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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/6086.txt b/6086.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b2146fa --- /dev/null +++ b/6086.txt @@ -0,0 +1,29830 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Scottish Chiefs, by Jane Porter + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Scottish Chiefs + +Author: Jane Porter + +Release Date: October 12, 2011 [EBook #6086] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SCOTTISH CHIEFS *** + + + + +Produced by Carrie + + + + + + + + +The Scottish Chiefs +by Miss Jane Porter + + + + +Chapter I. + +Scotland. + + +Bright was the summer of 1296. The war which had desolated Scotland +was then at an end. Ambition seemed satiated; and the vanquished, +after having passed under the yoke of their enemy, concluded they might +wear their chains in peace. Such were the hopes of those Scottish +noblemen who, early in the preceding spring, had signed the bond of +submission to a ruthless conqueror, purchasing life at the price of all +that makes life estimable-liberty and honor. + +Prior to this act of vassalage, Edward I., King of England, had entered +Scotland at the head of an immense army. He seized Berwick by +stratagem; laid the country in ashes; and, on the field of Dunbar, +forced the Scottish king and his nobles to acknowledge him their liege +lord. + +But while the courts of Edward, or of his representatives, were crowded +by the humbled Scots, the spirit of one brave man remained unsubdued. +Disgusted alike at the facility with which the sovereign of a warlike +nation could resign his people and his crown into the hands of a +treacherous invader, and at the pusillanimity of the nobles who had +ratified the sacrifice, William Wallace retired to the glen of +Ellerslie. Withdrawn from the world, he hoped to avoid the sight of +oppressions he could not redress, and the endurance of injuries beyond +his power to avenge. + +Thus checked at the opening of life in the career of glory that was his +passion-secluded in the bloom of manhood from the social haunts of +men--he repressed the eager aspirations of his mind, and strove to +acquire that resignation to inevitable evils which alone could +reconcile him to forego the promises of his youth, and enable him to +view with patience a humiliation of Scotland, which blighted her honor, +menaced her existence, and consigned her sons to degradation or +obscurity. The latter was the choice of Wallace. Too noble to bend +his spirit to the usurper, too honest to affect submission, he resigned +himself to the only way left of maintaining the independence of a true +Scot; and giving up the world at once, all the ambitions of youth +became extinguished in his breast, since nothing was preserved in his +country to sanctify their fires. Scotland seemed proud of her chains. +Not to share in such debasement, appeared all that was now in his +power; and within the shades of Ellerslie he found a retreat and a +home, whose sweets beguiling him of every care, made him sometimes +forget the wrongs of his country in the tranquil enjoyments of wedded +love. + +During the happy mouths of the preceding autumn, while Scotland was yet +free, and the path of honorable distinction still open before her young +nobility, Wallace married Marion Braidfoot, the beautiful heiress of +Lammington. Nearly of the same age, and brought up from childhood +together, reciprocal affection had grown with their growth; and +sympathy of tastes and virtues, and mutual tenderness, made them so +entirely one, that when at the age of twenty-two the enraptured lover +was allowed to pledge that faith publicly at the altar, which he had so +often vowed in secret to his Marion, he clasped her to his heart, and +softly whispered: "Dearer than life! part of my being! blessed is this +union, that mingles thy soul with mine, now, and forever!" + +Edward's invasion of Scotland broke in upon their innocent joys. +Wallace threw aside the wedding garment for the cuirass and the sword. +But he was not permitted long to use either--Scotland submitted to her +enemies; and he had no alternative but to bow to her oppressors, or to +become an exile from man, amid the deep glens of his country. + +The tower of Ellerslie was henceforth the lonely abode of himself and +his bride. The neighboring nobles avoided him, because the principles +he declared were a tacit reproach on their proceedings; and in the +course of a short time, as he forbore to seek them, they even forgot +that he was in existence. Indeed, all occasions of mixing with society +he now rejected. The hunting-spear with which he had delighted to +follow the flying roebuck from glade to glade, the arrows with which he +used to bring down the heavy ptarmigan or the towering eagle, all were +laid aside. Scottish liberty was no more; and Wallace would have +blushed to have shown himself to the free-born deer of his native +hills, in communion of sports with the spoilers of his country. Had he +pursued his once favorite exercises, he must have mingled with the +English, now garrisoned in every town, and who passed their hours of +leisure in the chase. + +Being resigned to bury his youth--since its strength could no longer be +serviceable to his country-books, his harp, and the sweet converse of +his tender Marion, became the occupations of his days. Ellerslie was +his hermitage; and there, closed from the world, with an angel his +companion, he might have forgotten Edward was lord in Scotland, had not +that which was without his little paradise made a way to its gates, and +showed him the slavery of the nobles and the wretchedness of the +people. In these cases, his generous hand gave succor where it could +not bring redress. Those whom the lawless plunderer had driven from +their houses or stripped of their covering, found shelter, clothing, +and food at the house of Sir William Wallace. + +Ellerslie was the refuge of the friendless, and the comfort of the +unhappy. Wherever Lady Wallace moved--whether looking out from her +window on the accidental passenger, or taking her morning or moonlight +walks through the glen, leaning on the arm of her husband--she had the +rapture of hearing his steps greeted and followed by the blessings of +the poor destitute, and the prayers of them who were ready to perish. +It was then that this happy woman would raise her husband's hands to +her lips, and in silent adoration, thank God for blessing her with a +being made so truly in his own image. + +Several months of this blissful and uninterrupted solitude had elapsed, +when Lady Wallace saw a chieftain at her gate. He inquired for its +master--requested a private conference--and retired with him into a +remote room. They remained together for an hour. Wallace then came +forth, and ordering his horse, with four followers, to be in readiness, +said he meant to accompany his guest to Douglas Castle. When he +embraced his wife at parting, he told her that as Douglas was only a +few miles distant, he should be at home again before the moon rose. + +She passed the tedious hours of his absence with tranquillity, till the +appointed signal of his return appeared from behind the summits of the +opposite mountains. So bright were its beams, that Marion did not need +any other light to show her the stealing sands of her hour-glass, as +they numbered the prolonged hours of her husband's stay. She dismissed +her servants to their rest; all, excepting Halbert, the gray-haired +harper of Wallace; and he, like herself, was too unaccustomed to the +absence of his master to find sleep visit his eyes while Ellerslie was +bereft of its joy and its guard. + +As the night advanced, Lady Wallace sat in the window of her +bed-chamber, which looked toward the west. She watched the winding +pathway that led from Lanark down the opposite heights, eager to catch +a glimpse of the waving plumes of her husband when he should emerge +from behind the hill, and pass under the thicket which overhung the +road. How often, as a cloud obscured for an instant the moon's light, +and threw a transitory shade across the path, did her heart bound with +the thought that her watching was at an end! It was he whom she had +seen start from the abrupt rock! They were the folds of his tartan +that darkened the white cliff! But the moon again rolled through her +train of clouds and threw her light around. Where then was her +Wallace? Alas! it was only a shadow she had seen! the hill was still +lonely, and he whom she sought was yet far away! Overcome with +watching, expectation, and disappointment, unable to say whence arose +her fears, she sat down again to look; but her eyes were blinded with +tears, and in a voice interrupted by sighs she exclaimed, "Not yet, not +yet! Ah, my Wallace, what evil hath betided thee?" + +Trembling with a nameless terror, she knew not what to dread. She +believed that all hostile recounters had ceased, when Scotland no +longer contended with Edward. The nobles, without remonstrance, had +surrendered their castles into the hands of the usurper; and the +peasantry, following the example of their lords, had allowed their +homes to be ravaged without lifting an arm in their defense. +Opposition being over, nothing could then threaten her husband from the +enemy; and was not the person who had taken him from Ellerslie a friend? + +Before Wallace's departure he had spoken to Marion alone; he told her +that the stranger was Sir John Monteith, the youngest son of the brave +Walter Lord Monteith,** who had been treacherously put to death by the +English in the early part of the foregoing year. This young man was +bequeathed by his dying father to the particular charge of his friend +William Lord Douglas, at that time governor of Berwick. After the fall +of that place and the captivity of its defender, Sir Jon Monteith had +retired to Douglas Castle, in the vicinity of Lanark, and was now the +sole master of that princely residence: James Douglas, the only son of +its veteran lord, being still at Paris, whither he had been dispatched, +before the defeat at Dunbar, to negotiate a league between the French +monarch and the then King of Scots. + +**Walter Stewart, the father of Sir John Monteith, assumed the name and +earldom of Monteith in right of his wife, the daughter and heiress of +the preceding earl. When his wife died he married an Englishwoman of +rank, who, finding him ardently attached to the liberties of his +country, cut him off by poison, and was rewarded by the enemies of +Scotland for this murder with the hand of a British nobleman.-(1809.) + +Informed of the privacy in which Wallace wished to live, Monteith had +never ventured to disturb it until this day; but knowing the steady +honor of his old school-companion, he came to entreat him, by the +respect he entertained for the brave Douglas, and by his love for his +country, that he would not refuse to accompany him to the brave exile's +castle. + +"I have a secret to disclose to you," said he, "which cannot be +divulged on any other spot." + +Unwilling to deny so small a favor, Wallace, as has been said before, +consented; and accordingly was conducted by Monteith toward Douglas. + +While descending the heights which led to the castle, Monteith kept a +profound silence; and when crossing the drawbridge toward it, he put +his finger to his lips, in token to the servants for equal caution. +This was explained as they entered the gate and looked around. It was +guarded by English soldiers. Wallace would have drawn back; but +Monteith laid his hand on his arm, and whispered, "For your country!" +At these words, a spell to the ear of Wallace, he proceeded; and his +attendants followed into the courtyard. + +The sun was just setting as Monteith led his friend into the absent +earl's room. Its glowing reflection on the distant hills reminded +Wallace of the stretch he had to retread to reach his home before +midnight; and thinking of his anxious Marion, he awaited with +impatience the development of the object of his journey. + +Monteith closed the door, looked fearfully around for some time; then, +trembling at every step, approached Wallace. When drawn quite near, in +a low voice he said, "You must swear upon the cross that you will keep +inviolate the secret I am going to reveal." + +Wallace put aside the hilt of the sword which Monteith presented to +receive his oath. "No," said he, with a smile; "in these times I will +not bind my conscience on subjects I do not know. If you dare trust +the word of a Scotsman and a friend, speak out; and if the matter be +honest, my honor is your pledge." + +"You will not swear?" + +"No." + +"Then I must not trust you." + +"Then our business is at an end," returned Wallace, rising, "and I may +return home." + +"Stop!" cried Monteith. "Forgive me, my old companion, that I have +dared to hesitate. These are, indeed, times of such treason to honor, +that I do not wonder you should be careful how you swear; but the +nature of the confidence reposed in me will. I hope, convince you that +I ought not to share it rashly. Of any one but you, whose truth stands +unsullied, amidst the faithlessness of the best, I would exact oaths on +oaths; but your words is given, and on that I rely. Await me here." + +Monteith unlocked a door which had been concealed by the tapestry, and +after a short absence re-entered with a small iron box. He set it on +the table near his friend, then went to the great door, which he had +before so carefully closed, tried that the bolts were secure, and +returned, with a still more pallid countenance, toward the table. +Wallace, surprised at so much actions, awaited with wonder the promised +explanation. Monteith sat down with his hand on the box, and fixing +his eyes on it, began: + +"I am going to mention a name, which you may hear with patience, since +its power is no more. The successful rival of Bruce, and the enemy of +your family, is now a prisoner in the Tower of London." + +"Baliol?" + +"Yes," answered Monteith; "and his present sufferings will, perhaps, +avenge to you his vindictive resentment of the injury he received from +Sir Ronald Crawford." + +"My grandfather never injured him, nor any man!" interrupted Wallace: +"Sir Ronald Crawford was as incapable of injustice as of flattering the +minions of his country's enemy. But Baliol is fallen, and I forgive +him." + +"Did you witness his degradation," returned Monteith, "you would even +pity him." + +"I always pity the wicked," continued Wallace; "and as you seem +ignorant of the cause of his enmity against Sir Ronald and myself, in +justice to the character of that most venerable of men, I will explain +it. I first saw Baliol four years ago, when I accompanied my +grandfather to witness the arbitration of the King of Scotland between +the two contending claimants for the Scottish crown. Sir Ronald came +on the part of Bruce. I was deemed too young to have a voice in the +council; but I was old enough to understand what was passing there, and +to perceive, that it was the price for which he sold his country. +However, as Scotland acknowledged him sovereign, and as Bruce +submitted, my grandfather silently acquiesced. But Baliol did not +forget former opposition. His behavior to Sir Ronald and myself at the +beginning of this year, when, according to the privilege of our birth, +we appeared in the field against the public enemy, fully demonstrated +what was the injury Baliol complains of, and how unjustly he drove us +from the standard of Scotland. 'None,' said he, 'shall serve under me, +who presumed to declare themselves the friends of Bruce.' Poor weak +man. The purchased vassal of England; yet so vain of his ideal throne, +he hated all who had opposed his elevation, even while his own +treachery sapped its foundation! Edward having made use of him, all +these sacrifices of honor and of conscience are insufficient to retain +his favor; and Baliol is removed from his kingdom to an English prison! +Can I feel anything so honoring as indignation against a wretch so +abject? No! I do indeed pity him. And now that I have cleared my +grandfather's name of such calumny, I am ready to hear you further." + +Monteith, after remarking on the well-known honor of Sir Ronald +Crawford, resumed. + +"During the massacre at the capture of Berwick, Lord Douglas, wounded, +and nearly insensible, was taken by a trusty band of Scots out of the +citadel and town. I followed him to Dunbar, and witnessed with him +that dreadful day's conflict, which completed the triumph of the +English. When the few nobles who survived the battle dispersed, +Douglas took the road to Forfar, hoping to meet King Baliol there, and +to concert with him new plans of resistance. When we arrived, we found +his majesty in close conversation with the Earl of Athol, who had +persuaded him the disaster at Dunbar was decisive, and that if he +wished to save his life, he must immediately go to the King of England, +then at Montrose, and surrender himself to his mercy.** + +**This treacherous Scot, who persuaded Baliol to his ruin, was John +Cummin of Strathbogie, Earl of Athol in right of his wife, the heiress +of that earldom.-(1809.) + +"Douglas tried to alter Baliol's resolution, but without effect. The +king could not return any reasonable answers to the arguments which +were offered to induce him to remain, but continued to repeat, with +groans and tears. 'It is my fate.' Athol sat knitting his black brows +during this conversation; and at last throwing out some sullen remarks +to Lord Douglas on exhorting the king to defy his liege lord, he +abruptly left the room. + +"As soon as he was gone, Baliol rose from his seat with a very anxious +countenance, and taking my patron into an adjoining room, they +continued there a few minutes, and then reentered. Doublas brought +with him this iron box. 'Monteith,' said he, 'I confide this to your +care.' Putting the box under my arm and concealing it with my +cloak--'Carry it,' continued he, 'directly to my castle in Lanarkshire. +I will rejoin you there, in four-and-twenty hours after your arrival. +Meanwhile, by your affection for me and fidelity to your king, breathe +not a word of what has passed.' + +"'Look on that, and be faithful!' said Baliol, putting this ruby ring +on my finger. I withdrew, with the haste his look dictated; and as I +crossed the outward hall, was met by Athol. He eyed me sternly, and +inquired whither I was going. I replied, 'To Douglas, to prepare for +the coming of its lord.' The hall was full of armed men in Athol's +colors. Not one of the remnant who had followed my patron from the +bloody field of Dunbar was visible. Athol looked round on his +myrmidons: 'Here,' cried he, 'see that you speed this fellow on his +journey. We shall provide lodgings for his master.' I foresaw danger +to Lord Douglas, but I durst not attempt to warn him of it; and, to +secure my charge, which a return to the room might have hazarded, I +hastened into the courtyard, and being permitted to mount my horse, set +off at full speed. + +"On arriving at this place, I remembered the secret closet, and +carefully deposited the box within it. A week passed, without any +tidings of Lord Douglas. At last a pilgrim appeared at the gate, and +requested to see me alone; fearing nothing from a man in so sacred a +habit, I admitted him. Presenting me with a packet which had been +intrusted to him by Lord Douglas, he told me my patron had been +forcibly carried on board a vessel at Montrose, to be conveyed with the +unhappy Baliol to the Tower of London. Douglas, on this outrage, sent +to the monastery at Aberbrothick, and under the pretense of making a +religious confession before he sailed, begged a visit from the +sub-prior. 'I am that prior,' continued the pilgrim; 'and having been +born on the Douglas lands, he well knew the claim he had to my +fidelity. He gave me this packet, and conjured me to lose no time in +conveying it to you. The task was difficult; and, as in these +calamitous seasons we hardly know whom to trust, I determined to +execute it myself.' + +"I inquired whether Lord Douglas had actually sailed. 'Yes,' replied +the father; 'I stood on the beach till the ship disappeared.'" + +A half-stifled groan burst from the indignant breast of Wallace. It +interrupted Monteith for an instant, but without noticing it he +proceeded: + +"Not only the brave Douglas was then wrested from his country, with our +king, but also that holy pillar of Jacob** which prophets have declared +to be the palladium of Scotland!" + +**The tradition respecting this stone is as follows: Hiber, or Iber, +the Phoenician, who came from the Holy Land to inhabit the coast of +Spain, brought this sacred relic along with him. From Spain he +transplanted it with the colony he sent to people the south of Ireland; +and from Ireland it was brought into Scotland by the great Fergus, the +son of Ferchard. He placed it in Argyleshire; but MacAlpine removed it +to Scone, and fixed it in the royal chair in which all the succeeding +kings of Scotland were inaugurated. Edward I. of England caused it to +be carried to Westminster Abbey, where it now stands. The tradition +is, that empire abides where it stays.-(1809.) + +"What!" inquired Wallace, with a yet darker frown, "has Baliol robbed +Scotland of that trophy of one of her best kings? Is the sacred gift of +Fergus to be made the spoil of a coward?" + +"Baliol is not the robber," rejoined Monteith; "the halloed pillar was +taken from Scone by the command of the King of England, and, with the +sackings of Iona, was carried on board the same vessel with the +betrayed Douglas. The archives of the kingdom have also been torn from +their sanctuary, and were thrown by Edward's own hands into the fire." + +"Tyrant!" murmured Wallace, "thou mayest fill the cup too full." + +"His depredations," continued Monteith, "the good monk told me, have +been wide as destructive. He has not left a parchment, either of +public records or of private annals, in any of the monasteries or +castles round Montrose; all have been searched and plundered. And +besides, the faithless Earl of March and Lord Sculis are such +parricides of their country, as to have performed the like robberies, +in his name, from the eastern shores of the Highlands to the furthiest +of the Western Isles." + +"Do the traitors think," cried Wallace, "that by robbing Scotland of +her annals and of that stone they really deprive her of her palladium? +Scotland's history is in the memories of her sons; her palladium is in +their hearts; and Edward may one day find that she remembers the +victory of Largs,** and needs not talismans to give her freedom." + +**This battle was fought by Alexander III, on the 1st of August, 1263, +against Acho, King of Norway. That monarch invaded Scotland with a +large army, and drew up his forces before Largs, a town in Ayrshire. +He met with a great defeat, and, covered with disgrace, retired to his +own country. Wallace's father signalized himself on that field.-(1809.) + +"Alas! not in our time!" answered Monteith. "The spear is at our +breasts, and we must submit. You see this castle is full of Edward's +soldiers. Every house is a garrison for England--but more of this by +and by; I have yet to tell you the contents of the packet which the +monk brought. It contained two others. One directed to Sir James +Douglas, at Paris, and the other to me. I read as follows: + +"'Athol has persuaded Baliol to his ruin, and betrayed me into the +hands of Edward. I shall see Scotland no more. Send the inclosed to +my son at Paris; it will inform him what is the last wish of William +Douglas for his country. The iron box I confided to you, guard as your +life, until you can deposit it with my son. But should he remain +abroad, and you ever be in extremity, commit the box in strict charge +to the worthiest Scot you know; and tell him that it will be at the +peril of his soul, who dares to open it, till Scotland be again free! +When that hour comes, then let the man by whose valor God restores her +rights, receive the box as his own; for by him only it is to be opened. +Douglas.'" + +Monteith finished reading the letter, and remained silent. Wallace, +who had listened to it with increasing indignation against the enemies +of Scotland, spoke first: "Tell me in what I can assist you: or how +serve these last wishes of the imprisoned Douglas." + +Monteith replied by reading over again this sentence-"'Should my son +remain abroad, and you ever be in extremity, commit the box in strict +charge to the worthiest Scot you know.' I am in that extremity now. +Edward determined on desolation, when he placed English governors +throughout our towns; and the rapacious Heselrigge, his representative +in Lanark, not backward to execute the despot's will, has just issued +an order, for the houses of all the absent chiefs to be searched for +records and secret correspondence. Two or three, in the neighborhood +have already gone through this ordeal; but the even has proved that it +was not papers they sought, but plunder, and an excuse for dismantling +the castles, or occupying them with English officers. + +"The soldiers you saw were sent, by daybreak this morning, to guard +this castle until Heselrigge could in person be present at the +examination. This ceremony is to take place to-morrow; and as Lord +Douglas is considered a traitor to Edward, I am told the place will be +sacked to its walls. In such an extremity, to you, noble Wallace, as +to the worthiest Scot I know, I apply to take charge of this box. +Within the remote cliffs of Ellerslie it must be safe; and when James +Douglas arrives from Paris, to him you will resign it. Meanwhile, as I +cannot resist the plunderers, after delivering the keys of the state +apartments to Heselrigge to-morrow, I shall submit to necessity, and +beg his permission to retire to my lodge on Ben Venu." + +Wallace made no difficulty in granting Monteith's request; and, there +being two iron rings on each side of his charge, the young chief took +off his leathern belt, and putting it through them, swung the box +easily under his left arm, while covering it with his plaid. + +Monteith's eyes now brightened--the paleness left his cheek--and with a +firmer step, as if suddenly relieved of a heavy load, he called a +servant to prepare Sir William Wallace's attendants. + +While Wallace shook him by the hand, Monteith, in a low and solemn +voice, exhorted him to caution respecting the box. "Remember," added +he, "the penalty that hangs over him who looks into it." + +"Be not afraid," answered Wallace; "even the outside shall never be +seen by other eyes than my own, unless the same circumstance which now +induces you, mortal extremity, should force me to confide it to safer +hands." + +"Beware of that!" exclaimed Monteith; "for who is there that would +adhere to the prohibition as I have done--as you will do? and besides, +as I have no doubt it contains holy relics, who knows what new +calamities a sacrilegious look might bring upon our already devoted +country?" + +"Relics or no relics," replied Wallace, "it would be an equal sin +against good faith to invade what is forbidden: but from the weight I +am rather inclined to suspect it contains gold; probably a treasure, +with which the sordid Baliol thinks to compensate the hero who may free +his country from all the miseries a traitor king and a treacherous +usurper have brought upon it." + +"A treasure!" repeated Monteith; "I never thought of that;-it is indeed +heavy!-and, as we are responsible for the contents of the box, I wish +we were certain of what it contains; let us consider that!" + +"It is no consideration of ours," returned Wallace. "With what is in +the box we have no concern; all we have to do is, to preserve the +contents unviolated by even our own eyes; and to that, as you have now +transferred the charge to me, I pledge myself--farewell." + +"But why this haste?" rejoined Monteith, "indeed, I wish I had +thought--stay only a little." + +"I thank you," returned Wallace, proceeding to the courtyard; "but it +is now dark, and I promised to be at home before the moon rises. If +you wish me to serve you further, I shall be happy to see you at +Ellerslie to-morrow. My Marion will have pleasure in entertaining, for +days or weeks, the friend of her husband." + +While Wallace spoke, he advanced to his horse, to which he was lighted +by the servants of the castle. A few English soldiers lingered about +in idle curiosity. As he put his foot in the stirrup, he held the +sword in his hand, which he had unbuckled from his side to leave space +for his charge. Monteith, whose dread of detection was ever awake, +whispered: "Your loosened weapon may excite suspicion!" Fear incurred +what it sought to avoid. He hastily pulled aside Wallace's plaid to +throw it over the glittering hilt of the sword, and thus exposed the +iron box. The light of the torches striking upon the polished rivets, +displayed it to all lookers on, but no remark was made. Wallace, not +observing what was done, again shook hands with Monteith, and calling +his servants about him, galloped away. A murmur was heard, as if of +some intention to follow him; but deeming it prudent to leave the open +and direct road, because of the English marauders who swarmed there, he +was presently lost amid the thick shades of Clydesdale. + + + + +Chapter II. + +Lanark. + + +The darkness was almost impenetrable. Musing on what had passed with +Monteith, and on the likelihood of any hero appearing, who, by freeing +his country, could ever claim the privilege of investigating the +mystery which was now his care. Wallace rode on till, crossing the +bridge of Lanark, he saw the rising moon silver the tops of the distant +hills; and then his meditations embraced a gentler subject. This was +the time he had promised Marion he should be returned, and he had yet +five long miles to go, before he could reach the glen of Ellerslie; he +thought of her being alone--of watching, with an anxious heart, the +minutes of his delay. Scotland and its wrongs he now forgot, in the +idea of her whose happiness was dearer to him than life. He could not +achieve the deliverance of the one, but it was his bliss to preserve +the peace of the other; and putting spurs to his horse, under the now +bright beams of the moon he hastened through the town. + +Abruptly turning an angle leading to the Mouse River, a cry of murder +arrested his ear. He checked his horse and listened. The clashing of +arms told him the sound had issued from an alley to the left. He +alighted in an instant, and drawing his sword, threw away the scabbard +(prophetic omen!), then, leaving his horse with one of his servants +hastened, with the other three, to the spot whence the noise proceeded. + +On arriving he discovered two men in tartans, with their backs to the +opposite wall, furiously assaulted by a throng of Edward's soldiers. +At this sight, the Scots who accompanied Wallace were so enraged that, +blowing their bugles to encourage the assailed, they joined hand to +hand with their gallant leader, and attacking the banditti, each man +cut his opponent to the ground. + +Such unexpected assistance reanimated the drooping strength of one of +the two, with whom the cry had issued. He sprung from the wall with +the vigor of a tiger, but at the moment received a wound in his back, +which would have thrown him at the feet of his enemies, had not Wallace +caught him in his left arm, and with his right, cleared the way, while +he cried to his men who were fighting near him-"To the Glen!" As he +spoke, he threw the now insensible stranger into their arms. The other +man, whose voice had first attracted Wallace, at the instant sunk, +covered with blood, on the pavement. + +Two of the servants, obeying their master, carried their senseless +burden toward the horses; but the third, being hemmed in by the furious +soldiers, could not move. Wallace made a passage to his rescue, and +effected it; but one base wretch, while the now wounded Scot was +retreating, made a stroke which would have severed his head from his +body, had not the trusty claymore of Wallace struck down the pending +weapon of the coward, and received his rushing body upon its point. He +fell with bitter imprecations, calling aloud for vengeance. + +A dreadful cry was now raised by the whole band of assassins: +"Murder!-treason!-Arthur Heselrigge is slain!" The uproar became +general. The windows of the adjoining houses were thrown open; people +armed and unarmed issued from their doors and pressed forward to +inquire the cause of the alarm. Wallace was nearly overpowered; a +hundred swords flashed in the torchlight; but at the moment he expected +they would be sheathed in his heart, the earth gave way under his feet, +and he sunk into utter darkness. + +He fell upon a quantity of gathered broom; and concluding that the +weight of the thronging multitude had burst his way through the arch of +a cellar, he sprung to his feet; and though he heard the curses of +several wretches, who had fallen with him and fared worse, he made but +one step to a half-opened door, pointed out to him by a gleam from an +inner passage. The men uttered a shout as they saw him darken the +light which glimmered through it; but they were incapable of pursuit; +and Wallace, aware of his danger, darting across the adjoining +apartment, burst open a window, and leaped out to the foot of the +Lanark hills. + +The oaths of the soldiers, enraged at his escape, echoed in his ears, +till distance sunk them into hoarse murmurs. He pursued his way over +the craigs; through the valley, and across the river, to the cliffs +which embattle the garden of Ellerslie. Springing on the projecting +point of the nearest, he leaped into a thicket of honeysuckles. This +was the favorite bower of his Marion! The soft perfume, as it saluted +his senses, seemed to breathe peace and safety; and as he emerged from +its fragrant embrace, he walked with a calmer step toward the house. +He approached a door which led into the garden. It was open. He +beheld his beloved leaning over a couch, on which was laid the person +he had rescued. Halbert was dressing his wounds. + +Wallace paused for a moment, to contemplate his lovely wife in this +more lovely act of charity. Her beautiful hands held a cup to the lips +of the stranger; while her long hair, escaped from its band, fell in +jetty ringlets, and mingled with his silver locks. + +"Marion!" exclaimed the overflowing soul of her husband. She looked up +at the well-known sound, and with a cry of joy, rushing forward, threw +herself into his arms; her tears flowed, she sobbed--she clung to his +breast. It was the first time Wallace had been from her; she had +feared it would have been the last. The hour--the conflict--the bleeding +stranger! But now he was returned--he was safe! + +"Art thou indeed here!" exclaimed she. Blood fell from his forehead +upon her face and bosom: "O, my Wallace!" cried she, in agony. + +"Fear not, my love! all is well, since our wounded countryman is safe." + +"But you, bleed!" returned she. No tears now impeded her voice. +Terror had checked their joyful currents; and she felt as if she +expected his life-blood to issue from the wound on which she gazed. + +"I hope my preserver is not hurt?" inquired the stranger. + +"Oh, no!" replied Wallace, putting back the hair from his forehead; "a +mere trifle!" That the action had discovered the gash to be wider than +he thought, he saw in the countenance of his wife! She turned deadly +pale. "Marion," said he, "to convince you how causeless your fears +are, you shall cure me yourself; and with no other surgery than your +girdle!" + +When Lady Wallace heard his gay tone, and saw the unforced smiles on +his lips, she took courage; and, remembering the deep wounds on the +stranger, whom she had just assisted to dress, without any alarm for +his life, she began to hope that she need not now fear for the object +dearest to her in existence. Rising from her husband's arms, with a +languid smile she unbound the linen fillet from her waist; and Halbert +having poured some balsam into the wound, she prepared to apply the +bandage; but when she lifted her husband's hair from his temple--that +hair which had so often been the object of her admiration, as it hung +in shining masses over his arching brows!-when the clotted blood met +her fingers, a mist seemed to pass over her sight; she paused for a +moment; but rallying her strength, as the cheerful sound of his voice +conversing with his guest assured her fear was needless, she tied the +fillet; and, stealing a soft kiss on his cheek when she had finished, +she seated herself, yet trembling, by his side. + +"Gallant Wallace!" continued the stranger-agitation had prevented her +hearing what had preceded this-"it is Donald Earl of Mar, who owes his +life to you." + +"Then blessed be my arm," exclaimed Wallace, "that has preserved a life +so precious to my country!" + +"May it indeed be blessed!" cried Lord Mar; "for this night it has made +the Southrons feel there is yet one man in Scotland who does not fear +to resist oppression, and to punish treachery." + +"What treachery?" inquired Lady Wallace, her alarmed spirit still +hovering about her soul's far dearer part; "is any meant to my husband?" + +"None to Sir William Wallace, more than to any other brave Scot," +replied the earl: "but we all see the oppression of our country; we all +know the treachery by which it was subjugated; and this night, in my +own person, I have felt the effects of both. The English at Lanark +dispatched a body of men to Bothwell Castle (where my family now are), +on a plea, that as its lord is yet absent, they presume he is adverse +to Edward, and therefore they must search his dwelling for documents to +settle the point. Considering myself the representative of my +brother-in-law, Lord Bothwell, and suspecting that this might be only a +private marauding party, I refused to admit the soldiers; and saw them +depart, swearing to return next day with a stronger force, and storm +the castle. To be ascertained of their commission, and to appeal +against such unprovoked tyranny, should it be true, I followed the +detachment to Lanark. + +"I saw Heselrigge the governor. He avowed the transaction; but awed by +the power which he thinks I possess in the country, he consented to +spare Bothwell while I and my family remain in it. It being nearly +dark, I took my leave, and was proceeding toward my servants in the +courtyard when a young man accosted me. I recognized him to be the +officer who had commanded the party I had driven from the castle. +Heselrigge having told me that he was his nephew, I made no hesitation +to go back with him, when he informed me that his uncle had forgotten +something of importance, and begged me to return. I followed his +steps; but instead of conducting me to the room in which I had +conversed with Heselrigge, he led me along a dark passage into a small +apartment, where telling me his uncle would attend me, he suddenly +retreated out of the door, and before I could recollect myself I heard +him bolt it after him. + +"I now saw myself a prisoner; and alarmed at what might be intended to +my defenseless family, I made every essay to force the door, but it was +in vain. Driven to despair, I remained in a state of mind not to be +described, when the bolt was withdrawn, and two men entered, with +manacles in their hands. They attempted to seize me, telling me I was +the prisoner of King Edward. I did not listen further, but wounding +one with my dagger, felled the other to the ground; and darting past +him, made my way through what passages I cannot tell, till I found +myself in a street leading from behind the governor's house. I ran +against some one as I rushed from the portal; it was my servant Neil. +I hastily told him to draw his sword and follow me. We then hurried +forward; he telling me he had stepped out to observe the night, while +the rest of my men were awaiting me in the house, wondering at my delay. + +"Rejoiced at my escape, and fearing the worst of consequences from the +treachery of Heselrigge, I was hastening onward, determined to pursue +my way on foot to the protection of my family, when, at the turning of +an angle which leads to the Bothwell road, we were suddenly surrounded +by armed men. The moon shone full on their faces, and I discovered +they were Southrons, and that young Heselrigge was at their head. + +"He aimed a blow at my head with his battle-ax, and in a voice of +triumph exclaimed to his soldiers, 'The plunder of Bothwell, my lads! +Down with its lord! All but the lady Helen shall be yours!" + +"In a moment every sword was directed toward me. They wounded me in +several places; but the thought of my daughter gave supernatural vigor +to my arm, and I defended myself till the cries of my servant brought +you, my brave deliverer, to my rescue. But, while I am safe, perhaps +my treacherous pursuer has marched toward Bothwell, too sure to commit +the horrid violence he meditates; there are none to guard my child but +a few domestics, the unpracticed sword of my stripling nephew, and the +feeble arms of my wife." + +"Be easy on that head," interrupted Wallace: "I believe the infamous +leader of the banditti fell by my hand, for the soldiers made an outcry +that Arthur Heselrigge was killed; and then pressing on me to take +revenge, their weight broke a passage into a vault, through which I +escaped-" + +"Save, save yourself, my master!" cried a man rushing in from the +garden. "You are pursued-" + +While he spoke he felt insensible at Wallace's feet. It was +Dugald whom he had rescued from the blow of Heselrigge, and who, from +the state of his wound had been thus long in reaching Ellerslie. + +Wallace had hardly time to give him to the care of Halbert, when the +voice of war assailed his ears. The tumult of men demanding admittance +and the terrible sound of spears rattling against the shields of their +owners, told the astonished group within that the house was beset by +armed foes. + +"Blood for blood!" cried a horrid voice, which penetrated the almost +palsied senses of Lady Marion. "Vengence on Wallace, for the murder of +Heselrigge!" + +"Fly, fly!" cried she, looking wildly at her husband. + +"Whither?" answered he, supporting her in his arms. "Would this be a +moment to leave you, and our wounded guest? I must meet them." + +"Not now!" cried Lord Mar. "Hear you not how numerous they are? Mark +that shout! they thirst for blood. If you have love, pity, for your +wife, delay not a moment. Again-" + +The uproar redoubled, and the room was instantly filled with shrieking +women in their night-clothes, the attendants of Lady Wallace. She +almost expiring, on her husband's breast. + +"O my lord!" cried the terrified creatures, wringing their hands, "what +will become of us! The Southrons are at the gates, and we shall be +lost forever!" + +"Fear not," replied Wallace; "retire to your chambers. I am the person +they seek: none else will meet with injury." + +Appeased by this assurance, the women retreated to their apartments; +and Wallace, turning to the earl, who continued to enforce the +necessity of his flight, repeated, that he would not consent to leave +his wife in such a tumult. + +"Leave me," cried she, in an inarticulate voice, "or see me die." + +As she spoke, there was a violent crash, and a tremendous burst of +imprecations. Three of Wallace's men ran panting into the room. Two +of the assailants had climbed to the hall window; and had just been +thrown back upon the cliffs, where one was killed. "Conceal yourself," +said the Scots to Wallace; "for in a few minutes more your men will not +be able to maintain the gates." + +"Yes, my dear lord," cried Halbert, "there is a dry well at the end of +the garden; at the bottom of that you will be safe." + +"By your love for me, Wallace--by all you owe to the tender affections +of your grandfather, hearken to him!" cried Lady Marion, falling at his +feet, and clasping his knees. "I kneel for my life in kneeling for +yours! Pity the gray hairs of Sir Ronald, whom your untimely death +would bring to the grave! Pity your unborn child! Fly, Wallace, fly +if you would have me live!" She was pale and breathless. + +"Angel of my life," exclaimed Wallace, straining her to his heart, "I +obey thee. But if the hand of one of the desperate robbers dares to +touch thy hallowed person-" + +"Think not so, my lord," interrupted Halbert; "it is you they seek. +Not finding you, they will be too eager in pursuit to molest your lady." + +"I shall be safe," whispered Marion; "only fly--while you are here, +their shouts kill me." + +"But thou shalt go with me," returned he; "the well will contain us +all. But first let our faithful Halbert and these honest fellows lower +Lord Mar into the place of refuge. He being the cause of the affray, +if discovered, would be immediately sacrificed." + +Lord Mar acquiesced; and while the contention was so loud without, as +to threaten the tearing down of the walls, the earl was carried into +the garden. He was followed by Sir William Wallace, to whose arm his +wife yet fondly clung. At every cry of the enemy, at every shock they +gave to his yet impregnable gates, she breathed the shorter, and was +clasped by the lord of her heart still more closely to his bosom. + +At the well-side they found the earl bound with rope that was to lower +him to the bottom. By great care it was safely done; and the cord +being brought up again, before it was tied round Wallace (for his +agonized wife insisted he should descend next), he recollected that the +iron box at his side might hurt the wounded nobleman by striking him in +his descent; and, unbuckling it, he said it contained matters of great +value, and ordered it to be lowered first. + +Lord Mar, beneath, was releasing it from the rope, when a shout of +triumph pierced their ears. A party of the English, having come round +the heights, had leaped the wall of the garden, and were within a few +yards of the well. For Wallace to descend now was impossible. "That +tree!" whispered Marion, pointing to an oak-tree near which they stood. +As she spoke, she slid from his arms, and along with the venerable +Halbert, who had seized her hand, disappeared amid the adjoining +thicket. The two servants fled also. + +Wallace, finding himself alone, the next instant, like one of his +native eagles, was looking down from the towering top of the wood upon +his enemies. They passed beneath him, denouncing vengeance upon the +assassin of Arthur Heselrigge! One, who by the brightness of his armor +seemed to be their leader, stopped under the tree, and complained he +had so sprained his ankle in leaping the wall, he must wait a few +minutes to recover himself. Several soldiers drew toward him; but he +ordered them to pursue their duty, search the house, and bring Wallace, +dead or alive, before him. + +They obeyed; but others, who had gained admittance to the tower through +the now forced gates, soon ran to him with information that the +murderer could nowhere be found. + +"But here is a gay ladie," cried one; "perhaps she can tell of his +hiding-place." And at moment Marion, with Halbert, appeared amongst a +band of men. The lighted torches which the soldiers held, shone full +on her face. Though pale as monumental marble, the exquisite beauty of +her features, and the calm dignity which commanded from her eyes, awed +the officer into respect and admiration. + +"Soldiers, stand back!" cried he, advancing to Lady Wallace. "Fear +not, madam." As the words passed his lips, a flight of arrows flew +into the bosom of the tree. A piercing shriek from Marion was her only +answer. "Hah! my lady's falcon!" cried Halbert alarmed, doubly, for +the fate of his master. A sudden agitation of the branches having +excited an indefinite suspicion in a body of archers who stood near, +with one impulse they had discharged their arrows to the spot. +Halbert's ready excuse, both for the disturbance in the tree and his +lady's shriek, was prompted and warranted true by the appearance of a +large bird, which the rushing of the arrows had frighted from her nest; +she rose suddenly from amongst the branches, and soared away, far to +the east, with loud screams. + +All being again still, Marion hoped that her husband had escaped any +serious injury from the arrows; and turning with recovered composure to +the officer, heard him, with a glow of comfort, reprimand his men for +daring to draw their bows without his orders. Then addressing her, "I +beg your pardon, madam," said he, "both for the alarm these hot-headed +men have occasioned you, and for the violence they have committed in +forcing one of your sex and beauty before me. Had I expected to have +found a lady here, I should have issued orders to have prevented this +outrage; but I am sent hither in quest of Sir William Wallace, who, by +a mortal attack made on the person of the Governor of Lanark's nephew, +has forfeited his life. The scabbard of his sword, found beside the +murdered Heselrigge, is an undeniable proof of his guilt. Direct us to +find him, and not only your release, but the favor of the English +monarch will await your allegiance." + +"I am Sir William Wallace's wife," returned the gentle Marion, in a +firm tone; "and by what authority you seek him thus, and presume to +call him guilty, I cannot understand." + +"By the authority of the laws, madam, which he has violated." + +"What laws?" rejoined she; "Sir William Wallace acknowledges none but +those of God and his country. Neither of these has he transgressed." + +The officer replied, "This night he assassinated Arthur Heselrigge in +the streets of Lanark; and that condemns him, by the last declaration +of King Edward: Whatever Scot maltreats any one of the English +soldiers, or civil officers garrisoned in the towns of Scotland, shall +thereby forfeit his life, as the penalty of his crime." + +"A tyrant's law, sir, to which no freeborn Scot will submit! But even +were it allowed by my countrymen, in this case it can have no hold on +my husband. That he is a Scot, he glories: and not that he maltreated +any Englishman in the streets of Lanark, do I glory; but because, when +he saw two defenseless men borne down by a band of armed soldiers, he +exposed his unshielded breast in their defense; one of the two died, +covered with wounds. That the governor's nephew also fell, was a just +retribution for his heading so unequal a contest, and no crime in Sir +William Wallace; for he slew him to preserve a feeble old man, who had +a hundred English swords leveled at his life." + +The officer paused for a moment, and then, ordering his soldiers to +fall further back, when they were at a sufficient distance, he offered +to take Lady Wallace's hand. She withstood his motion with a reserved +air, and said, "Speak, sir, what you would say, or allow me to retire." + +"I mean not to offend you, noble lady," continued he; "had I a wife +lovely as yourself, and I in like circumstances, I hope in the like +manner would defend my life and honor. I knew not the particulars of +the affair in which Arthur Heselrigge fell, till I heard it from your +lips. I can easily credit them, for I know his unmanly character. +Wallace is a Scot, and acted in Scotland as Gilbert Hambledon would +have done in England, were it possible for any vile foreigner to there +put his foot upon the neck of a countryman of mine. Wherever you have +concealed your husband, let it be a distant asylum. At present no +tract within the jurisdiction of Lanark will be left unsearched by the +governor's indefatigable revenge." + +Lady Wallace, overcome with gratitude at this generous speech of the +English officer, uttered some inarticulate words, expressive more in +sound than clearness, of her grateful feelings. Hambledon continued, +"I will use my influence with Heselrigge, to prevent the interior of +your house from being disturbed again; but it being in the course of +military operations, I cannot free you from the disagreeable ceremony +of a guard being placed to-morrow morning round the domains. This I +know will be done to intercept Sir William Wallace should he attempt to +return." + +"Oh! That he were indeed far distant!" thought the anxious Marion. + +The officer then added, "However, you shall be relieved of my +detachment directly." And as he spoke, he waved his sword to them who +had seized the harper. They advanced, still holding their prisoner. +He ordered them to commit the man to him, and to sound. The trumpeter +obeyed; and in a few seconds the whole detachment were assembled before +their commander. + +"Soldiers!" cried he, "Sir William Wallace has escaped our hands. +Mount your horses, that we may return to Lanark, and search the other +side of the town. Lead forth, and I will follow." + +The troops obeyed, and falling back through the open gates, left Sir +Gilbert Hambledon alone with Lady Wallace and the wondering Halbert. +The brave young man took the now no longer withdrawn hand of the +grateful Marion, who had stood trembling while so many of her husband's +mortal enemies were assembled under the place of his concealment. + +"Noble Englishman," said she, as the last body of soldiers passed from +her sight, "I cannot enough thank you for this generous conduct; but +should you or yours be ever in the like extremity with my beloved +Wallace (and in these tyrannous times, what brave spirit can answer for +its continued safety?) may the ear which has heard you this night, at +that hour repay my gratitude!" + +"Sweet lady," answered Hambledon, "I thank you for your prayer. God is +indeed the benefactor of a true soldier; and though I serve my king, +and obey my commanders, yet it is only to the Lord of battles that I +look for a sure reward. And whether he pay me here with victories and +honors, or take my soul through a rent in my breast, to receive my +laurel in paradise, it is all one to Gilbert Hambledon. But the night +is cold: I must see you safe within your own doors, and then, lady, +farewell!" + +Lady Wallace yielded to the impulse of his hand, and with redoubled +haste, as she heard another rustling in the tree above her head. +Hambledon did not notice it; but desiring Halbert to follow, in a few +minutes disappeared with the agitated Marion into the house. + +Wallace, whose spirit could ill brook the sight of his domains filled +with hostile troops, and the wife of his bosom brought a prisoner +before their commander, would instantly have braved all dangers, and +have leaped down amongst them; but at the instant he placed his foot on +a lower bough to make a spring, the courteous address of Hambledon to +his wife had made him hesitate. He listened to the replies of his +Marion with exultation; and when the Englishman ordered his men to +withdraw, and delivered himself so generously respecting the safety of +the man he came to seize, Wallace could hardly prevent a brave +confidence in such virtue from compelling him to come from his +concealment, and thank his noble enemy on the spot. But in +consideration that such disclosure would put the military duty and the +generous nature of the officer at variance, he desisted, with such an +agitation of spirits that the boughs had again shaken under him, and +reawakened the alarm of his trembling wife. + +"Omnipotent virtue!" exclaimed Wallace to himself; "if it were possible +that thy generous spirit could animate the breast of an invading +conqueror, how soon would the vanquished cease to forget their former +freedom, and learn to love their vassalage! This man's nobleness, how +soon has it quenched the flame of vengeance with which, when I ascended +this tree, I prayed for the extirpation of every follower of Edward!" + +"Sir William! my master!" cried a well-known voice, in a suppressed +tone, as if still fearful of being overheard. It was Halbert's. +"Speak, my dear lord; are you safe?" + +"In heart and body!" returned Wallace, sliding from the tree, and +leaping on the ground. "One only of the arrows touched me; and that +merely striking my bugle, fell back amongst the leaves. I must now +hasten to the dearest, the noblest of women!" + +Halbert begged him to stay till they should hear the retreat from the +English trumpets. "Till their troops are out of sight," added he, "I +cannot believe you safe." + +"Hark!" cried Wallace, "the horses are now descending the craig. That +must satisfy you, honest Halbert." With these words he flew across the +grass, and entering the house, met the returning Marion, who had just +bade farewell to Hambledon. She rushed into his arms, and with the +excess of a disturbed and uncertain joy, fainted on his neck. Her +gentle spirit had been too powerfully excited by the preceding scenes. +Unaccustomed to tumult of any king, and nursed in the bosom of fondness +till now, no blast had blown on her tender form, no harshness had ever +ruffled the blissful serenity of her mind. What then was the shock of +this evening's violence! Her husband pursued as a murderer; herself +exposed to the midnight air, and dragged by the hands of merciless +soldiers to betray the man she loved! All these scenes were new to +her; and though a kind of preternatural strength had supported her +over, when she fell once more into her husband's extended arms, she +seemed there to have found again her shelter, and the pillow whereon +her harassed soul might repose. + +"My life! My best treasure! Preserver of thy Wallace! Look on him!" +exclaimed he; "bless him with a smile from those dear eyes." + +His voice, his caresses, soon restored her to sensibility and +recollection. She wept on his breast, and with love's own eloquence, +thanked Heaven that he had escaped the search and the arrows of his +enemies. + +"But my dear lady," interrupted Halbert, "remember my master must not +stay here. You know the English commander said he must fly far away. +Nay, spies may even now be lurking to betray him." + +"You are right," cried she. "My Wallace, you must depart. Should the +guard arrive soon, your flight may be prevented. You must go now--but, +oh! whither?" + +"Not far distant, my love. In going from thee, I leave behind all that +makes my life precious to me; how then can I go far away? No! there +are recesses among the Cartlane Craigs, I discovered while hunting, and +which I believe have been visited by no mortal foot but my own. There +I will be, my Marion, before sunrise; and before it sets, thither you +must send Halbert, to tell me how you fare. Three notes from thine own +sweet strains of Thusa ha measg na reultan mor,** blown by his pipe, +shall be a sign to me that he is there; and I will come forth to hear +tidings of thee." + +**Thusa ha measg na reultan mor, etc., are the beginning words of an +old Gaelic ditty, the English of which runs thus: "Thou who art amid +the stars, move to thy bed with music," etc.-(1809.) + +"Ah, my Wallace, let me go with thee!" + +"What, dearest!" returned he, "to live amidst rocks and streams! to +expose thy tender self, and thine unborn infant, to all the accidents +of such a lodging!" + +"But are not you going to so rough, so dangerous a lodging?" asked she. +"O! would not rocks and streams be Heaven's paradise to me, when +blessed by the presence of my husband? Ah! let me go!" + +"Impossible, my lady," cried Halbert, afraid that the melting heart of +his master would consent: "you are safe here; and your flight would awaken +suspicion in the English, that he had not gone far. Your ease and +safety are dearer to him than his own life; and most likely by his care +to preserve them, he would be traced, and so fall a ready sacrifice to +the enemy." + +"It is true, my Marion; I could not preserve you in the places to which +I go." + +"But the hardships you will endure!" cried she; "to sleep on the cold +stones, with no covering but the sky, or the dripping vault of some +dreary cave! I have not courage to abandon you alone to such cruel +rigors." + +"Cease, my beloved!" interrupted he, "cease these groundless alarms. +Neither rocks nor storms have any threats to me. It is only tender +woman's cares that make man's body delicate. Before I was thine, my +Marion, I have lain whole nights upon the mountain's brow, counting the +wintery stars, as I impatiently awaited the hunter's horn that was to +recall me to the chase in Glenfinlass. Alike to Wallace is the couch +of down or the bed of heather; so, best-beloved of my heart, grieve not +at hardships which were once my sport, and will now be my safety." + +"Then farewell! May good angels guard thee!" Her voice failed; she +put his hand to her lips. + +"Courage, my Marion," said he; "remember that Wallace lives but in +thee. Revive, be happy for my sake; and God, who putteth down the +oppressor, will restore me to thine arms." She spoke not, but rising +from his breast, clasped her hands together, and looked up with an +expression of fervent prayer; then smiling through a shower of tears, +she waved her hand to him to depart, and instantly disappeared into her +own chamber. + +Wallace gazed at the closed door, with his soul in his eyes. To leave +his Marion thus, to quit her who was the best part of his being, who +seemed the very spring of the life now throbbing in his heart, was a +contention with his fond, fond love, almost too powerful for his +resolution. Here indeed his brave spirit gave way; and he would have +followed her, and perhaps have determined to await his face at her +side, had not Halbert, reading his mind in his countenance, taken him +by the arm, and drawn him toward the portal. + +Wallace soon recovered his better reason, and obeying the friendly +impulse of his servant, accompanied him through the garden, to the +quarter which pointed toward the heights that led to the remotest +recesses of the Clyde. In their way they approached the well where +Lord Mar lay. Finding that the earl had not been inquired for, Wallace +deemed his stay to be without peril; and intending to inform him of the +necessity which still impelled his own flight, he called to him, but no +voice answered. He looked down, and seeing him extended on the bottom +without motion, "I fear," said he, "the earl is dead. As soon as I am +gone, and you can collect the dispersed servants, send one into the +well to bring him forth; and if he be indeed no more, deposit his body +in my oratory, till you can receive his widow's commands respecting his +remains. The iron box now in the well is of inestimable value; take it +to Lady Wallace and tell her she must guard it, as she has done my +life; but not to look into it, at the peril of what is yet dearer to +her--my honor." + +Halbert promised to adhere to his master's orders; and Wallace, girding +on his sword, and taking his hunting-spear (with which the care of his +venerable domestic had provided him), he pressed the faithful hand that +presented it, and again enjoining him to be watchful of the +tranquillity of his lady, and to send him tidings of her in the +evening, to the cave near the Corie Lynn, he climbed the wall, and was +out of sight in an instant. + + + + +Chapter III. + +Ellerslie. + + +Halbert returned to the house; and entering the room softly, into which +Marion had withdrawn, beheld her on her knees before a crucifix; she +was praying for the safety of her husband. + +"May he, O gracious Lord!" cried she, "soon return to his home. But if +I am to see him here no more, oh, may it please thee to grant me to +meet him within thy arms in heaven!" + +"Hear her, blessed Son of Mary!" ejaculated the old man. She looked +round, and rising from her knees, demanded of him, in a kind but +anxious voice, whether he had left her lord in security. + +"In the way to it, my lady!" answered Halbert. He repeated all that +Wallace had said at parting, and then tried to prevail on her to go to +rest. "Sleep cannot visit my eyes this night, my faithful creature," +replied she; "my spirit will follow Wallace in his mountain flight. Go +you to your chamber. After you have had repose, that will be time +enough to revisit the remains of the poor earl, and to bring them with +the box to the house. I will take a religious charge of both, for the +sake of the dear intruster." + +Halbert persuaded his aldy to lie down on the bed, that her limbs at +least might rest after the fatigue of so harassing a night; and she, +little suspecting that he meant to do otherwise than to sleep also, +kindly wished him repose and retired. + +Her maids, during the late terror, had dispersed, and were nowhere to +be found; and the men, too, after their stout resistance at the gates, +had all disappeared; some fled others were sent away prisoners to +Lanark, while the good Hambledon was conversing with their lady. +Halbert, therefore, resigned himself to await with patience the rising +of the sun, when he hoped some of the scared domestics would return; if +not, he determined to go to the cotters who lived in the depths of the +glen, and bring some of them to supply the place of the fugitives; and +a few, with stouter hearts, to guard his lady. + +Thus musing, he sat on a stone bench in the hall, watching anxiously +the appearance of that orb, whose setting beams he hoped would light +him back with tidings of William Wallace to comfort the lonely heart of +his Marion. All seemed at peace. Nothing was hear but the sighing of +the trees as they waved before the western window, which opened toward +the Lanark hills. The morning was yet gray, and the fresh air blowing +in rather chilly, Halbert rose to close the wooden shutter; at that +moment, his eyes were arrested by a party of armed men in quick march +down the opposite declivity. In a few minutes more their heavy steps +sounded in his ears, and he saw the platform before the house filled +with English. Alarmed at the sight, he was retreating across the +apartment, toward his lady's room, when the great hall door was burst +open by a band of soldiers, who rushed forward and seized him. + +"Tell me, dotard!" cried their leader, a man of low stature, with gray +locks, but a fierce countenance, "where is the murderer? Where is Sir +William Wallace? Speak, or the torture shall force you." + +Halbert shuddered, but it was for his defenseless lady, not for +himself. "My master," said he, "is far from this." + +"Where?" + +"I know not." + +"Thou shalt be made to know, thou hoary-headed villian!" cried the same +violent interrogator. "Where is the assassin's wife? I will confront +ye. Seek her out." + +At that word the soldiers parted right and left, and in a moment +afterward three of them appeared, with shouts, bringing in the +trembling Marion. + +"Alas! my lady!" cried Halbert, struggling to approach her, as with +terrified apprehension she looked around her; but they held her fast, +and he saw her led up to the merciless wretch who had given the orders +to have her summoned. + +"Woman!" cried he, "I am the Governor of Lanark. You now stand before +the representative of the great King Edward, and on your allegiance to +him, and on the peril of your life, I command you to answer me three +questions. Where is Sir William Wallace, the murderer of my nephew? +Who is that old Scot, for whom my nephew was slain? He and his whole +family shall meet my vengeance! And tell me where is that box of +treasure which your husband stole from Douglas Castle? Answer me these +questions on your life." + +Lady Wallace remained silent. + +"Speak, woman," demanded the governor. "If fear cannot move you, know +that I can reward as well as avenge. I will endow you richly, if you +declare the truth. If you persist to refuse, you die." + +"Then I die," replied she, scarcely opening her half-closed eyes, as +she leaned, fainting and motionless, against the soldier who held her. + +"What?" cried the governor, stifling his rage, in hopes to gain by +persuasion on a spirit he found threats could not intimidate; "can so +gentle a lady reject the favor of England, large grants in this +country, and perhaps a fine English knight for a husband, when you +might have all for the trifling service of giving up a traitor to his +liege lord, and confessing where his robberies lie concealed? Speak, +fair dame; give me this information, and the lands of the wounded +chieftain whom Wallace brought here, with the hand of the handsome Sir +Gilbert Hambledon, shall be your reward. Rich, and a beauty in +Edward's court! Lady, can you now refuse to purchase all, by declaring +the hiding place of the traitor Wallace?" + +"It is easier to die!" + +"Fool!" cried Heselrigge, driven from his assumed temper by her steady +denial. "What? is it easier for these dainty limbs to be hacked to +pieces by my soldiers' axes? Is it easier for that fair bosom to be +trodden underfoot by my horse's hoofs, and for that beauteous head of +thine to decorate my lance? Is all this easier than to tell me where +to find a murderer and his gold?" + +Lady Wallace shuddered; she stretched her hands to heaven. + +"Speak once for all!" cried the enraged governor, drawing his sword; "I +am no waxen-hearted Hambledon, to be cajoled by your beauty. Declare +where Wallace is concealed, or dread my vengeance." + +The horrid steel gleamed across the eyes of the unhappy Marion; unable +to sustain herself, she sunk to the ground. + +"Kneel not to me for mercy!" cried the fierce wretch; "I grant none, +unless you confess your husband's hiding-place." + +A momentary strength darted from the heart of Lady Wallace to her +voice, "I kneel to Heaven alone, and may it ever preserve my Wallace +from the fangs of Edward and his tyrants!" + +"Blasphemous wretch!" cried the infuriated Heselrigge; and in that +moment he plunged his sword into her defenseless breast. Halbert, who +had all this time been held back by the soldiers, could not believe +that the fierce governor would perpetrate the horrid deed he +threatened; but seeing it done, with a giant's strength and a terrible +cry he burst from the hands that held him, and had thrown himself on +the bleeding Marion, before her murderer could strike his second blow. +However, it fell, and pierced through the neck of the faithful servant +before it reached her heart. She opened her dying eyes, and seeing who +it was that would have shielded her life, just articulated, "Halbert! +my Wallace--to God--" and with that last unfinished sentence her pure +soul took its flight to regions of eternal piece. + +The good old man's heart almost burst when he felt that before--heaving +bosom now motionless; and groaning with grief, and fainting with loss +of blood, he lay senseless on her body. + +A terrible stillness was now in the hall. Not a man spoke; all stood +looking on each other, with a stern horror marking each pale +countenance. Heselrigge, dropping his blood-stained sword on the +ground, perceived by the behavior of his men that he had gone too far, +and fearful of arousing the indignation of awakened humanity, to some +act against himself, he addressed the soldiers in an unusual accent of +condescension: "My friends," said he, "we will now return to Lanark; +to-morrow you may come back, for I reward your services of this night +with the plunder of Ellerslie." + +"May a curse light on him who carries a stick from its grounds!" +exclaimed a veteran, from the further end of the hall. "Amen!" +murmured all the soldiers, with one consent; and falling back, they +disappeared, one by one, out of the great door, leaving Heselrigge +alone with the soldier, who stood leaning on his sword, looking on the +murdered lady. + +"Grimsby, why stand you there?" demanded Heselrigge: "follow me." + +"Never," returned the soldier. + +"What!" exclaimed the governor, momentarily forgetting his panic, "dare +you speak thus to your commander? March on before me this instant, or +expect to be treated as a rebel." + +"I march at your command no more," replied the veteran, eying him +resolutely: "the moment you perpetrated this bloody deed, you became +unworthy the name of man; and I should disgrace my own manhood, were I +ever again to obey the word of such a monster!" + +"Villian!" cried the enraged Heselrigge, "you shall die for this!" + +"That may be," answered Grimsby, "by the hands of some tyrant like +yourself; but no brave man, not the royal Edward, would do otherwise +than acquit his soldier for refusing obedience to the murderer of an +innocent woman. It was not so he treated the wives and daughters of +the slaughtered Saracens when I followed his banners over the fields of +Palestine!" + +"Thou canting miscreant!" cried Heselrigge, springing on him suddenly, +and aiming his dagger at his breast. But the soldier arrested the +weapon, and at the same instant closing upon the assassin, with a turn +of his foot threw him to the ground. Heselrigge, as he lay prostrate, +seeing his dagger in his adversary's hand, with the most dastardly +promises implored for life. + +"Monster!" cried the soldier, "I wold not pollute my honest hands with +such unnatural blood. Neither, though thy hand has been lifted against +my life, would I willingly take thine. It is not rebellion against my +commander that actuates me, but hatred of the vilest of murderers. I +go far from you, or your power; but if you forswear your voluntary +oath, and attempt to seek me out for vengeance, remember it is a +soldier of the cross you pursue, and a dire retribution shall be +demanded by Heaven, at a moment you cannot avoid, and with a horror +commensurate with your crimes." + +There was a solemnity and determination in the voice and manner of the +soldier that paralyzed the intimidated soul of the governor; he +trembled violently, and repeating the oath of leaving Grimsby +unmolested, at last obtained his permission to return to Lanark. The +men, in obedience to the conscience-stricken orders of their commander, +had mounted their horses and were now far out of sight. Heselrigge's +charger was still in the courtyard; he was hurrying toward it, but the +soldier, with a prudent suspicion, called out, "Stop, sir! you must +walk to Lanark. The cruel are generally false; I cannot trust your +word, should you have the power to break it. Leave this horse +here: to-morrow you may send for it, I shall then be far away." + +Heselrigge saw that remonstrance would be unavailing; and shaking with +impotent rage, he turned into the path which, after five weary miles, +would lead him once more to his citadel. + +For the moment the soldier's manly spirit had dared to deliver its +abhorrence of Lady Wallace's murder, he was aware that his life would +no longer be safe within reach of the machinations of Heselrigge; and +determined, alike by detestation of him and regard for his own +preservation, resolved to take shelter in the mountains, till he could +have an opportunity of going beyond sea to join his king's troops in +the Guienne wars. + +Full of these thoughts he returned into the hall. As he approached the +bleeding form on the floor, he perceived it to move; hoping that +perhaps the unhappy lady might not be dead, he drew near; but, alas! as +he bent to examine, he touched her hand and found it quite cold. The +blood which had streamed from the now exhausted heart, lay congealed +upon her arms and bosom. Grimsby shuddered. Again he saw her move; +but it was not with her own life; the recovering senses of her faithful +servant, as his arms clung around the body, had disturbed the remains +of her who would wake no more. + +On seeing that existence yet struggled in one of these blameless +victims, Grimsby did his utmost to revive the old man. He raised him +from the ground, and poured some strong liquor he had in a flask into a +mouth. Halbert breathed freer; and his kind surgeon, with the +venerable harper's own plaid, bound up the wound in his neck. Halbert +opened his eyes. When he fixed them on the rough features and English +helmet of the soldier, he closed them again with a deep groan. + +"My honest Scot," said Grimsby, "trust in me. I am a man like +yourself; and though a Southron, am no enemy to age and helplessness." + +The harper took courage at these words; he again looked at the soldier; +but suddenly recollecting what had passed, he turned his eyes toward +the body of his mistress, on which the beams of the now rising sun were +shining. He started up, and staggering toward her, would have fallen, +had not Grimsby supported him. "O what a sight is this!" cried he, +wringing his hands. "My lady! my lovely lady! see how low she lies who +was once the delight of all eyes, the comforter of all hearts." The +old man's sobs suffocated him. The veteran turned away his face, a +tear dropped upon his hand. "Accursed Heselrigge," ejaculated he, "thy +fate must come!" + +"If there be a man's heart in all Scotland, it is not far distant!" +cried Halbert. "My master lives, and will avenge this murder. You +weep, soldier; and you will not betray what has now escaped me." + +"I have fought in Palestine," returned he, "and a soldier of the cross +betrays none who trust him. Saint Mary preserve your master and +conduct you safely to him. We must both hasten hence. Heselrigge will +surely send in pursuit of me. He is too vile to forgive the truth I +have spoken to him; and should I fall into his power, death is the best +I could expect at his hands. Let me assist you to put this poor lady's +remains into some decent place; and then, my honest Scot, we must +separate." + +Halbert, at these words, threw himself upon the bosom of his mistress, +and wept with loud lamentations over her. In vain he attempted to +raise her in his feeble arms. "I have carried thee scores of times in +thy blooming infancy," cried he; "and now must I bear thee to thy +grave? I had hoped that my eyes would have been closed by this dear +hand." As he spoke, he pressed her cold hand to his lips with such +convulsive sobs that the soldier, fearing he would expire in the agony +of his sorrow, took him almost motionless from the dead body, and +exhorted him to suppress such self-destroying grief for the sake of his +master. Halbert gradually revived; and listening to him, cast a +wistful look on the lifeless Marion. + +"There sleeps the pride and hope of Ellerslie, the mother with her +child! O my master, my widowed master," cried he, "what will comfort +thee!" + +Fearing the ill consequence of further delay, the soldier again +interrupted his lamentations with arguments for flight; and Halbert +recollecting the oratory in which Wallace had ordered the body of Lord +Mar to be deposited, named it for that of his dear lady. Grimsby, +immediately wrapping the beauteous corpse in the white garments which +hung about it, raised it in his arms, and was conducted by Halbert to a +little chapel in the heart of a neighboring cliff. + +The still weeping old man removed the altar; and Grimsby, laying the +shrouded Marion upon its rocky platform, covered her with the pall, +which he drew from the holy table, and laid the crucifix upon her +bosom. Halbert, when his beloved mistress was thus hidden from his +sight, threw himself on his knees beside her, and in the vehement +language of grief offered up a prayer for her departed soul. + +"Hear me, righteous Judge of heaven and earth!" cried he; "as thou +didst avenge the blood of innocence shed in Bethlehem, so let the gray +hairs of Heselrigge be brought down in blood to the grave for the +murder of this innocent lady!" Halbert kissed the cross, and rising +from his knees, went weeping out of the chapel, followed by the soldier. + +Having closed the door, and carefully locked it, absorbed in meditation +on what would be the agonized transports of his master, when he should +tell him these grievous tidings, Halbert proceeded in silence, till he +and his companion in passing the well were startled by a groan. + +"Here is some one in extremity!" cried the soldier. + +"Is it possible he lives!" exclaimed Halbert, bending down to the edge +of the well with the same inquiry. + +"Yes," feebly answered the earl, "I still exist, but am very faint. If +all be safe above, I pray remove me into the upward air!" Halbert +replied that it was indeed necessary he should ascend immediately; and +lowering the rope, told him to tie the iron box to it and then himself. +This done, with some difficulty, and the assistance of the wondering +soldier (who now expected to see the husband of the unfortunate Lady +Wallace emerge to the knowledge of his loss), he at last effected the +earl's release. For a few seconds the fainting nobleman supported +himself on his countryman's shoulder, while the fresh morning breeze +gradually revived his exhausted frame. The soldier looked at his gray +locks and furrowed brow, and marveled how such proofs of age could +belong to the man whose resistless valor had discomfited the fierce +determination of Arthus Heselrigge and his myrmidons. However, his +doubts of the veteran before him being other than the brave Wallace, +were soon satisfied by the earl himself, who asked for a draught of the +water which trickled down the opposite hill; and while Halbert went to +bring it, Lord Mar raised his eyes to inquire for Sir William and Lady +Marion. He started when he saw English armor on the man he would have +accosted, and rising suddenly from the stone on which he sat, demanded, +in a stern voice, "Who art thou?" + +"An Englishman," answered the soldier; "one who does not, like the +monster Heselrigge, disgrace the name. I would assist you, noble +Wallace, to fly this spot. After that, I shall seek refuge abroad; and +there, on the fields of Guienne, demonstrate my fidelity to my king." + +Mar looked at him steadily. "You mistake; I am not Sir William +Wallace." + +At that moment Halbert came up with the water. The earl drank it, +though now, from the impulse surprise had given to his blood, he did +not require its efficacy; and turning to the venerable bearer, he asked +of him whether his master were safe. + +"I trust he is," replied the old man; "but you, my lord, must hasten +hence. A foul murder has been committed here, since you left it." + +"But where is Lady Wallace?" asked the earl; "if there be such danger +we must not leave her to meet it." + +"She will never meet danger more!" cried the old man, clasping his +hand; "she is in the bosom of the Virgin; and no second assassin's +steel can reach her there." + +"What!" exclaimed the earl, hardly articulate with horror; "is Lady +Wallace murdered?" Halbert answered only by his tears. + +"Yes," said the soldier; "and detestation of so unmanly an outrage +provoked me to desert his standard. But no time must now be lost in +unavailing lamentation. Heselrigge will return; and if we also would +not be sacrificed to his rage, we must hence immediately." + +The earl, struck dumb at this recital, gave the soldier time to recount +the particulars. When he had finished, Lord Mar saw the necessity for +instant flight, and ordered horses to be brought from the stables. +Though he had fainted in the well, the present shock gave such tension +to his nerves, that he found, in spite of his wound, he could now ride +without difficulty. + +Halbert went as commanded, and returned with two horses. Having +amongst rocks and glens to go, he did not bring one for himself; and +begging the good soldier might attend the earl to Bothwell, he added, +"He will guard you and this box, which Sir William Wallace holds as his +life. What it contains I know not: and none, he says, may dare to +search into. But you will take care of it for his sake, till more +peaceful times allow him to reclaim his own!" + +"Fatal box!" cried the soldier, regarding it with an abhorrent eye, +"that was the leading cause which brought Heselrigge to Ellerslie." + +"How?" inquired the earl. Grimsby then briefly related, that +immediately after the return to Lanark of the detachment sent to +Ellerslie, under the English garrison in Douglas, and told the governor +that Sir William Wallace had that evening taken a quantity of treasure +from the castle. His report was, that the English soldiers who stood +near the Scottish knight when he mounted at the castle gate, saw a long +iron coffer under his arm, but not suspecting its having belonged to +Douglas, they thought not of it, till they overheard Sir John Monteith, +as he passed through one of the galleries, muttering something about +gold and a box. To intercept the robber amongst his native glens, the +soldiers deemed impracticable, and therefore their captain came +immediately to lay the information before the Governor of Lanark. As +the scabbard found in the affray with young Arthur had betrayed the +victor to have been Sir William Wallace, this intimation of his having +been also the instrument of wrestling from the grasp of Heselrigge +perhaps the most valuable spoil in Douglas exasperated him to the most +vindictive excess. Inflamed with the double furies of revenge and +avarice, he ordered out a new troop, and placing himself at its head, +took the way to Ellerslie. One of the servants, whom some of +Hambledon's men had seized for the sake of information, on being +threatened with the torture, confessed to Heselrigge, that not only Sir +William Wallace was in the house when it was attacked, but that the +person whom he had rescued in the streets of Lanark, and who proved to +be a wealthy nobleman, was there also. This whetted the eagerness of +the governor to reach Ellerslie; and expecting to get a rich booty, +without the most distant idea of the horrors he was going to +perpetrate, a large detachment of men followed him. + +"To extort money from you, my lord," continued the soldier, "and to +obtain that fatal coffer, were his main objects; but disappointed in +his darling passion of avarice, he forgot he was a man, and the blood +of innocence glutted his barbarous vengeance." + +"Hateful gold!" cried Lord Mar, spurning the box with his foot; "it +cannot be for itself the noble Wallace so greatly prizes it; it must be +a trust." + +"I believe it is," returned Halbert, "for he enjoined my lady to +preserve it for the sake of his honor. Take care of it, then, my lord, +for the same sacred reason." + +The Englishman made no objection to accompany the earl; and by a +suggestion of his own, Halbert brought him a Scottish bonnet and cloak +from the house. While he put them on, the earl observed that the +harper held a drawn and blood-stained sword in his hand, on which he +steadfastly gazed. "Whence came that forried weapon?" cried Lord Mar. + +"It is my lady's blood," replied Halbert, still looking on it. "I +found it where she lay, in the hall, and I will carry it to my master. +Was not every drop of her blood dear to him? and here are many." As +the old man spoke he bent his head on the sword, and groaned heavily. + +"England shall hear more of this!" cried Mar, as he threw himself +across the horse. "Give me that fatal box; I will buckle it to my +saddle-bow. Inadequate will be my utmost care of it, to repay the vast +sorrow its preservation and mine have brought upon the head of my +deliverer." + +The Englishman in silence mounted his horse, and Halbert opened a +back-gate that led to the hills which lay between Ellerslie and +Bothwell Castle. Lord Mar took a golden-trophied bugle from his +breast: "Give this to your master, and tell him that by whatever hands +he sends it, the sight of it shall always command the services of +Donald Mar. I go to Bothwell, in expectation that he will join me +there. In making it his home he will render me happy, for my +friendship is now bound to him by bonds which only death can sever." + +Halbert took the horn, and promising faithfully to repeat the earl's +message, prayed God to bless him and the honest soldier. A rocky +promontory soon excluded them from his sight, and in a few minutes more +even the sound of their horses' hoofs was lost on the soft herbage of +the winding dell. + +"Now I am alone in this once happy spot. Not a voice, not a sound. +Oh, Wallace!" cried he, throwing up his venerable arms, "thy house is +left unto thee desolate, and I am to be the fatal messenger." With the +last words he struck into a deep ravine which led to the remotest +solitudes of the glen, and pursued his way in dreadful silence. No +human face of Scot or English cheered or scared him as he passed along. +The tumult had so alarmed the poor cottagers, that with one accord +they fled to their kindred on the hills, amid those fastnesses of +nature, to await tidings from the valley, of when all should be still, +and they might return in peace. Halbert looked to the right and to the +left; no smoke, curling its gray mist from behind the intersecting +rocks, reminded him of the gladsome morning hour, or invited him to +take a moment's rest from his grievous journey. All was lonely and +comfortless; and sighing bitterly over the wide devastation, he +concealed the fatal sword and the horn under his cloak, and with a +staff which he broke from a withered tree, took his way down the +winding craigs. Many a pointed flint pierced his aged feet, while +exploring the almost trackless paths, which by their direction he hoped +would lead him at length to the deep caves of Corie Lynn. + + + + +Chapter IV. + +Corie Lynn. + + +After having traversed many a weary rood of, to him, before untrodden +ground, the venerable minstrel of the house of Wallace, exhausted by +fatigue, sat down on the declivity of a steep craig. The burning beams +of the midday sun now beat upon the rocks, but the overshadowing +foliage afforded him shelter, and a few berries from the brambles, +which knit themselves over the path he had yet to explore, with a +draught of water from a friendly burn, offered themselves to revive his +enfeebled limbs. Insufficient as they appeared, he took them, blessing +Heaven for sending even these, and strengthened by half an hour's rest, +again he grasped his staff to pursue his way. + +After breaking a passage, through the entangled shrubs that grew across +the only possible footing in this solitary wilderness, he went along +the side of the expanding stream, which at every turning of the rocks +increased in depth and violence. The rills from above, and other +mountain brooks, pouring from abrupt falls down the craigs, covered him +with spray, and intercepted his passage. Finding it impracticable to +proceed through the rushing torrent of a cataract, whose distant +roarings might have intimidated even a younger adventurer, he turned +from its tumbling waters which burst upon his sight, and crept on his +hands and knees up the opposite acclivity, catching by the fern and +other weeds to stay him from falling back into the flood below. +Prodigious craggy heights towered above his head as he ascended; while +the rolling clouds which canopied their summits seemed descending to +wrap him in their "fleecy skirts;" or the projecting rocks bending over +the waters of the glen, left him only a narrow shelf in the cliff, +along which he crept till it brought him to the mouth of a cavern. + +He must either enter it or return the way he came, or attempt the +descent of overhanging precipices, which nothing could surmount but the +pinions of their native birds. Above him was the mountain. Retread +his footsteps until he had seen his beloved master, he was resolved not +to do--to perish in these glens would be more tolerable to him; for +while he moved forward, hope, even in the arms of death, would cheer +him with the whisper that he was in the path of duty. He therefore +entered the cavity, and passing on, soon perceived an aperture, through +which emerging on the other side, he found himself again on the margin +of the river. Having attained a wider bed, it left him a still +narrower causeway to perform the remainder of his journey. + +Huge masses of rock, canopied with a thick umbrage of firs, beech, and +weeping-birch, closed over the glen and almost excluded the light of +day. But more anxious, as he calculated by the increased rapidity of +the stream he must now be approaching the great fall near his master's +concealment, Halbert redoubled his speed. But an unlooked-for obstacle +baffled his progress. A growing gloom he had not observed in the sky +excluded valley, having entirely overspread the heavens, at this moment +suddenly discharged itself, amidst peals of thunder, in heavy floods of +rain upon his head. + +Fearful of being overwhelmed by the streams, which now on all sides +crossed his path, he kept upon the edge of the river, to be as far as +possible from the influence of their violence. And thus he proceeded, +slowly and with trepidation, through numerous defiles, and under the +plunge of many a mountain-torrent, till the augmented storm of a world +of waters, dashing from side to side, and boiling up with the noise and +fury of the contending elements above, told him he was indeed not far +from the fall of Corie Lynn. + +The spray was spread in so thick a mist over the glen, he knew not how +to advance. A step further might be on the firm earth, but more +probably illusive, and dash him into the roaring Lynn, where he would +be ingulfed at once in its furious whirlpool. He paused and looked +around. The rain had ceased, but the thunder still rolled at a +distance and echoed tremendously from the surrounding rocks. Halbert +shook his gray locks, streaming with wet, and looked toward the sun, +now gliding with its last rays the vast sheets of falling water. + +"This is thine hour, my master!" exclaimed the old man; "and surely I +am too near the Lynn to be far from thee!" + +With these words he raised the pipe that hung at his breast, and blew +three strains of the appointed air. In former days it used to call +from her bower that "fair star of evening," the beauteous Marion, now +departed for ever into her native heaven. The notes trembled as his +agitated breath breathed them into the instrument; but feeble as they +were, and though the roar of the cataract might have prevented their +reaching a less attentive era than that of Wallace, yet he sprung from +the innermost recess under the fall, and dashing through its rushing +waters, the next instant was at the side of Halbert. + +"Faithful creature!" cried he, catching him in his arms, which all the +joy of that moment which ends the anxious wish to learn tidings of what +is dearest in the world, "how fares my Marion?" + +"I am weary," cried the heart-stricken old man; "take me within your +sanctuary, and I will tell you all." + +Wallace perceived that his time-worn servant was indeed exhausted; and +knowing the toils and hazards of the perilous track he must have passed +over in his way to his fearful solitude, also remembering how, as he +sat in his shelter, he had himself dreaded the effects of the storm +upon so aged a traveler, he no longer wondered at the dispirited tone +of his greeting, and readily accounted for the pale countenance and +tremulous step which at first had excited his alarm. + +Giving the old man his hand, he led him with caution to the brink of +the Lynn; and then, folding him in his arms, dashed with him through +the tumbling water into the cavern he had chosen for his asylum. +Halbert sunk against the rocky side, and putting forth his hand to +catch some of the water as it fell, drew a few drops to his parched +lips, and swallowed them. After this light refreshment, he breathed a +little and turned his eyes upon his anxious master. + +"Are you sufficiently recovered, Halbert, to tell me how you left my +dearest Marion." + +Halbert dreaded to see the animated light which now cheered him from +the eyes of his master, overclouded with the Cimmerian horrors his +story must unfold; he evaded a direct reply; "I saw your guest in +safety; I saw him and the iron box on their way to Bothwell?" + +"What!" inquired Wallace, "were we mistaken? was not the earl dead when +we looked into the well?" Halbert replied in the negative, and was +proceeding with a circumstantial account of his recovery and his +departure when Wallace interrupted him. + +"But what of my wife, Halbert? why tell me of others before of her? +She whose safety and remembrance are now my sole comfort!" + +"Oh, my dear lord!" cried Halbert, throwing himself on his knees in a +paroxysm of mental agony, "she remembers you where best her prayers can +be heard. She kneels for her beloved Wallace, before the throne of +God!" + +"Halbert!" cried Sir William, in a low and fearful voice, "what would +you say? My Marion--speak! tell me in one word, she lives!" + +"In heaven!" + +At this confirmation of a sudden terror, imbibed from the ambiguous +words of Halbert, and which his fond heart would not allow him to +acknowledge to himself. Wallace covered his face with his hands and +fell with a deep groan against the side of the cavern. The horrid idea +of premature maternal pains, occasioned by anguish for him; of her +consequent death, involving perhaps that of her infant, struck him to +the soul; a mist seemed passing over his eyes; life was receding; and +gladly did he believe he felt his spirit on the eve of joining hers. + +In having declared that the idol of his master's heart no longer +existed for him in this world, Halbert thought he had revealed the +worst, and he went on. "Her latest breath was sent in prayer for you. +'My Wallace' were the last words her angel spirit uttered as it issued +from her bleeding wounds." + +The cry that burst from the heart of Wallace, as he started on his feet +at this horrible disclosure, seemed to pierce through all the recessed +of the glen; and with an instantaneous and dismal return was re-echoed +from rock to rock. Halbert threw his arms round his master's knees. +The frantic blaze of his eyes struck him with affright. "Hear me, my +lord; for the sake of your wife, now an angel hovering near you, hear +what I have to say." + +Wallace looked around with a wild countenance. "My Marion near me! +Blessed spirit! Oh, my murdered wife! my unborn babe! Who made those +wounds?" cried he, catching Halbert's arm with a tremendous though +unconscious grasp; "tell me who had the heart to aim a blow at that +angel's life?" + +"The Governor of Lanark," replied Halbert. + +"How? for what?" demanded Wallace, with the terrific glare of madness +shooting from his eyes. "My wife! my wife! what had she done?" + +"He came at the head of a band of ruffians, and seizing my lady, +commanded her on the peril of her life, to declare where you and the +Earl of Mar and the box of treasure were concealed. My lady persisted +in refusing him information, and in a deadly rage he plunged his sword +into her breast." Wallace clinched his hands over his face, and +Halbert went on. "Before he aimed a second blow, I had broken from the +men who held me, and thrown myself on her bosom; but all could not save +her; the villain's sword had penetrated her heart!" + +"Great God!" exclaimed Wallace, "dost thou hear this murder?" His hands +were stretched toward heaven; then falling on his knees, with his eyes +fixed. "Give me power, Almighty Judge!" cried he, "to assert thy +justice! Let me avenge this angel's blood, and then take me to thy +mercy!" + +"My gracious master," cried Halbert, seeing him rise with a stern +composure, "here is the fatal sword; the blood on it is sacred, and I +brought it to you." + +Wallace took it in his hand. He gazed at it, touched it, and kissed it +frantically. The blade was scarcely yet dry, and the ensanguined hue +came off upon the pressure. "Marion! Marion!" cried he, "is it thine? +Does not thy blood stain my lip?" He paused for a moment, leaning his +burning forehead against the fatal blade; then looking up with a +terrific smile. "Beloved of my soul! never shall this sword leave my +hand till it has drunk the life-blood of thy murderer." + +"What is it you intend, my lord?" cried Halbert, viewing with increased +alarm the resolute ferocity which now, blazing from every part of his +countenance, seemed to dilate his figure with more than mortal daring. +"What can you do? Your single arm-" + +"I am not single-God is with me. I am his avenger. Now tremble, +tyranny! I come to hurl thee down!" At the word he sprung from the +cavern's mouth, and had already reached the topmost cliff when the +piteous cries of Halbert penetrated his ear; they recalled him to +recollection, and returning to his servant, he tried to soothe his +fear, and spoke in a composed though determined tone. "I will lead you +from this solitude to the mountains, where the shepherds of Ellerslie +are tending their flocks. With them you will find a refuge, till you +have strength to reach Bothwell Castle. Lord Mar will protect you for +my sake." + +Halbert now remembered the bugle, and putting it into the master's +hand, with its accompanying message, asked for some testimony in +return, that the earl might know that he had delivered it safely. +"Even a lock of your precious hair, my beloved master, will be +sufficient." + +"Thou shalt have it, severed from my head by this accurse steel," +answered Wallace, taking off his bonnet, and letting his amber locks +fall in tresses on his shoulders. Halbert burst into a fresh flood of +tears, for he remembered how often it had been the delight of Marion to +comb these bright tresses and to twist them round he ivory fingers. +Wallace looked up as the old man's sobs became audible, and read his +thoughts: "It will never be again, Halbert," cried he, and with a firm +grasp of the sword he cut off a large handful of his hair. + +"Marion, thy blood hath marked it!" exclaimed he; "and every hair on my +head shall be dyed of the same hue, before this sword is sheathed upon +thy murderers. Here, Halbert," continued he, knotting it together, +"take this to the Earl of Mar; it is all, most likely, he will ever see +again of William Wallace. Should I fall, tell him to look on that, and +in my wrongs read the future miseries of Scotland, and remember that +God armoreth the patriot's hand. Let him set on that conviction and +Scotland may yet be free." + +Halbert placed the lock in his bosom, but again repeated his +entreaties, that his master would accompany him to Bothwell Castle. He +urged the consolation he would meet from the good earl's friendship. + +"If he indeed regard me," returned Wallace, "for my sake let him +cherish you. My consolations must come from a higher hand; I go where +it directs. If I live, you shall see me again; but twilight +approaches--we must away. The sun must not rise again upon Heselrigge." +Halbert now followed the rapid steps of Wallace, who, assisting the +feeble limbs of his faithful servant, drew him up the precipitous side +of the Lynn,** and then leaping from rock to rock, awaited with +impatience the slower advances of the poor old harper, as he crept +round a circuit of overhanging cliffs, to join him on the summit of the +craigs. + +**The cavern which sheltered Sir William Wallace, near Corie Lynn, is +yet revered by the people. + +Together they struck into the most inaccessible defiles of the +mountains, and proceeded, till on discerning smoke whitening with its +ascending curls the black sides of the impending rocks, Wallace saw +himself near the objects of his search. He sprung on a high cliff +projecting over this mountain-valley, and blowing his bugle with a few +notes of the well-known pibroch of Lanarkshire, was answered by the +reverberations of a thousand echoes. + +At the loved sounds which had not dared to visit their ears since the +Scottish standard was lowered to Edward, the hills seemed teeming with +life. Men rushed from their fastnesses, and women with their babes +eagerly followed to see whence sprung a summons so dear to every +Scottish heart. Wallace stood on the cliff, like the newly-aroused +genius of his country; his long plaid floated afar, and his glittering +hair streaming on the blast, seemed to mingle with the golden fires +which shot from the heavens. Wallace raised his eyes--a clash as of the +tumult of contending armies filled the sky, and flames, and flashing +steel, and the horrid red of battle, streamed from the clouds upon the +hills.