those blossoms which his pretended warmth of affection had fostered!" + +"'Twas not well done in the old man," said Ballindalloch; "but now, +methinks, 'tis past all cure." + +"Nay," said Lachlan Dhu sternly, "I hope there is yet ample room +for remede." + +"As how, I pr'ythee?" said Ballindalloch. + +"Mark me, and thou shalt quickly learn," said Lachlan Dhu. "But first +of all I must tell thee, that I now come to offer myself to thee as +thy vassal on this simple condition, that thou wilt give me thine +aid and countenance against all questioners to help me to keep what +shall be mine own after I shall have fairly won it." + +"And how dost thou propose to win it?" demanded Ballindalloch, +with a grave and serious air that seemed to argue a most attentive +consideration of a proposal in itself so inviting to him. + +"By secretly ridding myself of mine uncle's sickly stripling boy, +whenever favouring fortune may yield me fitting opportunity," +replied Lachlan Dhu, approaching his head nearer to Ballindalloch, +and sinking his voice to a low sepulchral tone, and with a coolness +that might have befitted a practised murderer. + +"What!" exclaimed Ballindalloch, with an air of surprise. "What hath +the youth done to deserve so much of thy hatred?" + +"Twice hath he crossed my path," continued Lachlan Dhu, his features +blackening, and his dark eyeballs rolling as he spoke. "He hath twice +crossed my path; first when he came into this world, and now a second +time by thwarting me in my love." + +"And what have I to do with all this?" demanded Ballindalloch. + +"Much," replied Lachlan Dhu earnestly. "I am now thy sworn vassal. The +feudal superiority of Tullochcarron will henceforth insure to thee +friendship and strength, where thou hast long had to deal with open +or secret foes, and"---- + +"Thou speakest as if thou wert already Laird of Tullochcarron," +said Ballindalloch, interrupting him. + +"That young foulmart once disposed of, I soon shall be," said +Lachlan Dhu, with fiend-like expression. "Mine uncle's time cannot +now be long, even were nature left to take its course; or,--it may +be shortened. Sudden death to a man of his gross form and purfled +habit could never seem strange; and then"---- + +"True," said Ballindalloch calmly; "but how can I aid thee in thy +scheme?" + +"I lack no present aid while I have this arm," replied Lachlan Dhu; +"it is the support and defence of thy faithful vassal, Lachlan Dhu +Grant, Laird of Tullochcarron, that I require of thee, if unhappily +some unlucky circumstance should awaken idle suspicions against him." + +"I trust I shall always know how to defend my vassals," said +Ballindalloch proudly. + +"Then am I safe," said Lachlan Dhu; "but in the meanwhile secrecy is +essential to our purpose." + +"I hope I have prudence enough to know how to conduct myself in all +cases of delicacy," replied Ballindalloch. + +"'Tis well," said Lachlan Dhu, again folding his plaid around +him, and putting on his bonnet. "Now I must begone; for time +presses. Farewell! I shall trust to thee, and thou mayest trust to me." + +"I shall not forget what is due to thee, when thou art my vassal," +said the laird, "nor shall I ever forget what ought at all times to +be expected from Ballindalloch. Here, Ian Dhu, see this stranger safe +beyond the walls and outposts." + +The night I speak of seemed to be quite pregnant with strange +visitations; for, at a still later hour, after old Tullochcarron +had himself seen that the guard at the barbican of his small place +of strength was on the alert, and had secured the iron doors of the +entrance of the peel-tower, and had finally retired to his apartment +to go to rest, he was surprised to see a packet lying on his table, +of which no one of his attendants could give him any account. It was +tied with a morsel of ribbon, the ends of which were secured with wax, +but without any impression. It was simply addressed:-- + +"To Tullochcarron." + +And on cutting it open, he found that it contained the following +letter, with a broad seal at the end of it. + +"Tullochcarron,--I write this private communication, to tell thee that +thou hast a traitor in thy house, that thou dost nourish a viper in +thy bosom that would sting thee. The life of thine only son is certain +to be taken, if thou dost not secure it by the instant seizure of +thy nephew, Lachlan Dhu. Thine own murder will speedily follow. The +cold-blooded villain came to me secretly under the cloud of this +night, and did unfold his devilish plans, offering to me the feudal +superiority of thy lands of Tullochcarron, provided I should protect +him as my vassal against all after question. I seemed to listen, and +yet I evited direct promise; and I now hasten to certiorate thee of +these facts through ane trusty messenger, who engages, by certain means +best known to himself, to have these placed upon thine own private +table before thou sleepest. This traitorie is as yet alone known to +thee, to me, to the foul faitour who planned, and to the devil who +prompted it. And that thou mayest have no doubt left in thee of the +truth of what I have here written, I do hereto affix my sign-manual, +as well as the seal, the which is attached to the last instrument of +pacification that passed between our houses.--Ballindalloch." + +You may conceive, gentlemen, that this letter, read alone, at midnight +in his chamber, dreadfully alarmed old Tullochcarron. He started from +the large oaken chair in which he had seated himself to peruse it, +and snatching his lamp, he rushed to his son's apartment, where he +held up the light, and gazed with fear and trembling on his son's +couch, almost expecting to see his boy foully murdered, and weltering +in his blood. Stretched on his bed, he did indeed find him; but his +eyes were closed in the sweet slumbers that attend the pillow of pure +and spotless youth. He gazed on him in silent anxiety for some time, +till he was really certain that he breathed; and then the old man's +lip quivered, and his eyes were dimmed by the big drops that rapidly +distilled over his eyelids. Stooping gently down, he kissed Duncan's +cheek, and then quitting the room upon tiptoe, he called up an old +and tried domestic. + +"Hamish," said he, "I had a strange and troubled dream, as I dozed +in mine arm-chair." + +"Thou didst sup somewhat of the heaviest, Tullochcarron," replied +Hamish. "After so many pounds' weight of salmon, 'tis but little +wonder if the foul hag on her nightmare should have been riding over +and over thee." + +"Psha!" said Tullochcarron in a vexed tone and manner that showed +he was too seriously affected to be trifled with. "My dream touched +the safety of thy young master. Hark ye! I bid thee watch his couch, +and let no one approach it with impunity." + +"My young master!" said Hamish with energy. "These grey hairs shall +be trodden under foot ere the latch of his door shall be touched." + +"I know thy fidelity," said Tullochcarron. "Be sure thou givest me +the alarm if aught extraordinary should occur." + +Having taken this hasty precaution, the old Laird of Tullochcarron +again seated himself in his arm-chair to read over for the second +time the alarming communication he had received. Ballindalloch's +name and seal were the first things his eyes rested on after opening +it. Doubts and suspicions instantly flashed across his mind. + +"What a silly fool am I after all," said he, "to let any information +from such a quarter so agitate me! What truth is to be expected from a +house so full of hereditary enmity against mine of Tullochcarron! And +is not Lachlan Dhu the son of that very brother of mine who worked +so much sore evil to the house of Ballindalloch? And is he not at +this moment the best, the stoutest, and the sharpest arrow I have in +my quiver? And are not these reasons enough to prompt such a secret +enemy to urge me to whet my knife against him? Dull old idiot that I +was! but now I see it all! I see it all! What a trap was I about to run +my head into! But stay, let me think what is best to be done. Prudent +precautions with regard to my son can do no harm. I shall put him +well on his guard; and that secured, the best thing I can do is to +bury the contents of this paper in mine own bosom." + +With such determinations as these, Tullochcarron retired to rest; +but his repose was disturbed and put to flight by visions which were +not altogether to be laid to the account of the heavy meal he had +taken ere he retired to rest. He was early visited by his son Duncan. + +"Father," said the young man, "how was it that old Hamish took post in +my chamber last night? I found him sitting by my bedside at daybreak +this morning, and all the explanation I could extract from him was +that he had the laird's orders for being there." + +"He had my orders my dear boy," said Tullochcarron, pressing his son +to his bosom, and kissing his forehead. "A strange dream had come +over me, that alarmed my foolish old heart about thy safety." + +"A dream about me!" said the young man smiling. "What harm couldst +thou dread for me, father?" + +"I dreamed that thy life was threatened, boy," said his father; +"and therefore it was that I made Hamish watch thee." + +"My life in danger, father!" exclaimed Duncan, "and from whose hand?" + +"From the hand of thy cousin Lachlan Dhu," replied his father. "Hast +thou any cause to dread that my dream might have aught of reality +in it?" + +"My cousin Lachlan Dhu!" exclaimed Duncan, with unfeigned +surprise. "Nay," continued he, after some little hesitation, during +which he remembered the promise he had given to Anna Gordon; "why +should I think that Lachlan should wish to injure me?" + +"Why should we think it, indeed?" exclaimed the old man, with +considerable emotion. "Both I and mine should look for anything but +hostility from Lachlan Dhu, if there be any faith or gratitude left +in man. Let us then think no more about it." + +"Trust me, I shall think no more of it," said Duncan. + +"Aye!" said the old man again; "but yet I'd have thee to be cautious. I +would entreat thee to guard thyself as if there were danger. Thou +hast a dirk and a hand to use it, boy! Thou hast a claymore and an +arm that can wield it; and though thou art as yet but a stripling, +still thou art the son of old Tullochcarron! But let faithful Hamish +be thy constant henchman, and then my heart will be at ease." + +"I will defend mine own head as a true Tullochcarron should do, +if dirk or steel can do it," said the youth energetically, and by +no means relishing the idea of his motions being watched, and his +person eternally haunted by an attendant. "But I have nothing to fear, +and Hamish might be better employed than in following me in all my +idle wanderings." + +Duncan thought with himself that he had perhaps better grounds for +entertaining some suspicion of evil intentions against him on the +part of his kinsman, than any which a dream could have afforded to +his father; and yet we must not wonder, gentlemen, that, in such +superstitious times, old Tullochcarron's alleged vision had also +its own effect upon the young man, when taken in combination with +that strange new light that had recently opened on his cousin's +character. The gallant youth was above all fear, however; but he +had prudence enough to resolve to expose himself to no unnecessary +danger. As to old Hamish, Duncan thought it better to gratify his +father by allowing that faithful servant to be his companion at all +times, save and except only when he went to meet her, of his attachment +to whom he still thought it wise to keep Tullochcarron ignorant. Then, +indeed, the god of love inspired him with so much ingenuity in escaping +from his attendant, that he baffled every attempt at discovery. + +It was upon one of these occasions, when he had an especial wish to +have an hour or two of private talk with Anna Gordon, that he, in the +first place, contrived to escape from old Hamish, and afterwards to +steal her from her dumb brother and little sister. Away tripped the +pair together laughing, and rejoicing in their own cleverness. Duncan +had his angle-rod in his hand, but he wandered with Anna through +the groves, by the margin of the Aven, without ever thinking of +casting a line into its waters. The subject of their conversation +was one of peculiar interest to both of them, for Duncan had sought +this interview for the purpose of informing her that, from certain +circumstances which had recently occurred, he was led to believe that +their secret attachment might now be safely divulged to the old laird +his father, in the hope that he might be brought to consent to the +speedy solemnisation of their marriage. The time they spent together +was by no means short, though to them it appeared as trifling. At +length they found out that it was time to part, and a more than usually +lingering parting took place between them on the top of that vurra +high and precipitous crag, where now rests the northern extremity of +the noble bridge that spans the river Aven above Ballindalloch. When +they did at last sever from each other, Anna took her way homeward +by a footpath leading up the river through the thick oak copsewood +that covered the ground behind it, and clustered to the very brink +of the precipice where she left Duncan. + +The young man stood entranced with his own happy thoughts for a +moment after Anna had disappeared, and then bethinking him that +he must hasten to make the best use of the time that now remained, +if he would not return empty-handed to his father, he stood on the +verge of the cliff, eyeing the stream below, and thoroughly occupied +in preparing his tackle with all manner of expedition, previous to +descending by a circuitous way to the water's edge to commence his +sport. He was alone, as you may think, gentlemen; but there was an +evil eye that watched him with the tiger's lurid and unvarying gaze, +aye, with such a gaze as the tiger's fiery orbs assume when he has +slowly and silently tracked his unconscious prey through all the +mazes of the jungle, till he at last beholds it within his reach. As +the head of the traitor Lachlan Dhu appeared from the thicket within +three paces of the spot where young Tullochcarron stood, a fiendish +smile of eager triumph gave a hellish expression to its features. It +was but one desperate spring. One piercing shriek was uttered by +the unhappy Duncan Bane, and in one instant his lifeless corse was +floating, shattered and bleeding, on the crystal stream of the Aven. + +That scream was heard by Anna Gordon, and from the moment it entered +into her ears, it never left her mind. As it reached her, she happened +to be passing round a turn of the river some little way above, whence +the fatal crag was still visible. + +"Merciful saints!" she cried, as she turned quickly round, "that was +my Duncan's voice!" + +She caught one instantaneous glimpse of the figure of Lachlan Dhu, +as he fled from the summit of the crag. A dreadful suspicion shot +across her mind. Winged by her agonising terrors, she flew back to +the spot where she had parted with Duncan. There she met the poor +dumb boy, her brother, pulling his little sister along by the arm. No +sooner did he behold Anna, than with a wild animation of countenance, +and with gesture so expressive, that no one but a creature deprived +of the power of language could have employed, he imitated the action +of one person pushing another over the face of the cliff, and then he +ran down the path that followed the course of the stream. Anna rushed +franticly after him; and when she had reached the margin of the Aven, +her eyes rested on the lifeless corse of her beloved, which had been +carried by the eddying current into a little quiet nook, where it +lay half-stranded on a grassy bank. + +It happened that old Hamish, who as usual had been anxiously seeking +his young master, came a few moments afterwards accidentally to the +same spot; and what a spectacle did he behold! Seated on the bank by +the water's edge was the wretched Anna Gordon, with her lover's mangled +and bleeding head upon her knee. Her eyes were fixed upon its livid +and gory features, as if they had been gazing on vacancy. Not a tear +flowed, not a groan nor a sigh was uttered. A monumental group could +not have been more motionless or silent. Hamish was distracted. He +tried to make her speak; for altogether ignorant of the powerful +cause of interest which operated upon her, he viewed her but as an +idle spectator, an indifferent person, from whom he anxiously desired +to extract something that might enable him to guess as to how this +dreadful calamity had occurred. His questions were rapid, urgent, +and incessant; but still she minded him not, until he bent forward +as if to attempt to lift the body from her knee. Then it was, that +turning round with all the frenzied dignity of fixed insanity, she +fastened the severe gaze of her unsettled eyes upon him, and spoke +in a tone that froze his very heart. + +"Begone, old man!" said she, "begone. What! wouldst thou rob me of my +love on our bridal day? He is mine! he is mine! But hush," said she, +suddenly lowering her voice and changing her expression, "hush! he +sleeps! He slumbers sweetly now. But he will awake anon with smiles, +and then our bridal revels will begin. Go, go, old man! go, bid the +guests! Bid all!--bid all, I tell thee!--bid all, but--but--the +murderer!" A shrill shriek, graduating into a violent hysterical +laugh, followed these wild wandering words; and a convulsion shook +her delicate frame till she fainted away, as if life itself had fled +from her. + +I must leave this heart-rending scene, gentlemen, to tell you what +soon afterwards took place in the old peel-tower of Tullochcarron. + +"What!" exclaimed the laird, as he was in the act of sitting down to +one of those many meals which the craving of his naturally enormous +appetite rendered so essentially necessary for him. "What!" said he, +"still no salmon? Hath Duncan not yet returned, then? Why, methinks +the boy must have tyned his luck altogether. But I trow that the fish +have lost the way into our waters, they are so rare to be seen. Ha! who +comes there with haste so impatient? Is it thou, Lachlan Dhu?" + +"Alas, uncle!" cried the murderer, rushing in without his bonnet, +and with a frantic air, "alas, uncle! alas! alas! Duncan! Duncan!" + +"What--what of Duncan?" exclaimed the anxious and alarmed father, +starting from the table. + +"Duncan," cried the traitor, "my poor cousin Duncan is no more?" + +"What! Duncan? Villain! accursed villain! you lie," cried the old +man half-distracted, and grappling his nephew by the throat with his +powerful gripe. "You lie, most accursed villain!" + +"Alas! alas! I wish I did!" said Lachlan Dhu, with feigned sorrow. "But +I grieve to say that what I tell is, alas, too true. I was walking +accidentally by the banks of the Aven, about a bowshot above the high +craig, when, on looking towards it, I beheld him standing carelessly +on the very brink of the cliff; and whether it was that his foot +had tripped upon some of those roots that scramble for a sustenance +over the surface of the rock, or whether some sudden gust of wind +had caught him, I know not; but I saw him fall headlong thence; and +after being dashed horribly against the projecting points below, +I could perceive his inanimate body borne off by the stream. Wild +with despair, and scarcely knowing what I was doing, I ran directly +home hither to tell thee the doleful news; and"---- + +"Villain!" shouted the old man in a voice like thunder. "Villain! thou +art his murderer. Seize him, and drag him hence to the dungeon. He hath +reft me of my boy! my only hope on earth! the solace of my old age! O +fool! fool! Why did I not take the well-meant warning? Oh! I am now +indeed bereft! But his murderer must die ere the sun goes down. Where +is Hamish? He at least should have been at my poor Duncan's side!" + +At that moment Hamish himself entered. He whose hypocritical acting I +have just described, had taken so long to prepare it for exhibition +that this old and faithful attendant had had full time to procure +help to carry his young master's remains, and had now come on before +the body, with the well-meant intention of breaking the afflicting +intelligence as easily as he could to the bereaved father. He had been +relieved of the task, as I have already told you; and the sad news +had spread so, that all the vassals and dependants within reach had +crowded to meet the body of their beloved Duncan Bane. The woeful +wail of the pipes was heard at a distance. The old laird became +dreadfully agitated. The sound drew nearer. Tullochcarron bit his +nether lip, clenched his hands, and wound himself up to go through +with the trying scene as he felt that Tullochcarron should do. He put +on his bonnet with energy, wrapped his plaid tight around him, and +descended with a resolute step into the court-yard. The clang of the +pipes became louder; and yet a louder crash of their rude music burst +forth, as they passed inwards from beneath the arched gateway. The +old man strode two or three steps forcibly forwards, with his eyes +fixed upon the spot where the rush of human figures came squeezing +in. At length his sight fell on the bloody corse of his murdered son, +his only earthly hope; and he became rooted to the ground he stood on. + +And now a light airy figure appeared tripping fantastically beside the +bier with her hair fancifully wreathed up with worthless weeds. She +came dancing towards the old laird with gay smiles upon her face, +and threw herself upon her knee before him. + +"Thy blessing, father! thy blessing!" said she, "we come to crave +thy blessing, father! and now," continued she, starting up, "let +the feast be prepared!--and the dance!--for Duncan, thine own dear +Duncan, has made me his bride, and I am the happiest maiden in all +Scotland! See, see! look here, how gaily my head is garlanded! Indeed, +indeed, as all the neighbours were wont to say, we were made for each +other. And now I am Duncan's bride! Aye, gentlefolks!" added she, +curtseying gracefully around, and then hiding her blushing face in +her hands for a moment, "and I shall soon be my Duncan's lady! So, +as the fair maid sings in the old ballad,-- + + + 'Oh! I shall henceforth be, my love, + As happy as a queen, + For such a youth as thee, my love, + Was never, never seen--never! no, never!' + + +Father! father! thou art my father now as well as Duncan's--hath not +Duncan told thee all, father? Methinks it was but to-day that we agreed +to break the secret of our love to thee; and Duncan, thine own Duncan +Bane, was to tell thee all! and thou wert to give us thy blessing; +and we were to be wedded--aye, wedded as man and wife, never again to +sunder--but my brain so burns with joy, and my foolish heart beats so, +that--but no matter--ha!--I forget--I must go bid the guests!--I must +away--I must go bid the bridal guests, they will take it all the kinder +that I bid them myself. Hush, then!" added she, sinking her voice, and +approaching the bier upon tiptoe, and gently stooping to kiss the cold +lips of the corse. "Hush, then, Duncan, my love, rest thee in sweet +slumber till I return. All good be with ye, good gentlefolks. Mark me, +I bid ye all to our bridal; but I have other guests to bid--I must +away!--I have many guests to bid--away, away!" and so she hurried +forth from the gateway, singing as she went,-- + + + "And when that we shall wedded be, + All by the holy priest, + Full many a knight and lady bright + Shall grace our bridal feast." + + +The true interpretation of the cause of Anna's frenzy came palpably +to the mind of the old laird of Tullochcarron. Whatever he might have +thought of the attachment of the lovers under other circumstances, +he now felt that the discovery of it had only come like a gleam of +sunshine to enhance the brightness of those earthly prospects which +were henceforth darkened for ever. Yet still with iron nerve he strung +himself firmly up to bear it all. He gave one piteous glance of despair +towards the bier where lay the dead body of his son, his only child, +and then he suffered himself to be led passively up into the hall +of the peel-tower, whither the corpse was immediately carried and +laid out. Then it was that human courage could no longer support +him,--it yielded, and he gave way to all a father's grief. For +a time he indulged fully in this; and then, drying up his tears, +he summoned his vassals, ordered in the prisoner Lachlan Dhu, and +instantly proceeded to hold a court upon him. + +The murderer would have fain denied his guilt, but little evidence +was necessary to convict in those days. In this case there was enough +to convince all present. An assize was set upon him--Ballindalloch's +letter was produced and read: at once his bold and resolute air of +innocence was shaken. The prisoner's own statement as to the point +where he stood when he had witnessed the alleged accident, was proved +to be false by old Hamish, who chanced to see him whilst running +along a path which led, not from that point, but directly from the +brow of the cliff whence Duncan Bane had met his death. The dumb boy +described and pointed out, with most intelligent action, how and by +whom the murder was perpetrated; and his little sister distinctly told, +that she and her brother had seen Lachlan Dhu push Duncan Bane over +the crag. Finally, the sheet was removed from the body of Duncan, +and then, they say, the wounds began to well forth afresh; and the +agitation of the murderer was so great, that he called for a priest, +confessed all, was shortly shriven; and as the sun of that day which +had witnessed his crime was preparing to disappear behind the western +mountains, its slanting rays were throwing a horrible splendour over +his powerful but now exanimate frame, as it swung to and fro in the +evening breeze from the fatal tree on the gallow hill. + +The afflicted Anna Gordon wandered wildly about with maniac energy +during all that day, no one knew where. At last, her friends, who +went in search of her, found her on the mountain, and led her gently +homewards. It happened that the path they took passed by the gallow +hill. At some distance off she descried the figure of him who had so +recently paid the penalty of his crime. + +"Yonder is a guest! I will bid yonder guest!" cried poor Anna, +with a frantic laugh, as she broke from her friends, and hurried +towards the spot where it hung, ere anyone could arrest her. She +stood for some moments with her eyes steadily fixed upon the +ghastly visage, and then bursting out in a sudden fit of frenzy, +"I heard my Duncan's cry!" she shrieked aloud, in a voice that +pierced the ears and the hearts of all who heard her. "'Twas his +last joyous cry to call me to our bridal! quick! quick!--let us +away!--hark!--hark!--again!--again!--again!" + +She rushed rapidly forwards a few steps, as if she had been flying to +meet her lover. She tottered, and fell in a swoon, was borne home by +her friends in a state of stupor, and placed in bed. But it would seem +that some internal and vital failure had taken place, for the poor +thing ceased to breathe; and the gentle spirit of Anna Gordon fled +to unite itself with that of him she loved. Nor were their earthly +remains sundered, for the father of Duncan Bane saw them consigned +together to the same grave, and he wept over them both. + +The old laird of Tullochcarron was but little seen beyond the +court-yard of his peel-tower for many weeks after his son's murder; +then, indeed, he did come abroad, as if to superintend his affairs as +he was wont to do, but it was more because he thought that it was right +for him so to do, than from any relish he had in the employment. It +was this conviction of what was expected of him, that likewise made him +force a false smile of cheerfulness over his good-humoured countenance, +which, alas! was with him but as the sunshine that gilded the sepulchre +of inextinguishable mourning within. One of the first visits that he +paid was to the castle of his ancient feudal enemy, Ballindalloch. He +was kindly received, for his severe recent affliction was sincerely +pitied by his generous neighbour. + +"Ballindalloch," said he, "I am come to thank thee for the friendly +caution which thou gavest to a foolish old man, who, if he had taken +it as it was meant, would have had his roof-tree still fresh and +firm. But let that pass," continued he, with a sigh, and with the full +tear rising over his eyelid. "The obligation I owe to thee is not the +less, that I, blinded man, refused to give more heed to thy caution." + +"Talk not of this, sir," said Ballindalloch. "I must e'en confess +to thee, Tullochcarron, that the advice came from so questionable +a quarter, that had I been in thy case I might have spurned it +myself. But say, sir, wilt thou not eat and drink with me?" + +"Willingly," replied Tullochcarron. + +"Wilt thou name aught that might, perchance, be most pleasing to thy +taste?" said Ballindalloch. + +"I know I need not ask for salmon," said Tullochcarron, "for such +food is hardly now to be had." + +"Though the fish have been somewhat rare with us of late," said +Ballindalloch, "I think I can promise thee that thou shalt have as +much of thy favourite dish as shall satisfy thee." + +"Alas!" said Tullochcarron with a faltering voice, and with a tear +rolling down his cheek, "salmon have, indeed, been rare with me +since--since--but," added he, making a strong effort to overcome +the feelings excited by the recollection of his son, and perhaps +with the hope of hiding his agitation under a good-humoured jest, +"I hear that the salmon are so bewitched, that they hardly ever come +farther inland now than the Bog of Gight. In so great a scarcity, +then, I much doubt whether the stock of fresh fish within the Castle +of Ballindalloch will stand against my well-known voracity." + +"Be assured that there is as much in the house, of mine own catching, +too, as will extinguish thine appetite, and leave something to spare," +said Ballindalloch. + +"Thou knowest not what a cormorant I am," said Tullochcarron. + +"I have heard much of thy powers," said Ballindalloch. + +"And I am as sharp set at this moment as ever I was in my life," +said Tullochcarron. + +"All that may be; yet I fear thee not," said Ballindalloch laughing. + +"Art thou bold enough to lay a wager on the issue?" demanded +Tullochcarron. + +"I am so bold," said Ballindalloch. + +"Well, then," said Tullochcarron, "I will wager thee the succession +and heirship of my lands against thy grey gelding, that I shall not +leave thee a morsel to spare." + +"Thou dost give me brave odds, indeed," said Ballindalloch; "thou +hadst best bethink thee again ere we strike thumbs on it." + +"Nay, I require no more thought," said Tullochcarron; "and, moreover, +I grow hungrier every moment. Besides," said the old man with a sigh, +that showed that all this jocularity was only assumed to cover a +broken heart; "I am putting in peril that in which I can have no +interest, whilst, if I win thy gallant grey, I shall be sure of being +well mounted for the rest of my life. Art thou afraid of losing thy +steed? or wilt thou say done to the wager?" + +"I do say done, then, since thou wilt have it so," said Ballindalloch, +and he accordingly gave the necessary orders for having the matter +put to the proof. + +After a little time, a serving man entered with a covered trencher, in +which lay, smoking hot, one half of a small salmon. When Tullochcarron +lifted the cover, he eyed it with something like contempt, and +impelled as he was by his irresistible disease, he fell upon it, and +devoured it with an alacrity that astonished every beholder. A whole +salmon, but of moderate size, was then brought in, and was instantly +attacked by Tullochcarron with as much avidity as if he had not eaten +a morsel. Wonderfully and fearfully did he go on to clear his way +through it; but as he approached the conclusion of it, his jaws began +to go rather more languidly than before. Ballindalloch observed this. + +"Ho there! bring more salmon!" cried he aloud. + +"No," said Tullochcarron, shoving the trencher from him, and wiping +his knife and fork in his napkin, and sticking them into his dirk +sheath. "No, no; I have enough. Ballindalloch, my lands shall be +yours the moment the breath is out of my body." + +"Nay, then," said Ballindalloch, "I must in truth and honesty confess +that I called for more salmon but as a bravado; for thou hast indeed +finished all the salmon that was in the house, and it is my grey +gelding that is thine, not thy lands that are mine." + +"It matters not, Ballindalloch," replied the other. "The lands of +Tullochcarron are thine notwithstanding. See, there are the writings +which I had made out the week after my poor Duncan was so foully +murdered. Thou wilt find that thy name was then inserted therein. I +but seized on this of the wager as a whimsical means of breaking +the matter to thee; and now thou mayest make of Tullochcarron what +it may please thee. I shall not stand long in the way, poor decayed +sproutless stock as I am! and I have now known enough of thee to be +convinced that thou wilt not see me kicked over before my time; but +that thou wilt take care of me during the brief space that I may yet +cumber this earth, and see me laid decently beside Duncan when I die." + +Such then, gentlemen, was the way in which the lands of Tullochcarron +came to be united to those of Ballindalloch,--ane union, the which +I am told, did vurra much impruv the value of both, and which still +subsists to the present day. + + + + + + + + +ANTIQUARIAN DISCUSSION. + + +Clifford.--Why, this is the best story I have heard for many a day, +for it has both salmon and salmon fishing in it. + +Author.--The secret is out now about the fairies and the peel-tower, +and, for my own part, I shall never in future doubt the prévoyance +and judgment of these good people. Aware, as they must have been, +that fate had decreed the lands of Tullochcarron to be merged in +those of Ballindalloch, and seeing that this coming event would +render the commanding site of Ballindalloch's proposed peel-tower +utterly valueless, as he would no longer have any enemy's territory +to overlook, their regard for his interest induced them to drive him +out of his fancy, and to compel him to descend into the delightful +repose and shelter of the beautiful haugh below. + +Dominie.--'Pon my word, sir, there is much reason in that observe of +yours. That is, always premeesing that the story I told had been a +tale of reasonable and probable fack. + +Author.--But as you yourself remarked at the conclusion of it, +Mr. Macpherson, the wild faery tale connected with the ancient +foundations of the peel-tower may have some matter of truth wrapped up +in it; and why may we not suppose then, that Ballindalloch, having +commenced some small exploratory building there, had afterwards +discontinued it when the prospect of his succession to the lands of +Tullochcarron opened to him. + +Dominie.--Troth, I'm thinking you have guessed it sir,--that wull +just be it. + +Grant.--The conjecture is at least as good as those of most +antiquaries. + +Clifford.--It would certainly seem to have some foundation in the +old site. + +Author.--If that was meant as a pun, Mr. Secretary, I think you should +be immediately condemned to tell us a long story, in expiation of so +grave an offence. + +Clifford.--The first time, certainly, that I ever heard a pun called a +grave offence; but, to bury all further controversy, I will tell you a +legend which I learned when I was on a visit to some of my relations +in Ross-shire; and since you think that my offence is so very heavy, +I shall impose on myself a long penance, of which I pray the gods +that you, my good auditors, may not suffer any share. + + + + + + + + +LEGEND OF CHIRSTY ROSS. + + +About the middle of last century, there resided in the burgh of Tain, +on the eastern coast of Ross-shire, a poor shopkeeper of the name of +Ross. The contents of that strange and multifarious emporium, which +he called his shop, might have been well advertised by a handbill, +like that which I once met with in Ireland, where, in the long +list of miscellaneous articles enumerated, I remember to have seen +"tar, butter, hog's-lard, brimstone, and other sweetmeats--brushes, +scythe-stones, mouse-traps, and other musical instruments." You may +easily imagine, that the profits arising from the sale of such trumpery +wares as these, were barely sufficient to provide the necessaries +of life for his numerous family, and to bestow on his children the +common education which Scotland, very much to her credit, so readily +and cheaply affords. Although Mr. Ross's enjoyments were not numerous, +yet, by endeavouring to have as few wants as possible, he managed to +live contentedly and happily enough, and he cheerfully struggled on +drudging at his daily occupation, thanking God for the mercies which +were bestowed on him, and looking forward with hope to the prospect +of better days yet in store. + +A circumstance occurred one afternoon, which led him to imagine that +this prospect was nearer realisation than he could have believed it to +be. A stranger, of a spare form and extremely atrabilious complexion, +was seen to ride into the town at a gentle pace, and to go directly up +to the principal house of entertainment for travellers, as if the way +to it had been familiar to him. He had not been long housed there, when +a waiter came across the street to Mr. Ross, with compliments "from +the gentleman at the inn," who requested a few minutes' conversation +with him. The eager shopkeeper, anticipating some important sale of +his goods, waited not to doff his apron and sleeves, but hurried over +the way directly, and, what was his astonishment and delight, when, +after a few words of inquiry and explanation had passed between them, +he found himself weeping tears of joy in the arms of an affectionate +elder brother. + +This man had left his father's house when very young, with little +else but hope for his portion, and after being so lost sight of +by his relations, that they had long believed him to be dead, +he now most unexpectedly returned to them from India with an ample +fortune. Wonderful were the visions of wealth which now arose in the +mind of the poor shopkeeper, and, on his warm invitation, his brother, +and his brother's saddle-bags, were quickly transferred from the inn +to his small and inconvenient house, and the Indian was speedily +subjected to the danger of being smothered in the embraces of his +sister-in-law and her numerous progeny. + +Narrow as was his apartment, and small as was his bed, the nabob +felt himself in elysium in his brother's house. He had never before +experienced the genial effects of the warmth of kindred blood. He +was idolised by every one of the family, and imminent was the risk +he ran of being killed with kindness. Nor was he the great object +of attention to his immediate relations alone. He soon became the +oracle of a large circle of kind friends and neighbours, who were seen +crowding Mr. Ross's small back parlour, which many of them had never +before condescended to enter. And not only was the Indian feasted by +small and great, but his humble brother and his sister-in-law were also +invited to parties by people who had hardly before been aware of the +fact that such an individual as Mr. Ross, the grocer and hardwareman, +existed in the place. But now Mr. Ross was not only discovered, +as it were, but he was discovered to be a very sensible man, having +much of his brother, the nabob's sound intellect, though wanting the +advantages of cultivation. As to the nabob, he was a rara avis in +terris,--an absolute phoenix, a creature a specimen of which is not +to be met with in every age of the world. What the nabob uttered was +considered as law; and even when he was absent, "the nabob said this," +and "the nabob said that," and "that's the way the nabob likes it," +were expressions continually employed by the good people of the town +and neighbourhood to put an end to a debate; and they never failed +to be quite conclusive upon every question. All this had a certain +charm for the old Indian. It was extremely pleasant thus despotically +to rule over men's opinions, aye, and over women's too, even in such +a place as Tain. But the copper of the gilded crown and sceptre of +his dominion soon began to appear through its thin coating. His own +origin had indeed been humble, but as his wealth had grown by degrees, +so had he been gradually elevated above his original sphere, till +he had at last risen into familiar intercourse with people of rank +and consequence, from whose society his address, and still more, his +ideas had received a certain degree of polish. This did not prevent +him from greatly enjoying the plain, honest, warm, but very vulgar +manners of his brother and his townsmen, whilst they were as yet new +to him. They pleased him at first, precisely on the same principle of +novelty, combined with old association, which made him relish for a +certain time sheep's-head broth and haggis. But having unfortunately +expressed himself rather strongly in his admiration of these dishes, +the good folks thought themselves bound to give them to him upon all +occasions, so that they soon began to lose their charm; and just so it +was that the uninterrupted converse with the good, yet homely people +around him, to which he was daily subjected, very soon became dull, +tiresome, ennuyant, and, finally, disgusting, until it eventually grew +to be so very intolerable that he altogether abandoned the thought +he had entertained of purchasing an estate in that neighbourhood +which was then for sale, and he quickly came to the determination of +bringing this visit to his native town to a speedy conclusion, and of +returning to London to take up his abode there among people who like +himself had known what it was to live on curries and mulligatawny, +and who could talk with him of tiffins and