** + +**The late Duke of Gordon exhibited a similar scene to Prince Leopold, +when his royal highness visited Gordon Castle, his "hills reeming with +life."-(1830.) + +"Scotsmen!" cried Wallace, waving the fatal sword, which blazed in the +glare of these northern lights like a flaming brand, "behold how the +heavens cry aloud to you! I come, in the midst of their fires, to call +you to vengeance. I come in the name of all ye hold dear, of the wives +of you bosoms, and the children in their arms, to tell you the poniard +of England is unsheathed-innocence and age and infancy fall before it. +With this sword, last night, did Heselrigge, the English tyrant of +Lanark, break into my house, and murder my wife!" + +The shriek of horror that burst from every mouth, interrupted Wallace. +"Vengeance! vengeance!" was the cry of the men, while tumultuous +lamentations for the "sweet Lady of Ellerslie," filled the air from the +women. + +Wallace sprung from the cliff into the midst of his brave countrymen. +"Follow me, then, to strike the mortal blow!" + +"Lead on!" cried a vigorous old man. "I drew this stout claymore last in +the battle of Largs.** Life and Alexander was then the word of victory: +now, ye accursed Southrons, ye shall meet the slogan* [* Slogan, (so the +war-word was termed.-(1809.)] of Death and Lady Marion." + +**In the battle of Largs, Sir Malcolm Wallace, the father of Wallace, +fell gloriously fighting against the Danes.-(1830.) + +"Death and Lady Marion!" was echoed with shouts from mouth to mouth. +Every sword was drawn; and those hardy peasants who owned none, seizing +the instruments of pasturage, armed themselves with wolf-spears, +pickaxes, forks, and scythes. + +Sixty resolute men now ranged themselves around their chief. Wallace, +whose widowed heart turned icy cold at the dreadful slogan of his +Marion's name, more fiercely grasped his sword, and murmured to +himself. "From this day may Scotland date her liberty, or Wallace +return no more! My faithful friends," cried he, turning to his men, +and placing his plumed bonnet on his head, "let the spirits of your +fathers inspire you souls; ye go to assert that freedom for which they +died. Before the moon sets, the tyrant of Lanark must fall in blood." + +"Death and Lady Marion!" was the pealing answer that echoed from the +hills. + +Wallace again sprung on the cliffs. His brave peasants followed him; +and taking their rapid march by a near cut through a hitherto +unexplored defile of the Cartlane Craigs, leaping chasms, and climbing +perpendicular rocks, they suffered no obstacles to impede their steps, +while thus rushing onward like lions to their prey. + + + + +Chapter V. + +Lanark Castle. + + +The women, and the men who age withheld from so desperate an +enterprise, now thronged around Halbert, to ask a circumstantial +account of the disaster which had filled all with so much horror. + +Many tears followed his recital; not one of his auditors was an +indifferent listener; all had individually or in persons dear to them, +partaken of the tender Marion's benevolence. Their sick beds had been +comforted by her charity; her voice had often administered consolation +to their sorrows; her hand had smoothed their pillows, and placed the +crucifix before their dying eyes. Some had recovered to bless her, and +some had departed to record her virtues in heaven. + +"Ah! is she gone?" cried a young woman, raising her face, covered with +tears, from the bosom of her infant; "is the loveliest lady that ever +the sun shone upon, cold in the grave? Alas, for me! she it was that +gave me the roof under which my baby was born; she it was who, when the +Southron soldiers slew my father, and drove us from our home in +Ayrshire, gave to my old mother, and my then wounded husband, our +cottage by the burnside. Ah! well can I spare him now to avenge her +murder." + +The night being far advanced, Halbert retired, at the invitation of +this young woman, to repose on the heather-bed of her husband who was +now absent with Wallace. The rest of the peasantry withdrew to their +coverts, while she and some other women, whose anxieties would not +allow them to sleep, sat at the cavern's mouth watching the slowly +moving hours. + +The objects of their fond and fervent prayers, Wallace and his little +army, were rapidly pursuing their march. It was midnight--all was +silent as they hurried through the glen, as they ascended with flying +footsteps the steep acclivities that led to the cliffs which overhung +the vale of Ellerslie. Wallace must pass along their brow. Beneath +was the tomb of his sacrificed Marion! He rushed forward to snatch one +look, even of the roof which shrouded her beloved remains. + +But in the moment before he mounted the intervening height, a soldier +in English armor crossed the path, and was seized by his men. One of +them would have cut him down, but Wallace turned away the weapon. +"Hold, Scot!" cried he, "you are not a Southron, to strike the +defenseless. The man has no sword." + +The reflection on their enemy which this plea of mercy contained +reconciled the impetuous Scots to the clemency of their leader. The +rescued man, joyfully recognizing the voice of Wallace, exclaimed, "It +is my lord! It is Sir William Wallace that has saved my life a second +time!" + +"Who are you?" asked Wallace; "that helmet can cover no friend of mine." + +"I am your servant Dugald," returned the man; "he whom your brave arm +saved from the battle-ax of Arthur Heselrigge." + +"I cannot ask you how you came by that armor; but if you be yet a Scot +throw it off and follow me." + +"Not to Ellerslie, my lord," cried he; "it has been plundered and +burned to the ground by the Governor of Lanark." + +"Then," exclaimed Wallace, striking his breast, "are the remains of my +beloved Marion forever ravished from my eyes? Insatiate monster!" + +"He is Scotland's curse," cried the veteran of Largs. "Forward, my +lord, in mercy to your country's groans!" + +Wallace had now mounted the craig which overlooked Ellerslie. His once +happy home had disappeared, and all beneath lay a heap of smoking +ashes. He hastened from the sight, and directing the point of his +sword with a forceful action toward Lanark, re-echoed with supernatural +strength, "Forward!" + +With the rapidity of lightning his little host flew over the hills, +reached the cliffs which divided them from the town, and leaped down +before the outward trench of the castle of Lanark. In a moment Wallace +sprung so feeble a barrier; and with a shout of death, in which the +tremendous slogan of his men now joined, he rushed upon the guard that +held the northern gate. + +Here slept the governor. These opponents being slain by the first +sweep of the Scottish swords, Wallace hastened onward, winged with +twofold retribution. The noise of battle was behind him; for the +shouts of his men had aroused the garrison and drawn its soldiers, +half-naked, to the spot. He reached the door of the governor. The +sentinel who stood there flew before the terrible warrior that +presented himself. All the mighty vengeance of Wallace blazed in his +face and seemed to surround his figure with a terrible splendor. With +one stroke of his foot he drove the door from its hinges, and rushed +into the room. + +What a sight for the now awakened and guilty Heselrigge! It was the +husband of the defenseless woman he had murdered come in the power of +justice, with uplifted arm and vengeance in his eyes? With a terrific +scream of despair, and an outcry for the mercy he dared not expect, he +fell back into the bed and sought an unavailing shield beneath its +folds. + +"Marion! Marion!" cried Wallace, as he threw himself toward the bed and +buried the sword, yet red with her blood, through the coverlid, deep +into the heart of her murderer. A fiend-like yell from the slain +Heselrigge told him his work was done; and drawing out the sword he +took the streaming blade in his hand. "Vengeance is satisfied," cried +he; "thus, O God! do I henceforth divide self from my heart!" As he +spoke he snapped the sword in twain, and throwing away the pieces, put +back with his hand the impending weapons of his brave companions, who +having cleared the passage of their assailants, had hurried forward to +assist in ridding their country of so detestable a tyrant. + +"Tis done," cried he. As he spoke he drew down the coverlid and +discovered the body of the governor weltering in blood. The ghastly +countenance, on which the agonies of hell seemed imprinted, glared +horrible even in death. + +Wallace turned away; but the men exulting in the sight, with a shout of +triumph exclaimed, "So fall the enemies of Sir William Wallace!" + +"Rather to fall the enemies of Scotland!" cried he; "from this hour +Wallace has neither love nor resentment but for her. Heaven has heard +me devote myself to work our country's freedom or to die. Who will +follow me in so just a cause?" + +"All!-with Wallace forever!" + +The new clamor which this resolution excited, intimidated a fresh band +of soldiers, who were hastening across the courtyard to seek the enemy +in the governor's apartments. But on the noise they hastily retreated, +and no exertions of their officers could prevail on them to advance +again, or even to appear in sight, when the resolute Scots with Wallace +at their head soon afterward issued from the great gate! The English +commanders seeing the panic of their men, and which they were less able +to surmount on account of the way to the gate being strewn with their +slain comrades, fell back into the shadow of the towers, where by the +light of the moon, like men paralyzed, they viewed the departure of +their enemies over the trenches. + + + + +Chapter VI. + +Cartlane Craigs. + + +The sun was rising from the eastern hills when the victorious group +re-entered the mountain-glen where their families lay. The cheerful +sounds of their bugles aroused the sleepers from their caves; and many +were the gratulations and embraces which welcomed the warriors to +affection and repose. + +Wallace, while he threw himself along a bed of purple heath, gathered +for him by many a busy female hand, listened with a calmed mind to the +fond inquiries of Halbert, who, awakened by the first blast of the +horn, had started from his shelter and hastened to hail the safe return +of his master. While his faithful followers retired each to the bosom +of his rejoicing family, the fugitive chief of Ellerslie remained alone +with the old man, and recounted to him the success of his enterprise, +and the double injuries he had avenged. "The assassin," continued he, +"has paid with his life for his inexpiable crime. He is slain, and +with him several of Edward's garrison. My vengeance may be appeased; +but what, O Halbert, can bring redress to my widowed heart? All is +lost to me; I have now nothing to do with this world, but as I may be +the instrument of good to others! The Scottish sword has now been +redrawn against our foes; and, with the blessing of Heaven, I swear it +shall not be sheathed till Scotland be rid of the tyranny which has +slain my happiness! This night my gallant Scots have sworn to +accomplish my vow, and death or liberty must be the future fate of +Wallace and his friends." + +At these words, tears ran down the cheeks of the venerable harper. +"Alas! my too brave master," exclaimed he, "what is it you would do? +Why rush upon certain destruction? For the sake of her memory whom you +deplore; in pity to the worthy Earl of Mar, who will arraign himself as +the cause of all these calamities, and of your death, should you fall, +retract this desperate vow!" + +"No, my good Halbert," returned Wallace. "I am neither desperate nor +inefficient; and you, faithful creature, shall have no cause to mourn +this night's resolution. GO to Lord Mar, and tell him what are my +resolves. I have nothing now that binds me to life but my country; and +henceforth she shall be to me as mistress, wife and child. Would you +deprive me of this tie, Halbert? Would you, by persuading me to resign +my interest in her, devote me to a hermit's seclusion amongst these +rocks? for I will never again appear in the tracks of men if it be not +as the defender of her rights." + +"But where, my master, shall we find you, should the earl choose to +join you with his followers?" + +"In this wilderness, whence I shall not remove rashly. My purpose is +to save my countrymen, not to sacrifice them in needless dangers." + +Halbert, oppressed with sorrow at the images his foreboding heart drew +of the direful scenes in which his beloved master had pledged himself +to become the leader, bowed his head with submission, and, leaving +Wallace to his rest, retired to the mouth of the cavern to weep alone. + +It was noon before the chief awoke from the death-like sleep into which +kind nature had plunged his long-harassed senses. He opened his eyes +languidly, and when the sight of his rocky apartment forced on him the +recollection of all his miseries, he uttered a deep groan. That sad +sound, so different from the jocund voice with which Wallace used to +issue from his rest, struck on the heart of Halbert; he drew near his +master to receive his last commands for Bothwell. "On my knees," added +he, "will I implore the earl to send you succor." + +"He needs not prayers for that," returned Wallace; "but depart, dear, +worthy Halbert; it will comfort me to know you are in safety; and +whithersoever you go, you carry my thanks and blessings with you." + +Old age opens the fountains of tears; Halbert's flowed profusely, and +bathed his master's hand. Could Wallace have wept, it would have been +then; but that gentle emollient of grief was denied to him, and, with a +voice of assumed cheerfulness, he renewed his efforts to encourage his +desponding servant. Half persuaded that a Superior Being did indeed +call his beloved master to some extraordinary exertions for Scotland, +Halbert bade him an anxious farewell, and then withdrew to commit him +to the fidelity of the companions of his destiny. + +A few of them led the old man on his way, as far as the western +declivity of the hills, and then, bidding him good speed, he took the +remainder of his journey alone. + +After traversing many a weary mile, between Cartlane Craigs and +Bothwell Castle, he reached the valley in which that fortress stands, +and calling to the warder at his gates, that he came from Sir William +Wallace, was immediately admitted, and conducted into the castle. + +Halbert was led by a servant into a spacious chamber, where the earl +lay on a couch. A lady, richly habited, and in the bloom of life, sat +at his head. Another, much younger, and of resplendent beauty, knelt +at his feet, with a salver of medicinal cordials in her hand. The Lady +Marion's loveliness had been that of a soft moonlight evening; but the +face which now turned upon Halbert as he entered, was "full of light, +and splendor, and joy;" and the old man's eyes, even though dimmed in +tears, were dazzled. A young man stood near her. On the entrance of +Halbert, whom the earl instantly recognized, he raised himself on his +arm, and welcomed him. The young lady rose, and the young man stepped +eagerly forward. + +The earl inquired anxiously for Sir William Wallace, and asked if he +might expect him soon at Bothwell. + +"He cannot yet come, my lord," replied Halbert; "hard is the task he +has laid upon his valiant head; but he is avenged! He has slain the +Governor of Lanark." A faint exclamation broke from the lips of the +young lady. + +"How?" demanded the earl. + +Halbert now gave a particular account of the anguish of Wallace, when +he was told of the sanguinary events which had taken place at +Ellerslie. As the honest harper described, in his own ardent language, +the devoted zeal with which the shepherds on the heights took up arms +to avenge the wrong done to their chief, the countenance of the young +lady, and of the youth, glowed through tears; they looked on each +other; and Halbert proceeded: + +"When my dear master and his valiant troop were pursuing their way to +Lanark, he was met by Dugald, the wounded man who had rushed into the +room to apprise us of the advance of the English forces. During the +confusion of that horrible night, and in the midst of the contention, +in spite of his feebleness he crept away, and concealed himself from +the soldiers amongst the bushes of the glen. When all was over, he +came from his hiding-place; and finding the English soldier's helmet +and cloak, poor Dugald, still fearful of falling in with any straggling +party of Heselrigge's, disguised himself in those Southron clothes. +Exhausted with hunger, he was venturing toward the house in search of +food, when the sight of armed men in the hall made him hastily retreat +into his former place of refuge. His alarm was soon increased by a +redoubled noise from the house; oaths and horrid bursts of merriment +seemed to have turned that once abode of honor and of loveliness into +the clamorous haunts of ribaldry and rapine. In the midst of the +uproar, he was surprised by seeing flames issue from the windows. +Soldiers poured from the doors with shouts of triumph; some carried off +the booty, and others watched by the fire till the interior of the +building was consumed and the rest sunk a heap of smoking ruins. + +"The work completed, these horrid ministers of devastation left the +vale to its own solitude. Dugald, after waiting a long time to +ascertain they were quite gone, crawled from the bushes, and, ascending +the cliffs, he was speeding to the mountains, when, encountering our +armed shepherds, they mistook him for an English soldier, and seized +him. The chief of ruined Ellerslie recognized his servant; and, with +redoubled indignation, his followers heard the history of the moldering +ashes before them." + +"Brave, persecuted Wallace!" exclaimed the earl; "how dearly was my +life purchased! But proceed, Halbert; tell me that he returned safe +from Lanark." + +Halbert now recounted the dreadful scenes which took place in that +town; and that when the governor fell, Wallace made a vow never to +mingle with the world again till Scotland should be free. + +"Alas!" cried the earl, "what miracle is to effect that? Surely he +will not bury those noble qualities, that prime of manhood, within the +gloom of a cloister!" + +"No, my lord; he has retired to the fastnesses of Cartlane Craigs." + +"Why," resumed Mar, "why did he not rather fly to me? This castle is +strong; and while one stone of it remains upon another, not all the +hosts of England should take him hence." + +"It was not your friendship he doubted," returned the old man, "love +for his country compels him to reject all comfort in which she does not +share. His last words to me were these: 'I have nothing now to do but +to assert the liberties of Scotland, and to rid her of her enemies. Go +to Lord Mar; take this lock of my hair, stained with the blood of my +wife. It is all, most likely, he will ever again see of William +Wallace. Should I fall, tell him to look on that, and in my wrongs +read the future miseries of Scotland; and remember, that God armeth the +patriot!" + +Tears dropped so fast from the young lady's eyes, she was obliged to +walk to a window, to restrain a more violent burst of grief. + +"O! my uncle," cried the youth, "surely the freedom of Scotland is +possible. I feel in my soul, that the words of the brave Wallace are +prophetic." + +The earl held the lock of hair in his hands; he regarded it, lost in +meditation. + +"'God armeth the patriot!'" He paused again, his before pallid cheek +taking a thousand animated hues; then raising the sacred present to his +lips, "Yes," cried he, "thy vow shall be performed; and while Donald +Mar has an arm to wield a sword, or a man to follow to the field, thou +shalt command both him and them!" + +"But not as you are, my lord!" cried the elder lady; "your wounds are +yet unhealed; your fever is still raging! Would it not be madness to +expose your safety at such a crisis?" + +"I shall not take arms myself," answered he, "till I can bear them to +effect; meanwhile all of my clan, and of my friends, that I can raise +to guard the life of my deliverer and to promote the cause, must be +summoned. This lock shall be my pennon; and what Scotsman will look on +that, and shrink from his colors! Here, Helen, my child," cried he, +addressing the young lady, "before to-morrow's dawn, have this hair +wrought into my banner. It will be a patriot's standard; and let his +own irresistible words be the motto--God armeth me." + +Helen advanced with awestruck trepidation. Having been told by the +earl of the generous valor of Wallace, and of the cruel death of his +lady, she had conceived a gratitude and a pity deeper than language +could express, for the man who had lost so much by succoring one so +dear to hear. She took the lock, waving in yellow light upon her +hands, and, trembling with emotion, was leaving the room, when she +heard her cousin throw himself on his knees. + +"I beseech you, my honored uncle," cried he, "if you have love for me, +or value for my future fame, allow me to be the bearer of your banner +to Sir William Wallace." + +Helen stopped at the threshold to hear the reply. + +"You could not, my dear nephew," returned the earl, "have asked me any +favor I could grant with so much joy. To-morrow I will collect the +peasantry of Bothwell, and with those, and my own followers, you shall +join Wallace the same night." + +Ignorant of the horrors of war, and only alive to the glory of the +present cause, Helen sympathized in the ardor of her cousin, and with a +thrill of sad delight hurried to her apartment, to commence her task. + +Far different were the sentiments of the countess, her stepmother. As +soon as Lord Mar had let this declaration escape his lips, alarmed at +the effect so much agitation might have on his enfeebled constitution, +and fearful of the perilous cause he ventured thus openly to espouse, +she desired his nephew to take the now comforted Halbert (who was +pouring forth his gratitude to the earl, for the promptitude of his +orders), and see that he was attended with hospitality. + +When the room was left to the earl and herself, she ventured to +remonstrate with him upon the facility with which he had become a party +in so treasonable a matter. "Consider, my lord," continued she, "that +Scotland is now entirely in the power of the English monarch. His +garrisons occupy our towns, his creatures hold every place of trust in +the kingdom!" + +"And is such a list of oppressions, my dear lady, to be an argument for +longer bearing them? Had I, and other Scottish nobles, dared to resist +this overwhelming power after the battle of our liberties, kept our own +unsheathed within the bulwarks of our mountains, Scotland might now be +free; I should not have been insulted by our English tyrants in the +streets of Lanark; and, to save my life, William Wallace would not now +be mourning his murdered wife, and without a home to shelter him!" + +Lady Mar paused at this observation, but resumed, "That may be true. +But the die is cast; Scotland is lost forever; and by your attempting +to assist your friend in this rash essay to recover it, you will only +lose yourself also, without preserving him. The project is wild and +needless. What would you have? Now that the contention between the +two kings is past; now that Baliol has surrendered his crown to Edward, +is not Scotland at peace?" + +"A bloody peace, Joanna," answered the earl; "witness these wounds. A +usurper's peace is more destructive than his open hostilities; plunder +and assassination are its concomitants. I have now seen and felt +enough of Edward's jurisdiction. It is time I should awake, and, like +Wallace, determine to die for Scotland, or avenge her." + +Lady Mar wept. "Cruel Donald! is this the reward of all my love and +duty? You tear yourself from me, you consign your estates to +sequestration, you rob your children of their name; nay, by your +infectious example, you stimulate our brother Bothwell's son to head +the band that is to join this madman, Wallace!" + +"Hold, Joanna!" cried the earl; "what is it I hear? You call the hero +who, in saving your husband's life, reduced himself to these cruel +extremities, a madman! Was he made because he prevented the Countess +of Mar from being a widow? Was he made because he prevented her +children from being fatherless?" + +The countess, overcome by this cutting reproach, threw herself upon her +husband's neck. "Alas! my lord," cried she, "all is madness to me that +would plunge you into danger. Think of your own safety; of my innocent +twins now in their cradle, should you fall. Think of our brother's +feeling when you send his only son to join one he, perhaps, would call +a rebel!" + +"If Earl Bothwell considered himself a vassal of Edward's he would not +now be with Lord Loch-awe. From the moment that gallant Highlander +retired to Argyleshire, the King of England regarded his adherents with +suspicion. Bothwell's present visit to Loch-awe, you see, is +sufficient to sanction the plunder of this castle by the peaceful +government you approve. You saw the opening of those proceedings! And +had they come to their dreadful issue, where, my dear Joanna, would now +be your home, your husband, your children? It was the arm of the brave +chief of Ellerslie which saved them from destruction." + +Lady Mar shuddered. "I admit the truth of what you say. But oh! is it +not hard to put my all to the hazard; to see the bloody field on one +side of my beloved Donald, and the mortal scaffold on the other?" + +"Hush!" cried the earl, "it is justice that beckons me, and victory +will receive me to her arms. Let, oh Power above!" exclaimed he, in +the fervor of enthusiasm, "let the victorious field for Scotland be +Donald Mar's grave, rather than doom him to live a witness of her +miseries!" + +"I cannot stay to hear you!" answered the countess; "I must invoke the +Virgin to give me courage to be a patriot's wife; at present, your +words are daggers to me." + +In uttering this she hastily withdrew, and left the earl to muse on the +past--to concert plans for the portentous future. + + + + +Chapter VII. + +Bothwell Castle. + + +Meanwhile the Lady Helen had retired to her own apartments. Lord Mar's +banner being brought to her from the armory, she sat down to weave into +its silken texture the amber locks of the Scottish chief. Admiring +their softness and beauty, while her needle flew, she pictured to +herself the fine countenance they had once adorned. + +The duller extremities of the hair, which a sadder liquid than that +which now dropped from her eyes and rendered stiff and difficult to +entwine with the warp of the silk, seemed to adhere to her fingers. +Helen almost shrunk from the touch. "Unhappy lady!" she sighed to +herself; "what a pang must have rent her heart, when the stroke of so +cruel a death tore her from such a husband! and how must he have loved +her, when for her sake he thus forswears all future joys but those +which camps and victories may yield! Ah! what would I give to be my +cousin Murray, to bear this pennon at his side! What would I give to +reconcile so admirable a being to happiness again--to weep his griefs, +or smile him into comfort! To be that man's friend, would be a higher +honor than to be Edward's queen." + +Her heart was thus discoursing with itself when a page opened the door +for her cousin, who begged admittance. She had just fastened the +flowing charge into its azure field, and while embroidering the motto, +gladly assented. + +"You know not, my good old man," said the gallant Murray to Halbert, as +he conducted him across the galleries, "what a noble mind is contained +in that lovely young creature. I was brought up with her, and to the +sweet contagion of her taste do I owe that love of true glory which +carries me to the side of Sir William Wallace. The virtuous only can +awaken any interest in her heart; and in these degenerate days long +might have been its sleep had not the history which my uncle recounted +of your brave master aroused her attention, and filled her with an +admiration equal to my own. I know she rejoices in my present +destination. And to prevent her hearing from your own lips all you +have now told me of the mild as well as heroic virtues of my intended +commander--all you have said of the heroism of his wife--would be +depriving her of a mournful pleasure, only to be appreciated by a heart +such as hers." + +The gray-haired bard of Ellerslie, who had ever received the dearest +reward of his songs in the smiles of its mistress, did not require +persuasion to appear before the gentle lady of Mar, or to recite in her +ears the story of the departed loveliness, fairer than poet ever +feigned. + +Helen rose as he and her cousin appeared. Murray approved the +execution of her work; and Halbert, with a full heart, took the pennon +in his hand. "Ah! little did my dear lady think," exclaimed he, "that +one of these loved locks would ever be suspended on a staff to lead men +to battle! What changes have a few days made! She, the gentlest of +women, laid in a bloody grave; and he, the most benevolent of human +beings, wielding an exterminating sword! + +"You speak of her grave, venerable man," inquired Helen; "had you, +then, an opportunity of performing the rites of sepulture to her +remains?" + +"No, madam," replied he; "after the worthy English soldier now in this +castle, assisted me to place her precious body in my lord's oratory, I +had no opportunity of returning to give her a more holy grave." + +"Alas!" cried Helen; "then her sacred relics have been consumed in the +burning house!" + +"I hope not," rejoined Halbert; "the chapel I speak of is at some +distance from the main building. It was excavated in the rock by Sir +Ronald Crawford, who gave the name of Ellerslie to this estate, in +compliment to Sir William's place of birth in Renfrewshire, and +bestowed it on the bridal pair. Since then, the Ellerslie of +Clydesdale has been as dear to my master as that of the Carth; and well +it might be, for it was not only the home of all his wedded joys, but +under its roof his mother, the Lady Margaret Crawford, drew her first +breath. Ah! woe is me! that happy house is now, like herself, reduced +to cold, cold ashes! She married Sir Malcolm Wallace, and he is gone +too! Both the parents of my honored master died in the bloom of their +lives; and a grievous task will it be to whoever is to tell the good +Sir Ronald that the last sweet flower of Ellerslie is now cut down! +that the noblest branch of his own stem is torn from the soil to which +he had transplanted it, and cast far away into the waste wilderness!"** + + +**The Ellerslie in Renfrewshire here referred to, and which was the +birthplace of William Wallace, and the hereditary property of his +father, Sir Malcolm Wallace, was situated in the abbey parish of +Paisley, three miles west of the won of Paisley, and nine from Glasgow. +A large old oak, still called Wallace's Oak, stands close to the road +from Paisley to Leith, and within a short distance from it once stood +the manor of Ellerslie. The venerable name is now corrupted into +Elderslie, and the estate has become the property of Archibald Spiers, +Esq., M. P. for Renfrewshire. For this topographical account, I am +indebted to a Renfrewshire gentleman.-(1809.) + +The tears of the venerable harper bore testimony to his inward resolve, +that this messenger should not be himself. Lady Helen, who had fallen +into a reverie during the latter part of his speech, now spoke, and +with something of eagerness. + +"Then we shall hope," rejoined she, "that the oratory has not only +escaped the flames, but perhaps the access of the English soldiers? +Would it not comfort your lord to have that sweet victim entombed +according to the rites of the church?" + +"Surely my lady; but how can that be done? He thinks her remains were +lost in the conflagration of Ellerslie; and for fear of precipitating +him into the new dangers which might have menaced him had he sought to +bring away her body, I did not disprove his mistake." + +"But her body shall be brought away," rejoined Lady Helen; "it shall +have holy burial." + +"To effect this, command my services," exclaimed Murray. + +Helen thanked him for an assistance which would render the completion +of her design easy. The English soldier as guide, and a troop from +Bothwell, must accompany him. + +"Alas! my young lord," interposed Halbert, "suppose you should meet +some of the English still loitering there?" + +"And what of that, my honest Halbert? would not I and my trusty band +make them clear the way? Is it not to give comfort to the deliverer of +my uncle, that I seek the glen? and shall anything in mortal shape make +Andrew Murray turn his back? No, Halbert! I was not born on St. +Andrew's day for naught; and by his bright cross I swear either to lay +Lady Wallace in the tomb of my ancestors, or leave my bones to bleach +on the grave of hers." + +Helen loved the resolution of her cousin; and believing that the now +ravaged Ellerslie had no attractions to hold marauders amongst its +ruins, she dismissed Lord Andrew to make his preparations, and turned +herself to prefer her suit accordingly to her father. + +Ere Halbert withdrew, he respectfully put her hand to his lips. +"Good-night," continued she, "ere you see me again, I trust the earthly +part of the angel now in paradise will be safe within these towers." +He poured a thousand blessings on her head, and almost thought that he +saw in her beautiful form one of heaven's inhabitants sent to bear away +his dear mistress to her divine abode. + +On entering her father's apartment, Lady Helen found him alone. She +repeated to him the substance of her conversation with Wallace's +faithful servant; "and my wish is," continued she, "to have the +murdered lady's remains entombed in the cemetery of this castle." + +The earl approved her request, with expressions of satisfaction at the +filial affection which so lively a gratitude to his preserver evinced. + +"May I, then, my dear father," returned she, "have your permission to +pay our debt of gratitude to Sir William Wallace to the utmost of our +power?" + +"You are at liberty, my noble child, to do as you please. My vassals, +my coffers, are all at your command." + +Helen kissed his hand. "May I have what I please from the Bothwell +armory?" + +"Command even there," said the earl; "your uncle Bothwell is too true a +Scot to grudge a sword in so pious a cause." + +Helen threw her arms about her father's neck, thanking him tenderly, +and with a beating heart retired to prosecute her plans. Murray, who +met her in the anteroom, informed her that fifty men, the sturdiest in +the glen, awaited her orders; while she, telling her cousin of the +earl's approval, took the sacred banner in her hand, and followed him +to the gallery in the hall. + +The moment she appeared, a shout of joy bade her welcome. Murray waved +his hands in token of silence; while she, smiling with the benignity +that spoke her angel errand, spoke with agitation: + +"My brave friends!" said she, "I thank you for the ardor with which, by +this night's enterprise, you assist me to pay, in part, the everlasting +tribute due to the man who preserved to me the blessing of a father. + +"With that spirit, then," returned she, "I address ye with greater +confidence. Who amongst you will shrink from following this standard +to the field for Scotland's honor? Who will refuse to make himself the +especial guardian of the life of Sir William Wallace? and who, in the +moment of peril, will not stand by him to the last? + +"None are her," cried a young man, advancing before his fellows, "who +would not gladly die in his defense." + +"We swear it," burst from every lip at once. + +She bowed her head, and said, "Return from Ellerslie to-morrow, with +the bier of its sainted mistress, I will then bestow upon every man in +this band a war-bonnet plumed with my colors; and this banner shall +then lead you to the side of Sir William Wallace. In the shock of +battle look at its golden ensign, and remember that God not only armeth +the patriot's hand, but shieldeth his heart. In this faith, be ye the +bucklers which Heaven sends to guard the life of Wallace; and, so +honored, exult in your station, and expect the future gratitude of +Scotland." + +"Wallace and Lady Helen! to death or liberty!" was the animated +response to this exhortation; and smiling and crossing her hands over +her bosom, in token of thanks of them and to Heaven, she retired in the +midst of their acclamations. Murray, ready armed for his expedition, +met her at the door. Restored to his usual vivacity by the +spirit-moving emotions which the present scene awakened in his heart, +he forgot the horror which had aroused his zeal, in the glory of some +anticipated victory; and giving her a gay salutation, led her back to +her apartments, where the English soldier awaited her commands. Lady +Helen, with a gentle grace, commended his noble resentment of +Heselrigge's violence. + +"Lands in Mar shall be yours," added she, "or a post of honor in the +little army the earl is now going to raise. Speak but the word, and +you shall find, worthy Englishman, that neither a Scotsman, nor his +daughter, know what it is to be ungrateful." + +The blood mounted into the soldier's cheek. "I thank you, sweetest +lady, for this generous offer; but, as I am an Englishman, I dare not +accept it. My arms are due to my own country; and whether I am tied to +it by lands or possessions, or have naught but my English blood and my +oath to my king to bind me, still I should be equally unwarranted in +breaking these bonds. I left Heselrigge because he dishonored my +country; and for me to forswear her, would be to make myself infamous. +Hence, all I ask is, that after I have this night obeyed your gracious +commands, in leading your men to Ellerslie, the Earl of Mar will allow +me instantly to depart for the nearest port." + +Lady Helen replied that she revered his sentiments too sincerely to +insult them by any persuasions to the contrary; and taking a diamond +clasp from her bosom, she put it into his hand; "Wear it in remembrance +of your virtue, and of Helen Mar's gratitude." + +The man kissed it respectfully, and bowing, swore to preserve so +distinguishing a gift to the latest hour of his existence. + +Helen retired to her chamber to finish her task; and Murray, bidding +her good-night, repaired to the earl's apartments, to take his final +orders before he and his troop set out for the ruins of Ellerslie. + + + + +Chapter VIII. + +Bothwell Chapel. + + +Night having passed over the sleepless heads of the inhabitants of +Bothwell Castle, as soon as the sun arose, the Earl of Mar was carried +from his chamber, and laid on a couch in the state apartment. His lady +had not yet left the room of his daughter, by whose side she had lain +the whole night in hopes of infecting her with the fears which +possessed himself. + +Helen replied that she could see no reason for such direful +apprehension, if her father, instead of joining Wallace in person, +would, when he had sent him succors, retire with his family into the +Highlands, and there await the issue of the contest. "It is too late +to retreat, dear madam," continued she; "the first blow against the +public enemy was struck in defense of Lord Mar; and would you have my +father act so base a part, as to abandon his preserver to the wrath +such generous assistance has provoked?" + +"Alas, my child!" answered the countess, "what great service will he +have done to me or to your father, if he deliver him from one danger, +only to plunge him into another? Edward's power in this country is too +great to be resisted now. Have not most of our barons sworn fealty to +him? and are not the potent families of the Cummin, the Soulis, and the +March, all in his interest? You may perhaps say, that most of these +are my relations, and that I may turn them which way I will; but if I +have no influence with a husband, it would be madness to expect it over +more distant kindred. How, then, with such a host against him, can +your infatuated father venture, without despair, to support the man who +breaks the peace with England?" + +"Who can despair, honored lady," returned Helen, "in so just a cause? +Let us rather believe with our good King David, that 'Honor must hope +always; for no real evil can befall the virtuous, either in this world +or in the next!' Were I a man, the justice that leads on the brave +Wallace would nerve my arm with the strength of a host. Besides, look +at our country; God's gift of freedom is stamped upon it. Our +mountains are his seal. Plains are the proper territories of tyranny; +there the armies of a usurper may extend themselves with ease; leaving +no corner unoccupied in which patriotism might shelter or treason hide. +But mountains, glens, morasses, lakes, set bounds to conquest; and +amidst these stands the impregnable seat of liberty. To such a +fortress, to the deep defiles of Loch Katrine, or to the +cloud-curtained heights of Corryarraick, I would have my father retire. +In safety he may there watch the footsteps of our mountain-goddess, +till, led by her immortal champion, she plants her standard again upon +the hills of Scotland." + +The complexion of the animated Helen shone with a radiant glow. Her +heart panted with a foretaste of the delight she would feel when all +her generous wishes should be fulfilled; and pressing the now completed +banner to her breast, with an enthusiasm she believed prophetic, her +lips moved, though her voice did not utter the inexpressible rapture of +her heart. + +Lady Mar looked at her. "It is well, romantic girl, that you are of my +own powerless sex; had it been otherwise, your rash-headed disobedience +might have made me rue the day I became your father's wife." + +"Sex," returned Helen, mildly, "could not have altered my sense of +duty. Whether man or woman, I would obey you in all things consistent +with my duty to a higher power; but when that commands, then by the +ordinance of Heaven, we must 'leave father and mother, and cleave unto +it.'" + +"And what, O foolish Helen, do you call a higher duty than that of a +child to a parent, or a husband to his wife?" + +"Duty of any kind," respectfully answered the young daughter of Mar, +"cannot be transgressed with innocence. Nor would it be any +relinquishing of duty to you, should my father leave you to take up +arms in the assertion of his country's rights. Her rights are your +safety; and therefore, in defending them, a husband or a son best shows +his sense of domestic, as well as of public duty." + +"Who taught you this sophistry, Helen? Not your heart, for it would +start at the idea of your father's blood." + +Helen turned pale. "Perhaps, madam, had not the preservation of my +father's blood occasioned such malignity from the English, that nothing +but an armed force can deliver his preserver, I, too, might be content +to see Scotland in slavery. But now, to wish my father to shrink +behind the excuse of far-strained family duties, and to abandon Sir +William Wallace to the blood hounds who hunt his life, would be to +devote his name of Mar to infamy, and deservedly bring a curse upon his +offspring." + +"Then it is to preserve Sir William Wallace you are thus anxious. Your +spirit of freedom is now disallowed, and all this mighty gathering is +for him. My husband, his vassals, your cousin, and, in short, the +sequestration of the estates of Mar and Bothwell, are all to be put to +the hazard on account of a frantic outlaw, to whom, since the loss of +his wife, I should suppose, death would be preferable to any gratitude +we can pay him." + +Lady Helen, at this ungrateful language, inwardly thanked Heaven that +she inherited no part of the blood which animated so unfeeling a heart. +"That he is an outlaw, Lady Mar, springs from us. That death is the +preferable comforter of his sorrows, also, he owes to us; for was it +not for my father's sake that his wife fell, and that he himself was +driven into the wilds? I do not, then, blush for making his +preservation my first prayer; and that he may achieve the freedom of +Scotland, is my second." + +"We shall see whose prayers will be answered first," resumed Lady Mar, +rising coldly from her seat. "My saints are perhaps nearer than yours, +and before the close of this day you will have reason to repent such +extravagant opinions. I do not understand them." + +"Till now, you never disapproved them." + +"I allowed them in your infancy," replied the countess, "because I +thought they went no further than a minstrel's song; but since they are +become so dangerous, I rue the hour in which I complied with the +entreaties of Sir Richard Maitland, and permitted you and your sister +to remain at Thirlestane, to imbibe these romantic ideas from the +wizard of Ercildown.** Had not Sir Richard been your own mother's +father, I would not have been so easily prevailed on; and thus am I +rewarded for my indulgence." + +**Few personages are so renowned in tradition as Thomas of Ercildown, +usually called the Rhymer. He was a poet and a sage, and believed by +his contemporaries to be a prophet. He was born at Ercildown, a +village on the Leeder (or Lauder), where the ruins of his paternal +castle, called Learmont Tower, still remain.-(1809.) + +"I hope, honored madam," said Helen, still wishing to soften the +displeasure of her step-mother, "I hope you will never be ill-rewarded +for that indulgence, either by my grandfather, my sister, or myself. +Isabella, in the quiet of Thirlestane, has no chance of giving you the +offense that I do; and I am forced to offend you, because I cannot +disobey my conscience." A tear stood in the eye of Lady Helen. +"Cannot you, dear Lady Mar," continued she, forcing a smile, "pardon +the daughter of your early friend, my mother, who loved you as a +sister? Cannot you forgive her Helen for revering justice even more +than your favor?" + +More influenced by the sweet humility of her daughter-in-law than by +the ingenuous eloquence with which she maintained her sentiments, or +with the appeal to the memory of the first Lady Mar, the countess +relaxed the frigid air she had assumed, and kissing her, with many +renewed injunctions to bless the hand that might put a final stop to so +ruinous an enthusiasm in her family, she quitted the room. + +As soon as Helen was alone, she forgot the narrow-minded arguments of +the countess; and calling to recollection the generous permission with +which her father had endowed her the night before, she wrapped herself +in her mantle, and, attended by her page, proceeded to the armory. The +armorer was already there, having just given out arms for three hundred +men, who, by the earl's orders were to assemble by noon on Bothwell +Moor. + +Helen told the man she came for the best suit of armor in his +custody-"one of the most excellent proof." + +He drew from an oaken chest a coat of black mail, studded with gold. +Helen admired its strength and beauty. "It is the richest in all +Scotland," answered he; "and was worn by our great Canmore in all his +victories." + +"Then it is worthy its destination. Bring it, with its helmet and +sword, to my apartment." + +The armorer took it up; and, accompanied by the page carrying the +lighter parts, followed her into the western tower. + +When Helen was again alone, it being yet very early in the morning, she +employed herself in pluming the casque, and forming the scarf she meant +should adorn her present. Thus time flew, till the sand-glass told her +it was the eighth hour. But ere she had finished her task, she was +roused from the profound stillness in which that part of the castle +lay, by the doleful lament of the troop returning from Ellerslie. + +She dropped the half-formed scarf from her hand; and listened, without +daring to draw her breath, to the deep-toned lamentations. She thought +that she had never before heard the dirge of her country so piercing, +so thrillingly awful. Her head fell on the armor and scarf. "Sweet +lady," sighed she to herself, "who is it that dares thus invade thy +duties? But my gratitude--gratitude to the once-loved lord, will not +offend thy pure spirit!" Again the mournful wailings rose on the air; +and with a convulsion of feelings she could not restrain, she threw +herself on her knees, and leaning her head on the newly-adorned helmet, +wept profusely. + +Murray entered the room unobserved. "Helen! my dear cousin!" cried he. +She started, and rising, apologized for her tears by owning the truth. +He now told her, that the body of the deceased lady was deposited in +the chapel of the castle; and that the priests from the adjacent priory +only awaited her presence to consign it, with the church's rites, to +its tomb. + +Helen retired for a few minutes to recover herself; and then +re-entering, covered with a black veil, was led by her cousin to the +awful scene. + +The bier lay before the altar. The prior of St. Fillan, in his holy +vestments, stood at its head; a band of monks were ranged on each side. +The maids of Lady Helen, in mourning garments, met their mistress at +the portal. They had wrapped the beautiful corpse in the shroud +prepared for it; and now having laid it, strewed with flowers, upon the +bier, they advanced to their trembling lady, expecting her to approve +their services. Helen drew near--she bowed to the priests. One of the +women put her hand on the pall, to uncover the once lovely face of the +murdered Marion. Lady Helen hastily resisted the woman's motion, by +laying her hand also upon the pall. The chill of death struck through +the velvet to her touch. She turned pale; and waving her hand to the +prior to begin, the bier was lowered by the priests into the tomb +beneath. As it descended, Helen sunk upon her knees, and the anthem +for departed souls was raised. The pealing notes, as they rose and +swelled, seemed to bear up the spirit of the sainted Marion to its +native heaven; and the tears which now flowed from the eyes of Helen, +as they mingled with her pious aspirations, seemed the balm of paradise +descending upon her soul. + +When all was over, the venerable Halbert, who had concealed his +overwhelming sorrow behind a pillar, threw himself on the cold stone +which now closed the last chamber of his mistress. With faint cries, +he gave way to the woe that shook his aged bosom, and called on death +to lay him low with her. The women of Lady Helen again chanted forth +their melancholy wailings for the dead; and unable longer to bear the +scene, she grasped the arm of her cousin, and with difficulty walked +from the chapel. + + + + +Chapter IX. + +Bothwell Dungeons. + + +Having rewarded his trusty followers with their promised war-bonnets +from the hand of Helen, and dispatched them onward to the foot of +Cartiane Craigs, to await his arrival with the larger levy. Murray +proceeded to the apartment of Lord Mar, to inform him how far he had +executed his commands, and to learn his future orders. HE found the +veteran earl surrounded by arms and armed men; fifty brave Scots, who +were to lead the three hundred on Bothwell Moor, were receiving their +spears and swords, and other weapons, from the hands of their lord. + +"Bear these stoutly my gallant countrymen," cried he, "and remember, +that although the dragon** of England has burned up your harvests, and +laid our homes in ashes, there is yet a lion in Scotland to wither his +power, and glut you with his spoil!" + +**The standard of Edward I, was a golden dragon--a very ancient British +standard, but derived from pagan times.-(1809.) + +The interest of the scene, and the clatter of the arms he was +dispensing, prevented anybody present hearing any sound of what was +taking place beyond the room. But the earl had hardly uttered these +words, when the double-doors of the apartment were abruptly opened, and +all eyes were blasted by the sudden sight of Lord Soulis,** and a man +in splendid English armor, with a train of Southron soldiers, following +the recreant Scot. + +**William Lord Soulis was a powerful chief in the south of Scotland. +He founded pretensions to the Scottish crown, on his descent from an +illegitimate daughter of Alexander II. Soulis was a traitor to his +country, and so notoriously wicked, that tradition endows him with the +power of infernal necromancy. His castle of Hermitage, in Teviotdale, +is still shown as the resort of malignant demons.-(1809.) + +The earl started from his couch. "Lord Soulis! what is the occasion of +this unapprised visit?" + +"The ensign of the liege lord of Scotland is my warrant!" replied he; +"you are my prisoner; and in the name of King Edward of England, I take +possession of this castle." + +"Never!" cried the earl, "while there is a man's arm within it." + +"Man and woman," returned Lord Soulis, "must surrender to Edward. +Three thousand English have seized three hundred of our insurgents on +Bothwell Moor. The castle is surrounded, and resistance impossible. +Throw down your arms!" cried he, turning to the clansmen, who thronged +round their chief; "or be hanged for rebellion against your lawful +sovereign!" + +"Our lawful sovereign!" returned a young man who stood near him, "must +be the enemy of Edward; and to none else will we yield our arms!" + +"Traitor!" cried the English commander, while with a sudden and +dreadful stroke of his battle-ax he laid the body of the generous Scot +a headless corpse at his feet. A direful cry proceeded from his +enraged comrades. Every sword was drawn; and before the bewildered and +soul-struck earl could utter a word, the Furies blew their most +horrible blast through the chamber; and the half-frantic Mar beheld his +brave Scots at one moment victorious, and in the next the floor strewed +with their dead bodies. A new succession of blood-hounds had rushed in +at every door; and before the exterminating sword was allowed to rest, +the whole of his faithful troops lay around him, wounded and dying. +Several had fallen across his body, having warded with their lives the +strokes they believed leveled at his. In vain his voice had called +upon his men to surrender--in vain he had implored the iron-hearted +Soulis, and his coadjutor Aymer de Valence, to stop the havoc of death. + +All now lay in blood; and the heat of the room, thronged by the +victors, became so intolerable that De Valence, for his own sake, +ordered the earl to be removed into another apartment. + +Meanwhile, unconscious of these events, Helen had lain down on her bed, +to seek a few minutes' repose; and having watched the whole of the +preceding night, was sunk into a profound sleep. + +Murray, who was present at the abrupt entrance of the enemy, no sooner +heard them declare that the castle was surrounded by a comparatively +large army, than he foresaw all would be lost. On the instant, and +before the dreadful signal of carnage was given in the fall of the +young Scot, he slid behind the canopy of his uncle's couch; and lifting +the arras by a back door which led to some private rooms, hastily made +way to the chamber of his cousin. As he hurried along, he heard a +fearful shout. He paused for a moment, but thinking it best, whatever +might have happened, to secure the safety of Helen, he flew onward, and +entered her room. She lay upon the bed in a deep sleep. "Awake, +Helen!" he cried; "for your life, awake!" + +She opened her eyes; but, without allowing her time to speak, he +hastily added; "The castle is full of armed men, led hither by the +English commander, Aymer de Valence, and the execrable Soulis. Unless +you fly through the vaulted passage, you will be their prisoner." + +Helen gazed at him in terror. "Where is my father? Leave him I +cannot." + +"Fly, in pity to your father! Oh, do not hesitate! What will be his +anguish, should you fall into the hands of the furious man whose love +you have rejected; when it will no longer be in the power of a parent +to preserve your person from the outrages of his eager and avengeful +passion! If you had seen Soulis' threatening eyes--" He was +interrupted by a clamor in the opposite gallery, and the shrieks of +women. Helen grasped his arm. "Alas, my poor damsels! I will go with +you, whither you will, to be far from him." + +As Murray threw his arm about her waist, to impel her failing steps, +his eyes fell on the banner and the suit of armor. + +"All else must be left," exclaimed he, seizing the banner; and hurrying +Helen forward, he hastened with her down the stairs which led from the +western watch-tower to the vaults beneath the castle. On entering the +first cellar, to which a dim light was admitted through a small grating +near the top, he looked round for the archway that contained the avenue +of their release. Having descried it, and raised one of the large +flags which paved the floor, he assisted his affrighted cousin down a +short flight of steps, into the secret passage. "This," whispered he, +"will carry us in a direct line to the cell of the prior of St. Fillan." + +"But what will become of my father, and Lady Mar? This flight, while +they are in danger! oh! I fear to complete it!" + +"Rather fear the libertine Soulis," returned Murray, "he can only make +them prisoners; and even that injury shall be of short duration. I +will soon join the brave Wallace; and then, my sweet cousin, liberty, +and a happy meeting!" + +"Alas! his venerable harper," cried she, suddenly remembering Halbert; +"should he be discovered to have belonged to Wallace, he, too, will be +massacred by these merciless men." + +Murray stopped. "Have you courage to remain in this darkness alone? +If so, I will seek him, and he shall accompany us." + +Helen had courage for anything but the dangers Murray might encounter +by returning into the castle; but the generous youth had entered too +fully into her apprehensions concerning the old man to be withheld. +"Should I be delayed in coming back," said he, recollecting the +possibility of himself being attacked and slain, "go forward to the end +of this passage; it will lead you to a flight of stairs; ascend them; +and by drawing the bolt of a door, you will find yourself at once in +the prior's cell." + +"Talk not of delay," replied Helen; "return quickly, and I will await +you at the entrance of the passage." So saying, she swiftly retraced +with him her steps to the bottom of the stone stairs by which they had +descended. He raised the flag, sprung out of the aperture, and closing +it down, left her in solitude and darkness. + +Murray passed through the first cellar, and was proceeding to the +second (among the catacombs of which lay the concealed entrance to the +private stairs), when he saw the great gates of the cellar open, and a +large party of English soldiers enter. They were conducted by the +butler of the castle, who seemed to perform his office unwillingly, +while they crowded in, thirsty and riotous. + +Aware how unequal his single arm would be to contend with such numbers, +Murray, at the first glance of these plunderers, retreated behind a +heap of casks in a remote corner. While the trembling butler was +loading a dozen of the men with flasks for the refreshment of their +masters above, the rest were helping themselves from the adjacent +catacombs. Some left the cellars with their booty, and others remained +to drink it on the spot. Glad to escape the insults of the soldiers +who lay wallowing in the wine, Bothwell's old servant quitted the +cellar with the last company which bore flagons to their comrades above. + +Murray listened anxiously, in hopes of hearing from his garrulous +neighbors some intimation of the fate of his uncle and aunt. He +hearkened in vain, for nothing was uttered by these intoxicated +banditti, but loud boastings of the number each had slain in the earl's +apartment; execrations against the Scots for their obstinate +resistance; and a thousand sanguinary wishes, that the nation had but +one neck, to strike off at a blow. + +How often, during this conversation, was Murray tempted to rush out +amongst them, and seize a desperate revenge! But the thought of his +poor cousin, now awaiting his return, and perhaps already suffering +dreadful alarms from such extraordinary uproar, restrained him; and +unable to move from his hiding-place without precipitating himself into +instant death, he remained nearly an hour in the most painful anxiety, +watching the dropping to sleep of this horrid crew, one by one. + +When all seemed hushed--not a voice, even in a whisper, startling his +ear--he ventured forth with a stealing step toward the slumbering group. +Like his brave ancestor, Gaul, the son of Morni, "he disdained to stab +a sleeping foe!" He must pass them to reach the private stairs. He +paused and listened. Silence still reigned; not even a hand moved, so +deeply were they sunk in the fumes of wine. He took courage, and flew +with the lightness of air to the secret door. As he laid his hand on +it, it opened from without, and two persons appeared. By the few rays +which gleamed from the expiring torches of the sleepers, he could see +that the first wore English armor. Murray made a spring, and caught +the man by the throat; when some one seizing his arm, exclaimed, "Stop, +my Lord Murray! it is the faithful Grimsby." Murray let go his hold, +glad to find that both his English friend and the venerable object of +his solicitude were thus providentially brought to meet him; but +fearing that the violence of his action, and Halbert's exclamation, +might have alarmed the sleeping soldiers (who, drunk as they were, were +too numerous to be resisted), he laid his finger on the tip of Grimsby, +and motioned to the astonished pair to follow him. + +As they advanced, they perceived one of the soldiers move as if +disturbed. Murray held his sword over the sleeping wretch, ready to +plunge it into his heart should he attempt to rise; but he became still +again; and the fugitive having approached the flag, Murray drew it up, +and eager to haven his double charge, he thrust them together down the +stairs. At that moment, a shriek from Helen (who had discovered, by a +gleam of light which burst into the vault, a man descending in English +armor), echoed through the cellars. Two of the soldiers jumped upon +their feet, and rushed upon Murray. He had let the flag drop behind +him; but still remaining by it, in case of an opportunity to escape, he +received the strokes of their weapons upon his target, and returned +them with equal rapidity. One assailant lay gasping at his feet. But +the clashing of arms, and the cries of the survivor had already +awakened the whole crew. With horrid menaces, they threw themselves +toward the young Scot, and would certainly have cut him to pieces, had +he not snatched the only remaining torch out of the hand of the +staggering soldier, and extinguished it under his foot. Bewildered +where to find their prey, with threats and imprecations, they groped in +darkness, slashing the air with their swords, and not unfrequently +wounding each other in the vain search. + +Murray was now far from their pursuit. He had no sooner put out the +light, than he pulled up the flag, and leaping down, drew it after him, +and found himself in safety. Desperate as was the contest, it had been +short; for he yet heard the footsteps of the panic-struck Helen, flying +along the passage. The Englishman and Halbert, on the first falling of +the flag, not knowing its spring, had unsuccessfully tried to re-raise +it, that they might assist Murray in the tumult above. On his +appearing again so unexpectedly, they declared their joy; but the young +lord, impatient to calm the apprehensions of his cousin, returned no +other answer than "Follow me!" while he darted forward. Terror had +given her wings, and even prevented her hearing the low sounds of +Murray's voice, which he durst not raise to a higher pitch, for fear of +being overheard by the enemy. Thus, while she lost all presence of +mind, he did not come up with her till she fell breathless against he +stairs at the extremity of the vault. + + + + +Chapter X. + +St. Fillan's. + + +As soon as Murray found her within his arms, he clasped her insensible +form to his breast, and carrying her up the steps, drew the bolt of the +door. It opened to his pressure, and discovered a large monastic cell, +into which the daylight shone through one long narrow window. A straw +pallet, an altar, and a marble basin, were the furniture. The cell was +solitary the owner being then at mass in the chapel of the monastery. +Murray laid down his death-like burden on the monk's bed. He then +ventured (believing, as it was to restore so pure a being to life, it +could not be sacrilege) to throw some of the holy water upon his +cousin's face; and by means of a little chalice, which stood upon the +altar, he poured some into her mouth. At last opening her eyes, she +recognized the figure of her young kinsman leaning over her. The +almost paralyzed Halbert stood at her feet. "Blessed Virgin! am I yet +safe, and with my dear Andrew! Oh! I feared you were slain!" cried +she, bursting into tears. + +"Thank God, we are both safe," answered he; "comfort yourself, my +beloved cousin! you are now on holy ground; this is the cell of the +prior of St. Fillan. None but the hand of an infidel dare wrest you +from this sanctuary." + +"But my father, and Lady Mar?" And again her tears flowed. + +"The countess, my gracious lady," answered Halbert, "since you could +not be found in the castle, is allowed to accompany your father to +Dumbarton Castle, there to be treated with every respect, until De +Valence receives further orders from King Edward." + +"But for Wallace!" cried she, "ah, where are now the succors that were +to be sent to him! And without succors, how can he, or you, dearest +Andrew, rescue my father from this tyranny!" + +"Do not despair," replied Murray; "look but at the banner you held +fast, even while insensible; your own hands have engraven my answer--God +armeth the patriot! Convinced of that, can you still fear for you +father? I will join Wallace to-morrow. Your own fifty warriors await +me at the bottom of Cartlane Craigs; and if any treachery should be +meditated against my uncle, that moment we will make the towers of +Dumbarton shake to their foundation." + +Helen's reply was a deep sigh: she though it might be Heaven's will +that her father, like the good Lord Douglas, should fall a victim to +royal revenge; and so sad were her forebodings, that she hardly dared +to hope what the sanguine disposition of her cousin promised. Grimsby +now came forward; and unloosing an iron box from under his arm, put it +into the hands of Lord Murray. + +"This fatal treasure," said he, "was committed to my care by the earl, +your uncle, to deliver to the prior of St. Fillan's." + +"What does it contain?" demanded Murray; "I never saw it before." + +"I know not its contents," returned the soldier; "it belongs to Sir +William Wallace." + +"Indeed!" ejaculated Helen. "If it be treasure, why was it not rather +sent to him!" + +"But how, honest soldier," asked Murray, "did you escape with it, and +Halbert, too! I am at a loss to conjecture, but by miracle." + +He replied, that as soon as the English, and their Scottish partisans +under Lord Soulis, had surprised the castle, he saw that his only +chance of safety was to throw off the bonnet and plaid, and mix amongst +the numerous soldiers who had taken possession of the gates. His +armor, and his language, showed he was their countryman; and they +easily believed that he had joined the plunderers as a volunteer from +the army, which at a greater distance beleaguered the castle. The +story of his desertion from the Lanark garrison had not yet reached +those of Glasgow and Dumbarton; and one or two men, who had known him +in former expeditions, readily reported that he had been drafted into +the present one. Their recognition warranted his truth; and he had no +difficulty, after the carnage in the state apartment, to make his way +to the bed-chamber where Lord Aymer de Valence had ordered Lord Mar to +be carried. He found the earl alone, and lost in grief. He knew not +but that his nephew, and even his daughter and wife, had fallen beneath +the impetuous swords of the enemy. Astonished at seeing the soldier +walking at large, he expressed his surprise with some suspicions. But +Grimsby told him the strategem he had used, and assured him Lord Andrew +had not been seen since the onset. This information inspired the earl +with a hope that his nephew might have escaped: and when the soldier +also said, that he had seen the countess led by Lord Soulis across the +hall toward the Lady Helen's apartments, while he overheard him +promising them every respect, the earl seemed comforted. "But how," +inquired he of Grimsby, "has this hard fate befallen us? Have you +learned how De Valence knew that I meant to take up arms for my +country?" + +When the soldier was relating this part of the conference, Murray +interrupted him with the same demand. + +"On that head I cannot fully satisfy you," replied he; "I could only +gather from the soldiers that a sealed packet had been delivered to Lor +Aymer de Valence late last night at Dumbarton Castle. Soulis was then +there; and he immediately set off to Glasgow, for the followers he had +left in that town. Early this morning he joined De Valence and his +legions on Bothwell Moor. The consequences there you know. But they +do not end at Bothwell. The gallant Wallace-" + +At that name, so mentioned, the heart of Helen grew cold. + +"What of him?" exclaimed Murray. + +"No personal harm yet happened to Sir William Wallace," replied +Grimsby; "but at the same moment in which De Valence gave orders for +his troops to march on Bothwell, he sent others to intercept that +persecuted knight's escape from the Cartlane Craigs." + +"That accursed sealed packet," cried Murray, "has been the traitor! +Some villian in Bothwell Castle must have written it. Whence else +could have come the double information? And if so," added he, with +tremendous emphasis, "may the blast of slavery ever pursue him and his +posterity!" + +Helen shuddered, as the amen to this frightful malediction was echoed +by the voices of Halbert and the soldier. The latter continued: + +"When I informed Lord Mar of these measures against Wallace, he +expressed a hope that your first detachment to his assistance might, +with yourself, perhaps, at its head, elude their vigilance, and join +his friend. This discourse reminded him of the iron box. 'It is in +that closet,' said his lordship, pointing to an opposite door; you will +find it beneath the little altar, before which I pay my daily duties to +the allwise Dispenser of the fates of men; else where would be my +confidence now? Take it thence, and buckle it to your side." + +"I obeyed, and he then proceeded: 'There are two passages in this house +which lead to the sanctuary. The one nearest to us is the safest for +you. A staircase from the closet you have just left will lead you +directly into the chapel. When there hasten to the image of the +Virgin, and slip aside the marble tablet on the back of the pedestal: +it will admit you to a flight of steps; descend them, and at the bottom +you will find a door, that will convey you into a range of cellars. +Lift up the largest flag-stone in the second, and you will be conducted +through a dark vault to an iron door; draw the bolt, and remain in the +cell it will open to you till the owner enters. He is the prior of St. +Fillan's and a Murray. Give him this golden cross, which he well +knows, as a mark you come from me; and say it is my request that he +assist you to gain the sea-shore. As for the iron box, tell him to +preserve it as he would his life; and never to give it up, but to +myself, my children, or to Sir William Wallace, it's rightful master.'" + +"Alas!" cried Halbert, "that he had never been its owner! that he had +never brought it to Ellerslie, to draw down misery on his head! +Ill-omened trust! whatever it contains, its presence carried blood and +sorrow in its train. Wherever it has been deposited war and murder +have followed: I trust my dear master will never see it more!" + +"He may indeed never see it more!" murmured Helen, in a low voice. +"Where are now my proud anticipations of freedom to Scotland? Alas, +Andrew," said she, taking his hand, and weeping over it. "I have been +too presumptuous; my father is a prisoner, and Sir William Wallace is +lost!" + +"Cease, my dear Helen," cried he, "cease to distress yourself! These +are merely the vicissitudes of the great contention we are engaged in. +We must expect occasional disappointments, or look for miracles every +day. Such disasters are sent as lessons to teach us precaution, +proptitude and patience--these are the soldier's graces, my sweet +cousin, and depend on it, I will pay them due obedience." + +"But why," asked Helen, taking comfort from the unsubdued spirits of +her cousin, "why, my good soldier, did not my dear father take +advantage of this sanctuary?" + +"I urged the earl to accompany me," returned Grimsby; "but he said such +a proceeding would leave his wife and babes in unprotected captivity. +'No,' added he, 'I will await my fate; for the God of those who trust +in him knows that I do not fear!' + +"Having received such peremptory orders from the earl, I took my leave; +and entering the chapel by the way he directed, was agreeably surprised +to find the worthy Halbert, whom, never having seen since the funeral +obsequies, I supposed had fallen during the carnage in the +state-chamber. He was still kneeling by the tomb of his buried +mistress. I did not take long to warn him of his danger, and desired +him to follow me. We descended together beneath the holy statue, and +were just emerging into the cellars when you, sir, met us at the +entrance. + +"It was while we were yet in the chapel that I heard De Valence and +Soulis at high words in the courtyard. The former, in a loud voice, +gave orders that, as Lady Helen Mar could nowhere be found, the earl +and countess, with their two infant children, should not be separated, +but be conveyed as his prisoners to Dumbarton Castle." + +"That is a comfort," cried Helen; "my father will then be consoled by +the presence of his wife." + +"But very different would have been the case, madam, had you appeared," +rejoined the soldier. "One of Lord de Valence's men told me, that Lord +Soulis intended to have taken you and the countess to Dunglass Castle, +near Glasgow, while the sick earl was to have been carried alone to +Dumbarton, and detained in solitary confinement. Lord Soulis was in so +dreadful a rage, when you could not be found, that he accused the +English commander of having leagued with Lady Mar to deceived him. In +the midst of this contention we descended into the vaults." + +Helen shuddered at the thought of how near she was to falling into the +hands of so fierce a spirit. In his character, he united every quality +which could render power formidable; combining prodigious bodily +strength with cruelty, dissimulation, and treachery. He was feared by +the common people as a sorcerer; and avoided by the virtuous of his own +rank, as an enemy to all public law, and the violator of every private +tie. Helen Mar had twice refused his hand: first, during the contest +for the kingdom, when his pretended claim to the crown was disallowed. +She was then a mere child, hardly more than fourteen; but she rejected +him with abhorrence. Though stung to the quick at being denied the +objects both of his love and ambition at the same moment, he did not +hesitate at another period to renew his offer to her. At the fall of +Dunbar, when he again founded his uprise on the ruins of his country, +as soon as he had repeated his oaths of fidelity to Edward, he hastened +to Thirlestane, to throw himself a second time at the feet of Lady +Helen. Her ripened judgment confirmed her youthful dislike of his +ruffian qualities, and again he was rejected. + +"By the powers of hell," exclaimed he, when the project of surprising +Bothwell was imparted to him, "if I once get that proud minion into my +grasp, she shall be mine as I will, and learn to beg for even a look +from the man who has humbled her!" + +Helen knew not half the afflictions with which his resentful heart had +meditated to subdue and torture her; and therefore, though she shrunk +at the sound of a name so generally infamous, yet, not aware of all the +evils she had escaped, she replied with languor, though with gratitude, +to the almost rapturous congratulations of her cousin on her timely +flight. + +At this period the door of the cell opened, and the prior entered from +the cloisters--he started on seeing his room filled with strangers. +Murray took off his helmet, and approached him. On recognizing the son +of his patron, the prior inquired his commands; and expressed some +surprise that such a company, and above all, a lady, could have passed +the convent-gate without his previous notice. + +Murray pointed to the recess behind the altar; and then explained to +the good priest the necessity which had compelled them to thus seek the +protection of St. Fillan. "Lady Helen," continued he, "must share your +care until Heaven empowers the Earl of Mar to reclaim his daughter, and +adequately reward this holy church." + +The soldier then presented the cross, with the iron box; repeating the +message that confided them also to his keeping. + +The prior listened to these recitals with sorrowful attention. He had +not heard the noise of armed men advancing to the castle; but knowing +that the earl was making warlike preparations, he had no suspicion that +these were other than the Bothwell soldiers. He took the box, and +laying it on the altar, pressed the cross to his lips. "The Earl of +Mar shall find that fidelity here which his faith in the church merits. +That mysterious chest, to which you tell me so terrible a denunciation +is annexed, shall be preserved sacred as the relics of St. Fillan." + +Halbert groaned heavily at these words, but he did not speak. The +father looked at him attentively, and then proceeded: "But for you, +virtuous Southron, I will give you a pilgrim's habit. Travel in that +privileged garb to Montrose; and there a brother of the church, the +prior of Aberbrothick, will, by a letter from me, convey you in a +vessel to Normandy; thence you may safely find your way to Guienne." + +The soldier bowed his head; and the priest, turning to Lady Helen, told +her that a cell should be appointed for her, and some pious woman +brought from the adjoining hamlet to pay her due attendance. + +"As for this venerable man," continued he, "his silver hairs already +proclaim him near his heavenly country! He had best put on the cowl of +the holy brotherhood, and, in the arms of religion, repose securely, +till he passes through the sleep of death to wake in everlasting life!" + +Tears started into the eyes of Halbert. "I thank you, reverend father; +I have indeed drawn near the end of my pilgrimage--too old to serve my +dear master in fields of blood and hardship, I will at least devote my +last hours to uniting my prayers with his, and all good souls, for the +repose of his sainted lady. I accept your invitation thankfully; and, +considering it a call from Heaven to give me rest, I welcome the day +that marks the poor harper of Ellerslie with the sacred tonsure." + +The sound of approaching trumpets, and, soon after, the clattering of +horses and the clang of armor, made an instantaneous silence in the +cell. Helen looked fearfully at her cousin, and grasped his hand; +Murray clasped his sword with a firmer hold. "I will protect you with +my life." He spoke in a low tone, but he soldier heard him: "There is +no cause of alarm," rejoined he; "Lord de Valence is only marching by +on his way to Dumbarton." + +"Alas, my poor father!" cried Helen, covering her face with her hands. + +The venerable prior, pitying her affliction, knelt down by her. "My +daughter, be comforted," said he; "they dare not commit any violence on +the earl. King Edward too well understands his own interest to allow +even a long imprisonment to so popular a nobleman." This assurance, +assisted by the consolations of a firm trust in God, caused her to +raise her head with a meek smile. He continued to speak of the +impregnable hopes of the Christian who founds his confidence on +Omnipotence; and while his words spread a serenity through her soul, +that seemed the ministration of a descended saint, she closed her hands +over her breast, and silently invoked the protection of the Almighty +Jehovah for her suffering parent. + +The prior, seeing her composed, recommended leaving her to rest. And +Helen, comforted by holy meditations, allowing her cousin to depart, he +led Murray and his companions into the convent library. + + + + +Chapter XI. + +The Chapter House. + + +The march of De Valence from the castle having proved that no suspicion +of any of its late inhabitants being still in the neighborhood remained +with its usurpers, Grimsby thought he might depart in safety; and next +morning he begged permission of the prior to commence his journey. "I +am anxious to quit a land," said he, "where my countrymen are +committing violences which make me blush at the name of Englishman." + +Murray put a purse of gold into the soldier's hand, while the prior +covered his armor with a pilgrim's gown. Grimsby, with a respectful +bow, returned the gift; "I cannot take money from you, my lord. But +bestow on me the sword at your side, and that I will preserve forever." + +Murray took it off, and gave it to the soldier. "Let us exchange, my +brave friend!" said he; "give me yours, and it shall be a memorial to +me of having found virtue in an Englishman." + +Grimsby unlocked his rude weapon in a moment, and as he put the iron +hilt into the young Scot's hand, a tear stood in his eye: "When you +raise this sword against my countrymen, think on Grimsby, a faithful, +though humble soldier of the cross, and spare the blood of all who ask +for mercy." + +Murray looked a gracious assent, for the tear of mercy was infectious. +Without speaking, he gave the good soldier's hand a parting grasp; and +with regret that superior claims called so brave a man from his side, +he saw him leave the monastery. + +The mourner banquets on memory; making that which seems the poison of +life, its ailment. During the hours of regret we recall the images of +departed joys; and in weeping over each tender remembrance, tears so +softly shed embalm the wounds of grief. To be denied the privilege of +pouring forth our love and our lamentations over the grave of one who +in life was our happiness, is to shut up the soul of the survivor in a +solitary tomb, where the bereaved heart pines in secret till it breaks +with the fullness of uncommunicated sorrow; but listen to the mourner, +give his feelings way, and, like the river rolling from the hills into +the valley, they will flow with a gradually gentler stream, till they +become lost in time's wide ocean. + +So Murray judged when the poor old harper, finding himself alone with +him, again gave loose to his often-recapitulated griefs. He wept like +an infant; and recounting the afflictions of his master, while +bewailing the disasters at Bothwell, implored Murray to go without +delay to support the now almost friendless Wallace. Murray was +consoling him with the assurance that he would set off for the +mountains that very evening, when the prior returned to conduct Halbert +to a cell appointed for his novitiate. The good priest had placed one +of his most pious fathers there, to administer both temporal and +spiritual cordials to the aged sufferer. + +The sorrowing domestic of Wallace being thus disposed of, the prior and +Murray remained together, consulting on the safest means of passing to +the Cartlane hills. A lay brother whom the prior had sent in pursuit +of Helen's fifty warriors, to apprise them of the English being in the +craigs, at this juncture entered the library. He informed the father +that, secure in his religious garb, he had penetrated many of the +Cartlane defiles, but could neither see nor hear anything of the party. +Every glen or height was occupied by the English: and from a woman, of +whom he begged a draught of milk, he had learned how closely the +mountains were invested. The English commander, in his zeal to prevent +provisions being conveyed to Wallace and his famishing garrison, had +stopped a procession of monks bearing a dead body to the sepulchral +cave of St. Columba. He would not allow them to ascend the heights +until he had examined whether the bier really bore a corpse, or was a +vehicle to carry food to the beleaguered Scots. + +In the midst of this information, the prior and his friends were +startled by a shout, and soon after a tumult of voices, in which might +be distinguished the cry of "A gallows for the traitor!" + +"Our brave Englishman has fallen into their hands," cried Murray, +hastening toward the door. + +"What would you do?" interrupted the prior, holding him. "Your single +arm could not save the soldier. The cross has more power; I will seek +these violent men. Meanwhile stay here, as you value the lives of all +in the convent." + +Murray had now recollected himself, and acquiesced. The prior took the +crucifix from the altar, and ordering the porter to throw open the +great doors (near which the incessant shouting seemed to proceed), he +appeared before a turbulent band of soldiers, who were dragging a man +along, fast bound with their leathern belts. Blood trickling from his +face fell on the hands of the ruthless wretches, who, with horrid +yells, were threatening him with instant death. + +The prior, raising the cross, rushed in among them, and, in the name of +the blessed Son who died on that tree, bade them stand! The soldiers +trembled before the holy majesty of his figure, and at his awful +adjuration. The prior looked on the prisoner, but he did not see the +dark locks of the Englishman; it was the yellow hair of Scotland that +mingled with the blood on his forehead. + +"Whither do you hurry that wounded man?" + +"To his death," answered a surly fellow. + +"What is his offense?" + +"He is a traitor." + +"How has he proved it?" + +"He is a Scot, and he belongs to the disloyal Lord of Mar. This bugle, +with its crowned falcon, proves it," added the Southron, holding up the +very bugle which the earl had sent by Halbert to Wallace, and which was +ornamented with the crest of Mar wrought in gold. + +"That this has been Lord Mar's," replied the prior, "there is no doubt; +but may not this man have found it? Or may it not have been given to +him by the earl, before that chief incurred the displeasure of King +Edward? Which of you would think it just to be made to die because +your friend was condemned to the scaffold? Unless you substantiate +your charge against this man, by a better proof than this bugle, his +death would be a murder, which the Lord of life will requite in the +perdition of your souls." As the father spoke, he again elevated the +cross: the men turned pale. + +"I am a minister of Christ," continued he, "and must be the friend of +justice. Release, therefore, that wounded man to me. Before the altar +of the Searcher of all hearts he shall confess himself; and if I find +that he is guilty unto death, I promise you by the holy St. Fillan, to +release him to your commanding officer, and so let justice take its +course. But if he proves innocent, I am the soldier of Christ, and no +monarch on earth shall wrest his children from the protection of the +church." + +While he spoke, the men who held the prisoner let go their hold, and +the prior stretching out his hand, gave him to a party of monks to +conduct into the convent. Then, to convince the soldiers that it was +the man's life he sought to save, and not the spoil, he returned the +golden bugle, and bade him depart in peace. + +Awed by the father's address, and satisfied with the money and arms of +which they had rifled the stranger, the marauders retreated; +determining, indeed, to say nothing of the matter to the officer in the +castle, lest he should demand the horn; and, elated with the present +booty, they marched off to pursue their plundering excursion. Bursting +into yeomen's houses and peasants' huts, stripping all of their +substance who did or did not swear fealty to Edward; thus robbing the +latter, and exacting contributions from the former; while vain prayers +for mercy and unanswered cries for redress echoed dolefully through the +vale of Bothwell, they sped gayly on, as if murder were pastime and +rapine honor. + +The prior, on returning into the convent, ordered the gates to be +bolted. When he entered the chapter-house, finding the monks had +already bound up the wounds of the stranger, he made a sign for the +brethren to withdraw: and then, approaching the young man, "My son," +said he, in a mild tone, "you heard my declaration to the men from whom +I took you! Answer me the truth and you shall find that virtue or +repentance have alike a refuge in the arms of the church. As I am its +servant, no man need fear to confide in me. Speak with candor! How +came you by that bugle?" + +The stranger looked steadfastly on his questioner; "A minister of the +all righteous God cannot mean to deceive. You have saved my life, and +I should be less than man could I doubt the evidence of that deed. I +received that bugle from a brave Scot who dwells amongst the eastern +mountains; and who gave it to me to assure the Earl of Mar that I came +from him." + +The prior apprehended that it was of Wallace he spoke. "You come to +request a military aid from the Earl of Mar!" rejoined the father, +willing to sound him, before he committed Murray, by calling him to the +conference. + +The stranger replied: "If, reverend sir, you are in the confidence of +the good earl, pronounce but the Christian name of the man who charged +me with the bugle, and allow me, then, for his sake, to ask you what +has indeed happened to the earl! that I was seized by foes, when I +expected to meet with friends only! Reply to this, and I shall speak +freely; but at present, though I would confide all of myself to your +sacred character, yet the confidence of others is not mine to bestow." + +The prior, being convinced by this caution, that he was indeed speaking +with some messenger from Wallace, made no hesitation to answer. "Your +master is a knight, and a braver never drew breath since the time of +his royal namesake, William the Lion!" + +The man rose hastily from his seat, and falling on his knees before the +prior, put his garment to his lips: "Father, I now know that I am with +a friend of my persecuted master! But if, indeed, the situation of +Lord Mar precludes assistance from him, all hope is lost! The noble +Wallace is penned within the hills, without any hopes of escape. +Suffer me, then, thou venerable saint! to rejoin him immediately, that +I may at least die with my friend!" + +"Hope for a better destiny," returned the prior; "I am a servant, and +not to be worshiped; turn to that altar, and kneel to Him who can alone +send the succor you need!" + +The good man, thinking it was now time to call the young lord of +Bothwell, by a side-door from the chapter-house entered the library, +where Murray was anxiously awaiting his return. On his entrance, the +impatient youth eagerly exclaimed, "Have you rescued him?" + +"Grimsby, I hope, is far and safely on his journey," answered the good +priest; "but the man those murderers were dragging to death, is in the +chapter-house. Follow me, and he will give you news of Wallace." + +Murray gladly obeyed. + +At sight of a Scottish knight in armor, the messenger of Wallace +thought his prayers were answered, and that he saw before him the +leader of the host which was to march to the preservation of his brave +commander. Murray told him who he was; and learned from him in return, +that Wallace now considered himself in a state of siege; that the +women, children, and old men with him, had nothing to feed on but wild +strawberries and birds' eggs, which they found in the hollows of the +rocks. "To relieve them from such hard quarters, girded by a barrier +of English soldiers," continued the narrator, "is his first wish: but +that cannot be effected by our small number. However, he would make +the attempt by a strategem, could we be at all supported by succors +from the Earl of Mar!" + +"My uncle's means," replied Murray, "are for a time cut off: but mine +shall be exerted to the utmost. Did you not meet, somewhere, a company +of Scots to the number of fifty? I sent them off yesterday to seek +your noble chief." + +"No," rejoined the young man; "I fear they have been taken by the +enemy; for in my way to Sir William Wallace, not knowing the English +were so close to his sanctuary, I was nearly seized myself. I had not +the good fortune to be with him, when he struck the first blow for +Scotland in the citadel of Lanark; but as soon as I heard the tale of +his wrongs, and that he had retired in arms toward the Cartlane Craigs, +I determined to follow his fate. We had been companions in our boyish +days, and friends after. He saved my life once, in swimming; and now +that a formidable nation menaces his, I seek to repay the debt. For +this purpose, a few nights ago I left my guardian's house by stealth, +and sought my way to my friend. I found the banks of the Mouse +occupied by the English; but exploring the most intricate passes, at +last gained the bottom of the precipice on the top of which Wallace is +encamped; and as I lay among the bushes, watching an opportunity to +ascend, I perceived two English soldiers near me. They were in +discourse, and I overheard them say, that besides Heselrigge himself, +nearly two hundred of his garrison had fallen by the hand of Wallace's +men in the contention at the castle; that the tidings were sent to Sir +Richard Arnulf, the Deputy-governor of Ayr; and he had dispatched a +thousand men to surround the Cartland Craigs, spies having given notice +that they were Sir William's strongholds, and the orders were, that he +must be taken dead or alive; while all his adherents, men and women, +should receive no quarter. + +"Such was the information I brought to my gallant friend, when in the +dead of night I mounted the rock, and calling to the Scottish sentinel +in Gaelic, gave him my name, and was allowed to enter the sacred spot. +Wallace welcomed his faithful Ker,** and soon unfolded his distress and +his hopes. He told me of the famine that threatened his little +garrison; of the constant watching, day and night, necessary to prevent +a surprise. But in his extremity, he observed that one defile was +thinly guarded by the enemy; probably because, as it lay at the bottom +of a perpendicular angle of the rock, they thought it unattainable by +the Scots. To this point, however, my dauntless friend turns his eyes. +He would attempt it, could he procure a sufficient number of fresh men +to cover the retreat of his exhausted few. For this purpose, as I had +so lately explored the most hidden paths of the craigs, I volunteered +to visit the Lord Mar, and to conduct, in safety, any succors he might +send to our persecuted leader." + +**The stem of this brave name, in subsequent times, became two great +branches, the Roxburghe and the Lothian. + +"This," continued Ker, "was the errand on which I came to the earl. +Think then my horror, when in my journey I found redoubled legions +hemming in the hills; and on advancing toward Bothwell Castle, was +seized with that nobleman, who, they said, was condemned to lose his +head!" + +"Not so bad as that, my brave Ker," cried Murray, a glow of indignation +flushing his cheek; "many a bull's head** shall frown in this land, on +the Southron tables, before my uncle's neck gluts their axes! No true +Scottish blood, I trust, will ever stain their scaffolds; for while we +have arms to wield a sword, he must be a fool that grounds them on any +other terms than freedom or death. We have cast our lives on the die; +and Wallace's camp or the narrow house must be our prize!" + +**A bull's head, presented at a feast, was a sign that some one of the +company was immediately to be put to death.-(1809.) + +"Noble youth!" exclaimed the prior, "may the innocence which gives +animation to your courage, continue its moving soul! They only are +invincible who are as ready to die as to live; and no one can be firm +in that principle, whose exemplary life is not a happy preparation for +the awful change." + +Murray bowed modestly to this pious encomium, and turning to Ker, +informed him, that since he must abandon all hope of hearing any more +of the fifty brave men his cousin Helen had sent to the craigs, he +bethought him of applying to his uncle, Sir John Murray, who dwelt hard +by, on his estate at Drumshargard. "It is small," said he, "and cannot +afford many men; but still he may spare sufficient to effect the escape +of our commander; and that for the present will be a host!" + +To accomplish his design without delay--for promptitude is the earnest +of success--and to avoid a surprise from the English lieutenant at +Bothwell (who, hearing of the reencounter before the castle, might +choose to demand his men's prisoner). Murray determined to take Ker +with him; and, disguised as peasants, as soon as darkness should shroud +their movements, proceed to Drumshargard. + + + + +Chapter XII. + +Drumshargard. + + +While these transactions occupied the morning, Lady Helen (who the +night before had been removed into the quiet cell appointed for her) +slept long and sweetly. Her exhausted frame found renovation; and she +awoke with a heavenly calm at her heart. A cheering vision had visited +her sleeping thoughts; and a trance of happy feelings absorbed her +senses, while her hardly disengaged spirit still hovered over its +fading images. + +She had seen in her dream a young knight enter her cell, bearing her +father in his arms. He laid the earl down before her; but as she +stooped to embrace him, the knight took her by the hand, leading her to +the window of the apartment (which seemed extended to an immense size), +he smiled, and said, "Look out and see how I have performed my vow!" +She obeyed, and saw crowds of rejoicing people, who at sight of the +young warrior raised such a shout, that Helen awoke. She started--she +looked around--she was still in the narrow cell, and lone; but the +rapture of beholding her father yet fluttered in her breast, and the +touch of the warrior's hand seemed still warm upon hers. "Angels of +rest," cried she, "I thank ye for this blessed vision!" + +The prior of St. Fillan might have read his own just sentiment in the +heart of Lady Helen. While the gentlest of human beings, she was an +evidence that an ardent and pious mind contains the true principles of +heroism. Hope, in such a mind, treads down impossibilities; and, +regardless of impediments or dangers, rushes forward to seize the +prize. In the midst of hosts, it feels a conqueror's power; or, when +its strength fails, sees, by the eye of faith, legions of angels +watching to support the natural weakness. Lady Helen knew that the +cause was just which had put the sword into the hand of Wallace; that +it was virtue which had prompted her father to second him; and where +justice is there are the wings of the Most High stretched out as a +shield! + +This dream seemed prophetic. "Yes," cried she, "though thousands of +Edward's soldiers surrounded my father and his friend, I should not +despair. Thy life, O noble Wallace, was not give to be extinguished in +an hour! Thy morn has hardly risen, the perfect day must come that is +to develop thy greatness--that is to prove thee (and oh! gracious God, +grant my prayer!) the glory of Scotland!" + +Owing to the fervor of her apostrophe, she did not observe the door of +the cell open, till the prior stood before her. After expressing his +pleasure at the renovation in her countenance, he informed her of the +departure of the English soldier, and of the alarm which he and Murray +had sustained for his safety, by the adventure which had thrown a +stranger from the craigs into their protection. At the mention of that +now momentous spot, she blushed; the golden-haired warrior of her dream +seemed ready to rise before her; and with a beating heart she prepared +to hear some true but miraculous account of her father's rescue. + +Unconscious of what was passing in her young and eager mind, the prior +calmly proceeded to relate all that Ker had told of the dangerous +extremity to which Wallace was reduced; and then closed his +intelligence, by mentioning the attempt which meditated to save him. +The heightened color gradually faded from the face of Helen, and low +sighs were her only responses to the observations the good priest made +on the difficulty of the enterprise. But when his pity for the brave +man engaged in the cause, betrayed him into expressing his fears that +the patriotic zeal of Wallace would only make him and them a sacrifice, +Helen looked up; there was inspiration on her lips and in her eyes. +"Father," said she, "hast thou not taught me that God shieldeth the +patriot as well as armeth him!" + +"True!" returned he, with an answering smile; "steadily believe this, +and where will be the sighs you have just been breathing!" + +"Nature will shrink," replied she; "but the Christian's hope checks her +ere she falls. Pardon me then, holy father, that I sometimes weep; but +they are often tears of trust and consolation." + +"Daughter of heaven," replied the good prior, "you might teach devotion +to age, and cause youth to be enamored of the graces of religion! Be +ever thus, and you may look with indifference on the wreck of worlds." + +Helen having meekly replied to this burst from the heart of the holy +man, begged to see her cousin before he set off on his expedition. The +prior withdrew, and within an hour after, Murray entered the apartment. +Their conversation was long, and their parting full of an interest +that dissolved them both into tears. "When I see you again, my brave +cousin, tell me that my father is free, and his preserver safe. Your +own life, dear Andrew," added she, as he pressed his cheek to hers, +"must always be precious to me." + +Murray hastily withdrew, and Helen was again alone. + +The young chieftain and Ker covered their armor with shepherd's plaids; +and having received a thousand blessings from the prior and Halbert, +proceeded under shelter of the night, through the obscurest paths of +the wood which divided Bothwell from Drumshargard. + +Sir John Murray was gone to rest when his nephew arrived, but Lord +Andrew's voice being well known by the porter, he was admitted into the +house; and leaving his companion in the dining-hall, went to the +apartment of his uncle. The old knight was soon aroused, and welcomed +his nephew with open arms; for he had feared, from the accounts brought +by the fugitive tenants of Bothwell, that he also had been carried away +prisoner. + +Murray now unfolded his errand--first to obtain a band of Sir John's +trustiest people to assist in rescuing the preserver of the earl's life +from immediate destruction; and secondly, if a commission for Lord +Mar's release did not arrive from King Edward, to aid him to free his +uncle and the countess from Dumbarton Castle. + +Sir John listened with growing anxiety to his nephew's details. When +he heard of Lady Helen's continuing in the convent, he highly approved +it. "That is well," said he; "so bring her to any private protection +would only spread calamity. She might be traced, and her protector put +in danger; none but the church, with safety to itself, can grant asylum +to the daughter of a state prisoner." + +"Then I doubly rejoice she is there," replied Murray, "and there she +will remain, till your generous assistance empowers me to rescue her +father." + +"Lord Mar has been very rash, nephew," returned Drumshargard. "What +occasion was there for him to volunteer sending men to support Sir +William Wallace? and how durst he bring ruin on Bothwell Castle, by +collecting unauthorized by my brother, its vassals for so dangerous an +experiment?" + +Murray started at these unexpected observations. He knew his uncle was +timid, but he had never suspected him of meanness; however, in +consideration of the respect he owed to him as his father's brother, he +smothered his disgust, and gave him a mild answer. But the old man +could not approve of a nobleman of his rank running himself, his +fortune, and his friends into peril, to pay any debt of gratitude; and, +as to patriotic sentiments being a stimulus, he treated the idea with +contempt. "Trust me, Andrew," said he, "nobody profits by these +notions but thieves and desperate fellows ready to become thieves!" + +"I do not understand you, sir!" + +"Not understand me?" replied the knight, rather impatiently. "Who +suffers in these contests for liberty, as you choose to call them, but +such men as Lord Mar and your father? Betrayed by artful declamation, +they rush into conspiracies against the existing government, are +detected, ruined, and perhaps finally lose their lives! Who gains by +rebellion, but a few penniless wretches, that embrace these vaunted +principles from the urgency of their necessities? They acquire +plunder, under the mask of extraordinary disinterestedness; and +hazarding nothing of themselves but their worthless lives, they would +make tools of the first men in the realm; and throw the whole country +into flames, that they may catch a few brands from the fire!" + +Young Murray felt his anger rise with this speech. "You do not speak +to my point, sir! I do not come here to dispute the general evil of +revolt, but to ask your assistance to snatch two of the bravest men in +Scotland from the fangs of the tyrant who has made you a slave!" + +"Nephew!" cried the knight, starting from his couch; and darting a +fierce look at him, "if any man but one of my own blood had uttered +that word, this hour should have been his last." + +"Every man, sir," continued Murray, "who acts upon your principles, +must know himself to be a slave;-and to resent being called so, is to +affront his conscience. A name is nothing, the fact ought to knock +upon your heart, and there arouse the indignation of a Scot and a +Murray. See you not the villages of your country burning around you? +the castles of your chieftains razed to the ground? Did not the +plains of Dunbar reek with the blood of your kinsmen; and even now, do +you not see them led away in chains to the strongholds of the tyrant? +Are not your stoutest vassals pressed from your service, and sent into +foreign wars? And yet you exclaim, 'I see no injury--I spurn at the +name of slave!'" + +Murray rose from his seat as he ended, and walking the room in +agitation, did not perceive the confusion of his uncle, who, at once +overcome with conviction and fear, again ventured to speak: "It is too +sure you speak truth, Andrew; but what am I, or any other private +individual, that we should make ourselves a forlorn hope for the whole +nation? Will Baliol, who was the first to bow to the usurper, will he +thank us for losing our heads in resentment of his indignity? Bruce +himself, the rightful heir of the crown, leaves us to our fates, and +has become a courtier in England! For whom, then, should I adventure +my gray hairs, and the quiet of my home, to seek an uncertain liberty, +and to meet an almost certain death?" + +"For Scotland, uncle," replied he; "just laws are her right. You are +her son; and if you do not make one in the grand attempt to rescue her +from the bloodhounds which tear her vitals, the guilt of parricide will +be on your soul! Think not, sir, to preserve your home, or even your +gray hairs, by hugging the chains by which you are bound. You are a +Scot, and that is sufficient to arm the enemy against your property and +life. Remember the fate of Lord Monteith! At the very time he was +beset by the parasites of Edward, and persuaded by their flatteries to +be altogether as an Englishman, in that very hour, when he had taken a +niece of Cressingham's to his arms, by her hands the vengeance of +Edward reached him-he fell!" + +Murray saw that his uncle was struck, and that he trembled. + +"But I am too insignificant, Andrew!" + +"You are the brother of Lord Bothwell!" answered Murray, with all the +dignity of his father rising in his countenance. "His large +possessions made him a traitor in the eyes of the tyrant's +representatives. Cressingham, as treasurer for the crew, has already +sent his lieutenant to lord it in our paternal castle; and do not +deceive yourself in believing that some one of his officers will not +require the fertile fields of Drumshargard as a reward for his +services! No!-cheat not yourself with the idea that the brother of +Lord Bothwell will be too insignificant to share in the honor of +bearing a part in the confiscations of his country! Trust me, my +uncle, the forbearance of tyrants is not that of mercy, but of +convenience. When they need your wealth, or your lands, your +submission is forgotten, and a prison, or the ax, ready to give them +quiet possession." + +Sir John Murray, though a timid and narrow-sighted man, now fully +comprehended his nephew's reasoning; and his fears taking a different +turn, he hastily declared his determination to set off immediately for +the Highlands. "In the morning, by daybreak," said he, "I will +commence my journey, and join my brother at Loch-awe; for I cannot +believe myself safe a moment, while so near the garrisons of the enemy." + +Murray approved this plan; and after obtaining his hard-wrung leave to +take thirty men from his vassals, he returned to Ker, to inform him of +the success of his mission. It was not necessary, neither would it +have been agreeable to his pride, to relate the arguments which had +been required to obtain this small assistance; and in the course of an +hour he brought together the appointed number of the bravest men on the +estate. When equipped he led them into the hall, to receive the last +command from their feudal lord. + +On seeing them armed, with every man his drawn dirk in his hand, Sir +John turned pale. Murray, with the unfolded banner of Mar in his +grasp, and Ker by his side, stood at their head. + +"Young men," said the old knight, striving to speak in a firm tone, "in +this expedition you are to consider yourselves the followers of my +nephew; he is brave and honourable, therefore I commit you to his +command. But as you go on his earnest petition, I am not answerable to +any man for the enterprises to which he may lead you." + +"Be they all on my own head!" cried Murray, blushing at his uncle's +pusillanimity, and drawing out his sword with an impatience that made +the old knight start. "We now have your permission to depart, sir?" + +Sir John gave a ready assent; he was anxious to get so hot-headed a +youth out of his house, and to collect his gold and servants, that he +might commence his own flight by break of day. + +It was still dark as midnight when Murray and his little company passed +the heights above Drumshargard, and took their rapid though silent +march toward the cliffs, which would conduct them to the more dangerous +passes of the Cartlane Craigs. + + + + +Chapter XIII. + +Banks of the Clyde. + + +Two days passed drearily away to Helen. She could not expect tidings +from her cousin in so short a time. No more happy dreams cheered her +lonely hours; and anxiety to learn what might be the condition of the +earl and countess so possessed her that visions of affright now +disturbed both her waking and sleeping senses. Fancy showed them in +irons and in a dungeon, and sometimes she started in horror, thinking +that perhaps at that moment the assassin's steel was raised against the +life of her father. + +On the morning of the third day, when she was chiding herself for such +rebellious despondence, her female attendant entered to say, that a +friar was come to conduct her where she would see messengers from Lady +mar. Helen lingered not a moment, but giving her hand to the good +father, was led by him into the library, where the prior was standing +between two men in military habits. One wore English armor, with his +visor closed; the other, a knight, was in tartans. The Scot presented +her with a signet, set in gold. Helen looked on it, and immediately +recognized the same that her stepmother always used. + +The Scottish knight was preparing to address her, when the prior +interrupted him, and taking Lady Helen's hand, made her seat herself. +"Compose yourself for a few minutes," said he; "this transitory life +hourly brings forward events to teach us to be calm, and to resign our +wishes and our wills to the Lord of all things." + +Helen looked fearfully in his face. "Some evil tidings are to be told +me." The blood left her lips; it seemed leaving her heart also. The +prior, full of compassion, hesitated to speak. The Scot abruptly +answered her: + +"Be not alarmed, lady, your parents have fallen into humane hands. I am +sent, under the command of this noble Southron knight, to conduct you +to them." + +"Then my father lives! They are safe!" cried she, in a transport of +joy, and bursting into tears. + +"He yet lives," returned the officer; "but his wounds opening afresh, +and the fatigues of his journey, have so exhausted him that Lord Aymer +de Valence has granted the prayers of the countess, and we come to take +you to receive his last blessing." + +A cry of anguish burst from the heart of Lady Helen, and falling into +the arms of the prior, she found refuge from woe in a merciful +insensibility. The pitying exertions of the venerable father at last +recalled her to recollection and to sorrow. She rose from the bench on +which he had laid her, and begged permission to retire for a few +minutes; tears choked her further utterance, and, being led out by the +friar, she once more reentered her cell. + +Lady Helen passed the moments she had requested in those duties which +alone can give comfort to the afflicted, when all that is visible bids +us despair; and rising from her knees, with that holy fortitude which +none but the devout can know, she took her mantle and veil, and +throwing them over her, sent her attendant to the prior, to say she was +ready to set out on her journey, and wished to receive his parting +benediction. The venerable father, followed by Halbert, obeyed her +summons. On seeing the poor old harper, Helen's heart lost some of its +newly-acquired composure. She held out her hand to him; he pressed it +to his lips. "Farewell, sweetest lady! May the prayers of the dear +saint, to whose remains your pious care gave a holy grave, draw down +upon your own head consolation and peace!" The old man sobbed; and the +tears of Lady Helen, as he bent upon her hand, dropped upon his silver +hair. "May Heaven hear you, good Halbert! And cease not, venerable +man, to pray for me; for I go into the hour of trial." + +"All that dwell in this house, my daughter," rejoined the prior, "shall +put up orisons for your comfort, and for the soul of the departing +earl." Observing that her grief augmented at these words, he proceeded +in a yet more soothing voice: "Regret not that he goes before you, for +what is death but entrance into life? It is the narrow gate, which +shuts us from this dark world, to usher us into another, of everlasting +light and happiness. Weep not, then, dear child of the church, that +your earthly parents precede you to the Heavenly Father; rather say, +with the Virgin Saint Bride, 'How long, O Lord, am I to be banished thy +presence? How long endure the prison of my body, before I am admitted +to the freedom of Paradise, to the bliss of thy saints above?'" + +Helen raised her eyes, yet shining in tears, and with a divine smile +pressing the crucifix to her breast, "You do indeed arm me, my father! +This is my strength!" + +"And one that will never fail thee!" exclaimed he. She dropped upon +one knee before him. He crossed his hands over her head--he looked up +to heaven--his bosom heaved--his lips moved--then pausing a moment--"Go," +said he, "and may the angels which guard innocence minister to your +sorrows, and lead you into peace!" + +Helen bowed, and breathing inwardly a devout response, rose and +followed the prior out of the cell. At the end of the cloister she +again bade farewell to Halbert. Before the great gates stood the +knights with their attendants. She once more kissed the crucifix held +by the prior, and giving her hand to the Scot, was placed by him on a +horse richly caparisoned. He sprung on another himself, while the +English officer, who was already mounted, drawing up to her, she pulled +down her veil, and all bowing to the holy brotherhood at the porch, +rode off at a gentle pace. + +A long stretch of wood, which spread before the monastery, and screened +the back of Bothwell Castle from being discernible on that side of the +Clyde, lay before them. Through this green labyrinth they pursued +their way, till they crossed the river. + +"Time wears!" exclaimed the Scot to his companion; "we must push on." +The English knight nodded, and set his spurs into his steed. The whole +troop now fell into a rapid trot. The banks of the Avon opened into a +hundred beautiful seclusions, which, intersecting the deep sides of the +river with umbrageous shades and green hillocks, seemed to shut it from +the world. Helen in vain looked for the distant towers of Dumbarton +Castle marking the horizon; no horizon appeared, but ranges of rocks +and wooded precipices. + +A sweet breeze played through the valley and revived her harassed +frame. She put aside her veil to enjoy its freshness, and saw that the +knights turned their horses' heads into one of the obscurest mountain +defiles. She started at its depth, and at the gloom which involved its +extremity. "It is our nearest path," said the Scot. Helen made no +reply, but turning her steed also, followed him, there being room for +only one at a time to ride along the narrow margin of the river that +flowed at its base. The Englishman, whose voice she had not yet heard, +and his attendants, followed likewise in file; and with difficulty the +horses could make their way through the thicket which interlaced the +pathway, so confined, indeed, that it rather seemed a cleft made by an +earthquake in the mountain than a road for the use of man. + +When they had been employed for an hour in breaking their way through +this trackless glen, they came to a wider space, where other and +broader ravines opened before them. The Scot, taking a pass to the +right, raised his bugle, and blew so sudden a blast that the horse on +which Lady Helen sat took fright, and began to plunge and rear, to the +evident hazard of throwing her into the stream. Some of the dismounted +men, seeing her danger, seized the horse by the bridle; while the +English knight extricating her from the saddle, carried her through +some clustering bushes into a cave, and laid her at the feet of an +armed man. + +Terrified at this extraordinary action, she started up with a piercing +shriek, but was at that moment enveloped in the arms of the stranger, +while a loud shout of exhultation resounded from the Scot who stood at +the entrance. It was echoed from without. There was horror in every +sound. "Blessed Virgin, protect me!" she cried, striving to break from +the fierce grasp that held her. "Where am I?" looking wildly at the +two men who had brought her: "Why am I not taken to my father?" + +She received no answer, and both the Scot and the Englishman left the +place. The stranger still held her locked in a gripe that seemed of +iron. In vain she struggled, in vain she shrieked, in vain she called +on earth and Heaven, for assistance; she was held, and still he kept +silence. Exhausted with terror and fruitless attempt for release, she +put her hands together, and in a calmer tone exclaimed: "If you have +honor or humanity in your heart, release me! I am an unprotected +woman, praying for your mercy; withhold it not, for the sake of Heaven +and your own soul." + +"Kneel to me then, thou siren!" cried the warrior, with fierceness. As +he spoke he threw the tender knees of Lady Helen upon the rocky floor. +His voice echoed terribly in her ears, but obeying him, "Free me," +cried she, "for the sake of my dying father!" + +"Never, till I have had my revenge!" + +At this dreadful denunciation she shuddered to the soul, but yet she +spoke: "Surely I am mistaken for some one else! Oh, how can I have +offended any man to incur so cruel an outrage?" + +The warrior burst into a satanic laugh, and, throwing up his visor, +"Behold me, Helen!" cried he, grasping her clasped hands with a +horrible force, "My hour is come!" + +At the sight of the dreadful face of Soulis she comprehended all her +danger, and with supernatural strength, wresting her hands from his +hold, she burst through the bushes out of the cave. Her betrayers +stood at the entrance, and catching her in their arms, brought her back +to their lord. But it was an insensible form they now laid before him; +overcome with horror her senses had fled. Short was this suspension +from misery; water was thrown on her face, and she awoke to +recollection, lying on the bosom of her enemy. Again she struggled, +again her cries echoed from side to side of the cavern. "Peace!" cried +the monster; "you cannot escape; you are now mine forever! Twice you +refused to be my wife; you dared to despise my love and my power; now +you shall feel my hatred and my revenge!" + +"Kill me!" cried the distracted Helen; "kill me and I will bless you!" + +"That would be a poor vengeance," cried he; "you must be humbled, proud +minion, you must learn to fawn on me for a smile; to woo, as my slave, +for one of those caresses you spurned to receive as my wife." As he +spoke, he strained her to his breast, with the contending expressions +of passion and revenge glaring in his eyes. Helen shrieked at the +pollution of his lips; and as he more fiercely held her, her hand +struck against the hilt of his dagger. In a moment she drew it, and +armed with the strength of outraged innocence, unwitting whether it +gave death or not, only hoping it would release her, she struck it into +his side. All was the action of an instant while, as instantaneously, +he caught her wrist, and exclaiming, "Damnable traitress!" dashed her +from him, stunned and motionless to the ground. + +The weapon had not penetrated far. But the sight of his blood, drawn +by the hand of a woman, incensed the raging Soulis. He called aloud on +Macgregor. The two men, who yet stood without the cave, re-entered. +They started when they saw a dagger in his hand, and Helen, lying +apparently lifeless, with blood sprinkled on her garments. + +Macgregor, who had personated the Scottish knight, in a tremulous voice +asked why he had killed the lady? + +Soulis frowned: "Here!" cried he, throwing open his vest: "this wound, +that beautiful fiend you so piteously look upon, aimed at my life!" + +"My lord," said the other man, who had heard her shrieks, "I expected +different treatment for the Earl of Mar's daughter." + +"Base Scot!" returned Soulis, "when you brought a woman into these +wilds to me, you had no right to expect that I should use her otherwise +than as I pleased, and you, as the servile minister of my pleasures." + +"This language, Lord Soulis!" rejoined the man, much agitated; "but you +mistook me--I meant not to reproach." + +"'Tis well you did not;" and turning from him with contempt, he +listened to Macgregor, who, stooping toward the inanimate Helen, +observed that her pulse beat. "Fool!" returned Soulis, "did you think +I would so rashly throw away what I have been at such pains to gain? +Call your wife; she knows how to teach these minions submission to my +will." + +The man obeyed; and while his companion, by the command of Soulis, +bound a fillet round the bleeding forehead of Helen, cut by the flints, +the chief brought two chains, and fastening them to her wrists and +ankles, exclaimed, with brutal triumph, while he locked them on: +"There, my haughty damsel, flatter not thyself that the arms of Soulis +shall be thine only fetters." + +Macgregor's wife entered, and promised to obey all her lord's +injunctions. When she was left alone with the breathless body of +Helen, water, and a few cordial drops, which she poured into the +unhappy lady's mouth, soon recalled her wretched senses. On opening +her eyes, the sight of one of her own sex inspired her with some hope; +but attempting to stretch out her hands in supplication, she was +horror-struck at finding them fastened, and at the clink of the chains +which bound her. "Why am I thus?" demanded she of the woman; but +suddenly recollecting having attempted to pierce Soulis with his own +dagger, and now supposing she had slain him, she added, "Is Lord Soulis +killed?" + +"No," replied the woman; "my husband says he is but slightly hurt; and +surely your fair face belies your heart, if you could intend the death +of so brave and loving a lord!" + +"You then belong to him?" cried the wretched Helen, wringing her hands. +"What will be my unhappy fate! Virgin of heaven, take me to thyself!" + +"Heaven forbid!" cried the woman, "that you should pray against being +the favorite lady of our noble chief! Many are the scores around +Hermitage Castle who would come hither on their hands and knees to +arrive at that happiness." + +"Happiness!" cried Lady Helen, in anguish of spirit; "it can visit me +no more till I am restored to my father, till I am released from the +power of Soulis. Give me liberty," continued she, wildly grasping the +arm of the woman. "Assist me to escape, and half the wealth of the +Earl of Mar shall be your reward." + +"Alas!" returned the woman, "my lord would burn me on the spot, and +murder my husband, did he think I even listened to such a project. No, +lady; you never will see your father more; for none who enter my lord's +Hermitage ever wish to come out again." + +"The Hermitage!" cried Helen, in augmented horror. "Oh, Father of +mercy! never let me live to enter those accursed walls!" + +"They are frightful enough, to be sure," returned the woman; "but you, +gentle lady, will be princess there; and in all things commanding the +kingly heart of its lord, have rather cause to bless than to curse the +castle of Soulis." + +"Himself, and all that bear his name, are accused to me," returned +Helen; "his love is my abomination, his hatred my dread. Pity me, kind +creature; and if you have a daughter whose honor is dear to your +prayers, think you see her in me, and have compassion on me. My life +is in your hands; for I swear before the throne of Almighty Purity, +that Soulis shall see me die rather than dishonored!" + +"Poor young soul!" cried the woman, looking at her frantic gestures +with commiseration; "I would pity you if I durst; but I repeat, my +life, and my husband's, and my children, who are now near Hermitage, +would all be sacrificed to the rage of Lord Soulis. You must be +content to submit to his will." Helen closed her hands over her face +in mute despair, and the woman went on: "And as for the matter of your +making such lamentations about your father, if he be as little your +friend as your mother is you have not much cause to grieve on that +score." + +Helen started. "My mother! what of her? Speak! tell me! It is indeed +her signet that betrayed me into these horrors. She cannot have +consented! Oh, no! some villians--speak! tell me what you would say of +Lady Mar?" + +Regardless of the terrible emotion which now shook the frame of her +auditor, the woman coolly replied, she had heard from her husband, who +was the confidential servant of Lord Soulis, that it was to Lady mar he +owed the knowledge of Helen being at Bothwell. The countess had +written a letter to her cousin, Lord Buchan, who being a sworn friend +of England, she intimated with Lord de Valence at Dumbarton. In this +epistle she intimated her wish that Lord Buchan would devise a plan to +surprise Bothwell Castle the ensuing day, to prevent the departure of +its armed vassals, then preparing to march to the support of the outlaw +Sir William Wallace, who, with his band of robbers, was lurking about +the caverns of the Cartlane Craigs. + +When this letter arrived, Lord Soulis was at dinner with the other +lords; and Buchan, laying it before De Valence, they all consulted what +was best to be done. Lady Mar begged her cousin not to appear in the +affair himself, that she might escape the suspicions of her lord; who, +she strongly declared, was not arming his vassals from any disloyal +disposition toward the king of England, but solely at the instigations +of Wallace, to whom he romantically considered himself bound by the +ties of gratitude. As she gave this information, she hoped that no +attainder would fall upon her husband. And to keep the transaction as +close as possible, she proposed that the Lord Soulis, who she +understood was then at Dumbarton, should take the command of two or +three thousand troops, and marching to Bothwell next morning, seize the +few hundred armed Scots who were there ready to proceed to the +mountains. She ended by saying that her daughter-in-law was in the +castle, which she hoped would be an inducement to Soulis to insure the +Earl of Mar's safety for the sake of her hand as his reward. + +The greatest part of Lady Mar's injunctions could not be attended to, +as Lord de Valence, as well as Soulis, was made privy to the secret. +The English nobleman declared that he should not do his duty to his +king if he did not head the force that went to quell so dangerous a +conspiracy; and Soulis, eager to go at any rate, joyfully accepted the +honor of being his companion. Lord Buchan was easily persuaded to the +seizure of the earl's person, as De Valence flattered him that the king +would endow him with the Mar estates, which must now be confiscated. +Helen groaned at the latter part of the narrative, but the woman, +without noticing it, proceeded to relate how, when the party had +executed their design at Bothwell Castle, she was to have been taken by +Soulis to his castle near Glasgow; but on that wily Scot not finding +her, he conceived the suspicion that Lord de Valence had prevailed on +the countess to give her up to him. He observed, that the woman who +could be induced to betray her daughter to one man, would easily be +bribed to repeat the crime to another, and under this impression, he +accused the English nobleman of treachery. De Valence denied it +vehemently so quarrel ensued, and Soulis departed with a few of his +followers, giving out that he was retiring in high indignation to +Dunglass. But the fact was, he lurked about in Bothwell wood; and from +its recesses saw Cressingham's lieutenant march by to take possession +of the castle in the king's name. + +A deserter from this troop fell in with Lord Soulis' company, and +flying to him for protection, a long private conversation took place +between them. At this period, one of the spies who had been left by +that chief in quest of news, returned with a female tenant of St. +Fillan's, whom he had seduced from her home. She told Lord Soulis all +he wanted to know; informing him that a beautiful young lady, who could +be no other than Lady Helen Mar, was concealed in that convent. + +On this information he conversed a long time with the stranger from +Cressingham's detachment. And determining on carrying off Helen +immediately to Hermitage, that the distance of Teviotdale might render +a rescue less probable, he laid the plan accordingly. "In +consequence," continued the woman, "my husband and the stranger, the +one habited as a Scottish and the other as an English knight (for my +lord being ever on some wild prank, has always a chest of strange +dresses with him), set out for St. Fillan's, taking with them the +signet which your mother had sent with her letter to the earl her +cousin. They hoped such a pledge of their truth would insure them +credit. You know the tale they invented; and its success proves my +lord to be no bad contriver." + + + + +Chapter XIV. + +The Pentland Hills. + + +Helen listened with astonishment and grief to this too probable story +of her step-mother's ill-judged tenderness or cruel treachery; and +remembering the threats which had escaped that lady in their last +conversation, she saw no reason to doubt what so clearly explained the +before inexplicable seizure of her father, the betraying of Wallace, +and her own present calamity. + +"You do not answer me," rejoined the woman; "but if you think I don't +say true, Lord Soulis himself will assure you of the fact." + +"Alas, no!" returned Helen, profoundly sighing, "I believe it too well. +I see the depth of the misery into which I am plunged. And yet," +cried she, recollecting the imposition the men had put upon her:-"yet, +I shall not be wholly so, if my father lives, and was not in the +extremity they told me of!" + +"If that thought gives you comfort, retain it," returned the woman; +"the whole story of the earl's illness was an invention to bring you at +so short notice from the protection of the prior." + +"I thank thee, gracious Providence, for this comfort!" exclaimed Helen; +"it inspires me with redoubled trust in thee." + +Margery shook her head. "Ah, poor victim (thought she), how vain is +thy devotion!" But she had not time to say so, for her husband and the +deserter from Cressingham re-entered the cave. Helen, afraid that it +was Soulis, started up. The stranger proceeded to lift her in his +arms; she struggled, and in the evidence of her action, struck his +beaver; it opened, and discovered a pale and stern countenance, with a +large scar across his jaw; this mark of contest, and the gloomy scowl +of his eyes, made Helen rush toward the woman for protection. The man +hastily closed his helmet, and, speaking through the clasped steel, for +the first time she heard his voice; it sounded, hollow and decisive; he +bade her prepare to accompany Lord Soulis in a journey to the south. + +Helen looked at her shackled arms, and despairing of effecting her +escape by any effort of her own, she thought that gaining time might be +some advantage; and allowing the man to take her hand, while Macgregor +supported her on the other side, they led her out of the cave. She +observed the latter smiled significantly at his wife. "Oh!" cried she, +"to what am I betrayed? Unhand me! Leave me!" Almost fainting with +dread, she leaned against the arm of the stranger. + +Thunder now peaked over her head, and lightning shot across the +mountains. She looked up: "Merciful Heaven!" cried she, in a voice of +deep horror; "send down thy bolt on me!" At that moment Soulis, +mounted on his steed, approached, and ordered her to be put into the +litter. Incapable of contending with the numbers which surrounded her, +she allowed them to execute their master's commands. Macgregor's wife +was set on a pillion behind him; and Soulis giving the word, they all +marched on at a rapid pace. In a few hours, having cleared the shady +valleys of the Clyde, they entered the long and barren tracts of the +Leadhill Moors. + +A dismal hue overspread the country; the thunder yet roared in distant +peals, and the lightning came down in such vast sheets that the +carriers were often obliged to set down their burden, and cover their +eyes to regain their sight. A shrill wind pierced the slight covering +of the litter, and blowing it aside, discovered the mist; or the +gleaming of some wandering water, as it glided away over the cheerless +waste. + +"All is desolation, like myself!" thought Helen; but neither the cold +wind, nor the rain, now drifting into her vehicle, occasioned her any +sensation. It is only when the mind is at ease, that the body is +delicate; all within her was too expectant of mental horrors to notice +the casual inconveniences of season or situation. The cavalcade with +difficulty mounted the steps of a mountainous hill, where the storm +raged so turbulently that the men who carried the litter stopped, and +told their lord it would be impossible to proceed in the approaching +darkness; they conjured him to look at the perpendicular rocks, +rendered indistinct by the gathering mist; to observe the overwhelming +gusts of the tempest; and then judge whether they dare venture with the +litter on so dangerous a pathway, made slippery by descending rain! + +To halt in such a spot seemed to Soulis as unsafe as to proceed. "We +shall not be better off," answered he, "should we attempt to return: +precipices lie on either side: and to stand still would be equally +perilous: the torrents from the heights increase so rapidly, there is +every chance of our being swept away, should we remain exposed to the +stream." + +Helen looked at these sublime cascades with a calm welcome, as they +poured from the hills, and flung their spray upon the roof of her +vehicle. She hailed her release in the death they menaced; and far +from being intimidated at the prospect, cast a resigned, and even +wistful glance, into the swelling lake beneath, under whose waves she +expected soon to sleep. + +On the remonstrance of their master, the men resumed their pace; and +after a hard contention with the storm, they gained the summit of the +west side of the mountain, and were descending its eastern brow, when +the shades of night closed in upon them. Looking down into the black +chaos, on the brink of which they must pass along, they once more +protested they could not advance a foot, until the dawn should give +them some security. + +At this declaration, which Soulis saw could not now be disputed, he +ordered the troop to halt under the shelter of a projecting rock. Its +huge arch overhung the ledge that formed the road, while the deep gulf +at his feet, by the roaring of its waters, proclaimed itself the +receptacle of those cataracts which rush tremendous from the +ever-streaming Pentland hills. + +Soulis dismounted. The men set down the litter, and removed to a +distance as he approached. He opened one of the curtains, and throwing +himself beside the exhausted, but watchful Helen, clasped his arms +roughly about her, and exclaimed, "Sweet minion, I must pillow on your +bosom till the morn awakes!" His brutal lips were again riveted to her +cheek. Ten thousand strengths seemed then to heave him from her heart; +and struggling with a power that amazed even herself, she threw him +from her; and holding him off with her shackled arms, her shrieks again +pierced the heavens. + +"Scream thy soul away, poor foul!" exclaimed Soulis, seizing her +fiercely in his arms; "for thou art now so surely mine, that Heaven +itself cannot deprive me!" + +At that moment her couch was shaken by a sudden shock, and in the next +she was covered with the blood of Soulis. A stroke from an unseen arm +had reached him, and starting on his feet, a fearful battle of swords +took place over the prostrate Helen. + +One of the men, out of the numbers who hastened to the assistance of +their master, fell dead on her body; while the chief himself, sorely +wounded, and breathing revenge and blasphemy, was forced off by the +survivors. "Where do you carry me, villians?" cried he. "Separate me +not from the vengeance I will yet hurl on that demon who has robbed me +of my victim, or ye shall die a death more horrible than hell can +inflict!" He raved; but more unheeded than the tempest. Terrified +that the spirits of darkness were indeed their pursuers, in spite of +his reiterated threats, the men carried him to a distant hollow in the +rock, and laid him down, now insensible from loss of blood. One or two +of the most desperate returned to see what was become of Lady Helen; +well aware that if they could regain her, their master would be +satisfied; but, on the reverse, should she be lost, the whole troop +knew their fate would be some merciless punishment. + +Macgregor, and the deserter of Cressingham, were the first who reached +the spot where the lady had been left; with horror they found the +litter, but not herself. She was gone. But whether carried off by the +mysterious arm which had felled their lord, or she had thrown herself +into the foaming gulf beneath, they could not determine. They decided, +however, the latter should be their report to Soulis; knowing that he +would rather believe the object of his passions had perished, than that +she had escaped his toils. + +Almost stupefied with consternation, they returned to repeat this tale +to their furious lord; who, on having his wounds staunched, had +recovered from his swoon. On hearing that the beautiful creature he +had so lately believed his own beyond the power of fate; that his +property, as he called her, the devoted slave of his will, the mistress +of his destiny, was lost to him forever! swallowed up in the whelming +wave! he became frantic. There was desperation in every word. He +raved; tore up the earth like a wild beast; and, foaming at the mouth, +dashed the wife of Macgregor from him, as she approached with a fresh +balsam for his wounds. "Off, scum of a damned sex!" cried he. "Where +is she, whom I intrusted to thy care?" + +"My lord," answered the affrighted woman, "you know best. You +terrified the poor young creature. You forced yourself into a litter, +and can you wonder-" + +"That I should force you to perdition! execrable witch," cried he, +"that knew no better how to prepare a slave to receive her lord!" As +he spoke, he struck her again; but it was with his gauntlet hand, and +the eyes of the unfortunate woman opened no more. The blow fell on her +temple, and a motionless corpse lay before him. + +"My wife!" cried the poor Macgregor, putting his trembling arms about +her neck: "Oh, my lord, how have I deserved this? You have slain her!" + +"Suppose I have!" returned the chief with a cold scorn; "she was old +and ugly; and could you recover Helen, you should cull Hermitage, for a +substitute for this prating bedlam." + +Macgregor made no reply, but feeling in his heart that he "who sows the +wind, must reap the whirlwind;" that such were the rewards from +villainy, to its vile instruments; he could not but say to himself, "I +have deserved it of my God, but not of thee!" and sobbing over the +remains of his equally criminal wife, by the assistance of his comrades +he removed her from the now hated presence of his lord. + + + + +Chapter XV. + +The Hut. + + +Meanwhile the Lady Helen, hardly rational from the horror and hope that +agitated her, extricated herself from the dead body; and in her +eagerness to escape, would certainly have fallen over the precipice, +had not the same gallant arm which had covered her persecutor with +wounds, caught her as she sprung from the litter. "Fear not, lady," +exclaimed a gentle voice; "you are under the protection of a Scottish +knight." + +There was a kindness in the sound, that seemed to proclaim the speaker +to be of her own kindred; she felt as if suddenly rescued by a brother; +and dropping her head on his bosom, a shower of grateful tears relieved +her heart, and prevented her fainting. Aware that no time was to be +lost, that the enemy might soon be on him again, he clasped her in his +arms, and with the activity of a mountain deer, crossed two rushing +streams; leaping from rock to rock, even under the foam of their flood; +and then treading with a light and steady step, an alpine bridge of one +single tree, which arched the cataract below, he reached the opposite +side, where, spreading his plaid upon the rock, he laid the trembling +Helen upon it. Then softly breathing his bugle, in a moment he was +surrounded by a number of men, whose rough gratulations might have +reawakened the alarm of Helen, had she not still heard his voice. +There was graciousness and balm-distilling sweetness in every tone; and +she listened in calm expectation. + +He directed the men to take their axes, and cut away, on their side of +the fall, the tree which arched it. It was probable the villian he had +just assailed, or his followers, might pursue him; and he thought it +prudent to demolish the bridge. + +The men obeyed, and the warrior returned to his fair charge. It was +raining fast; and fearful of further exposing her to the inclemencies +of the night, he proposed leading her to shelter. "There is a hermit's +cell on the northern side of this mountain. I will conduct you thither +in the morning as to the securest asylum; but meanwhile we must seek a +nearer refuge." + +"Anywhere, sir, with honor my guide," answered Helen, timidly. + +"You are safe with me, lady," returned he, "as in the arms of the +Virgin. I am a man who can now have no joy in womankind, but when as a +brother I protect them. Whoever you are, confide in me, and you shall +not be betrayed." + +Helen confidently gave him her hand, and strove to rise; but at the +first attempt, the shackles piercing her ankles, she sunk again on the +ground. The cold iron on her wrists touched the hand of her preserver. +He now recollected his surprise on hearing the clank of chains, when +carrying her over the bridge. "Who," inquired he, "could have done this +unmanly deed?" + +"The wretch from whom you rescued me--to prevent my escape from a +captivity worse than death." + +While she spoke, he wrenched open the manacles from her wrists and +ankles, and threw them over the precipice. As she heard them dash into +the torrent, an unutterable gratitude filled her heart; and again +giving her hand to him to lead her forward, she said with earnestness, +"O sir, if you have a wife or sister--should they ever fall into the +like peril with mine; for in these terrific times, who is secure? may +Heaven reward your bravery, by sending them such a preserver!" + +The stranger sighed deeply: "Sweet lady," returned he, "I have no +sister, no wife. But my kindred is nevertheless very numerous, and I +thank thee for thy prayer." The hero sighed profoundly again, and led +her silently down the windings of the declivity. Having proceeded with +caution, they descended into a little wooded dell, and soon approached +the half-standing remains of what had once been a shepherd's hut. + +"This," said the knight, as they entered, "was the habitation of a good +old man, who fed his flock on these mountains; but a band of Southron +soldiers forced his only daughter from him, and, plundering his little +abode, drove him out upon the waste. He perished the same night, by +grief, and the inclemencies of the weather. His son, a brave youth, +was left for dead by his sister's ravishers; but I found him in this +dreary solitude, and he told me the too general story of his wounds and +his despair. Indeed, lady, when I heard your shrieks from the opposite +side of the chasm, I thought they might proceed from this poor boy's +sister, and I flew to restore them to each other." + +Helen shuddered, as he related a tale so near resembling her own; and +trembling with weakness, and horror of what might have been her fate +had she not been rescued by this gallant stranger, she sunk exhausted +upon a turf seat. The chief still held her hand. It was very cold, +and he called to his men to seek fuel to make a fire. While his +messengers were exploring the crannies of the rocks for dried leaves +and sticks, Helen, totally overcome, leaned almost motionless against +the wall of the hut. Finding, by her shortened breath, that she was +fainting, the knight took her in his arms, and supporting her on his +breast, chafed her hands and her forehead. His efforts were in vain; +she seemed to have ceased to breathe; hardly a pulse moved her heart. +Alarmed at such signs of death, he spoke to one of his men who remained +in the hut. + +The man answered his master's inquiry by putting a flash into his hand. +The knight poured some of its contents into her mouth. Her streaming +locks wetted his cheek. "Poor lady!" said he, "she will perish in +these forlorn regions, where neither warmth nor nourishment can be +found." + +To his glad welcome, several of his men soon after entered with a +quantity of withered boughs, which they had found in the fissures of +the rock at some distance. With these a fire was speedily kindled; and +its blaze diffusing comfort through the chamber, he had the +satisfaction of hearing a sigh from the breast of his charge. Her head +still leaned on his bosom when she opened her eyes. The light shone +full on her face. + +"Lady," said he, "I bless God you are revived." Her delicacy shrunk at +the situation in which she found herself; and raising herself, though +feebly, she thanked him, and requested a little water. It was given to +her. She drank some, and would have met the fixed and compassionate +gaze of the knight, had not weakness cast such a film before her eyes +that she scarcely saw anything. Being still languid, she leaned her +head on the turf seat. Her face was pale as marble, and her long hair, +saturated with wet, by its darkness made her look of a more deadly hue. + +"Death! how lovely canst thou be!" sighed the knight to himself--he even +groaned. Helen started, and looked around her with alarm. "Fear not," +said he, "I only dreaded your pale looks; but you revive, and will yet +bless all that are dear to you. Suffer me, sweet lady, to drain the +dangerous wet from these tresses?" He took hold of them as he spoke. +She saw the water running from her hair over his hands, and allowing +his kind request, he continued wiping her glossy locks with his scarf, +till, exhausted by fatigue, she gradually sunk into a profound sleep. + +Dawn had penetrated the ruined walls of the hut before Lady Helen +awoke. But when she did, she was refreshed; and opening her +eyes--hardly conscious where she was, or whether all that floated in her +memory were not the departing vapors of a frightful dream--she turned +her head and fixed them upon the figure of the knight, who was seated +near her. His noble air; and the pensive expression of his fine +features, struck like a spell upon her gathering recollections; she at +once remembered all she had suffered, all that she owed to him. She +moved. Her preserver turned his eyes toward her; seeing she was awake, +he rose from the side of the dying embers he had sedulously kept alive +during her slumber, and expressed his hopes that she felt restored. +She returned him a grateful reply, in the affirmative; and he quitted +her, to rouse his men for their journey to the hermit's cell. + +When he re-entered, he found Helen braiding up the fine hair which had +so lately been scattered by the elements. She would have risen at his +approach, but he seated himself on a stone at her feet. "We shall be +detained here a few minutes longer," said he; "I have ordered my men to +make a litter of crossed branches, to bear you on their shoulders. +Your delicate limbs would not be equal to the toil of descending these +heights, to the glen of stones. The venerable man who inhabits there +will protect you until he can summon your family, or friends, to +receive his charge." + +At these words, which Helen thought were meant to reprove her for not +having revealed herself, she blushed; but fearful of breathing a name +under the interdict of the English governors, and which had already +spread devastation over all with whom it had been connected; fearful of +involving her preserver's safety, by making him aware of the persecuted +creature he had rescued; she paused for a moment, and then, with the +color heightening on her cheeks, replied: "For your humanity, brave +sir, shown this night to a friendless woman, I must be ever grateful; +but not even to the hermit may I reveal my name. It is fraught with +danger to every honest Scot who should know that he protects one who +bears it; and therefore, least of all, noble stranger, would I breathe +it to you." She averted her face, to conceal the emotions she could +not subdue. + +The knight looked at her intensely, and profoundly sighed. Half her +unbraided locks lay upon her bosom, which now heaved with suppressed +feelings; and the fast-falling tears, gliding through her long +eyelashes dropped upon his hand; he sighed again, and tore his eyes +from her countenance. "I ask not, madam, to know what you think proper +to conceal; but danger has no alarms for me, when, by incurring it, I +serve those who need a protector." + +A sudden thought flashed across her mind; might it not be possible that +this tender guardian of her safety, this heroic profferer of service, +was the noble Wallace? But the vain idea fled. He was pent up amidst +the beleaguered defiles of Cartland Craigs, sworn to extricate the +helpless families of his followers, or to perish with them. This +knight was accompanied by none but men; and his kind eyes shone in too +serene a luster to be the mirrors of the disturbed soul of the +suffering chief of Ellerslie. "Ah! then," murmured she to herself, +"are there two men in Scotland who will speak thus?" She looked up in +his face. The plumes of his bonnet shaded his features; but she saw +they were paler than on his entrance, and a strange expression of +distraction agitated their before composed lines. His eyes were bent +to the ground as he proceeded: + +"I am the servant of my fellow-creatures--command me and my few +faithful followers; and if it be in the power of such small means to +succor you or yours, I am ready to answer for their obedience. If the +villain from whom I had the happiness to release you be yet more deeply +implicated in your sorrows, tell me how they can be relieved, and I +will attempt it. I shall make no new enemies by the deed, for the +Southrons and I are at eternal enmity." + +Helen could not withdraw her eyes from his varying countenance, which, +from underneath his dark plumes, seemed like a portentous cloud, at +intervals to emit the rays of the cheering sun, or the lightning of +threatening thunder. "Alas!" replied she, "ill should I repay such +nobleness were I to involve it in the calamities of my house. No, +generous stranger, I must remain unknown. Leave me with the hermit; +and from his cell I will send to some relation to take me thence." + +"I urge you no more, gentle lady," replied the knight, rising; "were I +at the head of an army, instead of a handful of men, I might then have +a better argument for offering my services; but as it is, I feel my +weakness, and seek to know no further." + +Helen trembled with unaccountable emotion. "Were you at the head of an +army, I might then dare to reveal the full weight of my anxieties; but +Heaven has already been sufficiently gracious to me by your hands, in +redeeming me from my cruelest enemy; and for the rest, I put my trust +in the same overruling Providence." At this moment a man entered and +told the knight the vehicle was finished, the morning fine, and his men +ready to march. He turned toward Helen: "May I conduct you to the rude +carriage we have prepared?" + +Helen gathered her mantle about her; and the knight, throwing his scarf +over her head--it had no other covering--she gave him her hand, and he +led her out on the hut to the side of the bier. It was overlaid with +the men's plaids. The knight placed her on it; and the carriers +raising it on their shoulders, her deliverer led the way, and they took +their course down the mountain. + + + + +Chapter XVI. + +The Glen of Stones. + + +They proceeded in silence through the curvings of the dell till it +opened into a hazardous path along the top of a far-extending cliff, +which overhung and clasped in the western side of a deep loch. As they +mounted the pending wall of this immense amphitheater, Helen watched +the sublime uprise of the king of light issuing from behind the +opposite citadel of rocks, and borne aloft on a throne of clouds that +swam in floating gold. The herbage on the cliffs glittered with liquid +emeralds, as his beams kissed their summits; and the lake beneath +sparkled like a sea of molten diamonds. All nature seemed to rejoice +at the presence of this magnificent emblem of the Most High. Helen's +heart swelled with devotion, and its sacred voice breathed from her +lips. + +"Such," thought she, "O sun, art thou! The resplendent image of the +Giver of all Good. Thy cheering beams, like his all-cheering Spirit, +pervade the soul, and drive thence the despondency of cold and +darkness. But bright as thou art, how does the similitude fade before +godlike man, the true image of his Maker. How far do his protecting +arms extend over the desolate! How mighty is the power of his +benevolence to dispense succor, to administer consolation!" + +As she thus mused her eyes fell on the noble mien of the knight, who, +with his spear in his hand, and wrapped in his dark mantle of mingled +greens, led the way, with a graceful but rapid step, along the shelving +declivity. Turning suddenly to the left, he struck into a defile +between two prodigious craggy mountains, whose brown cheeks, trickling +with ten thousand mountains, whose brown cheeks, trickling with ten +thousand rills, seemed to weep over the deep gloom of the valley +beneath. Scattered fragments of rock from the cliffs above covered +with their huge and almost impassable masses the surface of the ground. +Not an herb was to be seen; all was black, barren, and terrific. On +entering this horrid pass, Helen would have shuddered, had she not +placed implicit confidence in her conductor. + +As they advanced, the vale gradually narrowed, and at last shut them +within an immense chasm, which seemed to have been cleft at its +towering summit, to admit a few beams of light to the desert below. A +dark river flowed along, amid which the bases of the mountains showed +their union by the mingling of many a rugged cliff, projecting upward +in a variety of strange and hideous forms. The men who carried Helen, +with some difficulty found a safe footing. However, after frequent +rests, and unremitted caution, they at last extricated themselves from +the most intricate path, and more lightly followed their chief into a +less gloomy part of this chaos of nature. The knight stopped, and +approaching the bier, told Helen they had arrived at the end of their +journey. + +"In the heart of that cliff," said he, "is the hermit's cell; a +desolate shelter, but a safe one. Old age and poverty hold no +temptations to the enemies of Scotland." + +As he spoke the venerable man, who had heard voices beneath, appeared +on the rock; and while his tall and majestic figure, clad in gray, +moved forward, and his silver beard flowed from his saintly countenance +upon the air, he seemed the bard of Morven, issuing from his cave of +shells to bid a hero's welcome to the young and warlike Oscar. + +"Bless thee, my son," cried he, as he descended; "what good or evil +accident hath returned thee so soon to these solitudes?" + +The knight briefly related the circumstances of Helen's rescue, and +that he had brought her to share his asylum. + +The hermit took her by the hand, and graciously promised her every +service in his power. He then preceded the knight, whose firmer arm +supported her up the rock, to the outer apartment of the cell. + +A sacred awe struck her as she entered this place, dedicated wholly to +God. She bowed, and crossed herself. The hermit, observing her +devotion, blessed her, and bade her welcome to the abode of peace. + +"Here, daughter," said he, "has one son of persecuted Scotland found a +refuge. There is naught alluring in these wilds to attract the +spoiler. The green herb is all the food they afford, and the limpid +water their best beverage." + +"Ah!" returned Helen, with grateful animation, "would to Heaven that +all who love the freedom of Scotland were now within this glen! The +herb and the stream would be luxuries when tasted in liberty and hope. +My father, his friend-" she stopped, recollecting that she had almost +betrayed the secrecy she meant to maintain, and looking down, remained +in confused silence. The knight gazed at her, and much wished to +penetrate what she concealed, but delicacy forbade him to urge her +again. He spoke not; but the hermit, ignorant of her reluctance to +reveal her family, resumed: + +"I do not wonder, gentle lady, that you speak in terms which tell me +even your tender sex feels the tyranny of Edward. Who in Scotland is +exempt? The whole country groans beneath his oppressions, and the +cruelty of his agents makes its rivulets run with blood. Six months +ago I was Abbot of Scone. Because I refused to betray my trust, and +resign the archives of the kingdom lodged there, Edward, the +rebel--anointed of the Lord! the profaner of the sanctuary! sent his +emissaries to sack the convent, to tear the holy pillow of Jacob from +its shrine, and to wrest from my grasp the records I refused to +deliver. All was done as the usurper commanded. Most of my brethren +were slain. Myself and the remainder were turned out upon the waste. +We retired to the Monastery of Cambuskenneth; but there oppression +found us. Cressingham, having seized on other religious houses, +determined to swell his hoards with the plunder of that also. In the +dead of night the attack was made. My brethren fled; I knew not +whither to go; but, determined to fly far from the tracts of our +ravagers, I took my course over the hills, and finding the valley of +stones fit for my purpose, for two months have lived alone in this +wilderness." + +"Unhappy Scotland!" ejaculated Helen. Her eyes had followed the chief, +who, during this narrative, leaned thoughtfully against the entrance of +the cave. His eyes were cast upward with an expression that made her +heart utter the exclamation which had escaped her. + +The knight turned and approached her. "You hear from the lips of my +venerable friend," said he, "a direful story; happy then am I, gentle +lady, that you and he have found a refuge, though a rough one. I must +now tear myself from this tranquillity to seek scenes more befitting a +younger son of the country he deplores." + +Helen felt unable to answer. But the abbot spoke; "And am I not to see +you again?" + +"That is as Heaven wills," replied he; "but as it is unlikely on this +side the grave, my best pledge of friendship is this lady. To you she +may reveal what she had withheld from me; but in either case, she is +secure in your goodness." + +"Rely on my faith, my son; and may the Almighty's shield hang on your +steps!" + +The knight turned to Helen. "Farewell, sweet lady!" said he. She +trembled at the words, and, hardly conscious of what she did, held out +her hand to him. He took it, and drew it toward his lips, but checking +himself, he only pressed it, while in a mournful voice he added, "in +your prayer, sometimes remember the most desolate of men!" + +A mist seemed to pass over the eyes of Lady Helen. She felt as if on +the point of losing something most precious to her. "My prayers for my +own preserver, and for my father's," cried she, in an agitated voice, +"shall ever be mingled. And, if ever it be safe to remember me--should +Heaven indeed arm the patriot's hand--then my father may be proud to +know and to thank the brave deliverer of his child." + +The knight paused, and looked with animation upon her. "Then your +father is in arms, and against the tyrant! Tell me where, and you see +before you a man who is ready to join him, and to lay down his life in +the just cause!" + +At this vehement declaration, Lady Helen's full heart overflowed, and +she burst into tears. He drew toward her, and in a moderated voice +continued: "My men, though few, are brave. They are devoted to their +country, and are willing for her sake to follow me to victory or to +death. As I am a knight, I am sworn to defend the cause of right; and +where shall I so justly find it, as on the side of bleeding, wasted +Scotland? How shall I so well pursue my career as in the defense of +her injured sons? Speak, gentle lady! trust me with your noble +father's name, and he shall not have cause to blame the confidence you +repose in a true though wandering Scot!" + +"My father," replied Helen, weeping afresh, "is not where your generous +services can reach him. Two brave chiefs, one a kinsman of my own, and +the other his friend, are now colleagued to free him. If they fail, my +whole house falls in blood! and to add another victim to the destiny +which in that case will overwhelm me--the thought is beyond my +strength." Faint with agitation, and the horrible images which +reawakened her direst fears, she stopped; and then added in a +suppressed voice, "Farewell!" + +"Not till you hear me further," replied he. "I repeat I have now a +scanty number of followers; but I leave these mountains to gather more. +Tell me, then, where I may join these chiefs you speak of. Give me a +pledge that I come from you; and whoever may be your father, as he is a +true Scot, I will compass his release, or perish in the attempt." + +"Alas! generous stranger," cried she, "to what would you persuade me? +You know not the peril that you seek!" + +"Nothing is perilous to me," replied he, with an heroic smile, "that is +to serve my country. I have no interest, no joy but in her. Give me, +then, the only happiness of which I am now capable, and send me to +serve her, by freeing one of her defenders!" + +Helen hesitated. The tumult of her mind dried her tears. She looked +up, with all these inward agitations painted on her cheeks. His +beaming eyes were full of patriotic ardor; and his fine countenance, +composed into a heavenly calmness by the sublime sentiments which +occupied his soul, made him appear to her not a as man, but as an angel +from the armed host of heaven. + +"Fear not, lady," said the hermit, "that you would plunge your +deliverer into any extraordinary danger by involving him in what you +might call rebellion against the usurper. He is already a proscribed +man." + +"Proscribed!" repeated she; "wretched indeed is my country when her +noblest spirits are denied the right to live!-when every step they take +to regain what has been torn from them, only involves them in deeper +ruin!" + +"No country is wretched, sweet lady," returned the knight, "till, by a +dastardly acquiescence, it consents to its own slavery. Bonds, and +death, are the utmost of our enemy's malice; the one is beyond his +power to inflict, when a man is determined to die or to live free; and +for the other, which of us will think that ruin, which leads to the +blessed freedom of paradise?" + +Helen looked on the chief as she used to look on her cousin, when +expressions of virtuous enthusiasm burst from his lips; but now it was +rather with the gaze of admiring awe than the exhultation of one +youthful mind sympathizing with another. "You would teach confidence +to Despair herself," returned she; "again I hope; for God does not +create in vain! You shall know every danger with which that knowledge +is surrounded. He is hemmed in by enemies. Alas, how closely are they +connected with him! Not the English only, but the most powerful of his +countrymen are leagues against him. They sold my father to captivity, +and, perhaps, to death; and I, wretched I, was the price. To free him, +the noblest of Scottish knights is now engaged; but such hosts impede +him, that hope hardly dares hover over his tremendous path." + +"Then," cried the stranger, "let my arm be second to his in the great +achievement. My heart yearns to meet a brother in arms who feels for +Scotland what I do; and with such a coadjutor, I dare promise your +father liberty, and that the power of England shall be shaken." + +Helen's heart beat violently at these words. "I would not defer the +union of two such minds. Go, then, to the Cartlane Craigs. But, alas! +how can I direct you?" cried she. "The passes are beset with English; +and I know not whether at this moment the brave Wallace survives, to be +again the deliverer of my father!" + +Helen paused. The recollection of all that Wallace had suffered for +the sake of her father, and of the mortal extremity in which Ker had +left him, rose like a dreadful train of apparitions before her. A pale +horror overspread her countenance; and lost in these remembrances, she +did not remark the start, and rushing color of the knight, as she +pronounced the name of Wallace. + +"If Wallace ever had the happiness of serving any who belonged to you," +returned the knight, "he has at least one source of pleasure in that +remembrance. Tell me what he can further do. Only say, where is that +father whom you say he once preserved, and I will hasten to yield my +feeble aid to repeat the service!" + +"Alas!" replied Helen, "I cannot but repeat my fears that the bravest +of men no longer exists. Two days before I was betrayed into the hands +of the traitor from whom you rescued me, a messenger from Cartlane +Craigs informed my cousin that the gallant Wallace was surrounded; and +if my father did not send forces to relieve him, he must inevitably +perish. No forces could my father send; he was then made a prisoner by +the English; his retainers shared the same fate, and none but my cousin +escaped, to accompany the honest Scotch back to his master. My cousin +set forth with a few followers to join him--a few against thousands." + +"They are in arms for their country, lady," returned the knight; "and a +thousand invisible angels guard them; fear not for them! But for your +father; name to me the place of his confinement, and as I have not the +besiegers of Cartlane Craigs to encounter. I engage, with God's help, +and the arms of my men (who never yet shrunk from sword or spear), to +set the brave earl free!" + +"How!" exclaimed Helen, remembering that she had not yet mentioned her +father's rank, and gazing at him with astonishment; "do you know his +name--is the misfortune of my father already so far spread?" + +"Rather say his virtue, lady," answered the knight; "no man who watches +over the destiny of our devoted country can be ignorant of her friends, +or of the sufferers who bear injury for her sake. I know that the Earl +of Mar has made himself a generous sacrifice, but I am yet to learn the +circumstances from you. Speak without reserve, that I may seek the +accomplishment of my vow, and restore to Scotland its best friend!" + +"Thou brother in heart to the generous Wallace!" exclaimed Lady Helen, +"my voice is too feeble to thank thee." The hermit, who had listened +in silent interest, now, fearing the consequence of so much emotion, +presented her with a cup of water and a little fruit, to refresh +herself, before she satisfied the inquiries of the knight. She put the +cup to her lips, to gratify the benevolence of her host, but her +anxious spirit was too much occupied in the concerns dearest to her +heart, to feel any wants of the body; and turning to the knight, she +briefly related what had been the design of her father with regard to +Sir William Wallace; how he had been seized at Bothwell, and sent with +his family a prisoner to Dumbarton Castle. + +"Proceed then thither," continued she. "If Heaven have yet spared the +lives of Wallace and my cousin, Andrew Murray, you will meet them +before its walls. Meanwhile I shall seek the protection of my father's +sister, and in her castle near the Forth abide in safety. But, noble +stranger, one bond I must lay upon you; should you come up with my +cousin, do not discover that you have met with me. He is precipitate +in resentment; and his hatred is so hot against Soulis, my betrayer, +that should he know the outrage I have sustained he would, I fear, run +himself and the general cause into danger by seeking an immediate +revenge." + +The stranger readily passed his word to Helen that he would never +mention her name to any of her family until she herself should give him +leave. "But when your father is restored to his rights," continued he, +"in his presence I hope to claim my acquaintance with his admirable +daughter." + +Helen blushed at this compliment--it was not more than any man in his +situation might have said, but it confused her; and hardly knowing what +were her thoughts, she answered-"His personal freedom may be effected, +and God grant such a regard to your prowess! But his other rights, +what can recover them? His estates sequestrated, his vassals in bonds, +all power of the Earl of Mar will be annihilated; and from some obscure +refuge like this, must he utter his thanks to his daughter's preserver." + +"Not so, lady," replied he; "the sword is now raised in Scotland, that +cannot be laid down till it be broken or has conquered. All have +suffered by Edward; the powerful banished into other countries, that +their wealth might reward foreign mercenaries; the poor driven into the +waste, that the meanest Southron might share the spoil! Where all have +suffered, all must be ready to avenge; and when a whole people take up +arms to regain their rights, what force can prevent restitution? God +is with them!" + +"So I felt," returned Helen, "while I have not yet seen the horrors of +the contest. While my father commanded in Bothwell Castle, and was +sending out auxiliaries to the patriot chief, I too felt nothing but +the inspiration which led them on, and saw nothing but the victory +which must crown so just a cause. But now, when all whom my father +commanded are slain or carried away by the enemy, when he is himself a +prisoner, and awaiting the sentence of the tyrant he opposed, when the +gallant Wallace, instead of being able to hasten to his rescue, is +besieged by a numberless host, hope almost dies within me, and I fear +that whoever may be fated to free Scotland, my beloved father, and +those belonging to him are first to be made a sacrifice." + +She turned pale as she spoke, and the stranger resumed. "No, lady, if +there be that virtue in Scotland which can alone deserve freedom, it +will be achieved. I am an inconsiderable man, but relying on the God +of Justice, I promise you your father's liberty; and let his freedom be +a pledge to you for that of your country. I now go to rouse a few +brave spirits to arms. Remember the battle is not to the strong, nor +victory with a multitude of hosts! The banner** of St. Andrew was once +held from the heavens, over a little band of Scots, while they +discomfited a thousand enemies--the same arm leads me on; and, if need +be, I despair not to see it again, like the flaming pillar before the +Israelites, consuming the enemies of liberty, even in the fullness of +their might." + +**At a time when Achaius King of Scotts, and Hungus King of Picts, were +fiercely driven by Athelstan King of Northumberland into East Lothian, +full of terrors of what the next morning might bring forth, Hungus fell +into a sleep, and beheld a vision, which, tradition tells, was verified +the ensuing day by the appearance of the cross of St. Andrew held out +to him from the heavens, and waving him to victory. Under this banner +he conquered the Northumberland forces, and slaying their leader, the +scene of the battle has henceforth been called Atheistanford.-(1809.) + +While he yet spoke, the hermit re-entered from the inner cell, +supporting a youth on his arm. At sight of the knight, who held out +his hand to him, he dropped on his knees and burst into tears. "Do you +then leave me?" cried he; "am I not to serve my preserver?" + +Helen rose in strange surprise; there was something in the feelings of +the boy that was infectious; and while her own heart beat violently, +she looked first on his emaciated figure, and then at the noble contour +of the knight, "where every god had seemed to set his seal." His +beaming eyes appeared the very fountains of consolation; his cheek was +bright with generous emotions; and turning from the supplant boy to +Helen. "Rise," said he to the youth, "and behold in this lady the +object of the service to which I appoint you. You will soon, I hope, +be sufficiently recovered to attend upon her wishes as you would upon +mine. Be her servant and her guard; and when we meet again, as she +will then be under the protection of her father, if you do not prefer +so gentle a service before the rougher one of war, I will resume you to +myself." + +The youth, who had obeyed the knight and risen, bowed respectfully; and +Helen, uttering some incoherent words of thanks, to hide her agitation +turned away. The hermit exclaimed, "Again, my son, I beseech Heaven to +bless thee!" + +"And may its guardian care shield all here!" replied the knight. Helen +looked up to bid him a last farewell--but he was gone. The hermit had +left the cell with him, and the youth also had disappeared into the +inner cave. Being left alone, she threw herself down before the altar, +and giving way to a burst of tears, inwardly implored protection for +that brave knight's life; and by his means to grant safety to Wallace, +and freedom to her father! + +As she prayed, her emotion subsided and a holy confidence elevating her +mind, she remained in an ecstasy of hope, till a solemn voice from +behind her called her from this happy trance. + +"Blessed are they which put their trust in God!" + +She calmly rose, and perceived the hermit; who, on entering, had +observed her devout position, and the spontaneous benediction broke +from his lips. "Daughter," said he, leading her to a seat, "this hero +will prevail; for the Power before whose altar you have just knelt, has +declared, 'My might is with them who obey my laws, and put their trust +in me!' You speak highly of the young and valiant Sir William Wallace, +but I cannot conceive that he can be better formed for great and heroic +deeds than this chief. Suppose them, then, to be equal, when they have +met, with two such leaders, what may not a few determined Scots +perform?" + +Helen sympathized with the cheering prognostications of the hermit; and +wishing to learn the name of this rival of a character she had regarded +as unparalleled, she asked, with a blush, by what title she must call +the knight who had undertaken so hazardous an enterprise for her. + + + + +Chapter XVII. + +The Hermit's Cell. + + +"I know not," returned the hermit; "I never saw your gallant deliverer +before yesterday morning. Broken from my matins by a sudden noise, I +beheld a deer rush down the precipice, and fall headlong. As he lay +struggling amongst the stones at the entrance of my cave, I had just +observed an arrow in his side, when a shout issued from the rocks +above, and looking up, I beheld a young chieftain, with a bow in his +hand, leaping from cliff to cliff, till springing from a high +projection on the right, he alighted at once at the head of the wounded +deer. + +"I emerged from the recess that concealed me, and addressed him with +the benediction of the morning. His plaided followers immediately +appeared, and with a stroke of their ready weapons slew the animal. +The chief left them to dress it for their own refreshment; and on my +invitation, entered the cell to share a hermit's fare. + +"I told him who I was, and what had driven me to this seclusion. In +return, he informed me of a design he had conceived, to stimulate the +surrounding chiefs to some exertions for their country; but as he never +mentioned his name, I concluded he wished it to remain unrevealed, and +therefore I forbore to inquire it. I imparted to him my doubts of the +possibility of any single individual being able to arouse the +slumbering courage of thoughts. The arguments he means to use are few +and conclusive. They are these: The perfidy of King Edward, who, +deemed a prince of high honor, had been chosen umpire in the cause of +Bruce and Baliol. He accepted the task, in the character of a friend +to Scotland; but no sooner was he advanced into the heart of our +kingdom, and at the head of the large army he had treacherously +introduced as a mere appendage of state, than he declared the act of +judgement was his right as liege lord of the realm! This falsehood, +which our records disproved at the outset, was not his only baseness; +he bought the conscience of Baliol, and adjudged to him the throne. +The recreant prince acknowledged him his master; and in that degrading +ceremony of homage, he was followed by almost all the lowland Scottish +lords. But this vile yielding did not purchase them peace: Edward +demanded oppressive services from the king, and the castles of the +nobility to be resigned to English governors. These requisitions being +remonstrated against by a few of our boldest chiefs (amongst whom, your +illustrious father, gentle lady, stood the most conspicuous), the +tyrant repeated them with additional demands, and prepared to resent +the appeal on the whole nation. + +"Three months have hardly elapsed since the fatal battle of Dunbar, +where, indignant at the accumulated outrages committed on their passive +monarch, our irritated nobles at last rose, but too late, to assert +their rights. Alas! one defeat drove them to despair. Baliol was +taken, and themselves obliged to again swear fealty to their enemy. +Then came the seizure of the treasures of our monasteries, the burning +of the national records, the sequestration of our property, the +banishment of our chiefs, the violation of our women, and the slavery +or murder of the poor people yoked to the land. 'The storm of +desolation, thus raging over our country; how,' cried the young warrior +to me, 'can any of her sons shrink from the glory of again attempting +her restoration?' He then informed me that Earl de Warenne (whom +Edward had left lord warden of Scotland), was taken ill, and retired to +London, leaving Aymer de Valence to be his deputy. To this new tyrant, +De Warenne has lately sent a host of mercenaries, to hold the south of +Scotland in subjection; and to reinforce Cressingham and Ormsby, two +noted plunderers, who command northward, from Stirling to the shores of +Sutherland. + +"With these representations of the conduct of our oppressors, the brave +knight demonstrated the facility with which invaders, drunk with power, +and gorged with rapine, could be vanquished by a resolute and hardy +people. The absence of Edward, who is now abroad, increases the +probability of success. The knight's design is to infuse his own +spirit into the bosoms of the chiefs in this part of the kingdom. By +their assistance, to seize the fortresses in the Lowlands, and so form +a chain of repulsion against the admission of fresh troops from +England. Then, while other chiefs (to whom he means to apply) rise in +the Highlands, the Southron garrisons there, being unsupported by +supplies, must become an easy prey, and would yield men of consequence, +to be exchanged for our countrymen, now prisoners in England. For the +present, he wishes to be furnished with troops merely enough to take +some castle, of power sufficient to give confidence to his friends. On +his becoming master of such a place, it should be the signal for all to +declare themselves; and, rising at once, overwhelm Edward's garrisons +in every part of Scotland. + +"This is the knight's plan; and for your sake, as well as for the +cause. I hope the first fortress he gains may be that of Dumbarton. +It has been always considered the key of the country." + +"May Heaven grant it, holy father," returned Helen, "and whoever this +knight may be, I pray the blessed St. Andrew to guide his arms!" + +"If I may venture to guess who he is," replied the hermit, "I would say +that noble brow was formed to some day wear a crown." + +"What!" cried Helen, starting, "you think this knight is the royal +Bruce?" + +"I am at a loss what to think," replied the hermit; "he has a most +princely air; and there is such an overflowing of soul toward his +country, when he speaks of it, that--Such love can spring from no other +than the royal heart, created to foster and to bless it." + +"But is he not too young?" inquired Helen. "I have heard my father say +that Bruce, Lord of Annandale, the opponent of Baliol for the crown, +was much his senior; and that his son, the Earl of Carrick, must be now +fifty years of age. This knight, if I am any judge of looks, cannot be +twenty-five." + +"True," answered the hermit; "and yet he may be a Bruce. For it is +neither of the two you have mentioned that I mean; but the grandson of +the one, and the son of the other. You may see by this silver beard, +lady, that the winter of my life is far spent. The elder Bruce, +Robert, Lord of Annandale, was my contemporary; we were boys together, +and educated at the same college in Icolmkill. He was brave, and +passed his manhood in visiting different courts; at last, marrying a +lady of the princely house of Clare, he took her to France, and +confided his only son to be brought up under the renowned St. Louis. +This young Robert took the cross while quite a youth; and carrying the +banner of the holy King of France to the plains of Palestine, covered +himself with glory. In storming a Saracen fortress, he rescued the +person of Prince Edward of England. The horrible tyrant, who now +tramples on all laws, human and divine, was then in the bloom of youth, +defending the cause of Christianity! Think on that, sweet lady, and +marvel at the changing power of ambition! + +"From that hour a strict friendship subsisted between the two young +crusaders; and when Edward mounted the throne of England, it being then +the ally of Scotland, the old Earl of Annandale, to please his brave +son, took up his residence at the English court. When the male issue +of our King David failed in the untimely death of Alexander III., then +came the contention between Bruce and Baliol for the vacant crown. Our +most venerable chiefs, the guardians of our laws, and the witnesses of +the parliamentary settlement made on the house of Bruce during the +reign of the late king, all declared for Lord Annandale. He was not +only the male heir in propinquity of blood, but his experienced years +and known virtues excited all true Scots to place him on the throne. + +"Meanwhile Edward, forgetting friendship to his friend, and fidelity to +a faithful ally, was undermining the interest of Bruce, and the peace +of the kingdom. Inferior rivals to our favorite to our favorite prince +were soon discountenanced; but by covert ways, with bribes and +promises, the King of England raised such a opposition on the side of +Baliol, as threatened a civil war. Secure in his right, and averse to +plunging his country in blood, Bruce easily fell in with a proposal +insidiously hinted to him by one of Edward's creatures--'to require that +monarch to be umpire between him and Baliol.' Then it was that Edward, +after soliciting the requisition as an honor to be conferred on him, +declared it was his right as supreme lord of Scotland. The Earl of +Annandale refused to acknowledge this assumption. Baliol bowed to it; +and for such obedience, the unrighteous judge gave him the crown. +Bruce absolutely refused to acknowledge the justice of this decision; +and so to avoid the power of the king who had betrayed his rights, and +the jealousy of the other who had usurped them, he immediately left the +scene of action, going over seas, to join his son, who had been cajoled +away to Paris. But, alas! he died on the road of a broken heart. + +"When his son Robert (who was Earl of Carrick in right of his wife) +returned to Britain, he, like his father, disdained to acknowledge +Baliol as king. But being more incensed at his successful rival, than +at the treachery of his false friend Edward, he believed his glossing +speeches; and--by what infatuation I cannot tell--established his +residence at the monarch's court. This forgetfulness of his royal +blood, and of the independence of Scotland, has nearly obliterated him +from every Scottish heart; for, when we look at Bruce the courtier, we +cease to remember Bruce the descendant of St. David-Bruce the valiant +knight of the Cross, who bled for true liberty before the walls of +Jerusalem. + +"His eldest son may be now about the age of the young knight who has +just left us; and when I look on his royal port, and listen to the +patriotic fervors of his royal soul, I cannot but think that the spirit +of his noble grandsire has revived in his breast, and that, leaving his +indolent father to the vassal luxuries of Edward's palace, he is come +hither in secret, to arouse Scotland, and to assert his claim." + +"It is very likely," rejoined Helen, deeply sighing; "and may Heaven +reward his virtue with the crown of his ancestors." + +"To that end," replied the Hermit, "shall my hands be lifted up in +prayer day and night. May I, O gracious Power!" cried he, looking +upward, and pressing the cross to his breast, "live but to see that +hero victorious, and Scotland free, and then 'let thy servant depart in +peace, since mine eyes will have seen her salvation!'" + +"Her salvation, father?" said Helen, timidly. "Is not that too sacred +a word to apply to anything, however dear, that relates to earth?" + +She blushed as she spoke; and fearful of having too daringly objected, +looked down as she awaited his answer. The hermit observed her +attentively; and, with a benign smile, replied, "Earth and heaven are +the work of the Creator. He careth alike for angel and for man; and +therefore nothing that he has made is too mean to be the object of his +salvation. The word is comprehensive; in one sense it may signify our +redemption from sin and death by the coming of the Lord of Life into +this world; and in another, it intimates the different means b which +Providence decrees the ultimate happiness of men. Happiness can only +be found in virtue; virtue cannot exit without liberty; and the seat of +liberty is good laws! Hence when Scotland is again made free, the +bonds of the tyrant who corrupts her principles with temptations, or +compels her to iniquity by threats, are broken. Again the honest +peasant may cultivate his lands in security, the liberal hand feed the +hungry, and industry spread smiling plenty through all ranks; every man +to whom his Maker hath given talents, let them be one or five, may +apply them to their use; and, by eating the bread of peaceful labor, +rear families to virtuous action and the worship of God. The nobles, +meanwhile, looking alone to the legislation of Heaven and to the laws +of Scotland, which alike demand justice and mercy from all, will live +the fathers of their country, teaching her brave sons that the only +homage which does not debase a man, is that which he pays to virtue and +to God. + +"This it is to be free; this it is to be virtuous; this it is to be +happy; this it is to live the life of righteousness, and to die in the +hope of immortal glory. Say then, dear daughter, if, in praying for +the liberty of Scotland, I said too much in calling it her salvation?" + +"Forgive me, father," cried Helen, overcome with shame at having +questioned him. + +"Forgive you what?" returned he. "I love the holy zeal which is +jealous of allowing objects, dear even to your wishes, to encroach on +the sanctuary of heaven. Be ever thus, meek child of the church, and +no human idol will be able to usurp that part of your virgin heart +which belongs to God." + +Helen blushed. + +"My heart, reverend father," returned she, "has but one wish--the +liberty of Scotland; and, with that, the safety of my father and his +brave deliverers." + +"Sir William Wallace I never have seen," rejoined the hermit; "but, +when he was quite a youth, I heard of his graceful victories in the +mimic war of the jousts at Berwick, when Edward first marched into this +country under the mask of friendship. From what you have said, I do +not doubt his being a worthy supporter of Bruce. However, dear +daughter, as it is only a suspicion of mine that this knight is that +young prince, for his safety, and for the sake of the cause, we must +not let that name escape our lips; no, not even to your relations when +you rejoin them, nor to the youth whom his humanity put under my +protection. Till he reveals his own secret, for us to divulge it would +be folly and dishonor." + +Helen bowed acquiescence; and the hermit proceeded to inform her who +the youth was whom the stranger had left to be her page. + +In addition to what the knight had himself told her of Walter Hay, the +unfortunate shepherd boy of the ruined hut, her venerable host narrated +that the young warrior having quitted the holy cell after his first +appearance there, soon returned with the wounded youth, whom he had +found. He committed him to the care of the hermit, promising to +revisit him on his way from the south, and take the recovered Walter +under his own protection. "He then left us," continued the old man, +"but soon reappeared with you; showing, in the strongest language, that +he who, in spite of every danger, succors the sons and daughters of +violated Scotland, is proclaimed by the Spirit of Heaven to be her +future deliverer and king." + +As he ended speaking, he rose; and taking Helen by the hand, led her +into an inner excavation of the rock, where a bed of dried leaves lay +on the ground. "Here, gentle lady," said he, "I leave you to repose. +In the evening I expect a lay brother from St. Oran's Monastery, and he +will be your messenger to the friends you may wish to rejoin. At +present, may gentlest seraphs guard your slumbers!" + +Helen, fatigued in spirit and in body, thanked the good hermit for his +care; and bowing to his blessing, he left her to repose. + + + + +Chapter XVIII. + +Cartlane Craigs, and Glenfinlass. + + +Guided by Ker, Murray led his followers over the Lanark Hills, by the +most untrodden paths; and hence avoided even the sight of a Southron +soldier. + +Cheered by so favourable a commencement of their expedition, they even +felt no dismay when, in the gloom of the evening, Ker descried a body +of armed men at a distance, sitting round a fire at the foot of a +beetling rock which guards the western entrance to the Cartlane Craigs. +Murray ordered his men to proceed under covert of the bushes; and then +making the signal (concerted in case of such dilemma), they stuck their +iron crows into the interstices of the cliff, and catching at the +branches which grew out of its precipitous side, with much exertion, +but in perfect silence, at last gained the summit. That effected, they +pursued their way with the same caution, till after a long march, and +without encountering a human being, they reached the base of the huge +rock which Wallace had made his fortress. + +Ker, who expected to find it surrounded by the English army, was amazed +at the death-like solitude. "The place is deserted," cried he. "My +brave friend, compelled by the extremity of his little garrison, has +been obliged to surrender." + +"We will ascend and see," was Murray's answer. + +Ker led round the rock to the most accessible point; and, mounting by +the projecting stones, with some difficulty gained the top. Silence +pervaded every part; and the rugged cavities at the summit, which had +formed the temporary quarters of his comrades, were lonely. On +entering the recess where Wallace used to seek a few minutes' slumber, +the moon, which shone full into the cave, discovered something bright +lying in a distant corner. Ker hastily approached it, recollecting +what means of escape, he would leave some weapon as a sign; a dagger, +if necessity drove him to the south point, where he must fight his way +through the valley; an arrow, if he could effect it without +observation, by the north, as he should then seek an asylum for his +exhausted followers in the wilds of Glenfinlass. + +It was the iron head of an arrow which the moon had silvered; and Ker, +catching it up, with a gladdened countenance exclaimed, "He is safe! +this calls us to Glenfinlass." He then explained to Murray what had +been the arrangement of Wallace respecting this sign, and without +hesitation the young lord decided to follow him up that track. + +Turning toward the northern part of the cliff, they came to spot +beneath which had been the strongest guard of the enemy, but now, like +the rest, it was entirely abandoned. A narrow winding path led from +this rocky platform to a fall of water, rearing and rushing by the +mouth of a large cavern. After they had descended the main craig, they +clambered over the top of this cave, and, entering upon another sweep +of rugged hills, commenced a rapid march. + +Traversing the lower part of Stirlingshire, they crossed Graham's +Dike;** and pursuing their course westward, left Stirling Castle far to +the right. They ascended the Ochil Hills, and proceeding along the +wooded heights which overhang the banks of Teith, forded that river, +and entered at once into the broad valley which opened to them a +distant view of Ben Lomond and Ben Ledi. + +**The great wall of Severus, which runs between Abercorn and +Kirkpatrick, being attacked by the Scotts at the time the Romans +abandoned Britain, a huge breach was made in it by Graham (or Greame), +the uncle of the young king of Scots. By this achievement he conquered +the whole of the country as far as the Cheviots, and the wall of +Severus has since been called Graham's Dike-(1809.) + +"There," exclaimed Ker, extending his hand toward the cloud-capped +Ledi, "beneath the shadow of that mountain, we shall find the light of +Scotland, our dear master in arms!" + +At this intimation, the wearied Murrays--like seamen long harassed on a +tempestuous ocean at sight of a port--uttered a shout of joy; and +hastening forward with renovated strength, met a foaming river in their +path. Despising all obstacles, they rushed in, and, buffeting the +waves, soon found a firm footing on the opposite shore. The sun shone +cheerily above their heads, illuminating the umbrageous sides of the +mountains with a dewy splendor, while Ben Ledi, the standard of their +hope, seemed to wave them on, as the white clouds streamed from its +summit, or, rolling down its dark sides, floated in strange visionary +shapes over the lakes beneath. + +When the little troop halted on the shore of Loch Venachoir, the mists +which had lingered on the brow of Ledi slowly descended into the +valley; and covering the mouth of the pass that led from the loch, +seemed to shut them at once between the mountain and that world of +waters. Ker, who had never been in these tracks before, wondered at +their sublimity, and became alarmed lest they should lose their way +amid such infinite windings. But Murray, who remembered having once +explored them with his father, led promptly forward by a steep, rough +road in the side of the mountain. As they clung by the slippery rocks +which overhung the lake, its mists dissolved into a heavy shower, and, +by degrees clearing away, discovered the shining heads of Ben Lomond +and Ben Chochan. + +The party soon entered a precipitous labyrinth of craigs; and, passing +onward, gradually descended amid pouring torrents, and gaping chasms +overlaced with branching trees, till the augmented roar of waters +intimated to Murray, they drew near the great fall of Glenfinlass. The +river, though rushing on its course with the noise of thunder, was +scarcely discerned through the thick forest which groaned over its +waves. Here towered a host of stately pines; and there the lofty +beeches, birches, and mountain-oak, bending over the flood, interwove +their giant arms; forming an arch so impenetrable, that while the sun +brightened the tops of the mountains, all beneath lay in deepest +midnight. + +The awful entrance to this sublime valley struck the whole party with a +feeling that made them pause. It seemed as it to these sacred +solitudes, hidden in the very bosom of Scotland, no hostile foot dared +intrude. Murray looked at Ker. "We go, my friend, to arouse the +genius of our country! Here are the native fastnesses of Scotland; and +from this pass the spirit will issue that is to bid her enslaved sons +and daughters be free." + +They entered, and with beating hearts pursued their way along the +western border of Loch Lubnaig, till the royal heights of +Craignacoheilg showed their summits, covered with heath and many an +ivied turret. The forest, stretching far over the valley, lost its +high trees in the shadows of the surrounding mountains, and told them +they were now in the center of Glenfinlass. + +Ker put his bugle to his lips, and sounded the pibroch of Ellerslie. A +thousand echoes returned the notes; and after a pause, which allowed +their last response to die away, the air was answered by a horn from +the heights of Cragnacoheilg. An armed man then appeared on the rock, +leaning forward. Ker drew near, and taking off his bonnet, called +aloud: "Stephen! it is William Ker who speaks. I come with the Lord +Andrew Murray of Bothwell, to the support of our commander, Sir William +Wallace." + +At these words, Stephen placed his bugle to his mouth, and in a few +minutes the rock was covered with the members of its little garrison. +Women and children appeared, shouting with joy; and the men, descending +the side near the glen, hastened to bid their comrade welcome. One +advanced toward Murray, whom he instantly recognized to be Sir Roger +Kirkpatrick of Torthorald. The chiefs saluted each other; and Lord +Andrew pointed to his men: "I have brought," said he, "these few brave +fellows to the aid of Sir William Wallace. They should have been more, +but for new events of Southron outrage. Yet I am impatient to lead +them to the presence of my uncle's preserver." + +Kirkpatrick's answer disappointed the eager spirit of the young +warrior: "I am sorry, brave Murray, that you have no better knight to +receive you than myself. I and the gallant chief have not yet met; but +I am in arms for him; and the hour of retribution for all our injuries, +I trust, is at hand." + +"But where is Sir William Wallace?" demanded Murray. + +"Gone toward the Forth, to rouse that part of sleeping Scotland. If +all he meet have my spirit, they will not require a second call. Now +is the time to aim the blow; I shall ever give thanks to the accident +which brought me the welcome news, that an arm is raised to strike it +home." + +As he spoke, he led Murray to the rampart-like cliffs which crown the +summit of Craignacoheilg. In the midst stood a tower, which had once +been a favorite hunting-lodge of the great King Fergus. There +Kirkpatrick joyfully greeted his guest a second time: "This," said he, +"is the far-famed lodge of the three kings: here did our lion, Fergus, +attended by his royal allies, Durstus the Pict, and Dionethus the +Briton, spread his board during their huntings in Glenfinlass! And +here eight hundred years ago, did the same heroic prince form the plans +which saved his kingdom from a foreign yoke! On the same spot we will +lay ours; and in their completion, rescue Scotland from a tyranny more +intolerable than that which menaced him. Yes, Murray; there is not a +stone in this building that does not call aloud to us to draw the +sword, and hold it unsheathed till our country be free." + +"And by the ghost of that same Fergus, I swear," exclaimed Murray, +"that my honest claymore shall never shroud its head while an invader +be left alive in Scotland." + +Kirkpatrick caught him in his arms. "Brave son of the noble Bothwell, +thou art after mine own heart! The blow which the dastard Cressingham +durst aim at a Scottish chief, still smarts upon my cheek; and rivers +of his countrymen's blood shall wash out the stain. After I had been +persuaded by his serpent eloquence to swear fealty to Edward on the +defeat at Dunbar, I vainly thought that Scotland had only changed a +weak and unfortunate prince for a wise and victorious king; but when in +the courts of Stirling, I heard Cressingham propose to the barons north +of the dike, that they should give their strongest castles into English +hands; when I opposed the measure with all the indignation of a Scot +who saw himself betrayed, he first tried to overturn my arguments, and +finding that impossible, while I repeated them with redoubled force--he +struck me!