tiger hunting. + +How shall I describe that wet blanket of disappointment that fell upon +the shoulders of Mr. Ross, the grocer and hardwareman, and his family, +when the nabob communicated to them this change in his plans. All the +poor shopkeeper's splendid visions departed from him with the same +suddenness with which the figures from a magic lantern disappear from +a wall the moment its light is extinguished. He had already set it +down in his own mind as a thing absolutely certain, that his beloved +brother would live and die in his house; and he and his wife had been +calculating, that as every child they had would be as a child to its +bachelor uncle, every child of them would be better provided for than +another. Ten thousand cobwebby castles had been erected in the air +by this worthy couple, who had already made lairds of all the boys, +and lairds' ladies at least of all the girls. "Out of sight out of +mind" was a proverb that came with chilling truth to their hearts; +and although the nabob had already shown much affection to them, +and had behaved generously enough in giving liberal aid towards the +improvement of his brother's condition and that of his family, yet +they could not help considering his threatened separation from them as +the removal of the sunshine of fortune from the hemisphere of their +fate. Never was the anticipated departure of any one more deeply or +sincerely deplored. The nabob himself had no such feelings. He looked +forward to his escape from his relatives and friends as to a period +of happy relief. Yet to this there was one exception. + +Chirsty Ross, as his niece Christina was provincially called, was +then a very beautiful and extremely engaging little girl of some +five or six years of age. From the first day that the old Indian +took up his residence in her father's house, she had innocently and +unconsciously commenced her approaches against the citadel of his +heart. Each succeeding hour saw her gain outpost after outpost, and +defence after defence, until she fairly entwined herself so firmly +around his affections, that he could not contemplate the approaching +loss of her smiles, of her kisses, and of her prattle, with anything +like philosophy. He had been naturally enough led to shower a double +portion of his favours upon her. She was already in the habit of +calling him "her own uncle," as if he had belonged exclusively and +entirely to herself, and to this she had been a good deal encouraged +by the nabob. It is not wonderful, therefore, that when his departure +was communicated to her, she was thrown into an inconsolable paroxysm +of grief, and clung to his knees, giving loud vent to her plaints, +and sobbing as if her little heart would have burst. + +"Take me with you! take me with you, my own dear uncle! oh, take your +own Chirsty with you!" cried she. + +"I shall take you with me, my little dear!" exclaimed the nabob, +snatching her up, and kissing her. "I shall take you with me, provided +your father and mother will but part with you." + +A negotiation was speedily entered into. The parents were too sensible +of the great advantages which such a proposal opened for their child +to think for one moment of throwing any obstacle in the way of its +fulfilment. They, moreover, hoped that this arrangement might have +the desirable effect of keeping up a connecting tie between them and +their rich relative. However much they might have been disappointed +in this last respect, they certainly never had any reason to accuse +the nabob of any forgetfulness of those promises which he made to +them at parting. + +He was no sooner established in his house in town than he set about +providing proper instructors for Chirsty, and a very few weeks +proved to him that his care was by no means thrown away. The child's +perception was quick, and her desire to learn was strong, so that +things which were difficult to others were, comparatively speaking, +easy to her. So rapid was her progress, that her uncle became every +day more and more interested in it; and as she advanced, he was from +time to time led to engage firstrate masters, in order to perfect her +in all manner of solid acquirements and elegant accomplishments. With +all this her person became every day more graceful as she grew in +stature; and everything she said and did was seasoned with so much +sweetness of manner, that she gained the hearts of all who had the +good fortune to meet with her. + +Not a little proud of what he had so good a right to call his own +work, the nabob, on her fifteenth birthday, put the master-keys of his +house with great but affectionate ceremonial into her hands, and with +them he gave her the entire control and management of his household +affairs. But she did not long continue to enjoy the distinguished +situation in which he had thus placed her. Too close an application +to the numerous branches of education she occupied herself with soon +brought upon her that delicacy of health which is too often the produce +of the similar over-confinement of young growing girls in our own +days. A very alarming cough came on, her strength visibly declined +daily, and her spirits began to sink. She was compelled to give up +all her favourite pursuits. Books and music lost their charms for +her, and her hours were spent in list-less idleness, not unfrequently +broken in upon by nervous fits of crying, which she could by no means +account for. Then it was that in her moody dreamings her mind would +revert to the innocent pleasures of her childhood, to the simple, +the rustic, yet highly relished happiness she had enjoyed whilst +surrounded by her brothers and sisters, when they wandered about the +furzy hillocks in a joyous knot, inhaling the perfume of the rich +yellow blossoms,--when they dug little caves in the sandy banks, +or built their mimic houses, or planted their perishable gardens, +with careless hearts, noisy tongues, and laughing eyes. The thought +that she might never again behold them or her dear parents renewed +her tears, and she pined more and more. + +Her affectionate uncle became alarmed at this rapid and melancholy +change. So far as gold could purchase the aid of the best medical skill +he commanded its attendance. But even the most learned of the London +physicians could discover no medicine to remove her malady. In their +own minds they despaired of her, but as usually happens in such cases, +to cover the deficiency of their art, they recommended her native air +as the dernier ressort. Chirsty eagerly caught at this last remaining +hope, so congenial to the current of her feelings at the time, and her +uncle was thus obliged to yield to necessity; and as certain matters +in which he had engaged rendered it quite impossible for him to take +charge of her himself, he was obliged to resign her to the care of +her maid. + +The doctors were right for once. Every breeze that blew on her from +her native land as she proceeded on her journey seemed to be fraught +with health; her spirits rose, and long before she reached the place +of her birth, she was so far recovered as to remove all fears of +any serious termination of her complaint. How did her mind go on as +she travelled, sketching to itself ideal pictures of the charms of +home! But alas! how changed did every person and everything seem to +her when she at last reached it. How pitiful did the provincial town +appear to her London eyes! The streets seemed to have shrunk in, and +the very houses and gardens to have dwindled; and when she reached +her paternal mansion, she blushed to think how very grievously the +fondness of her ancient recollections had deceived her. + +The full tide of unrestrained affection which burst forth the moment +she was within its walls was so gratifying to her heart, that for +some time every other feeling or thought was absorbed by it; but many +weeks did not pass over her head until the conversation and manners +of her parents and family, which had startled her even at the first +interview, began to obtrude themselves on her notice in spite of all +she could do to shut her eyes against them, until they finally became +intolerably disagreeable to her. She soon discovered,--and a certain +degree of sorrow and self-reproach accompanied the discovery,--that +the refined education which she had received had rendered it quite +impossible that she could long endure the mortifications to which she +was daily and hourly exposed by her vulgar though affectionate and +well-meaning relatives. Painful as the thought was for many reasons, +she became convinced of the necessity of an early separation; and, +accordingly, she made her uncle's wish for her speedy return to him an +apology for fixing an early day for her departure. Yet do not suppose +from this that the ties of affection were not strong within her. The +parting scene was not gone through without many tears and lingering +embraces, that sufficiently proved the triumph of nature in her mind +over the arbitrary dictates of fashion. And after she was gone, the +large richly bound folio bible, out of which her father ever afterwards +read on Sundays,--the gold-mounted spectacles which enabled him so well +to decipher its characters, and of which he was at all times so justly +vain,--the cashmere shawl that kept her good mother so warm, and the +caps, the bonnets, the gowns, the globes, and the books of prints, +with which her grown-up sisters and brothers were so much delighted, +and the dolls and humming-tops of which the junior members of the +family, down to the very youngest, were so proud as having been the +gifts of "the grand leddy from Lunnon," for sister they dared hardly +to call her, were not the only marks of her affection that she left +behind her. Besides these keepsakes there were other presents of a +more solid nature bestowed in secret, which, whilst they contributed +to enable her father to hold his head higher as he walked up the +causeway of the main street of Tain, compelled Chirsty herself to +exercise a very strict economy in providing for those wants which +her own style of life rendered essential to her, large as was the +sum which she had received from the bounty of her uncle. + +Passing through Edinburgh on her way to London, she was visited +and kindly invited by a lady of fashion who had known her in +the metropolis, and she soon found herself deeply engaged in +gaiety. Perhaps she did not enter into it the less readily that she had +so recently returned from what might have been well enough called her +life of mortification at Tain. Having once got into the vortex, she +found it difficult to extricate herself from it, and this difficulty +was not lessened by the admiration which her beauty and accomplishments +so universally excited both in public and in private. She became +the chief object of interest, and she was so caressed and courted +by every one, that it was not very surprising if the adoration that +was paid to her did in some degree affect so young a head. However +this might be, three things were very certain,--in the first place, +that she had been extremely regular in writing to her uncle during +her stay at Tain; secondly, that before leaving that place she had +heard from her uncle, who had warmly expressed his anxiety for her +return to him; and thirdly, that whereas she had intended to stay +in Edinburgh for two or three days only, she was led on from day to +day by this ball and the other party to remain, till nearly a whole +winter had melted away like its own snows, during all which time she +had likewise procrastinated, and, consequently, had entirely omitted +the duty of writing to her uncle. + +The day of thought and of self-disapproval came at length, and bitter +were her reflections. She resolved at least to do all in her power to +repair her fault. She sat down immediately and wrote a long letter to +her uncle, in which she scrupled not to blame herself to the fullest +extent for her want of thought and apparent negligence towards so +kind a friend and benefactor, and she declared her repentance and +her intention of returning to him immediately. + +Having accordingly reached London very soon after her letter, she was +driven to her uncle's well-known door. Her impatience to behold him +was such, that she could hardly rest in the chaise till the postilion +dismounted to knock for her admittance. How intense were her emotions +during that brief space! How eagerly did her eyes run over every +window in the ample front of the house! How rapidly did the images +of her uncle, and of Alexander Tod, his old and faithful servant, +dance through her imagination whilst she gazed intently on the yet +unopened door, prepared to catch the first smile of surprise and of +welcome which she knew would illuminate the honest countenance of that +tried domestic, the moment he should discover who it was that summoned +him. As she looked she was surprised to perceive that the door itself +had strangely changed the modest and unpretending hue which it had +worn when she last saw it for a queer uncouth flaring colour, somewhat +between a pink and an orange. Before she had time to wonder at this +metamorphosis the door did open, and if its opening did produce any +surprise it was her own; for, instead of discovering the plain but +respectable figure of Alexander Tod, whom she had been long taught to +consider more as an old friend than as a menial, she beheld a saucy +fopling, bepowdered, underbred footman, in a gaudy vulgar looking +livery. The man stared when she asked for her uncle, and seemed but +half inclined to consent to the hall being encumbered with her baggage, +and, after having shown her with unconcealed petulance into a little +back parlour, she had the mortification, through the door which he +had carelessly left ajar behind him, to hear herself thus announced,-- + +"A young person in the back parlour who wishes to speak to you, sar." + +And, chagrined as she was by this provoking delay, she could not help +laughing, as she threw herself into a sofa to wait for her uncle's +appearance. He came at last, and his joy at again beholding her was +great and unfeigned. + +"Welcome again to my house, my dear Chirsty," said he, with tears of +joy, after his first warm and silent embraces were over; "Oh! why did +you cease to write to me? But I need say no more, for what is done +cannot be undone; yet, if you had but written to me, things might +have been otherwise." + +"I ought indeed to have written to you, my dear uncle," replied +Chirsty; "but much as I have deserved your anger, things cannot be +but well with me, whilst I am thus affectionately and kindly received +by you." + +Her uncle replied not; but, with his eyes thrown on the ground, and +with an air of solemnity which she had never seen him wear before, +he led her upstairs to the large drawing-room, where she found seated +a middle-aged and rather good-looking woman, with an expression of +countenance by no means very prepossessing, and whose person was tawdry +and very much overdressed. What was her astonishment, and what was +the shock she felt, when her uncle led her up to this lady, saying,-- + +"Mrs. Ross, this is my niece, of whom you have heard me speak so much; +and Chirsty, my dear, you will henceforth know and treat this lady +as my wife and your aunt." + +However little sensible people may think of those newborn and baseless +dreams which have been recently blown up into something falsely +resembling a science by the folly and vanity of man, and which I for +one yet hope, for the honour of human intellect, to see burst and +collapse ere I die, it must be admitted, that all are more or less +Lavaterists; and that even the youngest of us will involuntarily +exercise some such scrutiny on the features of a countenance, when +we happen to be placed in such circumstances as Chirsty Ross now +found herself thrown into. She, poor girl, failed not to bring all +the little knowledge of this sort which she possessed into immediate +requisition. The result of her investigations were most unfavourable +to the subject of them, nor were these disagreeable impressions at all +diminished by the profusion of protestations of kindness and affection +which the lady lavished upon her with a vulgar volubility, whilst at +the same time she seemed to eye the young intruder in a manner that +augured but little for her future happiness. But although Chirsty +perceived all this, she inwardly determined to doubt the correctness +of her own observation,--at all events, sorrowfully as she retired +to rest, or rather to moisten her pillow with her tears, she failed +not to arm herself with the virtuous resolution, that as this woman, +be she what she might, was the wife of her uncle, who had acted as a +father to her, she would use her best endeavours to gain her affection, +seeing that she was now bound to regard her as a parent. But yet she +did not close her eyes, without having almost unconsciously exclaimed, + +"What could have induced my uncle, with such tastes as he has, to +marry such a person as this? Ah! if I had not fooled away my time in +Edinburgh! or if I had only but written!" + +Next morning she met her uncle alone in the library, and a single +sentence of his explained the whole. + +"What could have induced you to forget to write to me, Chirsty?" said +the good man, kissing her tenderly, whilst his eyes betrayed a +sensation which he vainly tried to hide. "We were so happy here alone +together! But I have been a fool, Chirsty! Blinded by momentary pique, +I saw not the slough of despond into which I was plunging until too +late! But she is not a bad woman, though not quite what I was at first +led to believe her to be; and so, all we can now say is, that she is +your aunt and my wife, and we are both bound to make the best of it." + +Chirsty assured her uncle that nothing should be wanting on her part +towards her aunt; and she kept her word, for, neglecting all other +things, she devoted herself entirely to the task of pleasing her. For +some little while her pious endeavours seemed to have succeeded; +but it happened that Chirsty, unambitious as she was to shine, so +far eclipsed her aunt in every attraction that makes woman charming, +that without intending it, or rather whilst intending the very +reverse, she monopolised all the attention of those with whom they +associated either at home or abroad. Compared to her Mrs. Ross was +treated like a piece of furniture,--any table or cabinet in the room +had more attention paid to it. She could not shut her eyes to her +own inferiority, and envy, hatred, and malice took full possession +of her. Chirsty's efforts to please, though they had ceased to be +successful, were still unremitting; but her uninterrupted gentleness +was met by perpetual peevishness and ill humour, always excepting such +times as her uncle chanced to be present, when the lady's words and +manner were ever bland, kind, and false. With such devilish tempers it +often happens that the more they torture the more they hate, and so it +was that the dislike of this woman towards her niece rapidly grew to +so great a height, that she resolved to get her removed from the house. + +Fondly believing that she had a stronger hold over her husband's +affections than she really possessed, she first of all attempted to +undermine her in her uncle's good opinion by sly insinuations against +her truth, her temper, and what she called the girl's pretended +love for him, which she declared was in reality no greater than her +attention to her own self-interest required. But finding that this +line of attack only excited his anger, she with great art gradually +withdrew from it, and by slow degrees she began to confess that she +now believed she had been altogether mistaken in her estimation of +Chirsty, and every succeeding day heard her bestow more and more +praise on her temper and disposition. This was a language that was +much more congenial to the nabob, but he was not altogether the dupe +of it. He however listened with seeming attention to his wife when +she prosed on about the zeal she felt for her niece's interest, as +well as when, after a long prologue, she finally proposed the grand +scheme of sending Chirsty out to India to the care of a particular +friend of the nabob's at Calcutta, that she might there make some +wealthy match, so as to secure her a magnificent independence for +life. Plainly as Mr. Ross saw through the motives that dictated all +this apparent solicitude, he took care to appear to think it quite +genuine. Nor did he refuse to entertain the project; for as he began +shrewdly to suspect that his niece could now have but little happiness +under the same roof with his wife, he resolved at least to put it in +Chirsty's power to accept or reject this proposal. He accordingly +sought for a private interview with her, and then it was that her +tears, and her half confessions with difficulty extracted, satisfied +him of the correctness of his suspicions, and the readiness with which +she acceded to the plan which he laid before her at once determined +him as to the propriety of going immediately into it. He therefore +lost not a moment in securing everything that might contribute to her +comfort and happiness during the voyage, and he presented her with a +letter of credit for a sum of money amply sufficient to put her above +all anxiety as to that matter on reaching the shores of the Ganges. + +These substantial marks of her uncle's affection towards her, +supported as they were by a thousand little nameless kindnesses, did +not tend to allay the grief which she felt at parting with him. The +reflection that she went because she felt convinced that her uncle's +future domestic comfort required her absence, was all that she had +to give her courage to bear it, and she was so much absorbed in this +conviction, that she hardly gave much thought to the consideration +of what her own future fate might be. + +The gallant ship had gone merrily on its voyage for several days +before Chirsty began to mix at all with her fellow-passengers. But +when she first came upon deck, it was like the appearance of the +morning sun over the eastern horizon of some country where he is +worshipped. All eyes were instantly bent upon her; and ere the people +had been familiarised to her beauty, the elegance of her manners, +and the charms of her conversation, soon made her the great centre of +attraction to all who walked the quarter-deck. Above all others, she +seemed to have made a deep and powerful impression on the commander, +whom I shall call Captain Mordaunt, a very elegant and agreeable +man, of superior intellect and information. He soon showed himself +indefatigable in his attentions to her. His command of the ship +gave him a thousand opportunities of manifesting a marked degree of +politeness towards her, by doing her many little courteous services +which no one else had the power to perform. He easily invented means +of keeping all other aspirants to her favour at a sufficient distance +from her. Her heart was as yet her own; and as Mordaunt never lost +any opportunity of engaging her in conversation, and as his talk +was always well worth listening to, it was no wonder that so many +unequivocal proofs of an attachment on the part of so handsome a man, +in the prime of life, and of address so superior, should have soon +prepared the way for her favourable reception of his declared passion; +and this having once been made, and mutually acknowledged, it seemed +to grow in warmth as the days fled merrily away, and as the progress +of the prosperous bark carried them nearer and nearer to that sun +which gives life and heat to all animated nature. Often did Mordaunt +gladden the artless mind of Chirsty Ross as they sat apart together +on the poop of the vessel, towards the conclusion of their voyage, +in the full enjoyment of the fanning sea-breeze, by the enchanting +pictures which he painted of the happiness of their future wedded life. + +"I have already realised a tolerable fortune," said he, one evening +carelessly, "so that by the time I return to Calcutta from my trip to +China, whither you know the vessel is bound, I may safely claim your +hand, in order that we may sail home together as man and wife. You can +have no dread of spending our honeymoon on the wide waters, my love, +since they have yielded us so happy a courtship, especially when you +think that we shall be on our way to some sweet rural residence in +England, where we shall be insured the enjoyment of tranquillity and +happiness for the rest of our days. And there, with what I have saved, +added to the liberal allowance which your rich uncle will give you +during his life, and with the certainty which you have of succeeding to +his immense fortune at his death, we shall be able to live in a style +altogether worthy of that exquisite beauty, and that angelic soul, +with which Heaven has blessed you, and of those fascinating manners +and brilliant accomplishments, which are calculated to make you the +queen of any society you may be pleased to grace with your presence." + +"Stay, stay, Mordaunt!" replied Chirsty, smiling playfully. "You are +running too fast before the wind. I need not tell you what you have +so often told me, that I am prepared to be thine on the wide ocean, in +the populous city, or in the lonely desert, in sickness or in health, +in wealth or in poverty! And well is it, indeed, that you have so +often vowed all this much to me, for I must needs disabuse your mind +of some part of its visions of riches, so far at least as that share +may have reached which your fancy has ascribed to me. I have neither +claims nor expectations from my uncle, who has already done more for +me than any niece in my circumstances had a right to expect." + +"Haul taut that weather main-brace!" cried the captain, suddenly +starting from her side; and although there appeared to be little change +in the wind or the weather to warrant such activity, he became from +that moment too much occupied in the care of the ship for any further +conversation with Chirsty that evening. + +In the morning the lovers met as usual, and then, as well as during the +few remaining days of the voyage, Mordaunt was as full of affection and +endearment to her as ever. Their last private interview took place ere +she left the ship to go into the small craft that was to take her up +the river, and then all their mutual vows were solemnly repeated. An +understanding took place between them, that their engagement should +be kept private, unless circumstances should arise which might render +a disclosure necessary. Poor Chirsty gave way to all the poignancy of +that grief which she felt at being thus obliged to part, even for a +few months, from him to whom, in the then orphan state of her soul, she +had given up the whole strength of her undivided affections. But hard +as she found the effort to be, she was obliged to dry up her tears, +and even to throw a faint and fleeting smile over her countenance as +she left the ship, that she might not betray her own secret before +indifferent persons; and it was only that warm and cherishing hope +that lay nearest to her heart that kept the pulses of her life +playing, and that enabled her to go through the trying scene of +parting coolly with her lover, after he had deposited her under the +roof of her uncle's friend, where they bid each other such a polite +adieu as might have befitted two well-bred people who were separating +with mutual esteem for one another, and who were, at the same time, +very little solicitous as to whether there did or did not exist any +future chance of their ever meeting again. + +Mr. Gardner, as I shall call the gentleman to whose protection the +nabob had consigned Chirsty, well deserved the confidence which had +been placed in him. He spoke warmly of the many obligations under +which he lay to Mr. Ross, and he declared himself to be delighted in +having the opportunity which had thus been afforded him of proving his +gratitude for those obligations. His lady entered deeply into all her +husband's feelings, and both of them zealously occupied themselves +in doing all in their power to promote the young lady's comfort and +happiness. Numerous and brilliant were the parties which they made for +the purpose of introducing their lovely protegé with sufficient eclat +to the society of Calcutta. But not even the novelty and grandeur of +Eastern magnificence, though produced for her with all its splendour, +had any effect in removing that pensive air which their young friend +wore when she landed, and which she continued to wear notwithstanding +all the smiling new faces to which she was every moment introduced. One +very natural result, however, was soon produced by these numerous +public appearances which the kindness of her friends obliged her +to make. She was immediately encircled by crowds of admirers; and +before she had been many months in the country she had been put to the +unpleasant necessity of declining proposals of marriage from numerous +military men and civilians of rank so high as to make those with whom +she lived wonder at the indifference she displayed. The more she was +courted the more retiring she appeared to become. + +Among the few who were admitted to a somewhat more familiar intercourse +with Chirsty, was a Scottish gentleman of good family, whom I shall +call Charles Græme. Though young, he had risen to a high civil +situation, and he had already realised a very handsome fortune. He +was a gentleman of enlarged mind and extremely liberal education; +and as he was of manners much more retiring than most of those with +whom she had become acquainted, she the more readily yielded to that +intimacy which his greater friendship with her host and hostess +gave him very frequent opportunities of forming with her. Like +herself he was full of accomplishments; yet such was his modesty, +that she had known him for a considerable time before accident led +her to discover them. His mind was richly stored with the treasures +of European literature; yet it was only on particular occasions that +he allowed himself to give forth the sweets he had hoarded up, or to +indulge in those critical remarks to which every one was prepared to +listen with delight. As he became better known to her, and more at +his ease with her, she discovered that his tastes, his acquirements, +his sentiments, nay, his very soul, were all so much in harmony with +her own, that she soon began to prefer his society to that of any +other gentleman who approached her. Had her heart been unengaged, +she might perhaps have had some degree of palpitation in its pulses, +as she sensibly felt their friendship becoming every day more and more +familiar; but, as the partridge believes that when its head is in the +bush the whole of its body is secure, so she, knowing her own safety, +owing to that secret cause which bound her to another, never dreamed +that the accomplished Scotchman could be in any danger of feeling +for her any sentiment one degree warmer than that of esteem. Thus +it was, that with perfect unconsciousness on her part of the havoc +she was working in his heart, she read with him, criticised with him, +played with him, sang with him, or sketched with him, as the fancy of +the moment might dictate, her heart being all the while filled with +gratitude to him for so good-naturedly enabling her to pass, with at +least some degree of rational enjoyment, some of those tedious hours +that must yet elapse ere the return of him to whom she had pledged +her virgin affections. + +As for Charles Græme, he soon began to find that he existed only when +his soul was animated by her bright eyes and her seraphic voice. When +absent from their influence he felt like a walking mass of frozen +clay. Her society became more necessary to him than food or air. He +almost lived at the house of the Gardners, who, on their part, gave him +every encouragement, being secretly pleased at what they believed to +be the mutual attachment that was so rapidly growing, as they thought, +between two individuals whom they had reason to love so much, and whom +they knew to be so worthy of each other, and so well calculated to +make each other happy for life. Day after day the infatuated young man +drank deeper and deeper draughts of the sweet intoxication of love. At +last the hour of wretchedness came. Seizing what he fondly believed +to be a favourable moment, and with a bosom full of bounding hopes, +he laid open the state of his heart to the idol of his soul. The +scales fell, as if by magic, from her mental vision. + +"What have I done, Mr. Græme," she cried, whilst her cheeks were +suffused with blushes, and her whole frame trembled. "I have been +blind! I have been thoughtless, most culpably thoughtless. Forgive +me! oh, forgive me! but I cannot, I dare not, love you! I am already +the pledged bride of another." + +It would be vain for me to attempt to describe the kind of temporary +death that fell upon her unfortunate lover as she uttered these +terrible words, which, like the simoom of the desert, left no atom of +hope behind them. Sinking into a chair, he uttered no sound, and he +sat for some time quite unconscious even of those attentions which her +compassion for him at the moment led her unscrupulously to administer +to him. The friendship and the high respect which she entertained for +him, as well as a regard for her own justification in his eyes, forbade +her to allow him to leave her without a full explanation. It was given +to him under the seal of secrecy, and the interview terminated with +an agony of feeling and floods of tears upon his part, in which her +compassion for that affliction which she had so innocently occasioned +him compelled her, in spite of herself, to participate. + +The young Scotchman tried for some time after this, to frequent +the house where she lived as he had done previously. But her smiles +fell upon him like sunshine upon a spectre. Reason and prudence at +last came to his aid; and seeing that his heart could never hope +for ease whilst he remained within reach of her attractions, he, +to the great astonishment and disappointment of his friends, made +use of the powerful interest which he possessed to procure another +situation in a distant station, and he tore himself away from Calcutta. + +And now came the time of misery to poor Chirsty herself, the season +of hope deferred, of nervous impatience, and of sad forebodings. The +period for which her fond heart panted in secret arrived--it passed +away. Days, nay, weeks and months beyond it elapsed; and yet no tidings +came of the gallant vessel that bore her betrothed husband. Delicately +alive to the apprehension of betraying her secret by inquiry, she did +not dare to ask questions. Fears, agonising fears, began to possess +her, that some fatal calamity had befallen the ship, till, happening +accidentally one day to cast her eyes over an old shipping list, +she read, and her sight grew dim as she read, of its arrival from +China, and its subsequent departure for England! How indestructible +is hope! Even then she imagined it possible that all this might have +been the result of accident, or might have arisen from the orders +of superiors. But still her anxiety preyed terribly upon her mind, +whilst she now looked forward to the new period of the ship's return +from England. In vain did she try to occupy herself in her former +pursuits. In vain did her friends endeavour to interest her with the +amusements they provided for her. All were equally fruitless in their +efforts; and the only explanation which the Gardners could find for +her mysterious abstraction, was in the belief that the remembrance +of Charles Græme was not altogether indifferent to her; and thence +they cherished the hope that the matter between that young man and +her might yet one day end as they wished it to do. + +Months rolled on as if the days of which they were composed had been +years, till Chirsty was one evening, with some difficulty, induced +by her friends to go to a great public entertainment. She entered +the room, leaning on Mrs. Gardner's arm; and they were on their way +to find a seat at the upper end of it, when her eyes suddenly beheld +him for whose return she had been so long vainly sighing. Her heart +beat as if it would have burst from its seat in her bosom. She clung +unconsciously with a firmer hold to the arm of her friend, and her +limbs tottered under her with nervous joy as she moved forward. He +was advancing slowly with a lady; and as he drew near, she held out +her hand to him with a smile of happy and welcome recognition. He +started at sight of her; and then, after scanning every feature +of her countenance with calm indifference, he bowed coldly, turned +aside, and moved away. Chirsty uttered a faint cry, swooned away, +and was carried home by her friends in a state of insensibility, +leaving the whole room in confusion. + +Sufficient natural and ordinary reasons were very easily found by a +company in such a climate as that of India for such an accident. But +Mrs. Gardner had seen enough to convince her that some deeper and +more powerful cause had operated upon Chirsty, than the mere heat of +weather or the crowded state of a room; and after she had successfully +used the necessary means for recovering her from her fainting fit, +she insisted on being allowed to share confidentially in the secret +of her afflictions. Chirsty felt some slight relief in telling her +all; and strange it was that she still clung most unaccountably +to hope. He might not have recognised her at first. He would yet +appear. But Mrs. Gardner's common sense told her there was no hope; +and she judged that it would be far better that Chirsty should receive +conviction, however cruel that conviction might be, rather than +remain in an anxiety which was so agonising and destructive. A very +little time enabled Mrs. Gardner to collect all the particulars of +his treachery. To sum up all in one word, he had arrived at Calcutta +from England with a rich wife, with whom he had already sailed on +his last voyage home. + +This overwhelming intelligence was too much for the shattered frame of +poor Chirsty Ross. She was attacked by a most alarming fever, which +finally produced delirium; and even after the physicians had been +able to master the bodily disease, the mental derangement continued +so long, unabated, that her friends the Gardners considered it proper +to write home to inform her uncle of her unhappy state. + +It pleased God, however, to restore her at length to her right mind; +and then it was that she was seized with an unconquerable desire of +returning to England. The most that the Gardners could prevail upon +her to agree to, was to delay her voyage to a period so far distant +as might insure that fresh letters should reach her uncle, to inform +him of her perfect mental recovery, and to teach him to look for her +arrival by a certain ship they named; and after impatiently waiting +till the time destined for her departure arrived, she bade her kind +friends the Gardners an affectionate farewell, and sailed with a fair +wind for Britain. + +Who was it that arrived a week afterwards at the house of Mr. and +Mrs. Gardner in the middle of the night, having come by Dawk from a +far distant province? It was the shadow of Charles Græme! + +"Thank God! thank God!" cried he energetically, after being told of +her recovery, and at the same time bursting into a flood of tears, +which weakness and fatigue left him no power to restrain. "Thank God +for her restoration! But oh! that I had reached Calcutta but eight +days sooner!" + +He took his determination, applied for leave, to which the state of +his health might of itself well enough have entitled him, and went +for England by the very first fleet that sailed. + +Chirsty Ross had a prosperous, but not a happy voyage. Her bodily +health improved every day that she was at sea; but her thoughts having +full time to brood over her miseries, her spirits became more and more +sunk. She rallied a little when she beheld the English shore; and when +she arrived in the river, her heart began to beat with affectionate +joy at the prospect of again embracing her dear uncle. Even the image +of her aunt had had its asperities softened down by length of time +and absence; and she almost felt something resembling pleasure at the +prospect of seeing her again. As the vessel arrived in the evening at +her moorings, a boat came alongside, and a voice was heard to demand +if there was a Miss Ross on board? Readily did Chirsty answer to the +inquiry; and being told that it was her uncle's servant come to take +her home, she lost not a moment in desiring her black maid to hand +up a small box, containing a few things to be put into the boat; +and leaving the girl to follow next day with her heavy baggage, she +quickly descended the ladder. She was immediately accosted by a stout, +vulgar-looking man out of livery, who announced himself to her as +Mr. Ross's servant, and informed her that a carriage waited for her +near the landing-place. She did accordingly find a post-chaise there; +but when the door of it was opened, and the steps were let down, +she started back on perceiving that there was a man seated at the +farther side of it. + +"Only a friend of Mr. Ross, ma'am, whom he has sent to attend you +home," said the fellow who held the handle of the carriage-door. + +Surprised as she was at the vulgarity of the dress and appearance of +the gentleman who was inside, and still more at his want of politeness +in not coming out of the carriage to hand her into it, her heart +was too full of home at the moment to admit of her inquiring very +particularly into circumstances, and accordingly, without more ado, she +entered the vehicle. But whilst she was yet only in the act of seating +herself, the fellow who had passed himself as her uncle's servant, +sprang in after her, pulled up the steps, shut the door, the side +blinds were drawn up, and the post-chaise was instantly flying at the +rate of twelve or fourteen miles an hour. She screamed aloud, but the +ruffian hands of both the villains were immediately on her mouth and +silence was inculcated with the most horrible and blasphemous menaces. + +"We must have none of your Indian fury here, mistress," said one of +the fellows. "Behave peaceably and quietly, and you shall be treated +gently enough, but if you offer to rave and riot, the whip, the gag, +and the strait-waistcoat shall be your portion." + +"Merciful Providence!" said Chirsty Ross, "why am I thus treated, +and whither would you carry me?" + +"As to your treatment, young lady," said the man, "methinks you have +no right to complain of that as yet; and as to the why, I should +be as mad as yourself were I to hold any talk with you about that; +and, then, as to the whither, you have been already told that you +are going to your uncle's residence." + +"Mad!" exclaimed Chirsty, with a shudder that ran through her whole +frame. "But, ah! I see how it is. Mr. Gardner's letters have been +received by my uncle, and not those which I wrote to him sometime +afterwards. And yet how did he know to expect me in England, and by +this particular ship, too, if my letters have not yet reached him? It +is very puzzling--very perplexing--very distressing; but since I am +going to him, I may thank God that all will soon be put to rights." + +"Aye, aye," said both the men at once, whilst they laughed rudely to +one another, "all will soon be put to rights, I'll warrant me." + +Chirsty sat silently dreaming over this strange and most vexatious +occurrence, yet hoping that her misery would be but of short duration, +till the chaise suddenly stopped, when one of the men let down the +window, and called to the postilion to ring the great bell at a gate, +which he had no sooner done than the peal was answered by the fierce +barking of a watch-dog. + +"What place is this?" cried Chirsty, with new-born alarm. "This is +not the house of my Uncle Ross." + +"You will see that all in good time, ma'am," replied one of the +men. "Postboy, ring again. What are they all about, I wonder?" + +At this second summons the huge nail-studded leaves of the ponderous +oak and iron-bound gate were slowly rolled back, and the chaise was +admitted into a large paved court, where the lights that were borne +by one or two men of similar appearance to those who accompanied her, +showed the plain front of a pretty considerable brick building, the +narrow windows of which were strongly barred with iron. The door, +too, was of the most massive strength, and the whole character of +the edifice would of itself have conveyed to her the heart-sinking +conviction that she was within the precincts of a mad-house, +even if those strange sounds of uncouth laughter, wild rage, and +wailing despair that came from various parts of the interior, had +been altogether unheard by her. Rapidly did her thoughts traverse +her mind. The first natural impulse that possessed her was a desire +to scream out for help. But Chirsty was not destitute of resolution +and self-command; and as she immediately reflected that nothing +but the calmest behaviour could afford her any chance of convincing +the people of such an establishment that she in reality was sane, +she at once resolved to restrain herself from everything that might +look like excitement. + +"Where is Sarah?" cried one of the men as he assisted Chirsty out of +the vehicle. "Aye, aye, here she comes. Here is your charge, Sall." + +"A tall, handsome young woman," said Sarah, surveying Chirsty from +head to foot, whilst she herself exhibited a person in every respect +the reverse of that which she was admiring, being almost a dwarf, +though with a body thickly and strongly built. Her head was large, +with harsh prominent features, and her legs were bowed, and her +arms long and uncouth looking. Round her waist, if waist that might +be called where waist there was none, there was fastened a leathern +belt, to which was appended a large bunch of great keys. In the eyes +of Chirsty she was altogether a most formidable looking object. + +"A tall handsome young woman," said she. "In what sort of temper is +she, I wonder?" + +"She was a little bit riotous at first," said one of the men, "but +she has been quiet enough ever since." + +"Come this way, young lady," said Sarah to Chirsty, in a rough tone +and sharp voice, and at the same time she stretched out her long arm, +and grasped her wrist with her bony fingers, whilst with the other +hand she held up an iron lamp, the light of which she threw before her. + +"Treat me not harshly," said Chirsty gently. "I am ready to obey you. I +am quite aware that, from the strange mistake that has occurred, +it would be vain for me to attempt to convince you at present of my +sanity. I must patiently submit, therefore, to whatever restraint +you may impose on me, until my uncle comes to see me, and convince +himself. But do not, I pray you, exercise any unnecessary severity." + +"No, no, poor thing," replied Sarah. "No, no; no severity, that is +not quite necessary, I promise you. As to your uncle--ha! ha! ha!