-Powers of earth and heaven, what was then the tempest of my +soul!-I drew my sword--I would have laid him dead at my feet, had not my +obsequious countrymen held my arm, and dragged me from the apartment. + +"Covered with dishonor by a blow I could not avenge. I fled to my +brother-in-law, Sir John Scott, of Loch Doine. With him I buried my +injury from the world; but it lived in my heart--it haunted me day and +night, calling for revenge. + +"In such an hour, how did I receive the tidings, that Sir William +Wallace was in arms against the tyrant! It was the voice of +retribution, calling me to peace of mind! Even my bedridden kinsman +partook my emotions; and with his zealous concurrence, I led a band of +his hardiest clansmen, to reinforce the brave men of Lanark on this +rock. + +"Two days I have now been here, awaiting in anxious impatience the +arrival of Wallace. Yes! we will mingle our injured souls together! +He has made one offering; I must make another! We shall set forth to +Stirling; and there, in the very heart of his den, I will sacrifice the +tiger Cressingham, to the vengeance of our wrongs." + +"But what, my brave friend," asked Murray, "are the forces you deem +sufficient for so great an enterprise? How many fighting men may be +counted of Wallace's own company, besides your own?" + +"We have here about a hundred," replied Kirkpatrick, "including yours." + +"How inadequate to storm so formidable a place as Stirling Castle!" +returned Murray. "Having, indeed, passed the Rubicon, we must go +forward, but resolution, not rashness, should be the principle of our +actions. And my opinion is, that a few minor advantages obtained, our +countrymen would flock to our standard, the enemy would be intimidated, +and we should carry thousands, instead of hundreds, before the walls of +Stirling. To attempt it now would invite defeat, and bring upon us the +ruin of our entire project." + +"You are right, young man," cried Kirkpatrick; "my gray head, rendered +impetuous by insult, did not pause on the blind temerity of my scheme. +I would rather for years watch the opportunity of taking a signal +revenge than not accomplish it at last. Oh! I would rather waste all +my life in these solitary wilds and know that at the close of it I +should see the blood of Cressingham on these hands than live a prince +and die unrevenged!" + +Stephen and Ker now entered; the latter paid his respects to Sir Roger, +and the former informed Murray that having disposed his present +followers with those who had arrived before, he was come to lead their +lord to some refreshment in the banqueting room of the tower. "What?" +cried Murray, full of glad amazement; "is it possible that my cousin's +faithful band has reached its destination? None other belonging to +Bothwell Castle had any chance of escaping its jailer's hands." + +Kirkpatrick interrupted Stephen's reply by saying that while their +guests were at the board he would watch the arrival of certain +expresses from two brave Drummonds, each of whom was to send him a +hundred men: "So, my good Lord Andrew," cried he, striking him on the +shoulder, "shall the snow-launch gather that is to fall on Edward to +his destruction." + +Murray heartily shared his zeal, and bidding him a short adieu, +followed Stephen and Ker into the hall. A haunch of venison of +Glenfinlass smoked on the board, and goblets of wine from the bounteous +cellars of Sir John Scott brightened the hopes which glowed in every +heart. + +While the young chieftains were recruiting their exhausted strength, +Stephen sat at the table to satisfy the anxiety of Murray to know how +the detachment from Bothwell had come to Craignacoheilg, and by what +fortunate occurrence, or signal act of bravery, Wallace could have +escaped with his whole train from the foe surrounding Cartlane Craigs. + +"Heaven smiled on us!" replied Stephen. "The very evening of the day +on which Ker left us there was a carousal in the English camp. We +heard the sound of the song and of riot, and of many an insult cast +upon our besieged selves. But about an hour after sunset the noise +sunk by degrees--a no insufficient hint that the revelers, overcome by +excess, had fallen asleep. At this very time, owing to the heat of the +day, so great a vapor had been exhaled from the lake beneath that the +whole of the northern side of the fortress cliff was covered with a +mist so exceedingly thick we could not discern each other at a foot's +distance. 'Now is the moment!' said our gallant leader; 'the enemy are +stupefied with wine, the rock is clothed in a veil!-it is the shield of +God that is held before us! under its shelter let us pass from their +hands!" + +"He called us together, and making the proper dispositions, commanded +the children and women, on their lives, to keep silence. He then led +us to the top of the northern cliff; it overhung an obscure cave which +he knew opened at its extremity. By the assistance of a rope, held +above by several men, our resolute chief (twisting it round one arm to +steady him, and with the other catching by the projecting stones of the +precipice) made his way down the rock, and was the first who descended. +He stood at the bottom, enveloped in the cloud which shrouded the +mountain, till all the men of the first division had cleared the +height; he then marshaled them with their pikes toward the foe, in case +of an alarm. But all remained quiet on that spot, although the sounds +of voices, both in song and laughter, intimated that the utmost +precaution was still necessary, as a wakeful and yet reveling part of +the enemy were not far distant. + +"Wallace reascended the rock half way; and receiving the children, +which their trembling mothers lowered into this arms, he handed them to +the old men, who carried them safely through the bushes which obscured +the cave's mouth. The rest of our little garrison soon followed; then +our sentinels, receiving the signal that all were safe, drew silently +from their guard, and closed our march through the cavern. + +"This effected, we blocked up its egressing mouth, that, should our +escape be discovered, the enemy might not find the direct road we had +taken. + +"We pursued our course without stop or stay till we reached the +hospitable valleys of Stirlingshire. There some king shepherds gave +the woman and children temporary shelter; and Wallace, seeing that if +anything were to be done for Scotland, he must swell the host, put the +part under my guidance, giving me orders that when they were rested I +should march them to Glenfinlass, here to await his return. Selecting +ten men, with that small band he turned toward the Forth, hoping to +meet some valiant friends in that part of the country read to embrace +her cause. + +"He had hardly been an hour departed when Dugald observed a procession +of monks descending the opposite mountain. They drew near and halted +in the glen. A crowd of women from the neighboring hills had followed +the train, and were now gathering around a bier which the monks set +down. I know not by what happy fortune I came close to the leader of +the procession, but he saw something in my old rough features that +declared me an honest Scot. 'Friend,' whispered he, 'for charity +conduct us to some safe place where we may withdraw this bier from the +sacrilegious eye of curiosity.' + +"I made no hesitation, but desired the train to follow me into a byre +belonging to the good shepherd who was my host. On this motion the +common people went away, and the monks entered the place. + +"When the travelers threw up their hoods, which as mourners they had +worn over their faces, I could not help exclaiming, 'Alas, for the +glory of Scotland, that this goodly group of stout young men rather +wear the cowl than the helmet!' 'How!' asked their principal (who did +not appear to have seen thirty years), 'do we not pray for the glory of +Scotland? Such is our weapon.' 'True,' replied I, 'but while Moses +prayed Joshua fought. God gives the means of glory that they should be +used.' 'But for what, old veteran,' said the monk, with a penetrating +look, 'should we exchange our cowl for the helmet? knowest thou +anything of the Joshua who would lead us to the field?' There was +something in the young priest's eyes that seemed to contradict his +pacific words; they flashed as impetuous fire. My reply was short: +'Are you a Scot?' 'I am, in soul and in arms.' 'Then knowest thou not +the chief of Ellerslie?' As I spoke, for I stood close to the bier, I +perceived the pall shake. The monk answered my last question with an +exclamation--'You mean Sir William Wallace!' + +"'Yes!' I replied. The bier shook more violently at these words, and, +with my hair bristling from my head, I saw the pall hastily thrown off, +and a beautiful youth, in a shroud, started from it, crying aloud, +'Then is our pilgrimage at an end! Lead us to him!' + +"The monk perceived my terror, and hastily exclaimed. 'Fear not! he is +alive, and seeks Sir William Wallace. His pretended death was a +stratagem to insure our passage through the English army; for we are +soldiers like yourself.' As he spoke, he opened his gray habit, and +showed me the mailed tartans beneath." + +"What, then!" interrupted Murray, "these monks were my faithful +clansmen?" + +"The same," replied Stephen; "I assured them that they might now resume +their own character; for all who inhabited the valley we were then in +were true, though poor and aged Scots. The young had long been drafted +by Edward's agents, to fight his battles abroad. + +"'Ah!' interrupted the shrouded youth, 'are we a people that can die +for the honor of this usurper, and are we ignorant how to do it for our +country? Lead us, soldier of Wallace,' cried he, stepping resolutely +on the ground, 'lead us to your brave master; and tell him that a few +determined men are come to shed their blood for him and Scotland.' + +"This astonishing youth (for he did not appear to be more than fifteen) +stood before me in his robes of death, like the spirit of some +bright-haired son of Fingal. I looked on him with admiration; and +explaining our situation, told him whither Wallace was gone, and of our +destination to await him in the forest of Glenfinlass. + +"While your brave clansmen were refreshing themselves, we learned from +Kenneth, their conductor, that the troop left Bothwell under +expectation of your soon following them. They had well under +expectation of our soon following them. They had not proceeded far +before their scouts perceived the outposts of the English, which +surrounded Cartlane Craigs; and to avoid this danger, they took a +circuitous path, in hopes of finding some at the western side of the +craigs. Kenneth knew the abbot; and entering it under covert of the +night, obtained permission for his men to rest there. The youth, now +their companion, was a student in the church. He had been sent thither +by his mother, a pious lady, in the hope that, as he is of a very +gentle nature, he would attach himself to the sacred tonsure. But +courage often springs with most strength in the softest frames. + +"The moment this youth discovered our errand he tried every persuasion +to prevail on the abbot to permit him to accompany us. But his +entreaties were vain, till wrought up to vehement anger he threatened +that if he were prevented joining Sir William Wallace, he would take +the earliest opportunity to escape, and commit himself to the peril of +the English pikes. + +"Seeing him determined the abbot granted his wish; 'and then it was,' +said Kenneth, 'that the youth seemed inspired. It was no longer an +enthusiastic boy we saw before us, but an angel, gifted with wisdom to +direct and enterprise to lead us. It was he proposed disguising +ourselves as a funeral procession; and while he painted his blooming +countenance of a death-like paleness and stretched himself on this +bier, the abbot sent to the English army to request permission for a +party of monks to cross the craigs to the cave of St. Colomba, in +Stirlingshire, whither they carried a dead brother to be entombed. Our +young leader hoped we might thus find an opportunity to apprise Wallace +we were friends, and ready to swell the ranks of his little armament. + +"'On our entrance into the passes of the craigs,' continued Kenneth, +'the English captain there mentioned the fate of Bothwell, and the +captivity of Lord Mar; and with very little courtesy to sons of the +church, ordered the bier to be opened, to see whether it did really +contain a corpse, or provisions for our besieged countrymen. We had +certainly expected this investigation; else we might as well have +wrapped the trunk of a tree in the shroud we carried as a human being. +We knew that the superstitious hatred of the Southrons would not allow +them to touch a Scottish corpse, and therefore we feared no detection +from the eye's examination alone. This ceremony once over, we expected +to have passed on without further notice; and in that case the youth +would have left his pall, and performed the remainder of his journey in +a similar disguise with the rest; but the strict watch of an English +guard confined him wholly to the bier. In hopes of at last evading +this vigilance, on pretense of a vow of the deceased that his bearers +should perform a pilgrimage throughout the craigs, we traversed them in +every direction; and, I make no doubt, would have finally wearied out +our guard, and gained our point, had not the circumstance transpired of +Wallace's escape. + +"'How he had effected it, his enemies could not guess. Not a man of +the besiegers was missing from his post; and not an avenue appeared by +which they could trace his flight: but gone he was, and with him his +whole train. On this disappointment the Southron captains retired to +Glasgow, to their commander-in-chief, to give as good an account as +they could of so disgraceful a termination of their siege. Dismayed at +this intelligence, our peculiar guard hurried us into Stirlingshire, +and left us at the other side of the mountain. But even then we were +not free to release our charge, for, attracted by our procession, the +country people followed us into the valley. Yet had we not met with +you, it was our design to throw off our disguises in the first place, +and, divided into small bands, have severally sought Sir William +Wallace." + +"But where," demanded Murray, who had listened with delighted +astonishment to this recital, "where is this admirable youth? Why, if +Kenneth have learned I am arrived, does he not bring him to receive my +thanks and friendship?" + +"It is my fault," returned Stephen, "that Kenneth will not approach you +till your repast is over. I left him to see your followers properly +refreshed. And for the youth, he seems timid of appearing before you. +Even his name I cannot make known to you till he reveals it himself: +none know him here by any other name than that of Edwin. He has, +however, granted to-morrow morning for the interview." + +"I must submit to his determination," replied Murray; "but I am at a +loss to guess why so brave a creature should hesitate to meet me. I +can only suppose he dislikes the idea of resigning the troop he has so +well conducted; and if so, I shall think it my duty to yield its +command to him." + +"Indeed he richly deserves it," returned Stephen; "for the very soul of +Wallace seemed transfused into his breast, as he cheered us through our +long march from the valley to Glenfinlass; he played with the children, +heartened up the women; and when the men were weary, and lagged by the +way, he sat down on the nearest stones, and sung to us legends of our +ancestors, till every nerve was braced with warlike emulation, and +starting up, we proceeded onward with resolution and even gayety. + +"When we arrived at Craignacoheilg, as the women were in great want, I +suddenly recollected that I had an old friend in the neighborhood. +When a boy, I had been the playfellow of Sir John Scott of Loch Doine; +and though I understood him to be now an invalid, I went to him. When +I told my tale, his brother-in-law, Sir Roger Kirkpatrick, took fire at +my relation, and declared his determination to accompany me to +Craignacoheilg; and when he joined our band on the summit of this rock, +he took the children in his arms, and while he held their hands in his, +vehemently addressed their mothers, 'Let not these hands be baptized,** +till they had been washed in the blood of our foe. Mercy belongs not +to the enemy, now doomed to fall beneath their father's swords!'" + +**It was a custom with Scottish chiefs when any feud existed between +their families, to leave the right hand of their children untouched by +the holy water in baptism, as a sign that no law, even of Heaven, +should prevent them taking revenge. + +"It is, indeed a deadly contest," rejoined Murray; "for evil has been +the example of that foe. How many innocent bosoms have their steel +pierced! How many helpless babes have their merciless hands dashed +against the stones! Oh, ruthless war! even a soldier trembles to +contemplate thy horrors." + +"Only till he can avenge them!" cried a stern voice, entering the +apartment. It was Kirkpatrick's, and he proceeded: "When vengeance is +in our grasp, tell me, brave Murray, who will then tremble? Dost thou +not feel retribution in thine own hands? Dost thou not see the +tyrant's blood at thy feet?" As he spoke, he looked down, with a horrid +exultation in his eyes; and, bursting into a more horrible laugh, +struck his hand several times on his heart: "It glads me! I shall see +it--and this arm shall assist to pull him down." + +"His power in Scotland may fall," returned Murray; "but Edward will be +too careful of his life to come within reach of our steel." + +"That may be," rejoined Kirkpatrick; "but my dagger shall yet drink the +blood of his agents. Cressingham shall feel my foot upon his neck! +Cressingham shall see that hand torn from its wrist, which durst to +violate the unsullied cheek of a true Scotsman. Murray, I cannot live +unrevenged." + +As he spoke, he quitted the apartment, and with a countenance of such +tremendous fate, that the young warrior doubted it was human; it spoke +not the noble resolves of patriotism, but the portentous malignity with +which the great adversary of mankind determines the ruin of nations; it +seemed to wither the grass on which he moved; and Murray almost thought +that the clouds darkened as the gloomy knight issued from the porch +into the open air. + +Kenneth Mackenzie joyfully entered the hall. Murray received him with +a warm embrace; and, soon after, Stephen Ireland led the wearied +chieftain to a bed of freshly-gathered heath, prepared for him in an +upper chamber. + + + + +Chapter XIX. + +Craignacoheilg. + + +Sleep, the gentle sister of that awful power which shrouds man in its +cold bosom, and bears him in still repose to the blissful wakefulness +of eternal life--she, sweet restorer! wraps him in her balmy embraces, +and extracting from his wearied limbs the effects of every toil, safely +relinquishes the refreshed slumberer at morn to the new-born vigor that +is her gift; to the gladsome breezes which call us forth to labor and +enjoyment. + +Such was the rest of the youthful Murray, till the shrill notes of a +hundred bugles piercing his ear made him start. He listened; they +sounded again. The morning had fully broke. He sprung from his couch, +hurried on his armor, and snatching up his lance and target, issued +from the tower. Several women were flying past the gate. On seeing +him, they exclaimed, "The Lord Wallace is arrived--his bugles have +sounded--our husbands are returned!" + +Murray followed their eager footsteps, and reached the edge of the rock +just as the brave group were ascending. A stranger was also there, +who, from his extreme youth and elegance, he judged must be the young +protector of his clansmen; but he forbore to address him until they +should be presented to each other by Wallace himself. + +It was indeed the same. On hearing the first blast of the horn, the +youthful chieftain had hastened from his bed of heath, and buckling on +his brigandine, rushed to the rock; but at the sight of the noble +figure which first gained the summit, the young hero fell back. An +indescribable awe checked his steps, and he stood at a distance, while +Kirkpatrick welcomed the chief, and introduced Lord Andrew Murray. +Wallace received the latter with a glad smile; and taking him warmly by +the hand, "Gallant Murray," said he, "with such assistance, I hope to +reinstate your brave uncle in Bothwell Castle, and soon to cut a +passage to even a mightier rescue! We must carry off Scotland from the +tyrant's arms; or," added he, in a graver tone, "we shall only rivet +her chains the closer." + +"I am but a poor auxiliary," returned Murray; "my troop is a scanty +one, for it is my own gathering. It is not my father's nor my uncle's +strength, that I bring along with me. But there is one here," +continued he, "who has preserved a party of men, sent by my cousin Lady +Helen Mar, almost double my numbers." + +At this reference to the youthful warrior, Sir Roger Kirkpatrick +discerned him at a distance, and hastened toward him, while Murray +briefly related to Wallace the extraordinary conduct of this unknown. +On being told that the chief waited to receive him, the youth hastened +forward with a trepidation he had never felt before; but it was a +trepidation that did not subtract from his own worth. It was the +timidity of a noble heart, which believed it approached one of the most +perfect among mortals; and while its anxious pulse beat to emulate such +merit, a generous consciousness of measureless inferiority embarassed +him with a confusion so amiable, that Wallace, who perceived his +extreme youth and emotion, opened his arms and embraced him. "Brave +youth," cried he, "I trust that the power which blesses our cause will +enable me to return you with many a well-earned glory, to the bosom of +your family!" + +Edwin was encouraged by the frank address of a hero whom he expected to +have found reserved, and wrapped in the deep glooms of the fate which +had roused him to be a thunderbolt of heaven; but when he saw a benign, +though pale countenance, hail him with smiles, he made a strong effort +to shake off the awe with which the name, and the dignity of figure and +mein of Wallace had oppressed him; and with a mantling blush he +replied: "My family are worthy of your esteem; my father is brave; but +my mother, fearing for me, her favorite son, prevailed on him to put me +into a monastery. Dreading the power of the English, even there she +allowed none but the abbot to know who I was. And as he chose to hide +my name--and I have burst from my concealment without her knowledge--till +I do something worthy of that name, and deserving her pardon, permit +me, noble Wallace, to follow your footsteps by the simple appellation +of Edwin." + +"Noble boy," returned the chief, "your wish shall be respected. We +urge you no further to reveal what such innate bravery must shortly +proclaim in the most honorable manner." + +The whole of the troop having ascended, while their wives, children, +and friends were rejoicing in their embraces, Wallace asked some +questions relative to Bothwell, and Murray briefly related the +disasters which had happened there. + +"My father," added he, "is still with the Lord of Loch-awe; and thither +I sent to request him to dispatch to the Cartlane Craigs all the +followers he took with him into Argyleshire. But as things are, would +it not be well to send a second messenger, to say that you have sought +refuge in Glenfinlass?" + +"Before he could arrive," returned Wallace, "I hope we shall be where +Lord Bothwell's reinforcements may reach us by water. Our present +object must be the Earl of Mar. He is the first Scottish earl who has +hazarded his estates and life for Scotland; and as her best friend, his +liberation must be our first enterprise. In my circuit through two or +three eastern counties, a promising increase has been made to our +little army. The Frasers of Oliver Castle have given me two hundred +men; and the brave Sir Alexander Scrymgeour, whom I met in West +Lothian, has not only brought fifty stout Scots to my command, but, as +hereditary standard-bearer of the kingdom, has come himself to carry +the royal banner of Scotland to glory or oblivion." + +"To glory!" cried Murray, waving his sword; "O! not while a Scot +survives, shall that blood-red lion** again lick the dust!" + +**A lion gules, in a field or, is the arms of Scotland.-(1809.) + +"No," cried Kirkpatrick, his eyes flashing fire; "rather may every Scot +and every Southron fall in the struggle, and fill one grave! Let me," +cried he, sternly grasping the hilt of his sword, and looking upward, +"let me, oh, Saviour of mankind, live but to see the Forth and the +Clyde, so often reddened with our blood, dye the eastern and the +western oceans with the vital flood of these our foes; and when none is +spared, then let me die in peace." + +The eyes of Wallace glanced on the young Edwin, who stood gazing on +Kirkpatrick, and turning on the knight with a powerful look of +apprehension-"Check that prayer," cried he; "remember my brave +companion, what the Saviour of mankind was; and then think, whether he, +who offered life to all the world, will listen to so damning an +invocation. If we would be blessed in the contest, we must be +merciful." + +"To whom?" exclaimed Kirkpatrick; "to the robbers who tear from us our +lands; to the ruffians who wrest from us our honors? But you are +patient; you never received a blow!" + +"Yes," cried Wallace, turning paler; "a heavy one--on my heart." + +"True," returned Kirkpatrick, "your wife fell dead under the steel of a +Southron governor; and you slew him for it! You were revenged; your +feelings were appeased." + +"Not the death of fifty thousand governors," replied Wallace, "could +appease my feelings. Revenge were insufficient to satisfy the +yearnings of my soul." For a moment he covered his agitated features +with his hand, and then proceeded: "I slew Heselrigge because he was a +monster, under whom the earth groaned. My sorrow, deep as it was--was +but one of many, which his rapacity, and his nephew's licentiousness, +the whole nation without reserve! When the sword of war is drawn, all +who resist must conquer or fall; but there are some noble English who +abhor the tyranny they are obliged to exercise over us, and when they +declare such remorse, shall they not find mercy at our hands? Surely, +if not for humanity's, for policy's sake we ought to give quarter; for +the exterminating sword, if not always victorious, incurs the ruin it +threatens, even hope, that by or righteous cause and our clemency, we +shall not only gather our own people to our legions but turn the hearts +of the poor Welsh and the misled Irish, whom the usurper has forced +into his armies, and so confront him with troops of his own levying. +Many of the English were too just to share in the subjugation of the +country they had sworn to befriend. And their less honorable +countrymen, when they see Scotsmen no longer consenting to their own +degradation, may take shame to themselves for assisting to betray a +confiding people." + +"That may be," returned Kirkpatrick; "but surely you would not rank +Aymer de Valence, who lords it over Dumbarton, and Cressingham, who +acts the tyrant in Stirling--you would not rank them amongst these +conscientious English?" + +"No," replied Wallace; "the haughty oppression of the one and the +wanton cruelty of the other, have given Scotland too many wounds for me +to hold a shield before them; meet them, and I leave them to your +sword." + +"And by heavens!" cried Kirkpatrick, gnashing his teeth with the fury +of a tiger, "they shall know its point!" + +Wallace then informed his friends he purposed marching next morning by +daybreak toward Dumbarton Castle. "When we make the attack," said he, +"it must be in the night; for I propose seizing it by storm." + +Murray and Kirkpatrick joyfully acquiesced. Edwin smiled an enraptured +assent, and Wallace, with many a gracious look and speech, disengaged +himself from the clinging embraces of the weaker part of the garrison, +who, seeing in him the spring of their husband's might and the guard of +their own safety, clung to him as to a presiding deity. + +"You, my dear countrywomen," said he, "shall find a home for your aged +parents, your children, and yourselves, with the venerable Sir John +Scott of Loch Doine. You are to be conducted thither this evening, and +there await in comfort the happy return of your husbands, whom +Providence now leads forth to be the champions of your country." + +Filled with enthusiasm, the women uttered a shout of triumph, and, +embracing their husbands, declared they were ready to resign them +wholly to Heaven and Sir William Wallace. + +Wallace left them with these tender relatives, from whom they were so +soon to part, and retired with his chieftains to arrange the plan of +his proposed attack. Delighted with the glory which seemed to wave to +him from the pinnacles of Dumbarton Rock, Edwin listened in profound +silence to all that was said, and then hastened to his quarters to +prepare his armor for the ensuing morning. + + + + +Chapter XX. + +The Cliffs of Loch Lubnaig. + + +In the cool of the evening, while the young chieftain was thus +employed, Kenneth entered to tell him that Sir William Wallace had +called out his little army, to see its strength and numbers. Edwin's +soul had become not more enamoured of the panoply of war than the +gracious smiles of his admired leader, and at this intelligence he +threw his plans over his brigandine, and placing a swan-plumed bonnet +on his brows, hastened forth to meet his general. + +The heights of Craignacoheilg echoed with thronging footsteps, and a +glittering light seemed issuing from her woods, as the rays of the +descending sun glanced on the arms of her assembling warriors. + +The thirty followers of Murray appeared just as the two hundred Frasers +entered from an opening in the rocks. Blood mounted into his face as +he compared his inferior numbers and recollected the obligation they +were to repay, and the greater one he was now going to incur. However +he threw the standard worked by Helen on his shoulder, and turning to +Wallace, "Behold," cried he, pointing to his men, "the poor man's mite! +It is great, for it is my all!" + +"Great, indeed, brave Murray!" returned Wallace, "for it brings me a +host in yourself." + +"I will not disgrace my standard!" said he, lowering the banner-staff +to Wallace. He started when he saw the flowing lock, which he could +not help recognizing. "This is my betrothed," continued Murray in a +blither tone; "I have sworn to take her for better for worse, and I +pledge you my truth nothing but death shall part us!" + +Wallace grasped his hand. "And I pledge you mine, that the head whence +it drew shall be laid low before I suffer so generous a defender to be +separated, dead or alive, from this standard." His eyes glanced at the +empress; "Thou art right," continued he; "God doth goest with the +confidence of success, to embrace victory as a bride!" + +"No, I am only the bridegroom's man!" replied Murray, gayly moving off; +"I shall be content with a kiss or two from the handmaids, and leave +the lady for my general." + +"Happy, happy youth!" said Wallace to himself, as his eyes pursued the +agile footsteps of the young chieftain; "no conquering affection has +yet thrown open thy heart; no deadly injury hath lacerated it with +wounds incurable. Patriotism is a virgin passion in thy breast, and +innocence and joy wait upon her!" + +"We just muster five hundred men!" observed Ker to Wallace; "but they +are all stout in heart as in condition, and ready, even to-night, if +you will it, to commence their march." + +"No," replied Wallace; "we must not overstrain the generous spirit. +Let them rest to-night, and to-morrow's dawn shall light us through the +forest." + +Ker, who acted as henchman to Wallace, now returned to the ranks to +give the word, and they marched forward. + +Sir Alexander Scrymgeour, with his golden standard charged with the +lion of Scotland, led the van. Wallace raised his bonnet from his +head, as it drew near. Scrymgeour lowered the staff; Wallace threw up +his outstretched hand at this action, but the knight not understanding +him, he stepped forward. "Sir Alexander Scrymgeour," cried he, "that +standard must now bow to me. It represents the royalty of Scotland, +before which we fight for our liberties. If virtue yet dwell in the +house of the valiant St. David, some of his offspring will hear of this +day, and lead it forward to conquest and to a crown. Till such an +hour, let not that standard bend to any man." + +Wallace fell back as he spoke, and Scrymgeour, bowing his head in sign +of acquiescence marched on. + +Sir Roger Kirkpatrick, at the head of his well-appointed Highlanders +next advanced. His blood-red banner streamed to the air, and as it +bent to Wallace he saw that the indignant knight had adopted the device +of the hardy King Archaius,** but with a fiercer motto-"Touch, and I +pierce!" + +**Archaius, King of Scotland, took for his device the thistle and the +Rewe, and for his motto, "For my defense." + +"That man," thought Wallace, as he passed along, "carried a relentless +sword in his very eye!" + +The men of Loch Doine, a strong, tall and well-armed body, marched on, +and gave place to the advancing corps of Bothwell. The eye of Wallace +felt as if turning from gloom and horror to the cheerful light of day, +when it fell on the bright and indigenuous face of Murray. Kenneth +with his troop followed; and the youthful Edwin, like Cupid in arms, +closed the procession. + +Being drawn up in line, their chief, fully satisfied, advanced toward +them, and expressing his sentiments of the patriotism which brought +them into the field, informed them of his intended march. He then +turned to Stephen Ireland: "The sun has now set," said he, "and before +dark you must conduct the families of my worthy Lanarkment to the +protection of Sir John Scott. It is time that age, infancy, and female +weakness should cease their wanderings with us; to-night we bid them +adieu, to meet them again, by the leading of the Lord of Hosts, in +freedom and prosperity!" + +As Wallace ceased, and was retiring from the ground, several old men, +and young women with their babes in their arms, rushed from behind the +ranks, and throwing themselves at his feet, caught hold of his hands +and garments. "We go," said the venerable fathers, "to pray for your +welfare; and sure we are, a crown will bless our country's benefactor, +here or in heaven!" + +"In heaven," replied Wallace, shaking the plumes of his bonnet over his +eyes, to hide the moisture which suffused them; "I can have no right to +any other crown." + +"Yes," cried a hoary-headed shepherd, "you free your country from +tyrants, and the people's hearts will proclaim their deliverer their +sovereign!" + +"May your rightful monarch, worthy patriarch," said Wallace, "whether a +Bruce of a Baliol, meet with equal zeal from Scotland at large; and +tyranny must then fall before courage and loyalty!" + +The women wept as they clung to his hand and the daughter of Ireland, +holding up her child in her arms, presented it to him. "Look on my +son!" cried she, with energy; "the first word he speaks shall be +Wallace; the second liberty. And every drop of milk he draws from my +bosom, shall be turned into blood to nerve a conquering arm, or to flow +for his country!" + +At this speech all the women held up their children toward him. +"Here," cried they, "we devote them to Heaven, and to our country! +Adopt them, noble Wallace, to be thy followers in arms, when, perhaps, +their fathers are laid low!" + +Unable to speak, Wallace pressed their little faces separately to his +lips, then returning them to their mothers, laid his hand on his heart, +and answered in an agitated voice. "They are mine!-my weal shall be +theirs--my woe my own." As he spoke he hurried from the weeping group, +and emerging amid the cliffs, hid himself from their tears and their +blessing. + +He threw himself on a shelving rock, whose fern-covered bosom projected +over the winding waters of Loch Lubnaig, and having stilled his own +anguished recollections, he turned his full eyes on the lake beneath; +and while he contemplated its serene surface, he sighed, and thought +how tranquil was nature, till the rebellious passions of man, wearying +of innocent joys, disturbed all by restlessness and invasion on the +peace and happiness of others. + +The mists of evening hung on the gigantic tops of Ben Ledi and Ben +Vorlich; then sailing forward, by degrees obscured the whole of the +mountains, leaving nothing for the eye to dwell on but the long silent +expanse of the waters below. + +"So," said he, "did I once believe myself forever shut in from the +world, by an obscurity that promised me happiness as well as seclusion! +But the hours of Ellerslie are gone! No tender wife will now twine +her faithful arms around my neck. Alas, the angel that sunk my +country's wrongs to a dreamy forgetfulness in her arms, she was to be +immolated that I might awake! My wife, my unborn babe, they must both +bleed for Scotland!-and the sacrifice shall not be yielded in vain. +No, blessed God," cried he, stretching his clasped hands toward my +countrymen to liberty and happiness! "Let me counsel with thy wisdom; +let me conquer with thine arm! and when all is finished, give me, O +gracious Father! a quiet grave, beside my wife and child." + +Tears, the first he had shed since the hour in which he last pressed +his Marion to his heart, now flowed copiously from his eyes. The +women, the children, had aroused all his recollections but in so +softened a train, that they melted his heart till he wept. "It is thy +just tribute, Marion," said he; "it was blood you shed for me, and +shall I check these poor drops? Look on me, sweet saint, best-beloved +of my soul; O! hover near me in the day of battle, and thousands of +thine and Scotland's enemies shall fall before thy husband's arm!" + +The plaintive voice of the Highland pipe at this moment broke upon his +ear. It was the farewell of the patriarch Lindsay, as he and his +departing company descended the winding paths of Craignacoheilg. +Wallace started on his feet. The separation had then taken place +between his trusty followers and their families; and guessing the +feelings of those brave men from what was passing in his own breast, he +dried away the traces of his tears, and once more resuming the +warrior's cheerful look, sought that part of the rock where the +Lanarkmen were quartered. + +As he drew near he saw some standing on the cliff and others leaning +over, to catch another glance of the departing group ere it was lost +amid the shades of Glenfinlass. + +"Are they quite gone?" asked Dugald. + +"Quite," answered a young man, who seemed to have got the most +advantageous situation for a view. + +"Then," cried he, "may St. Andrew keep them until we meet again!" + +"May a greater than St. Andrew hear thy prayer!" ejaculated Wallace. +At the sound of this response from their chief they all turned round. +"My brave companions," said he, "I come to repay this hour's pangs by +telling you that, in the attack of Dumbarton, you shall have the honor +of first mounting the walls. I shall be at your head, to sign each +brave soldier with a patriot's seal of honor." + +"To follow you, my lord," said Dugald, "is our duty." + +"I grant it," replied the chief; "and as I am the leader in that duty, +it is mine to dispense to every man his reward; to prove to all men +that virtue alone is true nobility." + +"Ah, dearest sir!" exclaimed Edwin, who had been assisting the women to +carry their infants down the steep, and on reascending heard the latter +part of this conversation; "deprive me not of the aim of my life! +These warriors have had you long--have distinguished themselves in your +eyes. Deprive me not, then, of the advantages of being near you; it +will make me doubly brave. Oh, my dear commander, let me only carry to +the grave the consciousness that, next to yourself, I was the first to +mount the rock of Dumbarton, and you will make me noble indeed!" + +Wallace looked at him with a smile of such graciousness, that the youth +threw himself into his arms. "You will grant my boon?" + +"I will, noble boy," said he; "act up to your sentiments, and you shall +be my brother." + +"Call me by that name," cried Edwin, "and I will dare anything." + +"Then be the first to follow me on the rock," said he, "and I will lead +you to an honor, the highest in my gift; you shall unloose the chains +of the Earl of Mar! And ye," continued he, "commemorate the duty of +such sons. Being the first to strike the blow for her freedom, ye +shall be the first she will distinguish. I now speak as her minister; +and, as a badge to times immemorial, I bid you wear the Scottish lion +on your shields." + +A shout of proud joy issued from every heart; and Wallace, seeing that +honor had dried the tears of regret, left them to repose. He sent +Edwin to his rest; and himself, avoiding the other chieftains, retired +to his own chamber in the tower. + + + + +Chapter XXI. + +Loch Lomond. + + +Profound as was the rest of Wallace, yet the first clarion of the lark +awakened him. The rosy dawn shone in at the window, and a fresh breeze +wooed him with its inspiring breath to rise and meet it. But the +impulse was in his own mind; he needed nothing outward to call him to +action. Rising immediately, he put on his glittering hauberk; and +issuing from the tower, raised his bugle to his lips, and blew so +rousing a blast, that in an instant the whole rock was covered with +soldiers. + +Wallace placed his helmet on his head, and advanced toward them, just +as Edwin had joined him, and Sir Roger Kirkpatrick appeared from the +tower. "Blessed be this morn!" cried the old knight. "My sword +springs from its scabbard to meet it; and ere its good steel be +sheathed again," continued he, shaking it sternly, "what deaths may dye +its point!" + +Wallace shuddered at the ferocity with which his colleague contemplated +this feature of war from which every humane soldier would seek to turn +his thoughts, that he might encounter it with the steadiness of a man, +and not the irresolution of a woman. To hail the field of blood with +the fierceness of a hatred eager for the slaughter of its victim--to +know any joy in combat but that each contest might render another less +necessary--did not enter into the imagination of Wallace until he had +heard and seen the infuriate Kirkpatrick. He talked of the coming +battle with horrid rapture, and told the young Edwin he should that day +see Loch Lomond red with English blood. + +Offended at such savageness, but without answering him, Wallace drew +toward Murray, and calling to Edwin, ordered him to march at his side. +The youth seemed glad of the summons, and Wallace was pleased to +observe it, as he thought that a longer stay with one who so grossly +overcharged the feelings of honest patriotism, might breed disgust in +his innocent mind against a cause which had so furious and therefore +unjust a defender. + +"Justice and mercy ever dwell together," said he to Edwin, who now drew +near him; "for universal love is the parent of justice, as well as of +mercy. But implacable Revenge! whence did she spring, but from the +head of Satan himself?" + +Though their cause appeared the same, never were two spirits more +discordant than those of Wallace and Kirkpatrick. But Kirkpatrick did +not so soon discover the dissimilarity; as it is easier for purity to +descry its opposite, than for foulness to apprehend that anything can +be purer than itself. + +The forces being marshaled according to the preconcerted order, the +three commanders, with Wallace at their head, led forward. + +They passed through the forest of Glenfinlass; and morning and evening +still found them threading its unsuspected solitudes in unmolested +security; night, too, watched their onward march. + +The sun had just risen as the little band of patriots, the hope of +freedom, emerged upon the eastern bank of Loch Lomond. The bases of +the mountains were yet covered with the dispersing mist of the morning, +and hardly distinguishable from the blue waters of the lake, which +lashed the shore. The newly-awakened sheep bleated from the hills, and +the umbrageous herbage, dropping dew, seemed glittering with a thousand +fairy gems. + +"Where is the man who would not fight for such a country?" exclaimed +Murray, as he stepped over a bridge of interwoven trees, which crossed +one of the mountain streams. "This land was not made for slaves. Look +at these bulwarks of nature! Every mountain-head which forms this +chain of hills is an impregnable rampart against invasion. If Baliol +had possessed but half a heart, Edward might have returned even worse +than Caesar--without a cockle to decorate his helmet." + +"Baliol has found the oblivion he incurred," returned Wallace; "his +son, perhaps, may better deserve the scepter of such a country. Let us +cut the way, and he who merits the crown will soon appear to claim it." + +"Then it will not be Edward Baliol!" rejoined Scrymgeour. "During the +inconsistent reign of his father, I once carried a despatch to him from +Scotland. He was then banqueting in all the luxuries of the English +court; and such a voluptuary I never beheld! I left the scene of +folly, only praying that so effeminate a prince might never disgrace +the throne of our manly race of kings." + +"If such be the tuition of our lords in the court of Edward--and wise is +the policy for his own views!" observed Ker, "what can we expect from +even the Bruce? They were ever a nobler race than the Baliol; but bad +education and luxury will debase the most princely minds." + +"I saw neither of the Bruce when I visited London," replied Scrymgeour; +"the Earl of Carrick was at his house in Cleveland, and Robert Bruce, +his eldest son, with the English army in Guienne. But they bore a +manly character, particularly young Robert, to whom the troubadours of +Aquitaine have given the flattering appellation of Prince of Chivalry." + +"It would be more to his honor," interrupted Murray, "if he compelled +the English to acknowledge him as Prince of Scotland. With so much +bravery, how can he allow such a civetcat as Edward Baliol to bear away +the title, which is his by the double right of blood and virtue?" + +"Perhaps," said Wallace, "the young lion only sleeps! The time may +come, when both he and his father will rise from their lethargy, and +throw themselves at once into the arms of Scotland. To stimulate the +dormant patriotism of these two princes, by showing them a subject +leading their people to liberty, is one great end of the victories I +seek. None other than a brave king can bind the various interests of +this distracted country into one; and therefore, for fair Freedom's +sake, my heart turns toward the Bruces with most anxious hopes." + +"For my part," cried Murray, "I have always thought the lady we will +not woo we have no right to pretend to. If the Bruces will not be at +the pains to snatch Scotland from drowning, I see no reason for making +them a present of what will cost us many a wet jacket before we tug her +from the waves. He that wins the day ought to wear the laurel; and so, +once for all, I proclaim him King of good old Albin,** who will have +the glory of driving her oppressors beyond her dikes." + +**Albin was the ancient name of Scotland. + +Wallace did not hear this last sentiment of Murray's, as it was spoken +in a lowered voice in the ear of Kirkpatrick. "I perfectly agree with +you," was the knight's reply; "and in the true Roman style, may the +death of every Southron now in Scotland, and as many more as fate +chooses to yield us, be the preliminary games of his coronation!" + +Wallace, who heard this, turned to Kirkpatrick with a mild rebuke in +his eye. "Balaam blessed, when he meant to curse!" said he; "but some +curse, when they mean to bless. Such prayers are blasphemy. For, can +we expect a blessing on our arms, when all our invocations are for +vengeance rather than victory?" + +"Blood for blood is only justice!" returned Murray; "and how can you, +noble Wallace, as a Scot, and as a man, imply any mercy to the villains +who stab us to the heart?" + +"I plead not for them," replied Wallace, "but for the poor wretches who +follow their leaders, by force, to the field of Scotland; I would not +inflict on them the cruelties we now resent. It is not to aggrieve, +but to redress, that we carry arms. If we make not this distinction, +we turn courage into a crime; and plant disgrace, instead of honor, +upon the warrior's brow." + +"I do not understand commiserating the wolves who have so long made +havoc in our country," cried Kirkpatrick; "methinks such maidenly mercy +is rather or of place." + +Wallace turned to him with a smile: "I will answer you, my valiant +friend, by adopting your own figure. It is that these Southron wolves +may not confound us with themselves, that I wish to show in our conduct +rather the generous ardor of the faithful guardian of the fold, than +the rapacious fierceness which equals them with the beasts of the +desert. As we are men and Scots, let the burden of our prayers be, the +preservation of our country, not the slaughter of our enemies! The one +is an ambition, with which angels may sympathize; the other, a horrible +desire, which speaks the nature of fiends." + +"In some cases this may be," replied Sir Roger, a little reconciled to +the argument, "but not in mine. My injury yet burns upon my cheek; and +as nothing but the life blood of Cressingham can quench it, I will +listen no more to your doctrine till I am avenged. That done, I shall +not forget your lesson." + +"Generous Kirkpatrick!" exclaimed Wallace, "nothing that is really +cruel can dwell with such manly candor. Say what you will, I can trust +your heart after this moment." + +They had crossed the River Ennerie, and were issuing from between its +narrow ridge of hills, when Wallace, pointing to a stupendous rock +which rose in solitary magnificence in the midst of a vast plain, +exclaimed, "There is Dumbarton Castle!-that citadel holds the fetters +of Scotland; and if we break them there, every minor link will easily +give way." + +The men uttered a shout of anticipated triumph at this sight; and +proceeding, soon came in view of the fortifications which helmeted the +rock. As they approached, they discovered that it had two summits, +being in a manner cleft in twain; the one side rising in a pyramidal +form; while the other, of a more table-shape, sustained the ponderous +buildings of the fortress. + +It was dusk when the little army arrived in the rear of a close thicket +to a considerable length over the plain. On this spot Wallace rested +his men; and while they placed themselves under its covert till the +appointed time of attack, he perceived through an opening in the wood, +the gleaming of soldiers' arms on the ramparts, and fires beginning to +light on a lonely watchtower, which crowned the pinnacle of the highest +rock. + +"Poor fools!" exclaimed Murray; "like the rest of their brethren of +clay, they look abroad for evils, and prepare not for those which are +even at their doors!" + +"That beacon-fire," cried Scrymgeour, "shall light us to their +chambers; and for once we thank them for their providence." + +"That beacon-fire," whispered Edwin to Wallace, "shall light me to +honor! To-night, by your agreement, I shall call you brother, or lie +dead on the summit of those walls!" + +"Edwin," said Wallace, "act as you say; and deserve not only to be +called my brother, but to be the first banneret of freedom in arms!" + +He then turned toward the lines; and, giving his orders to each +division, directed them to seek repose on the surrounding heather, till +the now glowing moon should have sunk her telltale light in the waves. + + + + +Chapter XXII. + +Dumbarton Rock. + + +All obeyed the voice of their commander, and retired to rest. But the +eyes of Edwin could not close; his eager spirit was already on the +walls of Dumbarton. His rapid mind anticipated the ascent of his +general and his troop. But an imagination no less just than ardent +suggested the difficulties attending so small a force assailing so +formidable a garrison, without some immediate knowledge of its relative +situations. A sudden thought struck him. He would mount that rock +alone; he would seek to ascertain the place of Lord Mar's confinement; +that not one life in Wallace's faithful band might be lost in a vague +search. + +"Ah! my general," exclaimed he, "Edwin shall be the first to spring +those ramparts; he shall tread that dangerous path alone; and when he +has thus proved himself no unworthy of thy confidence, he will return +to lead thee and thy soldiers to a sure victory, and himself to honor +by thy side!" + +This fervant apostrophe, breathed to the night alone, was no sooner +uttered, than he stole from the thicket into which he had cast himself +to respose. He looked toward the embattled cliff; its summit stood +bright in the moonlight, but deep shadows lay beneath. "God be my +speed!" cried he, and wrapping himself in his plaid, so mixed its dark +hues with the weeds and herbage at the base of the rock, that he made +its circuit without having attracted observation. + +The south side seemed the easiest of ascent and by that he began his +daring attempt. Having gained the height, he clambered behind a +buttress, the shadow of which cast the wall into such black obscurity, +that he crept safely through one of its crenelles, and dropping gently +inward, alighted on his feet. Still keeping the shadowed side of the +battlements, he proceeded cautiously along, and so still was his motion +that he passed undiscovered, even by the sentinels who guarded this +quarter of the fortress. + +He soon arrived at the open square before the citadel; it was yet +occupied by groups of Southron officers, gayly walking to and fro under +the light of the moon. In hopes of gaining some useful information +from their discourse, he concealed himself behind a chest of arrows; +and as they passed backward and forward, distinctly heard them jesting +each other about divers fair dames of the country around. The +conversation terminated in a debate, whether or no the indifference +which their governor De Valence manifested to the majestic beauties of +the Countess of Mar were real or assumed. A thousand free remarks were +made on the subject, and Edwin gathered sufficient from the discourse, +to understand that the earl and countess were treated severely, and +confined in a large, square tower in the cleft of the rock. + +Having learned all that he could expect from these officers, he +speeded, under the friendly shadow, toward the other side of the +citadel, and arrived just as the guard approached to relieve the +sentinels of the northern postern. He laid himself close to the +ground, and happily overheard the word of the night, as it was given to +the new watch. This providential circumstances saved his life. + +Finding no mode of egress from this place but by the postern at which +the sentinel was stationed, or by attempting a passage through a small +adjoining tower, the door of which stood open, he considered a moment, +and then deciding for the tower, stole unobserved into it. Fortunately +no person was there; but Edwin found it full of spare arms, with two or +three vacant couches in different corners, where he supposed the +officers on guard occassionally reposed; several watch-cloaks lay on +the floor. He readily apprehended the use he might make of this +circumstance, and throwing one of them over his shoulders climbed to a +large embrasure in the wall, and, forcing himself through it, dropped +to a declivity on the other side, which shelved down to the cliff, +wherein he saw the square tower. + +He had scarcely alighted on firm ground, when a sentinel, followed by +two others presented pikes, approached him, and demanded the word. +"Montjoy!" was his reply. "Why leap the embrasure?" said one. "Why +not enter by the postern?" demanded another. The conversation of the +officers had given him a hint, on which he had formed his answer. +"Love, my brave comrades," replied he, "seldom chooses even ways. I go +on a message from a young ensign in the keep, to one of the Scottish +damsels in yonder tower. Delay me, and his vengeance will fall upon us +all." "Good luck to you, my lad!" was their answer, and, with a +lightened step, he hastened toward the tower. + +Not deeming it safe to seek an interview with any of the earl's family, +he crept along the base of the structure, and across the works, till he +reached the high wall that blocks up egress from the north. He found +this formidable curtain constructed of fragments of rock, and for the +convenience of the guard, a sloping platform from within led to the top +of the wall. On the other side it was perpendicular. A solitary +sentinel stood there; and how to pass him was Edwin's next device. To +attack him would be desparate; being one of a chain of guards around +the interior of the fortress, his voice need only to be raised in the +least to call a regiment to his assistance, and Edwin might be seized +on the instant. + +Aware of his danger, but not dismayed, the adventurous youth bethought +him of his former excuse; and remembering a flask of spirits which +Ireland had put into his pouch on leaving Glenfinlass, he affected to +be intoxicated, and staggering up to the man, accosted him in the +character of a servant of the garrison. + +The sentinel did not doubt the appearance of the boy, and Edwin, +holding out the flask, said that a pretty girl in the great tower had +not only given him a long draught of the same good liquor but had +filled his bottle, that he might not lack amusement, while her +companion; one of Lady Mar's maids-in-waiting, was tying up a true +lover's knot to send to his master in the garrison. The man believed +Edwin's tale, and the more readily as he thrust the flask into his +hand, and bade him drink. "Do not spare it," cried he; "the night is +chilly, and I shall get more where that came from." + +The unsuspecting Southron returned him a merry reply, and putting the +flask to his head, soon drained its contents. They had the effect +Edwin desired. The soldier became flustered, and impatient of his +duty. Edwin perceived it, and yawning, complained of drowsiness. "I +would go to the top of that wall, and sleep sweetly in the moonbeams," +said he, "if any goodnatured fellow would meanwhile wait for my pretty +Scot!" + +The half-inebriated Southron liked no better sport, and regardless of +duty, he promised to draw nearer the tower, and bring from the fair +messenger the expected token. + +Having thus far gained his point, with an apparently staggering, but +really agile step, Edwin ascended the wall. A leap from this dizzy +height was his only way to rejoin Wallace. To retread his steps +through the fortress in safety would hardly be possible, and, besides, +such a mode of retreat would leave him uninformed on the second object +of his enterprise-to know the most vulnerable side of the fortress. He +threw himself along the summit of the wall as if to sleep. He looked +down and saw nothing but the blackness of space, for here the broad +expanse of shadow rendered rocks and building of the same hue and +level. But hope buoyed him in her arms, and turning his eyes toward +the sentinel, he observed him to have arrived within a few paces of the +square tower. This was Edwin's moment: grasping the projecting stone +of the embattlement, and commending himself to Heaven, he threw himself +from its summit, and fell a fearful depth to the cliffs beneath. + +Meanwhile Wallace, having seen his brave followers depart to their +respose, reclined himself along a pile of moss grown stones, which in +the days of the renowned Fingal, had covered the body of some valiant +Morven chieftain. He fixed his wakeful eyes on the castle, now +illumined in every part by the fullness of the moon's luster, and +considered which point would be most assailable by the scaling-ladders +he had prepared. Every side seemed a precipice; the Leven, surrounding +it on the north and the west; the Clyde, broad as a sea, on the south. +The only place that seemed at all accessible was the side next the dike +behind which he lay. Here the ascent to the castellated part of the +rock, because most perpendicular, was the least guarded with outworks, +and by this he determined to make the attempt as soon as the setting +moon should involve the garrison in darkness. + +While he yet mused on what might be the momentous consequences of the +succeeding midnight hours, he thought he heard a swift though cautious +footstep. He raised himself, and laying his hands on his sword, saw a +figure advancing toward him. + +"Who goes there?" demanded Wallace. + +"A faithful Scot," was the reply. + +Wallace recognized the voice of Edwin. + +"What has disturbed you? Why do you not take rest with the others?" + +"That we may have it the surer to-morrow!" replied the youth. "I am +just returned from the summit of yonder rock." + +"How!" interrupted Wallace; "have you scaled it alone, and are returned +in safety?" + +Wallace caught him in his arms. "Intrepid, glorious boy! tell me for +what purpose did you thus hazard your precious life?" + +"I wished to learn its most pregnable part," replied Edwin, his young +heart beating with triumph at these encomiums from his commander; "and +particularly where the good earl is confined, that we might make our +attack directly to the point." + +"And have you been successful?" demanded Wallace. + +"I have," was his answer. "Lord Mar and his lady are kept in a square +tower which stands in the cleft between the two summits of the rock. +It is not only surrounded by embattled walls, which flank the ponderous +buttresses of this huge dungeon, but the space on which it stands is +bulwarked at each end by a stone curtain of fifteen feet high, guarded +by turrets full of armed men. + +"And yet by that side you suppose we must ascend?" said Wallace. + +"Certainly; for if you attempt it on the west, we should have to scale +the watch-tower cliff, and the ascent could only be gained in file. An +auxiliary detachment, to attack in flank, might succeed there; but the +passage being so narrow, would be too tedious for the whole party to +arrive in time. Should we take the south, we must cut through the whole +garrison before we could reach the earl. And on this side, the morass +lies too near the foot of the rock to admit an approach without the +greatest danger. But on the north, where I descended, by wading +through part of the Leven, and climbing from cliff to cliff, I have +every hope you may succeed." + +Edwin recounted the particulars of his progress through the fortress; +and by the minuteness of his topographical descriptions, enforced his +arguments for the north to be the point assailed. Closing his +narrative, he explained to the anxious inquiry of Wallace how he had +escaped accident in a leap of so many feet. The wall was covered with +ivy; he caught by its branches in his descent, and at last happily fell +amongst a thick bed of furze. After this, he clambered down the steep, +and fording the Leven (there only knee deep), now appeared before his +general, elate in heart, and bright in valor. + +"The intrepidity of this action," returned Wallace, glowing with +admiration at so noble a daring in so young a creature, "merits that +every confidence should be placed in the result of your observations. +Your safe return is a pledge of our design being approved. And when we +go in the strength of Heaven, who can doubt the issue? This night, +when the Lord of battles puts that fortress into our hands, before the +whole of our little army you shall receive that knighthood you have so +richly deserved. Such, my truly dear brother, my noble Edwin, shall be +the reward of your virtue and your toil." + +Wallace would now have sent him to respose himself; but animated by the +success of his adventure, and exulting in the honor which was so soon +to stamp a sign of this exploit upon him forever, he told his leader +that he felt no want of sleep, and would rather take on him the office +of arousing the other captains to their stations, the moon, their +preconcerted signal, being then approaching its rest. + + + + +Chapter XXIII. + +The Fortress. + + +Kirkpatrick, Murray, and Scrymgeour hastened to their commander; and in +a few minutes all were under arms. Wallace briefly explained his +altered plan of assault, and marshaling his men accordingly, led them +in silence through the water, and along the beach, which lay between +the rock and the Leven. Arriving at the base just as the moon set, +they began to ascend. To do this in the dark redoubled the difficulty; +but as Wallace had the place of every accessible stone accurately +described to him by Edwin, he went confidently forward, followed by his +Lanarkmen. + +He and they, being the first to mount, fixed and held the tops of the +scaling-ladders, while Kirkpatrick and Scrymgeour, with their men, +gradually ascended, and gained the bottom of the wall. Here, planting +themselves in the crannies of the rock, under the impenetrable darkness +of the night (for the moon had not only set, but the stars were +obscured by clouds), they awaited the signal for the final ascent. + +Meanwhile, Edwin led Lord Andrew with his followers, and the Fraser +men, round by the western side to mount the watchtower rock, and seize +the few soldiers who kept the beacon. As a signal of having succeeded, +they were to smother the flame on the top of the tower, and thence +descend toward the garrison to meet Wallace before the prison of the +Earl of Mar. + +While the men of Lanark, with their eyes fixed on the burning beacon, +in deadly stillness watched the appointed signal for the attack, +Wallace, by the aid of his dagger, which he struck into the firm soil +that occupied the cracks in the rock, drew himself up almost parallel +with the top of the great wall, which clasped the bases of the two +hills. He listened; not a voice was to be heard in the garrison of all +the legions he had so lately seen glittering on its battlements. It +was an awful pause. + +Now was the moment when Scotland was to make her first essay for +freedom! Should it fail, ten thousand bolts of iron would be added to +her chains! Should it succeed, liberty and happiness were the almost +certain consequences. + +He looked up, and fixing his eyes on the beacon-flame, thought he saw +the figures of men pass before it--the next moment all was darkness. He +sprung on the walls, and feeling by the touch of hands about his feet +that his brave followers had already mounted their ladders, he grasped +his sword firmly, and leaped down on the ground within. In that moment +he struck against the sentinel, who was just passing, and by the +violence of the shock struck him to the earth; but the man, as he fell, +catching Wallace round the waist, dragged him after him, and with a +vociferous cry, shouted "Treason!" + +Several sentinels ran with leveled pikes to the spot, the adjacent +turrets emptied themselves of their armed inhabitants, and all +assaulted Wallace, just as he had extricated himself from the grasp of +the prostrate soldier. + +"Who are you?" demanded they. + +"Your enemy;" and the speaker fell at his feet with one stroke of his +sword. + +"Alarm!-treason!" resounded from the rest as they aimed their random +strokes at the conquering chief. But he was now assisted by the +vigorous army of Ker, and of several Lanarkmen, who, having cleared the +wall, were dealing about blows in the darkness, which filled the air +with groans, and strewed the ground with the dying and the dead. + +One or two Southrons, whose courage was not equal to their caution, +fled to arouse the garrison, and just as the whole of Wallace's men +leaped the wall and rallied to his support, the inner ballium gate +burst open, and a legion of foes, bearing torches, issued to the +contest. With horrible threatenings, they came on, and by a rapid +movement surrounded Wallace and his little company. But his soul +brightened in danger, and his men warmed with the same spirit, stood +firm with fixed pikes, receiving without injury the assault. Their +weapons being longer than their enemy's, the Southrons, not aware of +the circumstance, rushed upon their points, incurring the death they +meant to give. Seeing their consequent disorder, Wallace ordered the +pikes to be dropped, and his men to charge sword in hand. Terrible was +now the havoc, for the desperate Scots, grapling each to his foe with a +fatal hold, let not go till the piercing shriek, or the agonized groan, +convinced him that death had seized its victim. Wallace fought in +front, making a dreadful passage through the falling ranks, while the +tremendous sweep of his sword, flashing in the intermitting light, +warned the survivors where the avenging blade would next descend. A +horrid vacuity was made in the lately thronged spot; it seemed not the +slaughter of a mortal arm, but as if the destroying angel himself were +there, and with one blast of his desolating brand, had laid all in +ruin. The platform was cleared, and the fallen torches, some +half-extinguished, and other flaming on the ground by the sides of the +dead, showed, in their uncertain gleams, a few terrified wretches +seeking safely in flight. The same lurid rays, casting a transitory +light on the iron gratings of the great tower, informed Wallace that +the heat of conflict had drawn him to the prison of the earl. + +"We are now near the end of this night's work!" cried he. "Let us +press forward to give freedom to the Earl of Mar!" + +"Liberty and Lord Mar!" cried Kirkpatrick, rushing onward. He was +immediately followed by his own men, but not quickly enough for his +daring. The guard in the tower, hearing the outcry, issued from the +flanking gates, and, surrounding him, took him prisoner. + +"If there be might in your arms," roared he, with the voice of a lion, +"men of Loch Dione, rescue your leader!" + +They hurried forward, with yells of defiance; but the strength of the +garrison, awakened by the flying wretches from the defeat, turned out +all its power, and, with De Valence at their head, poured on +Kirkpatrick's men, and would have overpowered them had not Wallace and +his sixty heroes, with desperate determination, cut a passage to them +through the closing ranks. + +Pikes struck against corslets, swords rang on helmets, and the +ponderous battle-ax, falling with the weight of fate, cleft the +uplifted target in twain. Blood spouted on every side, and the +dripping hands of Kirkpatrick, as Wallace tore him from the enemy, +proclaimed that he had bathed his vengeance in the stream. On being +released, he shook his ensanguined arms, and burst into a horrid laugh. +"The work speeds! Now through the heart of the governor!" + +Even while he spoke Wallace lost him again from his side; and again, by +the shouts of the Southrons, who cried, "No quarter for the rebel!" he +learned he must be retaken. That merciless cry was the death-bell of +their own doom. It directed Wallace to the spot, and throwing himself +and his brethren of Lanark into the midst of the band which held the +prisoner, Kirkpatrick was again rescued. But thousands seemed now +surrounding the chief himself. To do this generous deed, he had +advanced further than he ought, and himself and his brave followers +must have been slain had he not recoiled, and covering their rear with +the great tower, all who had the hardihood to approach fell under the +weight of the Scottish claymore. + +Scrymgeour, at the head of the Loch Dione men, in vain attempted to +reach this contending party; and fearful of losing the royal standard, +he was turning to make a valiant retreat, when Murray and Edwin (having +disengaged their followers from the precipices of the beacon rock) +rushed into the fray, striking their shields, and uttering the +inspiring slogan of "Wallace and freedom!" It was re-echoed by every +Scot; those that were flying returned; they who sustained the conflict +hailed the cry with braces sinews; and the terrible thunder of the +word, pealing from rank to rank, struck a terror into De Valence's men, +which made them pause. The extinction of the beacon made them still +more aghast. + +On that short moment turned the crisis of their fate. Wallace cut his +way forward through the dismayed Southrons, who, bearing the reiterated +shouts of the fresh reinforcements, knew not whether its strength might +not be thousands instead of hundreds, and, panic-stricken, they became +an easy prey to their enemies. Surrounded, mixed with their +assailants, they knew not friends from foes, and each individual being +bent on flight, they indiscriminately cut to right and left, wounding +as many of their own men as of the Scots, and finally, after +slaughtering half their companions, some few escaped through the small +posterns of the garrison, leaving the inner ballia entirely in +possession of the foe. + +The whole of the field being cleared, Wallace ordered the tower to be +forced. A strong guard was still within, and, as the assailants drew +near, every means was used to render their assaults abortive. As the +Scots pressed to the main entrance, stones and heavy metals were thrown +upon their heads; but, not in the least intimidated, they stood beneath +the iron shower, till Wallace ordered them to drive a large felled +tree, which lay on the ground, against the hinges of the door. It +burst open, and the whole party rushed into the hall. + +A short, sanguinary, but decisive conflict took place. The hauberk and +plaid of Wallace were dyed from head to foot; his own brave blood, and +the ferocious stream from his enemies, mingled in one horrid hue upon +his garments. + +"Wallace! Wallace!" cried the stentorian lungs of Kirkpatrick. In a +moment Wallace was at his side, and found him wrestling with two men. +The light of a single lamp, suspended from the rafters, fell direct +upon the combatants. A dagger was pointed at the life of the old +knight, but Wallace laid the holder of it dead across the body of his +intended victim, and catching the other assailant by the throat, threw +him prostrate to the ground. + +"Spare me, for the honor of knighthood!" cried the conquered. + +"For my honor you shall die!" cried Kirkpatrick. His sword was already +at the heart of the Englishman. Wallace beat it back. "Kirkpatrick, +he is my prisoner, and I give him life." + +"You know not what you do," cried the old knight, struggling with +Wallace to release his sword-arm. "This is De Valence!" + +"Quarter!" reiterated the panting and hard-pressed earl. "Noble +Wallace, my life! For I am wounded." + +"Sooner take my own!" cried the determined Kirkpatrick, fixing his foot +on the neck of the prostrate man, and trying to wrench his hand from +the grasp of his commander. + +"Shame!" cried Wallace; "you must strike through me to kill any wounded +man I hear cry for quarter! Release the earl, for your own honor." + +"Our safety lies in his destruction!" cried Kirkpatrick, and, enraged +at opposition, he thrust his commander (little expecting such an +action) from off the body of the earl. De Valence seized his +advantage, and catching Kirkpatrick by the limb that pressed on him, +overthrew him; and by a sudden spring, turning quickly on Wallace, +struck his dagger into his side. All this was done in an instant. +Wallace did not fall, but staggering, with the weapon sticking in the +wound, he was so surprised by the baseness of the deed, he could not +give the alarm till its perpetrator had disappeared. + +The flying earl took his course through a narrow passage between the +works, and proceeding swiftly toward the south, issued safely at one of +the outer ballium gates--that part of the castle being now solitary, all +the men having been drawn from the walls to the contest within--and +thence he made his escape in a fisher's boat across the Clyde. + +Meanwhile Wallace, having recovered himself, just as the Scots brought +in lighted torches from the lower apartments of the tower, saw Sir +Roger Kirkpatrick leaning sternly on his blood-dripping sword, and the +young Edwin coming forward in garments too nearly the hue of his own. +Andrew Murray stood already by his side. Wallace's hand was upon the +hilt of the dagger which the ungrateful De Valence had left in his +breast. "You are wounded! you are slain!" cried Murray in a voice of +consternation. Edwin stood motionless with horror. + +"That dagger!" exclaimed Scrymgeour. + +"Has done nothing," replied Wallace, "but let a little more blood." As +he spoke he drew it out, and thrusting the corner of his scarf into his +bosom, staunched the wound. + +"So is your mercy rewarded!" exclaimed Kirkpatrick. + +"So am I true to a soldier's duty," returned Wallace, "though De +Valence is a traitor to his!" + +"You treated him as a man," replied Kirkpatrick, "but now you find him +a treacherous fiend!" + +"Your eagerness, my brave friend," returned Wallace, "has lost him as a +prisoner. If not for humanity or honor, for policy's sake, we ought to +have spared his life, and detained him as an hostage for our countrymen +in England." + +Kirkpatrick remembered how his violence had released the earl, and he +looked down abashed. Wallace, perceiving it, continued, "But let us +not abuse our time discoursing on a coward. He is gone, the fortress +is ours, and our first measure must be to guard if from surprise." + +As he spoke, his eyes fell upon Edwin, who, having recovered from the +shock of Murray's exclamation, had brought forward the surgeon of their +little band. A few minutes bound up the wounds of their chief, even +while beckoning the anxious boy towards him. "Brave youth," cried he, +"you, at the imminent risk of your own life, explored these heights, +that you might render our ascent more sure; you who have fought like a +young lion in this unequal contest! here, in the face of all your +valiant comrades, receive that knighthood which rather derives luster +from your virtues than gives additional consequence to your name." + +With a bounding heart Edwin bent his knee, and Wallace giving him the +hallowed accolade,** the young knight rose from his position with all +the roses of his springing fame glowing in his countenance. Scrymgeour +presented him the knightly girdle, which he unbraced from his own +loins, and while the happy boy received the sword to which it was +attached, he exclaimed, with animation, "While I follow the example +before my eyes, I shall never draw this in an unjust cause, nor ever +sheath it in a just one." + +**Accolade, the three strokes of the sword given in knighting. + +"Go, then," returned Wallace, smiling his approval of this sentiment, +"while work is to be done I will keep my knight to the toil; go, and +with twenty men of Lanark, guard the wall by which we ascended." + +Edwin disappeared, and Wallace, having dispatched detachments to occupy +other parts of the garrison, took a torch in his hand and, turning to +Murray, proposed seeking the Earl of Mar. Lord Andrew was soon at the +iron door which led from the hall to the principal stairs. + +"We must have our friendly battering-ram here," cried he; "a close +prisoner do they indeed keep my uncle when even the inner doors are +bolted on him." + +The men dragged the tree forward, and striking it against the iron, it +burst open with the noise of thunder. Shrieks from within followed the +sound. The women of Lady Mar, not knowing what to suppose during the +uproar of the conflict, now hearing the door forced, expected nothing +less than that some new enemies were advancing; and, giving themselves +up to despair, they flew into the room where the countess sat in equal +though less clamorous terror. + +At the shouts of the Scots, when they began the attack, the earl had +started from his couch. "That is not peace!" said he; "there is some +surprise!" + +"Alas, from whom?" returned Lady Mar; "who would venture to attack a +fortress like this, garrisoned with thousands?" + +The cry was repeated. + +"It is the slogan of Sir William Wallace!" cried he; "I shall be free! +O, for a sword! Hear, hear!" + +As the shouts redoubled, and, mingled with the various clangors of +battle, drew nearer the tower, the impatience of the earl could not be +restrained. Hope and eagerness seemed to have dried up his wounds and +new-strung every nerve, while unarmed as he was, he rushed from the +apartment, and hurried down the stairs which led to the iron door. He +found it so firmly fastened by bars and padlocks, he could not move it. +Again he ascended to his terrified wife, who, conscious how little +obligation Wallace owed to her, perhaps dreaded even more to see her +husband's hopes realized than to find herself yet more rigidly the +prisoner of the haughty De Valence. + +"Joanna!" cried he, "the arm of God is with us. My prayers are heard. +Scotland will yet be free. Hear those groans--those shouts. Victory! +victory!" + +As he thus echoed the cry of triumph uttered by the Scots when bursting +open the outer gate of the tower, the foundations of the building +shook, and Lady Mar, almost insensible with terror, received the +exhausted body of her husband into her arms; he fainted from the +transport his weakened frame was unable to hear. Soon after this the +stair-door was forced, and the panic-struck women ran shrieking into +the room to their mistress. + +The countess could not speak, but sat pale and motionless, supporting +his head on her bosom. Guided by the noise, Lord Andrew flew into the +room, and rushing toward his uncle, fell at his feet. "Liberty! +Liberty!" was all he could say. His words pierced the ear of the earl +like a voice from heaven, and looking up, without a word, he threw his +arms round the neck of his nephew. + +Tears relieved the contending feelings of the countess; and the women, +recognizing the young Lord of Bothwell, retired into a distant corner, +well assured they had now no cause for fear. + +The earl rested but a moment on the panting breast of his nephew; when, +gazing round, to seek the mighty leader of the band, he saw Wallace +enter, with the step of security and triumph in his eyes. + +"Ever my deliverer!" cried the venerable Mar, stretching forth his +arms. The next instant he held Wallace to his breast; and remembering +all that he had lost for his sake since they parted, a soldier's heart +melted, and he burst into tears. "Wallace, my preserver; thou victim +for Scotland, and for me--or rather, thou chosen of Heaven; who, by the +sacrifice of all thou didst hold dear on earth, art made a blessing to +thy country!-receive my thanks, and my heart." + +Wallace felt all in his soul which the earl meant to imply; but +recovered the calmed tone of his mind before he was released from the +embrace of his friend; and when he raised him self, and replied to the +acknowledgments of the countess, it was with a serene, though glowing +countenance. + +She, when she had glanced from the eager entrance and action of her +nephew to the advancing hero, looked as Venus did when she beheld the +god of war rise from a field of blood. She started at the appearance +of Wallace; but it was not his garments dropping gore, nor the +blood-stained falchion in his hand, that caused the new sensation; it +was the figure breathing youth and manhood; it was the face, where +every noble passion of the heart had stamped themselves on his perfect +features; it was his air, where majesty and sweet entrancing grace +mingled in manly union. They were all these that struck at once upon +the sight of Lady Mar and made her exclaim within herself, "This is a +wonder of man! This is the hero that is to humble Edward!-to +bless--whom?" was her thought. "Oh, no woman! Let him be a creature +enshrined and holy, for no female heart to dare to love!" + +This passed through the mind of the countess in less time than it has +been repeated, and when she saw him clasped in her husband's arms, she +exclaimed to herself, "Helen, thou wert right; thy gratitude was +prophetic of a matchless object, while I, wretch that I was, even +whispered the wish to my traitorous heart, while I gave information +against my husband, that this man, the cause of all, might be secured +or slain!" + +Just as the last idea struck her, Wallace rose from the embrace of his +venerable friend and met the riveted eye of the countess. She +stammered forth a few expressions of obligation; he attributed her +confusion to the surprise of the moment, and, replying to her +respectfully, turned again to the earl. + +The joy of the venerable chief was unbounded, when he found that a +handful of Scots had put two thousand Southrons to flight, and gained +entire possession of the castle. Wallace, having satisfied the anxious +questions of his noble auditor, gladly perceived the morning light. He +rose from his seat. "I shall take a temporary leave of you, my lord," +said he to the earl; "I must now visit my brave comrades at their +posts, and see the colors of Scotland planted on the citadel." + + + + +Chapter XXIV. + +The Great Tower. + + +When Wallace withdrew, Lady Mar, who had detained Murray, whispered to +him, while a blush stained her cheek, that she should like to be +present at the planting of the standard. Lord Mar declared his +willingness to accompany her to the spot, and added, "I can be +supported thither by the arm of Andrew." Murray hesitated. "It will +be impossible for my aunt to go; the hall below, and the ground before +the tower, are covered with slain." + +"Let them be cleared away!" cried she; "for I cannot consent to be +deprived of a spectacle so honorable to my country." + +Murray regarded the pitiless indifference with which she gave this +order with amazement. "To do that, madam," said he, "is beyond my +power; the whole ceremony of the colors would be completed long before +I could clear the earth of half its bleeding load. I will seek a +passage for you by some other way." + +Before the earl could make a remark, Murray had disappeared; and after +exploring the lower part of the tower in unavailing search for a way, +he met Sir Roger Kirkpatrick issuing from a small door, which, being in +shadow, he had hitherto overlooked. It led through the ballium, to the +platform before the citadel. Lord Andrew returned to his uncle and +aunt, and informing them of this discovery, gave his arm to Lord Mar, +while Kirkpatrick led forward the agitated countess. At this moment +the sun rose behind the purple summit of Ben Lomond. + +When they approached the citadel, Wallace and Sir Alexander Scrymgeour +had just gained its summit. The standard of Edward was yet flying. +Wallace looked at it for a moment; then laying his hand on the staff, +"Down, thou red dragon," cried he, "and learn to bow before the Giver +of all victory!" Even while speaking, he rent it from the roof; and +casting it over the battlements, planted the lion of Scotland in its +stead. + +As its vast evolvements floated on the air, the cry of triumph, the +loud clarion of honest triumph, burst from every heart, horn, and +trumpet below. It was a shout that pierced the skies, and entered the +soul of Wallace with a bliss which seemed a promise of immortality. + +"O God!" cried he, still grasping the staff, and looking up to heaven; +"we got not this in possession through our own might, but thy right +hand and the light of thy countenance overthrew the enemy! Thine the +conquest, thine the glory!" + +"Thus we consecrate the day to thee, Power of Heaven!" rejoined +Scrymgeour. "And let this standard be thine own; and whithersoever we +bear it, may we ever find it as the ark of our God!" + +Wallace, feeling as if no eye looked on them but that of Heaven, +dropped on his knee; and rising again, took Sir Alexander by the hand; +"My brave friend," said he, "we have here planted the tree of freedom +in Scotland. Should I die in its defense, swear to bury me under its +branches; swear that no enslaved grounds shall cover my remains." + +"I swear," cried Scrymgeour, laying his crossed hands upon the arm of +Wallace; "I swear with a double vow; by the blood of my brave +ancestors, whose valor gave me the name I bear; by the cross of St. +Andrew; and by your valiant self, never to sheath my sword, while I +have life in my body, until Scotland be entirely free!" + +The colors fixed, Wallace and his brave colleague descended the tower; +and perceiving the earl and countess, who sat on a stone bench at the +end of the platform, approached them. The countess rose as the chiefs +drew near. Lord Mar took his friend by the hand, with a gratulation in +his eyes that was unutterable; his lady spoke, hardly conscious of what +she said; and Wallace, after a few minutes' discourse, proposed to the +earl to retire with Lady Mar into the citadel, where she would be more +suitably lodged than in their late prison. Lord Mar was obeying this +movement, when suddenly stopping, he exclaimed, "but where is that +wondrous boy--your pilot over these perilous rocks? let me give him a +soldier's thanks?" + +Happy at so grateful a demand, Wallace beckoned Edwin, who, just +relieved from his guard, was standing at some distance. "Here," said +he, "is my knight of fifteen! for last night he proved himself more +worthy of his spurs than many a man who has received them from a king." + +"He shall wear those of a king," rejoined the Lord Mar, unbuckling from +his feet a pair of golden spurs; "these were fastened on my heels by +our great king, Alexander, at the battle of Largs. I had intended them +for my only son; but the first knight in the cause of rescued Scotland +is the son of my heart and soul!" + +As he spoke, he would have pressed the young hero to his breast; but +Edwin, trembling with emotion, slid down upon his knees, and clasping +the earl's hand, said, in a hardly audible voice, "Receive and pardon +the truant son of your sister Ruthven!" + +"What!" exclaimed the veteran, "is it Edwin Ruthven that has brought me +this weight of honor? Come to my arms, thou dearest child of my +dearest Janet?" + +The uncle and nephew were folded in each other's embrace. Lady Mar +wept, and Wallace, unable to bear the remembrance which such a scene +pressed upon his heart, turned away toward the battlements. Edwin +murmured a short explanation in the ear of his uncle; and then rising +from his arms, with his beautiful face glittering like an April day in +tears, allowed his gay cousin Murray to buckle the royal spurs on his +feet. The rite over, he kissed Lord Andrew's hand in token of +acknowledgment; and called on Sir William Wallace to bless the new +honors conferred on his knight. + +Wallace turned toward Edwin, with a smile which partook more of heaven +than of earth. "Have we not performed our mutual promises?" said he; +"I brought you to the spot where you were to reveal your name, and you +have declared it to me by the voice of glory! Come, then, my brother, +let us leave your uncle awhile to seek his repose." + +As he spoke, he bowed to the countess; and Edwin joyfully receiving his +arm, they walked together toward the eastern postern. Agitated with +the delightful surprise of thus meeting his favorite sister's son (whom +he had never seen since his infancy), and exhausted by the variety of +his late emotions, the earl speedily acquiesced in a proposal for rest, +and leaning on Lord Andrew, proceeded to the citadel. + +The countess had other attractions: lingering at the side of the rough +knight of Torthorald, she looked back, and when she saw the object of +her gaze disappear through the gates, she sighed, and turning to her +conductor, walked by him in silence till they joined her husband in the +hall of the keep. Murray led the way into the apartments lately +occupied by De Valence. They were furnished with all the luxury of a +Southron nobleman. Lady Mar cast her eyes around the splendid chamber, +and seated herself on one of its tapestried couches. The earl, not +marking whether it were silk or rushes, placed himself beside her. +Murray drew a stool toward them, while Kirkpatrick, tired of his +gallant duty, abruptly took his leave. + +"My dear Andrew," said the earl, "in the midst of this proud rejoicing +there is yet a canker at my heart. Tell me, that when my beloved Helen +disappeared in the tumult at Bothwell, she was under your protection?" + +"She was," replied Murray; "and I thank the holy St. Fillan, she is now +in the sanctuary of his church." + +Murray then recounted to his relieved uncle every event, from the +moment of his withdrawing behind the arras, to that of his confiding +the English soldier with the iron box to the care of the prior. Lord +Mar sighed heavily when he spoke of that mysterious casket. "Whatever +it contained," said he, "it has drawn after it much evil and much good. +The domestic peace of Wallace was ruined by it; and the spirit which +now restores Scotland to herself was raised by his wrongs." + +"But tell me," added he, "do you think my daughter safe, so near a +garrison of the enemy?" + +"Surely, my lord," cried the countess, too well remembering the +enthusiasm with which Helen had regarded even the unknown Wallace: +"surely you would not bring that tender child into a scene like this! +Rather send a messenger to convey her secretly to Thirlestan; at that +distance she will be safe, and under the powerful protection of her +grandfather." + +The earl acquiesced in her opinion; and saying he would consult with +Wallace about the securest mode of travel for his daughter, again +turned to Lord Andrew, to learn further of their late proceedings. But +the countess, still uneasy, once more interrupted him. + +"Alas! my lord, what would you do? His generous zeal will offer to go +in person for your daughter. We know not what dangers he might then +incur; and surely the champion of Scotland is not to be thrown into +peril for any domestic concern! If you really feel the weight of the +evils into which you have plunged Sir William Wallace, do not increase +it, by even hinting to him the present subject of your anxiety." + +"My aunt is an oracle!" resumed Murray. "Allow me to be the happy +knight that is to bear the surrender of Dumbarton to my sweet cousin. +Prevail on Wallace to remain in this garrison till I return; and then +full tilt for the walls of old Sterling, and the downfall of Hughie +Cressingham!" + +Both the countess and the earl were pleased with this arrangement. The +latter, by the persuasions of his nephew, retired into an inner chamber +to repose; and the former desired Lord Andrew to inform Wallace that +she should expect to be honored with his presence at noon, to partake +of such fare as the garrison afforded. + +On Murray's coming from the citadel, he learned that Wallace was gone +toward the great tower. He followed him thither; and on issuing from +the postern which led to that part of the rock, saw the chief standing, +with his helmet off, in the midst of the slain. + +"This is a sorry sight!" said he to Murray, as he approached; "but it +shall not long lie thus exposed. I have just ordered that these sad +wrecks of human strife may be lowered into the Clyde; its rushing +stream will soon carry them to a quiet grave beneath yon peaceful sea." +His own dead, amounting to no more than fifteen, were to be buried at +the foot of the rock, a prisoner in the castle having described steps +in the cliff by which the solemnity could easily be performed. + +"But why, my dear commander," cried Lord Andrew, "why do you take any +thought about our enemies? Leave them where they are, and the eagles +of our mountains will soon find them graves." + +"For shame, Murray!" was the reply of Wallace; "they are dead, and our +enemies no more. They are men like ourselves, and shall we deny them a +place in that earth whence we all sprung? We war not with human +nature; are we not rather the asserters of her rights?" + +"I know," replied Lord Andrew, blushing, "that I am often the asserter +of my own folly; and I do not know how you will forgive my +inconsiderate impertinence." + +"Because it was inconsiderate," replied Wallace. "Inhumanity is too +stern a guest to live in such a breast as yours." + +"If I ever give her quarters," replied Murray, "I should most wofully +disgrace the companion she must meet there. Next to the honor of fair +Scotland, my cousin Helen is the goddess of my idolatry; and she would +forswear my love and kindred, could she believe me capable of feeling +otherwise than in unison with Sir William Wallace." + +Wallace looked toward him with a benign pleasure in his countenance. +"Your fair cousin does me honor." + +"Ah! my noble friend," cried Murray, lowering his gay tone to one of +softer expression; "if you knew all the goodness, all the nobleness +that dwells in her gentle heart, you would indeed esteem her--you would +love her as I do." + +The blood fled from the cheek of Wallace. "Not as you do, Murray; I +can no more love a woman as you love her. Such scenes as these," cried +he, turning to the mangled bodies which the men were now carrying away +to the precipice of the Clyde, "have divorced woman's love from my +heart. I am all my country's, or I am nothing." + +"Nothing!" reiterated Murray, laying his hand upon that of Wallace, as +it rested upon the hilt of the sword on which he leaned. "Is the +friend of mankind, the champion of Scotland, the beloved of a thousand +valuable hearts, nothing? Nay, art thou not the agent of Heaven, to be +the scourge of a tyrant? Art thou not the deliverer of thy country?" + +Wallace turned his bright eye upon Murray with an expression of mingled +feelings. "May I be all this, my friend, and Wallace must yet be +happy! But speak not to me of love and woman; tell me not of those +endearing qualities I have prized too tenderly, and which are now +buried to me forever beneath the ashes of Ellerslie." + +"Not under the ashes of Ellerslie," cried Murray, "sleep the remains of +your lovely wife." Wallace's penetrating eye turned quick upon him. +Murray continued: "My cousin's pitying soul stretched itself toward +them; by her directions they were brought from your oratory in the +rock, and deposited, with all holy rites, in the cemetery at Bothwell." + +The glow that now animated the before chilled heart of Wallace, +overspread his face. His eyes spoke volumes of gratitude, his lips +moved, but his feelings were too big for utterance, and, fervently +pressing the hand of Murray, to conceal emotions ready to shake his +manhood, he turned away, and walked toward the cliff. + +When all the slain were lowered to their last beds, a young priest, who +came in the company of Scrymgeour, gave the funeral benediction both to +the departed in the waves, and those whom the shore had received. The +rites over, Murray again drew near to Wallace and delivered his aunt's +message. "I shall obey her commands," returned he; "but first we must +visit our wounded prisoners in the tower." + +Above three hundred of them had been discovered amongst the dead. + +Murray gladly obeyed the impulse of his leader's arm; and, followed by +the chieftains returned from the late solemn duty, they entered the +tower. Ireland welcomed Wallace with the intelligence that he hoped he +had succored friends instead of foes, for that most of the prisoners +were poor Welsh peasants, whom Edward had torn from their mountains to +serve in his legions; and a few Irish, who in the heat of blood, and +eagerness for adventure, had enlisted in his ranks. "I have shown to +them," continued Ireland, "what fools they are to injure themselves in +us. I told the Welsh they were clinching their own chains by assisting +to extend the dominion of their conqueror; and I have convinced the +Irish they were forging fetters for themselves by lending their help to +enslave their brother nation, the free-born Scots. They only require +your presence, my lord, to forswear their former leaders, and to enlist +under Scottish banners." + +"Thou art an able orator, my good Stephen," returned Wallace; "and +whatever promises thou hast made to honest men in the name of Scotland, +we are ready to ratify them. Is it not so?" added he, turning to +Kirkpatrick and Scrymgeour. + +"All as you will," replied they in one voice. "Yes," added +Kirkpatrick; "you were the first to rise for Scotland, and who but you +has a right to command for her?" + +Ireland threw open the door which led into the hall, and there, on the +ground, on pallets of straw, lay most of the wounded Southrons. Some +of their dimmed eyes had discerned their preserver, when he discovered +them expiring on the rock; and on sight of him now, they uttered such a +piercing cry of gratitude, that, surprised, he stood for a moment. In +that moment, five or six of the poor wounded wretches crawled to his +feet. "Our friend! our preserver!" burst from their lips, as they +kissed the edge of his plaid. + +"Not to me, not to me!" exclaimed Wallace. "I am a soldier like +yourselves. I have only acted a soldier's part; but I am a soldier of +freedom, you of a tyrant, who seeks to enslave the world. This makes +the difference between us; this lays you at my feet, when I would more +willingly receive you into my arms as brothers in one generous cause." + +"We are yours," was the answering exclamation of those who knelt, and +of those who raised their feebler voices from their beds of straw. A +few only remained silent. With many kind expressions of acceptance, +Wallace disengaged himself from those who clung around him, and then +moved toward the sick, who seemed too ill to speak. While repeating +the same consolatory language to them, he particularly observed an old +man who was lying between two young ones, and still kept a profound +silence. His rough features were marked with many a scar, but there +was a meek resignation in her face that powerfully struck Wallace. +When the chief drew near, the veteran raised himself on his arm, and +bowed his head with a respectful air. Wallace stopped. "You are an +Englishman?" + +"I am, sir, and have no services to offer you. These two young men on +each side of me are my sons. There brother I lost last night in the +conflict. To-day, by your mercy, not only my life is preserved, but my +two remaining children also. Yet I am an Englishman, and I cannot be +grateful at the expense of my allegiance." + +"Nor would I require it of you," returned Wallace; "these brave Welsh +and Irish were brought hither by the invader who subjugates their +countries; they owe him no duty. But you are a free subject of +England; he that is a tyrant over others can only be a king to you; he +must be the guardian of your laws, the defender of your liberties, or +his scepter falls. Having sworn to follow a sovereign so plighted, I +am not severe enough to condemn you, because, misled by that phantom +which he calls glory, you have suffered him to betray you into unjust +conquests." + +"Once I have been so misled," returned the old man; "but I never will +again. Fifty years I have fought under the British standard, in +Normandy and in Palestine; and now in my old age, with four sons, I +followed the armies of my sovereign into Scotland. My eldest I lost on +the plains of Dunbar. My second fell last night; and my two youngest +are now by my side. You have saved them and me. What can I do? Not, +as your noble self says, forswear my country; but this I swear, and in +the oath do you, my sons, join (as he spoke they laid their crossed +hands upon his, in token of assent), never to lift an arm against Sir +William Wallace or the cause of injured Scotland!" + +"To this we also subjoin!" cried several other men, who comprised the +whole of the English prisoners. + +"Noble people!" cried Wallace, "why have you not a king worthy of you?" + +"And yet," observed Kirkpatrick, in a surly tone, "Heselrigge was one +of these people!" + +Wallace turned upon him with a look of so tremendous a meaning, that, +awed by an expression too mighty for him to comprehend, he fell back a +few paces, muttering curses, but on whom could not be heard. + +"That man would arouse the tiger in our lion-hearted chief!" whispered +Scrymgeour to Murray. + +"Ay," returned Lord Andrew; "but the royal spirit keeps the beast in +awe--see how coweringly that bold spirit now bows before it!" + +Wallace marked the impression his glance had made, but where he had +struck, being unqilling to pierce also, he dispelled the thunder from +his countenance, and once more looking on Sir Roger with a frank +serenity. "Come," said he, "my good knight; you must not be more +tenacious for William Wallace than he is for himself! While he +possesses such a zealous friend as Kirkpatrick of Torthorald, he need +not now fear the arms of a thousand Heselrigges." + +"No, nor of Edwards either," cried Kirkpatrick, once more looking +boldly up, and shaking his broad claymore: "My thistle has a point to +sting all to death who would pass between this arm and my leader's +breast." + +"May heaven long preserve the valiant Wallace!" was the prayer of every +feeble voice, as he left the hall to visit his own wounded, in an upper +chamber. The interview was short and satisfactory. "Ah! sir," cried +one of them, "I cannot tell how it is, but when I see you, I feel as if +I beheld the very soul of my country, or its guardian angel, standing +before me--a something I cannot describe, but it fills me with courage +and comfort!" + +"You see an honest Scot standing before you, my good Duncan," replied +Wallace; "and that is no mean personage; for it is one who knows no use +of his life but as it fulfills his duty to his country!" + +"Oh that the sound of that voice could penetrate to every ear in +Scotland!" rejoined the soldier; "it would be more than the call of the +trumpet to bring them to the field!" + +"And from the summit of this rock many have already heard it; and more +shall be so aroused!" cried Murray, returning from the door, to which +one of his men had beckoned him; "here is a man come to announce that +Malcolm, Earl of Lennox, passing by the foot of this rock, saw the +Scottish standard flying from its citadel; and, as overjoyed as amazed +at the sight, he sends to request the confidence of being admitted." + +"Let me bring him hither!" interrupted Kirkpatrick; "he is brave as the +day, and will be a noble auxiliary." + +"Every true Scot must be welcome to these walls," returned Wallace. + +Kirkpatrick hastened from the tower to the northern side of the rock, +at the foot of which stood the earl and his train. With all the pride +of a freeman and a victor, Sir Roger descended the height. Lennox +advanced to meet him. "What is it I see? Sir Roger Kirkpatrick master +of this citadel, and our king's colors flying from its towers? Where +is the Earl de Valence? Where the English garrison?" + +"The English garrison," replied Kirkpatrick, "are now twelve hundred +men beneath the waters of the Clyde. De Valence is fled; and this +fortress, manned with a few hardy Scots, shall sink into yon waves ere +it again bear the English dragon on its walls." + +"And you, noble knight," cried Lennox, "have achieved all this? You +are the dawn to a blessed day for Scotland!" + +"No," replied Kirkpatrick; "I am but a follower of the man who has +struck the blow. Sir William Wallace of Ellerslie is our chief; and +with the power of his virtues he subdues not only friends, but enemies, +to his command." + +He then exultingly narrated the happy events of the last four and +twenty hours. The earl listened with wonder and joy. "What!" cried +he, "so noble a plan for Scotland, and I ignorant of it?-I, that have +not waked day or night, for many a month, without thinking or dreaming +of some enterprise to free my country--and behold it is achieved in a +moment! I see the stroke, as a bolt from Heaven; and I pray Heaven it +may light the sacrifice throughout the nation! Lead me, worthy knight, +lead me to your chief, for he shall be mine too: he shall command +Malcolm Lennox and all his clan." + +Kirkpatrick gladly turned to obey him; and they mounted the ascent +together. Within the barbican gate stood Wallace, with Scrymgeour and +Murray. The earl knew Scrymgeour well, having often seen him in the +field as hereditary standard-bearer of the kingdom; of the persons of +the others he was ignorant. + +"There is Wallace!" exclaimed Kirkpatrick. + +"Not one of those very young men?" interrogated the earl. + +"Even so," was the answer of the knight; "but his is the youth of the +brave son of Ammon; gray beards are glad to bow before his golden +locks, for beneath them is wisdom." + +As he spoke they entered the barbican; and Wallace (whom the +penetrating eye of Lennox had already singled out for the chief) +advanced to meet his guest. + +"Earl," said he, "you are welcome to Dumbarton Castle." + +"Bravest of my countrymen!" returned Lennox, clasping him in his arms, +"receive a soldier's embrace, receive the gratitude of a loyal heart! +accept my service, my arms, my men: my all I devote to Scotland and the +great cause." + +Wallace for a moment did not answer; but warmly straining the earl to +his breast, said, as he released him, "Such support will give sinews to +our power. A few months, and with the blessing of that arm which has +already mowed down the ranks which opposed us, we shall see Scotland at +liberty." + +"And may Heaven, brave Wallace!" exclaimed Lennox, "grant us thine arm +to wield its scythe! But how have you accomplished this? How have +your few overthrown this English host?" + +"He strikes home, when right points his sword," replied Wallace; "the +injuries of Scotland were my guide, and justice my companion. We +feared nothing, for God was with us; we feared nothing, and in his +might we conquered." + +"And shall yet conquer!" cried Lennox, kindling with the enthusiasm +that blazed from the eyes of Wallace. "I feel the strength of our +cause; and from this hour, I devote myself to assert it, or to die." + +"Not to die! my noble lord," said Murray; "we have yet many an eve to +dance over the buried fetters of Scotland. And as a beginning of our +jollities, I must remind our leader that my aunt's board awaits him." + +Lord Lennox understood from this address it was the brave Murray who +spoke to him; for he had heard sufficient from Sir Roger Kirkpatrick to +explain how the Countess of Mar and her patriot husband came within +those walls. + +The countess, having arrayed herself with all her powers to receive her +deliverer, awaited the hour of his arrival with an emotion at her +heart, which made it bound against her bosom, when she saw the object +of her splendid toil advancing along the courtyard. All others were +lost to her impatient eyes; and hastily rising from the window as the +chiefs entered the porch, she crossed the room to meet them at the door. + +The Earl of Lennox stood amazed at sight of so much beauty and splendor +in such a scene. Lady mar had hardly attained her thirty-fifth year; +but from the graces of her person, and the address with which she set +forth all her charms, the enchanted gazer found it impossible to +suppose her more than three or four and twenty. Thus happily formed by +nature, and habited in a suit of velvet, overlaid with Cyprus-work of +gold, blazing with jewels, about her head, and her feet clad in +silver-fretted sandals, Lennox thought she looked more like some +triumphant queen, than a wife who had so lately shared captivity with +an outlawed husband.** Murray started at such unexpected magnificence +in his aunt. But Wallace scarcely observed it was anything unusual, +and bowing to her, presented the Earl of Lennox. She smiled; and +saying a few words of welcome to the earl, gave her hand to Wallace to +lead her back into the chamber. + +**This is the style for state dress worn by noble ladies in the +thirteenth century. + +Lord Mar had risen from his seat; and leaning on his sword (for his +warlike arm refused any other staff), stood up on their entrance. At +sight of Lord Lennox, he uttered an exclamation of glad surprise. +Lennox embraced him. "I, too, am come to enlist under the banners of +this young Leonidas." + +"God armeth the patriot," was all the reply that Mar made, while the +big tears rolled over his cheek, and he shook him by the hand. + +"I have four hundred stout Lennox men," continued the earl, "who by +to-morrow's eve shall be ready to follow our leader to the very +borders." + +"Not so soon," interrupted the countess; "our deliverer needs repose." + +"I thank your benevolence, Lady Mar," returned Wallace; "but the issue +of last night, and the sight of Lord Lennox this day, with the promise +of so great a support, are such aliments that--we must go forward." + +"Ay, to be sure," joined Kirkpatrick; "Dumbarton was not taken during +our sleep; and if we stay loitering here, the devil that holds Stirling +Castle may follow the scent of De Valence; and so I lose my prey!" + +"What?" cried the countess, "and is my lord to be left again to his +enemies? Sir William Wallace, I should have thought-" + +"Everything, madam," rejoined he; "that is demonstrative of my devotion +to your venerable lord! But with a brave garrison, I hope you will +consider him safe here, until a wider range of security be won, to +enable you to retire to Braemar." + +As the apostrophe to Wallace, in the latter part of the countess' +speech, had been addressed to himself in rather a low voice, his reply +was made in a similar tone, so that Lord Mar did not hear any part of +the answer, except the concluding words. But then he exclaimed, "Nay, +my ever-fearful Joanna, art thou making objections to keeping garrison +here?" + +"I confess," replied Wallace, "that an armed citadel is not the most +pleasant abode for a lady; but at present, excepting perhaps the +church, it is the safest; and I would not advise your lady to remove +hence, until the plain be made as free as this mountain." + +The sewer now announced the board in the hall; and the countess leading +the way, reluctantly gave her hand to the Earl of Lennox. Lord Mar +leaned on the arm of Wallace, who was followed by Edwin and the other +chieftains. + + + + +Chapter XXV. + +The Citadel. + + +During the repast, the countess often fixed her unrestrained gaze on +the manly yet youthful countenance of the heroic Wallace. His plumed +helmet was now laid aside; and the heavy corselet unbuckled from his +breast, disclosing the symmetry of his fine form, left its graceful +movements to be displayed with advantage by the flexible folds of his +simple tartan vest. Was it the formidable Wallace she looked on, +bathed in the blood of Heselrigge, and breathing vengeance against the +adherents of the tyrant Edward! It was, then, the enemy of her kinsmen +of the house of Cummin! It was the man for whom her husband had +embraced so many dangers! It was the man whom she had denounced to one +of those kinsmen, and whom she had betrayed to the hazard of an +ignominious death! But where now was the fierce rebel--the ruiner of +her peace--the outlaw whom she had wished in his grave? + +The last idea was distraction. She could have fallen at his feet, and +bathing them with her tears, have implored his pity and forgiveness. +Even as the wish sprung in her mind, she asked herself-"Did he know +all, could he pardon such a weight of injuries?" She cast her eyes +with a wild expression upon his face. The mildness of heaven was +there; and the peace, too, she might have thought, had not his eye +carried a chastened sadness in its look, which told that something dire +and sorrowful was buried deep within. It was a look that dissolved the +soul which gazed on it. The countess felt her heart throb violently. +At that moment Wallace addressed a few words to her but she knew not +what they were; her soul was in tumults, and a mist passed over her +sight, which, for a moment, seemed to wrap all her senses in a trance. + +The unconscious object of these emotions bowed to her inarticulate +reply, supposing that the mingling voices of others had made him hear +hers indistinctly. + +Lady Mar found her situation so strange, and her agitation so +inexplicable, that feeling it impossible to remain longer without +giving way to a burst of tears, she rose from her seat, and forcing a +smile with her courtesy to the company, left the room. + +On gaining the upper apartment, she threw herself upon the nearest +couch, and striking her breast, exclaimed: "What is this within me? +How does my soul seem to pour itself out to this man! Oh! how does it +extend itself, as if it would absorb his, even at my eyes! Only twelve +hours--hardly twelve hours, have I seen this William Wallace, and yet my +very being is now lost in his!" + +While thus speaking, she covered her face with her handkerchief, but no +tears now started to be wiped away. The fire in her veins dried the +source, and with burning blushes she rose from her seat. "Fatal, fatal +hour! Why didst thou come here, too infatuating Wallace, to rob me of +my peace? Oh! why did I ever look on that face?-or rather, blessed +saints!" cried she, clasping her hands in wild passion, "why did I ever +shackle this hand?-why did I ever render such a sacrifice necessary? +Wallace is now free; had I been free? But wretch, wretch, wretch; I +could tear out this betrayed heart! I could trample on that of the +infatuated husband that made me such a slave!" She gasped for breath, +and again seating herself, reclined her beating temples against the +couch. + +She was now silent; but thoughts not less intense, not less fraught +with self-reproach and anguish, occupied her mind. Should this god of +her idolatry ever discover that it was her information which had sent +Earl de Valence's men to surround him in the mountains; should he ever +learn that at Bothwell she had betrayed the cause on which he had set +his life, she felt that moment would be her last. For, now, to sate +her eyes with gazing on him, to hear the sound of his voice, to receive +his smiles, seemed to her a joy she could only surrender with her +existence. What then was the prospect of so soon losing him, even to +crown himself with honor, but to her a living death? + +TO defer his departure was all her study--all her hope; and fearful that +his restless valor might urge him to accompany Murray in his intended +convoy of Helen to the Tweed, she determined to persuade her nephew to +set off without the knowledge of his general. She did not allow that +it was the youthful beauty, and more lovely mind of her +daughter-in-law, which she feared; even to herself she cloaked her +alarm under the plausible excuse of care for the chieftain's safety. +Composed by this mental arrangement, her disturbed features became +smooth, and with even a sedate air she received her lord and his brave +friends, when they soon after entered the chamber. + +But the object of her wishes did not appear. Wallace had taken Lord +Lennox to view the dispositions of the fortress. Ill satisfied as she +was with his prolonged absence, she did not fail to turn it to +advantage; and while her lord and his friends were examining a draft of +Scotland (which Wallace had sketched after she left the +banqueting-room), she took Lord Andrew aside, to converse with him on +the subject now nearest to her heart. + +"It certainly belongs to me alone, her kinsman and friend, to protect +Helen to the Tweed, if there she must go," returned Murray; "but, my +good lady, I cannot comprehend why I am to lead my fair cousin such a +pilgrimage. She is not afraid of heroes! you are safe in Dumbarton, +and why not bring her here also?" + +"Not for worlds!" exclaimed the countess, thrown off her guard. Murray +looked at her with surprise. It recalled her to self-possession, and +she resumed: "So lovely a creature in this castle would be a dangerous +magnet. You must have known that it was the hope of obtaining her +which attracted the Lord Soulis and Earl de Valence to Bothwell. The +whole castle rung with the quarrel of these two lords upon her account, +when you so fortunately effected her escape. Should it be known that +she is here, the same fierce desire of obtaining her would give double +incitement to De Valence to recover the place; and the consequences, +who can answer for?" + +By this argument Murray was persuaded to relinquish the idea of +conveying Helen to Dumbarton; but remembering what Wallace had said +respecting the safety of a religious sanctuary, he advised that she +should be left at St. Fillan's till the cause of Scotland might be more +firmly established. "Send a messenger to inform her of the rescue of +Dumbarton, and of your and my uncle's health," continued he, "and that +will be sufficient to make her happy." + +That she was not to be thrown in Wallace's way satisfied Lady Mar; and +indifferent whether Helen's seclusion were under the Elidon tree or the +Holyrood, she approved Murray's decision. Relieved from apprehension, +her face became again dressed in smiles, and, with a bounding step, she +rose to welcome the re-entrance of Wallace with the Earl of Lennox. + +Absorbed in one thought, every charm she possessed was directed to the +same point. She played finely on the lute and sung with all the grace +of her country. What gentle heart was not to be affected by music? +She determined it should be once of the spells by which she meant to +attract Wallace. She took up one of the lutes (which with other +musical instruments decorated the apartments of the luxurious De +Valence), and touching it with exquisite delicacy, breathed the most +pathetic air her memory could dictate. + + "If on the heath she moved, her breast was whiter than the down of Cana; + If on the sea-beat shore, than the foam of the rolling ocean. + Her eyes were two stars of light. Her face was Heaven's bow in showers; + Her dark hair flowed around it, like the streaming clouds, + Thou wert the dweller of souls, white-handed Strinadona!" + +Wallace rose from his chair, which had been placed near her. She had +deigned that these tender words of the bard of Morven should suggest to +her hearer the observation of her own resembling beauties. But he saw +in them only the lovely dweller of his own soul; and walking toward a +window, stood there with his eyes fixed on the descending sun. "So +hath set all my joys. So is life to me, a world without a sun-cold, +cold, and charmless!" + +The countess vainly believed that some sensibility advantageous to her +new passion had caused the agitation with which she saw him depart from +her side; and, intoxicated with the idea, she ran through many a +melodious descant, till toughing on the first strains of Thusa ha measg +na reultan mor, she saw Wallace start from his contemplative position, +and with a pale countenance leave the room. There was something in +this abruptness which excited the alarm of the Earl of Lennox, who had +also been listening to the songs; he rose instantly, and overtaking the +chief at the threshold, inquired what was the matter? "Nothing," +answered Wallace, forcing a smile, in which the agony of his mind was +too truly imprinted; "but music displeased me." With this reply he +disappeared. The excuse seemed strange but it was true; for she whose +notes were to him sweeter than the thrush--whose angel strains used to +greet his morning and evening hours--was silent in the grave! He should +no more see her white hand upon the lute; he should no more behold that +bosom, brighter than foam upon the wave, to him? A soulless sound, or +a direful knell, to recall the remembrance of all he had lost. + +Such were his thoughts when the words of Thusa ha measg rung from Lady +Mar's voice. Those were the strains which Halbert used to breathe from +his heart to call Marion to her nightly slumbers--those were the strains +with which that faithful servant had announced that she slept to wake +no more! + +What wonder, then, that Wallace fled from the apartment, and buried +himself, and his aroused grief, amid the distant solitudes of the +beacon-hill! + +While looking over the shoulder of his uncle, on the station which +Stirling held amid the Ochil hills, Edwin had at intervals cast a +side-long glance upon the changing complexion of his commander; and no +sooner did he see him hurry from the room, than fearful of some +disaster having befallen the garrison (which Wallace did not choose +immediately to mention), he also stole out of the apartment. + +After seeking the object of his anxiety for a long time, without avail, +he was returning on his steps, when, attracted by the splendor of the +moon silvering the beacon-hill, he ascended, to once at least tread +that acclivity in light which he had so miraculously passed in +darkness. Scarce a zephyr fanned the sleeping air. He moved on with a +flying step, till a deep sigh arrested him. He stopped and listened: +it was repeated again and again. He gently drew near, and saw a human +figure reclining on the ground. The head of the apparent mourner was +unbonneted, and the brightness of the moon shone on his polished +forehead. Edwin thought the sound of those sighs was the same he had +often heard from the object of his search. He walked forward. Again +the figure sighed; but with a depth so full of piercing woe, that Edwin +hesitated. + +A cloud had passed over the moon; but, sailing off again, displayed to +the anxious boy that he had indeed drawn very near his friend. "Who +goes there?" exclaimed Wallace, starting on his feet. + +"Your Edwin," returned the youth. "I feared something wrong had +happened, when I saw you look so sad, and leave the room abruptly." + +Wallace pressed his hand in silence. "Then some evil has befallen +you?" inquired Edwin, in an agitated voice; "you do not speak!" + +Wallace seated himself on a stone, and leaned his head upon the hilt of +his sword. "No new evil has befallen me, Edwin; but there is such a +thing as remembrance, that stabs deeper than the dagger's point." + +"What remembrance can wound you, my general? The Abbott of St. Colomba +has often told me that memory is a balm to every ill with the good; and +have not you been good to all? The benefactor, the preserver of +thousands! Surely, if man can be happy, it must be Sir William +Wallace!" + +"And so I am, my Edwin, when I contemplate the end. But, in the +interval, with all thy sweet philosophy, is it not written here 'that +man was made to mourn?'" He put his hand on his heart; and then, after +a short pause, resumed: "Doubly I mourn, doubly am I bereaved, for, had +it not been for an enemy, more fell than he who beguiled Adam of +Paradise, I might have been a father; I might have lived to have +gloried in a son like thee; I might have seen my wedded angel clasp +such a blessing to her bosom; but now, both are cold in clay! These +are the recollections which sometimes draw tears down thy leader's +cheeks. And do not believe, brother of my soul," said he, pressing the +now weeping Edwin to his breast, "that they disgrace his manhood. The +Son of God wept over the tomb of his friend; and shall I deny a few +tears, dropped in stealth, over the grave of my wife and child?" + +Edwin sobbed aloud. "No son could love you dearer than I do. Ah, let +my duty, my affection, teach you to forget you have lost a child. I +will replace all to you but your Marion; and her, the pitying Son of +Mary will restore to you in the kingdom of heaven." + +Wallace looked steadfastly at the young preacher. "'Out of the mouths +of babes we shall hear wisdom!' Thine, dear Edwin, I will lay to +heart. Thou shalt comfort me when my hermit-soul shuts out all the +world besides." + +"Then I am indeed your brother!" cried the happy youth; "admit me but +to your heart, and no fraternal, no filial tie, shall be more strongly +linked than mine." + +"What tender affections I can spare from those resplendent regions," +answered Wallace, pointing to the skies, "are thine. The fervors of my +once ardent soul are Scotland's, or I die. But thou art too young, my +brother," added he, interrupting himself, "to understand all his +feelings, all the seeming contradictions, of my contending heart." + +"Not so," answered Edwin, with a modest blush; "what was Lady Marion's, +you now devote to Scotland. The blaze of those affections which were +hers, would consume your being, did you not pour it forth on your +country. Were you not a patriot, grief would prey upon your life." + +"You have read me, Edwin," replied Wallace; "and that you may never +love to idolatry, learn this also. Though Scotland lay in ruins, I was +happy; I felt no captivity while in Marion's arms; even oppression was +forgotten when she made the sufferer's tears cease to flow. She +absorbed my thoughts, my wishes, my life!-and she was wrested from me, +that I might feel myself a slave, that the iron might enter into my +soul, with which I was to pull down tyranny, and free my country. Mark +the sacrifice, young man," cried Wallace, starting on his feet; "it now +even smokes, and the flames are here inextinguishable." He struck his +hand upon his breast. "Never love as I have loved, and you will be a +patriot, without needing to taste my bitter cup!" + +Edwin trembled; his tears were checked. "I can love no one better than +I do you, my general! and is there any crime in that?" + +Wallace in a moment recovered from the transient wildness which had +possessed him. "None, my Edwin," replied he; "the affections are never +criminal but when by their excess they blind us to other duties. The +offense of mine is judged, and I bow to the penalty. When that is +paid, then may my ashes sleep in rescued Scotland! Then may the God of +victory and of mercy grant that the seraph spirits of my wife and +infant may meet my pardoned soul in paradise." Edwin wept afresh. +"Cease, dear boy!" said he; "these presages are very comforting; they +whisper that the path of glory leads thy brother to his home." As he +spoke he took the arm of the silent Edwin (whose sensibility locked up +the powers of speech), and putting it through his, they descended the +hill together. + +On the open ground before the great tower they were met by Murray. "I +come to seek you," cried he. "We have had woe on woe in the citadel +since you left it." + +"Nothing very calamitous," returned Wallace, "if we may guess by the +merry aspect of the messenger." + +"Only a little whirlwind of my aunt's, in which we have had airs and +showers enough to wet us through and blow us dry again." + +The conduct of the lady had been even more extravagant than her nephew +chose to describe. After the knight's departure, when the chiefs +entered into conversation respecting his future plans, and Lennox +mentioned that when his men should arrive (for whom he had that evening +dispatched Ker), it was Wallace's intention to march immediately for +Stirling, whither, it could hardly be doubted, Aymer de Valence had +fled, "I shall be left here," continued the earl, "to assist you, Lord +Mar, in the severer duties attendant on being governor of this place." + +No sooner did these words reach the ears of the countess than, struck +with despair, she hastened toward her husband, and earnestly exclaimed, +"You will not suffer this!" + +"No," returned the earl, mistaking her meaning; "not being able to +perform the duties attendant on the responsibilities station with which +Wallace would honor me, I shall relinquish it altogether to Lord +Lennox, and be amply satisfied in finding myself under his protection." + +"Ah, where is protection without Sir William Wallace?" cried she. "If +he go, our enemies will return. Who then will repel them from these +walls? Who will defend your wife and only son from falling again into +the hands of our doubly incensed foes?" + +Mar observed Lord Lennox color at this imputation on his bravery, and +shocked at the affront which his unreflecting wife seemed to give so +gallant a chief, he hastily replied, "Though this wounded arm cannot +boast, yet the Earl of Lennox is an able representative of our +commander." + +"I will die, madam," interrupted Lennox, "before anything hostile +approaches you or your children." + +She attended slightly to this pledge, and again addressed her lord with +fresh arguments for the detention of Wallace. Sir Roger Kirkpatrick, +impatient under all this foolery, as he justly deemed it, abruptly +said, "Be assured, fair lady, Israel's Samson was not brought into the +world his duty better than allow himself to be tied to any nursery +girdle in Christendom." + +The brave old earl was offended with this roughness, but ere he could +so express himself, the object darted her own severe retort on +Kirkpatrick, and then, turning to her husband, with an hysterical sob, +exclaimed, "It is well seen what will be my fate when Wallace is gone! +Would he have stood by and beheld me thus insulted?" + +Distressed with shame at her conduct, and anxious to remove her fears, +Lord Mar softly whispered her, and threw his arm about her waist. She +thrust him from her. "You care not what may become of me, and my heart +disdains your blandishments." + +Lennox rose in silence, and walked to the other end of the chamber. +Sir Roger Kirkpatrick followed him, muttering, pretty audibly, his +thanks to St. Andrew that he had never been yoked with a wife. +Scrymgeour and Murray tried to allay the storm in her bosom by +circumstantially detailing how the fortress must be equally safe under +the care of Lennox as of Wallace. But they discoursed in vain; she was +obstinate, and at last left the room in a passion of tears. + +On the return of Wallace, Lord Lennox advanced to meet him. "What +shall we do?" said he. "Without you have the witchcraft of Hercules, +and can be in two places at once, I fear we must either leave the rest +of Scotland to fight for itself, or never restore peace to this castle!" + +Wallace smiled, but before he could answer, Lady Mar, having heard his +voice ascending the stairs, suddenly entered the room. She held her +infant in her arms. Her air was composed, but her eyes yet shone in +tears. At this sight Lord Lennox, sufficiently disgusted with the +lady, taking Murray by the arm, withdrew with him from the apartment. + +She approached Wallace: "You are come, my deliverer, to speak comfort +to the mother of this poor babe. My cruel lord here, and the Earl of +Lennox, say you mean to abandon us in this castle?" + +"It cannot be abandoned," returned the chief, "while they are in it. +But if so warlike a scene alarms you, would not a religious sanctuary-" + +"Not for worlds!" cried she, interrupting him; "what altar is held +sacred by the enemies of our country! O! wonder not, then," added she, +putting her face to that of her child, "that I should wish this +innocent babe never to be from under the wing of such a protector." + +"But that is impossible, Joanna," rejoined the earl; "Sir William +Wallace has duties to perform superior to that of keeping watch over +any private family. His presence is wanted in the field, and we should +be traitors to the cause did we detain him." + +"Unfeeling Mar," cried she, bursting into tears, "thus to echo the +words of the barbarian Kirkpatrick; thus to condemn us to die! You +will see another tragedy: your own wife and child seized by the +returning Southrons, and laid bleeding at your feet!" + +Wallace walked from her much agitated. + +"Rather inhuman, Joanna," whispered Lord Mar to her in an angry voice, +"to make such a reference to the presence of our protector! I cannot +stay to listen to a pertinacity as insulting to the rest of our brave +leaders as it is oppressive to Sir William Wallace. Edwin, you will +come for me when your aunt consents to be guided by right reason." +While yet speaking he entered the passage that led to his own apartment. + +Lady Mar sat a few minutes silent. She was not to be warned from her +determination by the displeasure of a husband whom she now regarded +with the impatience of a bondwoman toward her taskmaster; and only +solicitous to compass the detention of Sir William Wallace, she +resolved, if he would not remain at the castle, to persuade him to +conduct her himself to her husband's territories in the Isle of Bute. +She could contrive to make the journey occupy more than one day, and +for holding him longer she would trust to chance and her own +inventions. With these resolutions she looked up. Edwin was speaking +to Wallace. "What does he tell you?" said she; "that my lord has left +me in displeasure? Alas! he comprehends not a mother's anxiety for her +sole remaining child. One of my sweet twins, my dear daughter, died on +my being brought a prisoner to this horrid fortress, and to lose this +also would be more than I could bear. Look at this babe," cried she, +holding it up to him; "let it plead to you for its life! Guard it, +noble Wallace, whatever may become of me!" + +The appeal of a mother made instant way to Sir William's heart; even +her weaknesses, did they point to anxiety respecting her offspring, +were sacred with him. "What would you have me do, madam? If you fear +to remain here, tell me where you think you would be safer, and I will +be your conductor?" + +She paused to repress the triumph with which this proposal filled her, +and then, with downcast eyes, replied: "In the seagirt Bute stands +Rothsay, a rude, but strong castle of my lord's. It possesses nothing +to attract the notice of the enemy, and there I might remain in perfect +safety. Lord Mar may keep his station here until a general victory +sends you, noble Wallace, to restore my child to its father." + +Wallace bowed his assent to her proposal; and Edwin, remembering the +earl's injunction, inquired if he might inform him of what was decided. +When he left the room, Lady mar rose, and suddenly putting her son +into the arms of Wallace, rose, and said: "Let his sweet caresses thank +you." Wallace trembled as he pressed its little mouth to his; and, +mistranslating this emotion, she dropped her face upon the infant's, +and in affecting to kiss it, rested her head upon the bosom of the +chief. There was something in this action more than maternal; it +surprised and disconcerted Wallace. "Madam," said he, drawing back, +and relinquishing the child. "I do not require any thanks for serving +the wife and son of Lord Mar." + +At that moment the earl entered. Lady mar flattered herself that the +repelling action of Wallace, and his cold answer, had arisen from the +expectation of this entrance; yet blushing with something like +disappointment, she hastily uttered a few agitated words, to inform her +husband that Bute was to be her future sanctuary. + +Lord Mar approved it, and declared his determination to accompany her. +"In my state, I can be of little use here," said he; "my family will +require protection, even in that seclusion; and therefore, leaving Lord +Lennox sole governor of Dumbarton, I shall unquestionably attend them +to Rothsay myself." + +This arrangement would break in upon the lonely conversations she had +meditated to have with Wallace and therefore the countess objected to +the proposal. But none of her arguments being admitted by her lord, +and as Wallace did not support them by a word, she was obliged to make +a merit of necessity, and consent to her husband being their companion. + + + + +Chapter XXVI. + +Renfrewshire. + + +Toward evening the next day, Ker not only returned with the Earl of +Lennox's men, but brought with them Sir Eustace Maxwell of Carlaveroch. +That brave knight happened to be in the neighborhood the very same +night in which De Valence fled before the arms of Wallace across the +Clyde; and he no sooner saw the Scottish colors on the walls of +Dumbarton, than, finding out who was their planter, his soul took fire; +and stung with a generous ambition of equaling in glory his equal in +years, he determined to assist, while he emulated the victor. + +To this end, he traversed the adjoining country, striving to enlighten +the understandings of the stupidly satisfied and to excite the +discontented, to revolt. With most he failed. Some took upon them to +lecture him on "fishing in troubled waters;" and warned him, if he +would keep his head on his shoulders, to wear his yoke in peace. +Others thought the project too arduous for men of small means; they +wished well to the arms of Sir William Wallace; and, should he continue +successful, would watch the moment to aid him with all their little +power. Those who had much property, feared to risk its loss by +embracing a doubtful struggle. Some were too great cowards to fight +for the rights they would gladly regain by the exertions of others. +And others, again, who had families, shrunk from taking part in a cause +which, should it fail, would not only put their lives in danger, but +expose their offspring to the revenge of a resentful enemy. This was +the best apology of any that had been offered; natural affection was +the pleader; and though blinded to its true interest, such weakness had +an amiable source, and so was pardoned. But the other pleas were so +basely selfish, so undeserving of anything but scorn, that Sir Eustace +Maxwell could not forbear expressing it. "When Sir William Wallace is +entering full sail, you will send your hirelings to tow him in! but if +a plank could save him now, you would not throw it to him! I +understand you, sirs, and shall trouble your patriotism no more." + +In short, none but about a hundred poor fellows whom outrages had +rendered desperate, and a few brave spirits who would put all to the +hazard for so good a cause, could be prevailed on to hold themselves in +readiness to obey Sir Eustace, when he should see the moment to conduct +them to Sir William Wallace. He was trying his eloquence among the +clan at Lennox, when Ker arriving, stamped his persuasions with truth; +and above five hundred men arranged themselves under their lord's +standard. Maxwell gladly explained himself to Wallace's lieutenant; +and summoning his little reserve, they marched with flying pennons +through the town of Dumbarton. At sight of so much larger a power than +they expected would venture to appear in arms, and sanctioned by the +example of the Earl of Lennox (whose name held a great influence in +those parts), several, who before had held back, from doubting their +own judgment, now came forward; and nearly eight hundred well-appointed +men marched into the fortress. + +So large a reinforcement was gratefully received by Wallace; and he +welcomed Maxwell with a cordiality which inspired that young knight +with an affection equal to his zeal. + +A council being held respecting the disposal of the new troops, it was +decided that the Lennox men must remain with their earl in garrison; +while those brought by Maxwell, and under his command, should follow +Wallace in the prosecution of his conquests along with his own especial +people. + +These preliminaries being arranged, the remainder of the day was +dedicated to more mature deliberations--to the unfolding of the plan of +warfare which Wallace had conceived. As he first sketched the general +outline of his design, and then proceeded to the particulars of each +military movement, he displayed such comprehensiveness of mind; such +depths of penetration; clearness of apprehension; facility in +expedients; promptitude in perceiving, and fixing on the most favorable +points of attack; explaining their bearings upon the power of the +enemy; and where the possession of such a castle would compel the +neighboring ones to surrender; and where occupying the hills with bands +of resolute Scots, would be a more efficient bulwark than a thousand +towers--that Maxwell gazed on him with admiration, and Lennox with +wonder. + +Mar had seen the power of his arms; Murray had already drunk the +experience of a veteran from his genius; hence they were not surprised +on hearing that which filled strangers with amazement. + +Lennox gazed on his leader's youthful countenance, doubting whether he +really were listening to military plans, great as general ever formed; +or were visited, in vision, by some heroic shade, who offered to his +sleeping fancy designs far vaster than his waking faculties could have +conceived. He had thought that the young Wallace might have won +Dumbarton by a bold stroke, and that when his invincible courage should +be steered by stroke, and that when his invincible courage should be +steered by graver heads, every success might be expected from his arms; +and saw that when turned to any cause of policy, "the Gordian knot of +it he did unloose, familiar as his garter," he marveled, and said +within himself, "Surely this man is born to be a sovereign!" + +Maxwell, though equally astonished, was not so rapt. "You have made +arms the study of your life?" inquired he. + +"It was the study of my earliest days," returned Wallace. "But when +Scotland lost her freedom, as the sword was not drawn in her defense, I +looked not where it lay. I then studied the arts of peace; that is +over; and now the passion of my soul revives. When the mind is bent on +one object only, all becomes clear that leads to it; zeal, in such +cases, is almost genius." + +Soon after these observations, it was admitted that Wallace might +attend Lord mar and his family on the morrow to the Isle of Bute. + +When the dawn broke, he arose from his heather bed in the great tower; +and having called forth twenty of the Bothwell men to escort their +lord, he told Ireland he should expect to have a cheering account of +the wounded on his return. + +"But to assure the poor fellows," rejoined the honest soldier, "that +something of yourself still keeps watch over them. I pray you leave me +the sturdy sword with which you won Dumbarton. It shall be hung up in +their sight,** and a good soldier's wound will heal by looking on it." + +**This tower, within the fortress of Dumbarton, is still called +Wallace's tower; and a sword is shown there as the one that belonged to +Wallace. + +Wallace smiled. "Were it our holy King David's we might expect such a +miracle. But you are welcome to it; and here let it remain till I take +it hence. Meanwhile, lend me yours, Stephen, for a truer never fought +for Scotland." + +A glow of conscious valor flushed the cheek of the veteran. "There, my +dear lord," said he, presenting it; "it will not dishonor your hand, +for it cut down many a proud Norwegian on the field of Largs." + +Wallace took the sword, and turned to meet Murray with Edwin in the +portal. When they reached the citadel, Lennox and all the officers in +the garrison were assembled to bid their chief a short adieu. Wallace +spoke to each separately, and then approaching the countess, led her +down the rock to the horses which were to convey them tot he Frith of +Clyde. Lord Mar, between Murray and Edwin, followed; and the servants +and guard completed the suit. + +Being well mounted, they pleasantly pursued their way, avoiding all +inhabited places, and resting in the deepest recesses of the hills. +Lord Mar proposed traveling all night; but at the close of the evening +his countess complained of fatigue, declaring she could not advance +further than the eastern bank of the River Cart. No shelter appeared +in sight, excepting a thick and extensive wood of hazels; but the air +being mild, and the lady declaring her inability of moving on, Lord Mar +at last became reconciled to his wife and son passing the night with no +other canopy than the trees. Wallace ordered cloaks to be spread on +the ground for the countess and her women; and seeing them laid to +rest, planted his men to keep guard around the circle. + +The moon had sunk in the west before the whole of his little camp were +asleep; but when all seemed composed, he wandered forth by the dim +light of the stars to view the surrounding country--a country he had so +often traversed in his boyish days. A little onward, in green +Renfrewshire, lay the lands of his father; but that Ellerslie of his +ancestors, like his own Ellerslie of Clydesdale, his country's enemies +had leveled with the ground. He turned in anguish of heart toward the +south, for there less racking remembrances hovered over the distant +hills. + +Leaning on the shattered stump of an old tree, he fixed his eyes on the +far-stretching plain, which alone seemed to divide him from the +venerable Sir Ronald Crawford and his youthful haunts at Ayr. Full of +thoughts of her who used to share those happy scenes, he heard a sigh +behind him. He turned round, and beheld a female figure disappear +among the trees. He stood motionless; again it met his view; it seemed +to approach. A strange emotion stirred within him. When he last +passed these borders, he was bringing his bride from Ayr! What then +was this ethereal visitant? The silver light of the stars was not +brighter than its airy robes, which floated in the wind. His heart +paused--it beat violently--still the figure advanced. Lost in the +wilderness of his imagination, he exclaimed, "Marion!" and darted +forward, as if to rush into her embrace. But it fled, and again +vanished. He dropped upon the ground in speechless disappointment. + +"'Tis false!" cried he, recovering from his first expectation; "'tis a +phantom of my own creating. The pure spirit of Marion would never fly +from me; I loved her too well. She would not thus redouble my grief. +But I shall go to thee, wife of my soul!" cried he; "and that is +comfort. Balm, indeed, is the Christian's hope!" + +Such were his words, such were his thoughts, till the coldness of the +hour and the exhaustion of nature putting a friendly seal upon his +senses, he sunk upon the bank, and fell into a profound sleep. + +When he awoke the lark was caroling above his head; and to his surprise +he found a plaid was laid over him. He threw it off, and beheld Edwin +seated at his feet. "This has been your doing, my kind brother," said +he, "but how came you to discover me?" + +"I missed you when the dawn broke, and at last found you here, sleeping +under the dew." + +"And has none else been astir?" inquired Wallace, thinking of the +figure he had seen. + +"None that I know of. All were fast asleep when I left the party." + +Wallace began to fancy that he had been laboring under the impressions +of some powerful dream, and saying no more, he returned to the wood. +Finding everybody ready, he took his station; and setting forth, all +proceeded cheerfully, though slowly, through the delightful valleys of +Barochan. By sunset they arrived at the point of embarkation. The +journey ought to have been performed in half the time; but the countess +petitioned for long rests, a compliance with which the younger part of +the cavalcade conceded with reluctance. + + + + +Chapter XXVII. + +The Frith of Clyde. + + +At Gourock, Murray engage two small vessels; one for the earl and +countess, with Wallace as their escort; the other for himself and +Edwin, to follow with a few of the men. + +It was a fine evening, and they embarked with everything in their +favor. The boatmen calculated on reaching Bute in a few hours; but ere +they had been half an hour at sea, the wind, veering about, obliged +them to woo its breezes by a traversing motion, which, though it +lengthened their voyage, increased its pleasantness by carrying them +often within near views of the ever-varying shores. Sailing under a +side-wind, they beheld the huge irregular rocks of Dunoon, overhanging +the ocean; while from their projecting brows hung every shrub which can +live in that saline atmosphere. + +"There," whispered Lady mar, gently inclining toward Wallace, "might +the beautiful mermaid of Corie Vrekin keep her court! Observe how +magnificently those arching cliffs overhang the hollows, and how richly +they are studded with shells and sea-flowers!" + +No flower of the field or of the ocean that came within the ken of +Wallace, wasted its sweetness unadmired. He assented to the remarks of +Lady Mar, who continued to expatiate on the beauties of the shores +which they passed; and thus the hours flew pleasantly away, till, +turning the southern point of the Cowal Mountains, the scene suddenly +changed. The wind, which had gradually been rising, blew a violent +gale from that part of the coast; and the sea, being pent between the +rocks which skirt the continent and the northern side of Bute, became +so boisterous, that the boatmen began to think they should be driven +upon the rocks of the island, instead of reaching its bay. Wallace +tore down the sails, and laying his nervous arms to the oar, assisted +to keep the vessel off the breakers, against which the waves were +driving her. The sky collected into a gloom; and while the teeming +clouds seemed descending even to rest upon the cracking masts, the +swelling of the ocean threatened to heave her up into their very bosoms. + +Lady Mar looked with affright at the gathering tempest, and with +difficulty was persuaded to retire under the shelter of a little +awning. The earl forgot his debility in the general terror; and tried +to reassure the boatmen. But a tremendous sweep of the gale, driving +the vessel far across the head of Bute, shot her past the mouth of Loch +Fyne, toward the perilous rocks of Arran. "Here our destruction is +certain!" cried the master of the bark, at the same time confessing his +ignorance of the navigation on this side of the island. Lord Mar, +seizing the helm from the stupefied master, called to Wallace, "While +you keep the men to their duty," cried he, "I will steer." + +The earl being perfectly acquainted with the coast, Wallace gladly saw +the helm in his hand. But he had scarcely stepped forward himself to +give some necessary directions, when a heavy sea, breaking over the +deck, carried two of the poor mariners overboard. Wallace instantly +threw out a couple of ropes. Then, amidst a spray so blinding that the +vessel appeared in a cloud, and while buffeted on each side by the +raging of waves, which seemed contending to tear her to pieces, she lay +to for a few minutes, to rescue the men from the yawning gulf; one +caught a rope and was saved, but the other was seen no more. + +Again the bark was set loose to the current. Wallace, now with two +rowers only, applied his whole strength to their aid. The master and +the third man were employed in the unceasing toil of laying out the +accumulating water. + +While the anxious chief tugged at the oar, and watched the thousand +embattled cliffs which threatened destruction, his eye looked for the +vessel that contained his friends. But the liquid mountains which +rolled around him prevented all view; and, with hardly a hope of seeing +them again, he pursued his attempt to preserve the lives of those +committed to his care. + +All this while Lady Mar lay in a state of stupefaction. Having fainted +at the first alarm of danger, she had fallen from swoon to swoon, and +now remained almost insensible upon the bosoms of her maids. In a +moment the vessel struck with a great shock, and the next instant it +seemed to move with a velocity incredible. "The whirpool! the +whirlpool!" resounded from every lip. But again the rapid motion was +suddenly checked, and the women, fancying they had struck on the Vrekin +Rock, shrieked aloud. The cry, and the terrified words which +accompanied it, aroused Lady Mar. She started from her trance, and, +while the confusion redoubled, rushed toward the dreadful scene. + +The mountainous waves and lowering clouds, borne forward by the blast, +anticipated the dreariness of night. The last rays of the setting sun +had long passed away, and the deep shadows of the driving heavens cast +the whole into a gloom, even more terrific than absolute darkness; +while the high and beetling rocks, towering aloft in precipitous walls, +mocked the hopes of the sea-beaten mariner, should he even buffet the +waters to reach their base; and the jagged shingles, deeply shelving +beneath the waves, or projecting their pointed summits upward, showed +the crew where the rugged death would meet them. + +A little onward, a thousand massy fragments, rent by former tempests +from their parent cliffs, lay at the foundations of the immense +acclivities which faced the cause of their present alarm--a whirlpool +almost as terrific as that of Scarba. The moment the powerful blast +drove the vessel within the influence of the outward edge of the first +circle of the vortex. Wallace leaped from the deck on the rocks, and, +with the same rope in his hand with which he had saved the life of the +seaman, he called to the two men to follow him, who yet held similar +ropes, fastened like his own to the prow of the vessel; and being +obeyed, they strove by towing it along, to stem the suction of the +current. + +It was at this instant that Lady Mar rushed forward upon deck. + +"In for your life, Joanna!" exclaimed the earl. She answered him not, +but looked wildly around her. Nowhere could she see Wallace. + +"Have I drowned him?" cried she, in a voice of frenzy, and striking the +women from her, who would have held her back. "Let me clasp him, even +in the deep waters!" + +Happily, the earl lost the last sentence in the roaring of the storm. + +"Wallace, Wallace!" cried she, wringing her hands, and still struggling +with her women. At that moment a huge wave, sinking before her, +discovered the object of her fears, straining along the surface of a +rock, and followed by the men in the same laborious task, tugging +forward the ropes to which the bark was attached. She gazed at them +with wonder and affright, for, notwithstanding the beating of the +elements (which seeming to find their breasts of iron and their feet +armed with some preternatural adhesion to the cliff), they continued to +bear resolutely onward. Fortunately, they did not now labor against +the wind. Sometimes they pressed forward on the level edge of the +rock; then a yawning chasm forced them to leap from cliff to cliff, or +to spring on some more elevated projection. Thus, contending with the +vortex and the storm, they at last arrived at the doubling of +Cuthonrock,** the point that was to clear them of this minor Corie +Vrekin. But at that crisis the rope which Wallace held broke, and, +with the shock, he fell backward into the sea. The foremost man +uttered a dreadful cry; but ere it could be echoed by his fellows, +Wallace had risen above the waves, and, beating their whelming waters +with his invincible arm, soon gained the vessel and jumped upon the +deck. The point was doubled, but the next moment the vessel struck, +and in a manner that left no hope of getting her off. All must take to +the water or perish, for the second shock would scatter her piecemeal. + +**Cuthon means the mournful sound of waves. + +Again Lady Mar appeared. At sight of Wallace she forgot everything but +him; and perhaps would have thrown herself into his arms, had not the +anxious earl caught her in his own. + +"Are we to die?" cried she to Wallace, in a voice of horror. + +"I trust that God has decreed otherwise," was his reply. "Compose +yourself; all may yet be well." + +Lord Mar, from his yet unhealed wounds, could not swim; Wallace +therefore tore up the benches of the rowers, and binding them into the +form of a small raft, made it the vehicle for the earl and countess, +with her two maids and the child. While the men were towing it, and +buffeting with it through the breakers, he too threw himself into the +sea to swim by its side, and be in readiness in case of accident. + +Having gained the shore, or rather the broken rocks, that lie at the +foot of the stupendous craigs which surround the Isle of Arran, Wallace +and his sturdy assistants conveyed the countess and her terrified women +up their acclivities. Fortunately for the shipwrecked voyagers, though +the wind raged, its violence was of some advantage, for it nearly +cleared the heavens of clouds, and allowed the moon to send forth her +guiding light. By her lamp one of the men discovered the mouth of a +cavern, where Wallace gladly sheltered his dripping charges. + +The child, whom he had guarded in his own arms during the difficult +ascent, he now laid on the bosom of its mother. Lady mar kissed the +hand that relinquished it, and gave way to a flood of grateful tears. + +The earl, as he sunk almost powerless against the side of the cave, yet +had strength enough to press Wallace to his heart. "Ever preserver of +me and mine!" cried he, "how must I bless thee!-My wife, my child-" + +"Have been saved to you, my friend," interrupted Wallace, "by the +presiding care of Him who walked the waves! Without His especial arm +we must all have perished in this awful night; therefore let our +thanksgivings be directed to Him alone." + +"So be it!" returned the earl, and dropping on his knees, he breathed +forth so pathetic and sublime a prayer of thanks, that the countess +trembled, and bent her head upon the bosom of her child. She could not +utter the solemn Amen, that was repeated by every voice in the cave. +Her unhappy infatuation saw no higher power in this great preservation +than the hand of the man she adored. She felt that guilt was cherished +in her heart; and she could not lift her eyes to join with those who, +with the boldness of innocence, called on Heaven to attest the sanctity +of their vows. + +Sleep soon sealed every weary eye, excepting those of Wallace. A +racking anxiety respecting the fate of the other vessel, in which were +the brave men of Bothwell, and his two dear friends, filled his mind +with dreadful forebodings that they had not outlived the storm. +Sometimes, when wearied nature for a few minutes sunk into slumber, he +would start, grief-struck, from the body of Edwin floating on the briny +flood, and as he awoke, a cold despondence would tell him that his +dream was, perhaps, too true. "Oh! I love thee, Edwin!" exclaimed he +to himself; "and if my devoted heart was to be separated from all but a +patriot's love!-why did I think of loving thee?-must thou, too, die, +that Scotland may have no rival, that Wallace may feel himself quite +alone!" + +Thus he sat musing, and listening, with many a sigh, to the yelling +gusts of wind, and louder roaring of the water. At last the former +gradually subsided, and the latter, obeying the retreating ride, rolled +away in hoarse murmurs. + +Morning began to dawn, and spreading upon the mountains of the opposite +shore, shed a soft light over their misty sides. All was tranquil and +full of beauty. That element, which so lately in its rage had +threatened to ingulf them all, now flowed by the rocks at the foot of +the cave in gentle undulations; and where the spiral cliffs gave a +little resistance, the rays of the rising sun, striking on the bursting +waves, turned their vapory showers into dropping gems. + +While his companions were still wrapped in sleep, Wallace stole away to +seek some knowledge respecting the part of the Isle of Arran on which +they were cast. Close by the mouth of the cave he discovered a cleft +in the rock, into which he turned, and finding the upward footing +sufficiently secure, clambered to the summit. Looking around, he found +himself at the skirt of a chain of high hills, which seemed to stretch +from side to side over the island, while their tops, in alpine +succession, rose in a thousand grotesque and pinnacled forms. The +ptarmigan and capercailzie were screaming from those upper regions; and +the nimble roes, with their fawns, bounding through the green defiles +below. No trace of human habitation appeared; but from the size and +known population of the island, he knew he could not be far from +inhabitants; and thinking it best to send the boatmen in search of +them, he retraced his steps. The morning vapors were fast rolling +their snowy wreaths down the opposite mountains, whose heads, shining +in resplendent purple, seemed to view themselves in the bright +reflections of the now smooth sea. Nature, like a proud conqueror, +appeared to have put on a triumphal garb, in exultation of the +devastation she had committed the night before. Wallace shuddered, as +the parallel occurred to his mind, and turned from the scene. + +On re-entering the cave he dispatched the seamen, and disposed himself +to watch by the sides of his still sleeping friends. An hour hardly +had elapsed before the men returned, bringing with them a large boat +and its proprietor. But, alas! no tidings of Murray and Edwin, whom he +had hoped might have been driven somewhere on the island. In bringing +the boat round to the creek under the rock, the men discovered that the +sea had driven their wreck between two projecting rocks, where it now +lay wedged. Though ruined as a vessel, sufficient held together to +warrant their exertions to save the property. Accordingly they entered +it, and drew thence most of the valuables which belonged to Lord Mar. + +While this was doing, Wallace reascended to the cave, and finding the +earl awake, told him a boat was ready for their re-embarkation. "But +where, my friend, are my nephews?" inquired he; "Alas! has this fatal +expedition robbed me of them?" + +Wallace tried to inspire him with a hope he scarcely dare credit +himself, that they had been saved on some more distant shore. The +voices of the chiefs awakened the women, but the countess still slept. +Aware that she would resist trusting herself to the waves again, Lord +Mar desired that she might be moved on board without disturbing her. +This was readily done, the men having only to take up the extremities +of the plaid on to the boat. The earl received her head on his bosom. +All were then on board, the rowers struck their oars, and once more the +little party found themselves launched upon the sea. + +While they were yet midway between the isles, with a bright sun playing +its sparkling beams upon the gently rippling waves, the countess, +heaving a deep sigh, slowly opened her eyes. All around glared with +the light of day; she felt the motion of the boat, and raising her +head, saw that she was again embarked on the treacherous element on +which she had lately experienced so many terrors. She grew deadly +pale, and grasped her husband's hand. "My dear Joanna," cried he, "be +not alarmed, we are all safe." + +"And Sir William Wallace has left us?" demanded she. + +"No, madam," answered a voice from the steerage, "not till this party +is safe at Bute do I quit it." + +She looked round with a grateful smile; "Ever generous! How could I +for a moment doubt our preserver?" + +Wallace bowed, but remained silent; and they passed calmly along till +the vessel came in sight of a birling,** which, bounding over the +waves, was presently so near the earl's, that the figures in each could +be distinctly seen. In it the chiefs, to their rapturous surprise, +beheld Murray and Edwin. The latter, with a cry of joy, leaped into +the sea; the next instant he was over the boat's side, and clasped in +the arms of Wallace. Real transport, true happiness, now dilated the +heart of the before desponding chief. He pressed the dear boy again +and again to his bosom, and kissed his white forehead with all the +rapture of the fondest brother. "Thank God! thank God!" was all that +Edwin could say; while, at every effort to tear himself from Wallace, +to congratulate his uncle on his safety, his heart overflowing toward +his friend, opened afresh, and he clung the closer to his breast; till +at last, exhausted with happiness, the little hero of Dumbarton gave +way to the sensibility of his tender age, and the chief felt his bosom +wet with the joy--drawn tears of his youthful banneret. + +While this was passing, the birling had drawn close to the boat; and +Murray, shaking hands with his uncle and aunt, exclaimed to Wallace, +"That urchin is such a monopolizer, I see you have not a greeting for +any one else." On this Edwin raised his face, and turned to the +affectionate welcomes of Lord Mar. Wallace stretched out his hand to +the ever-gay Lord Andrew; and, inviting him into the boat, soon +learned, that on the portentous beginning of the storm, Murray's +company made direct to the nearest creek in Bute, being better seamen +than Wallace's helmsman who, until danger stopped him, had foolishly +continued to aim for Rothsay. By this prudence, without having been in +much peril, or sustained any fatigue, Murray's party had landed safely. +The night came on dark and tremendous; but not doubting that the +earl's rowers had carried him into a similar haven, the young chief and +his companion kept themselves very easy in a fisher's hut till morning. +At an early hour, they then put themselves at the head of the Bothwell +men; and, expecting they should come up with Wallace and his party at +Rothsay, walked over to the castle. Their consternation was +unutterable when they found that Lord Mar was not there, threw +themselves into a birling, to seek their friends upon the seas; and +when they did espy them, the joy of Edwin was so great, that not even +the unfathomable gulf could stop him from flying to the embrace of his +friend. + +**Birling is a small boat generally used by fishers. + +While mutual felicitations passed, the boats, now nearly side by side, +reached the shore; and the seamen, jumping on the rocks, moored their +vessels under the projecting towers of Rothsay. The old steward +hastened to receive a master who had not blessed his aged eyes for many +a year; a master who had the infant in his arms that was to be the +future representative of the house of Mar, he wept aloud. The earl +spoke to him affectionately, and then walked on with Edwin, whom he +called to support him up the bank. Murray led the countess out of the +boat; while the Bothwell men so thronged about Wallace, congratulating +themselves on his safety, that she saw there was no hope of his arm +being then offered to her. + +Having entered the castle, the steward led them into a room, in which +he had spread a plentiful repast. Here Murray (having recounted the +adventures of his voyage) called for a history of what had befallen his +friends. The earl gladly took up the tale, and, with many a glance of +gratitude to Wallace, narrated the perilous events of their shipwreck, +and providential preservation on the Isle of Arran. + +Happiness now seemed to, have shed her heavenly influence over every +bosom. All hearts owned the grateful effects of the late rescue. The +rapturous joy of Edwin burst into a thousand sallies of ardent and +luxurious imagination. The high spirits of Murray turned every +transient subject into a "mirth-moving jest". The veteran earl seemed +restored to health and to youth; and Wallace felt the sun of +consolation expanding in his bosom. He had met a heart, though a young +one, on which his soul might repose; that dear selected brother of his +affection was saved from the whelming waves; and all his superstitious +dreams of a mysterious doom vanished before this manifestation of +heavenly goodness. His friend, too, the gallant Murray, was spared. +How many subjects had he for unmurmuring gratitude! And with an +unclouded brow and a happy spirit, he yielded to the impulse of the +scene. He smiled; and, with an endearing graciousness, listened to +every fond speaker; while his own ingenuous replies bespoke the +treasures of love which sorrow, in her cruelest aspect, had locked +within his heart. + +The complacency with which he regarded every one--the pouring out of his +beneficent spirit, which seemed to embrace all, like his dearest +kindred--turned every eye and heart toward him, as to the source of +every bliss; as to a being who seemed made to love, and be beloved by +every one. Lady mar looked at him, listened to him, with her rapt soul +seated in her eyes. In his presence all was transport. + +But when he withdrew for the night, what was then the state of her +feelings! The overflowing of heart he felt for all, she appropriated +solely for herself. The sweetness of his voice, the unutterable +expression of his countenance, while, as he spoke, he veiled his eyes +under their long brown lashes, had raised such vague hopes in her +bosom, that--he being gone--she hastened her adieus to the rest, eager to +retire to bed, and there uninterruptedly muse on the happiness of +having at last touched the heart of a man for whom she would resign the +world. + + + + +Chapter XXVIII. + +Isle of Bute. + + +The morning would have brought annihilation to the countess' +new-fledged hopes, had not Murray been the first to meet her as she +came from her chamber. + +While walking on the cliffs at some distance from the castle to observe +the weather, he met Wallace and Edwin. They had already been across +the valley to the haven, and ordered a boat round, to convey them back +to Gourock. "Postpone your flight, for pity's sake!" cried Murray, "if +you would not, by discourtesy, destroy what your gallantry has +preserved!" He then told them that Lady Mar was preparing a feast in +the glen, behind the castle; "and if you do not stay to partake it," +added he, "we may expect all the witches in the isle will be bribed to +sink us before we reach the shore." + +After this the general meeting of the morning was not less cordial than +the separation of the night before; and when Lady Mar withdrew to give +orders for her rural banquet, that time was seized by the earl for the +arrangement of matters of more consequence. In a private conversation +with Murray the preceding evening he had learned that, just before the +party left Dumbarton, a letter had been sent to Helen at St. Filan's, +informing her of the taking of the castle, and of the safety of her +friends. This having satisfied the earl he did not advert to her at +all in his present discourse with Wallace, but rather avoided +encumbering his occupied mind with anything but the one great theme. + +While the earl and his friends were marshaling armies, taking towns, +and storming castles, the countess, intent on other conquests, was +meaning to beguile and destroy that manly spirit by soft delights, +which a continuance in war's rugged scenes, she thought, was too likely +to render invulnerable. + +When her lord and his guests were summoned to the feast, she met them +at the mouth of the glen. Having tried the effect of splendor, she now +left all to the power of her natural charms, and appeared simply clad +in her favorite green.** Moraig, the pretty grandchild of the steward, +walked beside her, like the fairy queen of the scene, so gayly was she +decorated in all the flowers of spring. "Here is the lady of my elfin +revels, holding her little king in her arms!" As the countess spoke, +Moraig held up the infant to Lady Mar, dressed like herself, in a +tissue gathered from the field. The sweet babe laughed and crowed, and +made a spring to leap into Wallace's arms. The chief took him, and +with an affectionate smile, pressed his little cheek to his. + +Though he had felt the repugnance of a delicate mind, and the shuddering +of a man who held his person consecrated to the memory of the only woman +he had ever loved; though he had felt these sentiments mingle into an +abhorrence of the countess, when she allowed her head to drop on his +breast in the citadel; and though, while he remained at Dumbarton, +(without absolutely charging her to himself with anything designedly +immodest), he had certainly avoided her; yet since the wreck, the danger +she had escaped, the general joy of all meeting again, had wiped away +even the remembrance of his former cause of dislike; and he now sat by +her as by a sister, fondling her child, although at every sweet caress +it reminded him of what might have been his--of hopes lost to him +forever. + +The repast over, the piper of the adjacent cottages appeared; and, +placing himself on a projecting rock, at the carol of his merry +instrument the young peasants of both sexes jocundly came forward and +began to dance. At this sight Edwin seized the little hand of Moraig, +while Lord Andrew called a pretty lass from amongst the rustics, and +joined the group. The happy earl, with many a hearty laugh, enjoyed +the jollity of his people; and while the steward stood at his lord's +back describing whose sons and daughters passed before him in the reel, +Mar remembered their parents--their fathers, once his companions in the +chase or on the wave; and their mothers, the pretty maidens he used to +pursue over the hills in the merry time of shealing. + +Lady Mar watched the countenance of Wallace as he looked upon the +joyous group; it was placid, and a soft complacency illumined his eye. +How different was the expression in hers, had he marked it! All within +her was in tumult, and the characters were but too legibly imprinted on +her face. But he did not look on her; for the child, whom the perfume +of the flowers overpowered, began to cry. He rose, and having resigned +it to the nurse, turned into a narrow vista of trees, where he walked +slowly on, unconscious whither he went. + +Lady Mar, with an eager, though almost aimless haste, followed him with +a light step till she saw him turn out of the vista, and then she lost +sight of him. To walk with him undisturbed in so deep a seclusion; to +improve the impression which she was sure she had made upon his heart; +to teach him which she was sure she had made upon his heart; to teach +him to forget his Marion, in the hope of one day possessing her--all +these thoughts ran in this vain woman's head; and, inwardly rejoicing +that the shattered health of her husband promised her a ready freedom +to become the wife of the man to whom she would gladly belong, in honor +or in dishonor, she hastened forward as if the accomplishment of her +wishes depended on this meeting. Peeping through the trees, she saw +him standing with folded arms, looking intently into the bosom of a +large lake; but the place was so thickly surrounded with willows, she +could only perceive him at intervals, when the wind tossed aside the +branches. + +Having stood for some time, he walked on. Several times she essayed to +emerge, and join him; but a sudden awe of him, a conviction of that +saintly purity which would shrink from the guilty vows she was +meditating to pour into his ear, a recollection of the ejaculation with +which he had accosted her before hovering figure, when she haunted his +footsteps on the banks of the Cart; these thoughts made her pause. He +might again mistake her for the same dear object. This image it was +not her interest to recall. And to approach near him, to unveil her +heat to him, and to be repulsed--there was madness in the idea, and she +retreated. + +She had no sooner returned to the scene of festivity than she repented +of having allowed what she deemed an idle alarm of overstrained +delicacy to drive her from the lake. She would have hastened back, had +not two or three aged female peasants almost instantly engaged her, in +spite of her struggles for extrication, to listen to long stories +respecting her lord's youth. She remained thus an unwilling auditor, +and by the side of the dancers for nearly an hour, before Wallace +reappeared. But then she sprung toward him as if a spell were broken. + +"Where, truant, have you been?" + +"In a beautiful solitude," returned he, "amongst a luxuriant grove of +willows." + +"Ah!" cried she, "it is called Glenshealeach, and a sad scene was acted +there! About ten years ago, a lady of this island drowned herself in +the lake they hang over, because the man she loved despised her." + +"Unhappy woman!" observed Wallace. + +"Then you would have pitied her?" rejoined Lady Mar. + +"He cannot be a man that would not pity a woman under such +circumstances." + +"Then you would not have consigned her to such a fate?" + +Wallace was startled by the peculiar tone in which this simple question +was asked. It recalled the action in the citadel, and, unconsciously +turning a penetrating look on her, his eyes met hers. He need not have +heard further to have learned more. She hastily looked down, and +colored; and he, wishing to misunderstand a language so disgraceful to +herself, so dishonoring to her husband, gave some trifling answer; then +making a slight observation about the earl, he advanced to him. Lord +Mar was become tired with so gala a scene, and, taking the arm of +Wallace, they returned together into the house. + +Edwin soon followed with Murray, gladly arriving in time enough to see +their little pinnacle draw up under the castle and throw out her +moorings. The countess, too, descried its streamers, and hastening +into the room where she knew the chiefs were yet assembled, though the +wearied earl had retired to repose, inquired the reason of that boat +having drawn so near the castle. + +"That it may take us from it, fair aunt," replied Murray. + +The countess fixed her eyes with an unequivocal expression upon +Wallace. "My gratitude is ever due to your kindness, noble lady," said +he, still wishing to be blind to what he could not perceive, "and that +we may ever deserve it, we must keep the enemy from your doors." + +"Yes," added Murray, "and to keep a more insidious foe from our own! +Edwin and I feel it rather dangerous to bask too long in these sunny +bowers." + +"But surely your chief is not afraid," said she, casting a soft glance +at Wallace. + +"Yet, nevertheless, I must fly," returned he, bowing to her. + +"That you positively shall not," added she, with a fluttering joy at +her heart, thinking she was about to succeed; "you stir not this night, +else I shall brand you all as a band of cowards." + +"Call us by every name in the poltroon's calendar," cried Murray, +seeing by the countenance of Wallace that his resolution was not to be +moved; "yet I must gallop off from your black-eyed Judith, as if chased +by the ghost of Holofernes himself." + +"So, dear aunt," rejoined Edwin, smiling, "if you do not mean to play +Circe to our Ulysses, give us leave to go!" + +Lady Mar started, confused she knew not how, as he innocently uttered +these words. The animated boy snatched a kiss from her hand, when he +ceased speaking, and darted after Murray, who had disappeared, to give +some speeding directions respecting the boat. + +Left thus alone with the object of her every wish, in the moment when +she thought she was going to lose him, perhaps, forever, she forgot all +prudence, all reserve; and laying her hand on her arm, as with a +respectful bow he was also moving away, she arrested his steps. She +held him fast, but her agitation prevented her speaking; she trembled +violently, and weeping, dropped her head upon his shoulder. He was +motionless. Her tears redoubled. He felt the embarrassment of his +situation; and at last extricating his tongue, which surprise and shame +for her had chained, in a gentle voice he inquired the cause of her +uneasiness. "If for the safety of your nephews-" + +"No, no," cried she, interrupting him, "read my fate in that of the +lady of Glenshealeach!" + +Again he was silent; astonished, fearful of too promptly understanding +so disgraceful a truth, he found no words in which to answer her, and +her emotions became so uncontrolled, that he expected she would swoon +in his arms. + +"Cruel, cruel Wallace!" at last cried she, clinging to him, for he had +once or twice attempted to disengage himself, and reseat her on the +bench; "your heart is steeled, or it would understand mine. It would +at least pity the wretchedness it has created. But I am despised, and +I can yet find the watery grave from which you rescued me." + +To dissemble longer would have been folly. Wallace, now resolutely +seating her, though with gentleness, addressed her: "Your husband, +Lady Mar, is my friend; had I even a heart to give a woman, not one +sigh should arise in it to his dishonor. But I am lost to all warmer +affections than that of friendship. I may regard man as my brother, +woman as my sister; but never more can I look on female form with love." + +Lady Mar's tears now flowed in a more tempered current. + +"But were it otherwise," cried she, "only tell me, that had I not been +bound with chains, which my kinsmen forced upon me--had I not been made +the property of a man who, however estimable, was of too paternal years +for me to love; ah! tell me, if these tears should now flow in vain?" + +Wallace seemed to hesitate what to answer. + +Wrought up to agony, she threw herself on his breast, exclaiming, +"Answer! but drive me not to despair. I never loved man before--and now +to be scorned! Oh, kill me, too, dear Wallace, but tell me not that +you never could have loved me." + +Wallace was alarmed at her vehemence. "Lady Mar," returned he, "I am +incapable of saying anything to you that is inimical to your duty to +the best of men. I will even forget this distressing conversation, and +continue through life to revere, equal with himself, the wife of my +friend." + +"And I am to be stabbed with this?" she replied, in a voice of +indignant anguish. + +"You are to be healed with it, Lady Mar," returned he, "for it is not a +man like the rest of his sex that now addresses you, but a being whose +heart is petrified to marble. I could feel no throb of yours; I should +be insensible to all your charms, were I even vile enough to see no +evil in trampling upon your husband's rights. Yes, were virtue lost to +me, still memory would speak, still would she urge, that the chaste and +last kiss, imprinted by my wife on these lips, should live there in +unblemished sanctity, till I again meet her angel embraces in the world +to come!" + +The countess, awed by his solemnity, but not put from her suit, +exclaimed: "What she was, I would be to thee--thy consoler, thine +adorer. Time may set me free. Oh! till then, only give me leave to +love thee, and I shall be happy!" + +"You dishonor yourself, lady," returned he, "by these petitions, and +for what? You plunge your soul in guilty wishes--you sacrifice your +peace, and your self-esteem, to a phantom; for I repeat, I am dead to +woman; and the voice of love sounds like the funeral knell of her who +will never breathe it to me again." He arose as he spoke, and the +countess, pierced to the heart, and almost despairing of now retaining +any part in its esteem, was devising what next to say, when Murray came +into the room. + +Wallace instantly observed that his countenance was troubled. "What +has happened?" inquired he. + +"A messenger from the mainland, with bad news from Ayr." + +"Of private or public import?" asked Wallace. + +"Of both. There has been a horrid massacre, in which the heads of many +noble families have fallen." As he spoke, the paleness of his +countenance revealed to his friend that part of the information he had +found himself unable to communicate. + +"I comprehend my loss," cried Wallace; "Sir Ronald Crawford is +sacrificed! Bring the messenger in." + +Murray withdrew; and Wallace, seating himself, remained with a fixed +and stern countenance, gazing on the ground. Lady Mar durst not +breathe for fear of disturbing the horrid stillness which seemed to +lock up his grief and indignation. + +Lord Andrew re-entered with a stranger, Wallace rose to meet him, and +seeing Lady mar-"Countess," said he, "these bloody recitals are not for +your ears;" and waving her to withdraw, she left the room. + +"This gallant stranger," said Murray, "is Sir John Graham. He has just +left that new theater of Southron perfidy." + +"I have hastened hither," cried the knight, "to call your victorious +arm to take a signal vengeance on the murderers of your grandfather. +He, and eighteen other Scottish chiefs, have been treacherously put to +death in the Barns of Ayr." + +Graham then gave a brief narration of the direful circumstance. He and +his father, Lord Dundaff, having crossed the south coast of Scotland on +their way homeward, stopped to rest at Ayr. They arrived there the +very day that Lord Aymer de Valence had entered it, a fugitive from +Dumbarton Castle. Much as that earl wished to keep the success of +Wallace a secret from the inhabitants of Ayr, he found it impossible. +Two or three fugitive soldiers whispered the hard fighting they had +endured; and in half an hour after the arrival of the English earl, +every one knew that the recovery of Scotland was begun. Elated with +this intelligence, the Scots went, under night, from house to house, +congratulating each other on so miraculous an interference in their +favor; and many stole to Sir Ronald Crawford, to felicitate the +venerable knight on his glorious grandson. + +The good old man listened with meek joy to their animated eulogiums on +Wallace; and when Lord Dundaff, in offering his congratulations with +the rest, said, "But while all Scotland lay in vassalage, where did he +imbibe this spirit, to tread down tyrants?" The venerable patriarch +replied, "He was always a noble boy. In infancy, he became the +defender of every child he saw oppressed by boys of greater power; he +was even the champion of the brute creation, and no poor animal was +ever attempted to be tortured near him. The old looked on him for +comfort, the young for protection. From infancy to manhood, he has +been a benefactor; and though the cruelty of our enemies have widowed +his youthful years--though he should go childless to the grave, the +brightness of his virtues will now spread more glories around the name +of Wallace than a thousand posterities." Other ears than those of +Dandaff heard this honest exultation. + +The next morning this venerable old man, and other chiefs of similar +consequence, were summoned by Sir Richard Arnuf, the governor, to his +palace, there to deliver in a schedule of their estates; "that quiet +possession," the governor said, "might be granted to them, under the +great seal of Lord Aymer de Valence, the deputy-warden of Scotland." + +The gray-headed knight, not being so active as his compeers of more +juvenile years, happened to be the last who went to this tiger's den. +Wrapped in his plaid, his silver hair covered with a blue bonnet, and +leaning on his staff, he was walking along attended by two domestics, +when Sir John Graham met him at the gate of the palace. He smiled on +him as he passed, and whispered-"It will not be long before my Wallace +makes even the forms of vassalage unnecessary; and then these failing +limbs may sit undisturbed at home, under the fig-tree and vine of his +planting!" + +"God grant it!" returned Graham; and he saw Sir Ronald admitted within +the interior gate. The servants were ordered to remain without. Sir +John walked there some time, expecting the reappearance of the knight, +whom he intended to assist in leading home; but after an hour, finding +no signs of egress from the palace, and thinking his father might be +wondering at his delay, he turned his steps toward his own lodgings. +While passing along he met several Southron detachments hurrying across +the streets. In the midst of some of these companies he saw one or two +Scottish men of rank, strangers to him, but who, by certain +indications, seemed to be prisoners. He did not go far before he met a +chieftain in these painful circumstances whom he knew; but as he was +hastening toward him, the noble Scot raised his manacled hand and +turned away his head. This was a warning to the young knight, who +darted into an obscure alley which led to the gardens of his father's +lodgings, and was hurrying forward when he met one of his own servants +running in quest of him. + +Panting with haste, he informed his master that a party of armed men +had come, under De Valence's warrant, to seize Lord Dundaff and bear +him to prison; to lie there with others who were charged with having +taken part in a conspiracy with the grandfather of the insurgent +Wallace. + +The officer of the band who took Lord Dundaff told him, in the most +insulting language, that "Sir Ronald, his ringleader, with eighteen +nobles, his accomplices, had already suffered the punishment of their +crime, and were lying headless trunks in the judgment hall." + +"Haste, therefore," repeated the man; "my lord bids you haste to Sir +William Wallace, and require his hand to avenge his kinsman's blood, +and to free his countrymen from prison! These are your father's +commands; he directed me to seek you and give them to you." + +Alarmed for the life of his father, Graham hesitated how to act on the +moment. To leave him seemed to abandon him to the death the others had +received; and yet, only by obeying him could he have any hopes of +averting his threatened fate. Once seeing the path he ought to pursue, +he struck immediately into it; and giving his signet to the servant, to +assure Lord Dundaff of his obedience, he mounted a horse, which had +been brought to the town end for that purpose, and setting off full +speed, allowed nothing to stay him, till he reached Dumbarton Castle. +There, hearing that Wallace had gone to Bute, he threw himself into a +boat, and plying every oar, reached that island in a shorter space of +time than the voyage had ever before been completed. + +Being now conducted into the presence of the chief, he narrated his +dismal tale with a simplicity and pathos which would have instantly +drawn the retributive sword of Wallace, had he had no kinsman to +avenge, no friend to release from the Southron dungeons. But as the +case stood, his bleeding grandfather lay before his eyes; and the ax +hung over the heads of the most virtuous nobles of his country. + +He heard the chieftain to an end, without speaking or altering the +stern attention of his countenance. But at the close, with an +augmented suffusion of blood in his face, and his brows denouncing some +tremendous fate, he rose. "Sir John Graham," said he, "I attend you." + +"Whither?" demanded Murray. + +"To Ayr," answered Wallace; "this moment I will set out for Dumbarton, +to bring away the sinews of my strength. God will be our speed! and +then this arm shall show how I loved that good old man." + +"Your men," interrupted Graham, "are already awaiting you on the +opposite shore. I presumed to command for you. For on entering +Dumbarton, and finding you were absent, after having briefly recounted +my errand to Lord Lennox, I dared to interpret your mind, and to order +Sir Alexander Scrymgeour, and Sir Roger Kirkpatrick, with all your own +force, to follow me to the coast of Renfrew." + +"Thank you, my friend!" cried Wallace, grasping his hand; "may I ever +have such interpreters! I cannot stay to bid your uncle farewell," +said he, to Lord Andrew; "remain, to tell him to bless me with his +prayers; and then, dear Murray, follow me to Ayr." + +Ignorant of what the stranger had imparted, at the sight of the chiefs +approaching from the castle gate, Edward hastened with the news, that +all was ready for embarkation. He was hurrying out his information, +when the altered countenance of his general checked him. He looked at +the stranger; his features were agitated and severe. He turned toward +his cousin, all there was grave and distressed. Again he glanced at +Wallace; no word was spoken, but every look threatened, and Edwin saw +him leap into the boat, followed by the stranger. The astonished boy, +though unnoticed, would not be left behind, and stepping in also, sat +down beside his chief. + +"I shall follow you in a hour," exclaimed Murray. The seamen pushed +off; then giving loose to their swelling sail, in less than ten +minutes, the light vessel was wafted out of the little harbor, and +turning a point, those in the castle saw it no more. + + + + +Chapter XXIX. + +The Barns of Ayr. + + +While the little bark bounded over the waves toward the main land, the +poor pilgrims of earth who were its freightage, with heavy hearts bent +toward each other, intent on the further information they were to +receive. + +"Here is a list of the murdered chiefs, and of those who are in the +dungeons, expecting the like treatment," continued Graham, holding out +a parchment; "it was given to me by my faithful servant." Wallace took +it, but seeing his grandfather's name at the top, he could look no +further; closing the scroll, "Gallant Graham," said he, "I want no +stimulus to urge me to the extirpation I meditate. If the sword of +Heaven be with us, not one perpetrator of this horrid massacre shall be +alive to-morrow to repeat the deed." + +"What massacre?" Edwin ventured to inquire. Wallace put the parchment +into his hand. "A list of the Scottish chiefs murdered on the 18th of +June, 1297, in the Judgment Hall of the English Barons at Ayr," his +cheek, paled by the suspense of his mind, now reddened with the hue of +indignation; but when the venerated name of his general's grandfather +met his sight, his horror struck eye sought the face of Wallace; it was +dark as before, and he was now in earnest discourse with Graham. + +Forbearing to interrupt him, Edwin continued to read over the +blood-registered names. In turning the page, his eye glanced to the +opposite side; and he saw at the head of "A list of prisoners in the +dungeons of Ayr," the name of "Lord Dundaff" and immediately after it, +that of "Lord Ruthven!" He uttered a piercing cry; and extending his +arms to Wallace, who turned round at so unusual a sound, the +terror-struck boy exclaimed, "My father is in their hands! Oh! If you +are indeed my brother, fly to Ayr, and save him!" + +Wallace took up the open list which Edwin had dropped; he saw the name +of Lord Ruthven amongst the prisoners; and folding his arms round this +affectionate son, "Compose yourself," said he, "it is to Ayr I am +going; and if the God of Justice be our speed, your father and Lord +Dundaff shall not see another day in prison." + +Edwin threw himself on the neck of his friend; "My benefactor!" was all +he could utter. Wallace pressed him silently to his bosom. + +"Who is this youth?" inquired Graham; "to which of the noble companions +of my captive father is he son?" + +"To William Ruthven," answered Wallace; "the valiant lord of the Carse +of Gowry. And it is a noble scion from that glorious root. He it was +that enabled me to win Dumbarton. Look up, my brother!" cried Wallace, +trying to regain so tender a mind from the