--no +doubt you may chance to see un ere you leave this. Come this way." + +Whilst this dialogue was passing, Chirsty was led by her strange +conductress through some long passages, in which were several +rectangular turnings, past many strongly secured doors, from within +which issued strange discordant sounds of human misery, mingled +with the clanking of chains; and up one or two flights of stairs, +which induced her to believe that the apartment to which she was +about to be introduced was in the upper story, and in a wing of the +building. The door was like those she had seen in her way thither, +of immense strength, and it was secured by a powerful lock, a couple +of heavy bolts, and a huge chain and padlock. It was the last door +of the narrow passage, which terminated about a yard beyond it in a +dead wall. The little woman pushed Chirsty past it into the cul-de-sac +which the passage thus formed, and then quitting her arm, she planted +the fixed gaze of her formidable eye upon her, and placing the lamp on +the ground, she selected the necessary keys, and using both hands she +exerted her strength to undo the lock and padlock, and then drawing +the bolts and removing the chain, she opened the den within. Beckoning +to her charge with an air of command not to be misunderstood, she +pushed Chirsty into the place, and then standing in the aperture of +the half-closed door for a minute or more, with her right hand on the +key, she threw in the light of the lamp so as fully to show the whole +interior. It was indeed a wretched place. A low narrow bedstead, +with bedclothes of the coarsest and meanest description, was the +whole of its furniture, and that occupied more than a fourth part of +the space contained within its four brick and stone walls. The floor +was of flags,--it had no fireplace, and one small narrow iron-grated +window was all the visible perforation that could admit light or air. + +"May I not be allowed to have the few things which came in my +travelling-box?" said Chirsty mildly, after having seated herself on +the side of the bed. + +"We shall consider of that, young lady," said Sarah sternly. "But in +the meanwhile, to satisfy my mind that you may be safely left for a +little time, you must suffer me to put those lily-white hands of yours +into this glove," and setting the lamp on the floor, she drew from her +ample pocket a leathern bag, into which Chirsty patiently submitted +to have both her hands thrust together, after which they were secured +by a strap in such a manner as to leave them entirely useless. + +"Let me see now that you have got nothing dangerous about you," +said Sarah; and after searching her all over, and removing from her a +pocket-book containing such small instruments as women generally use, +together with one or two other articles, and not forgetting her purse, +which she secreted carefully in her own bosom, she added, "I shall be +back with you in the twinkling of an eye, for you must have food ere +you go to rest; meanwhile, the quieter you are the better it will be +for you," and with these words she lifted the lamp and retired with +it, locking and bolting the door with the utmost care. + +It is needless for me to speculate as to what were Chirsty's +thoughts, left as she was in the dark, as she listened to the +retreating steps of her keeper until a stillness reigned around +her that was only interrupted at times by the distant baying of +the watch-dog in the court-yard, or by some of those melancholy +demonstrations of madness that came every now and then upon her ear, +of different degrees of intensity, as they chanced to be modified +by circumstances. Notwithstanding all the resolution which she had +summoned to her support, she shuddered to think of the vexatious +confinement to which she might be exposed ere her fond uncle might be +able to gather courage enough to come to visit her in the melancholy +state of mind in which he probably believed her to be. Whilst she was +ruminating on such matters, she heard the returning footsteps of Sarah. + +"Here is some food for you," said her keeper, after opening the +door and entering cautiously, "and, see, I have brought your +night-clothes. I promised to use no needless severity; and if you +continue to behave, you shall have no reason to complain of me. Let +me help you to eat your supper, for this night you must be contented +with simple bread and milk." And the first meal that poor Chirsty +eat after returning to her native Britain, was doled out to her by +spoonfuls from a porringer by the long fingers of her dwarfish keeper, +who after making down her bed, assisted her into it, and then left +her for the night. + +And a strange night it was to her. Fatigue brought sleep upon her it +is true, but there was no refreshment in it, for it was full of wild +visions, and she started from time to time, and awaked to have her +mind brought back to the full conviction of her distressing situation +by the maniac laughter or howlings that broke at intervals upon +the stillness around her. The only support she had in circumstances +so trying was derived from religious meditations and aspirations, +together with the hope which never forsook her, that her affectionate +uncle might next day visit and relieve her. + + + + + + + + +FRESH LIGHT UPON THE SUBJECT. + + +Grant.--Stop for one moment, Clifford, till we ring for fresh candles, +or we shall be in darkness before you have uttered five sentences more. + +Dominie.--Stay, sir, I'll run to the kitchen for them myself. Preserve +me! the less time we keep Mr. Clifford's poor lassie in such misery +the better. + +Mr. Macpherson soon returned with the new lights, set them down on +the table, and drawing in his chair, put his elbows upon his knees, +placed his cheeks firmly in the palms of his hands, and sat with +his eyes eagerly fixed upon Clifford's countenance, with the most +ludicrous expression of earnestness. Clifford resumed as follows. + + + + + + + + +LEGEND OF CHIRSTY ROSS--Continued. + + +The morning's dawn brought back the returning footstep of Sarah. She +brought with her Chirsty's travelling-box with most of the things +it contained. + +"See," said she, as she set down the box, "I have kept my word. So +long as you behave, you shall find me disposed to treat you well. I +know that you have been quiet all night, and, therefore, we shall try +you for to-day with your hands unmuffled. But mind!" added the old +woman with a fearful expression of eye, "if you should change for the +worse, there are worse punishments for you than this leathern glove." + +"I thank you," said Chirsty meekly; "I think you will have no occasion +to resort to any such. I hope my uncle will be here to-day, and that +a few moments of conversation with him will satisfy him that you may +be released from any further trouble with me." + +"Your uncle!" cried Sarah, with an uncouth laugh. "But we shall +see. Meanwhile, here comes water for you, and, by and by, you shall +have breakfast." + +A little black-looking sharp-eyed girl now entered with a pitcher, +basins, and towels. Sarah stood by to watch how her charge conducted +herself, and, when the toilet was completed, the bed was made up, +and the things removed, and soon afterwards breakfast was brought her, +together with a common fir chair and a small table, and when she had +finished her meal, she was again left to her own solitary meditations. + +No sooner was all quiet, than Chirsty arose for the purpose of looking +out of the window, that she might try at least to gain some knowledge +of her position. She discovered that the walls of the building were +extremely thick, that the window was powerfully barred with iron, +and that a wooden shade projected over it from above, so as entirely +to shut out any direct view outwards. By placing the chair near the +window, however, and standing upon it, she commanded a limited view +downwards between the sole and the lower edge of the wooden projection, +and from this she was enabled to satisfy herself that her chamber was +on one side of a narrow square court, for she saw the lower part of the +buildings that inclosed the three other sides of it. Guessing from the +windows that came within her view below, the court was surrounded with +cells similar to her own. The startling fact now arose in her mind, +that she had thus in one minute made herself as much acquainted with +all the objects on which she could bring her eyes to bear from this +her place of confinement, as she could do were she to occupy it for +half a century. There was something chilling in the reflection, and +her soul naturally began to pant in a tenfold degree for liberty. But +that day passed away, and the next, and the next, and no kind uncle +came to relieve her. + +"Is there no message from my uncle?" said she at last, as Sarah came +to her one morning. + +"None!" said the old woman, somewhat more gruffly than usual. + +"I would fain write a letter to him," said Chirsty. + +"I see no use in that," said Sarah quitting the cell hastily, as if +to avoid further question. + +She did not see the old woman again for several days. Nancy, the little +girl already mentioned, attended on her at the usual hours. In vain she +tried to prevail on her to procure her writing materials. Her answer +was, that she had no means of doing so. She asked for books or work, +but the girl's answer was the same. At length old Sarah appeared again. + +"Any intelligence from my uncle, good Sarah?" said Chirsty. + +"None!" replied her keeper, in the same tone she had used before. + +"Then, I beseech you, give me the means of communicating with him by +letter," said she earnestly. + +"Tush, I tell you it would be of no use," replied Sarah. + +"Nay, give me but pen, ink, and paper, and let me try," said +Chirsty. "I am sure he would never allow me to be one moment here, +if he could only see and converse with me. Oh! if I could but see +him for five minutes, this harassing captivity would be at an end." + +"Well, then!" said Sarah, after a silence of some moments, during +which she appeared to be weighing circumstances in her mind. "Well, +then, you shall see un. But see how you behave! Follow me, then, +and I shall bring you to your uncle." + +"Oh, thank you, thank you! a thousand and a thousand times!" cried +Chirsty, almost embracing the old woman in the height of her +joy. "Depend upon it, I shall satisfy you as to my behaviour." + +Sarah now opened the door of the cell, and Chirsty followed her. Even +the small additional motion of her limbs which she now enjoyed, +was luxury to her after the narrow bounds to which she had been +confined. The old woman led her along the passage for a considerable +way, down one flight of steps, along another passage, to the very end +of it, and there she stopped opposite a door, secured by little more +than the ordinary fastenings used to any private chamber. Sarah opened +it and desired Chirsty to enter. The light of heaven was permitted +to pass fully in at the window, and she rushed forward to meet her +uncle's embrace. But ere she had gone two steps into the room, her +eyes caught a spectacle that effectually arrested her. + +"Merciful Providence, my poor uncle!" she faintly cried; and, tottering +towards a pallet-bed that was near to her, she sank down on the side +of it, and gazed with grief and with horror on the miserable object +before her. + +Seated in a wooden elbow chair, she did indeed behold her uncle; but he +was there as a mere piece of animated clay. His hair, which always used +to be so nicely trimmed and powdered, now hung in long white untamed +locks over a countenance so yellow and emaciated as to be absolutely +fearful to look upon. Part of it fell over the eyes, which were seen +within it like two bits of yellow glass, motionless and void of all +speculation. The under jaw hung forward, and the tongue lolled out, +as if all muscular power was lost. An old Indian dressing-gown, which +Chirsty remembered to have been his pride, as having been presented +to him by a great rajah, and as being made of the most valuable stuff +that Cashmere could produce, but now begrimed by every species of +filth, covered his person. A broad band of girth was passed around +his breast under his arms, and attached to the back of his chair, to +prevent his weakness or his involuntary motions from precipitating him +on the floor. His feet were both occupied in drumming upon the ground, +and his hands were extended before him, with the fingers continually +crawling like reptiles on his knees, whilst he was ceaselessly emitting +a low muttering whine, that never moulded itself into words. The very +first glance she had of him convinced Chirsty that her poor uncle +was in the last stage of confirmed and hopeless idiocy. + +"What would a letter have done, think ye, to such a clod as that +'ere?" demanded the unfeeling wretch Sarah, "or what will you make +of un, now you have seen un?" + +"My poor unhappy uncle!" said Chirsty, starting from her seat and +going fondly towards him, and weeping over him; "how sadly indeed +hast thou been changed! When, alas! did this awful affliction fall +upon him? But why has he been removed from his own comfortable home +to such a place as this?" + +"Such a place as this, quotha!" cried Sarah. "Why, what sort of a +place would ye have un in? There is not a more comfortabler room in the +whole house. And see, if I didn't bring down that 'ere old wardrobe, +that we might have summat to hold un's things in; though I must say," +added she in an undertone, "that he hasn't much left now that's worth +the caring for." + +"But why has he been removed to such an establishment as this?" said +Chirsty. "Surely, surely, his malady, helpless and unoffending as it +has rendered him, could have given no disturbance in his own house, +why then has he been torn from it? and how could his wife have agreed +to treatment so cruel and so unnecessary?" + +"His wife!" exclaimed Sarah with a laugh. "It was his wife who sent +un here; and surely his wife has the most natral right to judge what's +best for un." + +"Horrible!" exclaimed Chirsty, "his wife! There must be some horrible +villainy under all this." + +"What!" exclaimed Sarah. "What is there horrible in a gay woman +like her ridding her house of such a filthy slavering mummy as +this? He would be a pretty ornament, truly, to grace some of the +rich Mrs. Ross's splendid routes, as I now and then see the papers +call them. Besides, she pays well for his board here, and it is our +interest not to let un die." + +"Rich!" exclaimed Chirsty indignantly. "Her riches are my uncle's +riches; and if one spark of Christian feeling yet remained in her +bosom, she ought to have employed them in relieving, so far as +they could relieve, this most heavy affliction of a just and wise +Providence." + +"It's not for me to stand argufying with you here, Miss," said +Sarah, in a tone of displeasure that led Chirsty to fear a coming +storm. "Come, you see you have gotten all the good out of un you can; +so you may as well leave un, and go quietly back to your cell." + +"For the love of your Redeemer, and as you hope for mercy!" cried +Chirsty, throwing herself on her knees before her keeper, "force me +not to quit my uncle! To him I owe more than the duty of a child to +a parent. Yield but to me the charitable boon of allowing me to watch +by him, and to attend to him day and night, and you will render me so +happy that I shall cheerfully and voluntarily submit to my present +cruel confinement, without once inquiring by whose order it comes, +or ever seeking to establish how unnecessarily it has been inflicted +upon me. Oh! grant me but this, and may blessings be showered down +upon you." + +"I must think about it," gruffly replied Sarah. "In the meantime, +you must back to your cell for this day at least. So bid un good-by +for this bout. We shall see how you behave, and we shall talk more +of the matter to-morrow." + +Chirsty rose from her knees; and seeing that it was only through +submissive obedience that she could hope to obtain what she so ardently +wished, she went to her uncle, and taking up his unconscious hand, +she kissed it, watered it with her tears, and then slowly left the +apartment, and returned to her cell, where she was locked up as before. + +She was no sooner left to herself, than so many circumstances and +reflections occurred to her mind, that it had enough of occupation. She +now remembered that after having had regular letters from her uncle +for a considerable time, they had all at once ceased. But as the +irregularity of Indian correspondence was even more common in those +days than it is now, she had regretted this as arising from unfortunate +accident, without being very much surprised at it. But much as she had +had reason to believe that her aunt was a heartless selfish woman, +she never could have imagined that she could have been guilty of +conduct so unfeeling towards the unhappy man from whose affection +she now derived all that wealth which it appeared she was spending +so gaily. As to herself, a moment's thought was enough to convince +her that she owed her present confinement more to the malice than +to the care of her aunt. She remembered that the only communication +from India that contained the intimation that she was about to return +to Britain, as well as the name of the ship in which she was to sail, +also conveyed the full assurance of the perfect restoration of her mind +from its temporary malady. The person who knew to what ship to send for +her on her arrival, therefore, must necessarily have known that she +required no such treatment as that to which she had been so wickedly +subjected. Villainy of the darkest dye, therefore, had been at work +against her; and where or how it might end she trembled to think. But +the thought of her poor uncle's melancholy situation banished every +other consideration from her mind; and all her thoughts and wishes +were now concentrated in the desire she felt to stay by him, and to +watch over him to the last--the very idea of such a self-devotion being +balm to her lacerated heart, as affording her the luxury of indulging +that deep gratitude with which his unvarying kindness towards her +had always filled her, and which she never hoped to have had any +opportunity of repaying. She failed not, therefore, to employ all +her meekness and all her eloquence to persuade Sarah to grant her +request; and as the gentle drop by frequent repetition will at last +wear through the hardest flint, so by repeated appeals to the best of +the few feelings which that callous-hearted creature possessed, she at +last succeeded in obtaining a limited permission to visit her uncle, +which was extended by degrees so far, that she ultimately came to be +allowed to go to his chamber in the morning, and to remain with him +till he was laid to rest at night, when she was removed for the purpose +of being locked up in her own cell. In this employment Chirsty forgot +her confinement altogether, and weeks, months, nay even years rolled +away with no other occupation but that and her devotions. There were +times when she even flattered herself that the unremitting attention +which she paid to him was not without some material advantage to his +general state. She even thought she saw some amendment in a seeming +approach to a certain degree of consciousness. Words, though altogether +incoherent and unconnected, would now and then break from him, as +if he was following out and giving utterance to some musing dream; +and on such occasions she would hang over him with anxious fondness +and intense interest, with the hope of catching their meaning. Then +she could distinctly perceive that at such times his glassy eyes, +which were usually directed upon vacancy, would fix themselves upon +her, assume a strange and unwonted animation, as if the dormant spirit +had arisen for a moment and come to the windows of its earthly house, +to look out upon her,--but alas! when she turned slowly away to try +its powers, there was no corresponding motion of the head to maintain +the proper direction and level of the eyes towards their object, +and she would weep at the cruel failure of her hopes that followed. + +It did happen, however, that one day whilst she was sitting by her +uncle, earnestly engaged in trying such experiments as these, with +the sunshine strong upon her face, his lack-lustre eyes being fixed +in her direction, they seemed slowly to gather a spark of the fire +of intelligence, which went on gradually increasing like the light +of dawn, till suddenly they received such an animating illumination +as this earth does when the blessed orb of day bursts from behind +a cloud; and as all nature then rejoices under the warm influence +of his rays, so was the fond heart of his niece gladdened when, +as she moved her face slowly from its position, and to this side +and to that, the eyes of the nabob followed all her motions with a +growing expression, that speedily began to spread itself with a faint +glow over his hitherto frozen features. The lolling tongue retreated +within the orifice of the mouth, the under jaw was drawn up, and the +teeth were pressed together as if with the increasing earnestness +of the gaze. His niece, with more than that degree of intensity of +absorption of attention with which an alchemist might be supposed to +have watched for the projection of the golden harvest of his hopes, +seized a hand of her uncle in each of hers, and sat poring into his +eyes, and over every feature of his face in breathless expectation. + +"Chirsty Ross," said he at length, slowly and distinctly, and in a +manner that left no doubt that the words were not accidental. + +"My dear, dear uncle, you know me then at last!" cried the happy girl, +warmly embracing him, and sobbing upon his bosom. "Thank God! thank +God that you know me!" + +"Chirsty," said the nabob again, "why did you not write to me +sooner? Why was you silent for a whole winter? I have been rash, +perhaps. But what is done cannot be undone, and we must e'en make +the best of it now. Yet, if you had only but written to me, Chirsty, +my love, things might have been different." + +"Oh, this is too heart-rending!" cried his niece, yielding to an +ungovernable paroxysm of grief. + +"How could you forget to write to me, Chirsty?" continued her +uncle. "The woman, to be sure, is not so bad a woman after all; but +you and I were so happy here alone together. But I have been a fool, +Chirsty; yet she is your aunt, and my wife, so we must e'en submit, +and make the best of it." + +"Gracious Providence, support me in this trying hour!" cried Chirsty +fervently. + +"What!" cried the nabob, in a voice louder than she could have supposed +his exhausted state could have admitted of. "What! is the ship to sail +for Calcutta so soon? May the God of all goodness be with you then, +Chirsty, my love! Keep up your spirits, my sweet girl, you will come +home to me soon with a husband and pagodas in plenty. But forget not +to write often to me. Your failing in that has already worked evil +enough to us both." + +"Oh, my dear, dear uncle!" cried Chirsty, quite overpowered by her +feelings, and sobbing audibly. + +"Nay, cry not so bitterly, my dear child," said the nabob. "Trust +me, we shall, meet again. And if we should not meet again here--if +it should please God to remove me from this world ere you return, +our sound Christian hope assures us, that we shall meet in another +and a better. But, hold!" cried he with a more than natural energy, +that seemed to be produced by some sudden and great organic change +in his system. "The anchor is up--quick, aboard, aboard! God for +ever bless and guard you, my love! my Chirsty!--farewell! Ha! the +gallant ship, see how her sails swell with the breeze!--she goes +merrily. But--but--how comes this sudden darkness over me? She is +gone!--all is gone!--gone!--go--o--oh!" and his words terminated in +a long deep groan. + +Chirsty hastily dried up her tears, and anxiously scanned her uncle's +face. His spirit had once more retreated from his glassy eyes--his +face had again become deadly pale--his hands were cold, and their +pulses had ceased. She shrieked aloud until help came, but it was +too late--her uncle was dead. + +Chirsty was no sooner made certain that all was over with her poor +uncle than her nervous feelings, which had been screwed up to the +racking pitch by this trying scene, gave way, and she fell in a swoon, +that terminated in a repetition of that feverish attack which she had +had in India, upon which delirium supervened; and when, after a period +of nearly three weeks, she was again sensible of the return of reason, +she found herself lying in bed with her hands muffled, as they had been +the first night she had slept in the asylum. She awaked from a long, +tranquil, and refreshing sleep; and little Nancy, who was seated by +her bedside, immediately ran off for Sarah, who came directly. + +"Aye," said that hideous creature, after surveying her countenance +attentively, "she seems quiet enough now. The fit has gone off for +this bout." + +"I have been very ill," said Chirsty faintly, "but now, thank God, +I am better." + +"You have given me trouble enough i'facks," said Sarah. "But here is +something that the doctor ordered you to drink; take this, and try +to sleep again." + +Chirsty readily swallowed what was given to her, fell asleep, and was +soon well enough to quit her bed, and to be restored to that degree +of freedom of person within her cell that she had enjoyed before the +discovery that her uncle was under the same roof with herself. She +was even allowed to go down once a day, for an hour, attended by +Sarah, to breathe the open air, and to walk backwards and forwards +in the narrow well of a court that was formed by that wing of the +building which contained her cell. But this indulgence did little +to relieve the insufferable tedium that seized upon her, now that +the only object capable of interesting her had been removed. Her +mind now recurred with augmented force to all the horrors of her +iniquitous confinement. She resolved to try whether she could not +move the compassion of her female Cerberus. + +"Now that my uncle is gone," said she one day calmly to Sarah, "my +confinement becomes so much more cruel and unnecessary, that I am sure +you must feel for me. You have now known enough of me during the long +period I have been under your care to be sufficiently aware that there +never were any grounds for placing me in an asylum of this kind. If, +then, I am shut up here for no other cause than that I may not give +offence to Mrs. Ross by crossing her path, I am quite willing to give +any security that may be asked of me that I will go down directly to +live with my friends in Ross-shire, and that she shall never see or +be troubled with me more." + +"What!" exclaimed the wretch who listened to her; "what! and lose +the good board which that worthy woman, your aunt, pays for you? No, +no! Enough that we have already lost that which she paid for that +mummy of a husband of hers. Yet, after all, he lived longer than one +might have thought un like to have done. But you--an we but take care +of you--you may long be a sure annual rent to us!" + +"Can nothing move you?" said Chirsty, with a despairing look. + +"No," said the wretch, with an iron grin. "I am not to be flattered +from my trust. But what said you? No grounds for placing you here, +quotha! Was it not but the other day that, strong as I am, it took +all my power to hold ye down. Ha! ha! ha! The surest sign of madness +is the belief that you are not mad." + +"Then must my hope be in the Lord alone," said Chirsty, in a desponding +tone. "But oh! if you would have me live, let me have books or work, +or writing or drawing materials, or this painfully irksome confinement +must soon kill me." + +"No, no," said Sarah, shaking her head, "no, no. Writing or drawing +materials might be used to send tales out beyond these walls, +and books might be used as paper--aye, and work might answer the +same end. Therefore content yourself, content yourself, child. I'll +do all for you that such a feeling heart as mine can do for a poor +fellow-creetur robbed of reason, as you have been. But I must fulfil +the duty I am paid for." + +It happened that the very next day after this, as Chirsty sat with her +eyes cast down on the floor of her cell, some small glittering body +attracted her notice, and on stooping to pick it up, to her great joy +she discovered that it was a needle, which had probably dropped from +the sleeve of little Nancy, who usually waited on her. She secured the +treasure about her person, as of infinite value, and the possession of +it gave rise to a train of reflection that ended in the formation of +a scheme for ultimately producing her liberation, which henceforward +engrossed all her attention. Provided as she had thus so fortunately +been with a needle, she was yet destitute of thread. But her necessity +instantly made her think of using her long black hair, with which she +resolved immediately to undertake the laborious task of embroidering +the outline of her melancholy story on a cambric handkerchief, with +the hope that some means might occur to her of thereby communicating +the place of her confinement to her friends in Scotland. Eagerly did +she sit down to begin the task, but she wept when she discovered, what +she had not hitherto been aware of, that the first two or three hairs +which she pulled were of a white as pure as that of the handkerchief +which was to be the field of her work. Her miseries, however, had not +as yet done all the work of age upon her raven tresses; for enough +still remained of a silken and glossy jet to have embroidered a whole +volume. Such were her feelings at the time, however, that, dreading +the change that might yet take place she knew not how quickly, she +rent forth such a quantity of the precious material as might, at least, +secure the completion of her purpose, and having carefully secreted it, +she went to work with an eagerness that seemed to promise to lend her +a new existence; and, indeed, the occupation and the hope it yielded +her kept her up under all her afflictions for the months and months +that elapsed ere she stealthily brought her work to a conclusion. + +And after it was finished her heart sank within her, for occupation was +at an end, and now her dread arose that the work would be fruitless; +for where was the hope, in her circumstances, that she might ever +find a messenger fit to be entrusted with such a charge. Whilst +employed in the work her mind was tranquillised. But now it was +thrown into a state of continued nervous excitement, which could +not but have a tendency to wear it out. It did happen that, in her +way down by the various passages and stairs that led to the little +court whither she was daily summoned for exercise, she sometimes, +though very rarely, met with strangers passing upwards to visit some +unfortunate friend or relative. With none of these dared she to have +communicated verbally; and if she had so dared, a word from her stern +keeper to strangers in such a place would have turned the most sober +expression of perfect sanity into the semblance of the mere utterance +of hopeless madness. But if she could in any way manage to put her +embroidered history into feeling and charitable hands, she trusted +that the curiosity at least of the individual might save it from being +either exposed or destroyed, and if so, hope might be interwoven with +its living threads. Each time that her cell was opened, therefore, +to allow her to descend to the little court her heart beat high. But, +alas! day after day, and week after week, passed away, and no one +came at the fortunate minute. + +At length, as she was one day descending one of the flights of stairs, +with Sarah close behind her, she met with an old gentleman having a +particular lameness in one leg, who was limping up with a crutch. He +stood aside to allow her to pass, and the pity, not unmingled with +admiration, that seemed to animate his face as he earnestly looked +upon her, made her almost accuse herself of folly for not having +boldly risked the venture of putting the handkerchief into his +hands. But a little thought told her that, if she had done so, all +her labour and all her hopes would have been utterly wrecked, for she +remembered that the keen eyes of Sarah had been close at her elbow, +and detection would have been certain. Several other individuals passed +her at different times, but the countenance of none of them gave her +sufficient confidence to trust them, even if an opportunity had been +afforded her, and every day her nervous excitement and irritability +grew more and more distressing. + +It happened one day, however, that as she was moving along a passage, +she heard and recognised the particular stump of the lame gentleman +whom she had formerly met. She could not be mistaken, and it was then +entering on the lowest step of a flight, down which she was about to +turn. She was then a pace or two ahead of Sarah, and contriving to +lengthen her stride as she approached the turn at the stairs, she +passed a keeper who was hurrying on to open the various locks of a +cell which the stranger he was conducting was about to visit. Thus it +was that, by fortunate accident, she was brought alone and unseen into +contact with the gentleman for a few brief but precious moments. Nerved +up by the importance of the act, she expanded her handkerchief before +him, to show what it contained, put it into his hand, and with an +imploring look that spoke volumes, she signed to him to conceal it, +and as she passed him by she quickly whispered him,-- + +"Hide it now?