paralyzing terrors which had +seized it; "Look up, and hear me recount the first fruits of your +maiden arms, to our gallant friend." + +Covered with blushes, arising from anxious emotion, as well as from a +happy consciousness of having wont he praises of his general, Edwin +rose from his breast, and bowing to Sir John, still leaned his head +upon the shoulder of Wallace. That amiable being, who, when seeking to +wipe the tear of affliction from the cheek of others, minded not the +drops of blood which were distilling in secret from his own heart, +began the recital of his first acquaintance with his young Sir Edwin. +He enumerated every particular; his bringing the detachment from +Bothwell, through the enemy-encircled mountains, to Glenfinlass; his +scaling the walls of Dumbarton to make the way smooth for the Scots to +ascend; and his after prowess in that well-defended fortress. As +Wallace proceeded, the wonder of Graham was raised to a pitch, only to +be equaled by his admiration; and taking the hand of Edwin, "Receive +me, brave youth," said he, "as your second brother; Sir William Wallace +is your first; but, this night, we shall fight side by side for our +fathers; and let that be our bond of kindred." + +Edwin pressed the young chief's cheek with his innocent lips; "Let us, +together, free them;" cried he' "and then we shall be born twins in +happiness." + +"So be it," cried Graham; "and Sir William Wallace be the sponser of +that hour!" + +Wallace smiled on them; and turning his head toward the shore, when the +vessel doubled a certain point, he saw the beach covered with armed +men. To be sure they were his own, he drew his sword, and waved it in +the air. At that moment a hundred falchions flashed in the sunbeams, +and the shouts of "Wallace!" came loudly on the breeze. + +Graham and Edwin started on their feet; the seamen piled their oars; +the boat dashed into the breakers--and Wallace, leaping on shore, was +received with acclamations by his eager soldiers. + +He no sooner landed, than he commenced his march. Murray joined him on +the banks of the Irwin; and as Ayr was no very great distance from that +river, at two hours before midnight the little army entered Laglane +Wood; where they halted, while Wallace, with his chieftains proceeded +to reconnoiter the town. The wind swept in gusts through the trees, +and seemed by its dismal yellings, to utter warnings of the dreadful +retributions he was about to inflict. He had already declared his plan +of destruction; and Graham, as a first measure, went to the spot he had +fixed on with Macdougal, his servant, as a place of rendezvous. He +returned with the man; who informed Wallace, that in honor of the +sequestrated lands of the murdered chiefs having been that day +partitioned by De Valance amongst certain Southron lords, a grand feast +was going on in the governor's palace. Under the very roof where they +had shed the blood of the trusting Scots, they were now keeping this +carousal! + +"Now, then, is our time to strike!" cried Wallace; and ordering +detachments of his men to take possession of the avenues to the town, +he set forth with others, to reach the front of the castle gates, by a +less frequented path than the main street. The darkness being so great +that no object could be distinctly seen, they had not gone far, before +Macdougal, who had undertaken to be their guide, discovered by the +projection of a hill on the right, that he had lost the road. + +"Our swords will find one!" exclaimed Kirkpatrick. + +Unwilling to miss any advantage, in a situation where so much was at +stake, Wallace gladly hailed a twinkling light, which gleamed from what +he supposed the window of a distant cottage. Kirkpatrick, with +Macdougal, offered to go forward, and explore what it might be. In a +few minutes they arrived at a thatched building; from which, to their +surprise, issued the wailing strains of the coronach. Kirkpatrick +paused. Its melancholy notes were sung by female voices. Hence, there +being no danger in applying to such harmless inhabitants, to learn the +way to the citadel, he proceeded to the door; when, intending to knock, +the weight of his mailed arm burst open its slender latch, and +discovered two poor women, in an inner apartment, wringing their hands +over a shrouded corpse. While the chief entered his friends came up. +Murray and Graham, struck with sounds never breathed over the vulgar +dead, lingered at the porch wondering what noble Scot could be the +subject of lamentation in so lowly an abode. The stopping of these two +chieftains impeded the steps of Wallace, who was pressing forward, +without eye or ear for anything but the object of his search. +Kirkpatrick at that moment appeared on the threshold, and without a +word, putting forth his hand, seized the arm of his commander, and +pulled him into the cottage. Before Wallace could ask the reason of +this, he saw a woman run forward with a light in her hand; the beams of +which falling on the face of the knight of Ellerslie, with a shriek of +joy she rushed toward him, and threw herself upon his neck. + +He instantly recognized Elspa, his nurse; the faithful attendant on his +grandfather's declining years! the happy matron who had decked the +bridal bed of his Marion! and with an anguish of recollections that +almost unmanned him, he returned her affectionate embrace. + +"Here he lies!" cried the old woman, drawing him toward the rushy bier; +and before he had time to demand, "Who?" she pulled down the shroud and +disclosed the body of Sir Ronald Crawford. Wallace gazed on it, with a +look of such dreadful import that Edwin, whose anxious eyes then sought +his countenance, trembled with a nameless horror. "Oh," thought he, +"to what is this noble soul reserved! Is he alone doomed to extirpate +the enemies of Scotland, that every ill falls direct upon his head!" + +"Sorry, sorry bier, for the good Lord Ronald!" cried the old woman; "a +poor wake to mourn the loss of him who was the benefactor of all the +country round! But had I not brought him here, the salt sea must have +been his grave." Here sobs prevented her utterance; but after a short +pause, with many vehement lamentations over the virtues of the dead, +and imprecations on his murderers, she related that as soon as the +woful tidings were brought to Monktown kirk (and brought too by the +Southron, who was to take it in possession!) she and the clan's-folk +who would not swear fidelity to the new lord, were driven from the +house. She hastened to the bloody theater of massacre; and there +beheld the bodies of the murdered chiefs drawn on sledges to the +seashore. Elspa knew that of her master, by the scar on his breast, +which he had received in the battle of Largs. When she saw corpse +after corpse thrown, with a careless hand, into the waves, and the man +approached who was to cast the honored chief of Monktown, to the same +unhallowed burial, she threw herself frantically on the body, and so +moved the man's compassion, that, taking advantage of the time when his +comrades were out of sight, he permitted her to wrap the dead Sir +Ronald in her plaid, and so carry him away between her sister and +herself. But ere she had raised her sacred burden, the man directed +her to seek the venerable head from amongst the others, which lay +mingled in a sack; drawing it forth, she placed it beside the body, and +then hastily retired with both, to the hovel where Wallace had found +her. It was a shepherd's hut, from which the desolation of the times +having long ago driven away its former inhabitant, she had hoped that +in so lonely an obscurity, she might have performed without notice, a +chieftain's rites, to the remains of the murdered lord of the very +lands on which she wept him. These over, she meant he should be +interred in secret by the fathers of a neighboring church, which he had +once richly endowed. With these intentions, she and her sister were +chanting over him the sad dirge of their country, when Sir Roger +Kirkpatrick burst open the door. "Ah!" cried she, as she closed the +dismal narrative; "though two lonely women were all they had left of +the lately thronged household of Sir Ronald Crawford, to raise the last +lament over his revered body, yet in that and midnight hour, our +earthly voices were not alone; the wakeful spirits of his daughters, +hovered in the air, and joined the deep coronach!" + +Wallace sighed heavily as he looked on the animated face of the aged +mourner. Attachment to the venerable dead seemed to have inspired her +with thoughts beyond her station; but the heart is an able teacher, and +he saw that true affection speaks but one language. + +As her ardent eyes withdrew from their heavenward gaze, they fell upon +the shrouded face of her master. A napkin concealed the wound of +decapitation. "Chiefs," cried she, in a burst of recollection, "ye +have not seen all the cruelty of these murderers!" At these words she +suddenly withdrew the linen, and lifting up the pale head, held it +wofully toward Wallace. "Here," cried she, "once more kiss these lips! +They have often kissed yours, when you were a babe; and as insensible +to his love, as he is now to your sorrow." + +Wallace received the head in his arms; the long silver beard, thick +with gouts of blood, hung over his hands. He gazed on it, intently, +for some minutes. An awful silence pervaded the room; every eye was +riveted upon him. + +Looking round on his friends, with a countenance whose deadly hue gave +a sepulchral fire to the gloomy denunciation of his eyes; "Was it +necessary," said he, "to turn my heart to iron, that I was brought to +see this sight?" All the tremendous purpose of his soul was read in +his face, while he laid the head back upon the bier. His lips again +moved, but none heard what he said. He rushed from the hut, and with +rapid strides, proceeded in profound silence toward the palace. + +He well knew that no honest Scot could be under that roof. The +building, though magnificent, was altogether a structure of wood; to +fire it, then, was his determination. TO destroy all, at once, in the +theater of their cruelty; to make an execution, not engage in a warfare +of man to man, was his resolution; for they were not soldiers hew as +seeking, but assassins; and to pitch his brave Scots in the open field +against such unmanly wretches would be to dishonor his men, to give +criminals a chance for the lives they had forfeited. + +All being quiet in the streets through which he passed, and having set +strong bodies of men at the mouth of every sallyport of the citadel, he +made a bold attack upon the guard at the barbican-gate; and, ere they +could give the alarm, all being slain, he and his chosen troop entered +the portal, and made direct to the palace. The lights which blazed +through the windows of the banqueting hall showed him to the spot; and, +having detached Graham and Edwin to storm the keep, where their fathers +were confined, he took the half-intoxicated sentinels at the +palace-gates by surprise, and striking them into a sleep from which +they would wake no more, he fastened the doors upon the assassins. His +men surrounded the building with hurdles filled with combustibles, +which they had prepared according to his directions; and, when all was +ready, Wallace, with the mighty spirit of retribution nerving every +limb, mounted to the roof, and tearing off the shingles, with a flaming +brand in his hand, showed himself to the affrighted revelers beneath; +and, as he threw it blazing among them, he cried aloud, "The blood of +the murdered calls for vengeance, and it comes." + +At that instant the matches were put to the fagots which surrounded the +building; and the party within, springing from their seats, hastened +toward the doors. All were fastened on them; and retreating into the +midst of the room, they fearfully looked toward the tremendous figure +above, which, like a supernatural being, seemed indeed come to rain +fire upon their guilty heads. Some shook with superstitious dread; +others, driven to atheistical despair, with horrible execrations, again +strove to force a passage through the doors. A second glance told De +Valence whose was the hand which had launched the thunderbolt at his +feet; and, turning to Sir Richard Arnuf, he cried, in a voice of +horror, "My arch-enemy is there!" + +Thick smoke rising from within and without the building now obscured +his terrific form. The shouts of the Scots as the fire covered its +walls, and the streaming flames licking the windows, and pouring into +every opening of the building, raised such a terror in the breasts of +the wretches within, that, with the most horrible cries, they again and +again flew to the doors to escape. Not an avenue appeared; almost +suffocated with smoke, and scorched by the blazing rafters which fell +from the burning roof, they at last made a desperate attempt to break a +passage through the great portal. Arnuf was at their head, and sunk to +abjectness by his despair, in a voice which terror rendered piercing, +he called aloud for mercy. The words reached the ear of Sir Roger +Kirkpatrick, who stood neared to the door. In a voice of thunder he +replied, "That ye gave, ye shall receive. Where was mercy when our +fathers and our brothers fell beneath your murderous axes!" + +Aymer de Valence came up at this moment with a wooden pillar, which he +and his strongest men in the company had torn from under the gallery +that surrounded the room, and with all their strength dashing it +against the great door, they at last drove it from its bolts. But now +a wall of men opposed them. Desperate at the sight, and with a burning +furnace in their rear, it was not the might of man that could prevent +their escape, and with the determination of despair, rushing forward, +the foremost rank of Scots fell. But ere the exulting Southrons could +press out into the open space, Wallace himself had closed upon them, +and Arnuf, the merciless Arnuf, whose voice had pronounced the sentence +of death upon Sir Ronald Crawford, died beneath his hand. + +Wallace was not aware that he had killed the Governor of Ayr till the +terror-struck exclamations of his enemies informed him that the +ruthless instigator of the massacre was slain. This event was welcome +news to the Scots; and hoping that the next death would be that of De +Valence, they pressed on with redoubled energy. + +Aroused by so extraordinary a noise, and alarmed by the flames of the +palace, the soldiers quartered near hastened half armed to the spot. +But their presence rather added to the confusion than gave assistance +to the besieged. They were without leaders, and not daring to put +themselves to action, for fear of being afterward punished (in the case +of a mischance) for having presumed to move without their officers, +they stood dismayed and irresolute, while those very officers, who had +been all at the banquet, were falling in heaps under the swords of the +exterminating Scots. + +Meanwhile, the men who guarded the prisoners in the keep, having their +commanders with them, made a stout resistance there; and one of the +officers, seeing a possible advantage, stole out, and, gathering a +company of the scattered garrison, suddenly taking Graham in flank, +made no inconsiderable havoc amongst that part of his division. Edwin +blew the signal for assistance. Wallace heard the blast; and seeing +the day was won at the palace, he left the finishing of the affair to +Kirkpatrick and Murray; and, drawing off a small party to reinforce +Graham, he took the Southron officer by surprise. The enemy's ranks +fell around him like corn beneath the sickle; and, grasping a huge +battering ram which his men had found, he burst open the door of the +keep. Graham and Edwin rushed in; and Wallace, sounding his own bugle +with the notes of victory, his reserves (whom he had placed at the ends +of the streets) entered in every direction, and received the flying +soldiers of De Valence upon their pikes. + +Dreadful was now the carnage; for the Southrons, forgetting all +discipline, fought every man for his life; which the furious Scots +driving them into the far-spreading flames, what escaped the sword +would have perished in the fire, had not the relenting heart of Wallace +pleaded for bleeding humanity, and he ordered the trumpet to sound a +parley. He was obeyed; and, standing on an adjacent mound, in an awful +voice he proclaimed that "whoever had not been accomplices in the +horrible massacre of the Scottish chiefs, if they would ground their +arms, and take an oath never to serve again against Scotland, their +lives should be spared." + +Hundreds of swords fell to the ground; and their late holders, kneeling +at his feet, took the oath perscribed. At the head of those who +surrendered appeared the captain who had commanded at the prison. He +was the only officer of all the late garrison who survived, all else +had fallen in the conflict or perished in the flames; and when he saw +that not one of his late numerous companions existed to go through the +same humiliating ceremony, with an aghast countenance he said to +Wallace, as he presented his sword, "Then I must believe that, with +this weapon, I am surrendering to Sir William Wallace the possession of +this castle and the government of Ayr. I see not one of my late +commanders--all must be slain; and for me to hold out longer would be to +sacrifice my men, not to redeem that which has been so completely +wrested from us. But I serve severe exactors, and I hope that your +testimony, my conqueror, will assure my king that I fought as became +his standard." + +Wallace gave him a gracious answer; and committing him to the generous +care of Murray, he turned to give orders to Ker respecting the +surrendered and the slain. During these momentous events, Graham had +deemed it prudent that, exhausted by anxiety and privations, the noble +captives should not come forth to join in the battle; and not until the +sound of victory echoed through the arches of their dungeons, would he +suffer the eager Dundaff to see and thank his deliverer. Meanwhile, +the young Edwin appeared before the eyes of his father, like the angel +who opened the prison gates to Peter. After embracing him with all a +son's fondness, in which for the moment he lost the repressing idea, +that he might have offended by his truancy; after recounting, in a few +hasty sentences, the events which had brought him to be a companion of +Sir William Wallace; and to avenge the injuries of Scotland in Ayr, he +knocked off the chains of his amazed father. Eager to perform the like +service to all who had suffered in like manner, and accompanied by the +happy Lord Ruthven (who gazed with delight on his son, treading so +early the path of glory), he hastened around to the other dungeons; and +gladly proclaimed to the astonished inmates, freedom and safety. +Having rid them of their shackles, he had just entered with his noble +company into the vaulted chamber, which contained the released Lord +Dundaff, when the peaceful clarion sounded. At the joyful tidings, +Graham started on his feet: "Now, my father, you shall see the bravest +of men!" + + + + +Chapter XXX. + +The Barns of Ayr. + + +Morning was spreading in pale light over the heavens, and condensing +with its cold breath the lurid smoke which still ascended in volumes +from the burning ruins, when Wallace, turning round at the glad voice +of Edwin, beheld the released nobles. This was the first time he had +ever seen the Lords Dundaff and Ruthven; but several of the others he +remembered having met at the fatal decision of the crown; and, while +welcoming to his friendship those to whom his valor had given freedom, +how great was his surprise to see, in the person of a prisoner suddenly +brought before him, Sir John Monteith; the young chieftain whom he had +parted with a few months ago at Douglas; and from whose fatal +invitation to that castle he might date the ruin of his dearest +happiness, and all the succeeding catastrophe! + +"We found Sir John Monteith amongst the slain before the palace," said +Ker; "he, of the whole party, alone breathed; I knew him instantly. +How he came there I know not; but I have brought him hither to explain +it himself." Ker withdrew, to finish the interment of the dead. + +Monteith, still leaning on the arm of a soldier, grasped Wallace's +hand. "My brave friend!" cried he, "to owe my liberty to you is a +twofold pleasure; for," added he, in a lowered voice, "I see before me +the man who is to verify the words of Baliol; and be not only the +guardian, but the possessor of the treasure he committed to our care!" + +Wallace, who had never thought on the coffer, since he knew it was +under the protection of St. Fillan, shook his head. "A far different +need do I seek, my friend!" said he; "to behold these happy +countenances of my liberated countrymen is greater reward to me than +would be the development of all the splendid mysteries which the head +of Baliol could devise." + +"Ay!" cried Dundaff, who overheard this part of the conversation, "we +invited the usurpation of a tyrant by the docility with which we +submitted to his minion. Had we rejected Baliol, we had never been +ridden by Edward. But the rowel has gored the flanks of us all! and +who amongst us will not lay himself and fortune at the foot of him who +plucks away the tyrant's heel?" + +"It all held our cause in the light that you do," returned Wallace, +"the blood which these Southrons have sown would rise up in ten +thousand legions to overwhelm the murderers!" + +"But how," inquired he, turning to Monteith, "did you happen to be in +Ayr at this period? and how, above all, amongst the slaughtered +Southrons at the palace?" + +Sir John Monteith readily replied: "My adverse fate accounts for all." +He then proceeded to inform Wallace, that on the very night in which +they parted at Douglas, Sir Arthur Heselrigge was told the story of the +box: and accordingly sent to have Monteith brought prisoner to Lanark. +He lay in the dungeons of its citadel at the very time Wallace entered +that town and destroyed the governor. Though the Scots did not pursue +the advantage offered by the transient panic into which the retribution +threw their enemies, care was immediately taken by the English +lieutenant to prevent a repetition of the same disasters; and, in +consequence, every suspected person was seized, and those already in +confinement loaded with chains. Monteith being known as a friend of +Wallace, was sent under a strong guard toward Stirling, there to stand +his trial before Cressingham and the English Justiciary, Ormsby. "By a +lucky chance," said he, "I made my escape; but I was soon retaken by +another party, and conveyed to Ayr, where the Lieutenant-governor +Arnuf, discovering my talents for music, compelled me to sing at his +entertainments." + +"For this purpose, he last night confined me in the banqueting-room at +the palace, and thus, when the flames surrounded that building, I found +myself exposed to die the death of a traitor, though then as much +oppressed as any other Scot. Snatching up a sword, and striving to +join my brave countrymen, the Southrons impeded my passage, and I fell +under their arms." + +Happy to have rescued his old acquaintance from further indignities, +Wallace committed him to Edwin to lead into the citadel. Then taking +the colors of Edward from the ground (where the Southron officer had +laid them), he gave them to Sir Alexander Scrymgeour, with orders to +fill their former station on the citadel with the standard of Scotland. +This action he considered as the seal of each victory; as the beacon +which, seen from afar, would show the desolate Scots where to find a +protector, and from what ground to start when courage should prompt +them to assert their rights. + +The standard was no sooner raised than the proud clarion of triumph was +blown from every warlike instrument in the garrison and the Southron +captain, placing himself at the head of his disarmed troops, under the +escort of Murray, marched out of the castle. He announced his design +to proceed immediately to Newcastle, and thence embark with his men to +join their king at Flanders. Not more than two hundred followed their +officer in this expedition, for not more were English; the rest, to +nearly double that number, being, like the garrison of Dumbarton, Irish +and Welsh, were glad to escape enforced servitude. Some parted off in +divisions to return to their respective countries, while a few, whose +energetic spirits preferred a life of warfare in the cause of a country +struggling for freedom, before returning to submit to the oppressors of +their own, enlisted under the banners of Wallace. + +Some other necessary regulations being then made, he dismissed his +gallant Scots, to find refreshment in the well-stored barracks of the +dispersed Southrons, and retired himself to join his friends in the +citadel. + + + + +Chapter XXXI. + +Berwick and the Tweed. + + +In the course of an hour Murray returned from having seen the departing +Southrons beyond the barriers of the township. But he did not come +alone; he was accompanied by Lord Auchinleck, the son of one of the +betrayed barons who had fallen in the palace of Ayr. This young +chieftain, at the head of his vassals, hastened to support the man +whose dauntless hand had thus satisfied his revenge; and when he met +Murray at the north gate of the town, and recognized in his flying +banners a friend of Scotland, he was happy to make himself known to an +officer of Wallace, and to be conducted to that chief. + +While Lord Andrew and his new colleague were making the range of the +suburbs, the glad progress of the victor Scots had turned the whole +aspect of that gloomy city. Doors and windows, so recently closed in +deep mourning, for the sanguinary deeds done in the palace, now opened +teeming with smiling inhabitants. The general joy penetrated to the +most remote recesses. Mothers now threw their fond arms around the +necks of the children whom just before they had regarded with the +averted eyes of despair; in the one sex, they then beheld the victims +of, perhaps, the next requisition for blood; and in the other, the +hapless prey of passions, more felt than the horrid rage of the beast +of the field. But now all was secure again. These terrific tyrants +were driven hence; and the happy parent, embracing her offspring as if +restored from the grave, implored a thousand blessings on the head of +Wallace, the gifted agent of all this good. + +Sons who in secret had lamented the treacherous death of their fathers, +and brothers of their brothers, now opened their gates, and joined the +valiant troops in the streets. Widowed wives and fatherless daughters +almost forgot they had been bereaved of their natural protectors, when +they saw Scotland rescued from her enemies, and her armed sons, once +more walking in the broad day, masters of themselves and of their +country's liberties. + +Thus, then, with every heart rejoicing, every house teeming with +numbers to swell the ranks of Wallace, did he, the day after he had +entered Ayr, see all arranged for its peaceful establishment. But ere +he bade that town adieu, in which he had been educated, and where +almost every man, remembering its preserver's boyish years, thronged +round him with recollections of former days, one duty yet demanded his +stay: to pay funeral honors to the remains of his beloved grandfather. + +Accordingly, the time was fixed; and with every solemnity due to his +virtues and his rank, Sir Ronald Crawford was buried in the chapel of +the citadel. It was not a scene of mere ceremonious mourning. As he +had been the father of the fatherless, he was followed to the grave by +many an orphan's tears; and as he had been the protector of the +distressed of every degree, a procession, long and full of lamentation, +conducted his shrouded corpse to its earthly rest. The mourning +families of the chiefs who had fallen in the same bloody theater with +himself, closed the sad retinue; and while the holy rites committed his +body to the ground, the sacred mass was extended to those who had been +plunged into the weltering element. + +While Wallace confided the aged Elspa and her sister to the care of Sir +Reginald Crawford, to whom he also resigned the lands of his +grandfather; "Cousin," said he, "you are a valiant and a humane man! I +leave you to be the representative of your venerable uncle; to cherish +these poor women whom he loved; to be the protector of his people and +the defender of the town. The citadel is under the command of the +Baron of Auchinleck; he, with his brave followers, being the first to +hail the burning of the accursed Barns of Ayr." + +After this solemnity, and these dispositions, Wallace called a review +of his troops; and found that he could leave five hundred men at Ayr, +and march an army of at least two thousand out of it. + +His present design was to take his course to Berwick; and, by seizing +every castle of strength in his way, form a chain of works across the +country, which would not only bulwark Scotland against any further +inroads from its enemies, but render the subjugation of the interior +Southron garrisons more certain and easy. + +On the third morning after the conflagration of the palace, Wallace +quitted Ayr; and marching over its far-stretching hills, manned every +watch-tower on their summits. For now, whithersoever he moved, he +found his victories had preceded him; and all, from hall to hovel, +turned out to greet and offer him their services. Thus, heralded by +fame, the panic-struck Southron governors fled at the distant view of +his standards; the flames of Ayr seemed to menace them all, and castle +and fortalice, from Muirkirk to the walls of Berwick, opened their +gates before him. + +Arrived under those blood-stained towers which had so often been the +objects of dispute between the powers of England and of Scotland, he +prepared for their immediate attack. Berwick being a valuable fortress +to the enemy, not only as a key to the invaded kingdom, but a point +whence by their ships they commanded the whole of the eastern coast of +Scotland, Wallace expected that a desperate stand would be made here to +stop the progress of his arms. But being aware that the most +expeditious mode of warfare was the best adapted to promote his cause, +he first took the town by assault; and then, having driven the garrison +into the citadel, assailed it by a vigorous seige. + +After ten days hard duty before the walls, Wallace devised a plan to +obtain possession of the English ships which commanded the harbor. He +found among his own troops many men who had been used to a seafaring +life; these he disguised as fugitive Southrons from the late defeats, +and sent in boats to the enemy's vessels which lay in the roads. The +feint took; and by these means getting possession of those nearest the +town, he manned them with his own people; and going out with them +himself, in three days made himself master of every ship on the coast. + +By this maneuver the situation of the beseiged was rendered so +hopeless, that no mode of escape was left but by desperate sallies. +They made them, but without other effect than weakening their strength +and increasing their miseries. Wallace was for them to do in their +situation, he needed no better spy over their actions than his own +judgment. + +Foiled in every attempt, as their opponent, guessing their intentions, +was prepared at every point to meet their different essays, and losing +men at every rencounter, their governor stood without resource. +Without provisions, without aid of any kind for his wounded men, and +hourly annoyed by the victorious Scots, who continued day and night to +throw showers of arrows, and other missile weapons, from the towers and +springalls with which they had overtopped the walls, the unhappy Earl +of Gloucester seemed ready to rush on death, to avoid the disgrace of +surrendering the fortress. Every soul in the garrison was reduced to +similar despair. Wallace even found means to dam up the spring which +had supplied the citadel with water. The common men, famished with +hunger, smarting with wounds, and now perishing with inextinguishable +thirst, threw themselves at the feet of their officers, imploring them +to represent to their royal governor that if he held out longer, he +must defend the place alone, for they could not exist another day under +their present sufferings. + +The earl indeed repented the rashness with which he had thrown himself +unprovisioned into the citadel. He now saw that expectation was no +apology for want of precaution. When his first division had been +overpowered in the assault on the town, his evil genius then suggested +that it was best to take the second unbroken into the citadel, and +there await the arrival of a reinforcement by sea. But he thence +beheld the ships which had defended the harbor seized by Wallace before +his eyes. Hope was then crushed, and nothing but death or dishonor +seemed to be his alternatives. Cut to the soul at the consequences of +his want of judgment, he determined to retrieve his fame by washing out +that error with his blood. To fall under the ruins of Berwick Castle +was his resolution. Such was the state of his mind when his officers +appeared with the petition from his men. In proportion as they felt +the extremities into which they were driven, the offense he had +committed glared with tenfold enormity in his eyes; and, in a wild +despair, he told them "they might do as they would, but for his part, +the moment they opened the gates to the enemy, that moment should be +the last of his life. He, that was the son-in-law of King Edward, +would never yield his sword to a Scottish rebel." + +Terrified at these threats on himself, the soldiers, who loved their +general, declared themselves willing to die with him; and, as a last +effort, proposed making a mine under the principal tower of the Scots; +and by setting fire to it, at least destroy the means by which they +feared their enemies might storm the citadel. + +As Wallace gave his orders from this commanding station, he observed +the besieged passing in numbers behind a mound, in the direction of the +tower where he stood: he concluded what was their design; and ordering +a countermine to be made, what he anticipated happened; and Murray, at +the head of his miners, encountered those of the castle at the very +moment they would have set fire to the combustibles laid to consume the +tower. The instant struggle was violent, but short; for the impetuous +Scots drove their amazed and enfeebled adversaries through the +aperture, back into the citadel. At this crisis, Wallace, with a band +of resolute men, sprung from the tower upon the wall; and it being +almost deserted by its late guards (who had quitted their post to +assist in repelling the foe below), he leaped into the midst of the +conflict and the battle became general. It was decisive; for beholding +the undaunted resolution with which the weakened and dying were +supporting the cause their governor was determined to defend to the +last, Wallace found his admiration and his pity alike excited; and even +while his followers seemed to have each his foe's life in his hands, +when one instant more would make him the undisputed master of the +castle (for not a Southron would then breathe to dispute it), he +resolved to stop the carnage. At the moment when a gallant officer, +who, having assaulted him with the vehemence of despair, now lay +disarmed under him; at that moment when the discomfited knight +exclaimed, "In mercy strike, and redeem the honor of Ralph de +Monthermer!"** Wallace raised his bugle and sounded the note of peace. +Every sword was arrested, and the universal clangor of battle was +hushed in expecting silence. + +**Ralph de Monthermer, a noble knight who married Jane of Acre, the +daughter of King Edward I. He was created Earl of Gloucester on his +marriage with that princess.-(1809.) + +"Rise, brave earl," cried Wallace, to the governor; "I revere virtue +too sincerely to take an unworthy advantage of my fortune. The valor +of this garrison commands my respect; and, as a proof of my sincerity, +I grant to it what I have never yet done to any: that yourself and +these dauntless men march out with the honors of war, and without any +bonds on your future conduct toward us. We leave it to your own hearts +to decide whether you will ever be again made instruments to enchain a +free and brave people." + +While he was speaking, De Monthermer leaned gloomily on the sword he +had returned to him, with his eyes fixed on his men. They answered his +glance with looks that said they understood him: and passing a few +words in whispers to each other, one at last spoke aloud: "Decide for +us, earl. We are as ready to die as to live; so that in neither we may +be divided from you." + +At this generous declaration the proud despair of De Monthermer gave +way to nobler feelings; and while a big tear stood in each eye, he +turned to Wallace, and stretching out his hand to him. "Noble Scot," +said he, "your unexampled generosity, and the invincible fidelity of +these heroic men, have compelled me to accept the life I had resolved +to lose under these walls, rather than resign them. But virtue is +resistless, and to it do I surrender that pride of soul which made +existence insufferable under the consciousness of having erred. When I +became the husband of King Edward's daughter, I believed myself pledged +to victories or to death. But there is a conquest, and I feel it, +greater than over hosts in the field; and here taught to make it, the +husband of the princess of England, the proud Earl of Gloucester, +consents to live to be a monument of Scottish nobleness, and of the +inflexible fidelity of English soldiers." + +"You live, illustrious and virtuous Englishmen," returned Wallace, "to +redeem that honor of which too many rapacious sons of England have +robbed their country. Go forth, therefore, as my conqueror, for you +have on this spot extinguished that burning antipathy with which the +outraged heart of William Wallace had vowed to extirpate every Southron +from off this ravaged land. Honor, brave earl, makes all men brethren; +and, as a brother, I open these gates for you, to repass into your +country. When there, if you ever remember William Wallace, let it be +as a man who fights, not for conquest or renown, but to restore +Scotland to her rights, and then resign his sword to peace." + +"I shall remember you, Sir William Wallace!" returned De Monthermer; +"and, as a pledge of it, you shall never see me again in this country +till I come an embassador of that peace for which you fight. But +meanwhile, in the moment of hot contention for the rights which you +believe wrested from you, do you remember that they have not been so +much the spoil of my royal father's ambition as the traffic of your own +venal nobles. Had I not believed that Scotland was unworthy of +freedom, I should never have appeared upon her borders; but now that I +see that she has brave hearts within her, who not only resist +oppression, but know how to wield power, I detest the zeal with which I +volunteered to rivet her chains. And I repeat, that never again shall +my hostile foot impress this land." + +These sentiments were answered in the same spirit by his soldiers; and +the Scots, following the example of their leader, treated them with +every kindness. After dispensing amongst them provisions, and +appointing means to convey the wounded in comfort, Wallace bade a +cordial farewell to the Earl of Gloucester, and his men conducted their +reconciled enemies over the Tweed. There they parted. The English +bent their course toward London, and the Scots returned to their +victorious general. + + + + +Chapter XXXII. + +Stirling. + + +The happy effects of these rapid conquests were soon apparent. The +fall of Berwick excited such a confidence in the minds of the +neighboring chieftains, that every hour brought fresh recruits to +Wallace. Every mouth was full of the praises of the young conqueror; +every eye was eager to catch a glimpse of his person; and while the men +were emulous to share his glory, the women in their secret bowers put +up prayers for the preservation of one so handsome and so brave. + +Amongst the many of every rank and age who hastened to pay their +respects to the deliverer of Berwick, was Sir Richard Maitland, of +Thirlestane, the Stawlart Knight of Lauderdale.** + +**Sir Richard Maitland, of the castle of Thirlestane on the Leeder, is +noted in Scottish tradition for his bravery. His valiant defense of +his castle against the English in his extreme old age, is still the +subject of enthusiasm amongst the people of Lauderdale. + +Wallace was no sooner told of the approach of the venerable chief, than +he set forth to bid him welcome. At sight of the champion of Scotland, +Sir Richard threw himself off his horse with a military grace that +might have become even youthful years; and hastening toward Wallace, +clasped him in his arms. + +"Let me look on thee!" cried the old knight; "let me feast my eyes on +the true Scot, who again raises this hoary head, so long bent in shame +for its dishonored country!" While he spoke, he viewed Wallace from +head to foot. "I knew Sir Ronald Crawford, and thy valiant father," +continued he, "O! had they lived to see this day! But the base murder +of the one thou hast nobly avenged, and the honorable grave of the +other, on Loudon Hill,** thou wilt cover with a monument of thine own +glories. Low are laid my own children, in this land of strife, but in +thee I see a son of Scotland that is to dry all our tears." + +**Sir Malcolm Wallace, the father of Sir William Wallace, was killed in +the year 1295, on Loudon Hill, in a battle with the English. + +He embraced Wallace again and again; and, as the veteran's overflowing +heart rendered him garrulous, he expatiated on the energy with which +the young victor had pursued his conquests, and paralleled them with +the brilliant actions he had seen in his youth. While he thus +discoursed, Wallace drew him toward the castle, and there presented to +him the two nephews of the Earl of May. + +He paid some warm compliments to Edwin on his early success in the +career of glory; and then turning to Murray: "Ay!" said he, "it is joy +to me to see the valiant house of Bothwell in the third generation. +Thy grandfather and myself were boys together at the coronation of +Alexander the Second; and that is eighty years ago. Since then, what +have I not seen! the death of two noble Scottish kings! our blooming +princes ravished from us by untimely fates! the throne sold to a +coward, and at last seized by a foreign power! Then, in my own person, +I have been the father of as brave and beauteous a family as ever +blessed a parent's eye; but they are all torn from me. Two of my sons +sleep on the plains of Dunbar; my third, my dauntless William, since +that fatal day, has been kept a prisoner in England. And my daughters, +the tender blossoms of my aged years--they grew around me, the fairest +lilies of the land: but they, too, are passed away. The one, scorning +the mere charms of youth, and preferring a union with a soul that had +long conversed with superior regions, loved the sage of Ercildown. But +my friend lost this rose of his bosom, and I the child of my heart, ere +she had been a year his wife. Then was my last and only daughter +married to the Lord Mar; and in giving birth to my dear Isabella she, +too, died. Ah, my good young knight, were it not for that sweet child, +the living image of her mother, who in the very spring of youth was +cropped and fell, I should be alone: my hoary head would descend to the +grave, unwept, unregretted!" + +The joy of the old man having recalled such melancholy remembrances, he +wept upon the shoulder of Edwin, who had drawn so near, that the story, +was begun to Murray, was ended to him. To give the mourning father +time to recover himself, Wallace was moving away, when he was met by +Ker, bringing information that a youth had just arrived in breathless +haste from Stirling, with a sealed packet, which he would not deliver +into any hands but those of Sir William Wallace. Wallace requested his +friends to show every attention to the Lord of Thirlestane, and then +withdrew to meet the messenger. + +On his entering the ante-room, the youth sprung forward, but suddenly +checking himself, he stood as if irresolute whom to address. + +"This is Sir William Wallace, young man," said Ker; "deliver your +embassy." + +At these words the youth pulled a packet from his bosom, and putting it +into the chief's hand, retired in confusion. Wallace gave orders to +Ker to take care of him, and then turned to inspect its contents. He +wondered from whom it would come, aware of no Scot in Stirling who +would dare to write to him while that town was possessed by the enemy. +But not losing a moment in conjecture, he broke the seal. + +How was he startled at the first words! and how was every energy of his +heart roused to redoubled action when he turned to the signature! The +first words in the letter were these: + + +"A daughter, trembling for the life of her father, presumes to address +Sir William Wallace." The signature was "Helen Mar." He began the +letter again: + + +"A daughter, trembling for the life of her father, presumes to address +Sir William Wallace. Alas! it will be a long letter! for it is to tell +of our countless distresses. You have been his deliverer from the +sword, from chains, and from the waves. Refuse not to save him again +to whom you have so often given life, and hasten, brave Wallace, to +preserve the Earl of Mar from the scaffold. + +"A cruel deception brought him from the Isle of Bute, where you +imagined you had left him in security. Lord Aymer de Valence, escaping +a second time from your sword, fled under rapacious robber of all our +castles, found in him an apt coadjutor. They concerted how to avenge +your late successes; and Cressingham, eager to enrich himself, while he +flattered the resentments of his commander, suggested that you, Sir +William Wallace, our deliverer, and our enemy's scourge, would most +easily be made to feel through the bosoms of your friends. These cruel +men have therefore determined, by a mock trial, to condemn my father to +death, and thus, while they distress you, put themselves in possession +of his lands, with the semblance of justice. + +"The substance of this most unrighteous debate was communicated to me +by De Valence himself; thinking to excuse his part in the affair by +proving to me how insensible he is to the principles which move alike a +patriot and a man of honor. + +"Having learned from some too well-informed spy that Lord Mar had +retired in peaceful obscurity to Bute, these arch-enemies to our +country sent a body of men disguised as Scots to Gourock. There they +dispatched a messenger into the island to inform Lord Mar that Sir +William Wallace was on the banks of the Frith waiting to converse with +him. My noble father, unsuspicious of treachery, hurried to the +summons. Lady Mar accompanied him, and so both fell into the snare. + +"They were brought prisoners to Stirling, where another affliction +awaited him;-he was to see his daughter and his sister in captivity. + +"After I had been betrayed from St. Fillian's monastery by the +falsehoods of one Scottish knight, and were rescued from his power by +the gallantry of another, I sought the protection of my aunt, Lady +Ruthven, who then dwelt at Alloa, on the banks of the Forth. Her +husband had been invited to Ayr by some treacherous requisition of the +governor, Arnuf; and with many other lords was thrown into prison. +Report says, bravest of men, that you have given freedom to my betrayed +uncle. + +"The moment Lord Ruthven's person was secured, his estates were seized, +and my aunt and myself being found at Alloa, we were carried prisoners +to this city. Alas! we had then no valiant arm to preserve us from our +enemies! Lady Ruthven's first born son was slain in the fatal day of +Dunbar, and in terror of the like fate, she placed her eldest surviving +boy in a convent. + +"Some days after our arrival, my dear father was brought to Stirling. +Though a captive in the town, I was not then confined to any closer +durance than the walls. While he was yet passing through the streets, +rumor told my aunt that the Scottish lord then leading to prison was +her beloved brother. She flew to me in agony to tell me the dreadful +tidings. I heard no more, saw no more, till, having rushed into the +streets, and bursting through every obstacle of crowd and soldiers, I +found myself clasped in my father's arms--in his shackled arms! What a +moment was that! Where was Sir William Wallace in that hour? Where +the brave unknown knight, who had sworn to me to seek my father, and +defend him with his life? Both were absent, and he was in chains. + +"My grief and distraction baffled the attempts of the guards to part +us, and what became of me I know not until I found myself lying on a +couch, attended by many women, and supported by my aunt. When I had +recovered to lamentation and to tears, my aunt told me I was in the +apartments of the deputy warden. He, with Cressingham, having gone out +to meet the man they had so basely drawn into their toils, De Valence +himself saw the struggles of paternal affection contending against the +men who would have torn a senseless daughter from his arms, and yet, +merciless man! he separated us, and sent me, with my aunt, a prisoner +to his house. + +"The next day a packet was put into my aunt's hands, containing a few +precious lines from my father to me, also a letter from the countess to +Lady Ruthven, full of your goodness to her and to my father, and +narrating the cruel manner in which they had been ravished from the +asylum in which you had placed them. She then said that could she find +means of apprising you of the danger to which she and her husband are +now involved, she would be sure of a second rescue. Whether she has +blessedly found these means I know not, for all communication between +us, since the delivery of that letter, has been rendered impracticable. +The messenger that brought the packet was a good Southron, who had +been won by Lady Mar's entreaties. But on his quitting our apartments, +he was seized by a servant of De Valence, and on the same day put +publicly to death, to intimidate all others from the like compassion to +the sufferings of unhappy Scotland. Oh! Sir William Wallace, will not +your sword reach these men of blood? + +"Earl de Valence compelled my aunt to yield the packet to him. We had +already read it, therefore did not regret it on that head, but feared +the information it might give relative to you. In consequence of this +circumstance, I was made a closer prisoner. But captivity could have +no terrors for me, did it not divide me from my father. And, grief on +grief! what words have I to write it? they have CONDEMNED HIM TO DIE! +That fatal letter of my step-mother's was brought out against him, and +as your adherent, Sir William Wallace, they have sentenced him to lose +his head! + +"I have knelt to Earl de Valence; I have implored my father's life at +his hands, but to no purpose. He tells me that Cressingham, at his +side, and Ormsby, by letters from Scone, declare it necessary that an +execution of consequence should be made to appall the discontented +Scots; and that as no lord is more esteemed in Scotland than the Earl +of Mar, he must be the sacrifice. + +"Hasten, then, my father's preserver and friend! hasten to save him! +Oh, fly, for the sake of the country he loves; for the sake of the +hapless beings dependent on his protection! I shall be on my knees +till I hear your trumpet before the walls; for in you and Heaven now +rest all the hopes of Helen Mar." + + +A cold dew stood on the limbs of Wallace as he closed the letter. It +might be too late! The sentence was passed on the earl, and his +executioners were prompt as cruel: the ax might already have fallen. + +He called to Ker, for the messenger to be brought in. He entered. +Wallace inquired how long he had been from Stirling. "Only thirty-four +hours," replied the youth, adding that he had traveled night and day +for fear the news of the risings in Annandale, and the taking of +Berwick, should precipitate the earl's death. + +"I accompany you this instant," cried Wallace! "Ker, see that the +troops get under arms." As he spoke he turned into the room where he +had left the Knight of Thirlestane. + +"Sir Richard Maitland," said he, willing to avoid exciting his alarm, +"there is more work for us at Stirling. Lord Aymer de Valence has +again escaped the death we thought had overtaken him, and is now in +that citadel. I have just received a summons thither, which I must +obey." At these words, Sir Roger Kirkpatrick gave a shout and rushed +from the apartment. Wallace looked after him for a moment, and then +continued: "Follow us with your prayers, Sir Richard; and I shall not +despair of sending blessed tidings to the banks of the Lauder." + +"What has happened?" inquired Murray, who saw that something more than +the escape of De Valence had been imparted to his general. + +"We must spare this good old man," returned he, "and have him conducted +to his home before I declare it publicly; but the Earl of Mar is again +a prisoner, and in Stirling." + +Murray, who instantly comprehended his uncle's danger speeded the +departure of Sir Richard; and as Wallace held his stirrup, the chief +laid his hand on his head, and blessed him. "The seer of Ercildown is +too ill to bring his benediction himself, but I breathe it over this +heroic brow!" Wallace bowed his head in silence; and the bridle being +in the hand of Lord Andrew, he led the horse out of the eastern gate of +the town, where, taking leave of the veteran knight, he soon rejoined +his commander, whom he found in the midst of his chieftains. + +He had informed them of the Earl of Mar's danger, and the policy as +well as justice of rescuing so powerful and patriotic a nobleman from +the threatened execution. Lord Ruthven needed no arguments to +precipitate him to the assistance of his brother and his wife; and the +anxieties of the affectionate Edwin were all awake when he knew that +his mother was a prisoner. Lord Andrew smiled proudly when he returned +his cousin's letter to Wallace. "We shall have the rogue on the nail +yet," cried he; "my uncle's brave head is not ordained to fall by the +stroke of such a coward!" + +"So I believe," replied Wallace; and then turning to Lord Dundaff-"My +lord," said he, "I leave you governor of Berwick." + +The veteran warrior grasped Wallace's hand. "To be your representative +in this fortress, is the proudest station this warworn frame hath ever +filled. My son must be my representative with you in the field." He +waved Sir John Graham toward him; the young knight advanced, and Lord +Dundaff, placing his son's hands upon his target, continued, "Swear, +that as this defends the body, you will ever strive to cover Scotland +from her enemies; and that from this hour you will be the faithful +friend and follower of Sir William Wallace." + +"I swear," returned Graham, kissing the shield. Wallace pressed his +hand. "I have brothers around me, rather than what the world calls +friends! And with such valor, such fidelity to aid me, can I be +otherwise than a victor? Heaven's anointed sword is with such +fellowship!" + +Edwin, who stood near this rite of generous enthusiasm, softly +whispered to Wallace, as he turned toward his troops, "But amongst all +these brothers, cease not to remember Edwin--the youngest and the least. +Ah, my beloved general, what Jonathan was to David, I would be to +thee!" + +Wallace looked on him with penetrating tenderness; his heart was +suddenly wrung by a recollection, which the words of Edwin had +recalled. "But thy love, Edwin, passes not the love of woman!" "But +it equals it," replied he; "what has been done for thee I would do; +only love me as David did Jonathan, and I shall be the happiest of the +happy." "Be happy then, dear boy!" answered Wallace; "for all that +ever beat in human breast, for friend or brother, lives in my heart for +thee." + +At that moment Sir John Graham rejoined them; and some other captains +coming up. Wallace made the proper military dispositions, and every +man took his station at the head of his division. + +Until the men had marched far beyond the chance of rumors reaching +Thirlestane, they were not informed of the Earl of Mar's danger. They +conceived their present errand was the recapture of De Valence. "But +at a proper moment," said Wallace, "they shall know the whole truth; +for," added he, "as it is a law of equity, that what concerns all, +should be approved by all, and that common dangers should be repelled +by united efforts, the people who follow our standards, not as +hirelings, but with willing spirits, ought to know our reasons for +requiring their services." + +"They who follow you," said Graham, "have too much confidence in their +leader, to require any reasons for his movements." + +"It is to place that confidence on a sure foundation, my brave +friends," returned Wallace, "that I explain what there is no just +reason to conceal. Should policy ever compel me to strike a blow +without previously telling my agents wherefore, I should then draw upon +their faith, and expect that confidence in my honor and arms which I +now place on their discretion and fidelity." + +Exordiums were not requisite to nerve every limb, and to strengthen +every heart in the toilsome journey. Mountains were climbed, vast +plains traversed, rivers forded, and precipices crossed, without one +man in the ranks lingering on its steps, or dropping his head upon his +pike, to catch a moment's slumber. Those who had fought with Wallace, +longed to redouble their fame under his command; and they who had +recently embraced his standard, panted with a virtuous ambition to +rival those first-born in arms. + +Sir Roger Kirkpatrick had been the first to fly to arms, on the march +to Stirling being mentioned; and when Wallace stood forward to declare +that rest should be dispensed with till Stirling fell, full of a fierce +joy, the ardent knight darted over every obstacle to reach his aim. He +flew to the van of his troops, and hailing them forward: "Come on!" +cried he, "and in the blood of Cressingham let us forever sink King +Edward's Scottish crown." + +The shouts of the men, who seemed to drink in the spirit that blazed +from Kirkpatrick's eyes, made the echoes of Lammermuir ring with a +long-estranged noise. It was the voice of liberty. Leaping every +bound, the eager van led the way; and, with prodigious perseverance, +dragging their war-machines in the rear, the rest pressed on, till they +reached the Carron side. At the moment the foaming steed of Wallace, +smoking with the labors of a long and rapid march, was plunging into +the stream to take the form, Ker snatched the bridle of the horse: "My +lord," cried he, "a man on full speed from Douglas Castle has brought +this packet." + +In his march to Ayr, Wallace had left Sir Eustace Maxwell governor of +that castle, and Monteith as his lieutenant. + +Wallace opened the packet and read as follows: + + +"The patriots in Annandale have been beaten by Lord de Warenne. Sir +John Monteith (who volunteered to head them) is taken prisoner, with +twelve hundred men. + +"Earl de Warenne comes to resume his arrogant title of Lord Warden of +Scotland, and thereby to relieve his deputy, Aymer de Valence, who is +recalled to take possession of the lordship of Pembroke. In pursuance +of his usurping commission, the earl is now marching rapidly toward the +Lothians, in the hope of intercepting you in your progress. + +"Thanks to the constant information you send us of your movements, for +being able to surprise you of this danger! I should have attempted to +have checked the Southron, by annoying his flanks, had not his numbers +rendered such an enterprise on my part hopeless. But his aim being to +come up with you, if you meet him in the van, we shall have him in the +rear; and, so surrounded, he must be cut to pieces. Surely the tree +you planted in Dumbarton, is not now to be blasted! + +"Ever your general's and Scotland's true servant, + +"Eustace Maxwell." + + +"What answer?" inquired Ker. + +Wallace hastily engraved with his dagger's point upon his gauntlet, +"Reviresco!** Our sun is above!" and desiring it to be given to the +messenger to carry to Sir Eustace Maxwell, he refixed himself in his +saddle, and spurred over the Carron. + +**Reviresco! means "I bud again!" This encouraging word is now the +reuto of the Maxwell arms. + +The moon was near her meridian as the wearied troops halted on the deep +shadows of the Carse of Stirling. All around them was desolation; the +sword and the fire had been there, not in open declared warfare, but +under the darkness of midnight, and impelled by rapacity and +wantonness; hence from the base of the rock, even to the foot of the +Clackmannan Hills, all lay a smoking wilderness. + +An hour's rest was sufficient to restore every exhausted power to the +limbs of the determined followers of Wallace; and, as the morning +dawned, the sentinels on the ramparts of the town were not only +surprised to see a host below, but that (by the most indefatigable +labor, and a silence like death) had not merely passed the ditch, but +having gained the counterscarp, had fixed their movable towers, and +were at that instant overlooking the highest bastions. The mangonels +and petraries, and other implements for battering walls, and the +ballista, with every efficient means of throwing missive weapons, were +ready to discharge their artillery upon the heads of the beseiged. + +At a sight so unexpected, which seemed to have arisen out of the earth +like an exhalation (with such muteness and expedition had the Scottish +operations been carried on), the Southrons, struck with dread, fled a +moment from the walls; but immediately recovering their presence of +mind, they returned, and discharged a cloud of arrows upon their +assailants. A messenger, meanwhile, was sent into the citadel to +apprise De Valence and the Governor Cressingham of the assault. The +interior gates now sent forth thousands to the walls; but in proportion +to the numbers which approached, the greater was the harvest of death +prepared for the terrible arm of Wallace, whose tremendous war wolves +throwing prodigious stones, and lighter springalls, casting forth +brazen darts, swept away file after file of the reinforcements. It +grieved the noble heart of the Scottish commander to see so many +valiant men urged to inevitable destruction; but still they advanced, +and that his own might be preserved they must fall. To shorten the +bloody contest, his direful weapons were worked with redoubled energy; +and so mortal a shower fell that the heavens seemed to rain iron. The +crushed and stricken enemy, shrinking under the mighty tempest, forsook +their ground. + +The ramparts deserted, Wallace sprung from his tower upon the walls. +At that moment De Valence opened one of the gates; and, at the head of +a formidable body, charged the nearest Scots. A good soldier is never +taken unawares, and Murray and Graham were prepared to receive him. +Furiously driving him to a retrograde motion, they forced him back into +the town. But there all was confusion. Wallace, with his resolute +followers, had already put Cressingham and his legions to flight; and, +closely pursued by Kirkpatrick, they threw themselves into the castle. +Meanwhile, the victorious Wallace surrounded the amazed De Valence, +who, caught in double toils, called to his men to fight for their king, +and neither give nor take quarter. + +The brave fellows too strictly obeyed; and while they fell on all +sides, he supported them with a courage which horror of Wallace's +vengeance for his grandfather's death, and the attempt on his own life +in the hall at Dumbarton, rendered desperate. At last he encountered +the conquering chief, arm to arm. Great was the dismay of De Valence +at this meeting; but as death was now all he saw before him, he +resolved, if he must die, that the soul of his enemy should attend him +to the other world. + +He fought, not with the steady valor of a warrior determined to +vanquish or die; but with the fury of despair, with the violence of a +hyena, thirsting for the blood of his opponent. Drunk with rage, he +made a desperate plunge at the heart of Wallace--a plunge, armed with +execrations, and all his strength; but his sword missed its aim, and +entered the side of a youth, who at that moment had thrown himself +before his general. Wallace saw where the deadly blow fell; and +instantly closing on the earl--with a vengeance in his eyes, which +reminded his now determined victim of the horrid vision he had seen in +the burning Barns of Ayr--with one grasp of his arm, the incensed chief +hurled him to the ground; and setting his foot upon his breast, would +have buried his dagger there, had not De Valence dropped his uplifted +sword, and with horror in every feature, raised his clasped hands in +speechless supplication. + +Wallace suspended the blow; and De Valence exclaimed: "My life! this +once again, gallant Wallace! by your hopes of heaven, grant me mercy!" + +Wallace looked on the trembling recreant with a glare, which, had he +possessed the soul of a man, would have made him grasp at death, rather +than deserve a second. "And hast thou escaped me again?" cried +Wallace. Then turning his indignant eyes from the abject earl to his +bleeding friend-"I yield him his life, Edwin, and you, perhaps, are +slain?" + +"Forget not our own bright principle to avenge me," said Edwin, as +brightly smiling; "he has only wounded me. But you are safe, and I +hardly feel a smart." + +Wallace replaced his dagger in his girdle. "Rise, Lord de Valence; it +is my honor, not my will, that grants your life. You threw away your +arms! I cannot strike even a murderer who bares his breast. I give +you that mercy you denied to nineteen unoffending, defenseless old men, +whose hoary heads your ruthless ax brought with blood to the ground. +Let memory be the sword I have withheld!" + +While he spoke, De Valence had risen, and stood, conscience-stricken, +before the majestic mien of Wallace. There was something in this +denunciation that sounded like the irreversible decree of a divinity; +and the condemned wretch quaked beneath the threat, while he panted for +revenge. + +The whole of the survivors in De Valence's train having surrendered +themselves when their leader fell, in a few minutes Wallace was +surrounded by his chieftains, bringing in the colors, and the swords of +their prisoners. + +"Sir Alexander Ramsay," said he, to a brave and courteous knight, who +with his kinsman, William Blair, had joined him in the Lothians; "I +confide Earl de Valence, to your care. See that he is strongly +guarded; and has every respect according to the honor of him to whom I +commit this charge." + +The town was now in possession of the Scots; and Wallace, having sent +off the rest of his prisoners to safe quarters, reiterated his +persuasions to Edwin, to have the ground, and submit his wounds to the +surgeon. "No, no," replied he; "the same hand that gave me this, +inflicted a worse on my general at Dumbarton: he kept the field then; +and shall I retire now, and disgrace my example? No, my brother; you +would not have me so disprove my kindred!" + +"Do as you will," answered Wallace, with a grateful smile; "so that you +preserve a life that must never again be risked to save mine. While it +is necessary for me to live, my Almighty Captain will shield me; but +when his word goes forth, that I shall be recalled, it will not be in +the power of friendship, nor of hosts, to turn the steel from my +breast. Therefore, dearest Edwin, thrown not yourself away, in +defending what is in the hands of Heaven--to be lent, or to be withdrawn +at will." + +Edwin bowed his modest head; and having suffered a balsam to be poured +into his wound, braced his brigandine over his breast; and was again at +the side of his friend, just as he had joined Kirkpatrick before the +citadel. The gates were firmly closed, and the dismayed Cressingham +was panting behind its walls, as Wallace commanded the parley to be +sounded. Afraid of trusting himself within arrow-shot of an enemy who +he believed conquered by witchcraft, the terrified governor sent his +lieutenant up on the walls to answer the summons. + +The herald of the Scots demanded the immediate surrender of the place. +Cressingham was at that instant informed by a messenger, who had +arrived too late the preceding night to be allowed to disturb his +slumbers, that De Warenne was approaching with an immense army. +Inflated with new confidence, he mounted the wall himself, and in +haughty language, returned for answer, "That he would fall under the +towers of the citadel before he would surrender to a Scottish rebel. +And as an example of the fate which such a delinquent merits," +continued he, "I will change the milder sentence passed on Lord Mar, +and immediately hang him, and all his family, on these ramparts, in +sight of your insurgent army." + +"Then," cried the herald, "thus says Sir William Wallace--if even one +hair on the heads of the Earl of Mar and his family falls with violence +to the ground, every Southron soul who has this day surrendered to the +Scottish arms shall lose his head by the ax." + +"We are used to the blood of traitors," cried Cressingham, "and mind +not its scent. But the army of Earl de Warenne is at hand; and it is +at the peril of all your necks, for the rebel, your master, to put his +threat in execution. Withdraw, or you shall see the dead bodies of +Donald Mar and his family fringing these battlements; for no terms do +we keep with man, woman, or child, who is linked with treason!" + +At these words, an arrow, winged from a hand behind Cressingham, flew +directly to the unvisored face of Wallace, but it struck too high, and +ringing against his helmet fell to the ground. + +"Treachery!" resounded from every Scottish lip; while indignant at so +villainous a rupture of the parley, every bow was drawn to the head; +and a flight of arrows, armed with retribution, flew toward the +battlements. All hands were now at work, to bring the towers to the +wall; and mounting on them, while the archers by their rapid showers +drove the men from the ramparts, soldiers below, with pickaxes, dug +into the wall to make a breach. + +Cressingham began to fear that his boasted auxiliaries might arrive too +late; but, determining to gain time at least, he shot flights of darts, +and large stones, from a thousand engines; also discharged burning +combustibles over the ramparts, in hopes of setting fire to the enemy's +attacking machines. + +But all his promptitude proved of no effect. The walls were giving way +in parts, and Wallace was mounting by scaling-ladders, and clasping the +parapets with bridges from his towers. Driven to extremity, +Cressingham resolved to try the attachment of the Scots for Lord Mar; +and even at the moment when their chief had seized the barbican and +outer ballium, this sanguinary politician ordered the imprisoned earl +to be brought out upon the wall of the inner ballia. A rope was round +his neck, which was instantly run through a groove, that projected from +the nearest tower. + +At this sight, horror froze the ardent blood of Wallace. But the +intrepid earl, descrying his friend on the ladder which might soon +carry him to the summit of the battlement, exclaimed, "Forward! Let +not my span of life stand between my country and this glorious day for +Scotland's freedom!" + +"Execute the sentence!" cried the infuriate Cressingham. + +At these words, Murray and Edwin precipitated themselves upon the +ramparts, and mowed down all before them, in a direction toward their +uncle. The lieutenant who held the cord, aware of the impolicy of the +cruel mandate, hesitated to fulfill it; and now, fearing a rescue from +the impetuous Scots, hurried his victim off the works, back to his +prison. Meanwhile, Cressingham perceiving that all would be lost +should he suffer the enemy to gain this wall also, sent such numbers +upon the brave Scots who had followed the cousins, that, overcoming +some, and repelling others, they threw Murray, with a sudden shock, +over the ramparts. Edwin was surrounded; and his successful +adversaries were bearing him off, struggling and bleeding, when +Wallace, springing like a lioness on hunters carrying away her young, +rushed in singly amongst them. He seized Edwin; and while his falchion +flashed terrible threatenings in their eyes, with a backward step he +fought his passage to one of the wooden towers he had fastened to the +wall. + +Cressingham, being wounded in the head, commanded a parley to be +sounded. + +"We have already taken Lord de Valence and his host prisoners," +returned Wallace; "and we grant you no cessation of hostilities till +you deliver up the Earl of Mar and his family, and surrender the castle +into our hands." + +"Think not, proud boaster!" cried the herald of Cressingham, "that we +ask a parley to conciliate. It was to tell you that if you do not draw +off directly, not only the Earl of Mar and his family, but every +Scottish prisoner within these walls, shall perish in your sight." + +While he yet spoke, the Southrons uttered a great shout, and the Scots +looking up, beheld several high poles erected on the roof of the keep, +and the Earl of Mar, as before, was led forward. But he seemed no +longer the bold and tranquil patriot. He was surrounded by shrieking +female forms, clinging to his knees; and his trembling hands were +lifted to heaven, as if imploring its pity. + +"Stop!" cried Wallace, in a voice whose thundering mandate rung from +tower to tower. "The instant he dies, Lord Aymer de Valence shall +perish!" + +He had only to make the sign, and in a few minutes that nobleman +appeared between Ramsay and Kirkpatrick. "Earl," exclaimed Wallace, +"though I granted your life in the field with reluctance, yet here I am +ashamed to put it in danger. But your own people compel me. Look at +that spectacle. A venerable father, in the midst of his family; he and +they doomed to an ignominious and instant death, unless I betray my +country and abandon these walls. Were I weak enough to purchase their +lives at such an expense, they could not survive that disgrace. But +that they shall not die, while I have the power to preserve them, is my +resolve and my duty! Life, then, for life; yours for this family!" + +Wallace, directing his voice toward the keep: + +"The moment," cried he, "in which that vile cord presses too closely on +the neck of the Earl of Mar, or any of his blood, the ax shall sever +the head of Lord de Valence from his body!" + +De Valence was now seen on the top of one of the besieging towers. He +was pale as death. He trembled, but not with dismay only; ten thousand +varying emotions tore his breast. To be thus set up as a monument of +his own defeat, to be threatened with execution by an enemy he had +contemned, to be exposed to such indignities by the unthinking ferocity +of his colleague, filled him with such contending passions of revenge +against friends and foes, that he forgot the present fear of death in +turbulent wishes to deprive of life all by whom he suffered. + +Cressingham became alarmed on seeing the retaliating menace of Wallace +brought so directly before his view; and, dreading the vengeance of De +Valence's powerful family, he ordered a herald to say that if Wallace +would draw off his troops to the outer ballium, and the English chief +along with them, the Lord Mar and his family should be taken from their +perilous situation, and he would consider on terms of surrender. + +Aware that Cressingham only wanted to gain time until De Warenne should +arrive, Wallace determined to foil him with his own weapons, and make +the gaining of the castle the consequence of vanquishing the earl. He +told the now perplexed governor that he should consider Lord de Valence +as the hostage of safety for Lord Mar and his family, and therefore he +consented to withdraw his men from the inner ballium till the setting +of the sun, at which hour he should expect a herald with the surrender +of the fortress. + +Thinking that he had caught the Scottish chief in a snare, and that the +lord warden's army would be upon him long before the expiration of the +armistice, Cressingham congratulated himself upon this maneuver; and +resolving that the moment Earl de Warenne should appear, Lord Mar +should be secretly destroyed in the dungeons, he ordered them to their +security again. + +Wallace fully comprehended what were his enemy's views, and what ought +to be his own measures, as soon as he saw the unhappy group disappear +from the battlements of the keep. He then recalled his men from the +inner ballium wall, and stationing several detachments along the +ramparts, and in the towers of the outer wall, committed De Valence to +the stronghold of the barbican, under the especial charge of Lord +Ruthven, who was, indeed, eager to hold the means in his own hand that +were to check the threatened danger of relatives so dear to him as were +the prisoners in the castle. + + + + +Chapter XXXIII. + +Cambus-Kenneth. + + +Having secured the advantages he had gained in the town and on the +works of the castle, by manning all the strong places, Wallace set +forward with his chosen troops to intercept De Warenne. + +He took his position on a commanding ground about half a mile from +Stirling, near to the Abbey of Cambus-Kenneth. The Forth lay before +him, crossed by a wooden bridge, over which the enemy must pass to +reach him, the river not being fordable in that part. + +He ordered the timbers which supported the bridge to be sawed at the +bottom, but not displaced in the least, that they might stand perfectly +firm for as long as he should deem it necessary. To these timbers were +fastened strong cords, all of which he intrusted to the sturdiest of +his Lanark men, who were to lie concealed amongst the flags. These +preparations being made, he drew up his troops in order of battle. +Kirkpatrick and Murray commanded the flanks. In the center stood +Wallace himself, with Ramsay on one side of him, and Edwin, with +Scrymgeour on the other, awaiting with steady expectation the approach +of the enemy, who, by this time, could not be far distant. + +Cressingham was not less well-informed of the advance of De Warenne; +and burning with revenge against Wallace, and earnest to redeem the +favor of De Valence by some act in his behalf, he first gave secret +orders to his lieutenant, then set forth alone to seek an avenue of +escape, never divulged to any but to the commanders of the fortress. +He soon discovered it; and by the light of a torch, making his way +through a passage bored in the rock, emerged at its western base, +screened from sight by the surrounding bushes. He had disguised +himself in a shepherd's bonnet and plaid, in case of being observed by +the enemy; but fortune, favored him, and unseen he crept along through +the thickets, till he descried the advance of De Warenne's army on the +skirts of Tor Wood. + +Having missed Wallace in West Lothian, De Warenne divided his army into +three divisions, to enter Stirlingshire by different routes; and so he +hoped, certainly, to intercept him in one of them. The Earl of +Montgomery led the first, of twenty thousand men; the Barons Hilton and +Blenkinsopp, the second, of ten thousand; and De Warenne himself the +third, of thirty thousand. + +It was the first of these divisions that Cressingham encountered in Tor +Wood; and revealing himself to Montgomery, he recounted how rapidly +Wallace had gained the town, and in what jeopardy the citadel would be, +if he were not instantly attacked. The earl advised waiting for a +junction with Hilton or the lord warden, "which," said he, "must happen +in the course of a few hours." + +"In the course of a few hours," returned Cressingham, "you will have no +Stirling Castle to defend. The enemy will seize it at sunset, in +pursuance of the very agreement by which I warded him off, to give us +time to annihilate him before that hour. Therefore no hesitation, if +we would not see him lock the gates of the north of Scotland upon us, +even when we have the power to hurl him to perdition." + +By arguments such as these the young earl was induced to give up his +judgment; and, accompanied by Cressingham, whose courage revived amid +such a host, he proceeded to the southern bank of the Forth. + +The bands of Wallace were drawn up on the opposite shore, hardly five +thousand strong, but so disposed the enemy could not calculate their +numbers, though the narrowness of their front suggested to Cressingham +that they could not be numerous; and he recollected that many must have +been left to occupy the outworks of the town and the citadel. "It will +be easy to surround the rebel," cried he; "and that we may effect our +enterprise before the arrival of the warden robs us of the honor, let +us about it directly, and cross the bridge." + +Montgomery proposed a herald being sent to inform Wallace that, besides +the long line of troops he saw, De Warenne was advancing with double +hosts, and if he would now surrender, a pardon should be granted to him +and his, in the king's name, for all their late rebellions. +Cressingham was vehement against this measure, but Montgomery being +resolute, the messenger was dispatched. + +In a few minutes he returned, and repeated to the Southron commanders +the words of Wallace: "Go," said he, "tell your masters we came not +here to treat for a pardon of what we shall never allow to be an +offense; we came to assert our rights--to set Scotland free. Till that +is effected, all negotiation is vain. Let them advance; they will find +us prepared." + +"Then onward!" cried Montgomery; and, spurring his steed, he led the +way to the bridge; his eager soldiers followed, and the whole of his +center ranks passed over. The flanks advanced, and the bridge, from +end to end, was filled with archers, cavalry, men-at-arms, and +war-carriages. Cressingham, in the midst, was hallooing in proud +triumph to those who occupied the rear of the straining beams, when the +blast of a trumpet sounded from the till now silent and immovable +Scottish phalanx. It was re-echoed by shouts from behind the passing +enemy, and in that moment the supporting piers of the bridge** were +pulled away, and the whole of its mailed throng was precipitated into +the stream. + +**This historical fact relating to the bridge is yet exultantly +repeated on the spot, and the number of the Southrons who fell beneath +the arms of so small a band of Scots, is not less the theme of +triumph.-(1809.) + +The cries of the maimed and the drowning were joined by the terrific +slogan of two bands of Scots. The one with Wallace toward the head of +the river, while the other, under the command of Sir John Graham, +rushed from its ambuscade on the opposite bank upon the rear of the +dismayed troops; and both divisions sweeping all before them, drove +those who fought on land into the river, and those who had just escaped +the flood, to meet its waves again, a bleeding host. + +In the midst of this conflict, which rather seemed a carnage than a +battle, Kirkpatrick, having heard the proud shouts of Cressingham on +the bridge, now sought him amidst its shattered timbers. With the +ferocity of a tiger hunting its prey, he ran from man to man, and as +the struggling wretches emerged from the water, he plucked them from +the surge; but even while his glaring eye-balls and uplifted ax +threatened destruction, he only looked on them; and with imprecations +of disapointment, rushed forward on his chase. Almost in despair that +the waves had cheated his revenge, he was hurrying on in another +direction, when he perceived a body moving through a hollow on his +right. He turned, and saw the object of his search crawling amongst +the mud and sedges. + +"Ha!" cried Kirkpatrick, with a triumphant yell, "art thou yet mine? +Damned, damned villain!" cried he, springing upon his breast: "Behold +the man you dishonored!-behold the hot cheek your dastard hand defiled! +Thy blood shall obliterate the stain; and then Kirkpatrick may again +front the proudest in Scotland!" + +"For mercy!" cried the horror-struck Cressingham, struggling with +preternatural strength to extricate himself. + +"Hell would be my portion did I grant any to thee," cried Kirkpatrick; +and with one stroke of the ax he severed the head from its body. "I am +a man again!" shouted he, as he held its bleeding veins in his hand, +and placed it on the point of his sword. "Thou ruthless priest of +Moloch and of Mammon, thou shalt have thine own blood to drink, while I +show my general how proudly I am avenged!" As he spoke, he dashed +amongst the victorious ranks, and reached Wallace at the very moment he +was freeing himself from his fallen horse, which a random arrow had +shot under him. Murray, at the same instant, was bringing up the +wounded Montgomery, who came to surrender his sword, and to beg quarter +for his men. The earl turned deadly pale; for the first object that +struck his sight was the fierce knight of Torthorald, walking under the +stream of blood which continued to flow from the ghastly head of +Cressingham, as he held it exultingly in the air. + +"If that be your chief," cried Montgomery, "I have mistaken him much--I +cannot yield my sword to him." + +Murray understood him: "If cruelty be an evil spirit," returned he, "it +has fled every breast in this army to shelter with Sir Roger +Kirkpatrick; and its name is Legion! That is my chief!" added he, +pointing to Wallace, with an evident consciousness of deriving honor +from his command. The chief rose from the ground dyed in the same +ensanguined hue which had excited the abhorrence of Montgomery, though +it had been drawn from his own veins, and those of his horse. All, +indeed, of blood about him seemed to be on his garment; none was in his +eyes, none in his heart but what warmed it to mercy and to benevolence +for all mankind. His eyes momentarily fell on the approaching figure +of Kirkpatrick, who, waving the head in the air, blew from his bugle +the triumphal notes of the Pryse, and then cried to his chief: "I have +slain the wolf of Scotland! My brave clansmen are now casing my target +with his skin,** which, when I strike its bossy sides, will cry aloud. +So, perishes thy dishonor! So perish all the enemies of Scotland!" + +**It is recorded that the memory of Cressingham was so odious to the +Scots, they did indeed flay his dead body, and made saddles and girths +and other things of his skin.-(1809.) + +"And with the extinction of that breath, Kirkpatrick," cried Wallace, +looking serenely from the head to him, "let your fell revenge perish +also. For your own honor commit no indignities on the body you have +slain." + +"'Tis for you to conquer like a god!" cried Kirkpatrick; "I have felt +as a man, and like a man I revenge. This head shall destroy in death; +it shall vanquish its friends for me; for I will wear it like a Gorgon +on my sword, to turn to stone every Southron who looks on it." While +speaking, he disappeared amongst the thickening ranks; and as the +victorious Scots hailed him in passing, Montgomery, thinking of his +perishing men, suffered Murray to lead him to the scene of his humility. + +The ever-comprehensive eye of Wallace perceived him as he advanced; and +guessing by his armor and dignified demeanor who he was, with a noble +grace he raised his helmed bonnet from his head when the earl +approached him. Montgomery looked on him; he felt his soul, even more +than his arms, subdued; but still there was something about a soldier's +heart that shrunk from yielding his power of resistance. The blood +mounted into his before pale cheeks; he held out his sword in silence +to the victor; for he could not bring his tongue to pronounce the word +"surrender." + +Wallace understood the sign, and holding up his hand to a herald, the +trumpet of peace was raised. It sounded--and where, the moment before, +were the horrid clashing of arms, the yell of savage conquest, and +direful cries for mercy, all was hushed as death. Not that death which +had passed, but that which is approaching.--None spoke, not a sound was +heard, but the low groans of the dying, who lay, overwhelmed and +perishing, beneath the bodies of the slain, and the feet of the living. + +The voice of Wallace rose from this awful pause. Its sound was ever +the harbinger of glory, or of "good will to men." "Soldiers!" cried +he, "God has given victory--let us show our gratitude by moderation and +mercy. Gather the wounded into quarters and bury the dead." + +Wallace then turned to the extended sword of the earl; he put it gently +back with his hand: "Ever wear what you honor," said he; "but, gallant +Montgomery, when you draw it next, let it be in a better cause. Learn, +brave earl, to discriminate between a warrior's glory and his shame; +between the defender of his country, and the unprovoked ravager of +other lands." + +Montgomery blushed scarlet at these words; but it was not with +resentment. He looked down for a moment: "Ah!" thought he, "perhaps I +ought never to have drawn it here!" Then raising his eyes to Wallace, +he said: "Were you not the enemy of my king, who, though a conqueror, +sanctions none of the cruelties that have been committed in his name, I +would give you my hand, before the remnant of his brave troops, whose +lives you grant. But you have my heart: a heart that knows no +difference between friend or foe, when the bonds of virtue would unite +what only civil dissensions hold separate." + +"Had your king possessed the virtues you believe he does," replied +Wallace, "my sword might have now been a pruning-hook. But that is +past! We are in arms for injuries received, and to drive out a tyrant. +For believe me, noble Montgomery, that monarch has little pretensions +to virtue, who suffers the oppressors of his people, or of his +conquests, to go unpunished. To connive at cruelty, is to practice it. +And has Edward ever frowned on one of those despots, who, in his name, +have for these two years past laid Scotland in blood and ashes?" + +The appeal was too strong for Montgomery to answer; he felt its truth, +and bowed, with an expression in his face that told more than, as a +subject of England, he dared declare. + +The late respectful silence was turned into the clamorous activity of +eager obedience. The prisoners were conducted to the rear of Stirling; +while the major part of the Scots (leaving a detachment to unburden the +earth of its bleeding load), returned in front to the gates, just as De +Warenne's division appeared on the horizon, like a moving cloud gilded +by the now setting sun. At this sight Wallace sent Edwin into the town +with Lord Montgomery, and marshaling his line, prepared to bear down +upon the approaching earl. + +But the lord warden had received information which fought better for +the Scots than a host of swords. When advanced a very little onward on +the Carse of Stirling, one of his scouts brought intelligence that +having approached the south side of the Forth, he had seen that river +floating with dead bodies; and soon after met Southron horns blowing +the notes of victory. From what he learned from the fugitives, he also +informed his lord, "that not only the town and citadel of Stirling were +in the possession of Sir William Wallace, but the two detachments under +Montgomery and Hilton had both been discomfited, and their leaders +slain or taken." + +At this intelligence, Earl de Warenne stood aghast; and while he was +still doubting that such disgrace to King Edward's arms could be +possible, two or three fugitives came up, and witnessed to its truth. +One had seen Kirkpatrick, with the bloody head of the Governor of +Stirling on his sword. Another had been near Cressingham in the wood, +when he told Montgomery of the capture of De Valence; and concluding +that he meant the leader of the third division, he corroborated the +scout's information of the two defeats, adding (for terror magnified +the objects of fear), that the Scots army was incalculable; but was so +disposed by Sir William Wallace, as to appear inconsiderable, that he +might ensnare his enemies, by filling them with hopes of an easy +conquest. + +These accounts persuaded De Warenne to make a retreat; and intimidated +by the exaggerated representations of those who had fled, his men, with +no little precipitation, turned to obey. + +Wallace perceived the retrograde motion of his enemy's lines; and while +a stream of arrows from his archers poured upon them like hail, he bore +down upon the rear-guard with his cavalry and men-at-arms, and sent +Graham round by the wood, to surprise the flanks. + +All was executed with promptitude; and the tremendous slogan sounding +from side to side, the terrified Southrons, before in confusion, now +threw away their arms, to lighten themselves for escape. Sensible that +it was not the number of the dead, but the terror of the living, which +gives the finishing stroke to conquest, De Warenne saw the effects of +this panic, in the total disregard of his orders; and dreadful would +have been the carnage of his troops had he not sounded a parley. + +The bugle of Wallace instantly answered it. De Warenne sent forward +his herald. He offered to lay down his arms, provided he might be +exempted from relinquishing the royal standard, and that he and his men +might be permitted to return without delay to England. + +Wallace accepted the first article; granted the second; but with regard +to the third, it must be on condition that he, the Lord de Warenne, and +the officers taken in his army, or in other engagements lately fought +in Scotland, should be immediately exchanged for the like number of +noble Scots Wallace should name, who were prisoners in England; and +that the common men of the army, now about to surrender their arms, +should take an oath never to serve again against Scotland. + +These preliminaries being agreed to (their very boldness arguing the +conscious advantage which seemed to compel the assent), the lord warden +advanced at the head of his thirty thousand troops; and first laying +down his sword, which Wallace immediately returned to him, the officers +and soldiers marched by with their heads uncovered, throwing down their +weapons as they approached their conqueror. Wallace extended his line +while the procession moved, for he had too much policy to show his +enemies that thirty thousand men had yielded, almost without a blow, to +scarce five thousand. The oath was afterward administered to each +regiment by heralds, sent for that purpose into the strath of Monteith, +whither Wallace had directed the captured legions to assemble and +refresh themselves, previous to their departure next morning for +England. The privates thus disposed of, to release himself from the +commanders also, Wallace told De Warenne that duty called him away, but +every respect would be paid to them by the Scottish officers. + +He then gave directions to Sir Alexander Ramsay to escort De Warenne +and the rest of the noble prisoners to Stirling. Wallace himself +turned with his veteran band to give a conqueror's greeting to the +Baron of Hilton, and so ended the famous battles of Cambus-Kenneth and +the Carse of Stirling. + + + + +Chapter XXXIV. + +Stirling Castle. + + +The prisoners who had been taken with Montgomery were lodged behind the +town, and the wounded carried into the Abbey of Cambus-Kenneth; but +when Edwin came to move that earl himself, he found him too faint with +loss of blood to sit a horse to Snawdoun. He therefore ordered a +litter; and so conveyed his brave prisoner to that palace of the kings +of Scotland in Stirling. + +The priests in Wallace's army not only exercised the Levitical but the +good Samaritan's functions, and they soon obeyed the young knight's +summons to dress the wounds of Montgomery. + +Messengers, meanwhile, arrived from Wallace, acquainting his chieftains +in Stirling with the surrender of De Warenne's army. Hence no surprise +was created in the breast of the wounded earl when he saw his commander +enter the palace as the prisoner of the illustrious Scot. + +Montgomery held out his hand to the lord warden in silence, and with a +flushed cheek. + +"Blush not, my noble friend!" cried De Warenne; "these wounds speak +more eloquently than a thousand tongues, the gallantry with which you +maintained the sword that fate compelled you to surrender. But I, +without a scratch, how can I meet the unconquered Edward? And yet it +was not for myself I feared: my brave and confiding soldiers were in +all my thoughts; for I saw it was not to meet an army I led them, but +against a whirlwind, a storm of war, with which no strength that I +commanded could contend." + +While the English generals thus conversed, Edwin's impatient heart +yearned to be again at the side of Wallace; and gladly resigning the +charge of his noble prisoner to Sir Alexander Ramsay, as soon as he +observed a cessation in the conversation of the two earls, he drew near +Montgomery to take his leave. + +"Farewell, till we meet again!" said the young earl, pressing his hand; +"you have been a young brother rather than an enemy, to me." + +"Because," returned Edwin, "I follow the example of my general, who +would willingly be the friend of all mankind." + +Warenne looked at him with surprise: "And who are you, who, in that +stripling form, utters gallant sentiments which might grace the +maturest years?" + +With a sweet dignity, Edwin replied, "I am Edwin Ruthven, the adopted +brother of Sir William Wallace." + +"And the son of him," asked De Warenne, "who, with Sir William Wallace, +was the first to mount Dumbarton walls?" + +At these words the cheeks of Edwin were suffused with a more animated +bloom. At the moment when his courage was distinguished on the heights +of Dumbarton, by the vowed friendship of Wallace, he had found himself +beloved by the bravest and most amiable of beings; and in his light he +felt both warmth and brightness; but this question of De Warenne, +conveyed to him that he had found fame himself; that he was there +publicly acknowledged to be an object not unworthy of being called the +brother of Sir William Wallace!-and, casting down his eyes, beaming +with exultation, from the fixed gaze of De Warenne, he answered, "I am +that happy Ruthven, who had the honor to mount Dumbarton Rock by the +side of my general; and from his hand there received the stroke of +knighthood." + +De Warenne rose, much agitated: "If such be the boys of Scotland need +we wonder, when the spirit of resistance is roused in the nation, that +our strength should wither before its men?" + +"At least," said Montgomery, whose admiration of what passed seemed to +reanimate his languid faculties, "it deprives defeat of its sting, when +we are conscious we yielded to power that was irresistible. But, my +lord," added he, "if the courage of this youth amazes you, what will +you say ought to be the fate of this country? what to be the crown of +Sir William Wallace's career, when you know the chain of brave hearts +by which he is surrounded? Even tender woman loses the weakness of her +sex when she belongs to him." Earl de Warenne, surprised at the energy +with which he spoke, looked at him with an expression that told him so. +"Yes," continued he, "I witnessed the heroism of Lady Wallace, when +she defended the character of her husband in the midst of an armed +host, and preserved the secret of his retreat inviolate. I saw that +loveliest of women, whom the dastard Heselrigge slew." + +"Disgrace to knighthood!" cried Edwin, with indignant vehemence; "if +you were a spectator of that bloody deed, retire from this house; go to +Cambus-Kenneth--anywhere; but leave this city before the injured +Wallace arrives; blast not his eyes with a second sight of one who +could have beheld his wife murdered." + +Every eye was now fixed on the commanding figure of the young Edwin, +who stood with the determination of being obeyed breathing in every +look. De Warenne then at once saw the possibility of so gentle a +creature being transformed into the soul of enterprise, into the +fearless and effective soldier. + +Lord Montgomery held out his hand to Edwin. "By this right arm, I +swear, noble youth, that had I been on the spot when Heselrigge, lifted +his sword against the breast of Lady Wallace, I would have sheathed my +sword in his. It was before then that I saw that matchless woman; and +offended with my want of severity in the scrutiny I had made at +Ellerslie for its chief. Heselrigge sent me back to Ayr. Arnuf +quarreled with me there, on the same subject; and I immediately retired +in disgust to England." + +"Then how? you ought to be Sir Gilbert Hambledon?" replied Edwin; "but +whoever you are, as you were kind to the Lady Marion, I cannot but +regret my late hasty charge; and for which I beseech your pardon." + +Montgomery took his hand, and pressed it. "Generous Ruthven, your +warmth is too honorable to need forgiveness. I am that Sir Gilbert +Hambledon; and had I remained so, I should not now be in Scotland. But +in my first interview with the Prince of Wales, after my accession to +the Earldom of Montgomery, his highness told me, it had been rumored +from Scotland that I was disloyal in my heart to my king. 