--read it at home--and, oh! for mercy's sake, act +upon it." + +Taken thus by surprise, the stranger held it for a moment in his +hand, and turned to look after her who gave it him. Sarah appeared +whilst he was still standing thus. Chirsty stood on the lowest step, +and looked up to him in breathless and motionless dread. + +"What stand ye there for?" cried Sarah roughly to her, as she was +descending. + +The stranger seemed to recover his self-possession. He quietly +returned the salutation which Sarah gave him, and wiping his face +with the handkerchief, as if it had been his own pulled forth for +that purpose, he thrust it deep into his bosom, and began again to +climb the steps. Chirsty, overpowered by her feelings, leaned for a +moment against the wall. + +"What's the matter with ye?" cried Sarah impatiently. + +"Nothing, nothing, good Sarah!" said Chirsty, "only a sudden qualm +of sickness, but it has gone off now;" and so saying, she pursued +her way with tottering steps. + +If Chirsty was subjected to anxious excitement before she had thus +disposed of her broidered history, how much greater were her nervous +agitations, her eternal tossings between hope and fear, from the moment +she had thus committed it to the stranger? Had he betrayed her? nay, +if he had, she must have heard of it from Sarah, or gathered it from +the harsher treatment with which she must have been visited. He must +have been so far her friend. But, admitting all this, whether he +would have charity enough to act upon his knowledge of the facts it +contained, or whether he would treat it as the mere pseudo-rational +statement of a maniac, were matters of doubt that agonised her by +night as well as by day. She slept not,--she ate not, and her brain +grew lighter and lighter every day. She became sensible of this. A +most unconquerable dread came upon her, that even admitting that the +stranger was doing all he could to inform her friends of her unhappy +situation, her senses would be undermined before they could come to +her relief, and, as time wore on, and hope grew fainter and duller, +she began to yield herself up to despair, which gradually threw its +damp and suffocating clouds over her soul. + +Whilst she was in this gloomy state, she happened one day to think +of the needle, which she had now so much reason to fear had been +but uselessly employed; and the horrible idea crossed her mind, +that even such a small instrument as it might readily enough produce +death, and that thus there was yet another and a more certain way in +which it might be made to effect her deliverance from her present +imprisonment. She immediately drew it forth from the skirt of her +gown, where she had concealed it. She looked at it for some moments +with a steady but agitated gaze; and then, earnestly imploring Heaven +for aid in the fearful struggle she was undergoing, she started up, +with a resolution acquired from above, and threw it from the window of +her cell, that such wicked thoughts of self-destruction might never +again be produced by it; and then, on her knees, she poured out her +humble and submissive aspirations of thanks. + +And now despondency gave way to resolution, and she at length +determined to take the first opportunity of making a desperate attempt +to effect her escape. But to produce even a hope of success, she saw +that it would be necessary to use much preliminary artifice. + +It was the more easy for her to employ this effectually, that hope +had hitherto made her behaviour so mild and so submissive, that all +suspicion on the part of her Argus-eyed keeper had been for a long +time put to rest. Recollecting what Sarah had said to her as to the +important source of revenue which hung on the preservation of her +life, she began by complaining of that for which she had, indeed, +no inconsiderable grounds of truth, that her health was suffering +deeply from want of pure air and exercise. This was touching Sarah in +the very point where she was most assailable. She of herself proposed +to extend Chirsty's walk to a garden belonging to the place, to the +existence of which she had more than once heard her refer. Next day, +accordingly, she was taken from her cell, and conducted by Sarah +and Nancy down through the same passages, and by the same flights of +stairs with which she was already so familiar; but instead of being +led into the small court which had hitherto been the utmost extent +to which freedom had been permitted her, she was ushered into a large +and high-walled orchard or garden, quite umbrageous with fruit-trees, +and thickly intermixed with shrubs. Who can fancy, with any approach +to the reality, the delight which Chirsty felt whilst wandering +among the blossoming shades of this, to her absolutely, celestial +spot, after the years of confinement which she had undergone? She +leaped--she skipped--she threw her arms about, and laughed as if she +had really been the poor unsettled maniac who might have required the +restraint she had been so long kept under. She poured out her thanks +to Sarah with strange volubility; and as she was guilty of no excess +that could alarm her keeper, she was not only readily permitted to +remain there for a considerable time under her watchful eye, but she +was returned to her cell with a promise that she should be permitted +to revisit the garden daily. + +The effect of this leniency and indulgence was a renovated state +of health, perfectly wonderful in itself, and highly gratifying to +Sarah. But although the spirits of the patient rose from the blessed +influence of a more frequent intercourse with the sun and the sky, +her anxious mind was still deeply possessed with the sad conviction +that every day made the hope of help from her friends in Scotland less +and less probable. Her determination to attempt an escape, therefore, +strengthened with the improvement and increase of her physical +energies. She never made the round of the garden without scanning +every part of its inclosure with scrupulous care. In the course of +this daily examination, she one day discovered that a half-witted lad, +employed in nailing up the fruit trees, had carelessly left his light +hand-ladder leaning against the wall in a corner, where it was in a +certain degree hid by a buttress, and as she saw it in the same spot +the next day, she became satisfied that it was for the present unwanted +and forgotten. The very thought of this as a means for getting over the +wall, brought her ingenuity into play; and as she at once saw that any +attempt at escape in broad daylight must necessarily be unsuccessful, +she began to work upon her keeper to procure a change of the mid-day +hour of airing to that of evening. As the garden was used at all times +of the day as a place of exercise for the less violent patients, +she occasionally encountered them during her walks. She therefore +pretended to be seized with an unconquerable alarm at their uncouth +appearance, and she declared that it was impossible for her longer +to avail herself of the privilege which she enjoyed. + +"I feel all your kindness to me, unfortunate creature that I am," +said she, in a tone of despondency, to Sarah one day, when she came as +usual to take her out. "But I cannot bear to have my path crossed by +those melancholy objects; and, since it is Heaven's will that I am so +condemned to misery in this world, the sooner I am relieved by death, +and dismissed to a happier the better." + +"No, no," said Sarah, who was fully alive to the important improvement +of Chirsty's health from the change of system already pursued with +her. "We must not let ye die,--we can't afford that,--so walk out +you shall. And, since you are frightened by the sight of them 'ere +creeturs, we shall walk in the cool of the evening, when they are +all locked up." + +"Thank you, thank you, Sarah," said Chirsty, overjoyed at the success +of this first part of her scheme. + +Anxiously did Chirsty look every evening as she returned to the +garden to ascertain whether the ladder was still in its place, for +she was obliged to allow one or two nights to pass that she might use +certain management with Sarah to ensure something like a probability +of success. Under pretence of giving greater exercise to her limbs, +she began to jump and dance with Nancy. Some time afterwards she +proposed to play a game of hide and seek with her. These sports were +renewed for several evenings, so that Sarah was not only lulled into +perfect security, but, hard as she was by nature, she was even so +much amused by the merriment of the little girl, who was her niece, +that Chirsty easily contrived that each successive evening should +prolong their sports, until she one night succeeded in remaining in +the garden till twilight had almost become darkness. Then it was that +she wound up all her energies to make her attempt. + +"Well, well," said she carelessly, "I am almost tired now, Nancy; +but come, I will give you one chance more;" and off she went by way +of hiding again among the bushes. + +But no sooner was she out of sight, than, forcing her way through +the thicket, she darted down a long alley with the speed of a hare, +mounted the ladder to the top of the wall, drew it up after her, and +letting it down on the other side, she was beyond the hated precincts +of the asylum before Sarah or the little Nancy had begun to suspect +that she was gone. Already did her hopes bound over all intermediate +obstacles, and transport her in imagination to her father's humble +dwelling at Tain. Finding herself in a lane, with the garden wall +on one hand, and another equally high on the opposite side, she +sprang forward without knowing whither she went. Loud screams and +shouts came from within the garden. On she ran wildly until she was +terror-struck for a moment, and arrested by hearing cries of alarm, +and beholding the flaring of lights in the very direction in which +she was running. The loud baying of the great dog also reached her +ears from the same quarter. Winged by fear, she was thus forced to +double back, and bethinking her of the ladder, she rapidly retraced her +steps to the spot where she had left it. Taking it hastily down from +the garden wall, she dragged it across the lane with the intention +of applying it to that on the other side. Whilst her trembling hands +were in the act of doing this, the harsh iron screams of Sarah came +all of a sudden loudly up the lane from the opposite direction to +that in which Chirsty had first attempted to fly. A postern-door +of the garden had given the old woman egress at about fifty yards +below. Dreadful was now the nervous agitation of poor Chirsty. Her +utmost strength was necessary to rear the ladder, light as it was, +against the wall. She did succeed, however. Her enraged and baffled +keeper was toiling up to her, with her wide mouth uttering shrieks +and imprecations that might have well been called infernal. Chirsty +climbed the ladder with a palsy in all her joints. She was already on +the top of the wall,--one moment more would have enabled her to pull +the ladder up beyond the reach of the infuriated dwarf, and she had +succeeded in raising it a considerable way from the ground, when the +uncouth monster reached the spot, and clutching at the lower end of it +with her long hands, she with one powerful jerk, not only dragged it +down, but she so destroyed the equilibrium of the unfortunate fugitive, +that she fell from the top of the wall into the lane, where the hideous +countenance and demoniac eyes of Sarah frowned and glared over her, +and the horrible laugh of triumph, and the blasphemous denunciations +of vengeance and punishment which the monster uttered, rang in her +ears ere she was borne off senseless to the asylum. + +You are doubtless desirous to know something of the history of poor +Charles Græme, who, as you may remember, left India for the purpose of +following Chirsty Ross to England? I shall shortly tell you, that on +reaching Britain, he made ineffectual inquiries for her at her uncle's +residence. Mrs. Ross denied having ever seen or heard of her. He did +find out her Indian maid; but from the little that she told him, he +could make out no clue to lead to the discovery of her mistress. And +after many ineffectual attempts, repeatedly made for months, he at +length yielded to the advice of his friends, and returned to India, +where he vainly endeavoured to eradicate the sorrow of his heart by +fresh and intense occupation. + +After the lapse of a good many years, accident led a gentleman to +visit a noble friend of his, who was proprietor of a fine estate and +residence in Ross-shire. The roads thereabouts were then so bad for +wheeled carriages, that, tired of the slowness of his progress and +of the jolting of his vehicle, he left it at an inn to come after +him at its own rate by a somewhat circuitous route, and mounting his +servant's horse, he set off unattended. Following the directions +he received from the people of the house, he took what was called +the shortest way, hoping that he might yet save his distance so far +as to reach his friend's house to a late dinner. Many was the long +Scottish mile of ground which he travelled over, however; and still +as he interrogated the peasants whom he met with, he found that the +way before him seemed rather to be lengthening than diminishing. His +horse began to manifest great symptoms of fatigue, and as the night +was settling down very fast, he was glad to meet with a man who pointed +out to him a track leading by the sea-shore, which, as he assured him, +would save him several miles of distance. At the same time he told him, +that he would require to push on smartly, so as to reach a certain +ford at the mouth of a river, before the flowing tide should render +it quite impracticable. Stimulated by this information, and being, +moreover, impatient to get to his journey's end, he put spurs to his +horse and galloped on as fast as the tired animal could go. + +He had not proceeded very far, when a vivid flash of forked lightning +blazed amid the obscurity that brooded over the sea, and a tremendous +peal of thunder rent the air. The waves, which were gradually rising +upon tho beach, seemed every moment to swell more proudly, and to toss +their snowy crests higher, and suddenly a deluge of rain began to be +poured from the gathered clouds. The somewhat delicate traveller wished +himself again within his old box of a carriage in defiance of its +jolting; but now, both in mercy to himself and to the animal he rode, +he was compelled to force the poor creature on to an accelerated pace, +that they might the sooner reach some place of shelter. As if fully +aware of the necessity of exertion, his horse bore him with tolerable +rapidity for two or three miles amidst the lightning and rain and the +thunder that at times deafened the sound of the advancing waves, till, +as the darkness was just about to become complete, he dimly descried +the huge mass of an ancient building rising before him from a low +peninsula; and, on further investigation, he discovered that he had +reached the river of which the peasant had spoken. A very cursory +examination only was necessary to assure him that the stream was +already so swollen by the rain and the tide as to take away all hope +of his being able to ford. The river was a raging torrent, and the +roar of its conflict with the swelling tide, was a terrific addition +to the horrors of the storm. The gentleman had no alternative left, +therefore, but to look for hospitality in the adjoining building. + +Having dismounted then, he led his horse in at a gateway, and, +having discovered a dilapidated outhouse, with a half entire roof, he +contrived to fasten the animal by the bridle to a rusty iron hook that +projected out of the wall. He then made his way across a court-yard +so covered with tall docks and nettles as very much to discourage any +hope which he might have previously entertained of finding inhabitants +within the edifice; but, as he groped his way towards the great door +of the huge pile, he was cheered by beholding a light that glimmered +through the unglazed and broken casements of what appeared to be a +large apartment about two stories up, whence he distinctly heard the +singing of a woman's voice. Somewhat encouraged by this circumstance, +and guided by the faint gleam, he tried the ponderous old oaken door, +but he found that it was firmly secured within. He was about to +apply his hand to a large rusty iron knocker that hung upon it, when +his attention was arrested by a wild laugh which echoed through the +apartments above, died away, and was again more than once repeated +with strange, sudden, and incomprehensible changes. Some of those +superstitious feelings of which his infancy had largely partaken for +a moment seized upon him, and he doubted whether the building was not +tenanted by beings with whom those of this world could not dare to +have intercourse. But a little thought, and a little more attention +to the voice, soon reassured him against anything supernatural, and +he then began to question himself whether he might not be about to +rouse some body of lawless banditti or smugglers who might have taken +possession of that which was evidently a ruined castle, as a place +for their retreat or rendezvous. Was it prudent to proceed? But he +was a man who never feared danger in youth; and, now that youth was +long past with him, certain bitter disappointments he had met with in +early life, and the consequent sorrow which his heart had ever since +endured, rendered him now much too careless about mere existence ever +to allow any anxiety regarding that to influence his conduct, even +if the deluge of rain which was then falling had not been enough to +stimulate the faintest heart to the bold determination of making good +an entrance at all hazards. Raising the knocker, therefore, he made +a furious appeal to those within. But whether it was that the roar +of the thunder, the rumbling of the river, the booming of the waves, +and the continued plash of the rain, combined to drown his efforts, +or to render the inmates deaf to his summons, he found it necessary +to repeat his loud larum several times ere his ear caught the sound +of a step descending the stair from above. + +The stair was included in one of those curious thin round towers +which are so frequently seen rising from the side of the doorway of +these old Scottish castles, and a small window about half a story +up seemed to have been placed there to enable the appearance of all +applicants for entrance to be well reconnoitred before admission should +be granted to them, whilst a small round arrow or musket hole on a +level with their heads, enabled them to be easily and successfully +assailed from below, if they were likely to be at all troublesome. A +flaring light streamed suddenly out from the small window above, and +threw a partial and fitful gleam over a part of the dripping weeds +of the wet court-yard. It proceeded from a lighted torch of bog-fir, +and the stranger's attention was instantly arrested by the apparition +that brandished it aloft with a bare extended arm. It was a woman, +whose countenance, though wasted, and tarnished, and rendered wiry, +as it were, by exposure to weather, yet exhibited features of the +noblest character, so that even a momentary glance at them and +the dark eyes that flashed from them with a wild expression, as the +torch which she held forth threw back its flickering light upon them, +convinced the stranger that they must have been once beautiful. + +"Who comes at this unseasonable hour to these my castle +gates?" demanded the woman, in a haughty tone. + +"A single traveller overtaken by night and by this pelting rain," +replied the stranger, "from which, with your kind permission, he +would fain find a temporary shelter." + +"Aha!" exclaimed the woman again, with a curious expression of extreme +and cunning caution, "dost think that these gates of mine ever turn +upon their hinges to admit any guests but those who come in their +gilt coaches,--aye, and with their running footmen and out-riders too?" + +"I doubt not what you say," replied the stranger; "but I am at this +moment acting the part of my own out-rider; I left my carriage to go +by another road, whilst I came on this way on horseback. Pray, good +madam, send down one of your people, and his inspection of my horse, +which I have used the freedom to tie up in your stable, will no doubt +satisfy you." + +"My people! ha! ha! ha!" exclaimed she laughing wildly, "you look to +be a gentleman, though, Heaven knows, looks are never to be trusted +in this deceitful world. But I will see you nearer," and having +disappeared from the window, he heard her step descending the lower +flight of the stair. After a few moments of a pause, the heavy bolts +were withdrawn, and the door was slowly opened to about one-third of +its extent. Although prepared to behold something rather extraordinary, +the gentleman was absolutely startled by the appearance of the woman +who now stood before him. He had already seen her countenance, but +now he could perceive that her hair was exceedingly long and untamed, +and whilst the greater part of it was white or grizzled, as if from +premature failure, it still contained what, if properly dressed, might +have been called tresses of the most beautiful glossy black, and the +strange effect of this unnatural intermixture of the livery of youth +and of age, was heightened by the wild combination of such fantastical +wreaths of heather and sea-weed, mingled with, sea-birds' feathers, +as insanity is usually so fond of adopting by way of finery. Her arms +were bare to the shoulders, and her bust was but imperfectly covered by +a coarse canvas shirt. A red flannel petticoat that descended to her +knees, and which was confined at the waist by a broad leathern belt, +was the only other piece of drapery that she wore. She stood before +the stranger exhibiting the wrecks of a form of the most exquisite +mould, and her whole appearance betraying the fact, that whatever +the soul that animated it might have once been, its reason was now +obscured by the darkness arising from confirmed derangement. + +"Enter my castle, sweet sir!" said the maniac in a gentle and +subdued voice, and at the same time courtseying with a grace which +might have better befitted the attire of a court than that which +she wore. "Enter my castle, and I will speedily usher you up to the +grand banqueting-room. But stay," added she, with a sudden and wild +change of manner, after he had obeyed her invitation, "I must make +my gates secure against the wretches, they might find me out even +here. Bolt! bolt! bolt! there my brave bolts," she continued, changing +her speech into a chant, as if addressing them in incantation,-- + + + "Keep your wards, + Be faithful guards,-- + And you, master-key, + Great warden shall be; + To defend me from force and from traitorie." + + +"Come along, sir," continued she, again changing to a wild mood; +"this way--I have a pride and a pleasure in personally attending +on so distinguished a guest, as your whole appearance and manners +declare you to be." + +The gentleman followed his conductress up the half-ruined screw stair, +which here and there exhibited fearful chasms, from the entire absence +of two or three successive steps, over which she skipped without +the least hesitation, whilst he was obliged to thrust his nails into +the crevices of the wall to hoist himself over the difficulty. But +after he had ascended two flights, he came to a landing-place where +there was a doorway entering into that large hall, from which he had +first heard the voice of the maniac. Into this she led the way, and +as he was about to follow her, you may imagine his astonishment when +I tell you he discovered that the whole flooring was gone except the +bare oaken beams, and the apartments below being in the same state, +his eyes stretched uninterruptedly downwards till vision was lost in +the impenetrable darkness of the dungeons below. But his conductress +hesitated not a moment, and went onwards from beam to beam, with +as much indifference as she would have walked across a paved court, +until she gained the great hearth, which, with a small portion of the +planking in its vicinity, was still entire, and where a fire of wood +was burning under the huge projecting chimney. + +"Come, sir," said the maniac, smiling courteously, "never mind your +wet boots; don't stand upon ceremony, I pray you, your long ride and +the state of the weather are sufficient apologies. Here is a seat by +the fire for you." + +She then busied herself in placing an old rotten-looking chair, which +appeared to have once had a back, and which seemed to have belonged +to the castle in its better days, whilst she seated herself on an +opposite stool, and began to arrange her head-gear, to run her taper +fingers, with, nails on them like eagle's talons, through her long +hair, and to twist it round into certain curls that had now probably +become natural from the art and care which had once been bestowed +upon them. Meanwhile, the stranger, after bracing up his nerves and +steadying his head, and balancing his person, with some difficulty +and hazard accomplished the perilous passage. + +"You must be hungry, sir, after your ride," said the maniac, in the +same mild tone. "I was about to sup when you came in. Perhaps you +will have no objections to join me." And then suddenly changing in +her tone, and bursting into an uncouth laugh, as she looked into a +pot that hung simmering over the fire--"Ha!--ha!--ha!--hah!--see!--the +water has boiled well. The lightning has helped to do that for me. I +am the favoured one! The very elements are my cooks! Hah! did you see +where it came again? flash--zigzag--zigzag. Now 'tis time to mix the +pudding," and, thrusting her hand into a large square hole in the wall, +she dragged out, first a bag of oatmeal, and then a small wooden vessel +full of salt, and with an earnestness which for the time absorbed her +attention from everything else, she proceeded to put the ingredients +into the pot, and to stir them about with a large wooden spoon. + +"Now for my silver dish!" said she again, as she pulled forth a pewter +basin from the same recess in the wall. "Well is it for me that my +gates are watched and warded, else would robbers soon carry off this +rare treasure of my castle. See here now--ha! ha! ha! let us begin the +feast." And as she said so, she filled the pewter basin from the pot, +by means of the wooden spoon, and set it between them on an old box +turned upside down, and drawing forth a couple of pewter spoons from +her curious cupboard, she handed one to the stranger. + +"Hah!" said she sternly, as she broke into a more violent state of +excitement than she had hitherto exhibited, "do you see that mark?" And +as she said this, she drew with her forefinger a line of division +across the surface of the mess that stood between them--"That's your +half and this is mine: so take care what you do, for I'll have no +foul play--men can cheat!--but I'm hungry, and I must have my food; +so see to it that you eat no more than what is your own." + +The mind of the traveller was too much filled with this strange and +distressing scene to admit of his appetite leading him to infringe on +the rule thus prescribed to him, even if the food itself had been much +more inviting than it really was; on the contrary, he had hardly eat +a third part of his way up to the boundary line, when he found that +his hostess had scrupulously given it a straight edge upon her side. + +"Come!" said she, in an angry tone of voice, quite different from +any she had hitherto used; "eat up your share! do you think I want +it? Come, there is no poison in it. Come! come!" + +"I do, I do," said the gentleman, pretending to eat; and every now +and then contriving to throw unobserved a large spoonful down between +the beams; until, partly by eating, and partly by this occasional +manoeuvre, he at last succeeded in emptying the dish. + +"Now, sir!" said the maniac, resuming all the quiet and decorous +demeanour of a well-bred woman, "a little gentle exercise after supper +conduces to good repose. I shall be happy to give you my hand for +a minuet." + +Pushing back the seats they had occupied, she seized the stranger's +hand, and took her position beside him on the hearth. He offered no +opposition to her proposal; and she immediately began to sing with +great brilliancy and effect that minuet so well known to our grandsires +and grandmothers under the name of the Minuet de la Cour. Following +the example of his entertainer, the gentleman was obliged to make his +preliminary bows corresponding to her preliminary courtesies; and had +any eye looked upon the couple as they were thus employed, it might +have been naturally enough supposed that he danced with some handsome +lady of quality disguised in a fancy dress, so perfectly did the grace +of her attitudes assimilate themselves to the various movements of the +minuet. But the gentleman had not altogether calculated the nature of +his present undertaking. The spot of terra firma on which the dance +commenced was by no means large enough for the extent of one-tenth +part of the figure of the minuet; and a less bold man than he would +have felt anything but tranquillity of mind, when his insane partner, +giving him her hand, glided with him over the beams, amidst the half +light that proceeded from the decaying embers, like some spirit from +the other world. But if this was alarming, what were his feelings, +when, after the slow part of the minuet was over, she began to carol +the sprightly gavot which follows it, with a clear voice, that made +the lofty vaulted roof ring again, whilst she darted off and called +to him to follow. So, indeed, he found himself compelled to do; but +whilst he, at the risk of his life, contented himself with keeping +up something like a semblance of the figure, he was astonished and +appalled to see his partner go through the whole dance with all that +activity which might have been exhibited on a common floor by the +ablest professional dancer. Though he felt not for himself, his hair +actually stood on end as he looked with trembling on her, whom he +expected every moment to see disappear from his eyes into that abyss +of darkness that lay below; and great was his relief from anxiety when +the dance was at last terminated on the hearthstone where it began. + +"And now, gentle sir," said the maniac, "you are doubtless well +prepared for your night's repose after this healthful exercise. Let +me see that your sleeping apartment is ready." + +Had the roaring elements without permitted the stranger to have again +ventured abroad, he saw that he could not have possessed himself of +the keys of the outer door without the employment of force, which +his feeling heart never could have allowed him to have attempted. He +therefore sat patiently waiting until his hostess crossed the beams, +and went into a small stone closet opening in the wall, whence she +speedily returned, and lifting a lighted brand of bog-fir from the +fire, she presented it to him with the same air as if she had been +putting a silver candlestick, with a wax candle in it, into his hand; +and taking up another for herself, she, with all the delicacy of +the most refined lady, wished him a good night, and retired into +a room on the other side of the hall similar to that which she had +indicated to him. Before retreating to his dormitory, the gentleman +took the precaution to rake the fire together, and to add to it one +or two pieces of wood, which were piled up in the chimney near it, +so as to keep up a certain degree of light in the place. He then +moved across the beams to the stone closet, where he found a heap +of ferns nicely spread over heather, and putting his cloak on, which +had by this time become tolerably dry, he lay quietly down to try to +procure a little repose. + +He had not lain long until he was awakened by several rats running over +him, and on looking out at the open door which gave him a view into +the large apartment, he beheld swarms of these creatures gambolling +about on the beams. Whilst he was lying watching their motions, +he was surprised to perceive his hostess crawling silently forth +on hands and knees from the small place she had occupied. Suddenly +she sprang upon the rats with all the agility of a cat, flew after +them hither and thither, with wild and frantic yells, leaping at the +walls in such a manner that she absolutely seemed to scramble up a +portion of their height in the eagerness of her pursuit. The chase +lasted until all the rats had disappeared, but ere it terminated, +several of them had fallen victims to her wonderful expertness in +capturing them. Proceeding then to the hearth, she seated herself on +the stool by the fire, in a state of great excitement, and inserting +her long nails into them, she stripped off their skins one after the +other with inconceivable expedition, and as she did so, she rose up +from time to time and suspended the bleeding reptiles on tenter-hooks +on one side of the chimney among many others which the stranger had +not till then observed, whilst she attached their skins to a similar +set of hooks on the other side of the fire, amongst a corresponding +number of trophies of the same kind. + +"This is for my winter beef," said she in a wild soliloquy, "and this +is for my winter cloak!" This she repeated as every new occasion +required, till all were stowed away. After which the furious fit +seemed to subside; and soon afterwards she retired to her bed, where +she lay so quiet as to give no more disturbance to her stranger guest, +till both were roused by the early dawn. + +The morning was a smiling one, and as if she had partaken of its +peaceful nature, she was again in one of her gentle lady-like humours. + +"Will you walk, sweet sir?" said she to her guest, with a profound +courtesy. "Will you walk forth to see the morning sun kissing the +opening flowers and drinking up the dewdrops from their lips? This +way," continued she, as she ushered him down the broken stair, and +silently opened the locks and bolts of the outer door. + +"I thank you most sincerely for your hospitality, Madam," said the +traveller to her whilst she was carefully locking the door behind +her. "I must now bid you farewell. I see my horse has had the good +sense to break out from his stable during the night to feed on yonder +rich bank of grass, so that he must be well enough refreshed by this +time to be able to finish my journey." + +"What," exclaimed the maniac with a sudden transition to her highest +pitch of excitement, and with great rapidity of utterance, "are you +going to leave me too? Did you not come to this my castle to woo me for +your bride? And are you going to leave me too? But I forget, I forget," +continued she, sinking into a low thoughtful tone of feeling, whilst +tears came rushing to her eyes and rolled down her cheeks. "I must +not forget that I am pledged in my own mind. There was but one that +ever truly loved me, and him I lost by being true to a base deceiver." + +"What said you?" exclaimed the stranger with intense interest. + +"I say that men are deceivers!" cried she with her wildest tone and +gesture; and then becoming gradually calm, she went on singing with +great pathos,-- + + + "Sigh no more ladies, + Ladies sigh no more, + Men were deceivers ever, + Men were deceivers ever, + One foot on sea and one on shore---- + + +Yes! yes! on sea!--how many vows did that false man of the sea +utter! and how cruelly did he break them on shore!" + +"What do I hear?" exclaimed the gentleman. "The very song! the very +song we so often sang in duet together at Calcutta!" + +"Calcutta!" cried the maniac, earnestly seizing his wrist, and in a +tone of deep feeling; "yes, I sang that song often at Calcutta with +one who tenderly loved me. How often do I think on that!" + +"Merciful powers!" cried the stranger, as he suddenly observed a +small Indian wrought ring on the little finger of that hand by which +she had for a moment held his; "by all that is wonderful, it is the +ring! the very ring! Let me see that ring!" + +"No!" said the maniac, in a high, haughty, and determined manner; +"it shall never be touched by you nor any one else. He gave it to +me--I have worn it--I have preserved it through all my miserable +sufferings, and it shall go with me," added she, fervently kissing it; +"it shall go with me to my cold cold grave." + +"Stop, stop!" cried the gentleman, as she was turning away from him; +"avoid me not! I am he who gave it you!" + +"You!" cried she, stopping suddenly in her retreat, drawing herself +up to her full height, and looking back upon him with an air of the +most sovereign contempt; "you Charles Græme!--Ha! ha! ha! ha!--you +Charles Græme!--His face was fair, and with the expression of an angel; +yours is sallow, withered, and wrinkled, like that of a baboon--his +hair was lovely as the beams of the morning sun; yours is white, as +the eternal snow of the Himala--his form was like that of the Grecian +Apollo; yours is like that of winter. Go, traitorous man! I have had +enough of falsehood! Come not near me! Chirsty Ross will wed no one +now but Charles Græme or the grave!" + +In an instant she darted from his sight, before he was aware of +her intention, and she disappeared among the ruins. In the wildest +state of agitation he rushed after her. He thought he heard a faint +shriek, but he vainly sought her with unremitting solicitude for some +hours. Believing at length that she must have got into the interior +of the building by some secret passage known only to herself, he +unwillingly gave up his search, and the sea having now ebbed, and the +flood in the river having somewhat subsided, he mounted his horse, +with some difficulty crossed the ford, and, oppressed with sorrowful +thoughts, he slowly made his way to the castle of his noble friend, +to whom he confided his sad tale. From him he learned much that was +new to him. A cambric handkerchief, embroidered with Chirsty's story, +had found its way to her friends, who, after many difficulties, +succeeded in rescuing her from her confinement. But alas! they found +her not till her sufferings had rendered her a confirmed maniac. For +a time she felt soothed by the kindness shown her by her afflicted +parents; and during the short time they lived, she amused herself by +wandering harmlessly about the scenes of her childhood. But when her +father and mother were both dead, and all her other relatives being +likewise gone or removed, she abandoned her home and took up her abode +in the ruinous building, of which she was for the most part left in +undisturbed possession. Such was the melancholy outline of her history. + +But Charles Græme was too feelingly alive to her unhappy situation to +delay one moment in attempting to find her, that he might spend the +remainder of his life in watching over and protecting her. Next day, +therefore, assisted by his friend's people, he made his way into the +ruins, and sought every part of them. But he sought in vain. Everything +remained as when he had left them on the previous morning, and although +the door was locked, the bolts on the inside were not fastened, +showing that the wretched inhabitant had not returned. + +But the mystery was cleared up towards mid-day by a fisherman, who, +as he was landing from his boat, found her lifeless body on the sands, +where it had been left by the receding tide. The supposition was +that she had been drowned in attempting to ford the swollen river, +immediately after the scene of her parting with Charles Græme. + + + + + + + + +COMPLIMENTARY CRITICISM. + + +Dominie.--'Pon my word, Mr. Clifford, you have given us good measure +indeed; and of ane excellent faybric, too. As I shall answer, we are +well on with the small hours. + +Grant (pulling out his watch)--Is it possible? I declare I thought +that it had been only about ten o'clock. Why, it is a good hour and +a half after midnight. + +Clifford.--I was resolved to reel you out a good long line while I was +about it. I thought that it was but fair to give Mr. Macpherson an +opportunity of being even with me, by enjoying as good a slumber as +I had last night, but his politeness was proof against the soporific +influence of my tale. + +Dominie.--Your tale would have been as good as an umberella against +all the drowsy drops that ever were shaken from the bough of Morpheus +himself. + +Author.--Perhaps it might; but now that the umbrella is taken down, the +dewy balm of the god begins to descend very heavily upon my eyelids. + +Grant.--Come, then, let us to bed. + +The next morning's sun found us all later in bed than usual. After +breakfast we left the village, and winding down through the forest +of tall pines that lies between it and the river, and crossing the +ancient bridge, we left the Spey behind us, and climbed the old +military mountain road that leads towards Tomantoul. + +Clifford (stopping and looking back over the valley)--What a grand +Highland prospect! + +Grant.--How proudly the grim old castle domineers over the extended +forests, and the country of which it is the lord paramount! Let us sit +down on this green bank of velvet grass, and enjoy the view. See how +happily that single touch of bright light falls on the Cumin's tower. + +Clifford.--Well thought off. Talking of the Cumins, we must not +allow you to leave us, Mr. Macpherson, without telling us the story +of Gibbon More, to which you alluded at Castle Grant. + +Dominie.--I must tell it to you now then, gentlemen; for I grieve +to say that I must part from you at the top of the hill a little +way farther on. So, if you have a mind to sit down and enjoy this +refreshing breeze for a little time, I shall give you the legend in +as few words as I can. + + + + + + + + +LEGEND OF GIBBON MORE CUMIN AND HIS DAUGHTER BIGLA. + + +If you will be pleased to remember, gentlemen, I already told you, +that previous to the fourteenth century the whole of Strathspey +was subjeck to that great clan or nation the Cumins. It was about +that period, as I informed you, that the Grants, from Glen Urquhart, +were, by royal favour, enabled to possess themselves of Freuchie,--a +place of strength, so called from a certain heathery hillock near to +which it stood. The Cumin's tower was probably part of that original +building which, in the course of generations, has grown up into that +great baronial pile which we now behold yonder. It is natural to +imagine that the Cumins could not possibly regard this alienation of +the property of their clan without its begetting their hatred against +those who benefited by it, though they dared not always to show it +by open deeds of violence. Their submission, however, was by no means +owing to their weakness, for, notwithstanding that the Grants thus got +a footing in this country, so powerful did the Cumins continue for +a while, that many were the strangers that came from other clans to +reside among them for protection, as was not uncommon in that olden +time of trouble; these fugitives changed their own names for that of +the people among whom they had thus found a safe retreat. But they +were never admitted to a full participation in all the rights of the +clan Cuminich, without submitting to undergo a very odd sort of an +irreverential baptism, altogether worthy of the iron age in which it +was practeesed. + +Gilbert Cumin, Lord of Glenchearnich, as that country, watered by the +river Dulnan, was denominated, was usually called Gibbon More, from +his enormous size and strength. His chief residence was at Kincherdie, +on the north-western bank of the Spey, on the brink of the river, +just where there is now a ferry across to Gartenmore, the vurra place, +sir, where, as you have recorded in your book of "The Floods," the +worthy Mrs. Cameron made her miraculous voyage upon a brander. The old +chronicler tells us, that the house stood on a green moat, fenced by a +ditch, the vestiges of which are yet to be seen. A current tradition +beareth, that at night a salmon net was cast into the pool below the +wall of the house, and a small rope tied to the net, and brought in +at the window, had a bell hung at it, which rung when a salmon came +in and shook the net, so that the beast was quickly transferred from +the river to the pot. What think ye of that, Mr. Clifford? + +Clifford.