'And to +prove the falsehood of such calumniators,' continued the prince, 'I +appoint you second in command there to the Earl de Warenne.' To have +refused to fight against Sir William Wallace, would have been to have +accused myself of treason. And while I respected the husband of the +murdered Lady Marion, I yet condemned him as an insurgent; and with the +same spirit you follow him in the field, I obeyed the commands of my +sovereign." + +"Lord Montgomery," returned Edwin, "I am rejoiced to see one who proves +to me what my general, wronged as he has been, yet always +inculcates--that all the Southrons are not base and cruel! When he +knows who is indeed his prisoner, what recollections will it awaken! +But till you and he again meet, I shall not intimate to him the +melancholy satisfaction he is to enjoy, for, with the remembrances it +will arouse, your presence must bring the antidote." + +The brave youth then telling Ramsay in what parts of the palace the +rest of the lords were to be lodged, with recovered composure descended +to the courtyard, to take horse for Tor Wood. He was galloping along, +under the bright light of the moon, when he heard a squadron on full +speed approaching, and presently Murray appeared at its head. "Hurrah, +Edwin!" cried he; "well met! We are come to demand the instant +surrender of the citadel. Hilton's division has surrendered!" + +The two barons had indeed come up about half an hour after Earl de +Warenne's division was discomfited. Sir William Wallace had sent +forward to the advancing enemy two heralds, bearing the colors De +Valence and Montgomery, with the captive banner of De Warenne, and +requiring the present division to lay down its army also. The sight of +these standards was sufficient to assure Hilton there was no deceit in +the embassy. The nature of his position precluded retreat; and not +seeing any reason for ten thousand men disputing the day with a power +to whom fifty thousand had just surrendered, he and his compeer, with +the reluctance of veterans, embraced the terms of surrender. + +The instant Hilton put his argent banner** into the victor's hand, +Wallace knew that the castle must now be his; he had discomfited all +who could have maintained it against him. Impatient to apprise Lord +Mar and his family of their safety, he dispatched Murray with a +considerable escort to demand its surrender. + +**The arms of Hilton are, argent, two bars azure. The charge on those +of Blenkinsopp are three wheat-sheaves; crest, a lion rampant, grasping +a rose. The ruins of the patrimonial castles of these two ancient +barons are still to be seen in the north of England. The author's +revered mother was a descendant from the latter venerable name, united +with that of the brave and erudite race of Adamson, of further north. + +Murray gladly obeyed, and now, accompanied by Edwin, with the standards +of Cressingham and De Warenne trailing in the dust, he arrived before +the castle, and summoned the lieutenant to the walls. But that +officer, well aware of what was going to happen, feared to appear. +From the battlements of the keep he had seen the dreadful conflict on +the banks of the Forth--he had seen the thousands of De Warenne pass +before the conqueror. To punish his treachery, in not only having +suffered Cressingham to steal out under the armistice, but upholding +also the breaking of his word to surrender at sunset, the terrified +officer believed that Wallace was now come to put the whole garrison to +the sword. + +At the first sight of Murray's approaching squadron, the lieutenant +hurried to Lord Mar, to offer him immediate liberty if he would go +forth to Wallace and treat with him to spare the lives of the garrison. +Closed up in a solitary dungeon, the earl knew naught of what was +occurring without; and when the Southron entered, he expected it was to +lead him again to the death which had been twice averted. But the pale +and trembling lieutenant had no sooner spoken the first word than Mar +discerned it was a suppliant, not an executioner, he saw before him, +and he was even promising that clemency from Wallace, which he knew +dwelt in his heart, when Murray's trumpet sounded. + +The lieutenant started, horror-struck. "It is now too late! We have +not made the first overture, and there sounds the death-bell of this +garrison! I saved your life, earl!" cried he, imploringly, to Lord +Mar; "when the enraged Cressingham commanded me to pull the cord which +would have launched you into eternity. I disobeyed him! For my sake, +then, preserve this garrison, and accompany me to the ramparts." + +The chains were immediately knocked off the limbs of Lord Mar, and the +lieutenant presenting him with a sword, they appeared together on the +battlements. As the declining moon shone on their backs, Murray did +not discern that it was his uncle who mounted the walls; but calling to +him in a voice which declared there was no appeal, pointed to the +humbled colors of Edward, and demanded the instant surrender of the +citadel. + +"Let it be, then with the pledge of Sir William Wallace's mercy?" cried +the venerable earl. + +"With every pledge, Lord Mar," returned Murray, now joyfully +recognizing his uncle, "which you think safe to give." + +"Then the keys of the citadel are yours," cried the lieutenant; "I only +ask the lives of my garrison." + +This was granted, and immediately preparations were made for the +admission of the Scots. As the enraptured Edwin heard the heavy chains +of the portcullis drawn up, and the massy bolts of the huge doors +grating in their guards, he thought of his mother's liberty, of his +father's joy, in pressing her again in his arms; and hastening to the +tower where Lord Ruthven held watch over the now sleeping De Valance, +he told him all that had happened. "Go, my father," added he; "enter +with Murray, and be the first to open the prison doors of my mother." + +Lord Ruthven embraced his son. "My dear Edwin! this sacrifice to my +feelings is worthy of you. But I have a duty to perform, superior even +to the tenderest private ones. I am planted hereby my commander; and +shall I quit my station, for any gratification, till he gives me leave? +No, my son! Be you my representative to your mother; and while my +example teaches you, above all earthly considerations, to obey your +honor, those tender embraces will show her what I sacrifice to duty." + +Edwin no longer urged his father, and leaving his apartment, flew to +the gate of the inner ballium. It was open; and Murray already stood +on the platform before the keep, receiving the keys to the garrison. + +"Blessed sight!" cried the earl, to his nephew. "When I put the banner +of Mar into your unpracticed hand, little could I expect that, in the +course of four months, I should see my brave Andrew receive the keys of +proud Stirling from its commander!" + +Murray smiled, while his plumed head bowed gratefully to his uncle, and +turning to the lieutenant, "Now," said he, "lead me to the Ladies Mar +and Ruthven that I may assure them they are free." + +The gates of the keep were now unclosed, and the lieutenant conducted +his victors along a gloomy passage, to a low door, studded with knobs +of iron. As he drew the bolt, he whispered to Lord Mar, "These +severities are the hard policy of Governor Cressingham." + +He pushed the door slowly open, and discovered a small, miserable +cell--its walls, of rugged stone, having no other covering than the +incrustations which time, and many a dripping winter, had strewn over +their vaulted service. On the ground, on a pallet of straw, lay a +female figure in a profound sleep. But the light which the lieutenant +held, streaming full upon the uncurtained slumberer, she started, and, +with a shriek of terror at the sight of so many armed men, discovered +the pallid features of the Countess of Mar. With an anguish which +hardly the freedom he was going to bestow could ameliorate, the earl +rushed forward, and, throwing himself beside her, caught her in his +arms. + +"Are we, then, to die?" cried she, in a voice of horror. "Has Wallace +abandoned us? Are we to perish? Heartless-heartless man!" + +Overcome by his emotions, the earl could only strain her to his breast +in speechless agitation. Edwin saw a picture of his mother's +sufferings, in the present distraction of the countess; and he felt his +powers of utterance locked up; but Lord Andrew, whose ever-light heart +was gay the moment he was no longer unhappy, jocosely answered, "My +fair aunt, there are many hearts to die by your eyes before that day! +and, meanwhile, I come from Sir William Wallace--to set you free!" + +The name of Wallace, and the intimation that he had sent to set her +free, drove every former thought of death and misery from her mind; +again the ambrosial gales of love seemed to breathe around her--she saw +not her prison walls; she felt herself again in his presence; and in a +blissful trance, rather endured than participated in the warm +congratulations of her husband on their mutual safety. + +Edwin and Murray turned to follow the lieutenant, who, preceding them, +stopped at the end of the gallery. "Here," said he, "is Lady Ruthven's +habitation; and--alas! not better than the countess'." While he spoke, +he threw open the door, and discovered its sad inmate also asleep. But +when the glad voice of her son pierced her ear--when his fond embraces +clung to her bosom, her surprise and emotions were almost +insupportable. Hardly crediting her senses, that he whom she had +believed was safe in the cloisters of St. Colomba, could be within the +dangerous walls of Stirling; that it was his mailed breast that pressed +against her bosom; that it was his voice she heard exclaiming, "Mother, +we come to give you freedom!" all appeared to her like a dream of +madness. + +She listened, she felt him, she found her cheek wet with his rapturous +tears. "Am I in my right mind?" cried she, looking at him with a +fearful, yet overjoyed countenance; "am I not mad? Oh! tell me," cried +she, turning to Murray, and the lieutenant, "is this my son that I see, +or has terror turned my brain?" + +"It is indeed your son, your Edwin, my very self," returned he, alarmed +at the expression of her voice and countenance. Murray gently +advanced, and kneeling down by her, respectfully took her hand. "He +speaks truth, my dear madam. It is your son Edwin. He left his +convent, to be a volunteer with Sir William Wallace. He has covered +himself with honor on the walls of Dumbarton; and here also a sharer in +his leader's victories, he is come to set you free." + +At this explanation, which, being given in the sober language of +reason, Lady Ruthven believed, she gave way to the full happiness of +her soul, and falling on the neck of her son, embraced him with a flood +of tears: "And thy father, Edwin, where is he? Did not the noble +Wallace rescue him from Ayr?" + +"He did, and he is here." Edwin then repeated to his mother the +affectionate message of his father, and the particulars of his release. +Perceiving how happily they were engaged, Murray, now with a flutter +in his own bosom, rose from his knees, and requested the lieutenant to +conduct him to Lady Helen Mar. + +His guide led the way by a winding staircase into a stone gallery, +where letting Lord Andrew into a spacious apartment, divided in the +midst by a vast screen of carved cedar-wood, he pointed to a curtained +entrance. "In that chamber," said he, "lodges the Lady Helen." + +"Ah, my poor cousin," exclaimed Murray; "though she seems not to have +tasted the hardships of her parents, she has shared their misery, I do +not doubt." While he spoke, the lieutenant bowed in silence, and +Murray entered alone. The chamber was magnificent, and illumined by a +lamp which hung from the ceiling. He cautiously approached the bed, +fearing too hastily to disturb her, and gently pulling aside the +curtains, beheld vacancy. An exclamation of alarm had almost escaped +him, when observing a half-open door at the other side of the +apartment, he drew toward it, and there beheld his cousin, with her +back to him, kneeling before a crucifix. She spoke not, but the fervor +of her action manifested how earnestly she prayed. He moved behind +her, but she heard him not; her whole soul was absorbed in the success +of her petition; and at last raising her clasped hands in a paroxysm of +emotion, she exclaimed,-"If that trumpet sounded the victory of the +Scots, then, Power of Goodness! receive thy servant's thanks. But if +De Warenne have conquered, where De Valence has failed; if all whom I +love be lost to me here, take me then to thyself, and let my freed +spirit fly to their embraces in heaven!" + +"Ay, and on earth too, thou blessed angel!" cried Murray, throwing +himself toward her. She started from her knees, and with such a cry as +the widow of Sarepta uttered when she embraced her son from the dead, +Helen threw herself on the bosom of her cousin, and closed her eyes in +a blissful swoon--for even while every outward sense seemed fled, the +impression of joy played about her heart; and the animated throbbings +of Murray's breast, while he pressed her in his arms, at last aroused +her to recollection. Her glistening and uplifted eyes told all the +happiness, all the gratitude of her soul. + +"My father? All are safe?" demanded she. + +"All, my best beloved!" answered Murray, forgetting in his powerful +emotions of his heart, that what he felt, and what he uttered, were +beyond even a cousin's limits: "My uncle, the countess, Lord and Lady +Ruthven--all are safe." + +"And Sir William Wallace?" cried she; "you do not mention him. I hope +no ill-" + +"He is conqueror here!" interrupted Murray. "He has subdued every +obstacle between Berwick and Stirling; and he has sent me hither to set +you and the rest of the dear prisoners free." + +Helen's heart throbbed with a new tumult as he spoke. She longed to +ask whether the unknown knight from whom she had parted in the hermit's +cell, had ever joined Sir William Wallace. She yearned to know that he +yet lived. At the thought of the probability of his having fallen in +some of these desperate conflicts, her soul seemed to gasp for +existence; and dropping her head on her cousin's shoulder, "Tell me, +Andrew," said she, and there she paused, with an emotion for which she +could not account to herself. + +"Of what would my sweet cousin inquire?" asked Murray, partaking her +agitation. + +"Nothing particular," said she, covered with blushes; "but did you +fight alone in these battles? Did no other knight but Sir William +Wallace?" + +"Many, dearest Helen," returned Murray, enraptured at a solicitude +which he appropriated to himself. "Many knights joined our arms. All +fought in a manner worthy of their leader, and thanks to Heaven, none +have fallen." + +"Thanks, indeed," cried Helen; and with a hope she dared hardly whisper +to herself, of seeing the unknown knight in the gallant train of the +conqueror, she falteringly said, "Now, Andrew, lead me to my father." + +Murray would perhaps have required a second bidding, had not Lord Mar, +impatient to see his daughter, appeared with the countess at the door +of the apartment. Hastening toward them, she fell on the bosom of her +father; and while she bathed his face and hands with her glad tears, +he, too, wept, and mingled blessings with his caresses. No coldness +here met his paternal heart: no distracting confusions tore her from +his arms; no averted looks, by turns, alarmed and chilled the bosom of +tenderness. All was innocence and duty in Helen's breast; and every +ingenuous action showed its affection and its joy. The estranged heart +of Lady Mar had closed against him; and though he suspected not its +wanderings, he felt the unutterable difference between the warm +transports of his daughter and the frigid gratulations forced from the +lips of his wife. + +Lady Mar gazed with a weird frown on the lovely form of Helen, as she +wound her exquisitely turned arms round the earl in filial tenderness. +Her bosom, heaving in the snowy whiteness of virgin purity; her face, +radiant with the softest blooms of youth; all seemed to frame an object +which malignant fiends had conjured up to blast her stepdame's hope. +"Wallace will behold these charms!" cried her distracted spirit to +herself, "and then, where am I?" + +While her thoughts thus followed each other, she unconsciously darted +looks on Helen, which, if an evil eye had any bewitching power, would +have withered all her beauties. At one of these portentous moments, +the glad eyes of Helen met her glance. She started with horror. It +made her remember how she had been betrayed, and all that she had +suffered from Soulis. But she could not forget that she had also been +rescued; and with that blessed recollection, the image of her preserver +rose before her. At this gentle idea, her alarmed countenance took a +softer expression; and, tenderly sighing, she turned to her father's +question of "How she came to be with Lady Ruthven, when he had been +taught by Lord Andrew to believe her safe at St. Fillan's?" + +"Yes," cried Murray, throwing herself on a seat beside her, "I found in +your letter to Sir William Wallace, that you had been betrayed from +your asylum by some traitor Scot; and but for the fullness of my joy at +our present meeting, I should have inquired the name of the villian!" + +Lady Mar felt a deadly sickness at her heart, on hearing that Sir +William Wallace was already so far acquainted with her daughter as to +have received a letter from her; and in amazed despair, she prepared to +listen to what she expected would bring a death-stroke to her hopes. +They had met--but how?--where? They wrote to each other. Then, far +indeed had proceeded that communication of hearts, which was now the +aim of her life--and she was undone! Helen glanced at the face of Lady +mar, and observing its changes, regarded them as corroborations of her +having been the betrayer. "If conscience disturbs you thus," thought +Helen, "let it rend your heart, and perhaps remorse may follow!" + +As the tide of success seemed so full for the patriot Scots, Helen no +longer feared that her cousin would rashly seek a precarious vengeance +on the traitor Soulis, when he might probably soon have an opportunity +of making it certain at the head of an army. She therefore commenced +her narrative from the time of Murray's leaving her at the priory, and +continued it to the hour in which she had met her father, a prisoner in +the streets of Stirling. As she proceeded, the indignation of the earl +and of Murray against Soulis became vehement. The nephew was full of +immediate personal revenge. But the father, with arguments similar to +those which had suggested themselves to his daughter, calmed the +lover's rage, for Murray now felt that fire as well as a kinsman's; and +reseated himself with repressed, though burning resentment, to listen +to the remainder of her relation. + +The quaking conscience of Lady mar did indeed vary her cheeks with a +thousand dyes, when, as Helen repeated part of her conversation with +Macgregor's wife, Murray abruptly said, "Surely that woman could name +the traitor who betrayed us into the hands of our enemies! Did she not +hint it?" + +Helen cast down her eyes, that even a glance might not overwhelm with +insupportable shame the already trembling countess. Lady Mar saw that +she was acquainted with her guilt, and expecting no more mercy than she +knew she would show to Helen in the like circumstances, she hastily +rose from her chair, internally vowing vengeance against her triumphant +daughter and hatred of all mankind. But Helen thought she might have +so erred, from a wife's alarm for the safety of the husband she +professed to doat on; and this dutiful daughter determined never to +accuse her. + +While all the furies raged in the breast of the guilty woman, Helen +simply answered, "Lord Soulis would be weak as he is vile, to trust a +secret of that kind with a servant;" then hurried on to the relation of +subsequent events. The countess breathed again; and almost deceiving +herself with the idea that Helen was indeed ignorant of her treachery, +listened with emotions of another kind, when she heard of the rescue of +her daughter-in-law. She saw Wallace in that brave act! But as Helen, +undesignedly to herself, passed over the parts in their conversation +which had most interested her, and never named the graces of his +person, Lady mar thought, that to have viewed Wallace with so little +notice would have been impossible; and therefore was glad of such a +double conviction, that he and her daughter had never met, which seemed +verified when Helen said that the unknown chief had promised to join +his arms with those of Wallace. + +Murray had observed Helen while she spoke, with an impression at his +heart that made it pause. Something in this interview had whispered to +him what he had never dreamed before--that she was dearer to him than +fifty thousand cousins. And while the blood flushed and retreated in +the complexion of Helen, and her downcast eyes refused to show what was +passing there, while she hastily ran over the circumstances of her +acquaintance with the stranger knight, Murray's own emotions declared +the secret of hers; and with a lip as pale as her own, he said, "But +where is this brave man? He cannot have yet joined us, for surely he +would have told Wallace or myself that he came from you?" + +"I warned him not to do so," replied she, "for fear that your +indignation against my enemies, my dear cousin, might have precipitated +you into dangers to be incurred for our country only." + +"Then, if he had joined us," replied Murray, rising from his seat, "you +will probably soon known who he is. To-morrow morning Sir William +Wallace will enter the citadel, attended by his principal knights; and +in that gallant company you must doubtless discover the man who had +laid such obligations on us all by your preservation." + +Murray's feelings told him that glad should he be, if the utterance of +that obligation would repay it! + +Helen herself knew not how to account for the agitation which shook her +whenever she adverted to her unknown preserver. At the time of the +hermit's friend (the good lay brother), having brought her to Alloa, +when she explained to Lady Ruthven the cause of her strange arrival, +she had then told her story with composure, till she mentioned her +deliverer; but in that moment, for the first time she felt a confusion +which disordered the animation with which she described his patriotism +and his bravery. But it was natural, she thought, that gratitude for a +recent benefit should make her heart beat high. It was something like +the enthusiasm she had felt for Wallace on the rescue of her father, +and she was satisfied. But a few days of quiet at Alloa had recovered +her health from the shock it had received in the recent scenes, and she +proposed to her aunt to send some trusty messenger to inform the +imprisoned earl at Dumbarton of her happy refuge; and Lady Ruthven in +return had urged the probability that the messenger would be +intercepted, and so her asylum be discovered, saying, "Let it alone, +till this knight of yours, by performing his word, calls you to declare +his honorable deeds. Till then, Lord Mar, ignorant of your danger, +needs no assurance of your safety." + +This casual reference to the knight had then made the tranquilized +heart of Helen renew its throbbings, and turning from her aunt with an +acquiescing reply, she retired to her own apartment to quell the +unusual and painful blushes she felt burning on her cheeks. Why she +should feel thus she could not account, "unless," said she to herself, +"I fear that my suspicion may be guessed at; and should my words or +looks betray the royal Bruce to any harm, that moment of undesigned +ingratitude would be the last of my life." + +This explanation seemed ample to herself. And henceforth avoiding all +mention of her preserver in her conversations with Lady Ruthven, she +had confined the subject to her own breast; and thinking that she +thought of him more by her intention to speak of him less, she wondered +not that whenever she was alone his image immediately rose in her mind, +his voice seemed to sound in her ears, and even as the summer air +wafted its soft fragrance over her cheek, she would turn as if she felt +that breath which had so gently brushed her to repose. She would then +start and sigh, and repeat his words to herself, but all was serene in +her bosom. For it seemed as if the contemplation of so much loveliness +of soul in so noble a form, soothed instead of agitated her heart. +"What a king will he be?" thought she; "with what transport would the +virtuous Wallace set the Scottish crown on so noble a brow." + +Such were her meditations and feelings, when she was brought a prisoner +to Stirling. And when she heard of the victories of Wallace, she could +not but think that the brave arm of her knight was there, and that he, +with the renowned champion of Scotland, would fly, on the receipt of +her letter, to Stirling, there to repeat the valiant deeds of +Dumbarton. The first blast of the Scottish trumpet under the walls +found her, as she had said, upon her knees, and kept her there, for +hardly with any intermission, with fast and prayer did she kneel before +the altar of Heaven--till the voice of Andrew Murray at midnight called +her to freedom and to happiness. + +Wallace, and perhaps her nameless hero with him, had again conquered! +His idea dwelt in her heart and faltered on her tongue; and yet, in +reciting the narrative of her late sufferings to her father, when she +came to the mentioning of the stranger's conduct to her--with an +apprehensive embarrassment she felt her growing emotions as she drew +near the subject; and, hurrying over the event, she could only excuse +herself for such new perturbations by supposing that the former treason +of Lady Mar now excited her alarm, with fear she should fix it on a new +object. Turning cold at an idea so pregnant with horror, she hastily +passed from the agitating theme to speak of De Valence and the respect +with which he had treated her during her imprisonment. His courtesy +had professed to deny nothing to her wishes except her personal liberty +and any conference with her parents or aunt. Her father's life, he +declared it was altogether out of his power to grant. He might suspend +the sentence, but he could not abrogate it. + +"Yes," cried the earl, "though false and inflexible, I must not accuse +him of having been so barbarous in his tyranny as Cressingham. For it +was not until De Valence was taken prisoner that Joanna and I were +divided. Till then we were lodged in decent apartments, but on that +event Cressingham tore us from each other, and threw us into different +dungeons. My sister Janet I never saw since the hour we were separated +in the street of Stirling until the awful moment in which we met on the +roof of this castle--the moment when I expected to behold her and my +wife die before my eyes!" + +Helen now learned, for the first time, the base cruelties which had +been exercised on her father and his family since the capture of De +Valence. She had been exempted from sharing them by the fears of +Cressingham, who, knowing that the English earl had particular views +with regard to her, durst not risk offending him by outraging one whom +he had declared himself determined to protect. + +During part of this conversation, Murray withdrew to bring Lady Ruthven +and her son to share the general joy of full domestic reunion. The +happy Edwin and his mother having embraced these dear relatives with +yet more tender affections yearning in their bosoms, accompanied Murray +to the door of the barbican, which contained Lord Ruthven. They +entered on the wings of conjugal and filial love; but the for once +pensive Lord Andrew, with a slow and musing step, returned into the +castle to see that all was safely disposed for the remainder of the +night. + + + + +Chapter XXXV. + +Stirling Citadel. + + +At noon next day Murray received a message from Wallace, desiring him +to acquaint the Earl of Mar that he was coming to the citadel to offer +the palace of Snawdoun to the ladies of Mar, and to request the earl to +take charge of the illustrous prisoners he was bringing to the castle. + +Each member of the family hastened to prepare for an interview which +excited different expectations in each different breast. Lady Mar, +well satisfied that Helen and Wallace had never met, and clinging to +the vague words of Murray, that he had sent to give her liberty, called +forth every art of the tiringroom to embellish her still fine person. +Lady Ruthven, with the respectable eagerness of a chaste matron, in +prospect of seeing the man who had so often been the preserver of her +brother, and who had so lately delivered her husband from a loathsome +dungeon, was the first who joined the earl in the great gallery. Lady +Mar soon after entered like Juno, in all her plumage of majesty and +beauty. + +But the trumpet of Wallace had sounded in the gates before the +trembling Helen could leave her apartment. It was the herald of his +approach, and she sunk breathless into a seat. She was now going to +see for the first time the man for whose woes she had so often wept; +the man who had incurred them all for objects dear to her. He whom she +had mourned as one stricken in sorrows, and feared for, as an outlaw +doomed to suffering and to death, was now to appear before her, not in +the garb of woe, which excuses the sympathy its wearer excites, but +arrayed as a conqueror, as the champion of Scotland, giving laws to her +oppressors, and entering in triumph, over fields of their slain! + +Awful as this picture was to the timidity of her gentle nature, it +alone did not occasion that inexpressible sensation which seemed to +check the pulses of her heart. Was she, or was she not, to recognize +in his train the young and noble Bruce? Was she to be assured that he +still existed? Or, by seeking him everywhere in vain, ascertain that +he, who could not break his word, had perished, lonely and unknown? + +While these ideas thronged into her mind, the platform below was +filling with the triumphant Scots; and, her door suddenly opening, +Edwin entered in delighted haste. "Come, cousin!" cried he, "Sir +William Wallace has almost finished his business in the great hall. He +has made my uncle governor of this place, and has committed nearly a +thousand prisoners of rank to his care. If you be not expeditious, you +will allow him to enter the gallery before you." + +Hardly observing her face, from the happy emotions which dazzled his +own eyes, he seized her hand, and hurried her to the gallery. + +Only her aunt and step-mother were yet there. Lady Ruthven sat +composedly, on a tapestried bench, awaiting the arrival of the company. +But Lady Mar was near the door, listening impatiently to the voices +beneath. At sight of Helen, she drew back; but she smiled exultingly +when she saw that all the splendour of beauty she had so lately beheld +and dreaded was flown. Her unadorned garments gave no particular +attraction to the simple lines of her form; the effulgence of her +complexion was gone; her cheek was pale, and the tremulous motion of +her step deprived her of the elastic grace which was usually the charm +of her nymph-like figure. + +Triumph now sat in the eyes of the countess; and, with an air of +authority, she waved Helen to take a seat beside Lady Ruthven. But +Helen, fearful of what might be her emotion when the train should +enter, had just placed herself behind her aunt, when the steps of many +a mailed foot sounded upon the oaken floor of the outward gallery. The +next moment the great doors of the huge screen opened, and a crowd of +knights in armor flashed upon her eyes. A strange dimness overspread +her faculties, and nothing appeared to her but an indistinct throng +approaching. She would have given worlds to have been removed from the +spot, but was unable to stir; and on recovering her senses, she beheld +Lady Mar (who, exclaiming, "Ever my preserver!" had hastened forward), +now leaning on the bosom of one of the chiefs: his head was bent as if +answering her in a low voice. By the golden locks, which hung down +upon the jeweled tresses of the countess, and obscured his face, she +judged it must indeed be the deliverer of her father, the knight of her +dream. But where was he, who had delivered herself from a worse fate +than death? Where was the dweller of her daily thoughts, the bright +apparition of her unslumbering pillow? + +Helen's sight, now clearing to as keen a vision as before it had been +dulled and indistinct, with a timid and anxious gaze glanced from face +to face of the chieftains around; but all were strange. Then +withdrawing her eyes with a sad conviction that their search was indeed +in vain; in the very moment of that despair, they were arrested by a +glimpse of the features of Wallace. He had raised his head; he shook +back his clustering hair, and her secret was revealed. In that +god-like countenance she recognized the object of her devoted wishes! +and with a gasp of overwhelming surprise, she must have fallen from her +seat, had not Lady Ruthven, hearing a sound like the sigh of death, +turned round, and caught her in her arms. The cry of her aunt drew +every eye to the spot. Wallace immediately relinquished the countess +to her husband, and moved toward the beautiful and senseless form that +lay on the bosom of Lady Ruthven. The earl and his agitated wife +followed. + +"What ails my Helen?" asked the affectionate father. + +"I know not," replied his sister; "she sat behind me, and I knew +nothing of her disorder till she fell as you see." + +Murray instantly supposed that she had discovered the unknown knight; +and looking from countenance to countenance, amongst the train, to try +if he could discern the envied cause of such emotions, he read in no +face an answering feeling with that of Helen's; and turning away from +his unavailing scrutiny, on hearing her draw a deep sigh, his eyes +fixed themselves on her, as if they would have read her soul. Wallace, +who, in the pale form before him, saw, not only the woman whom he had +preserved with a brother's care, but the compassionate saint, who had +given a hallowed grave to the remains of an angel, pure as herself, now +hung over her with anxiety so eloquent in every feature that the +countess would willingly at that moment have stabbed her in every vein. + +Lady Ruthven had sprinkled her niece with water; and as she began to +revive, Wallace motioned to his chieftains to withdraw; her eyes opened +slowly; but recollection returning with every reawakened sense, she +dimly perceived a press of people around her, and fearful of again +encountering that face, which declared the Bruce of her secret +meditations and the Wallace of her declared veneration were one, she +buried her blushes in the bosom of her father. In that short point of +time, images of past, present, and to come, rushed before her; and +without confessing to herself why she thought it necessary to make the +vow, her soul seemed to swear on the sacred altar of a parent's heart, +never more to think on either idea. Separate, it was sweet to muse on +her own deliverer; it was delightful to dwell on the virtues of her +father's preserver. But when she saw both characters blended in one, +her feelings seemed sacrilege; and she wished even to bury her +gratitude, where no eye but Heaven's could see its depth and fervor. + +Trembling at what might be the consequences of this scene, Lady mar +determined to hint to Wallace that Helen loved some unknown knight; and +bending to her daughter, said in a low voice, yet loud enough for him +to hear, "Retire, my child; you will be better in your own room, +whether pleasure or disappointment about the person you wished to +discover in Sir William's train have occasioned these emotions." + +Helen recovered herself at this indelicate remark; and raising her head +with that modest dignity which only belongs to the purest mind, gently +but firmly said, "I obey you, madam; and he whom I have seen will be +too generous, not to pardon the effects of so unexpected a weight of +gratitude." As she spoke, her turning eye met the fixed gaze of +Wallace. His countenance became agitated, and dropping on his knee +beside her; "Gracious lady;" cried he, "mine is the right of gratitude; +but it is dear land precious to me; a debt that my life will not be +able to repay. I was ignorant of all your goodness, when we parted in +the hermit's cave. But the spirit of an angel like yourself, Lady +Helen, will whisper to you all her widowed husband's thanks." He +pressed her hand fervently between his, and rising, left the room. + +Helen looked on with an immovable eye, in which the heroic vow of her +soul spoke in every beam; but as he arose, even then she felt its +frailty, for her spirit seemed leaving her; and as he disappeared from +the door, her world seemed shut from her eyes. Not to think of him was +impossible; how to think of him was in her own power. Her heart felt +as if suddenly made a desert. But heroism was there. She had looked +upon the Heaven-dedicated Wallace; on the widowed mourner of Marion; +the saint and the hero; the being of another world! and as such she +would regard him, till in the realms of purity she might acknowledge +the brother of her soul! + +A sacred inspiration seemed to illuminate her features, and to brace +with the vigor of immortality those limbs which before had sunk under +her. She forgot she was still of earth, while a holy love, like that +of the dove in Paradise, sat brooding on her heart. + +Lady Mar gazed on her without understanding the ethereal meaning of +those looks. Judging from her own impassioned feelings, she could only +resolve the resplendent beauty which shone from the now animated face +and form of Helen into the rapture of finding herself beloved. Had she +not heard Wallace declare himself to be the unknown knight who had +rescued Helen? She had heard him devote his life to her, and was not +his heart included in that dedication? She had then heard that love +vowed to another, which she would have sacrificed her soul to win! + +Murray too was confounded; but his reflections were far different from +those of Lady Mar. He saw his newly self-discerned passion smothered +in its first breath. At the moment in which he found that he loved his +cousin above all of women's mold, an unappealable voice in his bosom +made him crush every fond desire. That heart which, with the chaste +transports of a sister, had throbbed so entrancingly against his, was +then another's! was become the captive of Wallace's virtues; of the +only man who, his judgment would have said, deserves Helen Mar! But +when he clasped her glowing beauties in his arms only the night before, +his enraptured soul then believed that the tender smile he saw on her +lips was meant as the sweet earnest of the happier moment, when he +might hold her there forever! That dream was now past. "Well! be it +so!" said he to himself, "if this too daring passion must be clipped on +the wing, I have at least the consolation that it soared like the bird +of Jove! But, loveliest of created beings," thought he, looking on +Helen with an expression which, had she met it, would have told her all +that was passing in his soul, "if I am not to be thy love, I will be +thy friend--and live for thee and Wallace!" + +Believing that she had read her sentence in what she thought the +triumphant glances of a happy passion, Lady Mar turned from her +daughter-in-law with such a hatred kindling in her heart, she durst not +trust her eyes to the inspection of the bystanders; but her tongue +could not be restrained beyond the moment in which the object of her +jealousy left the room. As the door closed upon Helen, who retired +leaning on the arms of her aunt and Edwin, the countess turned to her +lord; his eyes were looking with doting fondness toward the point where +she withdrew. This sight augmented the angry tumults in the breast of +his wife; and with a bitter smile she said, "So, my lord, you find the +icy bosom of your Helen can be thawed!" + +"How do you mean, Joanna?" returned the earl, doubting her words and +looks; "you surely cannot blame our daughter for being sensible of +gratitude." + +"I blame all young women," replied she, "who give themselves airs of +unnatural coldness; and then, when the proof comes, behave in a manner +so extraordinary, so indelicately, I must say." + +"My Lady Mar!" ejaculated the earl, with an amazed look, "what am I to +think of you from this? How has my daughter behaved indelicately? She +did not lay her head on Sir William Wallace's bosom and weep there till +he replaced her on her natural pillow, mine. Have a care, madam, that +I do not see more in this spleen than would be honorable to you for me +to discover." + +Fearing nothing so much as that her husband should really suspect the +passion which possessed her, and so remove her from the side of +Wallace, she presently recalled her former duplicity, and with a +surprised and uncomprehending air replied, "I do not understand what +you mean, Donald." Then turning to Lord Ruthven, who stood uneasily +viewing this scene, "How," cried she, "can my lord discover spleen in +my maternal anxiety respecting the daughter of the husband I love and +honor above all the earth? But men do not properly estimate female +reserve. Any woman would say with me, that to faint at the sight of +Sir William Wallace was declaring an emotion not to be revealed before +so large a company! a something from which men might not draw the most +agreeable inferences." + +"It only declared surprise, madam," cried Murray, "the surprise of a +modest and ingenuous mind that did not expect to recognize its mountain +friend in the person of the protector of Scotland." + +Lady mar put up her lip, and turning to the still silent Lord Ruthven, +again addressed him. "Stepmothers, my lord," said she, "have hard +duties to perform; and when we think we fulfill them best, our +suspicious husband comes with a magician's wand, and turns all our good +to evil." + +"Array your good in a less equivocal garb, my dear Joanna," answered +the Earl of Mar, rather ashamed of the hasty words which indeed the +suspicion of a moment had drawn from his lips; "judge my child by her +usual conduct, not by an accidental appearance of inconsistency, and I +shall ever be grateful for your solicitude. But in this instance, +though she might betray the weakness of an enfeebled constitution, it +was certainly not the frailty of a love-sick heart." + +"Judge me by your own rule, dear Donald," cried his wife, blandishly +kissing his forehead, "and you will not again wither the mother of your +boy with such a look as I just now received!" + +Glad to see this reconciliation, Lord Ruthven made a sign to Murray, +and they withdrew together. + +Meanwhile, the honest earl surrendering his whole heart to the wiles of +his wife, poured into her not inattentive ear all his wishes for Helen: +all the hopes to which her late meeting with Wallace, and their present +recognition, had given birth. "I had rather have that man my son," +said he, "than see my beloved daughter placed on an imperial throne." + +"I do not doubt it," thought Lady Mar; "for there are many emperors, +but only one William Wallace!" However, her sentiments she confined to +herself: neither assenting nor dissenting, but answering so as to +secure the confidence by which she hoped to traverse his designs. + +According to the inconsistency of the wild passion that possessed her, +one moment she saw nothing but despair before her, and in the next it +seemed impossible that Wallace should in heart be proof against her +tenderness and charms. She remembered Murray's words: that he was sent +to set her free, and that recollection reawakened every hope. Sir +William had placed Lord Mar in a post as dangerous as honorable. +Should the Southrons return in any force into Scotland, Stirling must +be one of the first places they would attack. The earl was brave, but +his wounds had robbed him of much of his martial vigor. Might she not +then be indeed set free? And might not Wallace, on such an event, mean +to repay her for all those sighs he now sought to repress from ideas of +a virtue which she could admire, but had not the courage to imitate? + +These wicked meditations passed even at the side of her husband, and, +with a view to further every wish of her intoxicated imagination, she +determined to spare no exertion to secure the support of her own +family, which, when agreeing in one point, was the most powerful of any +in the kingdom. Her father, the Earl of Strathearn, was now a +misanthrope recluse in the Orkneys; she therefore did not calculate on +his assistance, but she resolved on requesting Wallace to put the names +of her cousins, Athol and Badenoch, into the exchange of prisoners, for +by their means she expected to accomplish all she hoped. On Mar's +probable speedy death she so long thought that she regarded it as a +certainty, and so pressed forward to the fulfillment of her love and +ambition with as much eagerness as if he were already in his grave. + +She recollected that Wallace had not this time thrown her from his +bosom, when in the transports of her joy she cast herself upon it; he +only gently whispered, "Beware, lady, there are those present who may +think my services too richly paid." With these words he had +relinquished her to her husband. But in them she saw nothing inimical +to her wishes; it was a caution, not a reproof, and had not his warmer +address to Helen conjured up all the fiends of jealousy, she would have +been perfectly satisfied with these grounds of hope-slippery though +they were, like the sands of the sea. + +Eager, therefore, to break away from Lord Mar's projects relating to +his daughter, at the first decent opportunity she said: "We will +consider more of this, Donald. I now resign you to the duties of your +office, and shall pay mine to her, whose interest is our own." + +Lord Mar pressed her hand to his lips, and they parted. + +Prior to Wallace's visit to the citadel, which was to be at an early +hour the same morning, a list of the noble prisoners was put into his +hand. Edwin pointed to the name of Lord Montgomery. + +"That," said he, "is the name of the person you already esteem; but how +will you regard him when I tell you who he was?" + +Wallace turned on him an inquiring look. + +"You have often spoken to me of Sir Gilbert Hambledon-" + +"And this be he!" interrupted Wallace. + +Edwin recounted the manner of the earl discovering himself, and how he +came to bear that title. Wallace listened in silence and when his +young friend ended, sighed heavily, "I will thank him," was all he +said; and rising, he proceeded to the chamber of Montgomery. Even at +that early hour it was filled with his officers come to inquire after +their late commander's health. Wallace advanced to the couch, and the +Southrons drew back. The expression of his countenance told the earl +that he now knew him. + +"Noblest of Englishmen!" cried Wallace, in a low voice, "I come to +express a gratitude to you, as lasting as the memory of the action +which gave it birth. Your generous conduct to all that was dearest to +me on earth was that night in the garden of Ellerslie witnessed by +myself. I was in the tree above your head, and nothing but a +conviction that I should embarrass the honor of my wife's protector +could at that moment have prevented my springing from my covert and +declaring my gratitude on the spot. + +"Receive my thanks now, inadequate as they are to express what I feel. +But you offered me your heart on the field of Cambus-Kenneth; I will +take that as a generous intimation how I may best acknowledge my debt. +Receive then my never-dying friendship, the eternal gratitude of my +immortal spirit." + +The answer of Montgomery could not but refer to the same subject, and +by presenting the tender form of his wife and her devoted love, almost +visibly again before her widowed husband, nearly forced open the +fountain of tears which he had buried deep in his heart; and rising +suddenly, for fear his emotions might betray themselves, he warmly +pressed the hand of his English friend, and left the room. + +In the course of the same day the Southron nobles were transported into +the citadel, and the family of Mar removed from the fortress, to take +up their residence in the palace of Snawdoun. + + + + +Chapter XXXVI. + +The Carse of Stirling. + + +The fame of these victories, the seizure of Stirling, the conquest of +above sixty thousand men, and the lord warden with his late deputy +taken prisoners, all spread through the country on the wings of the +wind. + +Messengers were dispatched by Wallace, not only to the nobles who had +already declared for the cause by sending him their armed followers, +but to the clans who yet stood irresolute. To the chiefs who had taken +the side of Edward, he sent no exhortation. And when Lord Ruthven +advised him to do so, "No, my lord," said he, "we must not spread a +snare under our country, and as they had the power to befriend her, +they would not have colleagued with her enemies. They remember her +happiness under the rule of our Alexanders; they see her sufferings +beneath the sway of a usurper; and if they can know these things, and +require arguments to bring them to their duty, should they then come to +it, it would not be to fulfill, but to betray. Ours, my dear Lord +Ruthven, is a commission from Heaven. The truth of our cause is God's +own signet, and is so clear, that it need only be seen to be +acknowledged. All honest minds will come to us of themselves; and +those who are not so, had better be avoided, than shown the way by +which treachery may effect what open violence cannot accomplish." + +This reasoning, drawn from the experience of nature, neither encumbered +by the subtleties of policy nor the sophistry of the schools, was +evident to every honest understanding, and decided the question. + +Lady Mar, unknown to any one, again applied to her fatal pen; but with +other views than for the ruin of the cause, or the destruction of +Wallace. It was to strengthen his hands with the power of all her +kinsmen; and finally, by the crown which they should place on his head, +exalt her to the dignity of a queen. She wrote first to John Cummin, +Earl of Buchan, enforcing a thousand reasons why he should now leave a +sinking cause and join the rising fortunes of his country. + +"You see," said she, "that the happy star of Edward is setting. The +King of France not only maintains possession of that monarch's +territory at Guienne, but he holds him in check on the shores of +Flanders. Baffled abroad, an insurrection awaits him at home; the +priesthood whom he has insulted, trample name with anathemas; the +nobles whom he has insulted, trample on his prerogative; and the +people, whose privileges he has invaded, call aloud for redress. The +proud barons of England are ready to revolt; and the Lords Hereford and +Norfolk (those two earls whom, after madly threatening to hang,** he +sought to bribe to their allegiance by leaving them in the full powers +of Constable and Marshal of England), they are now conducting +themselves with such domineering consequence, that even the Prince of +Wales submits to their directions, and the throne of the absent tyrant +is shaken to its center. + +**Edward intended to send out forces to Guienne, under the command of +Humphrey Earl of Hereford, the constable, and Roger Earl of Norfolk, +the Marshal of England, when these two powerful nobles refused to +execute his commands. A violent altercation ensued; and the king, in +the height of his passion, exclaimed to the constable, "Sir Earl, by +G-, you shall either go or hang." "By G-, Sir King," replied Hereford, +"I will neither go nor hang." And he immediately departed with the +marshal and their respective trains. + +"Sir William Wallace has rescued Scotland from his yoke. The country +now calls for her ancient lords--those who made her kings, and supported +them. Come, then, my cousin! espouse the cause of right; the cause +that is in power; the cause that may aggrandize the house of Cummin +with still higher dignities than any with which it has hitherto been +blazoned." + +With these arguments, and with others more adapted to his Belial mind, +she tried to bring him to her purpose; to awaken what ambition he +possessed; and to entice his baser passions, by offering security in a +rescued country to the indulgence of senses to which he had already +sacrificed the best properties of man. She dispatched her letter by a +messenger, whom she bribed to secrecy; and added in her postscript, +"that the answer she should hope to receive would be an offer of his +services to Sir William Wallace." + +While the Countess of Mar was devising her plans (for the gaining of +Lord Buchan was only a preliminary measure), the dispatches of Wallace +had taken effect. Their simple details, and the voice of fame, had +roused a general spirit throughout the land; and in the course of a +very short time after the different messengers had left Stirling, the +plain around the city was covered with a mixed multitude. All Scotland +seemed pressing to throw itself at the feet of its preserver. A large +body of men brought from Mar by Murray according to his uncle's orders, +were amongst the first encamped on the Carse; and that part of +Wallace's own particular band which he had left at Dumbarton, to +recover their wounds, now, under the command of Stephen Ireland, +rejoined their lord at Stirling. + +Neil Campbell, the brave Lord of Loch-awe, and Lord Bothwell, the +father of Lord Andrew Murray, with a strong reinforcement, arrived from +Argyleshire. The chiefs of Ross, Dundas, Gordon, Lockhart, Logan, +Elphinstone, Scott, Erskine, Lindsay, Cameron, and of almost every +noble family in Scotland, sent their sons at the heads of detachments +from their clans, to swell the ranks of Sir William Wallace. + +When this patriotic host assembled on the Carse of Stirling, every +inmate of the city, who had not duty to confine him within the walls, +turned out to view the glorious sight. Mounted within the walls, +turned out to view the glorious sight. Mounted on a rising ground, +they saw each little army, and the emblazoned banners of all the +chivalry of Scotland floating afar over the lengthened ranks. + +At this moment, the lines which guarded the outworks of Stirling opened +from right to left, and discovered Wallace advancing on a white +charger. When the conqueror of Edward's hosts appeared--the deliverer +of Scotland--a mighty shout, from the thousands around, rent the skies, +and shook the earth on which they stood. + +Wallace raised his helmet from his brow, as by an instinctive motion +every hand bent the sword or banner it contained. + +"He comes in the strength of David!" cried the venerable bishop of +Dunkeld, who appeared at the head of his church's tenantry; "Scots, +behold the Lord's anointed!" + +The exclamation, which burst like inspiration from the lips of the +bishop, struck to every heart. "Long live our William the Lion! our +Scottish King!" was echoed with transport by every follower on the +ground; and while the reverberating heavens seemed to ratify the voice +of the people, the lords themselves (believing that he who won had the +best right to enjoy) joined in the glorious cry. Galloping up from the +front of their ranks, they threw themselves from their steeds, and +before Wallace could recover from the surprise into which this +unexpected salutation had thrown him, Lord Bothwell and Lord Loch-awe, +followed by the rest, had bent their knees, and acknowledged him to be +their sovereign. The Bishop of Dunkeld at the same moment drawing from +his breast a silver dove of sacred oil, poured it upon the unbonneted +head of Wallace. "Thus, O King!" cried he, "do I consecrate on earth, +what has already received the unction of Heaven!" + +Wallace, at this action, was awe-struck, and raising his eyes to that +Heaven, his soul in silence breathed its unutterable devotion. Then +looking on the bishop: "Holy father," said he, "this unction may have +prepared my brows for a crown, but it is not of this world, and Divine +Mercy must bestow it. Rise, lords!" and as he spoke, he flung himself +from his horse, and taking Lord Bothwell by the hand, as the eldest of +the band, "kneel not to me," cried he; "I am to you what Gideon was to +the Israelites--your fellow-soldier. I cannot assume the scepter you +would bestow; for He who rules us all has yet preserved to you a lawful +monarch. Bruce lives. And were he extinct, the blood royal flows in +too many noble veins in Scotland for me to usurp its rights." + +"The rights of the crown lie with the only man in Scotland who knows +how to defend them! else reason is blind, or the nation abandons its +own prerogative. What we have this moment vowed, is not to be +forsworn. Baliol has abdicated our throne; the Bruce deserted it; all +our nobles slept till you awoke; and shall we bow to men who may +follow, but will not lead? No, bravest Wallace, from the moment you +drew the first sword for Scotland, you made yourself her lawful king." + +Wallace turned to the veteran Lord of Loch-awe, who uttered this with a +blunt determination that meant to say, the election which had passed +should not be recalled. "I made myself her champion, to fight for her +freedom, not my own aggrandizement. Were I to accept the honor with +which this too grateful nation would repay my service, I should not +bring it that peace for which I contend. Struggling for liberty, the +toils of my brave countrymen would be redoubled; for they would have to +maintain the tights of an unallied king against a host of enemies. The +circumstances of a man from the private stations of life being elevated +to such a dignity would be felt as an insult by every royal house, and +foes and friends would arm against us. On these grounds of policy +alone, even were my heart not loyal to the vows of my ancestors, I +should repel the mischief you would bring upon yourselves by making me +your king. As it is, my conscience, as well as my judgment, compels me +reject it. As your general, I may serve you gloriously; as your +monarch, in spite of myself, I should incur your ultimate destruction." + +"From whom, noblest of Scots!" asked the Lord of Bothwell. + +"From yourselves, my friends," answered Wallace, with a gentle smile. +"Could I take advantage of the generous enthusiasm of a grateful +nation; could I forget the duty I owe to the blood of our Alexanders, +and leap into the throne, there are many who would soon revolt against +their own election. You cannot be ignorant, that there are natures who +would endure no rule, did it not come by the right of inheritance; a +right by dispute, lest they teach their inferiors the same refractory +lesson. But to bend with voluntary subjection, to long obey a power +raised by themselves, would be a sacrifice abhorrent to their pride. +After having displayed their efficiency in making a king, they would +prove their independence by striving to pull him down the moment he +made them feel his specter. + +"Such would be the fate of this election. Jealousies and rebellions +would mark my reign; till even my closest adherents, seeing the +miseries of civil war, would fall from my side, and leave the country +again open to the inroads of her enemies. + +"These, my friends and countrymen, would be my reasons for rejecting +the crown did my ambition point that way. But as I have no joy in +titles, no pleasure in any power that does not spring hourly from the +heart, let my reign be in your bosoms; and with the appellation of your +fellow-soldier, your friend! I will fight for you, I will conquer for +you--I will live or die!" + +"This man," whispered Lord Buchan, who having arrived in the rear of +the troops on the appearance of Wallace, advanced within hearing of +what he said-"this man shows more cunning in repulsing a crown than +most are capable of exerting to obtain one." + +"Ay, but let us see," returned the Earl of March, who accompanied him, +"whether it be not Caesar's coyness; he thrice refused the purple, and +yet he died Emperor of the Romans!" + +"He that offers me a crown," returned Buchan, "shall never catch me +playing the coquette with its charms. I warrant you, I would embrace +the lovely mischief in the first presentation." A shout rent the air. +"What is that?" cried he, interrupting himself. + +"He has followed your advice," answered March, with a satirical smile, +"it is the preliminary trumpet to long live King William the Great!" + +Lord Buchan spurred forward to Scrymgeour, whom he knew, and inquired, +"where the new king was to be crowned? We have not yet to thank him +for the possession of Scone!" + +"True," cried Sir Alexander, comprehending the sarcasm; "but did Sir +William Wallace accept the prayers of Scotland, neither Scone nor any +other spot in the kingdom would refuse the place of his coronation." + +"Not accept them!" replied Buchan; "then why the shout? Do the +changelings rejoice in being refused?" + +"When we cannot gain the altitude of our desires," returned the knight, +"it is yet subject for thankfulness when we reach a step toward it. +Sir William Wallace has consented to be considered as the protector of +the kingdom; to hold it for the rightful sovereign, under the name of +regent." + +"Ay," cried March, "he has only taken a mistress instead of a wife; +and, trust me, when once he has got her into his arms, it will not be +all the gray beards in Scotland that can wrest her thence again. I +marvel to see how men can be cajoled and call the visor virtue." + +Scrymgeour had not waited for this reply of the insolent earl, and +Buchan answered him: "I care not," said he; "whoever keeps my castle +over my head, and my cellars full, is welcome to reign over John of +Buchan. So onward, my gallant Cospatrick, to make our bow to royalty +in masquerade." + +When these scorners approached, they found Wallace standing uncovered +in the midst of his happy nobles. There was not a man present to whom +he had not given proofs of his divine commission; each individual was +snatched from a state of oppression and disgrace, and placed in +security and honor. With overflowing gratitude, they all thronged +around him; and the young, the isolated Wallace, found a nation waiting +on his nod; the hearts of half a million of people offered to his hand +to turn and wind them as he pleased. No crown sat on his brows; but +the bright halo of true glory beamed from his godlike countenance. It +even checked the arrogant smiles with which the haughty March and the +voluptuous Buchan came forward to mock him with their homage. + +As the near relations of Lady Mar, he received them with courtesy; but +one glance of his eye penetrated to the hollowness of both; and then, +remounting his steed, the stirrups of which were held by Edwin and Ker, +he touched the head of the former with his hand; "Follow me, my friend; +I now go to pay my duty to your mother. For you, my lords," said he, +turning to the nobles around, "I shall hope to meet you at noon in the +citadel, where we must consult together on further prompt movements. +Nothing with us can be considered as won till all is gained." + +The chieftains, with bows, acquiesced in his mandate, and fell back +toward their troops. But the foremost ranks of those brave fellows, +having heard much of what had passed, were so inflamed with admiration +of their regent, that they rushed forward, and collecting in crowds +around his horse, and in his path, some pressed to kiss his hand, and +others his way, shouting and calling down blessings upon him, till he +stopped at the gate of Snawdoun. + + + + +Chapter XXXVII. + +Snawdoun Palace. + + +Owing to the multiplicity of affairs which engaged Wallace's attention +after the capture of Stirling, the ladies of Mar had not seen him since +his first visit to the citadel. The countess passed this time in +writing her dispatches to the numerous lords of her house, both in +Scotland and in England; and by her subtle arguments she completely +persuaded her husband of the cogency of putting the names of Lord Athol +and Lord Badenoch into the list of noble prisoners he should request. + +When this was proposed to Wallace, he recollected the conduct of Athol +at Montrose; and, being alone with Lord Mar, he made some objections +against inviting him back into the country. But the earl, who was +prepared by his wife to overcome every obstacle in the way of her +kinsman's return, answered, "That he believed, from the representations +he had received of the private opinions both of Badenoch and Athol, +that their treason was more against Baliol than the kingdom; and that +now that prince was irretrievably removed, he understood they would be +glad to take a part in its recovery." + +"That may be the case with the Earl of Badenoch," replied Wallace, "but +something less friendly to Scotland must be in the breast of the man +who could betray Lord Douglas into the hands of his enemies." + +"So I should have thought," replied the earl, "had not the earnestness +with which my wife pleads his cause convinced me she knows more of his +mind than she chooses to intrust me with, and therefore I suppose his +conduct to Douglas arose from personal pique." + +Though these explanations did not at all raise the absent lords in his +esteem, yet to appear hostile to the return of Lady Mar's relations +would be a violence to her, which, in proportion as Wallace shrunk from +the guilty affection she was so eager to lavish upon him, he was averse +to committing; wishing, by showing her every proper consideration, to +lead her to apprehend the turpitude of her conduct; by convincing her +that his abhorrence of her advances had its origin in principle, rather +than from personal repugnance to herself; and so she might see the +foulness of her crime, and be recalled to virtue. He was therefore not +displeased to have this opportunity of obliging her; and, as he hoped +that amongst so many warm friends a few cool ones could not do much +injury, he gave in the names of Badenoch and Athol, with those of Lord +Douglas, Sir William Maitland (the only son of the venerable knight of +Thirlestane), Sir John Monteith, and many other brave Scots. + +For these, the Earls de Warenne, De Valence, and Montgomery, the Barons +Hilton and Blenkinsopp, and others of note, were to exchanged. Those +of lesser consequence, man for man, were to be returned for Scots of +the same degree. + +In arranging preliminaries to effect the speedy return of the Scots +from England (who must be known to have arrived on the borders, before +the English would be permitted to cross them); in writing dispatches on +this subject, and on others of equal moment, had passed the time +between the surrender of Stirling and the hour when Wallace was called +to the plain, to receive the offered homage of his grateful country. + +Impatient to behold again the object of her fond machinations, Lady Mar +hastened to the window of her apartment, when the shouts in the streets +informed her of the approach of Wallace. The loud huzzas, accompanied +by the acclamations of "Our protector and prince!" seemed already to +bind her brows with her anticipated diadem, and for a moment, vanity +lost the image of love in the purple with which she enveloped it. + +Her ambitious vision was disturbed by the crowd rushing forward; the +gates were thronged with people of every age and sex, and Wallace +himself appeared on his white charger, with his helmet off, bowing and +smiling upon the populace. There was a mild effulgence in his eye; a +divine benevolence in his countenance, as his parted lips showed the +brightness of his smile, which seemed to speak of happiness within, of +joy to all around. She hastily snatched a chaplet of flowers form her +head, and threw it from the window. Wallace looked up; his brow and +his smile were then directed to her! but they were altered. The moment +he met the congratulation of her eager eyes, he remembered what would +have been the soft welcome of his Marion's under the like circumstance! +But that tender eye was closed--that ear was shut, to whom he would +have wished these plaudits to have given rapture--and they were now as +nothing to him. The countess saw not what was passing in his mind, but +kissing her hand to him, disappeared from the window when he entered +the palace. + +Another eye beside Lady Mar's had witnessed the triumphant entry of +Wallace. Triumphant in the true sense of the word; for he came a +victor over the hearts of men; he came, not attended by his captives +won in the war, but by the people he had blessed, by throngs calling +him preserver, father, friend, and prince! By every title which can +inspire the soul of man with the happy consciousness of fulfilling his +embassy here below. + +Helen was this witness. She had passed the long interval, since she +had seen Wallace, in the state of one in a dream. The glance had been +so transient, that every succeeding hour seemed to lessen the evidence +of her senses that she had really beheld him. It appeared impossible +to her that the man whom her thoughts had hitherto dwelt on as the +widowed husband of Marion, as the hero whom sorrow had wholly dedicated +to patriotism and to Heaven, should ever awaken in her breast feelings +which would seem to break like a sacrilegious host upon the holy +consecration of his. Once she had contemplated this idea with the +pensive impressions of one leaning over the grave of a hero; and she +could then turn as if emerging from the glooms of sepulchral monuments +to upper day, to the image of her unknown knight! she could then +blamelessly recollect the matchless graces of his figure! the noble +soul that breathed from his every word and action; the sweet, though +thoughtful, serenity that sat on his brow! "There," whispered she to +herself, "are the lofty meditations of a royal mind, devising the +freedom of his people. When that is effected, how will the perfect +sunshine break out from that face! Ah! how blest must Scotland be +under his reign, when all will be light, virtue, and joy!" Bliss +hovered like an angel over the image of this imaginary Bruce; while +sorrow, in mourning weeds, seemed ever dropping tears, when any +circumstance recalled that of the real Wallace. + +Such was the state of Helen's thoughts, when in the moment beholding +the chief Ellerslie in the citadel she recognized, in his expected +melancholy form, the resplendent countenance of him whom she supposed +the prince of Scotland. That two images so opposite should at once +unite; that in one bosom should be mingled all the virtues she had +believed peculiar to each, struck her with overwhelming amazement. But +when she recovered from her short swoon, and found Wallace at her feet; +when she felt that all the devotion her heart had hitherto paid to the +simple idea of virtue alone would now be attracted to that glorious +mortal, in whom all human excellence appeared summed up, she trembled +under an emotion that seemed to rob her of herself, and place a new +principle of being within her. + +All was so extraordinary, so unlooked for, so bewildering, that from +the moment in which she had retired in such a paroxysm of +highly-wrought feelings from her first interview in the gallery with +him, she became altogether like a person in a trance; and hardly +answering her aunt, when she then led her up the stairs, only +complained she was ill, and threw herself upon a couch. + +At the very time that her heart told her in a language she could not +misunderstand, that she irrevocably loved this too glorious, too +amiable Wallace, it as powerfully denounced to her, that she had +devoted herself to one who must ever be to her as a being of air. No +word of sympathy would ever whisper felicity to her heart; no--the flame +that was within her (which she found would be immortal as the vestal +fires which resemble its purity) must burn there unknown; hidden, but +not smothered. + +"Were this a canonized saint," cried she, as she laid her throbbing +head upon her pillow, "how gladly should I feel these emotions! For, +could I not fall down and worship him? Could I not think it a world of +bliss, to live forever within the influence of his virtues; looking at +him, listening to him, rejoicing in his praises, happy in his +happiness! Yes, though I were a peasant girl, and he not know that +Helen Mar even existed! And I may live thus," said she; "and I may +steal some portion of the rare lot that was Lady Marion's-to die for +such a man! Ah! could I be in Edwin's place and wait upon his smiles! +But that may not be; I am a woman, and formed to suffer in silence and +seclusion. But even at a distance, brave Wallace, my spirit shall +watch over you in the form of this Edwin; I will teach him a double +care of the light of Scotland. And my prayers, also, shall follow you; +so that when we meet in heaven, the Blessed Virgin shall say with what +hosts of angels her intercessions, through my vigils have surrounded +thee!" + + + + +Chapter XXXVIII. + +The Bower, or Ladies' Apartment. + + +Thus did Lady Helen commune with her own strangely-affected heart; +sometimes doubting the evidence of her eyes; then, convinced of their +fidelity, striving to allay the tumults in her mind. She seldom +appeared from her own rooms. And such retirement was not questioned, +her father being altogether engaged at the citadel, the countess +absorbed in her own speculations, and Lady Ruthven alone interrupted +the solitude of her niece by frequent visits. Little suspecting the +cause of Helen's prolonged indisposition, she generally selected +Wallace for the subject of conversation. She descanted with enthusiasm +on the rare perfection of his character; told her all that Edwin had +related of his actions from the taking of Dumbarton to the present +moment; and then bade Helen remark the miracle of such wisdom, valor, +and goodness being found in one so young and handsome. + +"So, my child," added she, "depend on it; before he was Lady Marion's +husband he must have heard sighs enough from the fairest in our land to +have turned the wits of half the male world. There is something in his +very look, did you meet him on the heath without better barg than a +shepherd's plaid, sufficient to declare him the noblest of men; and, +methinks, would excuse the gentlest lady in the land for leaving hall +and bower to share his sheep-cote. But, alas!" and then the playful +expression of her countenance altered, "he is now for none on earth!" + +With these words she turned the subject to the confidential hours he +passed with the young adopted brother of his heart. Every fond emotion +seemed then centered in his wife and child. When Lady Ruthven repeated +his pathetic words to Edwin, she wept; she even sobbed, and paused to +recover; while the deep and silent tears which flowed from the heart to +the eyes of Lady Helen bathed the side of the couch on which she +leaned. "Alas!" cried Lady Ruthven, "that a man, so formed to grace +every relation in life--so noble a creature in all respects--so fond of a +husband--so full of parental tenderness--that he should be deprived of +the wife on whom he doted; that he should be cut off from all hope of +posterity; that when he shall die, nothing will be left of William +Wallace--breaks my heart!" + +"Ah, my aunt," cried Helen, raising her head with animation, "will he +not leave behind him the liberty of Scotland? That is an offspring +worthy of his god-like soul." + +"True, my dear Helen; but had you ever been a parent, you would know +that no achievements, however great, can heal the wound made in a +father's heart by the loss of a beloved child. And though Sir William +Wallace never saw the infant, ready to bless his arms, yet it perished +in the bosom of its mother; and that circumstance must redouble his +affliction; horribly does it enhance the cruelty of the deed!" + +"He has in all things been a direful sacrifice," returned Helen; "and +with God alone dwells the power to wipe the tears from his heart." + +"They flow not from his eyes," answered her aunt; "but deep, deep is +the grief that, my Edwin says, is settled there." + +While Lady Ruthven was uttering these words, shouts in the street made +her pause; and soon recognizing the name of Wallace sounding from the +lips of the rejoicing multitude, she turned to Helen: "Here comes our +deliverer!" cried she, taking her by the hand; "we have not seen him +since the first day of our liberty. It will do you good, as it will +me, to look on his beneficent face!" + +She obeyed the impulse of her aunt's arm, and reached the window just +as he passed into the courtyard. Helen's soul seemed rushing from her +eyes. "Ah! it is indeed he!" thought she; "no dream, no illusion, but +his very self." + +He looked up; but not on her side of the building; it was to the window +of Lady Mar; and as he bowed, he smiled. All the charms of that smile +struck upon the soul of Helen; and, hastily retreating, she sunk +breathless into a seat. + +"O, no! that man cannot be born for the isolated state I have just +lamented. He is not to be forever cut off from communicating that +happiness to which he would give so much enchantment!" Lady Ruthven +ejaculated this with fervor, her matron cheeks flushing with a sudden +and more forcible admiration of the person and mien of Wallace. "There +was something in that smile, Helen, which tells me all is not chilled +within. And, indeed, how should it be otherwise? That generous +interest in the happiness of all, which seems to flow in a tide of +universal love, cannot spring from a source incapable of dispensing the +softer screams of it again." + +Helen, whose well-poised soul was not affected by the agitation of her +body (agitation she was determined to conquer), calmly answered: "Such +a hope little agrees with all you have been telling me of his +conversation with Edwin. Sir William Wallace will never love woman +more; and even to name the idea seems an offense against the sacredness +of his sorrow." + +"Blame me not, Helen," returned Lady Ruthven, "that I forgot +probability, in grasping at possibility which might give me such a +nephew as Sir William Wallace, and you a husband worthy of your merits! +I had always, in my own mind, fixed on the unknown knight for your +future lord; and now that I find that he and the deliverer of Scotland +are one, I am not to be looked grave at for wishing to reward him with +the most precious heart that ever beat in a female breast." + +"No more of this, if you love me, my dear aunt!" returned Helen; "it +neither can nor ought to be. I revere the memory of Lady Marion too +much not to be agitated by the subject; so, no more!"-she was agitated. +But at that instant Edwin throwing open the door, put an end to the +conversation. + +He came to apprise his mother that Sir William Wallace was in the state +apartments, come purposely to pay his respects to her, not having even +been introduced to her when the sudden illness of her niece in the +castle had made them part so abruptly. + +"I will not interrupt his introduction now," said Helen, with a faint +smile; "a few days' retirement will strengthen me, and then I shall see +our protector as I ought." + +"I will stay with you," cried Edwin, "and I dare say Sir William +Wallace will have no objection to be speedily joined by my mother; for, +as I came along, I met my aunt Mar hastening through the gallery; and, +between ourselves, my sweet coz, I do not think my noble friend quite +likes a private conference with your fair stepmother." + +Lady Ruthven had withdrawn before he made this observation. + +"Why, Edwin?-surely she would not do anything ungracious to one to whom +she owes so great a weight of obligations?" When Helen asked this, she +remembered the spleen Lady Mar once cherished against Wallace; and she +feared it might now be revived. + +"Ungracious! O, no! the reverse of that; but her gratitude is full of +absurdity. I will not repeat the fooleries with which she sought to +detain him at Bute. And that some new fancy respecting him is now +about to menace his patience. I am convinced; for, on my way hither, I +met her hurrying along, and as she passed me she exclaimed, 'Is Lord +Buchan arrived?' I answered. 'Yes.' 'Ah, then he proclaimed him +king?' cried she; and into the great gallery she darted." + +"You do not mean to say," demanded Helen, turning her eyes with an +expression which seemed confident of his answer, "that Sir William +Wallace has accepted the crown of Scotland?" + +"Certainly not," replied Edwin; "but as certainly it has been offered +to him, and he has refused it." + +"I could have sworn it!" returned Helen, rising from her chair; "all is +loyal, all is great and consistent there, Edwin!" + +"He is, indeed, the perfect exemplar of all nobleness," rejoined the +youth; "and I believe I shall even love you better, my dear cousin, +because you seem to have so clear an apprehension of his real +character." He then proceeded, with all the animation of the most +zealous affection, to narrate to Helen the particulars of the late +scene on the Carse of Stirling. And while he deepened still more the +profound impression the virtues of Wallace had made on her heart, he +reopened its more tender sympathies by repeating, with even minuter +accuracy than he had done to his mother, details of those hours which +he passed with him in retirement. He spoke of the beacon-hill; of +moonlight walks in the camp, when all but the sentinels and his general +and himself were sunk in sleep. + +These were the seasons when the suppressed feelings of Wallace would by +fits break from his lips, and at last pour themselves out, +unrestrainedly, to the ear of sympathy. As the young narrator +described all the endearing qualities of his friend, the cheerful +heroism with which he quelled every tender remembrance to do his duty +in the day-"for it is only in the night," said Edwin, "that my general +remembers Ellerslie"--Helen's tears again stole silently down her +cheeks. Edwin perceived them, and throwing his arms gently around her. +"Weep not, my sweet cousin," said he; "for, with all his sorrow, I +never saw true happiness till I beheld it in the eyes and heard it in +the voice of Sir William Wallace. He has talked to me of the joy he +should experience in giving liberty to Scotland, and establishing her +peace, till his enthusiastic soul, grasping hope, as if it were +possession, he has looked on me with a consciousness of enjoyment which +seemed to say that all bliss was summed up in a patriot's breast. + +"And at other times, when, after a conversation on his beloved Marion, +a few natural regrets would pass his lips, and my tears tell how deep +was my sympathy, then he would turn to comfort me; then he would show +me the world beyond this--that world which is the aim of all his deeds, +the end of all his travails--and, lost in the rapturous idea of meeting +his Marion there, a foretaste of all would seem to seize his soul: and +were I then called upon to point out the most enviable felicity on +earth, I should say it is that of Sir William Wallace. It is this +enthusiasm in all he believes and feels that makes him what he is. It +is this eternal spirit of hope, infused into him by Heaven itself, that +makes him rise from sorrow, like the sun from a cloud, brighter, and +with more ardent beams. It is this that bathes his lips in the smiles +of Paradise, that throws a divine luster over his eyes, and makes all +dream of love and happiness that look upon him." + +Edwin paused. "Is it not so, my cousin?" + +Helen raised her thoughtful face. "He is not a being of this earth, +Edwin. We must learn to imitate him, as well as to-" She hesitated, +then added, "As well as to revere him, I do before the altars of the +saints. But not to worship," said she, interrupting herself; "that +would be a crime. To look on him as a glorious example of patient +suffering--of invincible courage in the behalf of truth and mercy! This +is the end of my reverence for him, and this sentiment, my dear Edwin, +you partake." + +"It possesses me wholly," cried the energetic youth; "I have no +thought, no wish, nor ever move or speak, but with the intent to be +like him. He calls me his brother! and I will be so in soul, though I +cannot in blood; and then, my dear Helen, you shall have two Sir +William Wallaces to love!" + +"Sweetest, sweetest boy!" cried Helen, putting her quivering lips to +his forehead; "you will then always remember that Helen so dearly loves +Scotland as to be jealous, above all earthly things, for the lord +regent's safety. Be his guardian angel. Beware of treason in man and +woman, friend and kindred. It lurks, my cousin, under the most +specious forms; and, as one, mark Lord Buchan; in short, have a care of +all whom any of the house of Cummin may introduce. Watch over your +general's life in the private hour. It is not the public field I fear +for him; his valiant arm will there be his own guard! But, in the +unreserved day of confidence, envy will point its dagger; and then, be +as eyes to his too trusting soul--as a shield to his too confidently +exposed breast!" + +As she spoke she strove to conceal her too eloquent face in the silken +ringlets of her hair. + +"I will be all this," cried Edwin, who saw nothing in her tender +solicitude but the ingenuous affection which glowed in his own heart; +"and I will be your eyes, too, my cousin; for when I am absent with Sir +William Wallace I shall consider myself your representative, and so +will send you regular dispatches of all that happens to him." + +Thanks would have been a poor means of imparting what she felt at this +assurance; and, rising from her seat, with some of Wallace's own +resigned and enthusiastic expression in her face, she pressed Edwin's +hand to her heart; then bowing her head to him, in token of gratitude, +withdrew into an inner apartment. + + + + +Chapter XXXIX. + +Stirling Castle and Council Hall. + + +The countess' chivalric tribute from the window gave Wallace reason to +anticipate her company in his visit to Lady Ruthven; and on finding the +room vacant, he dispatched Edwin for his mother, that he might not be +distressed by the unchecked advances of a woman whom, as the wife of +Lord Mar, he was obliged to see, and whose weakness he pitied, as she +belonged to a sex for which, in consideration of the felicity once +bestowed on him by woman, he felt a peculiar tenderness. Respect the +countess he could not; nor, indeed, could he feel any gratitude for a +preference which seemed to him to have no foundations in the only true +basis of love--the virtues of the object. For, as she acted against +every moral law, against his declared sentiments, it was evident that +she placed little value on his esteem; and therefore he despised, while +he pitied, a human creature ungovernably yielding herself to the sway +of her passions. + +In the midst of thoughts so little to her advantage, Lady Mar entered +the room. Wallace turned to meet her; while she, hastening toward him, +and dropping on one knee, exclaimed, "Let me be the first woman in +Scotland to acknowledge its king!" + +Wallace put forth both his hands to raise her; and smiling, replied, +"Lady Mar, you would do me an honor I can never claim." + +"How?" cried she, starting up. "What, then, was that cry I heard? Did +they not call you 'prince,' and 'sovereign?' Did not my Lord Buchan-" + +Confused, disappointed, overpowered, she left the sentence unfinished, +sunk on a seat, and burst into tears. At that moment she saw her +anticipated crown fall from her head, and having united the gaining of +Wallace with his acquisition of this dignity, all her hopes seemed +again the sport of winds. She felt as if Wallace had eluded her power, +for it was by the ambition-serving acts of her kinsman that she had +meant to bind him to her love; and now all was rejected, and she wept +in despair. He gazed at her with amazement. What these emotions and +his elevation had to do with each other, he could not guess; but, +recollecting her manner of mentioning Lord Buchan's name, he answered, +"Lord Buchan I have just seen. He and Lord March came upon the carse +at the time I went thither to meet my gallant countrymen; and these two +noblemen, though so lately the friends of Edward, united with the rest +in proclaiming me regent." + +This word dried the tears of Lady Mar. She saw the shadow of royalty +behind it; and summoning artifice, to conceal the joy of her heart, she +calmly said, "Do not too severely condemn this weakness; it is not that +of vain wishes for your aggrandizement. You are the same to Joanna Mar +whether as a monarch or a private man, so long as you possess that +supremacy in all, excellence which first gained her esteem. It is for +Scotland's sake alone that I wish you to be her king. You have taught +me to forget all selfish desires--to respect myself," cried she; "and, +from this hour I conjure you to wipe from your memory all my folly--all +my love-" + +With the last word her bosom heaved tumultuously, and she rose in +agitation. Wallace now gazed on her with redoubled wonder. She saw +it; and hearing a foot in the passage, turned, and grasping his hand, +said in a soft and hurried tone, "Forgive, that which is entwined with +my heart should cost me some pangs to wrest thence again. Only respect +me and I am comforted." Wallace in silence pressed her hand, and the +door opened. + +Lady Ruthven entered. The countess, whose present aim was to throw the +virtue of Wallace off its guard, and to take that by sap, which she +found resisted open attack, with a penitential air disappeared by +another passage. Edwin's gentle mother was followed by the same youth +who had brought Helen's packet to Berwick. It was Walter Hay, anxious +to be recognized by his benefactor, to whom his recovered health had +rendered his person strange. Wallace received him with kindness, and +told him to bear his grateful respects to his lady for her care of her +charge. Lord Ruthven with others soon entered; and at the appointed +hour they attended their chief to the citadel. + +The council-hall was already filled with the lords who had brought +their clans to the Scottish standard. On the entrance of Wallace they +rose; and Mar coming forward, followed by the heralds and other +officers of ceremony, saluted him with the due forms of regent, and led +him to the throne. Wallace ascended; but it was only to take thence a +packet which had been deposited for him on its cushion, and coming down +again, he laid the parchment on the council-table. + +"I can do all things best," said he, "when I am upon a level with my +friends." He then broke the seal of the packet. It was from the +Prince of Wales, agreeing to Wallace's proposed exchange of prisoners, +but denouncing him as the instigator of the rebellion, and threatening +him with a future judgment from his incensed king for the mischief he +had wrought in the realm of Scotland. The letter was finished with a +demand that the town and citadel of Berwick should be surrendered to +England, as a gauge for the quiet of the borders till Edward should +return. + +Kirkpatrick scoffed at the audacious menace of the young prince. "He +should come amongst us, like a man," cried he; "and we would soon show +him who it is that works mischief in Scotland! Ay, even on his back, +we would write the chastisement due to the offender." + +"Be not angry with him, my friend," returned Wallace; "these threats +are words of course from the son of Edward. Did he not fear both our +rights and our arms, he would not so readily accord with our +propositions. You see every Scottish prisoner is to be on the borders +by a certain day; and to satisfy that impatient valor (which I, your +friend, would never check, but when it loses itself in a furor too +nearly resembling that of our enemies), I intend to make your prowess +once again the theme of their discourse. You will retake your castles +in Annandale!" + +"Give me but the means to recover those stout gates of our country," +cried Kirkpatrick, "and I will warrant you to keep the keys in my hand +till doomsday." + +Wallace resumed: "Three thousand men are at your command. When the +prisoners pass each other on the Cheviots, the armistice will +terminate. You may then fall back upon Annandale, and that night, +light your own fires in Torthorald! Send the expelled garrison into +Northumberland, and show this haughty prince that we know how to +replenish his depopulated towns!" + +"But first I will set my mark on them!" cried Kirkpatrick, with one of +those laughs which ever preluded some savage proposal. + +"I can guess it would be no gentle one," returned Wallace. "Why, brave +knight, will you ever sully the fair field of your fame with an +ensanguined tide?" + +"It is the fashion of the times," replied Kirkpatrick, roughly, "You +only, my victorious general, who, perhaps, had most cause to go with +the stream, have chosen a path of your own. But look around! see our +burns, which the Southrons made run with Scottish blood; our hillocks, +swollen with the cairns of our slain; the highways blocked up with the +graves of the murdered; our lands filled with maimed clansmen, who +purchased life of our ruthless tyrants, by the loss of eyes and limbs! +And, shall we talk of gentle methods, with the perpetrators of these +horrors? Sir William Wallace, you would make women of us!" + +"Shame, shame, Kirkpatrick!" resounded from every voice, "you insult +the regent!" + +Kirkpatrick stood, proudly frowning, with his left hand on the hilt of +his sword. Wallace, by a motion, hushed the tumult, and spoke: "No +true chief of Scotland can offer me greater respect, than frankly to +trust me with his sentiments." + +"Though we disagree in some points," cried Kirkpatrick, "I am ready to +die for him at any time, for I believe a trustier Scot treads not the +earth; but I repeat, why, by this mincing mercy, seek to turn our +soldiers into women?" + +"I seek to make them men," replied Wallace; "to be aware that they +fight with fellow-creatures, with whom they may one day be friends; and +not like the furious savages of old Scandinavia, drink the blood of +eternal enmity. I would neither have my chieftains set examples of +cruelty, nor degrade themselves by imitating the barbarities of our +enemies. That Scotland bleeds every pore is true; but let peace be our +aim, and we shall heal all her wounds." + +"Then I am not to cut off the ears of the freebooters in Annandale?" +cried Kirkpatrick, with a good-humored smile. "Have it as you will, my +general, only you must new christen me to wash the war-stain from my +hand. The rite of my infancy was performed as became a soldier's son; +my fount was my father's helmet and the first pap I sucked lay on the +point of his sword." + +"You have not shamed your nurse!" cried Murray. + +"Nor will I," answered Kirkpatrick, "while the arm that slew +Cressingham remains unwithered." + +While he spoke, Ker entered to ask permission to introduce a messenger +from Earl de Warenne. Wallace gave consent. It was Sir Hugh le de +Spencer, a near kinsman of the Earl of Hereford, the tumultory +constable of England. He was the envoy who had brought the Prince of +Wales' dispatches to Stirling. Wallace was standing when he entered, +and so were the chieftains, but at his appearance they sat down. +Wallace retained his position. + +"I come," cried the Southron knight, "from the lord warden of Scotland, +who, like my prince, too greatly condescends to do otherwise than +command, where now he treats; I come to the leader of this rebellion, +William Wallace, to receive an answer to the terms granted by the +clemency of my master, the son of his liege lord, to this misled +kingdom." + +"Sir Knight," replied Sir William Wallace, "when the Southron lords +delegate a messenger to me, who knows how to respect the representative +of the nation to which he is sent, and the agents of his own country, I +shall give them my reply. You may withdraw." + +The Southron stood, resolute to remain where he was; "Do you know, +proud Scot," cried he, "to whom you dare address this imperious +language? I am the nephew of the lord high constable of England." + +"It is a pity," cried Murray, looking coolly up from the table, "that +he is not here to take his kinsman into custody." + +Le de Spencer fiercely half drew his sword; "Sir, this insult-" + +"Must be put up with," cried Wallace, interrupting him, and motioning +Edwin to lay his hand on the sword; "you have insulted the nation to +which you were sent on a peaceful errand; and having thus invited the +resentment of every chief here present, you cannot justly complain +against their indignation. But in consideration of your youth, and +probable ignorance of what becomes the character of an embassador, I +grant you the protection your behavior has forfeited. Sir Alexander +Scrymgeour," said he, turning to him, "you will guard Sir Hugh le de +Spencer to the Earl de Warenne, and tell that nobleman I am ready to +answer any proper messenger." + +The young Southron, frowning, followed Scrymgeour from the hall, and +Wallace, turning to Murray, "My friend," said he, "it is not well to +stimulate insolence by repartee. This young man's speech, though an +insult to the nation, was directed to me, and by me only it ought to +have been answered, and that seriously. The haughty spirit of this man +should have been quelled, not incensed; and, had you proceeded one word +further, you would have given him an apparently just cause of complaint +against you, and of that, my friend, I am most sensibly jealous. It is +not policy nor virtue to be rigorous to the extent of justice." + +"I know," returned Murray, blushing, "that my wits are too many for me; +ever throwing me, like Phaeton's horses, into the midst of some fiery +mischief. But pardon me now, and I promise to rein them close, when +next I see this prancing knight." + +"Bravo, my Lord Andrew!" cried Kirkpatrick, in an affected whisper, "I +am not always to be bird alone, under the whip of our regent; you have +had a few stripes, and now look a little of my feather!" + +"Like as a swan to a vulture, good Roger," answered Murray. + +Wallace attended not to this tilting of humor between the chieftains, +but engaged himself in close discourse with the elder nobles at the +higher end of the hall. In half an hour Scrymgeour returned, and with +him Baron Hilton. He brought an apology from De Warenne, for the +behavior of his embassador; and added his persuasions to the demands of +England, that the regent would surrender Berwick, not only as a pledge +for the Scots keeping the truce on the borders, but as a proof of his +confidence in Prince Edward. + +Wallace answered, that he had no reason to show extraordinary +confidence in one who manifested, by such a requisition, that he had no +faith in Scotland; and therefore, neither as a proof of confidence, nor +as a gauge of her word, should Scotland, a victorious power, surrender +the eastern door of her kingdom in the vanquished. Wallace declared +himself ready to dismiss the English prisoners to the frontiers, and to +maintain the armistice till they had reached the south side of the +Cheviots. "But," added he, "my word must be my bond, for by the honor +of Scotland I will give no other." + +"Then," answered Baron Hilton, with an honest flush passing over his +cheek, as if ashamed of what he had next to say, "I am constrained to +lay before you the last instructions of the Prince of Wales to Earl de +Warenne." + +He took a royally sealed roll of vellum from his breast, and read aloud: + + +"Thus saith Edward, Prince of Wales, to Earl de Warenne, Lord Warden of +Scotland. If that arch-rebel, William Wallace, who now assumeth to +himself the rule of all our royal father's hereditary dominions north +of the Cheviots, refuseth to give unto us the whole possession of the +town and citadel of Berwick-upon-Tweed, as a pledge of his faith, to +keep the armistice on the borders from sea to sea: we command you to +tell him, that we shall detain under the ward of our good lieutenant of +the Tower in London, the person of William the Lord Douglas, as a close +captive, until our prisoners, now in Scotland, arrive safely at +Newcastle-upon-Tyne. This mark of supremacy over a rebellious people +we owe as a pledge of their homage to our royal father; and as a +tribute of our gratitude