--Very ingenious! but foul poaching. + +Well, whilst Gibbon More Cumin flourished, the ceremony of Cumin-making +was always performed by his own hands. At the door of his castle there +stood a huge stone, which I have often myself seen when I was a boy, +and which, for ought I know, may be still in existence. It was hollowed +out in the middle like an ancient baptismal font, and, indeed, it is +by no means unlikely that it had been originally formed as such. Be +this as it may, however, Gibbon More had it always filled with water +for the refreshment of his fowls. But, besides its uniform devotion +to the truly ignoble purposes of his poultry, it was also employed +by him in the unseemly rites to which I have referred. When any of +the strangers of whom I have spoken had a desire to be metamorphosed +into a Cumin, he was brought incontinently to Kincherdie. There the +gigantic Lord of Glenchearnich, with the observance of very great +and decorous form, lifted him up, and having slowly and solemnly +reversed the natural perpendicular position of the poor sinner, +he held him up by the heels, as Thetis did her infant boy Achilles, +and having dipped his head three times amid the pollutory potation, +as I may call the hen's water that filled the hollow stone, he set +him, gasping and gaunting, upright on his legs again, telling him, +in a stately tone, henceforward to live and do like a Cumin as +he now was. But, notwithstanding this cantrip of Gibbon More's, +there was a marked distinction still preserved between those who +were Cumins by blood and those who were thus manufactured by him by +virtue of the chuckies' water, for these children of adoption and +their descendants had always the degrading addition given to them of +Cuminich clach-nan-cearc, or Cumins of the hen-trough. + +It happened, about the time I am speaking of, that young Sir John +Grant, son and heir of Sir Patrick Grant of Stratherrock, now the +Laird of Freuchie, did one evening thus hold converse with a curious +misformed waggish boy, who had no father, and who went by the familiar +name of Archy Abhach, or Archy the Dwarf. Kicked and cuffed as the +youth had been about the castle, Sir John had taken compassion on him, +and had made him his page; and the boy's gratitude and attachment +were consequently great. + +"Why look ye so sad, sir?" demanded the boy, gently approaching his +master, as he sat one evening on the battlement of the bartizan, +looking towards the setting sun, with his head resting on the +basket-hilt of his claymore, and his legs swinging about, as if he +cared not whether he should swing himself over the wall or not. "Can +poor Archy do nothing to rid thee of thy melancholy mood?" + +"Nay, boy," said the knight, kindly taking his hand, "I doubt thy +powers can scarcely reach my malady." + +"As yet thou knowest not the extent of my powers," said the boy +gravely, "nor can I show thee my remedy till thou makest me to know thy +disease. Yet, methinks, my skill is such that I might dare shrewdly +to guess at it. Hast thou not ta'en a heart-wound from a pair of +bright eyes?" + +"So far I must needs say, that, judging from this first effort of +thine, thy skill in divining is not to be questioned," said the knight. + +"I will adventure further then, and say, that the slanting beams of +yonder declining sun are now gilding the casement of thy lady-love," +said the boy Archy. + +"O Archy, Archy!" cried the knight, giving full way to his feelings, "I +have never enjoyed a moment's peace since I beheld her at Whitsuntide +at the church of Inverallan. She is an angel." + +"Granting that she be so," said the boy, "for such they tell me must, +reason or none, be yielded to all lovers--yea though the fair cause +of their madness should be little less than a devil--granting, I say, +that she be an angel, surely that should be no reason why thou shouldst +thus mope and pine, Sir Knight." + +"Thou forgettest, boy, that the hatred naturally born between a Cumin +and a Grant forbids all hope on my part," said Sir John despondingly. + +"Methinks I could bring thee an instance where this hatred hath been +exchanged for love," said the boy. + +"Where? when? with whom?" cried the knight eagerly. + +"Here--now--and with Sir John Grant towards Matilda or Bigla Cumin, +as she is called in the country here, daughter and heiress of the +big Lord of Glenchearnich," replied the boy laughing. + +"Pshaw!" cried the knight, with a disappointed air. + +"Nay, dear master," said the boy; "and if thou hast been able to get +over this natural-born antipathy, why may not Bigla Cumin have been +equally blessed by Heaven?" + +"Ah!" cried the knight again, "would it might be so!" + +"Wilt thou but give me leave to go to try what may be done?" demanded +the boy. "Be assured I shall be better than most mediciners, for if +I do no good, I shall take especial care to do no harm." + +"Kind boy, thou mayest e'en do thy best," said the knight. "I well know +thy zeal for thy master's good; but were thy powers somewhat more equal +to thy zeal, I should count more on the success of thine efforts." + +"Such as my poor powers may be, they shall be used to the utmost in +thy service, Sir Knight," said the boy. "Good night, then, so please +thee; and farewell, it may be for some time, for I go on mine errand +by to-morrow's dawn, and the better I prosper, the longer, perchance, +may be mine absence." + +"Go, and may the Blessed Virgin guide thee and give thee luck," said +the knight. "But see, boy, that thou bringest thine own person into +no peril." + +"Trust me for that," said Archy, as he disappeared from the bartizan. + +The sun of next morning had scarcely well risen, and Gibbon More +had just issued from his door to take a look at its face, that he +might judge of the coming weather, when he descried an ill-formed +dwarfish youth approaching, whose countenance, though ill-favoured, +had a certain prepossessing expression in it. + +"Whence comest thou, little man?" demanded the Lord of Glenchearnich. + +"I come from the east," said the boy readily; "my name is Archy--other +name have I none--and I would fain be a Cumin." + +"Ha! ha! ha!--a Cumin, wouldst thou?" said Gibbon laughing. "By +St. Mary, but our clan will be invincible when it shall be strengthened +by such a powerful graff as thou! Tell me, what wouldst thou be good +for, boy?" + +"I could draw a bow at a pinch," said the boy. "But I must needs +confess that I were better for the service of some gentle lady's +bower. I'd willingly be thy fair daughter the Lady Matilda's page; +and I'd serve her right faithfully." + +"If Bigla should fancy thy ugly face, I care not if she should have +thee," said Gibbon More, "for though thy countenance be homely, +it would seem to be honest." + +"Make me a Cumin, and the lady shall have no cause to complain of me," +replied the boy. + +"Thou shalt have thy wish then, boy, without further delay," said +Gibbon More; and he straightway lifted up the youth, and, with more +than ordinary gentleness, he performed the ceremony of the threefold +ablution on him. + +Archy Abhach, now converted into Archy Cumin, was speedily installed +in his new office as page to the Lady Bigla, and, in his very first +interview, he contrived to establish himself very firmly in the good +graces of his fair mistress. But what might have been considered +more wonderful, he made a no less favourable impression upon her +handmaiden, a matter which jealousy might have rendered more difficult +with any attendant of a less amiable disposition than the attached +Agnes possessed. + +"There is something more than usually interesting about that poor +friendless boy," said the lady to Agnes, after her new page had been +dismissed from her presence for a short time. + +"A most interesting youth, notwithstanding the niggardly way in +which dame Nature seems to have treated him," said Agnes archly; +"but as to his being friendless, I shrewdly suspect that he is a +rogue for making that pretence." + +"What mean you, Agnes?" demanded Bigla. + +"I mean that the varlet had no need to have come to Kincherdie to +look for protection, seeing that he hath long been the favourite of +one of the bravest young knights in all the country round," said Agnes. + +"Of whom do you speak?" demanded Bigla. + +"Of a certain Sir John Grant, son and heir of old Sir Patrick Grant of +Freuchie," replied Agnes, with an air of mock gravity; "but, perhaps, +you have never seen nor heard of the man." + +"O Agnes!" cried Bigla, energetically clasping her hands, and throwing +down her eyes and blushing deeply. + +"You have heard of him, then, lady?" said Agnes. + +"A truce to your raillery," said Bigla seriously, "and tell me quickly +all you know or guess of this matter." + +"Why, all I know of the matter is simply this," said Agnes, in the +same tone, "last Whitsuntide the Lady Bigla Cumin saw, for the first +time, the handsome young knight, Sir John Grant of Freuchie, at the +church of Inverallan. The knight, with becoming gallantry, stepped +gracefully forward and lifted the lady to her saddle, sighing deeply +as he resigned the precious load to her prancing palfrey. The lady's +bower damsel, the quick-sighted Agnes Cumin, soon perceived that the +said knight and lady had made a mutual impression on each other. With +her wonted acuteness and ingenuity, the said damsel soon extracted the +truth from the said lady; and seeing that a misformed imp of a page, +then in attendance on the said knight, hath now, without any apparent +cause, left so good a master in order to undergo the ceremony of being +baptized as a Cumin in the nauseous hen-trough, the said acute damsel +ventures readily to pronounce that the flame burns as brightly and +warmly at Freuchie as it does in my lady's bower at Kincherdie--that +is all." + +"But what can Sir John Grant mean by all this?" demanded Bigla, +blushing more deeply than ever. + +"To seek and secure an interview to be sure," replied Agnes; "but I +shall soon know what he would be at," continued she. "I shall soon +be at the bottom of it all." + +Without giving the Lady Bigla time to reply, the prompt and decided +Agnes hurried away to hold converse with the page. Meeting, as they +did, like two sharp flints, they were not long in striking fire +enough to throw light upon the matter. Having mutually made one +another fully aware of the position of affairs on both sides, they, +without further hesitation, proceeded, like two able plenipotentiaries, +to arrange plans for the future; and it was finally agreed between +them, without further ceremony, that the high contracting parties +should meet in person, on the ensuing evening, in the bourtree bower, +at the lower end of the garden, beyond the rampart, and the page was +forthwith despatched on a secret mission to the knight to inform him +immediately of this so happy an arrangement. + +"Blessed Virgin, what hast thou done, Agnes!" cried Bigla Cumin, +ere she had well heard her maid to an end; and hiding her crimsoned +face with both her hands, "What will Sir John Grant think of me?" + +"He will call you an angel, as Archy tells me he has already done," +said Agnes coolly. + +"Nay, nay, but this must not be!" said Bigla, starting from her +chair. "Run, Agnes, and stop the boy from going on this most foolish +and imprudent errand." + +"Stop him," said Agnes. "You might as well ask me to stop Black +Peter's arrow after it has left his bowstring. The boy is half way +to Freuchie by this time. He knows too well how warmly his news will +be received to allow the grass to grow at his heels." + +"What will my father say to this strange arrangement, if it should +come to his knowledge?" cried Bigla, "to meet as a lover the son of the +head of the very house with which we have ever held so great enmity." + +"In the first place, your father, good man, must know nothing about +this meeting," said Agnes. "It concerns him not; secondly, if there +hath been ill blood for so long between the two clans, the sooner +peace and friendship is re-established the better, especially after +two of the principal persons have met together in a Christian church, +as you and Sir John have done." + +"Agnes, Agnes!" cried the lady, with emotions of vexation not +altogether unmingled, it must be confessed, with certain tinglings +of a more agreeable nature, "Agnes, Agnes! thy precipitation in this +matter hath brought me into a most distressing state of perplexity. I +know not what to do." + +But before the morning's sun had well risen, the page appeared in the +lady's presence, with a perfumed billet, sealed with a flame-coloured +silk ribbon, and filled with such professions of love on the part of +Sir John Grant, as brought tenfold blushes into the lovely face of +Bigla; and so touched her young heart as to leave her without a chance +of withstanding the powerful arguments of her handmaiden Agnes, backed +up as they were by the warm descriptions of his master's sufferings, +and the earnest solicitations for her compassion on him, which were so +eloquently urged by the clever page. The result was, that, attended by +Agnes, she did go tremblingly to the trysting place at the appointed +hour--listened with a pleasure she had never felt before to all the +knight's fervent vows; and both were made so happy by their mutual +confessions, that the prudential suggestions of Agnes and Archy were +repeatedly required ere the tender separation could be effected. So +well, however, was that and several other interviews of a similar +nature planned and brought about by the two able auxiliaries, that +for a long time the easy Gibbon More had no suspicion that anything +of the sort was going on. But at length it did happen, that as Sir +John Grant was returning from one of these meeting, he was rather +unluckily encountered, not far from the house of Kincherdie, by Hector, +the confidential servant of Gibbon More. The man's suspicions were +so awakened by the circumstance of the knight being on foot, that +he scrupled not to follow him at a distance, until he saw him join +an attendant who held a couple of horses in a grove about a mile +off. Full of his discovery, Hector went directly to Gibbon More; +and there is no saying what the consequences might have been had +not the Lord of Glenchearnich been a person of a temperament almost +miraculously apathetical. So wonderful was his disposition in this +respect, indeed, that it was only after his patience had been assailed +and battered, as it were, by repeated and most provoking attacks, +that he ever could be excited at all. But then, indeed, when he was +once roused, he became on the sudden like a raging lion, and his +enormous strength and fearless courage being brought tremendously +into action by his fury, the effects were quite terrific. + +"So you think, Hector, that the young Stratherrock stripling has been +here to look after Bigla," said Gibbon, after hearing his man's story +to an end. "Hum,--ha! I did perceive that the maiden caught his eye +at the church of Inverallan on Whitsuntide. Ha, ha, ha!--to think of +a Grant being mated with her is too ridiculous. But, for all that, +I cannot blame the boy for bowing before the shrine of my daughter's +beauty. I'll warrant the young goose came over here to try to get +another peep, were it only of her robe as it might chance to sweep by +her casement. Wiser folks than he have done as foolish things; I've +done as much myself in my youth. But Bigla can know nought of this, +so there is no harm done." + +Whether Hector's renewed cautions did or did not succeed in making +his master think something more of this matter than he was thus at +first disposed to do, I cannot say; but certain it is, that the Lord +of Glenchearnich was somewhat suddenly seized with the resolution of +going some weeks earlier than he was wont, to spend the summer months +on his hill-grazing property of Delnahaitnich, near the source of +the river Dulnan. This was a most untoward event for the lovers, not +only because the distance between them was thus immensely increased, +but because Gibbon More's residence there was a small cottage, +which might be called little better than a mere shealing, [5] in or +about which it would be next to impossible for them to meet without +observation. And accordingly after this move was made, some weeks +were vainly expended in fruitless attempts on the part of Archy Abhach +to procure for his master Sir John, even the gratification of such a +distant view of the Lady Bigla's robe as her father described in his +conversation with Hector. Yet Sir John often hovered about the place, +and lay for many a night wrapped up in his plaid among the heather +of the neighbouring forest with no other shelter but a projecting +rock and the thick foliage of the firs that grew over it. Archy +Abhach was almost as much disappointed as Sir John himself at being +so baulked. His ingenuity was put to the very rack, but all without +effect; because it somehow or other happened that Gibbon More never +went from home, and so his daughter was never left for one moment +out of his sight. The knight had thus no comfort but in the frequent +letters and messages which Archy contrived to carry between the lovers, +and which they were fain to employ for want of those more interesting +interviews, of which they were now altogether deprived. + +It happened that Archy Abhach was one night sent with one of those +letters towards the place where his master Sir John Grant was lying +hid in the upper part of the forest of Dulnan, which then spread much +higher over the hills than it now does. The moon was not yet risen, +and the dense foliage overhead very much increased the darkness and +the difficulty of his way. As he was scrambling along past the narrow +mouth of a small ravine that opened on the course of the stream he +was following, he came suddenly upon two men who were seated beside +the dying embers of a fire which they seemed to have used for some +purpose of rude and hasty cookery. Curiosity led him involuntarily +to stop for a moment to observe them; but becoming instantly aware of +his imprudence in doing so, he moved quickly away, and began to run as +hard as he could. But the consequences which he dreaded were already +incurred, and he had not gone many paces when he heard footsteps +hurrying after him. He fled as fast as his legs could carry him, +but the darkness was such that he tripped and fell, and his neck was +instantly in the grasp of a powerful hand. + +"I have him fast," said a rough voice in Gaelic; "it is but a very +small boy after all. Shall I whittle his craig with my skian-dhu?" + +"Not for thy life," replied another voice in the same language. "Bring +him along with thee, that we may see what he is. Why wouldst thou +hurt the creature till we know something more about him?" + +The man who had seized Archy now threw him over his shoulder as he +would have done a dead hare, and groped his way back with him to the +ravine, where a blaze being produced by a dry bush of heather, the boy +was set down between them for examination. Archy on his part was not +slow in using his eyes also, and in a much less time than I can tell +it to you, he ran them over the bulky rough figure of the individual +who had seized him, and then as hastily surveyed the compact well +put-together active-looking person, and intelligent countenance of the +other, who seemed in every respect to be the superior. This last was +by no means strange to him, and, to the surprise of the man himself, +he immediately addressed him by his name. + +"Corrie MacDonald!" said he, "sure I am that thou wilt never hurt +any man belonging to Sir Patrick Grant of Stratherrock." + +But I must now tell you that this same Corrie MacDonald was a certain +hero who flourished in those days in Lochaber, and who made himself +dreaded all through Moray-land and its neighbouring districts by the +periodical visits of plunder which he paid to them. Amongst other +tracts of country, Strathspey and its tributary valleys were wont +to be a prominent object of his attention. He had always a large +band of followers at his command, who were equally expert in driving +away herds of cattle, and brave in beating off the owners when they +pursued with the hope of recovering them. Corrie was a reaver of +no ordinary character; for, robber though he was, he had a natural +fund of liberality and generosity about him; and he had so great +a stock of native humour in him, that he was ever ready to indulge +his waggish disposition at any expense; and no predatory expedition +had ever half so great a relish for him, as that in which he could +contrive to mix up a bit of a frolic. Many a cow and ox had Corrie +MacDonald carried away from the extensive possessions of the Lord of +Glenchearnich. But these trifling depredations never disturbed the +good temper or overcame the patience of that most extraordinary man, +the effect of whose unparalleled forbearance was to awaken in the +inquiring mind of Corrie MacDonald a certain philosophic curiosity +to ascertain by experiment to what extent it was capable of being +stretched; and he had long panted for a favourable opportunity of +bringing this investigation to a fair trial. + +"Corrie MacDonald," cried Archy Abhach, in a whining tone, "sure I +am that thou who hast never had quarrel with Sir Patrick Grant of +Stratherrock wilt never hurt any man belonging to him." + +"Thou art right," replied Corrie. "Not only shall I respect the +safety of every man belonging to Sir Patrick Grant, but I will even +respect thee, who art but a mannikin, if thou canst prove thyself to +be his. I have had peaceable passage to and fro through his grounds +on Loch Ness side for too many years to do otherwise." + +"Then look ye here," said Archy, plucking from his bosom the letter +of which he was the bearer, and straightway showing the address, +which was--To the honourable and gallant knight. Sir John Grant of +Freuchie, these, with speed. + +"That is all well," said Corrie. "But methinks, mannikin, that +this is anything but the road to Freuchie, if I know aught of this +country side." + +"My master is up in the forest, a little bit above this, waiting for +my tidings," said Archy. + +"Aha!" cried Corrie, relaxing his features into a smile, "some love +adventure, I warrant me. Awell! I am the last man to put hindrance +in the way of any such matter, especially where Sir John Grant is +concerned. Nay, I would willingly go a good way out of my road to +help him on." + +"Sayest thou so, Corrie MacDonald!" cried the urchin. "Then could I +tell thee how thou mightest lend my master thy most effectual aid, +and yet keep thine own road still, and that to thine own most abundant +profit." + +"How may that be, my small man?" demanded Corrie. "If thou canst make +thy plans clear to my conviction, thou shalt find me ready, zealous, +prompt, and decisive." + +"Thou knowest Gibbon More Cumin, lord of these broad lands of +Glenchearnich," said Archy. + +"Know him?" said Corrie with a grin. "Well do I that." + +"He is living here hard by at Delnahaitnich," continued the page. "He +keeps home so close, that no one can even have a sight of his daughter, +far less have speech of her. Couldst thou not carry away his cattle +from the forest here, so as to furnish him with a reasonably rational +object for travelling for a season?" + +"By Saint Comb, but thou hast a wit larger than the tiny proportions +of thy body might teach one to look for!" said Corrie. "The notion +is excellent. I have long wished to work that lump of dough into a +ferment. And, by Saint Mary, as the creach will be carried off from +under his very nose, I shall stir up his temper now, if it is to be +stirred up at all by mortal man. So speed to thy master, and keep +him advised to watch his time; and if I don't by and by clear the +way for him, by giving Gibbon More and his people a chase of a day +or two through the hills after me and my men, I shall wonder of it." + +"Master, master," cried Gibbon More's man Hector, as he came running +in to him next morning quite out of breath, "Corrie MacDonald has +been in the forest last night, and he has carried away every stot he +could find on this part of your lands." + +"Has the rascal taken the cows too?" demanded Gibbon coolly. + +"No--sure enough--he has not taken a single cow," replied Hector, +"I counted the cow-beasts myself, and they are all safe." + +"There was some civility in that, however," said Gibbon laughing. "The +fellow is a thief of some consideration; for if he hath left us the +cows, thou knowest, Hector, that we shall have plenty of stot beasts +by and by." + +"Ou aye, surely, sir," said Hector as he retired, very much +disappointed by the manner in which his intelligence had been received. + +Corrie was not without his spies; and the oxen were hardly well so far +over the hill, on their way to Lochaber, as to be fairly considered +beyond all reach of recovery, when he returned with some of his people +to prowl about Delnahaitnich. There he soon learned from Archy Abhach +the manner and speech with which Gibbon More had received the news +of his loss. + +"I'll try him again," said Corrie. "The fellow must be the dullest +stirk that ever was calved." + +"The cows are all gone now, master!" cried the same ill-omened +messenger, as he entered Gibbon More's apartment next morning before +he was out of bed. + +"A plague upon the plundering thief," cried Gibbon More, "has he +taken the young beasts too?" + +"No!" said the man, who was much disappointed to find that this, +his second piece of bad news, was just as unsuccessful in rousing +his master's ire as his first had been. "He has not ta'en a single +young beast, but, on my conscience, I'm thinking he has ta'en enough." + +"The villain robs by rule, I see," said Gibbon; "but since the young +beasts are safe, Hector, we shall have plenty of both cows and stots +again, anon, you know." + +Corrie MacDonald, who was curious to find out how this second loss was +to affect Gibbon, was absolutely piqued beyond endurance when he heard +of the quiet manner in which he had taken it. Withdrawing a handful +of his people from the large body of them who were then in charge of +the second prey he had taken, he lay in ambush for a third night. + +"We're altogether harried now then!" cried Hector, as he appeared +the third morning with a face like a ghost. "Every young beast upon +the place is gone." + +"What!" cried Gibbon More, starting up to hurry on his clothes in +a state of the fiercest excitement, "does the caitiff make a butt +of me? I can bear to lose my bestial, but to be played on thus by a +thieving scoundrel is more than man's patience can suffer. I'll teach +these ruffians to crack their jokes upon me! Where is my two-handed +sword?" + +"Father, father! dear father, where are ye running to?" cried his +daughter Bigla, as she met him raging out at the door like a roaring +lion. "Where are you running without your bonnet?" + +"I have no time to speak now," replied the infuriated Gibbon. "I'll +tell you all about it when I come back." + +"I fear he has gone on some rash and dangerous enterprise," said Bigla, +"run, run, Hector, and gather the people, and be after him with help +as fast as you may." + +Hector was not slow; but he must have been active indeed, if he could +have caught Gibbon More at the pace he was going. He rushed up the +steep hill in front of his dwelling, and was soon out of sight. + +Gibbon had no sooner reached the summit, than, throwing his eyes +abroad, he espied his young cattle feeding on the south side of the +hill called the Geal-charn, or the Hoary Hill; and from the smoke which +he observed curling up from a ravine at a short distance from the spot +where the animals were scattered about, he at once conjectured that +the robbers had chosen that concealment as a fit place for cooking +their morning meal. He was right in this supposition; for, judging +from his former apathy, Corrie MacDonald had not quite calculated +that this third act of depredation would lead to so speedy a pursuit. + +"What a pity it is that Gibbon More Cumin has no more beasts left in +Delnahaitnich," said Corrie MacDonald to his people, with an ironical +laugh, as they sat in a circle round the fire, devouring one of the +young beasts they had killed. + +"We need not come back here for a while, till he sends up some more +stock from Kincherdie," said one of his men. + +"We have done not that much amiss in these three turns," said +another. "I'm thinking we may be content to free him of blackmail +for a season." + +"By the beard of St. Barnabas, but we'll come back again and again, +until we drive away every beast the cowardly loon has between this +and Spey," said Corrie. "What should we do with such a lump of butter, +but keep melting at it as long as it will run." + +"Surely, surely," replied several of them. + +"It will make our broth all the fatter," said Corrie, laughing again. + +"Villains, do ye dare to laugh at me at the very moment when you +are feeding at my cost?" cried Gibbon More, rushing suddenly and +unexpectedly among them, like a raging wolf into a flock of penned +sheep. "I'll teach you to make a fool of me." + +The immense blade of his two-handed sword gleamed like a meteor in +the air, flashed in the sun, and shed lightnings into their terrified +eyes. Each of them tried to scramble to his feet as he best could; +and one or two were shorn of their heads ere they could rise from the +ground. Bonnets with heads in them fell to right and left, as I have +seen ripe apples scattered from their parent bough by a violent gust +of wind, or by the inroad of some thieving schoolboy. No one thought +of anything else but flight; and the actions of all were as quick +as their thoughts. But Gibbon More's enormous double-edged weapon +was quicker in the repetition of its sweeping cuts than even thought +itself. On he went, slashing right and left after them as they fled, +till he had strewed the ravine and the hill-side with about a dozen of +their carcases, and then, breathless and overcome with rage, haste, +and toil, he sat himself down to rest on the heather. The remainder +of the robbers were thus allowed to escape; and as he did not know +the boasting Corrie MacDonald personally, that hero contrived to get +safe away among the rest, and went home to Lochaber, somewhat less +disposed to try experiments on the temper of Gibbon More Cumin, than +he had declared himself to be before this his terrible and unlooked +for onslaught. + +Gibbon More's people, with Hector at their head, arrived too late to +share with him in the glory of his victory. But they were useful in +burying the slain. A few tumuli, which are still to be seen raising +their green heads among the heather on the southern declivity of the +Geal-charn, were thrown up by them over the dead bodies; and they then +had the satisfaction of driving home their master's young cattle in +safety to their native pasture, where the animals afterwards grew to +be cows and oxen, entirely free from any further alarm from Corrie +MacDonald. + +I need not say that the sharp-witted page took good care that his +master should profit by the temporary absence of Gibbon More. Sir John +Grant was at the cottage immediately after the Lord of Glenchearnich +had left it. But the knight had little advantage after all from an +adventure which had cost Corrie MacDonald so dear. He had indeed +the satisfaction of again beholding and conversing with Bigla; +but, filled as she was at the time with alarm and anxiety about +her father's safety, she could talk about or listen to no other +subject. The time of the Lord of Glenchearnich's absence fled like +a short dream. His anticipated travel of a few days had, by his own +extraordinary activity and courage, been reduced to a few short hours, +and the wary and watchful page had barely time to warn his master away, +ere Gibbon More's voice was heard calling to his people, as he returned +to the house begrimed with the blood and soil of his recent conflict. + +But Sir John's more frequent opportunities of meeting with Bigla were +soon afterwards again happily renewed by the return of Gibbon More to +Kincherdie; and, by the ingenuity of the page, these stolen interviews +passed over undiscovered even by the lynx-eyed Hector, whose energies +were by this time somewhat diverted from their wonted watchfulness, +by a certain newborn affection which had recently possessed his bosom +for the fair maid Agnes. + +It happened on one occasion that Gibbon More chanced to go to a fair +or market at Inverness. The streets were crowded with people, as well +as with horses, cows, and oxen of all sorts. There might have been +observed the eagle-winged bonnet of the chief, followed by his tail of +clansmen and dependants; and chieftains were seen promiscuously mingled +with cattle-boys, gillies, and serfs of every degree and denomination, +thronging the public way. Many were the friendly salutations, and +many the flashes of hostile defiance that passed among the various +personages who, coming from distant parts of the country, chanced on +that day to meet each other. Often was the authority of the provost, +the bailies, the sheriff, and other officials called into operation +to quell embryo quarrels, and sometimes it was all that the united +forces of these public functionaries could do to keep the restless +and bloodthirsty dirks and claymores in their sheaths. Rarely +did the mantled and well-wimpled damsels venture forth amidst the +complication of dangers that were to be encountered at every step +from the prevalence of those quarrels, as well as from the horns of +the cattle and the heels of the horses. They contented themselves +with saluting their friends from their open lattices; and many were +the warm though distant acknowledgments that took place between the +young and the fair ladies, who, whilst they were ostensibly occupied +in gazing at the marvels in the street,--at the jesters and mummers +who jingled their bells, or grinned with their painted faces, and +trolled their rude and threadbare rhymes to ditties as unpolished, the +pretty creatures were in reality altogether overlooking these vulgar +absurdities, and were holding interesting conversations by signals, +only known to themselves, with their handsome Highland lovers in +the street. + +Bigla Cumin was an heiress of consequence, but she was moreover very +beautiful, so that many were the eyes that sought her as she sat at +a lofty balcony in the house of a burgher friend of her father's, +and not a few were those who endeavoured, and endeavoured in vain, +to obtain one glance of recognition from her. I do not mean to say, +however, that the lass was haughty, but she bore herself with the +modesty befitting her years and her sex. There was but one on whom she +did vouchsafe to look with an eye of yespecial favour, and that was +Sir John Grant. Her heart beat in double time when he and his father, +Sir Patrick the Lord of Stratherrock, passed by in their gay red and +green tartan, which, except in its broad blue lysts and in its want +of those pure white sprainges which enliven that of the Cumin, had so +general a resemblance to it, that at a little distance they might have +been easily mistaken for each other. When the rays from her bright +eyes shot across the street in a condescending smile in return for +the more than merely courteous reverence which he made to her, their +sunshine was concentrated, if I may so express myself, as if it had +been met by the burning glasses of that most wonderful man Archimedes, +and it was returned to her in one melting focus of adoration. + +"Angel that she is!" said Sir John to his father. + +"She is an angel, indeed, boy!" replied the elder knight; "and, +moreover, there be angels enow in her father's coffers, not to mention +those broad acres of his which would give to the Grants so pretty +a little principality in Strathspey. Stick to her, boy! She is well +worth the winning." + +"Would I could but have an interview with her, freed from all chance of +interruption from her old father!" said Sir John in a tone of vexation. + +"Trust to me, dear master," said Archy Abhach in a whisper, as at +that moment he plucked the knight's sleeve. "Watch well thy time! I +have seen some one in the town here to-day who will be right willing +to lend thee a helping hand." + +Gibbon More was not wont to go without the following of a chieftain +on such occasions as this; and he generally bore his portly person +over the crown of the causeway with a dignity which, when at home, he +laid aside with his best bonnet, doublet, and plaid. The recognition +between him and his new neighbour, as he called him, was remarkably +warm and friendly on the part of Sir Patrick Grant, and very stately +and condescending on his own side. His eyes were offended at the sight +of the two Grants and their followers, and he sought relief from them +in looking at a beautiful black palfrey which a West Highland gilly +was leading down the street. The prancing, the caracoling, and the +menage of the animal showed that it had been bred of the gentlest +Arabian blood in some far away English pasture. + +"Ho!" cried Gibbon, stopping the man. "Who is the owner of that +beautiful creature?" + +"I am the owner, sir," replied a sharp-eyed little man, right well +accoutred both as to his arms and garb, but having no remarkable +signs of any great rank about him. + +"Are you for parting with the pretty creature?" inquired Gibbon More. + +"I should not care much to part with him to a good customer," replied +the other. + +"Is he young, gentle, sound, and sure-footed?" demanded Gibbon. + +"I'll answer all your questions by and by," replied the West +Highlander, "if you will only do me the favour to satisfy me as to +one point." + +"What is that?" asked Gibbon More. + +"Will you tell me what part of the country you come from?" + +"From Strathspey, to be sure," replied Gibbon. + +"I guessed as much," said the other. "I see, moreover, from the set +of your tartan that you are a Cumin, and by your attire, bearing, +and following, I can guess that you are a gentleman of some note. Do +you happen to know Gibbon More Cumin of your country?" + +"Know Gibbon More Cumin!" cried he, laughing good humouredly; "if +I know anyone, I should know him, seeing that he always lives in +the house with me, and that we never eat a meal asunder. I love him +better than a brother. But not to keep you any longer in doubt--I am +Gibbon More Cumin!" + +"I am truly glad to see you," said the West Highlander, seizing his +hand and shaking it heartily. "You are the man, of all others alive, +to whom I am most obliged." + +"Ha, friend!" replied Gibbon, looking hard and seriously at him, +"I cannot say that I recollect having ever seen you before; how then +have I happened so to have obliged you?" + +"Well!" said the other, "if you cannot remember that you ever saw me +before, the greater was your kindness to me--unsight unseen, as we +say. It is not every man that keeps such an easy reckoning as you do +of the benefits for which his friends are indebted to him." + +"But what benefit have you had from me?" demanded Gibbon. + +"I'll tell you that," said the West Highlander. "I'll tell you that +in a moment. You see, I have no less than three strapping lasses of +daughters. I have married all the three, and to each one of them I +gave a tocher which you provided." + +"Tut!" cried Gibbon laughing, "the man is demented. When did I ever +give a tocher to daughter of yours? By St. Mungo, I have a strapping +lass of a daughter of my own to portion. I have little ado therefore +to portion those of other people." + +"What I say is nevertheless true," replied the other. "And so sensible +am I of the obligations I owe to you, that by way of a small return, +and to show my gratitude, I must ask of you, as a favour, to accept +of this horse of mine as a present for your daughter; and if you will +go to the inn with me, I shall be happy to give you a pint of French +Claret, if such be to be had in the town, to drink good luck to the +young lady and her new palfrey." + +"As I am a Cumin you are an honest fellow!" cried Gibbon More, +shaking him again heartily by the hand. "But I prythee explain--I +cannot accept either your present or your wine till you tell me who +you are, and until you expound your riddle to me." + +"I am not sure how far I am safe to do that," said the other archly, +"especially here, on the High Street of Inverness; and you standing +there with so many pretty men at your back." + +"If I have done you kindnesses heretofore," said Gibbon, "what fear can +you have of me now, stand where I will, or let me be backed as I may?" + +"Why, then, you see," said the other, with a certain degree of +comical hesitation, "I must confess that I did, on one occasion, +presume somewhat too far on your liberality, and in your anger you +gave me such a fright, that I am not sure that I have just altogether +got the better of it yet." + +"Ha! ha! ha! why, you give me more riddles every time you open your +mouth," replied Gibbon. "When did I ever give you a fright?" + +"Ou! troth sudden and terrible was the fright you gave me!" said the +man, "and surely after tochering of three daughters, each of them +with twelve beautiful milch cows and a bull, all of which came from +your pastures, I should have been contented. But I'm thinking that if +I was a small thing over greedy, the fright I got from Gibbon More's +two-handed sword, as it flashed behind me on the Geal Charn, was enough +to put all greed out of my head, so far at least as he was concerned." + +"Hoo!" exclaimed Gibbon with a long whistle, "ha! ha! ha! Corrie +MacDonald! as I am a Cumin, you are a most merry conditioned rogue +as ever I met with! Your hand again! I accept your handsome present, +and I will go drink your pot of wine with you, with all my heart, +to my daughter's health, and to a better acquaintance between you and +me. Ha! ha! ha! By St. Mary, but I am sorry now that I killed your men +and so grievously frightened yourself. But, though the poor fellows +are past all hope of recovery now, I am resolved that your dread of +me shall be drowned in your own flagon. Lead on then, my brave fellow, +to your hostel." + +Gibbon More had too much enjoyment in this unexpected meeting and +merry-making to allow it to terminate very soon; but Bigla Cumin was +in some degree recompensed for the tedious time she had to tarry for +her father by the long interview which she enjoyed with Sir John +Grant, as well as by the sight of the beautiful prancing palfrey, +which was led out for her to ride home upon. + +It was not very long after this occurrence that poor Gibbon More Cumin +was seized with a sudden malady, of which he died after a few days' +illness, and he was carried by his friends and dependants to be laid +to sleep in the tomb of his fathers. Jealous of the Grants even in +his dying moments, he left Bigla, his orphan daughter and heiress, +under the guardianship of some of the chieftains of his own clan, +with earnest injunctions above all things to "keep her out of the +fremyt [6] hands of Freuchie." + +There was no one more anxious to fulfil this dying order of Gibbon's +than one of the Cumins, who at that time possessed Logie, which, in +later times, became the patrimonial property of that more recent branch +whence proceeded the worthy family which is now so designated. This +gentleman had been for some time one of Bigla's suitors; and his +pretensions had been always favourably looked upon by her father. The +days of mourning for the old man were not yet expired, when Logie came +to Kincherdie, gaily apparelled, and well appointed and attended, +and urging the authority of a father's dying wish, he signified to +Bigla his desire of taking her with him on the ensuing day to his +residence on the banks of the river Findhorn, where, as his guest, +and under the protection of his aged mother, she should find a safe +and comfortable asylum. Though satisfied that there was more of the +warmth of the lover in the language in which this invitation was +conveyed, than altogether befitted the character of a guardian, yet +the young maiden, in her present lonely state, could not well find +any reasonable excuse for refusal, and accordingly she was compelled, +however unwillingly, to accept his offer, and she issued orders to +her people to prepare for the journey. + +The prospect of so soon leaving that home where she had spent her whole +life under the fostering care of her doting father, filled her heart +with a double portion of sorrow; and after artlessly communicating her +feelings to Logie and his friends, she craved their pardon, entreated +them to entertain one another, and to make themselves at home, and +then she sought the retirement of her chamber, where she spent the +remainder of the day, and the greater part of the evening, in giving +way to that affliction which had more than one exciting cause. + +"My dear mistress," said her faithful maid Agnes Cumin, breaking +in upon her as she sat in silent abstraction, with her moist cheek +resting upon her hand, "why should you cry your eyes out thus? The +night is soft and balmy, a little fresh air would do you good. Do let +me throw this plaid over you, and be persuaded to step out a little, +were it only as far beyond the walls as the bourtree bower at the +lower end of the garden." + +"I cannot, my good Aggy," replied Bigla, with a fresh flood of tears; +"in sooth I have no heart." + +"Come! be persuaded to try the air," said Agnes. "Who knows what sighs +and tears may be at this moment idly fanning the leaves and watering +the rosebuds of your own bonny bower." + +"What say you?" cried Bigla, starting up with a suddenly acquired +energy. "What say you, Aggy? is he in the arbour?" + +"Hush, my lady!" said the cautious girl, "he is there; and from his +tears and sighs I should judge that his heart is well attuned to +thine at this moment." + +"Let me fly to him!" exclaimed Bigla, "the moments are most precious;" +and throwing her plaid hastily around her, she stole out beyond the +barbican; and, having reached the garden, she ran on tiptoe to the +simple elder-bush bower at the farther end of it, leaving Archy Abhach +to keep watch against intrusion. + +The scene between Bigla and her lover was tender and melting. For a +time they did little else than weep and sigh together. + +"Aggy tells me that you go with Logie to-morrow," said Sir John at +last. "How could you suffer yourself to be persuaded to agree to any +such arrangement?" + +"It was with no good will that I did so," replied Bigla; "but as +Logie was armed with my dear departed father's delegated authority, +and as his proposal was backed by a parent's dying wish, I could not +withstand his request." + +"Holy Mother, then art thou lost to me for ever!" cried Sir John +passionately. "Canst thou thus coolly resolve, even for such a cause, +to throw thyself into the very jaws of those from whom I can never +hope to reclaim thee but by force of arms!" + +"Force of arms!" said Bigla. "I question much whether any force +of arms from the Grants could prevail against the men of my clan, +who will have the keeping of me. But fear not, for the time is not +far distant when the law will give me guidance of mine own affairs; +then mayest thou reclaim me from myself with full assurance of a +ready compliance on my part." + +"But what if these clansmen of thine should basely coerce thee to +a hated union with one of themselves?--with Logie, for instance, +who is old enough to be thy father!" + +"I have no such fears," replied Bigla. + +"By the rood, but I have!" cried Sir John hurriedly. "You forget the +old saying,--Whilst there are leaves in the forest there--a--a--a"---- + +"Nay," said Bigla playfully, "do finish your proverb, Sir +Knight. Whilst there are leaves in the forest there will be guile in +a Cumin. Did your worship mean that as a compliment to me, or do you +forget that I, too, am a Cumin?" + +"Nay, nay, nay! my dearest Bigla, you are truth itself," replied Sir +John eagerly. "Pardon me, my love, for quoting this old saw; but, +seriously, you are too valuable, too tempting a prize to be risked +in any hands but--but--but"---- + +"But yours, as I presume thou wouldst say, good Sir Knight," replied +Bigla, interrupting him in the same playful tone. + +"Thou hast said it, angel of my life!" exclaimed Sir John, rapturously +kissing her hand. "I can and will resign thee to no one! Thou art my +pledged, mine affianced bride!" + +"I am, I am, indeed I am," said Bigla tenderly. + +"Then why shouldst thou put our mutual happiness to peril?" cried +Sir John. "Why not secure it by flying with me this moment? My horses +and people are within a whistle of where we now are, and in half an +hour's riding or so we shall be safe within the walls of Castle Grant." + +"No, no, no!" replied she, "a stolen marriage would neither be for +the credit of Sir John Grant nor for that of Bigla Cumin. Besides, +I should be but a poor offering at Castle Grant were my broad lands +not well buckled to my back." + +"I care not for thy lands," said Sir John, "'tis thyself I would +wed, and not thine estates. And if that be all, let us to horse +forthwith. Better for me to secure thy precious self, though with +the chance of losing thy lands, than lose thee in trying to save +thy lands." + +"'Tis gallantly resolved of thee, Sir John," said Bigla; "but I cannot +allow thy chivalrous ardour to do us both so serious an injury. All +I ask of thee, then, is to trust everything to my discretion and +resolution, and, depend upon it, thou hast nothing to fear." + +The parting between the two lovers was tender and prolonged, and it +was only at length finally effected by the interference of Agnes +and the page, who came running to tell them that the revellers in +the hall were breaking up. And what he told them was true, for Bigla +found that she required the exertion of some degree of ingenuity to +effect her retreat to her chamber unnoticed. + +An early hour of the next day beheld the cavalcade, formed by the +united trains of Bigla Cumin and her kinsman the Laird of Logie, +winding away from her paternal mansion, amidst the mingled lamentations +and benedictions of her people. Bigla was mounted on her favourite +palfrey, the beautiful and fleet courser of Arabian blood which was +presented to her by Corrie MacDonald. Her maid Agnes rode by her +side on an animal of mettle little short of that which carried her +mistress. Logie and his friends, all well armed, surrounded both in +a sort of irregular phalanx, which Bigla could not help thinking had +more the appearance of a guard to prevent the escape of a prisoner, +than that which might do her honour or give her protection. Her own +followers were but few, and they were mixed up with those of the +Laird of Logie. In the midst of them was the faithful page Archy, to +whose care was committed the charge of a small iron-bound oaken chest, +which contained her family charters and other important documents. This +Logie had especially insisted that she should carry with her, in order +to secure its safety. The strange misformed urchin sat like an ape, +mounted on a very remarkable milk-white steed, of noble courage and +beautiful proportions, and whose action was in no degree inferior to +his beauty. As this fine animal had been accustomed to carry Gibbon +More himself for some years before his death, it was not wonderful +that Bigla should have ridden up to caress him ere the march began, +and whilst she did so she contrived to give some secret orders to +the rider, which did not appear to have been poured into a deaf ear. + +The sun was nearly in the meridian before the party reached that +point on the edge of the high plain, immediately over the double +valley of the rivers Findhorn and Divie. There, as you know, a grand +and extensive view of these romantic twin glens is to be enjoyed, +together with the broad, rich, and beautiful vale that is formed by +their union, with the majestic combined stream winding away through it, +between its rocky, irregular, and wooded banks, till it is lost amidst +the vast extent of forest stretching widely along both sides of it, +as it proceeds on its course towards the fertile plains of the low +country of Moray, and its distant firth, the whole being bounded +by the blue mountains of the north. Bigla had seen this glorious +prospect more than once before, but she was an enthusiastic lover +of nature, and, consequently, she was not sorry when she heard the +Laird of Logie propose that they should alight for a few moments to +rest themselves, and that they might enjoy it, at greater leisure, +and with more ease to themselves. Logie did not make this proposal +without private reasons of his own. Having contrived to seat himself +apart with Bigla, he began to urge his passion with an energy which he +had never ventured to employ before, and after using every argument +that he thought might be most likely to prevail on her to yield to +his suit, he seated her again on her palfrey, and as he rode down +the wooded steeps by her side, he continued to press her eagerly +on the same subject, without taking the trouble to use the delicacy +of speaking in a tone which might have rendered their conversation +private from those with whom they travelled. + +"If you will only consent to be mine, fair Bigla," said he, "I will +make you mistress of as much of the bonny land of Moray as your bright +eyes can reach over." + +"I knew not that thy patrimony had been so ample," said Bigla coldly. + +"Put your fate and mine upon the peril of this condition then," +said Logie eagerly. + +"I trow I might safely do so, were I to bar all trick," replied Bigla. + +"Nay, then, thou art pledged to stand to the bargain," said Logie. + +"I am pledged to nothing," replied Bigla haughtily. + +"Ha, look there now, gentlemen!" cried Logie. "My fair ward and +kinswoman Bigla Cumin here hath pledged her own pretty person to me, on +condition that I shall make her mistress of as much of bonny Moray-land +as her beauteous eyes can reach over. Now, how say you? Let her +cast her eyes forward, and you will all bear me witness, my friends, +that she can now see nothing of which I am not the undoubted owner." + +By this time, you must know the cavalcade had descended from the +high grounds through the winding hollows of the steep wooded braes, +till all the distant and more extended part of the landscape was +lost by the rise of the opposite high grounds, and certainly from +the umbrageous recess where they now stood, nothing was to be seen +before them but the lands of Logie. + +"The joke is very well," said Bigla, not a little piqued, and reddening +considerably at the liberty which had been thus taken with her before +the men-at-arms who followed them; "but though Moray-land was all +thine own from Ness to Spey, I would not have thee if thou wouldst +lay it all at my feet." + +"Talk not so proudly, mistress!" said Logie, very much nettled. "There +are many maidens more than thy marrows, who would be happy to mate +with me, though I had nothing but this good claymore for my portion." + +"I doubt it not," replied Bigla; "but as I am not one of these, +it may be as well perhaps that we talk not again on any such subject." + +"A little less haughtiness would have better become thee," said +Logie. "You forget that you are not now on Dulnan side; and, moreover, +you forget that I am your guardian." + +"Nay, it is you who forget that you are my guardian," replied +Bigla. "I do feel, indeed, that I can never forget that thou art so; +and, moreover, that there is a cruel difference between an unfeeling +guardian and a fond father." + +"I am armed with thy father's authority," said Logie hastily; "and +I will exert it." + +"By basely taking advantage of it to proffer thine own vile suit," +said Bigla. + +"To see, at least, that Freuchie's son proffers no more suit to +thee," replied Logie. "If he took leave of thee last night beyond +the barbican, I trow it shall be his last leave-taking of thee." + +"Last night!" said Bigla with surprise. + +"Aye, last night," said Logie bitterly. "Dost think I have not found +out your secret meeting? Had I caught the caitiff his blood should +have paid for his impudence." + +"'Tis well to boast now, fair sir!" said Bigla, "now that thou hast no +chance of any such encounter. Oh, would I were on my bonny Dulnan side +again! but I trust that my foot shall soon be on its flowery turf." + +"That shall be when thou hast my permission," said Logie, allowing +his passion to get the better of him. + +"What! am I so in restraint then?" said Bigla taking a scarf from her +neck, and waving it behind her head in such a way, that it was hardly +perceived to be a signal by any one but Archy Abhach. He no sooner +observed it, however, than he began to rein his steed backwards, +until he fell behind the line of march. + +"Aye, bold girl, thou shalt obey me ere long as thy husband as well +as thy guardian!" continued Logie. + +"Sayest thou so?" said Bigla, putting on her Arabian to a gentle +canter over the meadow towards the ford of the Divie, whither they +were then going, so as to rid herself in some degree of the throng +by which she had been surrounded. Then turning in her saddle, she +shouted aloud--"Ride, Archy, for thy life, man! Ride! ride! Men of +Glenchearnich, follow your mistress. Come, Aggy, spur with me, and +may Saint Mary be our guide!" + +And with these words she and her maid boldly dashed their steeds, +breast deep, into the ford, and quickly stemmed the stream of the +Divie, whilst the well-tutored Archy Abhach wheeled his horse suddenly +round at her word, and, drawing his dirk, he pricked his milk-white +sides till the red blood spurted from them, and the noble animal +darted off, with his flea-bite of a burden, towards those wooded +braes, down which they had so recently come. The Laird of Logie and +his followers stood for some moments astounded on the mead, before they +could determine what to do. On the one hand fled the lady; and on the +other hand the charters of her lands, her bonds, and her wadsets were +already winging their way upwards through the woods; and the question +was, which of the two objects of pursuit was the most important. Even +after he had gathered his scattered recollection, Logie stood in doubt +for a time. At length, seeing that Bigla Cumin had taken the direction +of the house of Logie, so that he was still left, as he reckoned, +between her and her own country, he quickly made his selection. + +"After that miscreated devil on the white horse!" cried he. "Take +the caitiff and the kist he carries!--take him dead or alive!--but, +at all hazards take the kist!" + +Off went the laird and his people helter-skelter after Archy Abhach, +whilst the followers of Bigla Cumin were left at liberty to become her +followers indeed. The waters of the Divie frothed and foamed again +as they dashed through after her. I need not tell you, gentlemen, +who know the carte de pays so well, that although Bigla rode off at +first in the very direction in which the laird had wished her to go, +I mean towards his own house, she had no sooner forced her way up +the steep narrow path leading from the ford, than she found herself +in a position where she had it in her power to choose between two +ways--one stretching straight onwards towards the house of Logie, +and the other leading directly back over the hills to the eastward of +the Divie towards her own country, by a route different from that which +she had travelled in the morning. There she stood for some moments on a +conspicuous point overlooking the valley. But you may easily guess that +she stopped not from any doubt that possessed her as to which of the +two ways she should take--she only waited till her panting followers +had clustered around her; for they had no sooner gathered than she +waved her scarf again, and, amidst the shouts of her men-at-arms, +she turned her horse's head to the hill, and began to breast it most +vigorously. Logie beheld her manoeuvre, and it shook his purpose for +an instant. He gave hurried and contradictory orders, which only had +the effect of slackening the pursuit after the urchin page, and Bigla +had the satisfaction of seeing that faithful creature shooting far up +among the bowery braes ere any final decision had been taken by the +laird. At length, a small plump of horsemen were sent off towards the +ford to pursue Bigla, whilst the remainder, with Logie at their head, +renewed their chase after Archy Abhach and his precious casket. + +"Who is he, think you, that rides hither with so much haste from the +pass of Craig-Bey?" demanded Sir John Grant of the man-at-arms on +watch, as he stalked along the bartizan of his castle to take a look +over the country, about the time that the sun was hastening downwards +to hide himself below the western horizon. + +"If mortal man it be who looks so like a speck on the saddle, he either +rides with hot news to spur him on, or he has some enemy after him," +replied the man. + +"By'r lady, but you have guessed right well," said Sir John; "for +see! there comes a straggling line of some dozen of horsemen rattling +like thunder through the pass." + +"Methinks that the elf who flies bears some strange burden behind him," +said the man-at-arms. + +"He doth so, indeed," said Sir John. + +"Some common thief, I'll warrant me, who hath carried away a booty +from some usurious burgher of Forres," said the man-at-arms. + +"Be he what he may, his white horse is no carrion," said Sir John. "How +the noble animal devours the ground!" + +"He is as like old Gibbon More's favourite horse as one egg is to +another," said the man-at-arms as he drew nearer. + +"Gibbon More's, saidst thou?" exclaimed Sir John; "and, by all that +is good, he that rides is like my faithful page; but see, he turns +this way. Let's to the barbican," and, taking three steps down the +narrow stair at each stride, he was at the barbican in a few moments. + +"What, ho!" cried Sir John, as the horse came galloping up to the +gate. "What, ho! Archy Abhach, is it you? What news of thy mistress?" + +"I have neither time nor breath to speak of her at present," cried +Archy, leaping from his horse, and hastily unbuckling the little +charter-chest from behind the saddle of his reeking horse; "but +here--catch!--there you have her charters and titles, being that +which I reckon some of the people who are after me would think the +best part of herself. There, catch, I say!" and with that, he threw +the precious box clean over the top of the wall. + +"Soh!" continued Archy, taking a long breath--"I have done my lady's +bidding like a true Cumin, and now I must draw to defend mine own head, +like a true Grant, for the knaves will be upon me." + +"Thou shalt not long lack help, my brave little fellow!" cried Sir +John, and in a moment, a party of armed Grants came crowding out +from the gate at the heels of their young chief. And, as Archy's +pursuers came up one by one, they collected into a knot on the top +of the heathery hillock, and then filed off without ever daring to +come within bowshot of the walls. + +"Now, tell me what has befallen the Lady Bigla?" cried Sir John Grant, +impatiently addressing the page. + +The faithful Archy Abhach gave him a brief outline of all he knew. + +"To horse! to horse!" cried Sir John, hardly waiting till he had +finished. "Holy St. Mary! she may be lost if we tarry." + +A very few minutes only were expended ere Sir John and his troop were +mounted and away. They galloped after the retiring Cumins, but they +could see nothing of them anywhere. He had got to the side of the +hill of Craig-Bey, and was stretching his eyes in all directions, +when the distant clash of conflict came up through the woods that +sloped away into the glen to the right. Sir John gave the spur to +his horse, and dashed down through the thicket, calling to his men +to follow him. In a grassy holm, by the side of a small stream, +he found Bigla Cumin surrounded by her faithful but small band of +followers, who were bravely defending her against a superior body of +assailants. His sudden appearance immediately dispersed her enemies, +and, overpowered by the fatigue occasioned by her long wearisome +and rapid flight, as well as by the alarm which she had endured, she +slipped from her palfrey, and sank exhausted on the ground. Sir John +Grant was soon on his knees beside her, to support her weakness, and +to calm her agitation. She had owed her escape, in the first place, +to the swiftness and endurance of her favourite Arabian blooded +palfrey, together with her own wonderful hardihood as a horsewoman, +which, much surpassing that of the Lady Juliana Berners herself, +had carried her over mountain and moss, through bog and stream, in +a manner altogether inconceivable; and, secondly, to the appearance +of Sir John Grant, just as she had been attacked by a quickly formed +ambush of the retreating Cumins, whose onset had given time to those +who pursued her to come up, by which means she and her people being +hemmed in on all sides would have been speedily overcome. + +Ere the evening closed in, Bigla Cumin found herself safely housed +within the walls of Castle Grant; and the very next day the priest's +blessing gave to Sir John Grant her fair hand, and with it her fair +lands too. + + + + + + + + +VELVET CUSHIONS. + + +Clifford.--Well done, Bigla Cumin! If ever I marry, I am resolved +to have a fearless wife who can gallop across a country. But +hey!--(stretching himself as we arose to proceed)--I protest I am quite +stiff. Confound your green velvety grass! commend me rather to your +velvet cushion of Genoa. Your story was too long, Mr. Macpherson, +and by far too interesting for a breezy hill-side and a dewy bank +like this. + +Dominie.--It will grieve me sore, Mr. Clifford, if you should in any +way suffer from my prolixity. + +Clifford.--Tut, man, I'd sit in a snow-wreath, or on a glacier, to +listen to you. But, hark ye! what was that you muttered, before you +began your story, about leaving us? + +Dominie.--Really I cannot speak it without vurra great pain, +Mr. Clifford; but my path disparts from your road a little way +on here. I have to wend my way through the whole extent of these +wild forests, which you see below us there, stretching across the +intermediate country between us and the misty Cairngorums yonder. I +am journeying to visit a brother of mine, who, as the elegant author +of Douglas hath it, + + + "Feeds his flocks, + A frugal swain," + + +on the slopes of the mountains beyond. + +Clifford.--Nay, nay, we cannot part with you so. Had it been a lady, +indeed, that you were going to visit, I should not have said a +word. But for a brother merely. + +Dominie (with the tear swelling in his eye).--Pardon me, Mr. Clifford, +pardon me; but I have an affection for my brother which few can +estimate. We were twin bairns. Ewan and I alone remain of all our +family. I make a yearly journey to visit him. + +Clifford.--I venerate you for your feelings, and I sympathise with +them from the bottom of my heart. But if I may make a guess at the +geography of the country before us, I should conceive that if we could +persuade you to go with us to Tomantoul to-day, your walk from thence +to your brother's to-morrow would be but short. + +Dominie (hesitating).--Hu--um!--that may be, sir. I am sure I am vurra +happy in your company; but, may I ask gentlemen, what your plans are? + +Clifford.--We tie ourselves to no plans. For aught we know we may +be in Switzerland or Sweden before this day month. But, at present, +we propose to proceed up the Glen of the Aven to-morrow, on our way +to Loch Aven. + +Dominie.--It is a wild place, and the way is not easy to find. + +Author.--Wild enough, indeed. I once wandered all round it; but I +never approached it by its own glen. + +Dominie.--I would have fain gone with you as your guide, for well do +I know every mountain, moss, rock, and well by the way. But I cannot +mistrust my brother, who is expeckin' me about this time. Albeit, +as I cannot go all the way myself with you, I would fain, before I +quit you, put you into the hands of one who is well acquainted with +all the mountain tracks and passes, that there may be no risk of your +losing yourselves amidst those savage Alpine solitudes. + +Clifford.--Ah! that would be kind of you indeed. + +Grant.--Had you not better consent to spend this night with us at +Tomantoul, then, Mr. Macpherson. + +Dominie.--I was just thinking in my own mind that I behooved so to +do. I can then see you as far up Strathdaun to-morrow as Gaulrig, +where old Willox the Wizard lives, and there---- + +Clifford.--What! a wizard, said you? You don't mean to put us under the +guidance of Satan, I hope. That would indeed be sending us to the---- + +Dominie.--No, no, Mr. Clifford; but there is a friend of mine, who +lives near to old Willox, one Archy Stewart, a retired sergeant, +who will be just the man for your purpose, if we can find him at +home. He knows every inch of the mountains, and, moreover, he is as +full of old stories as an egg is full of meat. + +Clifford.--The very man for us. But what can you tell us of old Willox +the Wizard? I hope we shall see him. + +Author.--I have often heard of him. His name is MacGregor, is it +not? I should like much to see him. + +Dominie.--You will be sure to see him if you call at Gaulrig, for, +as he is now above ninety, he is too old to leave home. He is worth +the seeing too; for although, as I need not tell you, gentlemen, +he never possessed any supernatural power, yet his cleverness must +have been great to have enabled him to make the whole country, far and +near, believe, even in these more enlightened days, that he can divine +secrets and work wonders by means of his two charmed instruments--the +mermaid's stone and the enchanted bridal of the water-kelpie. + +Clifford.--How the deuce did he get hold of such articles? and what +sort of things are they? + +Dominie.--You will easily persuade him to show them to you; and it will +be better for me to leave him to tell his own story about them. But, as +I have now made up my mind to go on with you to Tomantoul, gentlemen, +I can tell you a short anecdote or two of him as we journey on our way, +which will show you that all his fame as a warlock really rested on +his own natural acuteness. + +Clifford.--I could have guessed as much, methinks, without being any +great conjuror myself. But let us have your anecdotes, if you please. + +Dominie.--I had much information about Willox from the Rev. John +Grant, late Minister of Duthel, who was acquainted with him for +many years. For, notwithstanding the warlock's reputation for +the possession of uncanny qualities, he was uniformly consorted +with and treated as a gentleman by all the gentry of this Highland +country. My old and worthy, and kind and benevolent friend, Mr. Grant, +was a man of too much wisdom as well as learning to believe in the +supernatural powers of Willox, or any such pretender. Mr. Grant, +indeed, was a man of vurra enlarged mind and sound judgment, a deep +divine, a classical scholar, such as is seldom to be met with in our +poor country of Scotland, an admirable critic, and an elegant poet; +and although what I may be stating regarding him has little to do +with what I am going to tell you about Willox, yet, as you may have +a chance to hear more of Mr. Grant from my friend Sergeant Archy +Stewart when you come to make his acquaintance, I may be allowed to +complete my sketch of this remarkable man by saying that, whilst he +was pious and regular in his duties, as became a clergyman, he was, +nevertheless, cheerful and convivial, and extremely fond of a bit of +humour; and, moreover, as he was often called upon to give his opinion +pretty strongly in argument, he was equally ready to back it up at +any time by his courage and bodily vigour against the brute force +or the insults of his opponents, in days, now happily gone by, when +even the sacred character of a minister of the gospel did not always +proteck his person from injury. To enable him to defend himself the +more effectually in such chance encounters, nature had given to him +a stout and athletic frame and a nervous arm, in addition to which +he did himself furnish the hand of that arm with a great hazel stick, +which he facetiously called his Ruling Elder, and so armed, no man nor +set of men in the whole country side could make him show his back. He +was a capital preacher; but many doubted whether his sermons or his +cudgel wrought the most reformation in his neighbourhood. + +It was observed that Mr. Grant was always peculiarly unfortunate +in losing his cattle. Not a year passed that some of them did not +die of a strange and unaccountable disease which quite baffled the +skill of all the farriers and cow-leeches in the district. But on one +occasion the mortality was so great as seriously to threaten the utter +extermination of his stock. As this calamity seemed to affect none of +his neighbours, and to fall upon him alone, it was not unnatural for +his superstitious servants to say that his cattle were bewitched. In +their opinion nobody but Willox could cure such an evil. + +"If you don't send for Willox, sir, you'll lose every nout beast in +your aught," said the minister's hind. + +"Saunders," replied the minister, "although I have no faith in any such +wicked and abominable superstitions as would gift Mr. MacGregor with +superhuman powers, I am willing enough to give him credit for more than +ordinary shrewdness and sagacity as a mere man. You may, therefore, +send for him with my compliments, as I believe that he is more likely +than any one to discover the natural cause of these my losses." + +Willox came accordingly; and after the usual salutations he took the +parson aside. + +"Between you and me, Mr. Grant," said he, "there is no use in my +making any pretence of witchcraft. But you know we may find out the +cause of the death of your cattle for all that. Your losses, I think, +always happen at or about this particular season of the year?" + +"They do," replied the parson. + +"Come, then, let you and me take a quiet walk together over your farm." + +Mr. Grant and Willox patiently perambulated the farm, and especially +the cattle-pastures for some hours together, Willox all the while +throwing his sharp eyes around him in every direction, until they +came to a hollow place where the warlock suddenly stopped. + +"Here is the cause of the evil," said Willox, at once pointing +to a certain plant which grew there, and nowhere else in the +neighbourhood. "If you will only take care that your man Saunders +never allows your cattle to get into this hollow until the flower of +that plant is withered and gone, you will find that you will never +again lose a single beast in the same way." + +I need not tell you, gentlemen, that Mr. Grant took care that the +warlock's advice was strictly followed; and the result was perfectly +satisfactory. + +Clifford.--A most invaluable wizard! I wonder whether one might hold +a consultation with him on the mysteries of fly-fishing. + +Grant.--I have no doubt he could advise you well. + +Clifford.--Nay, it was not for myself that I was asking. I manage to +do well enough by means of mine own conjuring rod; but to you and +my friend there some little aid of magic might be useful, seeing +you can make so little of it by your own simple skill. But come, +Mr. Macpherson, what more of old Willox? + +Dominie.--A great alarm was created at Castle Grant, in consequence of +a strange madness that frequently seized upon the cattle at pasture +in the grounds. At such times they were observed furiously running +in all directions, with the tips of their noses and tails in the +air, and bursting over all the fences. The easiest solution of this +phenomenon was to say that they were bewitched; and all the servants +about the castle, especially those who had the broken fences to mend, +believed that it was the true one. Even Sir James Grant, worthy man, +when brought out to judge for himself, could not deny the grounds +at least of this general opinion. To satisfy those who held it, +he allowed the aid of Willox to be called in. + +"Some trick has been played here," said the warlock, after inquiring +into all the particulars, and minutely examining those parts of +the pastures where the animals were in the habit of lying most +frequently. "Some wicked person has thrown some disagreeable odour +among the beasts." + +The probability of this was doubted by every one present. Nay, every +one declared that such a thing was impossible. + +"Well," said Willox, "I know that what I say is true; and I'll soon +convince you all that it is possible. Drive the cattle into the fold." + +The cattle were folded accordingly, and Willox walked into the very +midst of them. There he took certain ingredients from his pocket, +and putting them on a small bundle of tow, he prepared to strike fire +with a flint and steel. + +"Now, gentlemen," said he, "I advise all of you who have any regard +for your own safety to look sharp to it." + +The fire was struck, the tow was kindled, a most offensive stench +arose, and no sooner had the cattle winded the fumes of it, than they +darted off in twenty different directions, as if the burning tow had +been the fuse that discharged them from some vast bomb-shell. The +poles and other barriers of the fold were shivered and levelled in +a moment as if such an inclosure had never existed. Down went the +astonished spectators one by one in detail, as they chanced to come +into the diverging lines of flight of the scattering herd. Smack, +crash, and rumble went the nearer fences, as the several flying +animals went through or over them, like cannon-shot; and by the time +the poor wounded, maimed, and crippled people had gathered themselves +to their legs, such of them, I mean, as had legs left to stand upon, +they beheld, to their utter dismay, the cattle scouring the distant +country in all directions. + +I need hardly add, that a little further investigation enabled Willox, +without the aid of witchcraft, not only to satisfy every one that +his first suspicions had been well founded, but also to prove that +they had been so by discovering the offender. + +Grant.--Depend upon it, this warlock must be no ordinary man. + +Dominie.--I have another anecdote of him. A certain farmhouse in +Strathspey was said to be haunted. Stones and dust and rubbish were +thrown into the middle of the family apartment, and no one could +discover whence or from what hand they came. Mr. John Grant, the +minister of the parish, was sent for to lay the ghost; and to the +great comfort of those to whom the house belonged, he came accompanied +by Willox. + +"While I am engaged in going through the evening family worship," +said the parson to Willox, "do you keep your eyes on the alert, +and try to ascertain whence the missiles appear to come." + +The minister began the duties of the evening. A psalm was sung. During +the time the people present were singing it, the volleys were +discontinued; but the moment the psalm was ended, the discharges +again commenced. + +"We had better sing another psalm," whispered Willox to the +parson. Mr. Grant immediately gave out some verses accordingly. The +disturbance ceased as before; but they were no sooner concluded, +than it began again with redoubled fury. The sharp eyes of Willox shot +like lightning into every part of the chamber. In an instant they were +arrested by one of those great clumsy wooden partitions so common in +our Highland farmers' humble dwellings, which, being boarded on both +sides, rise up a certain height only towards the bare rafters above, +leaving the vast vacuity below the roof undivided from end to end of +the building. Willox gave a preconcerted sign to the parson. + +"My friends," said Mr. Grant, "I insist that the boxing of that +partition be immediately opened up." + +His orders were obeyed, and no sooner were the boards removed than +the ghost was discovered. A little black Highland herd lassie sat +cowering within, her face filled with dread of the punishment that +awaited her. The creature had managed from time to time to creep in +there by lifting up a loose plank, and from that concealment she had +contrived to throw her missiles over the open top of the partition +into the apartment, all which she had done to revenge herself against +the family for having been whipped for some piece of negligence of +which she had been guilty. The parson had no sooner learned these +particulars, than he pounced upon the trembling culprit, like a great +mastiff on a mouse, and dragging her forth, he, without the least +delay or ceremony, gave her, to use his own phrase, a good skegging. + +Clifford.--Had Mr. Grant and Willox been sent for, the celebrated +ghost of Cock Lane would have had but a short reign of it. + +Dominie.--I have but one story more of Willox to plague you +with. William Stuart, a farmer in Brae Moray, was led, by his +father's persuasion, and very much against his own inclination, +to marry a woman whom he could not like, all because she possessed +a certain tocher. He went to his marriage like a condemned thief +to the gallows, and from the very first moment he treated his wife +as an alien. A certain worthy lady in the neighbourhood, who felt +interested in Mrs. Stuart, firmly believed that her husband's dislike +to her was occasioned by witchcraft. She accordingly sent for Willox, +and entreated him to exercise his skill in the poor woman's behalf, +and the warlock undertook to do all in his power for her. + +Having contrived to pay a visit at Stuart's house, when he knew that +he should find him at home, he accepted his invitation to stay to +dine with him, and after they had had a cheerful glass together, +Willox ventured to begin his attempt by drinking Mrs. Stuart's health. + +"You are the only man, Stuart, that does not admire your wife," +said Willox, in a half jocular tone. + +"May be so," said Stuart dryly. + +"If you were not bewitched, as my skill tells me that you are, +you would find more happiness at your own fireside than you do," +continued Willox. + +"Maybe I am bewitched," said Stuart, from the mere desire of being +civil. + +"I tell you I know you are," said Willox, "and if you will allow me +I shall soon show you the people who have bewitched you." + +"Ha! ha! I should like to see them," said Stuart with a forced laugh; +"but if you do show them to me, you are even a greater conjuror than +I take you to be." + +Willox, with great solemnity, now took forth the mermaid's stone from +his pocket. It was semi-transparent, circular, and convex, like an +ordinary lens, and it filled the palm of his hand. Placing the back +of his hand on the table, and keeping the stone in the hollow of it, +he solemnly addressed Stuart. + +"If you would know those who bewitch you," said he, "look downwards +through the mermaid's stone." + +"I see nothing," said Stuart, following his direction. + +"Do you see nothing now?" demanded Willox. + +"Yes," replied Stuart, "I see something like a red spot." + +"Look again, do you see nothing more now?" demanded Willox. + +"Yes," said Stuart again, "I see something like a black spot, a little +way from the red spot." + +"Listen, then!" said Willox. "These are the heads of a red-haired +lass and a black-haired lass, and it is they who bewitch you from +your lawful wife." + +"If you are not a great warlock, you are at least a great rascal," +cried Stuart, losing all temper; "but by the great oath, I'll soon +know which you are." And saying so, he suddenly seized on the wizard's +hand before he was aware, and turning it up, he extracted two pins +from between the fingers, the head of one of which had been dipped +in red wax, and the head of the other in black wax. + +"You scoundrel," said Stuart, preparing to assault him, "you have +been unjustifiably prying into my secrets, but I'll teach you to use +greater discretion in future." + +"Approach me at your peril!" cried Willox, stepping back towards +the door, and brandishing a dagger which he drew from his bosom. "I +have done or said nothing but what is friendly to you, and if you +have the folly to attempt anything of a different nature towards me, +you must take the consequences," and so saying he immediately took +himself off. So ended the Dominie. + +Our walk to-day had little beauty in it, except in its distant +prospects, which, when we looked over the vast extent of fir forests +towards the Cairngorum group of mountains, were always grand. The +scenery of the Aven indeed, and especially at the spot where we crossed +it, delighted us all. The fragment of the ruined bridge of Campdale +still stood, a sad monument of the ravages of the fearful flood of +August, 1829; but the stream now sparkled away along its customary +channel like liquid crystal. + +Clifford (stopping mechanically to put his fishing-rod together).--It +is certainly the clearest stream I ever beheld. Yet shall I try my +skill to extract some trouts from it for dinner. + +Grant (as we ascended the path that led us up from the deep glen +of the Aven where we left Clifford fishing).--Anything to be seen +at Tomantoul? + +Author.--Nothing that I have ever been able to discover. The sight is +one of the dreariest I know,--a high, wide, bare, and uninteresting +moor, quite raised, as you see, above all the beauties of the river, +which are buried from it in the profound of the neighbouring valley; +nor has the village itself any very great redeeming charm about it. + +Grant.--How comes it that all the cottages and walls are built of +sandstone in the very heart of this primitive country? + +Author.--You may well be surprised, but you will perhaps be still more +astonished to learn that the place stands on a great detached isolated +field of the floetz strata, four miles in length by one in breadth, +which has been raised up on the very bosom of the primitive granite. + +Grant.--A curious geological fact. + +Author.--It is a fact which I learned when I was here formerly from +a very intelligent gentleman who is the clergyman here, to whom I +was also indebted for much valuable information during my inquiries +about the great flood. I shall be happy to introduce you to him. + +Grant.--I believe similar instances occur elsewhere in this part +of Scotland. + +Author.--Yes, at Kildrummie Castle, in the Glen of Dollas, and also +near the borders of the primitive in the vale of Pluscardine. + +Dominie.--To what strange changes has this earth of ours been +subjeckit! + +Grant.--Tell me, I pray you, what nice looking house is this? + +Author.--It is the residence of the clergyman; perhaps you would +like to call on him now, while our friend here goes on to the inn +with our man to secure beds and entertainment for us all. + +Grant assented, and, entering the manse accordingly, we remained +talking very agreeably there, until the whistling of Clifford, as he +marched up the street with his rod in his hand, and his fishing pannier +on his back, made us suddenly terminate our interesting colloquy, +in order to run after him. As we got into the inn we found him in +the act of admiring his trouts, which filled a large trencher. + +Clifford.--See what noble fellows! There is one of three pounds and +a half if he is an ounce. I hooked him in the pool above the broken +bridge, and I called to you as you were going up the hill to come +back and witness the sport he yielded; but you were too intent on +your own conversation to hear me, and so you lost it all. What were +you talking about? + +Grant.--Geology. + +Clifford.--Geology!--fiddlesticks. By all that is good, you deserve +to dine upon fossil fishes. + +Author (to the landlady).--Well, ma'am, I hope you can give us +something good for dinner. + +Landlady.--We shall see, sir; we'll do the best we can. + +Author.--You will at least be able to give us an omelet, after the +instructions I gave you when I was last in your house. + +Landlady.--That I can; I made one for the Duke when he was up here +at the fowling, and he said that it was just famous. + +Clifford.--Can you give us any soup? + +Landlady.--Na, sir; I'm dootin' that I hae na time for that. + +Clifford.--Pooh! If you will give me a large smooth white pebble, +such as is called by my geological friends here quartz, but which you +know better, I believe, by the name of a chucky-stane, I'll make some +capital soup out of it in a very few minutes. + +Landlady.--Odd, sir, I'm thinkin' ye'll be clever an ye can do that. + +Clifford.--Be quick, then, and fetch me such a stone as I have +described. Remember it must be quite clean, and large enough to make +soup for four gentlemen,--and recollect that we are very hungry. + +Landlady (entering with a stone in one hand).--There it is. It's +quite clean, for I washed it wi' my ain hands. + +Clifford.--So, that is all right. Now, fetch me a pan with clean +water in it. Oh, you have it there, I see. Well, put in the stone, +and put the pan on the fire. Now, you see, my good woman, I am a pupil +of old Willox the Warlock, therefore you need not be astonished at +anything I do. Go get me a spoon to taste the soup with. (Whilst her +back is turned, slyly dropping a cake or two of portable soup into +the pot.) Aye, now, let me see; taste it yourself. It already begins +to have some flavour. + +Landlady (astonished).--Have a care o' huz a', so it has! + +Clifford (stirring it).--But, stay a moment; taste it now! + +Landlady (taking a spoonful of it).--Keep me, that is just awthegither +maygics indeed! + +Clifford (tasting it).--Oh, it will do now. Bring me an iron spoon +to take out the stone with. Now, here take it away, dry it well, +and lock it carefully up in your larder; for, you perceive, that +it is but very little wasted, and, consequently, it will make some +good tureens of soup yet; and though such stones are plenty enough, +yet you know it is always good housewifery to be economical. + +Landlady (taking away the stone).--That's true, indeed, sir. + +Grant (after we had dined).--Well, thanks to Clifford's chucky-stone +soup, his delicious fritto of trout, our landlady's excellent +mutton-chops, and your omelet, we have dined like princes. + +Clifford.--I am now hungry for nothing but a narrative. Come, +Mr. Macpherson, as we are to lose you to-morrow, I must remind you +that you are still in my book for some story about Old Stachcan, +the man with the pistol, I mean, whose portrait we saw at Castle +Grant. Pray do not hesitate to clear off your score. + +Dominie.--I need not say, Mr. Clifford, that since you and your +friends here are so good as to accept of such poor coin as my bit +stories, in return for all the kindness and condescension which I have +received from you, it is well my part to pay it readily, and without +a grudge. But what I had to tell you about Old Stachcan was more an +account of the man than any very parteeklar story about him. Now, +as you will pass by the very bit where he lay concealed, I would +rather leave it to my friend Sergeant Archy Stewart, who knows more +about him than I do, to give you his history on the spot. + +Grant.--Well, since that is the case, Mr. Macpherson, I shall undertake +to tell a story for you. And instead of that which you were to tell +us about one Grant, I shall give you a legend which I have heard of +two lairds of that name. + +Clifford.--Provided you do not on that account make your story twice +as long as Mr. Macpherson's would have been, I for one am contented. + +Grant.--If I should do so, you have your resource, Clifford, you +may go to sleep, you know; and if you do, I shall perhaps have the +pleasure of singing, in the words of Scott's Water Sprite,-- + + + "Good luck to your fishing." + + +Clifford.--No more of that, an thou lovest me, Hal. + + + + + + + + +LEGEND OF THE RIVAL LAIRDS OF STRATHSPEY. + + +Some time previous to the Reformation a venerable priest, of the name +of Innes, lived at Easter Duthel, in Strathspey, and superintended +the spiritual concerns of the people of the surrounding district. He +was a benevolent old man, whose heart was devoted to the duties of +his sacred office, and to those deeds of Christian benevolence which +he inculcated upon his flock by example as well as by precept. + +The only other occupation which the good man had was the watching +over the nurture and education of his orphan niece, Helen Dunbar, who +had been early left to his care by the death of her mother, his only +and much beloved sister. Helen was a beautiful young creature. Her +features were of the most perfect regularity of form and arrangement, +her complexion was the fairest imaginable, the lustre of her dark +eyes was softened by their long eyelashes, and her jet-black hair +fell in rich abundance over her person, which was in every respect +most exquisitely and symmetrically moulded. But what was better +than all this, she was as good as she was beautiful. Her whole time +and thoughts were occupied in finding out objects for her uncle's +benevolence, and, like his ministering angel, she was ever ready to +fly to the cottage of the poor, or the bedside of the sick, to bear +thither such comfort or consolation as he had to impart, when the +infirmities incidental to his declining years rendered it impossible +for him to bestow them in person. When he was able to go upon his own +errands of charity he never failed to do so; and on such occasions it +was a pleasing sight,--a sight that might have furnished a fine subject +for a painter--to have beheld her acting as the crutch of his old age, +and the ready auxiliary of all his beneficent actions. You may easily +believe that so amiable a pair as Priest Innes and his niece could +not fail to secure the love and admiration of every one who knew them. + +When they appeared in church, the grey hairs, and the thin, pale, +spiritual countenance of the old priest, were looked up to by his +flock with reverential awe, as if he had been some being who was only +lent to them for a brief season from another and a better world, and +who might every moment be called on to return thither. But whilst +there was enough of heaven in the young and healthful face and +form of Helen Dunbar, she was regarded by all with an affectionate +attachment which savoured more of the kind and kindred feelings of +humanity, and the good folks were thus satisfied through the niece +that the uncle was allied to the earth. Fathers and mothers regarded +her and loved her as a daughter, young maidens looked upon her with +the warmest sisterly affection, and the youths of the district, with +whom modesty naturally made her less familiar, beheld her with that +respectful adoration which was due to so angelic a creature. I speak, +of course, of those of humbler rank; for there were many among the +young knights and lairds of the neighbourhood who would have willingly +robbed the old man of his treasure by carrying her home as a bride. + +Of this latter class there were two, who, as they were the most +remarked of the admirers of Helen Dunbar, were also believed to be the +most formidable rivals to each other. These were Lewis Grant, the young +laird of Auchernach, and John Dhu Grant of Knockando. The first of +these was a tall, handsome, fair-faced young man, universally believed +to be open, brave, generous, and warm-hearted. He had the art of making +himself beloved by all who knew him, and people thought that he had +no fault in life but a certain degree of hastiness of temper, which, +as folks said, might flash out violently upon particular occasions, +and yet would pass away as harmlessly as a blaze of summer lightning, +leaving everything peaceful behind it after it was gone. The other +was a dark swart man, properly conducted, and calm and cold looking, +whom it somehow happened that nobody knew sufficiently either to +like or to dislike. Both of these gentlemen were observed to be very +assiduous in their attentions to Helen Dunbar upon all occasions where +they were seen in her company. But the talk of the country was, that +if either of them met with encouragement at all, Lewis of Auchernach +was rather the happier man. As the fact, if it was a fact, could have +been known to himself and the lady alone, this suspicion probably arose +partly from the circumstance that Auchernach was the general favourite, +and partly because his place of residence was nearer to the parsonage +of Easter Duthel by some fifteen or twenty miles or so than that of +his rival. But I, who as a narrator of their story am entitled to +arrogate to myself a perfect knowledge of all their secrets, and in +virtue of such my office, to be present at, and to describe scenes +witnessed by no eyes but those of the actors themselves, I will +venture to assure you, upon my own authority, that public opinion, +however rarely it may be correct, was in this instance the true one, +and that Lewis Grant of Auchernach had really for some time been +the favoured lover of the fair Helen Dunbar; that they had already +plighted troth to each other, and, moreover, that their mutual love +was neither unknown nor disapproved of by the lady's venerable uncle. + +You will easily guess, from what I have already told you of the good +priest of Easter Duthel, that he was not one of those sour sons of +the church who think that it is their duty to keep as much aloof +from their flocks as they possibly can, and who would consider it +as quite unclerical to appear capable of participating in their +harmless amusements, who think it better to allow rustic enjoyment +to run into what riot and excess it may, than to hallow and temper +it by the sacredness of their presence. Priest Innes and his niece +were always invited and expected to be present at all merry-makings; +and the consequence was, that he kept many such scenes within the +bounds of innocence and propriety, which might have otherwise gone +very much beyond their limits. A word from their pastor indeed was +at any time sufficient to bring the liveliest and most exciting revel +to a decent close. + +It happened that a joyous meeting of this sort occurred one night +at the mill of Duthel, occasioned by the marriage of the miller's +daughter. As the miller was a wealthy man and well known by all ranks, +and the bridegroom was highly respectable, the assemblage was graced +by many of the lairds and better sort of people along the banks of +the Spey; and, amongst others, both Auchernach and Knockando were +there. The matrimonial rite was performed by the good Priest Innes +with all due ceremonial. But when the company adjourned to the long +granary, where the sports of the evening were to be held, and when +the harps and the bagpipes began alternately to give animation and +joy to the scene, he did not consider that the jocund dance or the +merriment that ensued brought with it any just or reasonable argument +for his departure. On the contrary, seated in the chair of honour, +his venerable and benignant countenance was lighted up with smiles +of pleasure from the inward gratification he felt in beholding the +chastened happiness of all around him. + +His niece, Helen Dunbar, sat in a chair by the old man's side, that is +to say, she sat there during such intervals as she was allowed to rest +from the joyous exercise in which all were participating. These indeed +were few and short, because she was of all others the partner most +sought after. She danced often with Auchernach, and not unfrequently +with Knockando; and from that desire, natural enough to maidens, to +veil the true object of her affections from prying eyes around her, +she was, if possible, even more gracious that night in her manner and +conversation to the latter than she was to the former. The cold dark +countenance of John Dhu Grant was flushed and animated more than it +had ever been before, by the seeming preference which was thus shown +to him. Presuming upon that which his passion magnified, he persecuted +Helen with attentions which she now began to see the necessity of +repressing. She could not well do this without throwing more of her +favour into the scale of him whom Knockando so well knew to be his +rival. This alteration on her part inwardly galled and irritated the +disappointed man beyond what his habitual self-command allowed his +countenance to express. Lewis Grant of Auchernach, on the other hand, +satisfied with his own secret convictions, went on joyfully through +the mazes of the dance, perfectly heedless of all those minor changes +on the face or manner of Helen which had so touched John Dhu, whose +equanimity was not the better preserved because he perceived how +little that of his rival was affected. + +"These weddings are mighty merry things, Auchernach," observed +Knockando with seeming coolness, as they accidentally stepped aside +together at the same moment to take a cup of refreshment. + +"When or where can we expect mirth, Knockando, if we find it not on +a wedding-night?" said Auchernach, after courteously pledging to his +health. "The happy union of two devoted young hearts, as yet unscathed +by the blasts of adversity, smiling hope dancing before them, gilding +with sunshine all the brighter prospects of life, whilst her friendly +hand throws a roseate veil over all its drearier and darker changes." + +"Thou speakest so warmly that methinks thou wouldst fain be a +bridegroom thyself, Auchernach," said Knockando. + +"So very fain would I so be, Knockando, that I care not if this were +my wedding-night," replied Auchernach with great animation. + +"Ha! ha! ha! art thou indeed so desirous to barter thy sweet +liberty?" said Knockando. "Well, then, I suppose that I may look +for a spice of thine envy now, should I perchance submit to my fate, +and yield to those blandishments which have been so skilfully used +to catch me." + +"I envy no one," said Auchernach carelessly, "and sooth to say, +very far indeed should I be from envying thee, Knockando; trust me, +no one would dance more heartily at thy wedding than I should." + +"Since thou art so fond of dancing at weddings, depend on't thou shalt +not lack an invitation to mine.," said Knockando; "nay, out of my great +friendship for thee, I have half a mind to sacrifice myself and to +hasten my fate, were it only to indulge thy frolicsome propensities." + +"Kindly said of thee, truly," replied Auchernach, laughing good +humouredly, "then sudden and sweet be thy fate, say I." + +"If I mistake not greatly, my fate is in mine own hand," continued +Knockando, throwing a significant glance across the room towards the +place where Helen Dunbar was then sitting beside her uncle. + +"What!" exclaimed Auchernach in amazement, hardly daring to trust +himself with the understanding of what seemed thus to be hinted at +by his rival. + +"Thou see'st how her eyes do continually rest upon me as if I were +her loadstar," continued Knockando. "Her solicitation could not be +more eloquently expressed by a thousand words." + +"Whose eyes? whose solicitation?" cried the astonished Auchernach, +his countenance kindling up with an ire which it was impossible for +him to conceal. + +"Whose eyes? whose solicitation?" repeated Knockando. "Those +love-encumbered and pity-seeking eyes yonder, which are now darting +glances of entreaty towards me from beneath the dark-arched eyebrows of +the beauteous Helen Dunbar. The girl loves me to distraction; and if no +other motive could move me, feelings of compassion would of themselves +urge me to show some mercy towards her, and to make her my wife." + +"Villain!" cried Auchernach, at once losing all command of himself, +"thou art a base traducer, and a lying knave to boot!" + +The previous part of this dialogue had been overheard by no one; +but these last words were thundered forth by Auchernach in a voice +so loud that they shook the whole room, stopped music, dance and all, +and attracted every eye towards the speaker, just in time to see him +fell Knockando to the ground by a single blow. + +The confusion that ensued was great. Knockando was raised from the +floor by some of his dependants who chanced to be present. Dirks might +have been drawn and blood might have flowed, had not the good priest +immediately hastened, with what speed his tottering steps enabled +him to exert, to interpose his sacred person, and to use his pious +influence to allay the growing storm. By his authority he now put +an abrupt termination to the festivities of the evening. Ashamed +of his violence, Auchernach came forward to entreat a hearing +from the priest, and at the same time to offer that support to his +feeble frame in his homeward walk which, in conjunction with his +niece, he was not unfrequently allowed to yield him, and of which +the agitated and trembling Helen Dunbar had hardly strength at that +moment to contribute her share. But he was shocked and mortified to +find himself rebuffed, and his proffered services refused in a manner +at once resolute and dignified. + +"No!" said the priest, waving him away, "until thou shalt humble +thyself, and make thy peace with Knockando, thou canst have no converse +with me; and to prevent the chance of his suffering further insult or +injury from thine intemperance, he shall be my guest for to-night. Give +me thine arm, Knockando." + +"Old man! look that thou dost not pay dear for thy favour to that +new guest of thine!" cried Auchernach aloud, and gnashing his teeth +in the vexation and bitterness of his heart. + +"What! dost thou threaten?" said Knockando coldly, as he left the +place. "This way, reverend sir, lean on me, I pray thee." + +"Villain! villain!" muttered Auchernach, striking his breast with +a fury which now knew no bounds, and, rushing out like a madman, +he hurried homewards to spend a sleepless and agitated night. + +The miller's guests departed to their several abodes, wondering at +Auchernach's strange and unaccountable conduct, talking much of it, +and no one blaming him the less that his furious and apparently +uncalled for violence had so rudely and so provokingly put an end to +their evening's merriment. + +John Dhu Grant was hospitably entertained and lodged by the priest; +but Helen Dunbar allowed him to mount his horse next day, to ride +home to Knockando, without ever permitting him to be once gladdened +by the sunshine of her countenance. As she had wept all that night, +so she sat all the ensuing morning in her chamber, brooding over the +distressing scene of the previous evening, and anxiously listening +for the footsteps of Auchernach, in the hope that he might come to +give her some explanation of the cause of the strange ungovernable +fury to which he had given way. But he came not. + +"I had hoped to have seen our friend Auchernach here in tears and +repentance," said Priest Innes mildly to his niece, when they at last +met: "I fear he hath hardly yet come to a due sense of his error." + +Helen was silent and sorrowful. She still trusted, however, that he +might yet come. Her ears were continually fancying that she heard his +well-known step and voice, and they were as perpetually deceived. The +whole day and the whole evening passed away, and still he came +not. With a sad heart she accompanied her uncle to his chamber, to go +through those religious duties with him in which they never failed to +join before they separated for the night. Her voice trembled as she +uttered her responses to the prayers of the priest, and the old man, +participating in her feelings, and fully sympathising with her, was +little less affected. But her self-command altogether forsook her, +when, after the prescribed formula of service was at an end, her +uncle again kneeled down reverently on the cushion by his bed-side, +and prayed fervently for her and for her future happiness, and that +the Almighty protection might be extended over her when it should +please Heaven to remove him from this earthly scene. And when, as +connected with this dearest object of his heart, he put up earnest +petitions for him who was already destined to be her husband and +protector, she hid her face on the bed, and sobbed aloud. He besought +his Creator so to deal graciously with the erring youth, as to make +him deeply sensible of the wickedness of so readily yielding, as he +had recently done, to the violence of passion; and he implored the +Divine Being to render his repentance sincere and enduring, so that +he might never again be led to sin in the same way. + +"I forgive him already!" said the good man, as he gave his niece +his parting embrace; "I forgive him, and so will you, Helen. And if +I have been too hasty in judging him, as in mine erring nature I may +have been, may God forgive me! Bless thee, my child! and may the holy +Virgin and her angels hover over thy pillow! Good night!" + +Helen's tears prevented her from speaking, and after partially +composing herself, she arranged the simple uncanopied and uncurtained +couch which her uncle used, in obedience to his rigid rule, smoothed +his pillow, placed a carved ebony crucifix, with an ivory figure of +the Redeemer attached to it, on the little oaken table that stood by +his bed-side, and after trimming his night-lamp, she set it before +the little image, and having laid his breviary and his beads beside +it, she placed the cushion so that he might the more easily perform +those religious rites which his duty prescribed to him, and which he +regularly and strictly attended to at certain watches of the night, +and having done these little offices, she again tenderly embraced him, +and retired to her own chamber. + +The good priest's mind was so filled with distress about Auchernach, +that he could not close an eye. For several hours he lay turning over +and over in his thoughts those prospects which his niece had before +her from such a marriage--a marriage the contemplation of which +had so recently laid every anxiety of his heart regarding her most +satisfactorily to rest, all of which were now again awakened afresh +by the unfavourable view which last night's experience had given him +of her future husband. In vain he tried to court slumber. At last +when nearly worn out with watching, he arose and kneeled before the +emblems of his faith, to perform his midnight orisons. When these were +concluded, he took up the crucifix with veneration, reverently kissed +the image of our suffering Saviour, and, laying himself again down in +bed, he covered himself with the clothes, and, placing the crucifix +lengthwise upon his bosom, he committed himself in thought to the +protection of his patron-saint, and composed himself confidently to +rest, under the conviction that he should now be certain of enjoying +sweet slumber. + +And the good man was not mistaken. Sleep immediately weighed down his +eyelids, and his senses were soon, steeped in the deepest and most +perfect oblivion. If you will only fancy to yourselves his venerable +and placid countenance, pale as the sheet which partially shrouded +his chin, and rendered yet paler by its contrast with the black cap +which he wore, his motionless form disposed underneath the bed-clothes, +with the crucifix lying along over it, you will be ready to admit that +his whole appearance might have well suggested the idea of a saint. + +But the devil was that night abroad. The priest's habitation was +humble, and, though partly consisting of two low stories, the roof was +composed of a simple wattle, covered with heather thatch. His chamber +was above, and away from those of the other inmates, at one end, +where a lower shed was attached to the back of the building. Suppose +yourselves, for a moment, invisible spectators of a scene which was +alone looked down upon by that eye which sees all things. Listen to +that strange deafened sound above, as if some one was crawling over the +outside of the roof. What noise is that as of a cutting and plucking +up of the heather? Ha! did you see that dirk-blade glisten through +the frail work of the wattle?--again, and again, it comes! It rapidly +cuts its way in a large circle through the half rotten material of +which the roof is composed. The fingers of a hand now appear under it, +as if to prevent the piece which is about to be detached from falling +downwards, and alarming the sleeper. He hears not the noise, for he +sweetly dreams that as he prays on his knees, the clouds are opened, +and the beautified countenance of his patron-saint smiles upon him from +the skies, and beckons to him to throw off his mortality, and to join +him in the heavens. He awakes with the effort which he makes to obey +him; and, immediately over his bed he indistinctly beholds, by the +feeble light of his night lamp, the stern and remorseless features +of a man,--the eyes glaring fearfully upon him. He is paralysed by +the sight: and, ere he can move, nay, ere he can utter one shriek of +alarm, the murderer drops upon his bed, and, crouched across him, +he, with his left hand, lays bare the emaciated throat of the old +priest, and with his right he strikes his dirk blade through it, +till it pierces the very pillow underneath. No sigh escapes from the +murdered man. If groan there be at all, it comes growling from the +ferocious heart of the fiend who does the atrocious deed; who, as he +sits for a moment to satisfy himself that his victim is really dead, +shudders to look upon his own bloody work. To shut it out from his +eyes, even for the instant, he replaces the bed-clothes over the chin, +and, adjusting the crucifix as he found it, he makes a precipitate +retreat through the orifice in the roof by which he entered. + +If you have well pictured to yourselves the particulars of this most +revolting murder, you will be the better able to imagine the scene +that took place next morning when, at the hour at which she usually +went to awake her uncle, to receive his kiss and his blessing, to +inquire how he had passed the night, and to administer to his little +wants, his affectionate niece softly entered the apartment of the good +Priest Innes. Her eyes were naturally directed at once to the bed, +so that the hole in the roof above escaped her notice. + +"How tranquilly he sleeps!" whispered she; "I almost grudge to awaken +him to the recollection of that distressing event of the evening +before last, which so disturbed him, and which hath ever since so +tortured me. I see, from the crucifix being laid on his bosom, that +the earlier part of his night hath not been passed with the same +composure as he now enjoys. But it is late, and he may chide me if +I allow him longer to slumber. Uncle! dear uncle! it is time for you +to be up. Ha! still he answereth not! can he be unwell?" + +Snatching up the crucifix with one hand, and gently removing the +bed-clothes from her uncle's chin with the other, the harrowing +spectacle that presented itself told her the fatal truth. She stood +for one moment petrified by the sight, uttered one piercing shriek +that penetrated into every part of the humble dwelling, and then she +fell backwards on the floor in a swoon, where the old woman, Janet, +who waited on her, and James, the priest's man, both of whom came +running to her aid at the same moment, found her lying, with the +crucifix firmly and spasmodically embraced over her bosom. + +You all know how fast ill tidings travel. The particulars of this +horrible transaction, multiplied and magnified, quickly spread far +and wide, and the whole neighbourhood was instantly in a ferment. The +lamentations for their priest; their father and their friend, were +loud and heartfelt, and the execrations which were poured out on +his murderer were deep, and were mingled with unceasing cries of +vengeance. But, on whom were they to be avenged? Who was the person +most likely to have committed so foul a deed?--a murder in every +respect so unprovoked, and so perfectly without any apparent object, +committed on an innocent and pious man, who could never have been +supposed to have had an enemy! It could have been the work of no common +robber, for the few small articles of value which the priest's chamber +contained were left untouched. The outrageous conduct of Lewis Grant of +Auchernach on the evening of the previous night, at the wedding at the +miller's--conduct which had already been talked of and discussed with +no inconsiderable degree of reprobation by every one who had seen or +heard of it, now came fresh into the minds of all. The vengeful threat +which he seemed to have directed against the innocent and pious Priest +Innes, in return for his calm and fatherly rebuke, was now remembered +by every one. The very words had been treasured up by many of them, +and were repeated from mouth to mouth--"Old man! look that thou dost +not pay dear for thy favour to that new guest of thine!" Uttered as +they had been with the gnashing teeth of frantic passion, and with +rage and revenge flashing from his eyes, they were too plain to be +mistaken. High in favour as Auchernach was well known to have been +with the pure inhabitants of the priest's dwelling, his violence +was very easily explained by the jealousy which it was natural to +suppose must have been excited in him by the visible preference which +had been that evening given by Priest Innes to his rival, John Dhu +of Knockando, a circumstance to which his threat had so distinctly +pointed. The grounds of suspicion against him, therefore, were too +evident--too damning to be for one moment doubted; and he who, two +short days before, had been respected and beloved by all who knew him, +was at once condemned by every one as a cool, deliberate, sacrilegious +murderer. A hue and cry was immediately raised for his apprehension, +and off ran the whole population, young and old, and of both sexes, +to secure, or to witness his capture, leaving no one to attend to +the afflicted Helen Dunbar but her old woman Janet. + +But strange as it may seem, after the people had been gone for some +considerable time in hot search of the felon, Lewis Grant himself rode +slowly up to the priest's house. For some reason which he best knew, +he came by a road quite different from that which should have brought +him directly from Auchernach. He seemed gloomy and thoughtful--his head +hung down--and as he walked his horse up to the stable and dismounted, +as he was often wont to do, to put the beast with his own hand into +the stall with which it was sufficiently familiar, his eyes glanced +furtively in all directions from under the broad bonnet that shaded +his brow. Having disposed of the animal, he shut the stable door, +and, with a downcast look and chastened step, very much unlike that +which had usually carried him over the same fragment of ground, and +with a sigh that almost amounted to a groan, he presented himself at +the little portal of the house. With a hesitating hand he lifted the +latch, and with his limbs trembling beneath him, he moved softly along +the passage that led to the priest's parlour. He halted for a moment +irresolutely at the door of that little chamber where he had passed +so many happy days and hours. At last he summoned up courage enough +to open it, and he stood on its threshold with his eyes thrown upon +the ground. Silence prevailed within, till it was broken by a deep +convulsive sob. He looked up, and he beheld old Janet, with her back +towards him, kneeling beside a low couch placed against the opposite +wall; and upon its pillow, and stretched out at length upon it in a +state which left him in doubt whether she was dying, or already dead, +lay the grief-worn countenance and the form of Helen Dunbar. He was +struck dumb by this spectacle. He stood amazed, with the blood running +cold to his heart. But recollection soon returned to him--his whole +frame shook with the agitation of his feelings, and, clasping his +hands in an agony, he rushed forward and threw himself on his knees +before the couch. The humble domestic was terrified to behold him, +and started aloof at the very sight of him. + +"Helen!--my life!--my love!" cried he in a frantic tone; "can I--can +I, wretch that I am--can I, murderer that I am!--can I have brought +death upon my beloved! Oh, answer me!--gaze not thus silently upon me +with that fearful look! Am I then become in thy sight so accursed? Oh, +mercy!--mercy!--look not so upon me!" + +He tried to take her hand. His very attempt to do so seemed +instantaneously to rouse her from the stupor in which she had hitherto +lain. She recoiled from him back to the wall as if a serpent had stung +her, whilst her fixed eyes stared, and her lips moved without sound, +as if she could find no utterance for the horrors that possessed her. + +"Is there no mercy for me?" cried Auchernach again. "Hast thou doomed +me to destruction? Am I to be spurned by thee as I was by thine uncle +Priest Innes?" + +A prolonged and piercing shriek was all the reply that his frantic +appeal received from Helen Dunbar. It was echoed by her old attendant, +and mingled with loud cries for help. Steps were heard pattering fast +without--Auchernach started up to his feet. The steps came hurrying +along the passage--several men burst into the chamber--they stood for +a moment in mute astonishment. Then it was that Helen Dunbar seemed to +regain all her dormant energies. She sprang from the couch--retreated +from Auchernach--and gazing fearfully at him, with, her head and body +drawn back, she pointed wildly towards him, with both her outstretched +arms and hands--and whilst every nerve was convulsed by the torture +which her soul was enduring, she at last found words to speak. + +"Seize him! Seize the murderer of mine uncle!" she cried in a voice +which rang shrilly and terribly in the ears of all who heard her; +and altogether exhausted by this extraordinary effort, she would +have fallen forward senseless on the floor, had she not been caught +by some of the bystanders, who carried her in a swoon to the couch +from which she had so recently risen. + +Auchernach stood fixed and frozen, as if her words had suddenly +converted him into a pillar of ice. He was immediately laid hold of +by some of the men, who hastily bound him, and he submitted to be +led away, as if utterly unaware of what had befallen him. His horse +was taken from the stable; he was lifted powerless into the saddle, +and strapped firmly to the animal's back. The crowd of people who had +collected, some on horseback, and some on foot, looked upon him with +horror, mingled with awe. But no one uttered a word, either of pity +or of condemnation. He sat erect, it is true, but it was with all +the rigidity of a stiffened corpse, for not a feature nor a muscle +exhibited the smallest sign of consciousness. That night found him, +after a wearisome journey, of the scenes or events of which he had +no knowledge, chained, on a heap of straw, on the floor of one of +the deepest dungeon-vaults in the Priory of Pluscarden. + +The simple and unpretending funeral of the good Priest Innes had a +larger following than that of any person who had been buried from that +district for many years, and the silent sorrow which was exhibited by +all who beheld it, was not only more sincere, but it was likewise far +more eloquent than those louder lamentations, and those otherwise more +obtrusive expressions of woe which had arisen around the bier of many +a departed knight and laird of Strathspey. His corpse was carried the +same road as they had taken the wretched man who stood charged with +his murder. It was met at some distance from the Priory by its monks +and their superior, who accompanied the procession, chanting hymns +before the coffin, till it was carried into the church. There the +services were performed for the dead, and he was laid to rest in his +last narrow house, within the cemetery of that religious establishment, +where the requiem masses that were sung for his soul went faintly, and +with anything but consolation, to the ears of the wretched Auchernach +in his subterranean prison. + +Most of the gentry of the neighbouring country were present at +these obsequies, and John Dhu Grant was there amongst others. It was +especially remarked, that although his house of Knockando lay directly +in the way between Easter Duthel and the Priory, and about equidistant +from the two places, his desire to show respect to the memory of the +deceased was so great that he appeared at the priest's house early on +the morning of the funeral, and rode with the procession all the way +to the place of interment. He, moreover, took a very prominent part +in the whole ceremonial. From these pregnant signs the good people +naturally argued that there had been a gross mistake in the belief +that had hitherto so currently prevailed as to which of the rival +lairds had been really most favoured by Helen Dunbar and her uncle; +and the wiser gossips now shook their heads, and looked forward to the +time when John Dhu Grant would probably dry up the orphan's tears, +and establish her in the arm-chair at the comfortable fireside of +Knockando. The laird himself never did nor said anything which might +have contradicted any such supposition; on the contrary, he always +spoke and acted as if it was tolerably well-founded. + +A good many days passed away after the loss of her uncle, before +the tide of Helen's grief had gushed from her eyes in sufficient +abundance to afford any relief to her deep affliction. Many were +the kind hearts that came to condole with her, but some of her more +intimate friends of her own sex only had as yet been admitted to +her presence to share her sorrows. John Dhu Grant had made repeated +journeys to call at the house, but his urgent entreaties for admission +had been always met by courteous refusals. He came at length one day, +and as he stated that he was the bearer of an especial message from the +Lord Prior of Pluscarden, Helen could no longer decline giving him an +audience. She received him, however, not only in the presence of old +Janet, whose long services in the priest's house had given her most +of the privileges and indulgences of an old friend, but also in that +of an elderly matron, who had kindly agreed to spend some time with +her to cheer her loneliness. You will not be surprised when I tell +you that Helen was deeply affected and much agitated when the laird +entered. After she was somewhat composed, and the first preliminary +civilities were interchanged,-- + +"I come, lady, from the Lord Prior of Pluscarden," said Knockando, +"and I am the bearer of a message to know, with all due respect and +godly greeting, on his part, whether thou art as yet sufficiently +restored to be able to undertake a journey to the Priory, that thou +mayest give evidence against him who now lieth in a dungeon there, +charged with the crime of the most sacrilegious murder of thine uncle, +Priest Innes?" + +"I beseech thee, sir," said Helen, much affected, and with a trembling +and scarcely audible voice, "I beseech thee to tell the reverend +father, that I do, with all humility, abide his command, and that +when he shall see fit to demand my presence, I shall be ready to obey." + +"I doubt not that thou art by this time most eager to see vengeance +fall speedily upon the foul murderer," said Knockando. + +"Alas! no vengeance can restore him to me whom I have lost," said +Helen, bursting into a flood of tears. + +"But his blood crieth out for vengeance, and it lieth with thee to +see it done upon the murderer," said Knockando. + +"When the Lord Prior calleth for me, I shall speak the truth, and let +vengeance rest with that Almighty Being who alone beheld the cruel +deed!" said Helen, throwing her eyes upwards as if secretly appealing +to Heaven. "As for me, I can but weep for him that is gone, and pray +to have that Christian feeling supplied to me which may enable me to +forgive even--to forgive even his murderer." + +"Forgive his murderer!" cried Knockando, with a strange and wild +expression. "Canst thou indeed think that thou mayest yet ever +be brought to forgive him? But no! no! no!" continued he calmly, +and with his usual cold manner and unmoved countenance, "it cannot +surely be that thou couldst ever bring thyself to save the monster +who could allow one passing word of just reproof to wipe out so many +years of kind and hospitable intercourse, and who could revenge it +by so barbarous and unheard of a murder." + +"I said forgive, not save," replied Helen, in a half choked voice. "The +laws of God and of man alike require that the murderer should die; +and I shall never flinch from the dreadful but imperious duty which +now devolves upon me, to see that justice is done upon the guilty +person. But our blessed Saviour hath taught me to forgive even him; +and ere he be called on to expiate his crime on earth, may the Holy +Virgin yield me strength to pray sincerely for his repentance, so +that his unhappy soul may be assoilzied from an eternity of torment." + +"What!" cried Knockando, with a recurrence of that wildness +of expression which he had already exhibited, "canst thou even +contemplate so much as this regarding a wretch, who, lighting down +like some nocturnal fiend upon the sacred person of thine uncle, and, +reckless of the emblem of Christ which lay upon his bosom"---- + +"Ha!" exclaimed Helen, suddenly moved as the horrors of the spectacle +she had witnessed were thus so rashly and so rudely recalled to her +recollection by this ill-timed speech. "What saidst thou?" + +"Nay," continued Knockando, "I wonder not that thou shouldst start +thus, as I stir up thy remembrance of the bloody and most inhuman +act. Methinks thou wilt hardly now deny me that the man who could +put aside the holy image of Christ, that he might plunge his dirk +into the innocent throat of his sacred servant, must not only die +the death of a felon, but that he can never hope for mercy from Him +whose blessed emblem he hath outraged." + +"Give me air! give me air!" cried Helen faintly, as she motioned to +her companions to open the lattice; and then falling back into the +couch, she covered her face with both her hands, and was seized with +a long hysterical fit of laughter, followed by a convulsive shudder, +from which she was relieved by a deluge of tears. + +"This is no scene for a stranger to witness," said the lady who sat +with her, "nor is the subject which thou hast chosen to dwell on so +circumstantially by any means suited to the weak state of this poor +sufferer. I must entreat of thee to withdraw." + +"Madam," said Knockando coolly, "I am no stranger. I am here as the +messenger of the Lord Prior, and as the friend of the deceased. As +that friend to whom the good Priest Innes did manifest his last most +open act of confidence. I am here, as it were, by his posthumous +authority, as the avenger of his foul murder, and as the protector +of his desolate orphan niece; so that hardly even might the orders +of the lady herself induce me to quit this apartment whilst my duty +may tell me that I ought to remain." + +"Thine arm, Janet," said Helen feebly; and, with the old woman's +support, she slowly arose and moved towards the door. + +"Stay, stay, I beseech thee, my beloved Helen!" cried Knockando, +eagerly rising to follow her. "Stay, I entreat thee, or say at least +when I may return to offer thee my protection, that legitimate +protection which thine uncle authorised me to yield thee, that +substantial protection which can alone be supplied by him who hath +the rights and the affection of a husband." + +"A husband!" cried Helen, turning suddenly round and gazing wildly +at him,--"Husband!" and being again seized with the same involuntary +laugh, she was hurried away up stairs to her chamber by the women. + +Knockando then slowly left the apartment, called for his horse, +and departed. + +Helen Dunbar kept her bed all next day, and no one was admitted to +her chamber but the lady I have mentioned, and her old and faithful +Janet. With these she had long, deep, and private talk regarding all +that had passed the previous day. On the ensuing morning the Laird of +Knockando again came to the house. Janet was immediately despatched +to refuse him admittance. He now came, he said, with a letter from +the Lord Prior of Pluscarden, which he trusted would be a passport +for him to the lady's presence. Leaving him below, Janet carried it up +stairs to her mistress. It was tied with a piece of black silk ribbon, +but it had no seal. It ran in these terms:-- + + +"To Helen Dunbar, these,--It being our will and pleasure that +the vengeance with the which it doth behoove us to visit Lewis +Grant of Auchernach, the murderer of thine uncle, Priest Innes, +shall no longer tarry, but descend quickly upon his guilty head, +so that the air of our sacred precincts may cease to be poisoned by +the foul breath of his life, we do now, by these presents, call upon +thee to appear before us here on Tuesday next at noon, to give thy +testimony against him. And as the way hither is long and lonely, we +do further give thee our fatherly advice to avail thyself of the kind +offer about to be made thee by the bearer of this, our friend, that +worthy gentleman, John Grant of Knockando, who promises to shorten +thy travel by lodging thee in his house on the previous night, and +to guard thee hither. And so we greet thee with our holy blessing. + + "Duncanus Prior. Plus." + + +Helen was much agitated by the perusal of this letter, but after a +little consultation, her friend took it upon herself to go down to +tell Knockando that the Prior's summons should be obeyed; but that the +laird's offer of protection and hospitality were with all civility +declined. After much vain solicitation on his part, Knockando left +the house with great unwillingness. + +He had not been gone an hour when the tramping of a horse again +sounded in their ears. + +"Holy Virgin!" exclaimed Janet, as she looked from the lattice to +ascertain who this new visitor might be. "As I hope to be saved, +it is the lay brother who rides on the Lord Prior's errands. What +can he want, I wonder?" + +Janet hastened down, and soon returned. + +"He came the short way over the hills with it," said Janet, putting +another letter into Helen's hands. + +It bore the large seal of the priory over the black silk ribbon by +which it was bound. + +"What can this mean?" said Helen, as with trembling hands she +applied the shears to divide the ribbon. "Again a letter from the +Lord Prior! But, as I live, in a very different, fairer, and more +clerk-like hand, and, methinks, in better terms." + + +"To our much afflicted and much beloved daughter Helen Dunbar--these: + +"Deeply do we and all our brethren grieve for thy cruel affliction. By +ourselves, or our sub-prior, we should have ere this visited thee +with heavenly comfort, had not weighty affairs hindered. But deem not +thyself desolate; for we do hold that our brother, thy much beloved +and greatly lamented uncle, the umquhile Priest Innes (whom God +assoilzie!) hath left thee to our guardianship, and, as a daughter +of the Church, thou shalt be watched with our especial care. We have +made it known to all, that, but further delay, we shall, God willing, +proceed on Wednesday next, after the hour of tierce, to look earnestly +into the mysterious case of the good priest's wicked and sacrilegious +slaughter. We beseech thee, therefore, to do thy best, to render +thyself at the priory on the forecoming day, that, assured of the best +hospitality that we can provide for thee, thou mayest rest and prepare +thee for the trial of the following morrow. Till then we commend +thee to the care of God, the blessed Virgin, and Holy Saint Andrew; +and with this, our consolatory benediction, we bid thee farewell. + + "Duncanus, + "Monach. Ordinis, Vallis Caulium, Plus. Prior." + + +"Haste thee, good Janet," said Helen Dunbar, after she had read the +prior's letter; "haste thee, and see that the honest lay-brother and +his beast be well looked to for this night." + +Left to themselves, the ladies compared and canvassed the two letters, +one of which was so evidently a forgery. They had little difficulty +in determining which was the true one. After some consultation, +Helen proceeded to pen a proper answer to that which she had last +received; and having sent orders to old James to get his steed ready, +she despatched him with it forthwith by that short route over the +hills which the lay-brother had taken to bring the prior's letter +to her. And a few lines of reply, which James brought her next day +from the reverend father himself, assured her of the safe delivery +of her communication. + +During the interval which elapsed before the day on which she was +to set out for Pluscarden, the Laird of Knockando made two more +ineffectual attempts to gain admittance to Helen, and on both of +these occasions he sent her urgent messages to come to his house on +her way, and to allow him to be her escort on the journey. To these +courteous but resolute refusals were given by the matron, who was +then her companion, and on both occasions Knockando left the house +with a degree of disappointment and mortification which he could not +altogether conceal. + +The day fixed for her journey at last arrived. Aware of the stern +necessity that existed of arming herself with fortitude to undergo all +that she had to encounter, she kneeled down, and fervently prayed to +God and to the Virgin to aid and to support her. She arose with the +conscious conviction that her prayers had been heard, and she met +her friend with a quiet and composed countenance. As that lady and +Janet were to be the companions of her journey, she calmly issued +her directions for getting ready the animals which were destined to +carry them. The table was already spread for their morning's meal, +when suddenly a loud trampling of horses was heard, and ere they were +aware, they saw through the casements that the house was surrounded by +about a dozen of mounted men-at-arms. Before they had time to recover +from their astonishment, their leader threw himself from his saddle, +and entered the house and the apartment. + +"Knockando!" cried the ladies in astonishment and alarm. + +"Fear nothing," said John Dhu Grant, advancing and bowing with his +usual imperturbable manner. "I have merely ridden up hither with a +handful of brave fellows to guard thee. Ha!--what's this?" continued +he, surveying the ample table which was liberally spread with +trenchers, flagons, and drinking cups, and provisions of all kinds +much beyond what the moderate wants of the two ladies could have +required. "It was kind, indeed, to be thus hospitably prepared for +our coming. But think not, I pray thee, of my fellows without there, +for their hound-like stomachs are already provisioned for the day's +toil. As for myself, indeed, I shall make bold to benefit by thy +kindness to me, for I rarely eat at so early an hour as my spearmen +do." + +"John Grant of Knockando," said Helen Dunbar, drawing herself up +with an effort to summon all her resolution, and speaking with great +determination, "I lack not thine aid, and I reject it as insulting to +me! And touching my hospitality, I tell thee that it is to be given +solely to such as it may please me to bestow it upon--not taken, +as thou wouldst have it, by a masterful hand. That board was never +spread for thee, and thou shalt never partake of it with my good will!" + +"These are strong and hard words, lady," said Knockando, coolly seating +himself; "they are hard, yea, and sharp too--harder and sharper, +methinks, than anything that I have unconsciously done to offend +thee may well have merited. Hadst thou not better unsay them? if not +with thy lips, at least by silently seating thyself here beside me, +to do me the honours of the table." + +"Again I tell thee, that table was never spread for thee!" said Helen +firmly. "Begone, then! and leave, it untouched for me, and for such +other guests as I may judge to be most fit to seat themselves there." + +"Tush, tush, lady!" said Knockando frigidly. "The good old Priest +Innes never meant that this table should be spread for thee without +my sitting at it with thee. That very last night we passed together, +the worthy man told me that he should leave thee to me as a legacy +together with all his little means. So, lady, I have e'en come to +claim thee, and I have brought these rough but staunch spearmen +with me, that we may guard thee safely to Knockando as we would a +treasure. There a priest waits to make thee even yet more securely +mine own. After which we shall ride together, if it shall so please, +thee, to Pluscarden, that we may draw down the blessing of holy +mother Church upon our union, by seeing condign punishment swiftly +done on the murderer who now lieth there. Come, lady! break thy fast, +I pray thee, with what haste thou mayest, for thy palfrey waits by +this time. Ha! what stir is that among my people?" + +"Thanks! thanks to Heaven, they come at last!" cried Helen, clasping +her hands together with fervour. + +"Who comes?" said Knockando, turning to the lattice, and growing deadly +pale as he looked out. "What! the sub-prior of Pluscarden!--ha! and the +bailie too with him, and a strong force of mounted men-at-arms! What +means all this?" + +The small plump of men who had come with Knockando were smothered up, +as it were, by the long train of horsemen who now filed up and crowded +the confined space formed by the modest front of the priest's manse, +and the humble out-buildings which were attached to it at right +angles. The heads of the houses of Cistertian monks, of which the +brethren of Vallis Caulium were but a sect, seldom travelled in later +times without all those external emblems of religious pomp which their +rules allowed them. Upon the present occasion, the sub-prior and his +palfrey were both arrayed in all the trappings to which his official +dignity entitled him. Before him appeared a monk bearing a tall and +splendidly gilded crucifix, that glittered in the morning sun, and +some dozen of the brotherhood came riding after him, two and two, +with their white cassocks and their scapularies covered by the black +gowns in which they usually went abroad. These carried banners, +charged with the arms of the Priory--the figure of Saint Andrew +their patron saint--and various other devices. And a strong body of +men-at-arms, who, as belonging to the regality attached to the Priory, +owed service to it as vassals, preceded and followed the procession, +under the orders of the seneschal or bailie. A monk dismounted to +hold the stirrup of the sub-prior as he alighted at the door, and +singing a cross in the air, the holy father forthwith entered. + +"The blessing of Saint Andrew be upon this house!" said he, as he +stepped over the threshold. "Benedicite, my child of sorrow!" continued +he, as he entered the apartment. "Soh!--the Laird of Knockando here! I +thought as much. How earnest thou, false and lying knave, to use +the sacred name, and to forge the sign-manual of our most reverend +Lord Prior, to further thine own vile frauds against this innocent +daughter of the church? Surrender thyself forthwith into the hands +of this our bailie, that he may take thee prisoner to Pluscarden, +where thy delicts may be duly dealt with." + +"What ho, there, men-at-arms!" cried the bailie aloud. + +In an instant the followers of Knockando were disarmed, and the +apartment being filled with the men-at-arms belonging to the Church, +Knockando was made prisoner, led out, and bound upon his horse. + +"It was well, daughter, that the blessed Virgin gave thee wit to +discover and to foil the base tricks of this false man," said the +sub-prior. + +"Nay, reverend father, but rather let me say, thanks be to the Virgin, +and to thy timely succour," replied Helen. "One moment later, and +my fate had been sealed. But will it please thee to partake of our +humble Highland fare? and whilst thou dost condescend to taste of +the poor refreshment we have ventured to provide for thee, we women, +as beseems us, will withdraw." + +"Nay, nay, fair daughter!" replied the sub-prior, "thou shalt by +no means depart. Were it a meal, indeed, we might see fit rigidly +to insist upon our rule. But we shall but taste thy viands, and put +our lips to thy wine-cup for mere courtesy's sake. Therefore disturb +thyself not. Marry, as we broke our fast scarcely two hours since +before leaving Inverallan, where we sojourned last night, we can have +but small appetite now. Yet thy board looketh well, and this upland +air of thine, in truth, is sharp and stimulating; and, moreover, we +should never refuse to partake--moderately I mean--of the blessings +which are furnished to us by a bountiful Providence, yea, even when +they are set forth on a table spread, as thine may be said to be, +in the wilderness." + +Saying so, the good sub-prior seated himself, and set an example to the +rest by cutting off and placing on his own trencher the leg and wing +of a large turkey, relished it with some reasonably large slices of +bacon, and filled himself a cup of wine from a flagon on the table, +adding as much of nature's fluid to it as might, with due safety +to his conscience, enable him to call it wine and water. The rest +of the holy fraternity were not slack in imitating their superior; +and after he had thus shown how much the deeds of the Church were +better than its promises, by doing much more justice to the provisions +than his preface had led his entertainer to hope for, Helen and her +companions were mounted on their palfreys, and the sub-prior, and his +monks and their escort, having got into their saddles, the prisoner +was sent on before them well guarded, and they proceeded on their +way. The sight of the Priory of Pluscarden, as its picturesque ruins +now prove, was like that of all the monasteries of the same order, +beautifully retired, lying at the foot of the hills that abruptly bound +the northern side of its broad valley. It was surrounded by a square +inclosure of many acres, fenced in by a thick and high wall of masonry, +the remains of which are still visible. As the day was departing, +the setting sun that shed its light athwart the motionless foliage +of those woods that hung on the face of the hills behind the Priory, +and gilded the proud pinnacles of the building, which arose from the +tall grove in the middle of the large area I have described, threw a +last ray of illumination on the glittering crucifix as the long dark +line of the procession wound under the deep arch of the outer gate, +and as it threaded its way among the small gardens into which the +area was parcelled out for the several members of the fraternity. By +the kind and hospitable care of the Lord Prior the ladies were soon +safely and comfortably lodged in one of the detached buildings on +the outside of the wall inclosing the precincts of the Priory, whilst +the Laird of Knockando was thrown, a solitary prisoner, into one of +the subterranean dungeon vaults within. + +Helen Dunbar was that night blessed with sweet and refreshing rest +after the fatiguing journey of the previous day. As her gentle +spirit began to return to her towards morning from that world of +unconsciousness where it had been laid by the profoundness of her +sleep, pleasing visions floated over her pillow. The saint-like +figure of her venerable uncle, surrounded by a resplendent glory, +hovered over her, and smiled upon her from above. Saint Andrew then +appeared beside him, and bore him slowly upwards, till both gradually +melted from her sight amidst a flood of light in the upper regions +of the sky. She awaked in a transport of delight to which her bosom +had been for some time a stranger. She arose and attired herself in +the sad and simple habit of mourning which she wore, and she threw +herself on her knees to ask again for aid from above in the trying +circumstances in which she was placed; and then, halving partaken of +the refreshment which was liberally provided for her and her companions +by the hospitable orders of the prior, she sat patiently waiting for +the moment when she should be summoned to attend the chapter. + +The brethren of the Priory had no sooner performed the tierce, +as those services were called which took place at nine o'clock +in the morning, than the convent bell rang to call the chapter to +assemble. The chapter-house in which this convocation took place was a +beautiful Gothic apartment, of about thirty feet in diameter, lighted +by four large windows, and having its groined roof supported by a +single pillar. Arranged on one side were the seats of the members +of the holy tribunal. That of the Lord Bishop of the diocese, who +had come from his palace at Elgin on purpose to preside over the +investigation which was about to take place, was a high Gothic chair +raised on several steps. Arrayed in his gorgeous episcopal robes, he +sat silent and motionless, as if oppressed with the painful subject +of the inquiry in which he was to be engaged. On the steps where his +feet rested, two handsome boys of his choir were seated, one of whom +held his mitre and the other his crosier. On his right sat the Prior, +and on his left the Sub-Prior of Pluscarden, attired in their full +canonicals, and the other chairs on both sides were filled with those +dignitaries and brethren who were members of the chapter. The area of +the place was crowded by the monks in their flowing white draperies, +together with the lay brothers in their attire, the extreme interest +of the case having prevented every one from being absent who was not +in the sick-list of the infirmary, or occupied with duties from which +they dared not to absent themselves. A deep silence prevailed. At last +the sound of arms was heard echoing through the lofty aisles of the +adjacent church, and a body of spearmen, retainers of the monastery, +headed by the seneschal, entered, guarding in two prisoners. + +One of these was the wretched Laird of Auchernach, who appeared with +his arms loaded with heavy chains. The captivity which his body had +endured in his dungeon, and the mental agony which he had undergone, +had manifestly done sad havoc upon him. He took up the position +assigned to him by the seneschal with a subdued yet indifferent air, as +if the stream of his life had been poisoned, and that he cared not how +soon he should now be called upon to pour out its last bitter dregs. + +The black visage of the Laird of Knockando, who was the other prisoner, +seemed also to have undergone a considerable change since the morning +of the preceding day. It was haggard, and his eyes were bloodshot, +as if he had had but little repose during the night. There was a +certain expression of mental uneasiness about it, which his habitual +air of cold and motionless placidity could not altogether conceal. The +two prisoners were placed near to each other in a position a little +to one side, and at some distance in front of the tribunal that was +about to investigate their respective cases. + +"John Grant of Knockando," said the Bishop, whilst a subdued hush +ran round among the spectators, "thou hast been brought hither as +a prisoner, charged upon very undoubted evidence of having most +feloniously forged the sign-manual of the reverend superior of this +holy priory, and this for the base purpose of wickedly circumventing +an innocent orphan maiden, whom, for her pious uncle's sake, we have +been pleased to take under the especial protection of our holy mother +Church. But as thy delict is one with which we as churchmen may deal +in our own good time, we shall for the present postpone and continue +thy case, and proceed straightway to our inquiry into the graver, +and deeper charge touching that crime of a deeper dye, to wit, +the most sacrilegious murder of our pious brother the Priest Innes, +of the which he who now stands on thy left hand is accused,--I mean +thee, Lewis Grant of Auchernach. But as thou, John Grant of Knockando, +wert present at the last interview which the murdered man had with his +suspected murderer only the night before, where that unjust cause of +offence would seem to have been taken which whetted the cruel blade +of the assassin for its purpose, we would first hear what evidence +thou hast to give upon the matter." + +"My Lord Bishop, and you most Reverend Fathers," said Knockando, his +eye having brightened up as the speaker had proceeded, and who had +by this time regained all his wonted coolness and self-possession, +"I now stand before this holy tribunal under circumstances the most +distressing that can well oppress a human being. I shall at present +pass entirely by those charges which have been made against myself; +and regarding which I trust I shall afterwards have little difficulty +in giving ample satisfaction to my venerable accusers. I shall pass +these charges by, I say, because I could not, if I were willing, find +room in my mind for anything touching myself, filled, as it at this +moment is, with the awful and heavy charge made against the unhappy +man who now stands beside me,--him whom I once called my friend, and +for whom, in the weakness of my nature, and in despite of the unjust +outrage which he did me on a recent occasion, I still cannot help +being agitated by the same friendly anxiety with which I was ever +moved on his account. Such being my feelings, I am sure that no one +who now heareth me but must pity me, compelled as I thus am to bear +an unwilling testimony the which, I am aware, must grievously tend +towards fixing on him the guilt of one of the most unnatural, cruel, +and deliberate murders that ever fouled the page of the history of +man, and that done, too, on the sacred person of a servant of God, +with whom the murderer had for long companied in habits of the +strictest intimacy, and in whose hospitalities he had so long and +so often shared. But my duty to mankind,--my duty to this venerable +tribunal,--and my duty to Heaven, all combine to compel me to speak +out the truth, which I shall now do as briefly as I can. + +"It is already well known, most Reverend Fathers, that a merry meeting +took place at the mill of Duthel on the occasion of the marriage of +the miller's daughter. There all who were present can bear testimony, +that Lewis Grant of Auchernach did, without any cause of provocation on +my part--though it may perhaps be well enough urged in his exculpation, +that the violence he did me arose from jealousy because Helen Dunbar +took greater pleasure in my converse than in his--yet certain it is +that then and there he did most grievously assault me at unawares. The +good Priest Innes, who was my most especial friend, and who is now, +alas! so much lamented by me, bestowed a quiet word of reproof on +the enraged Auchernach, such as a pastor or a father might have well +given upon such an occasion. But instead of taking his rebuke with +that humble submission with the which it doth alway become a layman to +receive the admonitions of the Church, Auchernach in the ears of all +uttered fearful denunciations against the good old man as he was in +the act of leaving the place, leaning, as he was often compelled by +his infirmities to do, upon the stay of this arm of mine. It sorely +wounds my heart to be thus forced to repeat the very words which +he used, seeing that they are of themselves enow to condemn him; +but if I should fail of so doing, there is not a person of any age +or sex who was present that night who could not repeat them. They +were these,--'Old man! look that thou dost not pay dear for thy +favour to that new guest of thine!' Thus carrying his bitter and +most unjust rage from me to the good priest, who was about to show +me that hospitality which, for that night at least, had been denied +to himself. He could have made no successful attempt against the +good man that night, for I was in the house to act, under Heaven, +as his shield from all harm. But the very next night, when I was no +longer there--would I had!--to defend him, the murderer comes, and"---- + +"Thou hast now gone as far as thy knowledge as an eye or ear-witness +may bear thee, Knockando," said the Bishop. "When the subject of +thy testimony hath been taken down, our brother the sub-prior may go +forth to bring in the lady who is our next evidence." + +In obedience to the Bishop's order, the sub-prior withdrew, and soon +afterwards returned, ushering in Helen Dunbar. As she entered, she +was so overcome by the feelings naturally excited by her situation, +at well as by the solemn and impressive spectacle before her, that she +did not very well know how she found herself seated in the chair that +was placed for her a little to one side, and at such an angle to those +of the members of the chapter, so as to permit a full stream of light +to fall upon her from a window. Her eyes were thrown on the ground, +and she put up a secret aspiration for aid from Heaven during the +interval of silence which the judges charitably allowed to give her +time to compose herself. + +"Helen Dunbar!" said the Bishop, at length slowly addressing her in +a deep-toned voice, but with an encouraging manner; "thou already +knowest but too well, and to thine unutterable grief and affliction, +that thy uncle, Priest Innes, a godly, and now, it is to be hoped, +a sainted son of the Church, was, upon the night of the twenty-ninth +day of the last month, most cruelly and barbarously murdered, by +some one at present unknown. What canst thou say touching that strong +suspicion which doth attach to the prisoner, Lewis Grant of Auchernach, +who now standeth yonder?" + +"My lord," said Helen Dunbar, looking fearfully round, whilst every +fibre of her frame seemed to quiver with agitation, as she caught +her first view of the wasted form and countenance of the unfortunate +prisoner, and met his eye, which was now filled with a flitting fire +of anxiety which it had not before exhibited. But she seemed yet +more affected by the glance of the Laird of Knockando, who stood +beside him. It quite overcame her for some moments. "My lord!--my +lord! I--I"---- + +"Take thine own time, daughter!" said the Bishop cheerily; "and begin, +if it so pleaseth thee, with thy recollection of what befell at the +wedding at the mill of Duthel. The prisoner Auchernach did then and +there strike down John Grant of Knockando without cause of provocation, +did he not?" + +"My lord, he did strike down Knockando," said Helen; "but as I +chanced to watch them standing for some time, as if in talk together, +I observed their looks; and, were I to judge from what I saw, I +should hold that John Grant of Knockando had by his words so chafed +Auchernach, and worked upon his dormant ire, as to fret it into the +sudden outburst of that flame, the which blazed forth so openly to +the senses of all who were then present." + +"Was he not rebuked by the good priest, thine uncle, for the outrage +of which he was then guilty?" demanded the Bishop. + +"He was, my lord," replied Helen; "and in a sterner tone than he had +ever heard the priest use before. But ere mine uncle went to bed, on +the evening of that very night in which he was murdered, these ears +did privately hear him express a doubt whether he might not have been +too hasty in judging him, and he then uttered a fervent ejaculation +to Heaven for pardon if he had so erred." + +"Heard ye no threat from the lips of Auchernach against thine +uncle?" demanded the Bishop. + +"I did hear words which in mine agitation at the time I could not +well interpret," said Helen. "After the murder of mine uncle, I did, +in my distraction, recall and connect these words with the cruel deed +which had so swiftly followed them. But certain circumstances did +afterwards occur to satisfy me that the words,--'Old man! look that +thou dost not pay dear for thy favour to that new guest of thine!' were +meant by Auchernach as a friendly warning, and not as a threat." + +"Against whom then dost thou believe that Auchernach's friendly +warning was given? if so thou judgest it to be," said the Bishop. + +"Against him who now standeth beside the accused," said Helen Dunbar; +and rising from her chair as she said so, she turned round, and +drawing herself up to her full height, she regarded the individual she +was addressing with a firm and resolute look, and added in a clear, +distinct, and solemn voice,--"The warning of Auchernach was kindly +meant, and would to the holy saints that it had been taken as it +was intended! The warning of Auchernach was meant to guard against +the false arts of John Dhu Grant of Knockando there, whom I do here +fearlessly accuse as the real murderer of mine uncle!" + +The murmurs of astonishment which ran through the assemblage at +this most unlooked for accusation may easily be imagined, as well +as the change that took place on the respective countenances of the +two prisoners. + +"My guardian angel!" cried Auchernach, clasping his hands fervently, +and looking tenderly and gratefully towards Helen, his face suddenly +flushed with joy. + +"Some deep conspiracy against me," murmured Knockando, his countenance +changing alternately from the deadly white of guilty fear to the +black expression of fiend-like ferocity. "A deep compact between the +murderer and his paramour! Where can the veriest shadow of proof be +found against my perfect innocence of this foul deed?" + +"Let the sacred dignity of our tribunal be respected!" said the Bishop +sternly; "and let all such unseemly interruptions cease. Proceed +maiden! proceed to offer to us the testimony on which thou art bold +enough to make so strange and so determined an accusation." + +"My lord," said Helen, still standing, and betraying deep agitation, +as in her modest and respectful address to the Bishop she recalled +the appalling circumstances; "I was the first person who entered mine +uncle's apartment on the morning which followed the fatal night of his +murder. When I did approach me to the bed I fancied that he slept; +for, as was not uncommon with him, he lay with the blessed crucifix +over his bosom. I lifted the holy emblem in my left hand, whilst with +my right I did remove the bed-clothes from his chin--when--when--when +beholding, as I did, the bloody work which had been done upon him, +I fell backwards on the floor in a swoon, and so firmly did I grasp +the crucifix to my bosom in mine unconscious agony, that those who +came to mine aid, called thither by my scream, found it so placed, +and it was carried with me to mine own apartment, and I so found it +when my senses were restored to me. That the crucifix had ever lain +that night upon mine uncle's breast at all, therefore, could have been +known only to myself alone; and to him who, during that fatal night, +removed it from his bosom for the purpose of doing the murder on him, +and who replaced it there after he had wrought the cruel deed." + +"But how can this touch the Laird of Knockando?" demanded the Bishop +earnestly. + +"My lord," said Helen, "some days after the murder, the Laird of +Knockando did force himself into my presence, under the false pretence +of bearing a message from the reverend lord prior. His object seemed to +be to whet my vengeance against the person who then lay accused of the +murder of mine uncle. It was then that, in the presence of my friend +and my servant, who are both now within the call of this tribunal, +prepared to support this my testimony, then it was, I say, that he +used expressions, the which were, for greater security, taken down +after he was gone,--'The wretch,' said he, 'The wretch who, lighting +down like some nocturnal fiend upon the sacred person of thine uncle, +and, reckless of the holy emblem of Christ which lay upon his bosom, +could put it aside, that he might plunge his dirk into the innocent +throat of his sacred servant, must not only die the death of a felon, +but he can never hope for mercy from Him whose blessed emblem he +hath outraged.' None but the murderer could have so circumstantially +described this most barbarous deed. John Dhu Grant of Knockando +did so describe it. Therefore is John Dhu Grant of Knockando the +murderer! On his head the blood of my murdered uncle doth loudly call +for that justice which it doth behoove man to do upon it. And may He +that died for us all, grant that mercy hereafter to his guilty soul +which his own relentless sentence would have denied to another." + +As Helen Dunbar finished speaking, she fell back into her chair, +exhausted by her exertion to fulfil that duty which she had wound up +her mind to discharge. The murderer gasped for breath as if he was +undergoing suffocation; and his eyes started from their sockets with +the terrors which now overwhelmed him. The murmurs which burst from +those who were present being checked by the seneschal of the court, the +Bishop ordered Helen's servants, James and Janet, and also her friend, +to be all three severally called. Each of them were examined. The +members of the chapter conferred together for a few minutes apart; +and after they had resumed their seats on the tribunal, a death-like +silence prevailed, and the Bishop putting on his mitre, and leaning +on his crosier, began thus to speak:-- + +"After the full and patient probing which we have given to this +most mysterious case, it must be clear to all men who do now hear +us, that this holy tribunal hath before it, as its bounden duty, +to dismiss Lewis Grant of Auchernach, discharging him as free from +all taint or suspicion of any participation whatsoever in the foul +and barbarous murder of our pious brother, Priest Innes. And as it +is beyond our power to shut our eyes to the miraculous proof which +the Almighty in his wisdom hath caused the very murderer himself to +bear towards his own proper condemnation, we have no choice left but +to direct our bailie, the which we now hereby do, forthwith to return +John Dhu Grant of Knockando to the dungeon whence he was taken, thence +to remove him by to-morrow's earliest sun, and to convey him, under a +strong guard of our men-at-arms, to Elgin, there to be delivered into +the hands of the king's sheriff, that he may take measures to see that +the prisoner be submitted to the knowledge of an assize, to be by it +clenged or fouled of the crime laid to his charge, as the evidence +laid before it may determine. This we do without all prejudice to our +own claims to the full right of pit and gallows which belongeth to us; +but because this crime of murder, when not fresh and redhanded, being +to be considered as more especially one of the pleas of the Crown, +we do think it more seemly to leave it to the judges of the King's +Grace to execute justice upon the murderer." + +The Laird of Knockando's countenance was all this time working +like that of a fiend, especially whilst the Bishop was delivering +this appalling judgment against him. He had no sooner heard it to +an end, than, putting his hand into his bosom, he plucked forth a +concealed dirk--that very weapon with which he had murdered the good +Priest Innes. He raised it aloft. Helen saw it glancing in the air, +and uttered a piercing shriek that rang in the groined roof of the +chapter-house. It saved her lover; for, as Knockando brought it down, +aimed with a desperate plunge at the heart of his rival, his intended +victim threw his body back, and so he most wonderfully escaped from +its fatal blade. But it fell not innocuous--it cleft the very skull +of a wretched lay-brother, who sat with his tablets below noting +down the minutes of the procedure, and the man dropped lifeless upon +the pavement. The perpetrator of this second murder was seized and +pinioned, and, being instantly tried red-handed as he was--his guilt +was established--he was carried out for shrift--confessed that his +first crime was done for the wicked purpose of revenging himself +against Auchernach by fixing upon him the guilt of the murder. After +which the convent-bell tolled dismally. A long procession of monks +chanting a hymn, followed by the criminal and the bourreau, guarded +by the seneschal and his men-at-arms was seen winding from the gate of +the Priory, and after a few short moments of prayer, he was forthwith +executed, without further mercy, on the gallow-hill. + +I need not tell you that the Laird of Auchernach performed the part +of protector to Helen Dunbar during her homeward journey, and that so +soon as the days of mourning for her murdered uncle were fulfilled, +he received from her the right to act as her protector throughout the +longer journey of life. And if he had ever been supposed to be apt, +when provoked on certain occasions, to yield too hastily to that +indignation which chanced to be excited within him, the recollection +of the terrible events which I have narrated to you had the effect +of arming him ever afterwards with a degree of control over himself +which few men since his time have been known to possess. + + + + THE END. + + + + + + + + +NOTES + + +[1] Cabar Fiadh, the head of the wild deer, the crest of the clan +MacKenzie. + +[2] Fern. + +[3] Good people, the propitiatory name usually given by the +superstitious peasants to the fairies. + +[4] Strength. + +[5] A dwelling only occupied in summer whilst feeding the cattle on +the highest hill-grazings. The same word as the Swiss chalet. + +[6] Strange. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Highland Legends, by Thomas Dick Lauder + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 58694 *** |