to him for having allowed us to treat at all +with so undutiful a part of his dominions. + +"(Signed) + +Edward, P.W." + +"Baron," cried Wallace, "it would be beneath the dignity of Scotland, +to retaliate this act with the like conduct. The exchange of prisoners +shall yet be made, and the armistice held sacred on the borders. But, +as I hold the door of war open in the interior of the country, before +the Earl de Warenne leaves this citadel (and it shall be on the day +assigned), please the Almighty Lord of Justice, the Southron usurpers +of all our castles on the eastern shore shall be our hostages for the +safety of Lord Douglas." + +"And this is my answer, noble Wallace?" + +"It is; and you see no more of me till that which I have said is done." + +Baron Hilton withdrew. And Wallace, turning to his peers, rapidly made +dispositions for a sweeping march from frith to frith; and having sent +those who were to accompany him to prepare for departure next day at +dawn, he retired with the Lords Mar and Bothwell to arrange affairs +relative to the prisoners. + + + + +Chapter XL. + +The Governor's Apartments. + + +The sun rose on Wallace and his brave legions as they traversed the +once romantic glades of Strathmore; but now the scene was changed. The +villages were abandoned, and the land lay around in uncultivated +wastes. Sheep, without a shepherd, fled wild from the approach of man; +and wolves issued, howling, from the cloisters of depopulated +monasteries. The army approached Dumblane; but it was without +inhabitant; grass grew in the streets; and the birds which roosted in +the desert dwellings flew scared from the windows as the trumpet of +Wallace sounded through the town. Loud echoes repeated the summons +from its hollow walls; but no other voice was heard, no human face +appeared; for the ravening hand of Cressingham had been there! Wallace +sighed as he looked around him. "Rather smile," cried Graham, "that +Heaven hath given you the power to say to the tyrants who have done +this, 'Here shall your proud waves be stayed!'" + +They proceeded over many a hill and plain, and found that the same +withering touch of desolation had burned up and overwhelmed the +country. Wallace saw that his troops were faint for want of food; +cheering them, he promised that Ormsby should provide them a feast in +Perth; and, with reawakened spirits, they took the River Tay at its +fords, and were soon before the walls of that well-armed city. But it +was governed by a coward, and Ormsby fled to Dundee at the first sight +of the Scottish army. His flight might have warranted the garrison to +surrender without a blow, but a braver man being his lieutenant, sharp +was the conflict before Wallace could compel that officer to abandon +the ramparts and to sue for the very terms he had at first rejected. + +After the fall of Perth, the young regent made a rapid progress through +that part of the country; driving the southron garrisons out of Scone, +and all the embattled towns; expelling them from the castles of +Kincain, Elcho, Kinfauns, and Doune; and then proceeding to the marine +fortresses (those avenues by which the ships of England had poured its +legions on the eastern coast), he compelled Dundee, Cupar, Glamis, +Montrose, and Aberdeen, all to acknowledge the power of his arms. He +seized most of the English ships in those ports, and manning them with +Scots, soon cleared the seas of the vessels which had escaped, taking +some, and putting others to flight; and one of the latter was the +fugitive Ormsby. + +This enterprise achieved, Wallace, with a host of prisoners, turned his +steps toward the Forth; but ere he left the banks of the Tay and Dee, +he detached three thousand men under the command of Lord Ruthven, +giving him a commission to range the country from the Carse of Gowrie +to remotest Sutherland, and in all that tract reduce every town and +castle which had admitted a Southron garrison. Wallace took leave of +Lord Ruthven at Huntingtower, and that worthy nobleman, when he +assumed, with the government of Perth, this extensive command, said, as +he grasped the regent's hand, "I say not, bravest of Scots, what is my +gratitude for thus making me an arm of my country, but deeds will show!" + +He then bade a father's adieu to his son, counseling him to regard +Wallace as the light in his path; and, embracing him, they parted. + +A rapid march, round by Fifeshire (through which victory followed their +steps), brought the conqueror and his troops again within sight of the +towers of Stirling. It was on the eve of the day on which he had +promised Earl de Warenne should see the English prisoners depart for +the borders. No doubt of his arriving at the appointed time was +entertained by the Scots or by the Southrons in the castle; the one +knew the sacredness of his word, and the other having felt his prowess, +would not so far disparage their own as to suppose that any could +withstand him by whom they were beaten. + +De Warenne, as he stood on the battlements of the keep, beheld from +afar the long line of Scottish soldiers as they descended the Ochil +Hills. When he pointed it out to De Valence, that nobleman (who, in +proportion as he wished to check the arms of Wallace, had flattered +himself that it might happen), against the evidence of his eyesight, +contradicted the observation of the veteran earl. + +"Your sight deceives you," said he, "it is only the sunbeams playing on +the cliffs." + +"Then those cliffs are moving ones," cried De Warenne, "which, I fear, +have ground our countrymen on the coast to powder! We shall find +Wallace here by sunset, to show us how he has resented the affront our +ill-advised prince cast on his jealous honor." + +"His honor," returned De Valence, "is like that of his countrymen's--an +enemy alike to his own interest and to that of others. Had it allowed +him to accept the crown of Scotland, and so have fought Edward with the +concentrating arm of a king; or would he even now offer peace to our +sovereign, granting his prerogative as liege lord of the country, all +might go well; but as the honor you speak of prevents his using these +means of ending the contest, destruction must close his career." + +"And what quarrel," demanded De Warenne, "can you, my Lord de Valence, +have against this nice honor of Sir William Wallace, since you allow it +secures the final success of our cause?" + +"His honor and himself are hateful to me!" impatiently answered De +Valence; "he crosses me in my wishes, public and private; and for the +sake of my king and myself, I might almost be tempted-" He turned pale +as he spoke, and met the penetrating glance of De Warenne. He paused. + +"Tempted to what?" asked De Warenne. + +"To a Brutus mode of ridding the state of an enemy." + +"That might be noble in a Roman citizen," returned De Warenne, "which +would be villainous in an English lord, treated as you have been by a +generous victor, not the usurper of any country's liberties, but rather +a Brutus in defense of his own. Which man of us all, from the general +to the meanest follower in our camps, has he injured?" + +Lord Aymer frowned. "Did he not expose me, threaten me with an +ignominious death, on the walls of Stirling?" + +"But was it before he saw the Earl of Mar, with his hapless family, +brought, with halters on their necks, to be suspended from this very +tower? Ah! what a tale has the lovely countess told me of that direful +scene! What he then did was to check the sanguinary Cressingham from +imbruiting his hands in the blood of female and infant innocence." + +"I care not," cried De Valence, "what are or are not the offenses of +this domineering Wallace, but I hate him; and my respect for his +advocates cannot but correspond with that feeling." As he spoke, that +he might not be further molested by the arguments of De Warenne, he +abruptly turned away, and left the battlements. + +Pride would not allow the enraged earl to confess his private reasons +for this vehement enmity against the Scottish chief. A conference +which he had held the preceding evening with Lord Mar, was the cause of +this augmented hatred; and, from that moment, the haughty Southron +vowed the destruction of Wallace, by open attack, or secret treachery. +Ambition, and the base counterfeit of love, those two master passions +in untempered minds, were the springs of this antipathy. The instant +in which he knew that the young creature whom at a distance he +discerned clinging around the Earl of Mar's neck in the streets of +Stirling, was the same Lady Helen on whose account Lord Soulis had +poured on him such undeserved invectives in Bothwell Castle; curious to +have a nearer view of one whose transcendent beauty he had often heard +celebrated by others, he ordered her to be immediately conveyed to his +apartments in the citadel. + +On their first interview he was more struck by her personal charms than +he had ever been with any woman's, although few were so noted for +gallantry in the English court as himself. He could hardly understand +the nature of his feelings while discoursing with her. To all others +of her sex he had declared his enamored wishes with as much ease as +vivacity, but when he looked on Helen the admiration her loveliness +inspired was checked by an indescribable awe. No word of passion +escaped his lips; he sought to win her by a deportment consonant with +her own dignity of manner, and obeyed all her wishes, excepting when +they pointed to any communication with her parents. He feared the wary +eyes of the Earl of Mar. But nothing of this reverence of Helen was +grounded on any principle within the heart of De Valence. His idea of +virtue was so erroneous that he believed, by the short assumption of +its semblance, he might so steal on the confidence of his victim as to +induce her to forget all the world--nay, heaven itself--in his sophistry +and blandishments. To facilitate this end he at first designed to +precipitate the condemnation of the earl, that he might be rid of a +father's existence, holding, in dread of his censure, the perhaps +otherwise yielding heart of his lovely intended mistress. + +The unprincipled and impure can have no idea what virtue or delicacy +are other than vestments of disguise or of ornament, to be thrown off +at will; and therefore, to reason with such minds is to talk to the +winds--to tell a man who is born blind to decide between two colors. In +short, a libertine heart is the same in all ages of the world. De +Valence, therefore, seeing the anguish of her fears for her father, and +hearing the fervor with which she implored for his life, adopted the +plan of granting the earl reprieves from day to day; and in spite of +the remonstrances of Cressingham, he intended (after having worked upon +the terrors of Helen), to grant to her her father's release, on +condition of her yielding herself to be his. He had even meditated +that the accomplishment of this device should have taken place the very +night in which Wallace's first appearance before Stirling had called +its garrison to arms. + +Impelled by vengeance against the man who had driven him from Dumbarton +and from Ayr, and irritated at being delayed in the moment when his +passion was to seize its object, De Valence thought to end all by a +coup de main--and rushing out of the gates, was taken prisoner. Such +was the situation of things, when Wallace first became master of the +place. + +Now when the whole of the English army were in the same captivity with +himself, when he saw the lately proscribed Lord Mar, Governor of +Stirling, and that the Scottish cause seemed triumphant on every side, +De Valence changed his former illicit views on Helen, and bethought him +of making her his wife. Ambition, as well as love, impelled him to +this resolution; and he foresaw that the vast influence which his +marriage with the daughter of Mar must give him in the country, would +be a decisive argument with the King of England. + +To this purpose, not doubting the Scottish's earl acceptance of such a +son-in-law, on the very day that Wallace marched toward the coast, De +Valence sent to request an hour's private audience of Lord Mar. He +could not then grant it; but at noon, next day, they met in the +governor's apartments. + +The Southron, without much preface, opened his wishes, and proffered +his hand for the Lady Helen. "I'll make her the proudest lady in Great +Britain," continued he; "for she shall have a court in my Welsh +province, little inferior to that of Edward's queen." + +"Pomp would have no sway with my daughter," replied the earl; "it is +the princely mind she values, not its pagentry. Whomsoever she prefers +the tribute will be paid to the merit of the object, not to his rank; +and therefore, earl, should it be you, the greater will be your pledge +of happiness. I shall repeat to her what you have said; and to-morrow +deliver her answer." + +Not deeming it possible that it should be otherwise than favorable, De +Valence allowed his imagination to roam over every anticipated delight. +He exulted in the pride with which he would show this perfection of +northern beauty to the fair of England; how would the simple graces of +her seraphic form, which looked more like a being of air than of earth, +put to shame the labored beauties of the court? And then it was not +only the artless charms of a wood-nymph he would present to the +wondering throng, but a being whose majesty of soul proclaimed her high +descent and peerless virtues. How did he congratulate himself, in +contemplating this unsullied temple of virgin innocence, that he had +never, by even the vapor of one impassioned sigh, contaminated her pure +ear, or broken the magic spell, which seemed fated to crown him with +happiness unknown, with honor unexampled! To be so blessed, so +distinguished, so envied, was to him a dream of triumph, that wafted +away all remembrance of his late defeat; and he believed, in taking +Helen from Scotland, he should bear away a richer prize than any he +could leave behind. + +Full of these anticipations, he attended the Governor of Stirling the +next day, to hear his daughter's answer. But unwilling to give the +earl that advantage over him which a knowledge of his views in the +matter might occasion, he affected a composure he did not feel; and +with a lofty air entered the room as if he were come rather to confer +than to beg a favor. This deportment did not lessen the satisfaction +with which the brave Scot opened his mission. + +"My lord, I have just seen my daughter. She duly appreciates the honor +you would confer on her; she is grateful for all your courtesies whilst +she was your prisoner, but beyond that sentiment, her heart, attached +to her native land, cannot sympathize with your wishes." + +De Valence started. He did not expect anything in the shape of a +denial; but supposing that perhaps a little of his own art was tried by +the father to enhance the value of his daughter's yielding, he threw +himself into a chair, and affecting chagrin at a disappointment (which +he did not believe was seriously intended), exclaimed with vehemence, +"Surely, Lord Mar, this is not meant as a refusal? I cannot receive it +as such, for I know Lady Helen's gentleness, I know the sweet +tenderness of her nature would plead for me, were she to see me at her +feet, and hear me pour forth the most ardent passion that ever burned +in a human breast. Oh, my gracious lord, if it be her attachment to +Scotland which alone militates against me, I will promise that her time +shall be passed between the two countries. Her marriage with me may +facilitate that peace with England which must be the wish of us all; +and perhaps the lord wardenship which De Warenne now holds may be +transferred to me. I have reasons for expecting that it will be so; +and then she, as a queen in Scotland, and you as her father, may claim +every distinction from her fond husband, every indulgence for the +Scots, which your patriot heart can dictate. This would be a certain +benefit to Scotland; while the ignis fatuus you are now following, +however brilliant may be its career during Edward's absence, must on +his return be extinguished in disaster and infamy." + +The silence of the Earl of Mar, who, willing to hear all that was in +the mind of De Valence, had let him proceed uninterrupted, encouraged +the Southron lord to say more than he had at first intended to reveal; +but when he made a pause, and seemed to expect an answer, the earl +spoke: + +"I am fully sensible of the honor you would bestow upon my daughter and +myself by your alliance; but, as I have said before, her heart is too +devoted to Scotland to marry any man whose birth does not make it his +duty to prefer the liberty of her native land, even before his love for +her. That hope to see our country freed from a yoke unjustly laid upon +her--that hope which you, not considering our rights, or weighing the +power that lies in a just cause, denominate an ignis fatuus, is the +only passion I believe that lives in the gentle bosom of my Helen; and +therefore, noble earl, not even your offers can equal the measure of +her wishes." + +At this speech De Valence bit his lip with real disappointment; and +starting from his chair now in unaffected disorder, "I am not to be +deceived, Lord Mar," cried he; "I am not to be cajoled by the pretended +patriotism of your daughter; I know the sex too well to be cheated with +these excuses. The ignis fatuus that leads your daughter from my arms, +is not the freedom of Scotland, but the handsome rebel who conquers in +its name! He is now fortune's minion, but he will fall, Lord Mar, and +then what will be the fate of his mad adherents?" + +"Earl de Valence," replied the veteran, "sixty winters have checked the +tides of passion in my veins; but the indignation of my soul against +any insult offered to my daughter's delicacy, or to the name of the +lord regent of Scotland is not less powerful in my breast. You are my +prisoner, and I pardon what I could so easily avenge. I will even +answer you, and say that I do not know of any exclusive affection +subsisting between my daughter and Sir William Wallace; but this I am +assured of, that were it the case, she would be more ennobled in being +the wife of so true a patriot and so virtuous a man, than were she +advanced to the bosom of an emperor. And for myself, were he to-morrow +hurled by a mysterious Providence from his present nobly-won elevation, +I should glory in my son were he such, and would think him as great on +a scaffold as on a throne." + +"It is well that is your opinion," replied De Valence, stopping in his +wrathful strides, and turning on Mar with vengeful irony; "cherish +these heroics, for you will assuredly see him so exalted. Then where +will be his triumphs over Edward's arms and Pembroke's heart? Where +your daughter's patriot husband; you glorious son? Start not, old man, +for by all the powers of hell I swear that some eyes which now look +proudly on the Southron host, shall close in blood! I announce a fact!" + +"If you do," replied Mar, shuddering at the demoniac fire that +lightened from the countenance of De Valence, "it must be by the agency +of devils; and their minister, vindictive earl, will meet the vengeance +of the Eternal arm." + +"These dreams," cried De Valence, "cannot terrify me. You are neither +a seer, nor I a fool, to be taken by such prophecies. But were you +wise enough to embrace the advantage I offer, you might be a prophet of +good, greater than he of Ercildown, to your nation; for all that you +could promise, I would take care should be fulfilled. But you cast +from you your peace and safety; my vengeance shall therefore take its +course. I rely not on oracles of heaven or hell; but I have pronounced +the doom of my enemies; and though you now see me a prisoner, tremble, +haughty Scot, at the resentment which lies in this head and heart. +This arm perhaps needs not the armies of Edward to pierce you in your +boast!" + +He left the room as he spoke; and Lord Mar, shaking his venerable head +as he disappeared, said to himself: "Impotent rage of passion and of +youth, I pity and forgive you." + +It was not, therefore, so extraordinary that De Valence, when he saw +Wallace descending the Ochil hills with the flying banners of new +victories, should break into curses of his fortune, and swear inwardly +the most determined revenge. + +Fuel was added to this fire at sunset, when the almost measureless +defiles of prisoners, marshaled before the ramparts of Stirling, and +taking the usual oath to Wallace, met his view. + +"To-morrow we quit these dishonoring wall," cried he to himself: "but +ere I leave them, if there be power in gold, or strength in my arm, he +shall die!" + + + + +Chapter XLI. + +The State Prison. + + +The regent's re-entrance into the citadel of Stirling, being on the +evening preceding the day he had promised should see the English lords +depart for their country, De Warenne, as a mark of respect to a man +whom he could not but regard with admiration, went to the barbican-gate +to bid him welcome. + +Wallace appeared; and as the cavalcade of noble Southrons who had +lately commanded beyond the Tay, followed him, Murray glanced his eye +around, and said with a smile to De Warenne, "You see, sir earl, how we +Scots keep our word!" and then he added, "you leave Stirling to-morrow, +but these remain till Lord Douglas opens their prison-doors." + +"I cannot but acquiesce in the justice of your commander's +determination," returned De Warenne, "and to comfort these gentlemen +under their captivity, I can only tell them that if anything can +reconcile them to the loss of liberty, it is being the prisoners of Sir +William Wallace." + +After having transferred his captives to the charge of Lord Mar, +Wallace went alone to the chamber of Montgomery, to see whether the +state of his wounds would allow him to march on the morrow. While he +was yet there, an invitation arrived from the Countess of Mar, +requesting his presence at an entertainment which, by her husband's +consent, she meant to give that night at Snawdoun, to the Southron +lords before their departure for England. + +"I fear you dare not expend your strength on this party?" inquired +Wallace, turning to Montgomery. + +"Certainly not," returned he; "but I shall see you amidst your noble +friends, at some future period. When the peace your arms must win, is +established between the two nations, I shall then revisit Scotland; and +openly declare my friendship for Sir William Wallace." + +"As these are your sentiments," replied Wallace, "I shall hope that you +will unite your influence with that of the brave Earl of Gloucester, to +persuade your king to stop this bloodshed; for it is no vain boast to +declare, that he may bury Scotland beneath her slaughtered sons, but +they never will again consent to acknowledge any right in an usurper." + +"Sanguinary have been the instruments of my sovereign's rule in +Scotland," replied Montgomery; "but such cruelty is foreign to his +gallant heart; and without offending that high-souled patriotism, which +would make me revere its possessor, were he the lowliest man in your +legions, allow me, noblest of Scots, to plead one word in vindication +of him to whom my allegiance is pledged. Had he come hither, conducted +by war alone, what would Edward have been worse than any other +conqueror? But on the reverse, was not his right to the supremacy of +Scotland acknowledged by the princes who contended for the crown? And +besides, did not all the great lords swear fealty to England, on the +day he nominated their king?" + +"Had you not been under these impressions, brave Montgomery, I believe +I never should have seen you in arms against Scotland; but I will +remove them by a simple answer. All the princes whom you speak of, +excepting Bruce of Annandale, did assent to the newly offered claim of +Edward on Scotland; but who, amongst them, had any probable chance for +the throne, but Bruce or Baliol? Such ready acquiescence was meant to +create them one. Bruce, conscious of his inherent rights, rejected the +iniquitous demand of Edward; Baliol accorded with it, and was made +king. All our chiefs who were base enough to worship the rising sun, +and, I may say, condemn the God of truth, swore to the falsehood. +Others remained gloomily silent; and the bravest of them retired to the +Highlands, where they dwell amongst their mountains, till the cries of +Scotland called them again to fight her battles. + +"Thus did Edward establish himself as the liege lord of this kingdom; +and whether the oppresion which followed were his or his agents' +immediate acts, it matters not, for he made them his own by his +after-conduct. When remonstrances were sent to London, he neither +punished nor reprimanded the delinquents, but marched an armed force +into our country, to compel us to be trampled on. It was not an +Alexander nor a Charlemagne, coming in his strength to subdue ancient +enemies, or to aggrandize his name, by vanquishing nations far remote, +with whom he could have no affinity! Terrible as such ambition was, it +is innocence to what Edward has done. He came, in the first instance, +to Scotland as a friend; the nation committed its dearest interests to +his virtue; they put their hands into his and he bound them in +shackles. Was this honor? Was this the right of conquest? The cheek +of Alexander would have blushed deep as his Tyrian robe; and the face +of Charlemagne turned pale as the lilies, at the bare suspicion of +being capable of such a deed. + +"No, Lord Montgomery, it is not our conqueror we are opposing; it is a +traitor, who, under the mask of friendship, has attempted to usurp our +rights, destroy our liberties, and make a desert of our once happy +country. This is the true statement of the case, and though I wish not +to make a subject outrage his sovereign, yet truth demands of you to +say to Edward, that to withdraw his pretensions from this exhausted +country, is the restitution we may justly claim--is all that we wish. +Let him leave us in peace, and we shall no longer make war upon him. +But if he persist (which the ambassadors from the Prince of Wales +announce), even as Samson drew the temple upon himself, to destroy his +enemies, Scotland will discharge itself upon the valleys of England; +and there compel them to share the fate in which we may be doomed to +perish." + +"I will think of this discourse," returned Montgomery, "when I am far +distant; and rely on it, noble Wallace that I will assert the privilege +of my birth, and counsel my king as becomes an honest man." + +"Highly would he estimate such counsel," cried Wallace, "had he virtue +to feel that he who will be just to his sovereign's enemies must be of +an honor that will bind him with double fidelity to his king. Such +proof give your sovereign; and, if he have one spark of that greatness +of mind which you say he possesses, though he may not adopt your +advice, he must respect the adviser." + +As Wallace pressed the hand of his new friend, to leave him to repose, +a messenger entered from Lord Mar, to request the regent's presence in +his closet. He found him with Lord de Warenne. The latter presented +him with another dispatch from the Prince of Wales. It was to say, +that news had reached him of Wallace's design to attack the castles +garrisoned by England, on the eastern coast. Should this information +prove true, he (the prince) declared that, as a punishment for such +increasing audacity, he would put Lord Douglas into closer confinement; +and while the Southron fleets would inevitably baffle Wallace's +attempts, the moment the exchange of prisoners was completed on the +borders, an army from England should enter Scotland, and ravage it with +fire and sword. + +When Wallace had heard this dispatch, he smile and said, "The deed is +done, my Lord de Warenne. Both the castles and the fleets are taken; +and what punishment must we now expect from this terrible threatener?" + +"Little from him, or his headlong counselors," replied De Warenne; "but +Thomas Earl of Lancaster, the king's nephew, is come from abroad with a +numerous army. He is to conduct the Scottish prisoners to the borders, +and then to fall upon Scotland with all his strength, unless you +previously surrender, not only Berwick, but Stirling, and the whole of +the district between the Forth and the Tweed, into his hands." + +"My Lord de Warenne," replied Wallace, "you can expect but one return +to these absurd demands. I shall accompany you myself to the Scottish +borders, and there made my reply." + +De Warenne, who did indeed look for this answer, replied, "I +anticipated that such would be your determination, and I have to regret +that the wild counsels which surround my prince, precipitate him into +conduct which must draw much blood on both sides, before his royal +father's presence can regain what he has lost." + +"Ah, my lord," replied Wallace, "is it to be nothing but war? Have you +now a stronghold of any force in all the Highlands? Is not the greater +part of the Lowlands free? And before this day month, not a rood of +land in Scotland is likely to hold a Southron soldier. We conquer, but +it is for our own. Why then this unreceding determination to invade +us? Not a blade of grass would I disturb on the other side of the +Cheviot, if we might have peace. Let Edward yield to that, and though +he has pierced us with many wounds, we will yet forgive him." + +De Warenne shook his head; "I know my king too well to expect pacific +measures. He may die with the sword in his hand; but he will never +grant an hour's repose to this country till it submits to his scepter." + +"Then," replied Wallace, "the sword must be the portion of him and his! +Ruthless tyrant! If the blood of Abel called for vengeance on his +murderer, what must be the vials of wrath which are reserved for thee?" + +A flush overspread the face of De Warenne at this apostrophe; and +forcing a smile, "The strict notion of right," said he, "is very well +in declamation, but how would it crop the wings of conquerors, and +shorten the warrior's arm, did they measure by this rule!" + +"How would it, indeed!" replied Wallace; "and that they should is most +devoutly to be wished. All warfare that is not defensive is criminal; +and he who draws his sword to oppress, or merely to aggrandize, is a +murderer and a robber. This is the plain truth, Lord de Warenne." + +"I have never considered it in that light," returned the earl, "nor +shall I turn philosopher now. I revere your principle, Sir William +Wallace; but it is too sublime to be mine. Nay, nor would it be +politic for one who holds his possessions in England by the right of +conquest to question the virtue of the deed. By the sword my ancestors +gained their estates; and with the sword I have no objection to extend +my territories." + +Wallace now saw that De Warenne, though a man of honor, was not one of +virtue. Though his amiable nature made him gracious in the midst of +hostility, and his good dispositions would not allow him to act +disgracefull in any concern, yet duty to God seemed a poet's flight to +him. Educated in the forms of religion, without knowing its spirit, he +despised them; and believing the Deity too wise to be affected by mere +virtuous shows of any kind, his ignorance of the sublime benevolence, +which disdains not to provide food even for the "sparrow ere it falls," +made him think the Creator of all too great to care about the actions +of men; hence, being without the true principles of good-virtue, as +virtue, was nonsense to Earl de Warenne. + +Wallace did not answer his remark, and the conference soon closed. + + + + +Chapter XLII. + +Chapel in Snawdoun. + + +Though burning with stifled passions, Earl de Valence accepted the +invitation of Lady Mar. He hoped to see Helen, to gain her ear for a +few minutes; and, above all, to find some opportunity during the +entertainment of taking his meditated revenge on Wallace. The dagger +seemed the surest way; for could he render the blow effectual, he +should not only destroy the rival of his wishes, but, by ridding his +monarch of a powerful foe, deserve every honor at the royal hands. +Love and ambition again swelled his breast; and with recovered spirits, +and a glow on his countenance, which reawakened hope had planted there, +he accompanied De Warenne to the palace. + +The hall for the feast was arrayed with feudal grandeur. The seats at +the table, spread for the knights of both countries, were covered with +highly-wrought stuffs; while the emblazoned banners and other armorial +trophies of the nobles being hung aloft according to the degree of the +owner, each knight saw his precedence, and where to take his place. +The most costly means, with the royally attired peacock served up in +silver and gold dishes, and wine of the rarest quality, sparkled on the +board. During the repast, two choice minstrels were seated in the +gallery above, to sing the friendship of King Alfred of England with +Gregory the Great of Caledonia. The squires and other military +attendants of the nobles present, were placed at tables in the lower +part of the hall, and served with courteous hospitality. + +Resentful, alike at his captivity and thwarted passion, De Valence had +hitherto refused to show himself beyond the ramparts of the citadel; he +was therefore surprised, on entering the hall of Snawdoun with De +Warenne, to see such regal pomp; and at the command of the woman who +had so lately been his prisoner at Dumbarton, and whom (because she +resembled an English lady who had rejected him) he had treated with the +most rigorous contempt. Forgetting these indignities, in the pride of +displaying her present consequence, Lady Mar came forward to receive +her illustrious guests. Her dress corresponded with the magnificence +of the banquet, a robe of cloth of Baudkins enriched, while it +displayed, the beauties of her person; her wimple blazed with jewels, +and a superb carkanet emitted its various rays from her bosom.** + +**Cloth of Baudkins was one of the richest stuffs worn in the +thirteenth century. It is said to have been composed of silk +interwoven with gold. The carkanet was a large broad necklace of +precious stones of all colors, set in various shapes, and fastened by +gold links into each other. + +De Warenne followed her with his eyes as she moved from him. With an +unconscious sigh, he whispered to De Valence, "What a land is this, +where all the women are fair, and the men all brave!" + +"I wish that it, and all its men and women, were in perdition!" +returned De valence, in a fierce tone. Lady Ruthven, entering with the +wives and daughters of the neighboring chieftains, checked the further +expression of his wrath, and his eyes sought amongst them, but in vain, +for Helen. + +The chieftains of the Scottish army, with the Lords Buchan and March, +were assembled around the countess at the moment a shout from the +populace without announced the arrival of the regent. His noble figure +was now disencumbered of armor; and with no more sumptuous garb than +the simple plaid of his country, he appeared effulgent in manly beauty +and the glory of his recent deeds. De Valence frowned heavily as he +looked on him, and thanked his fortunate stars that Helen was absent +from sharing the admiration which seemed to animate every breast. The +eyes of Lady Mar at once told the impassioned De Valence, too well read +in the like expressions, what were her sentiments toward the young +regent; and the blushes and eager civilities of the ladies around +displayed how much they were struck with the now fully discerned and +unequaled graces of his person. Lady mar forgot all in him. And, +indeed, so much did he seem the idol of every heart, that, from the two +venerable lords of Loch-awe and Bothwell to the youngest man in +company, all ears hung on his words, all eyes upon his countenance. + +The entertainment was conducted with every regard to that chivalric +courtesy which a noble conqueror always pays to the vanquished. +Indeed, from the wit and pleasantry which passed from the opposite +sides of the tables, and in which the ever-gay Murray was the leader, +it rather appeared a convivial meeting of friends than an assemblage of +mortal foes. During the banquet the bards sung legends of the Scottish +worthies who had brought honor to their nation in days of old; and as +the board was cleared, they struck at once into a full chorus. Wallace +caught the sound of his own name, accompanied with epithets of +extravagant praise; he rose hastily from his chair, and with his hand +motioned them to cease. They obeyed; but Lady mar remonstrating with +him, he smilingly said, it was an ill omen to sing a warrior's actions +till he were incapable of performing more; and therefore he begged she +would excuse him from hearkening to his. + +"Then let us change their strains to a dance," replied the countess. + +"A hall! a hall!" cried Murray, springing from his seat, delighted with +the proposal. + +"I have no objection," answered Wallace; and putting the hand she +presented to him into that of Lord de Warenne, he added, "I am not of a +sufficiently gay temperament to grace the change; but this earl may not +have the same reason for declining so fair a challenge!" + +Lady Mar colored with mortification, for she had thought that Wallace +would not venture to refuse before so many; but following the impulse +of De Warenne's arm, she proceeded to the other end of the hall, where, +by Murray's quick arrangement, the younger lords of both countries had +already singled out ladies, and were marshaled for the dance. + +As the hours moved on, the spirits of Wallace subsided from their usual +cheering tone into a sadness which he thought might be noticed; and +wishing to escape observation (for he could not explain to those gay +ones why scenes like these ever made him sorrowful), and whispering to +Mar that he would go for an hour to visit Montgomery, he withdrew, +unnoticed by all but his watchful enemy. + +De Valence, who hovered about his steps, had heard him inquire of Lady +Ruthven why Helen was not present! He was within hearing of this +whisper also, and, with a Satanic joy, the dagger shook in his hand. +He knew that Wallace had many a solitary place to pass between Snawdoun +and the citadel; and the company being too pleasantly absorbed to mark +who entered or disappeared, he took an opportunity, and stole out after +him. + +But for once the impetuous fury of hatred met a temporary +disappointment. While De Valence was cowering like a thief under the +eaves of the houses, and prowling along the lonely paths to the +citadel; while he started at every noise, as if it came to apprehend +him for his meditated deed, or rushed forward at the sight of any +solitary passenger, whom his eager vengeance almost mistook for +Wallace--Wallace himself had taken a different track. + +As he walked through the illuminated archways, which led from the hall, +he perceived a darkened passage. Hoping by that avenue to quit the +palace, unobserved, he immediately struck into it; for he was aware, +that should he go the usual way, the crowd at the gate would recognize +him, and he could not escape their acclamations. He followed the +passage for a considerable time, and at last was stopped by a door. It +yielded to his hand, and he found himself at the entrance of a large +building. He advanced, and passing a high screen of carved oak, by a +dim light, which gleamed from waxen tapers on the altar, he perceived +it to be the chapel. + +"A happy transition," said he to himself, "from the jubilant scene I +have now left; from the grievous scenes I have lately shared! Here, +gracious God," thought he, "may I, unseen by any other eye, pour out my +heart to thee. And here, before thy footstool, will I declare +thanksgiving for thy mercies; and with my tears wash from my soul the +blood I have been compelled to shed!" + +While advancing toward the altar, he was startled by a voice proceeding +from the quarter whither he was going, and with low and gently-breathed +fervor, uttering these words: "Defend him, Heavenly Father! Defend him +day and night, from the devices of this wicked man; and, above all, +during these hours of revelry and confidence, guard his unshielded +breast from treachery and death." The voice faltered, and added with +greater agitation, "Ah, unhappy me, that I should pluck peril on the +head of William Wallace!" A figure, which had been hidden by the rails +of the altar, with these words rose, and stretching forth her clasped +hands, exclaimed, "But Thou, who knowest I had no blame in this, wilt +not afflict me by his danger! Thou wilt deliver him, O God, out of the +hand of this cruel foe!" + +Wallace was not more astonished at hearing that some one in whom he +trusted, was his secret enemy, than at seeing Lady Helen in that place +at that hour, and addressing Heaven for him. There was something so +celestial in the maid, as she stood in her white robes, true emblems of +her own innocence, before the divine footstool, that, although her +prayers were delivered with a pathos which told they sprung from a +heart more than commonly interested in their object, yet every word and +look breathed so eloquently the virgin purity of her soul, the hallowed +purpose of her petitions, that Wallace, drawn by the sympathy with +which kindred virtues ever attract spirit to spirit, did not hesitate +to discover himself. He stepped from the shadow which involved him. +The pale light of the tapers shone upon his advancing figure. Helen's +eyes fell upon him as she turned round. She was transfixed and silent. +He moved forward. "Lady Helen," said he, in a respectful and even +tender voice. At the sound, a fearful rushing of shame seemed to +overwhelm her faculties; for she knew not how long he might have been +in the church, and that he had not heard her beseech Heaven to make him +less the object of her thoughts. She sunk on her knees beside the +altar, and covered her face with her hands. + +The action, the confusion might have betrayed her secret to Wallace. +But he only thought of her pious invocations for his safety; he only +remembered that it was she who had given a holy grave to the only woman +he could ever love; and, full of gratitude, as a pilgrim would approach +a saint, he drew near to her. "Holiest of earthly maids," said he, +kneeling down beside her, "in this lonely hour, in the sacred presence +of Almighty Purity, receive my soul's thanks for the prayers I have +this moment heard you breathe for me. They are more precious to me, +Lady Helen, than the generous plaudits of my country; they are a +greater reward to me than would have been the crown with which Scotland +sought to endow me, for do they not give me what all the world +cannot--the protection of Heaven?" + +"I would pray for it," softly answered Helen, but not venturing to look +up. + +"The prayer of meek goodness, we know, 'availeth much.' Continue, +then, to offer up that incense for me," added he, "and I shall march +forth to-morrow with redoubled strength; for I shall think, holy maid, +that I have yet a Marion to pray for me on earth as well as one in +heaven." + +Lady Helen's heart beat at these words, but it was with no unhallowed +emotion. She withdrew her hands from her face and, clasping them, +looked up. "Marion will indeed echo all my prayers, and He who reads +my heart will, I trust, grant them. They are for your life, Sir +William Wallace," added she, turning to him with agitation, "for it is +menaced." + +"I will inquire by whom," answered he, "when I have first paid my duty +at this altar for guarding it so long. And dare I, daughter of +goodness, to ask you to unite the voice of your daughter of goodness, +to ask you to unite the voice of your gentle spirit with the secret one +of mine? I would beseech Heaven for pardon on my own transgressions; I +would ask of its mercy to establish the liberty of Scotland. Pray with +me, Lady Helen, and the invocations our souls utter will meet the +promise of Him who said: 'Where two or three are joined together in +prayer, there am I in the midst of them.'" + +Helen looked on him with a holy smile; and pressing the crucifix which +she held to her lips, bowed her head on it in mute assent. Wallace +threw himself prostrate on the steps of the altar; and the fervor of +his sighs alone breathed to his companion the deep devotion of his +soul. How the time passed he knew not, so was he absorbed in the +communion which his spirit held in heaven with the most gracious of +beings. But the bell of the palace striking the matin hour, reminded +him he was yet on earth; and looking up his eyes met those of Helen. +His devotional rosary hung on his arm; he kissed it. "Wear this, holy +maid," said he, "in remembrance of this hour!" She bowed her fair +neck, and he put the consecrated chain over it. "Let it bear witness +to a friendship," added he, clasping her hands in his, "which will be +cemented by eternal ties in heaven." + +Helen bent her face upon his hands; he felt the sacred tears of so pure +a compact upon them; and while he looked up, as if he thought the +spirit of his Marion hovered near, to bless a communion so remote from +all infringement of the sentiment he had dedicated forever to her, +Helen raised her head--and, with a terrible shriek, throwing her arms +around the body of Wallace, he, that moment, felt an assassin's steel +in his back, and she fell senseless on his breast. He started on his +feet; a dagger fell from his wound to the ground, but the hand which +had struck the blow he could nowhere see. To search further was then +impossible, for Helen lay on his bosom like dead. Not doubting that +she had seen his assailant, and fainted from alarm, he was laying her +on the steps of the altar, that he might bring some water from the +basin of the chapel to recover her, when he saw that her arm was not +only stained with his blood, but streaming with her own. The dagger +had gashed it in reaching him. + +"Execrable villain!" cried he, turning cold at the sight, and instantly +comprehending that it was to defend him she had thrown her arms around +him, he exclaimed, in a voice of agony, "Are two of the most matchless +women the earth ever saw to die for me!" Trembling with alarm, and +with renewed grief--for the terrible scene of Ellerslie was now brought +in all its horrors before him--he tore off her veil to staunch the +blood; but the cut was too wide for his surgery; and, losing every +other consideration in fears for her life, he again took her in his +arms, and bore her out of the chapel. He hastened through the dark +passage, and almost flying along the lighted galleries, entered the +hall. The noisy fright of the servants, as he broke through their +ranks at the door, alarmed the revelers; and turning round, what was +their astonishment to behold the regent, pale and streaming with blood, +bearing in his arms a lady apparently lifeless, and covered with the +same dreadful hue! + +Mar instantly recognized his daughter, and rushed toward her with a cry +of horror. Wallace sunk, with his breathless load, upon the nearest +bench; and, while her head rested on his bosom, ordered surgery to be +brought. Lady Mar gazed on the spectacle with a benumbed dismay. None +present durst ask a question, till a priest drawing near, unwrapped the +arm of Helen, and discovered its deep wound. + +"Who has done this?" cried her father, to Wallace, with all the anguish +of a parent in his countenance. + +"I know not," replied he; "but I believe, some villain who aimed at my +life." + +"Where is Lord de Valence?" exclaimed Mar, suddenly recollecting his +menaces against Wallace. + +"I am here," replied he, in a composed voice; "would you have me seek +the assassin?" + +"No, no," cried the earl, ashamed of his suspicion; "but here has been +some foul work--and my daughter is slain." + +"Oh, not so!" cried Murray, who had hurried toward the dreadful group, +and knelt at her side. "She will not die--so much excellence cannot +die." A stifled groan from Wallace, accompanied by a look, told Murray +that he had known the death of similar excellence. With this +unanswerable appeal, the young chieftain dropped his head on the other +hand of Helen; and, could any one have seen his face buried as it was +in her robes, they would have beheld tears of agony drawn from that +every-gay heart. + +The wound was closed by the aid of another surgical priest, who had +followed the former into the hall, and Helen sighed convulsively. At +this intimation of recovery, the priest made all, excepting those who +supported her, stand back. But, as Lady Mar lingered near Wallace, she +saw the paleness of his countenance turn to a deadly hue, and his eyes +closing, he sunk back on the bench. Her shrieks now resounded through +the hall, and, falling into hysterics, she was taken into the gallery; +while the more collected Lady Ruthven remained to attend the victims +before her. + +At the instant Wallace fell, De Valence, losing all self-command, +caught hold of De Warenne's arm, and whispering, "I thought it was +sure--long live King Edward!" rushed out of the hall. These words +revealed to De Warenne who was the assassin; and though struck to the +soul with the turpitude of the deed, he thought the honor of England +would not allow him to accuse the perpetrator, and he remained silent. + +The inanimate form of Wallace was now drawn from under that of Helen; +and, in the act, discovered the tapestry-seat clotted with blood, and +the regent's back bathed in the same vital stream. Having found his +wound, the priests laid him on the ground; and were administering their +balsams, when Helen opened her eyes. Her mind was too strongly +possessed with the horror which had entered it before she became +insensible, to lose the consciousness of her fears; and immediately +looking around with an aghast countenance, her sight met the +outstretched body of Wallace. "Oh! is it so?" cried she, throwing +herself into the bosom of her father. He understood what she meant. +"He lives, my child! but he is wounded like yourself. Have courage; +revive, for his sake and for mine!" + +"Helen! Helen! dear Helen!" cried Murray, clinging to her hand; "while +you live, what that loves you can die?" + +While these acclamations surrounded her couch, Edwin, in speechless +apprehension, supported the insensible head of Wallace; and De Warenne, +inwardly execrating the perfidy of De Valence, knelt down to assist the +good friars in their office. + +A few minutes longer, and the staunched blood refluxing to the +chieftain's heart, he too opened his eyes; and instantly turning on his +arm-"What has happened to me? Where is Lady Helen?" demanded he. + +At his voice, which aroused Helen, who, believing that he was indeed +dead, was relapsing into her former state; she could only press her +father's hand to her lips, as if he had given the life she so valued, +and bursting into a shower of relieving tears, breathed out her +rapturous thanks to God. Her low murmurs reached the ears of Wallace. + +The dimness having left his eyes, and the blood (the extreme loss of +which, from his great agitation, had alone caused him to swoon), being +stopped by an embalmed bandage, he seemed to feel no impediment from +his wound; and rising, hastened to the side of Helen. Lord Mar softly +whispered his daughter-"Sir William Wallace is at your feet, my dearest +child; look on him, and tell him that you live." + +"I am well, my father," returned she, in a faltering voice; "and may it +indeed please the Almighty to preserve him!" + +"I, too, am alive and well," answered Wallace; "but thanks to God, and +to you, blessed lady, that I am so! Had not that lovely arm received +the greater part of the dagger, it must have reached my heart." + +An exclamation of horror at what might have been burst from the lips of +Edwin. Helen could have re-echoed it, but she now held her feelings +under too severe a rein to allow them so to speak. + +"Thanks to the Protector of the just," cried she, "for your +preservation! Who raised my eyes to see the assassin! His cloak was +held before his face, and I could not discern it; but I saw a dagger +aimed at the bank of Sir William Wallace! How I caught it I cannot +tell, for I seemed to die on the instant." + +Lady Mar having recovered, re-entered the hall just as Wallace had +knelt down beside Helen. Maddened with the sight of the man on whom +her soul doted, in such a position before her rival, she advanced +hastily; and in a voice, which she vainly attempted to render composed +and gentle, sternly addressed her daughter-in-law: "Alarmed as I have +been by your apparent danger, I cannot but be uneasy at the attendant +circumstances; tell me, therefore, and satisfy this anxious company, +how it happened that you should be with the regent, when we supposed +you an invalid in your room, and were told he was gone to the citadel?" + +A crimson blush overspread the cheeks of Helen at this question, for it +was delivered in a tone which insinuated that something more than +accident had occasioned their meeting, but as innocence dictated, she +answered, "I was in the chapel at prayers; Sir William Wallace entered +with the same design; and at the moment he desired me to mingle mine +with his, this assassin appeared and (she repeated) I saw his dagger +raised against our protector, and I saw no more." + +There was not a heart present that did not give credence to this +account, but the polluted one of Lady Mar. Jealousy almost laid it +bare. She smiled incredulously, and turning to the company, "Our noble +friends will accept my apology, if in so delicate an investigation, I +should beg that my family alone may be present." + +Wallace perceived the tendency of her words, and not doubting the +impression they might make on the minds of men ignorant of the virtues +of Lady Helen, he instantly rose. "For once," cried he, "I must +counteract a lady's orders. It is my wish, lords, that you will not +leave this place till I explain how I came to disturb the devotions of +Lady Helen. Wearied with festivities, in which my alienated heart can +so little share, I thought to pass an hour with Lord Montgomery in the +citadel; and in seeking to avoid the crowded avenues of the palace, I +entered the chapel. To my surprise, I found Lady Helen there, I heard +her pray for the happiness of Scotland, for the safety of her +defenders; and my mind being in a frame to join in such petitions, I +apologized for my unintentional intrusion, and begged permission to +mingle my devotions with hers. Nay, impressed and privileged by the +sacredness of the place, I presumed still further, and before the altar +of purity poured forth my gratitude for the duties she had paid to the +remains of my murdered wife. It was at this moment that the assassin +appeared. I heard Lady Helen scream, I felt her fall on my breast, and +at that instant the dagger entered my back. + +"This is the history of our meeting; and the assassin, whomsoever he +may be, and how long soever he was in the church, before he sought to +perpetrate the deed--were he to speak, and capable of uttering truth, +could declare no other." + +"But where is he to be found?" intemperately and suspiciously demanded +Lady mar. + +"If his testimony be necessary to validate mine," returned Wallace, +with dignity, "I believe the Lady Helen can point to his name." + +"Name him, Helen; name him, my dear cousin," cried Murray, "that I may +have some link with thee. O! let me avenge this deed! Tell me his +name! and so yield to me all that thou canst now bestow on Andrew +Murray!" + +There was something in the tone of Murray's voice that penetrated to +the heart of Helen. "I cannot name him whom I suspect to any but Sir +William Wallace; and I would not do it to him," replied she, "were it +not to warn him against future danger. I did not see the assassin's +face, therefore, how dare I set you to take vengeance on one who +perchance may be innocent? I forgive him, my blood, since Heaven has +spared to Scotland its protector." + +"If he be a Southron," cried Baron Hilton, coming forward, "name him, +gracious lady, and I will answer for it, that were he the son of a +king, he would meet death from our monarch for this unknightly outrage." + +"I thank your zeal, brave chief," replied she; "but I would not abandon +to certain death even a wicked man. May he repent! I will name him to +Sir William Wallace alone; and when he knows his secret enemy, the +vigilance of his own honor, I trust, will be his guard. Meanwhile, my +father, I would withdraw." Then whispering to him, she was lifted in +his arms and Murray's and carried from the hall. + +As she moved away her eyes met those of Wallace. He arose; but she +waved her hand to him, with an expression in her countenance of an +adieu so firm, yet so tender, that feeling as if he were parting from a +beloved sister, who had just risked her life for him, and whom he might +never see again, he uttered not a word to any that were present, but +leaning on Edwin, left the hall by an opposite door. + + + + +Chapter XLIII. + +The Carse of Stirling. + + +Daybreak gleamed over the sky before the wondering spectators of the +late extraordinary scene had dispersed to their quarters. + +De Warenne was so well convinced by what had dropped from De Valence, +of his having been the assassin, that when they met at sunrise to take +horse for the borders, he made him no other salutation than an +exclamation of surprise, "not to find him under an arrest for the last +night's work!" + +"The wily Scot knew better," replied De Valence, "than so to expose the +reputation of the lady. He knew that she received the wound in his +arms, and he durst not seize me, for fear I should proclaim it." + +"He cannot fear that," replied De Warenne, "for he has proclaimed it +himself. He has told every particular of his meeting with Lady Helen +in the chapel, even her sheltering him with her arms; so there is +nothing for you to declare but your own infamy. For infamous I must +call it, Lord Aymer; and nothing but the respect I owe my country, +prevents me pointing the eyes of the indignant Scots to you; nothing +but the stigma your exposure would bring upon the English name, could +make me conceal the dead." + +De Valence laughed at this speech of De Warenne's. "Why, my lord +warden," said he, "have you been taking lessons of this doughty Scot, +that you talk thus? It was not with such sentiments you overthrew the +princes of Wales, and made the kings of Ireland fly before you! You +would tell another story were your own interest in question; and I can +tell you that any vengeance is not satisfied, I will yet see the +brightness of those eyes on which the proud daughter of Mar hangs so +fondly, extinguished in death. Maid, or wife, Helen shall be torn from +his arms, and if I cannot make her a virgin bride, she shall at least +be mine as his widow; for I swear not to be disappointed." + +"Shame, De Valence! I should blush to owe my courage to rivalry, or my +perseverance in the field to a licentious passion! You know what you +have confessed to me were once your designs on Helen Mar." + +"Every man according to his nature!" returned De Valence; and shrugging +his shoulders, he mounted his horse. + +The cavalcade of Southrons now appeared. They were met on the Carse by +the regent, who, not regarding the smart of a closing wound, advanced +at the head of ten thousand men to see his prisoners over the borders. +By Helen's desire, Lord Mar had informed Wallace what had been the +threats of De Valence, and that she suspected him to be the assassin. +But this suspicion was put beyond a doubt by the evidence of the +dagger, which Edwin had found in the chapel; its hilt was enameled with +the martlets of De Valence. + +At sight of it a general indignation filled the Scottish chiefs, and +assembling round their regent, with one breath they demanded that the +false earl should be detained and punished as became the honor of +nations, for so execrable a breach of all laws, human and divine. +Wallace replied that he believed the attack to have been instigated by +a personal motive, and therefore, as he was the object, not the state +of Scotland, he should merely acquaint the earl that his villainy was +known, and let the shame of disgrace be his punishment. + +"Ah," observed Lord Bothwell, "men who trample on conscience soon get +over shame." + +"True," replied Wallace, "but I suit my actions to my mind, not to my +enemy's; and if he cannot feel dishonor, I will not so far disparage +myself as to think one so base worthy my resentment." + +While he was quieting the reawakened indignation of his nobles, whose +blood began to boil afresh at sight of the assassin, the Southron +lords, conducted by Lord Mar, approached. When that nobleman drew +near, Wallace's first inquiry was for Lady Helen. The earl informed +him he had received intelligence of her having slept without fever, and +that she was not awake when the messenger came off with his good +tidings. That all was likely to be well with her was comfort to +Wallace; and, with an unruffled brow, riding up to the squadron of +Southrons which was headed by De Warenne and De Valence, he immediately +approached the latter, and drawing out the dagger, held it toward him: +"The next time, sir earl," said he, "that you draw this dagger, let it +be with a more knightly aim than assassination!" + +De Valence, surprised, took it in confusion, and without answer; but +his countenance told the state of his mind. He was humbled by the man +he hated; and while a sense of the disgrace he had incurred tore his +proud soul, he had not dignity enough to acknowledge the generosity of +his enemy in again giving him a life which his treachery had so often +forfeited. Having taken the dagger, he wreaked the exasperated +vengeance of his malice upon the senseless steel, and breaking it +asunder, threw the pieces into the air; while turning from Wallace with +an affected disdain, he exclaimed to the shivered weapon, "You shall +not betray me again!" + +"Nor you betray our honors, Lord de Valence," exclaimed Earl de +Warenne; "and therefore, though the nobleness of the William Wallace +leaves you at large after this outrage on his person, we will assent +our innocence of connivance with the deed; and, as lord warden of this +realm, I order you under arrest till we pass the Scottish lines." + +"'Tis well," cried Hilton, "that such is your determination, my lord, +else no honest man could have continued in the same company with one +who has so tarnished the English name." + +"No!" cried his brother baron, venerable Blenkinsopp, reining up his +steed; "I would forfeit house and lands first." + +De Valence, with an ironical smile, looked toward the squadron, which +approached to obey De Warenne, and haughtily answered, "Though it be +dishonor to march with me out of Scotland, the proudest of you all will +deem it an honor to be allowed to return with me hither. I have an eye +on those who stand with cap in hand to rebellion. And for you, Sir +William Wallace," added he, turning to him, who was also curbing his +impatient charger, "I hold no terms with a rebel; and deem all honor +that would rid my sovereign and the earth of such low-born arrogance." + +Before Wallace could answer he saw De Valence struck from his horse by +the Lochaberax of Edwin. Indignant at the insult offered to his +beloved commander, he had suddenly raised his arm, and aiming a blow +with all his strength, the earl was immediately stunned and +precipitated to the ground. + +At sight of the fall of the Southron chief, the Scottish troops, aware +of there being some misunderstanding between their regent and the +English lords, uttered a shout. Wallace, to prevent accidents, sent +instantly to the lines, to appease the tumult, and throwing himself off +his horse, hastened to the prostrate earl. A fearful pause reigned +throughout the Southron ranks. They did not know but that the enraged +Scots would now fall on them, and, in spite of their regent, +exterminate them on the spot. The troops were running forward when +Wallace's messengers arrived and checked them, and himself, calling to +Edwin, stopped his further chastisement of the recovering earl. + +"Edwin, you have done wrong," cried he; "give me that weapon which you +have sullied by raising it against a prisoner totally in our power." + +With a vivid blush the noble boy resigned the weapon to his general; +yet, with an unappeased glance on the prostrate De Valence, he +exclaimed, "But have you not granted life twice to this prisoner? and +has he not, in return, raised his hand against his life and Lady Helen? +You pardon him again! and in the moment of your clemency, he insults +the Lord Regent of Scotland in the face of both nations! I could not +hear this and live without making him feel that you have those about +you who will not forgive such crimes." + +"Edwin," returned Wallace, "had not the lord regent power to punish? +And if he see right to hold his hand, those who strike for him invade +his dignity. I should be unworthy the honor of protecting a brave +nation, did I stoop to tread on every reptile that stings me in my +path. Leave Lord de Valence to the sentence his commander has +pronounced, and as an expiation for your having offended both military +and moral law this day, you must remain at Stirling till I return into +Scotland." + +De Valence, hardly awake from the stupor which the blow of the +battle-ax had occasioned (for indignation had given to the young +warrior the strength of manhood), was raised from the ground; and soon +after coming to himself and being made sensible of what had happened, +he was taken, foaming with rage and mortification, into the center of +the Southron lines. + +Alarmed at the confusion he saw at a distance, Lord Montgomery ordered +his litter round from the rear to the front, and hearing all that had +passed, joined with De Warenne in pleading for the abashed Edwin. + +"His youth and zeal," cried Montgomery, "are sufficient to excuse the +intemperance of the deed." + +"No!" interrupted Edwin; "I have offended and I will explate. Only, my +honored lord," said he, approaching Wallace, while he checked the +emotion which would have flowed from his eyes, "when I am absent, +sometimes remember that it was Edwin's love which hurried him to this +disgrace." + +"My dear Edwin," returned Wallace, "there are many impetuous spirits in +Scotland who need the lesson I now enforce upon you; and they will be +brought to maintain the law of honor when they see that their regent +spares not its slightest violation, even when committed by his best +beloved friend. Farewell till we meet again!" + +Edwin kissed Wallace's hand in silence--it was not wet with his +tears--and drawing his bonnet hastily over his eyes, he retired into the +rear of Lord Mar's party. That nobleman soon after took leave of the +regent, who, placing himself at the head of his legions, the trumpets +blew the signal of march. Edwin, at the sound which a few minutes +before he would have greeted with so much joy, felt his grief-swollen +heart give way; he sobbed aloud, and striking his heel on the side of +his horse, galloped to a distance, to bide from all eyes the violence +of his regrets. The trampling of the departing troops rolled over the +ground like receding thunder. Edwin at last stole a look toward the +plain; he beheld a vast cloud of dust, but no more the squadrons of his +friend. + + + + +Chapter XLIV. + +The Cheviots. + + +As Wallace pursued his march along the once fertile and well-peopled +valleys of Clydesdale, their present appearance affected him like the +sight of a friend whom he had seen depart in all the graces of youth +and prosperity, but met again overcome with disease and wretchedness. + +The pastures of Carstairs on the east of the river, which used at this +season to be whitened with sheep, and sending forth the lowings of +abundant cattle; and the vales, which had teemed with reapers rejoicing +in the harvest, were now laid waste and silent. The plain presented +one wide flat of desolation. Where once was the enameled meadow, a +dreary swamp extended its vapory surface; and the road which a happy +peasantry no longer trod, lay choked up with thistles and rank grass; +while birds and animals of chase would spring from its thickets, on the +lonely traveler, to tell him by their wild astonishment that he was +distant from even the haunts of men. The remains of villages were +visible; but the blackness of ashes marked the walls of the ruined +dwellings. + +Wallace felt that he was passing through the country in which his +Marion had been rifled of her life; and as he moved along, nature all +around seemed to have partaken of her death. As he rode over the moors +which led toward the district of Crawford Lammington, those hills +amidst which the beloved of his soul first drew breath, he became +totally silent. Time rolled back; he was no longer the Regent of +Scotland, but the fond lover of Marion Braidfoot. His heart beat as it +was wont to do in turning his horse down the defile which led direct to +Lammington; but the scene was completely changed; the groves in which +he had so often wandered with her were gone; they had been cut down for +the very purpose of destroying that place, which had once been the +abode of beauty and innocence, and of all the tender charities. + +One shattered tower alone remained of the house of Lammington. The +scathing of fire embrowned its sides, and the uprooted garden marked +where the ravager had been. While his army marched before him along +the heights of Crawford, Wallace slowly moved forward, musing on the +scene. In turning the angle of a shattered wall, his horse started; +and the next moment he perceived an aged figure, with a beard white as +snow, and wrapped in a dark plaid, emerging from the ground. At sight +of the apparition, Murray, who accompanied his friend, and had hitherto +kept silent, suddenly exclaimed, "I conjure you, honest Scot, ghost or +man, give us a subject for conversation! and, as a beginning, pray tell +me to whom this ruined tower belonged?" + +The sight of two warriors in the Scottish garb encouraged the old man; +and stepping out on the ground, he drew near to Murray. "Ruined, +indeed, sir," replied he; "and its story is very sad. When the +Southrons, who hold Annandale, heard of the brave acts of Sir William +Wallace, they sent an army to destroy this castle and domains, which +are his, in right of the Lady Marion of Lammington. Sweet creature! I +hear they foully murdered her in Lanark." + +Murray was smitten speechless at this information; for had he suspected +there was any private reason with Wallace for his silent lingering +about this desolate spot, he would rather have drawn him away than have +stopped to ask questions. + +"And did you know Lady Marion, venerable old man?" inquired Wallace, in +a voice so descriptive of what was passing in his heart, that the old +man turned toward him; and struck with his noble mien, he pulled off +his bonnet, and bowing, answered, "Did I know her? She was nursed on +these knees. And my wife, who cherished her sweet infancy, is now +within yon brae. It is our only home, for the Southrons burnt us out +of the castle, where our young lady left us, when she went to be +married to the brave young Wallace. He was as handsome a youth as ever +the sun shone upon, and he loved my lady from a boy. I never shall +forget the day when she stood on the top of that rock, and let a +garland he had made for her fall into the Clyde. Without more ado, +never caring because it is the deepest here of any part of the river, +he jumps in after it, and I after him; and well I did, for when I +caught him by his bonny golden locks, he was insensible. His head had +struck against a stone in the plunge, and a great cut was over his +forehead. God bless him, a sorry scar it left! but many, I warrant, +have the Southrons now made on his comely countenance. I have never +seen him since he grew a man." + +Gregory, the honest steward of Lammington, was now recognized in this +old man's narration; but time and hardship had so altered his +appearance, that Wallace could not have otherwise recollected the ruddy +face and active figure of his well-remembered companion, in the shaking +limbs and pallid visage of the hoary speaker. When he ended, the chief +threw himself from his horse. He approached the old man; with one hand +he took off his helmet, and with the other putting back the same golden +locks, he said, "Was the scar you speak of anything like this?" His +face was now close to the eye of Gregory, who in the action, the words, +and the mark, immediately recognizing the young playmate of his +happiest days, with an almost shriek of joy, threw himself on his neck +and wept; then looking up, with tears rolling over his cheeks, he +exclaimed, "O Power of Mercy, take me to thyself, since my eyes have +seen the deliverer of Scotland!" + +"Not so, my venerable friend," returned Wallace; "you must make these +desolated regions bloom anew! Decorate them, Gregory, as you would do +the tomb of your mistress. I give them to you and yours. Marion and I +have no posterity! Let her foster-brother, if he still live--let him be +now the Laird of Lammington." + +"He does live," replied the old man, "but the shadow of what he was. +In attempting, with a few resolute lads, to defend these domains, he +was severely wounded. His companions were slain, and I found him on +the other side of my lady's garden left for dead. We fled with him to +the woods, and there remained till all about here was laid in ashes. +Finding the cruel Southrons had made a general waste, yet fearful of +fresh incursions, we and others who had been driven from their homes, +dug us subterraneous dwellings, and ever since have lived like fairies +in the green hillside. My son and his young wife and babes are now in +our cavern, but reduced by sickness and want, for famine is here. +Alas, the Southrons, in conquering Scotland, have not gained a kingdom, +but made a desert!" + +"And there is a God who marks," returned Wallace; "I go to reap the +harvests of Northumberland. What our enemies have ravished hence in +part they shall refund; a few days, and your granaries shall overflow. +Meanwhile, I leave you with my friend," said he, pointing to Murray, +"at the head of five hundred men. To-morrow he may commence the +reduction of every English fortress that yet casts a shade on the +stream of our native Clyde; for when the sun next rises, the Southrons +will have passed the Scottish borders and then the truce expires." + +Gregory fell at his feet, and begged that he be allowed to bring his +Nannie to see the husband of her once dear child. + +"Not now," replied Wallace, "I could not bear the interview--she shall +see me when I return." + +He then spoke apart to Murray, who cheerfully acquiesced in a +commission that promised him not only the glory of being a conqueror, +but the private satisfaction, he hoped, of driving the Southron +garrison out of his own paternal castle. To send such news to his +noble father at Stirling, would indeed be a wreath of honor to his aged +and yet warlike brow. It was then arranged between the young chief and +his commander that watchtowers should be thrown up on every conspicuous +eminence which skirted the Scottish borders; whence concerted signals +of victories, or other information, might be severally interchanged. +These preliminaries adjusted, the regent's bugle brought Ker and Sir +John Graham to his side. The appointed number of men was left with +Murray; and Wallace, joining his other chieftains, bade his friend and +honest servant adieu. + +He now awakened to a sense of the present scene, and speeded his +legions over his and dale, till they entered on the once luxuriant +banks of the Annan--this territory of some of the noblest in Scotland, +till Bruce, their chief, deserted them. It lay in more terrific ruin +than even the tracts he had left. There reigned the silence of the +tomb; there existed the expiring agonies of men left to perish. Recent +marks of devastation smoked from the blood-stained earth; and in the +midst of a barren waste, a few houseless wretches rushed forward at the +sight of the regent, threw themselves before his horse, and begged a +morsel of food for their famishing selves and dying infants. "Look," +cried an almost frantic mother, holding toward him the living skeleton +of a child; "my husband was slain by the Southrons, who hold Lochmaben +Castle; my subsistence was carried away, and myself turned forth, to +give birth to this child on the rocks. We have fed till this hour on +the wild berries; but I die, and my child expires before me!" A second +group, with shrieks of despair, cried aloud, "Here are our young ones +exposed to equal miseries. Give us bread, Regent of Scotland, or we +perish!" + +Wallace turned to his troops: "Fast for a day, my brave friends," cried +he; "lay the provisions you have brought with you before these hapless +people. To-morrow you shall feed largely on Southron tables." + +He was instantly obeyed. As his men marched on, they threw their +loaded wallets amongst the famishing groups; and, followed by their +blessings, descended with augmented speed the ravaged hills of +Annandale. Dawn was brightening the dark head of Brunswark, as they +advanced toward the Scottish boundary. At a distance, like a wreath of +white vapors, lay the English camp, along the southern bank of the Esk. +At this sight, Wallace ordered his bugles to sound. They were +immediately answered by those of the opposite host. The heralds of +both armies advanced, and the sun rising from behind the eastern hills, +shone full upon the legions of Scotland, winding down the romantic +precipices of Wauchope. + +Two hours arranged every preliminary to the exchange of prisoners; and +when the clarion of the trumpet announced that each party was to pass +over the river to the side of its respective country, Wallace stood in +the midst of his chieftains to receive the last adieus of his +illustrious captives. When De Warenne approached, the regent took off +his helmet; the Southron had already his in his hand. "Farewell, +gallant Scot," said he, "if aught could imbitter this moment of +recovered freedom, it is that I leave a man I so revere, still +confident in a finally hopeless cause!" + +"It would not be the less just were it indeed desparate," replied +Wallace; "but had not Heaven shown on which side it fought, I should +not now have the honor of thus bidding the brave De Warenne farewell." + +The earl passed on, and the other lords, with grateful and respectful +looks, paid their obeisance. The litter of Montgomery drew near--the +curtains were thrown open-Wallace stretched out his hand to him: "The +prayers of sainted innocence are thine!" + +"Never more shall her angel spirit behold me here, as you now behold +me," returned Montgomery; "I must be a traitor to virtue, before I ever +again bear arms against Sir William Wallace!" + +Wallace pressed his hand, and they parted. + +The escort which guarded De Valence advanced; and the proud earl, +seeing where his enemy stood, took off his gauntlet, and throwing it +fiercely toward him, exclaimed, "Carry that to your minion Ruthven, and +tell him the hand that wore it will yet be tremendously revenged!" + +As the Southron ranks filed off toward Carlisle, those of the returning +Scottish prisoners approached their deliverer. Now it was that the +full clangor of joy burst from every breast and triumph-breathing +instrument in the Scottish legions; now it was that the echoes rung +with loud huzzas of "Long live the valiant Wallace, who brings our +nobles out of captivity! Long live our matchless regent!" + +As these shouts rent the air, the Lords Badenoch and Athol drew near. +The princely head of the former bent with proud acknowledgement to the +mild dignity of Wallace. Badenoch's penetrating eye saw that it was +indeed the patriotic guardian of his country to whom he bowed, and not +the vain affector of regal power. At his approach, Wallace alighted +form his horse, and received his offered hand and thanks with every +grace inherent in his noble nature. "I am happy," returned he, "to have +been the instrument of recalling to my country one of the princes of +her royal blood." "And while one drop of it exists in Scotland," +replied Badenoch, "its possessors must acknowledge the bravest of our +defenders in Sir William Wallace." + +Athol next advanced, but his gloomy countenance contradicted his words +when he attempted to utter a similar sense of obligation. Sir John +Monteith was eloquent in his thanks. And Sir William Maitland was not +less sincere in his gratitude, than Wallace was in joy, at having given +liberty to so near a relation of Helen Mar. The rest of the captive +Scots, to the number of several hundred, were ready to kiss the feet of +the man who thus restored them to their honors, their country, and +their friends, and Wallace bowed his happy head under a shower of +blessings which poured on him from a thousand grateful hearts. + +In pity to the wearied travelers, he ordered tents to be pitched; and +for the sake of their distant friends, he dispatched a detachment to +the top of Langholm Hill, to send forth a smoke in token to the +Clydesdale watch, of the armistice being ended. He had hardly seen it +ascend the mountain, when Graham arrived from reconnoitering, and told +him that an English army of great strength was approaching by the foot +of the more southern hills, to take the reposing Scots by surprise. + +"They shall find us ready to receive them," was the prompt reply of +Wallace; and his actions were ever the companions of his words. +Leaving the new-arrived Scots to rest on the banks of the Esk, he put +himself at the head of five thousand men; and dispatching a thousand +more, with Sir John Graham, to pass the Cheviots, and be in ambush to +attack the Southrons when he should give the signal, he marched swiftly +forward, and soon fell in with some advanced squadrons of the enemy, +amongst the recesses of those hills. Little expecting such a +rencounter, they were marching in defiles upon the lower ridgy craigs, +to avoid the swamps which occupied the broader way. + +At sight of the Scots, Lord Percy, the Southron commander, ordered a +party of his archers to discharge their arrows. The artillery of war +being thus opened afresh, Wallace drew his bright sword, and waving it +before him, just as the sun set, called aloud to his followers. His +inspiring voice echoed from hill to hill; and the higher detachments of +the Scots, pouring downward with the resistless impetuosity of their +own mountain streams, precipitated their enemies into the valley; while +Wallace, with his pikemen, charging the horses in those slippery paths, +drove the terrified animals into the morasses, where some sunk at once, +and others, plunging, threw their riders, to perish in the swamp. + +Desperate at the confusion which now ensued, as his archers fell +headlong from the rocks, and his cavalry lay drowning before him, Lord +Percy called up his infantry; they appeared, but though ten thousand +strong, the determined Scots met their first ranks breast to breast; +and leveling them with their companions, rushed on the rest with the +force of a thunder-storm. It was at this period, that the signal was +given from the horn of Wallace; and the division of Graham, meeting the +retreating Southrons as they attempted to form behind the hill, +completed their defeat. The slaughter became dreadful, the victory +decisive. Sir Ralph Lattimer, the second in command, was killed in the +first onset; and Lord Percy himself, after fighting as became his brave +house, fled, covered with wounds, toward Alnwick. + + + + +Chapter XLV. + +Lochmaben Castle. + + +This being the seasons of harvest in the northern counties of England, +Wallace carried his reapers, not to lay their sickle to the field, but, +with their swords, to open themselves a way into the Southron granaries. + +The careful victor, meanwhile, provided for the wants of his friends on +the other side of the Esk. The plunder of Percy's camp was dispatched +to them; which being abundant in all kinds of provisions, was more than +sufficient to keep them in ample store till they could reach Stirling. +From that point, the released chiefs had promised their regent they +would disperse to their separate estates, collect recruits, and reduce +the distracted state of the country into some composed order. Wallace +had disclosed his wish, and mode of effecting this renovation of public +happiness, before he left Stirling. It contained a plan of military +organization, by which each youth, able to bear arms, should not only +be instructed in the dexterous use of the weapons of war, but in the +duties of subordination, and above all, have the nature of the rights +for which he was to contend explained to him. + +"They only require to be thoroughly known, to be regarded as +inestimable," added he; "but while we raise around us the best bulwark +of any nation, a brave and well-disciplined people; while we teach them +to defend their liberties, let us see that they deserve them. Let them +be men, contending for virtuous independence; not savages, fighting for +licentious unrestraint. We must have our youth of both sexes, in towns +and villages, from the castle to the cot, taught the saving truths of +Christianity. From that root will branch all that is needful to make +them useful members of the state-virtuous and happy. And, while war is +in our hands, let us in all things prepare for peace, that the sword +may gently bend into the sickle, the dirk to the pruning-hook." + +There was an expansive providence in all this, a concentrating plan of +public weal, which few of the nobles had ever even glanced at, as a +design conceivable for Scotland. There were many of these warrior +chiefs who could not even understand it. + +"Ah! my lords," replied he to their warlike objections, "deceive not +yourselves with the belief that by the mere force of arms, a nation can +render itself great and secure. Industry, temperance, and discipline +amongst the people; with moderation and justice in the higher orders, +are the only aliments of independence. They bring you riches and +power, which make it the interest of those who might have been your +enemies to court your friendship." + +The graver council at Stirling had received his plan with enthusiasm. +And when, on the day of his parting with the released chiefs on the +banks of the Esk, with all the generous modesty of his nature, he +submitted his design to them, rather to obtain their approbation as +friends, than to enforce it with the authority of a regent; when they +saw him, thus coming down from the dictatorship to which his unrivaled +talents had raised him, to equal himself still with them, all were +struck with admiration, and Lord Badenoch could not but mentally +exclaim, "The royal qualities of this man can well afford this expense +of humility. Bend as he will, he has only to speak, to show his +superiority over all, and to be sovereign again." + +There was a power in the unostentatious virtues of Wallace, which, +declaring themselves rather in their effects than by display, subdued +the princely spirit of Badenoch; and, while the proud chief recollected +how he had contemned the pretensions of Bruce, and could not brook the +elevation of Baliol; how his soul was in arms when, after he had been +persuaded to acknowledge the supremacy of Edward, the throne was given +to one of his rivals; he wondered at himself to find that his very +heart bowed before the gentle and comprehensive wisdom of an untitled +regent. + +Athol alone, of the group, seemed insensible to the benefits his +country was deriving from its resistless protector; but he expressed +his dissent from the general sentiment with no more visible sign than a +cold silence. + +When the messenger from Wallace arrived on the banks of the Esk with so +large a booty, and the news of his complete victory over the gallant +Percy, the exultation of the Scottish nobles knew no bounds. + +On Badenoch opening the regent's dispatches, he found they repeated his +wish for his brave coadjutors to proceed to the execution of the plan +they had sanctioned with their approbation; they were to march directly +for Stirling, and on their way dispense the superabundance of the +plunder amongst the perishing inhabitants of the land. He then +informed the earl, that while the guard he had left him with would +escort the liberated Scots beyond the Forth, the remainder of the +troops should be thus disposed: Lord Andrew Murray was to remain chief +in command in Clydesdale; Sir Eustace Maxwell, to give up the wardship +of Douglas to Sir John Monteith; and then advance into Annandale, to +assist Sir Roger Kirkpatrick, who must now have begun the reduction of +the castles in the west of that province. At the close of this +account, Wallace added, that himself, with his brave band, were going +to traverse the English counties to the Tees' mouth; and should Heaven +bless his arms, he would send the produce round by the Berwick fleet, +to replenish the exhausted stores of the Highlands. "Next year," +continued he, "I trust they will have ample harvests of their own." + +And what Wallace said he hoped to do, he did. + +The Southrons' country was panic-struck at the defeat of Percy, his +beaten army, flying in all directions before the conquering legions, +gave such dreadful and hyperbolical accounts of their might, and of the +giant prowess of their leader, that as soon as ever the Scottish spears +were seen rising the summit of any hill, or even gleaming along the +horizon, every village was deserted, every cot left without inhabitant; +and corn, and cattle, and every kind of property fell into the hands of +the Scots. + +Lord Precy lay immovable with wounds in his castle at Alnwick;** and +his hopeless state, by intimidating his followers, contradicted the +orders he gave, to face the marauding enemy. Several times they +attempted to obey, but as often showed their inability. They collected +under arms; but the moment their foe appeared, they fled within the +castle walls, or buried themselves in deep obscurities amongst the +surrounding hills. Not a sheaf in the fields of Northumberland did the +Scots leave, to knead into bread for its earl; not a head of cattle to +smoke upon his board. The country was sacked from sea to sea. But far +different was its appearance from that of the trampled valleys of +Scotland. There, fire had burned up the soil; the hand of violence had +leveled the husbandman's cottage; had buried his implements in the +ruins; had sacrificed himself on its smoking ashes! There, the +fatherless babe wept its unavailing wants, and at its side sat the +distracted widow, wringing her hands in speechless misery; for there +lay her murdered husband--here, her perishing child! + +**This famous castle, of so many heroic generations, is still the +princely residence of the head of the house of Percy. + +With such sights the heart of Wallace had been pierced, when he passed +through the lowland counties of his country; nay, as he scoured the +highland districts of the Grampians, even there had he met the foot of +barbarian man, and cruel desolation. For thus it was that the Southron +garrisons had provisional themselves; by robbing the poor of their +bread; and, when they resisted, firing their dwellings, and punishing +the refractory with death. + +But not so the generous enmity of Sir William Wallace. His commission +was, not to destroy, but to save; and though he carried his victorious +army to feed on the Southron plains, and sent the harvests of England +to restore the wasted fields of Scotland, yet he did no more. No fire +blasted his path; no innocent blood cried against him from the ground! +When the impetuous zeal of his soldiers, flushed with victory, and in +the heat of vengeance, would have laid several hamlets in ashes, he +seized the brand from the destroying party, and throwing it into an +adjoining brook: "Show yourselves worthy the advantages you have +gained," cried he, "by the moderation with which you use them. +Consider yourselves as the soldiers of the all powerful God, who alone +has conducted you to victory; for, with a few, has he not enabled us to +subdue a host? Behave as becomes your high destiny; and debase not +yourselves by imitating the hirelings of ambition, who receive, as the +wages of their valor, the base privilege to ravage and to murder. + +"I wish you to distinguish between a spirit of reprisal, in what I do, +and that of retaliation, which actuates your present violence. What +our enemies had robbed us of, as far as they can restore, I take again. +Their bread shall feed our famishing country; their wool clothe its +nakedness. But blood for blood, unless the murderer could be made to +bleed, is a doctrine abhorrent to God and to humanity. What justice is +there in destroying the habitations and lives of a set of harmless +people, because the like cruelty has been committed by a lawless army +of their countrymen, upon our unoffending brethren? Your hearts may +make the answer. But if they are hardened against the pleadings of +humanity, let prudence show your interest in leaving those men alive, +and with their means unimpaired, who will produce other harvests, if +need be, to fill our scantier granaries. + +"Thus I reason with you, and I hope many are convinced; but they who +are insensible to argument must fear authority, and I declare that +every man who inflicts injury on the houses, or on the persons of the +quietest peasantry of this land, shall be punished as a traitor to the +state." + +According to the different dispositions of men, this reasoning +prevailed. And from the end of September (the time when Wallace first +entered Northumberland), to the month of November, when (having scoured +the counties of England, even to the gates of York) he returned to +Scotland, not an offense was committed which could occasion his +merciful spirit regret. It was on All Saints Day when he again +approached the Esk; and so great was his spoil that his return seemed +more like some vast caravan moving the merchandise of half the world, +than the march of an army which had so lately passed that river, a +famishing, though valourous host. + +The outposts of Carlaveroch soon informed Maxwell the lord regent was +in sight. At the joyful intelligence a double smoke streamed from +every watch-hill in Annandale; and Sir Eustace had hardly appeared on +the Solway bank, to meet his triumphant chief, when the eager speed of +the rough knight of Torthorald brought him there also. Wallace, as his +proud charger plunged into the ford, and the heavy wagons groaned after +him, was welcomed to the shore by the shouts, not only of the soldiers +which had followed Maxwell and Kirkpatrick, but by the people who came +in crowds to hail their preserver. The squalid hue of famine had left +every face, and each smiling countenance, beaming with health, +security, and gratitude, told Wallace more emphatically than a thousand +tongues, the wisdom of the means he had used to regenerate his country. + +Maxwell had prepared the fortress of Lochmaben, once the residence of +Bruce, for the reception of the regent. And thither Wallace was +conducted, in prouder triumph than ever followed the chariot-wheels of +Caesar. Blessings were the clarions that preceeded him; and hosts of +people, whom he had saved when ready to perish, were voluntary actors +in his pageant. + +When he arrived in sight of the two capacious lochs, which spread like +lucid wings on each side of the castle, he turned to Graham. "What +pity," said he, "that the rightful owner of his truly regal dwelling +does not act as becomes his blood! He might now be entering its gates +as king, and Scotland find rest under its lawful monarch." + +"But he prefers being a parasite in the court of a tyrant," replied Sir +John; "and from such a school, Scotland would reject its king." + +"But he has a son," replied Wallace; "a brave and generous son! I am +told by Lord Montgomery, who knew him in Guienne, that a nobler spirit +does not exist. On his brows, my dear Graham, we must hope one day to +see the crown." + +"Then only as your heir, my lord regent," interrupted Maxwell; "for +while you live, I can answer for it that no Scot will acknowledge any +other ruler." + +"I will first eat my own sword," cried Kirkpatrick. + +At this moment the portcullis of the gate was raised, and Maxwell +falling back to make way for the regent, Wallace had not time to answer +a sentiment, now so familiar to him by hearing it from every grateful +heart, that he hardly remarked its tendency, a fact the more easily to +be believed, from the ambition of such reward never receiving +acceptance in his well-principled mind. + +Ever pressing toward establishing the happiness of his country, he +hastened over the splendid repast that was prepared for him; and +dispensing with the ceremonials with which the zeal of Maxwell sought +to display his respect for the virtues and station of his commander, he +retired with Graham to write dispatches, and to apportion shares of the +spoil to the necessities of the provinces. In these duties, his +wakeful eye was kept open the greatest part of the night. They for +whom he labored slept securely! That thought was rest to him. But +they closed not their eyes without praying for the sweet repose of +their benefactor. And he found it; not in sleep, but in that peace of +heart which the world cannot give. + + + + +Chapter XLVI. + +Lammington. + + +Day succeeded day in the execution of these beneficial designs. When +fulfilled, the royal halls of Lochmaben did not long detain him who +knew no satisfaction but when going about doing good. While he was +thus employed, raising with the quickness of magic, by the hands of his +soldiers, the lately ruined hamlets into well-built villages--while the +gray smoke curled from a thousand russet cottages which now spotted the +sides of the snow-clad hills--while all the lowlands, whithersoever he +directed his steps, breathed of comfort and abundance--he felt like the +father of a large family, in the midst of a happy and vast home, where +every eye turned on him with reverence, every lip with gratitude. + +He had hardly gone the circuit of these now cheerful valleys, when an +embassy from England, which had first touched at Lochmaben, overtook +him at the Tower of Lammington. The ambassadors were Edmund, Earl of +Arundel (a nobleman who had married the only sister of De Warenne), and +Anthony Beck, Bishop of Durham. + +At the moment their splendid cavalcade, escorted by a party from Sir +Eustace Maxwell, entered the gate of Lammington, Wallace was in the +hourly expectation of Edwin, and hearing the trampling of horses, he +hastened into the courtyard, attended by Gregory's grandchildren. One +was in his arms, two others held by his plaid, and a third played with +the sword he had unbuckled from his side. It was a clear frosty day, +and the keenness of the air brightened the complexion of Wallace, while +it deepened the roses of his infant companions. The leader of the +Scottish escort immediately proclaimed to the embassadors that this was +the regent. At the sight of so uncourtly a scene the haughty prelate +of Durham drew back. + +"This man will not understand his own interest," said he, in a +disdainful whisper, to Lord Arundel. + +"I am inclined to think his estimation of it will be beyond ours." As +the earl made this reply, the officer of Maxwell informed Wallace of +the names and errand of the illustrious strangers. At the mention of a +Southron, the elder children ran screaming into the house, leaving the +youngest, who continued on the breast of Wallace. + +The bishop drew near. + +"We come, Sir William Wallace," cried the prelate, in a tone whose +lordly pitch lowered when his surprised eye saw the princely dignity +which shone over the countenance of the man whose domestic appearance, +when descried at a distance, had excited his contempt; "we come from +the King of England, with a message for your private ear." + +"And I hope, gallant chief," joined Lord Arundel, "what we have to +impart will give peace to both nations, and establish in honor the most +generous as well as the bravest of enemies." + +Wallace bowed to the earl's compliment (he knew by his title that he +must be the brother of De Warenne), and, resigning the child into the +arms of Graham, with a graceful welcome he conducted the Southron lords +into the hall. + +Lord Arundel, looking around, said, "Are we alone, Sir William?" + +"Perfectly," he replied, "and I am ready to receive any proposals for +peace which the rights of Scotland will allow her to accept." + +The earl drew from his bosom a gold casket, and laying it on a table +before him, addressed the regent:-"Sir William Wallace, I come to you, +not with the denunciation of an implacable liege lord, whom a rash +vassal has offended, but in the grace of the most generous of monarchs, +anxious to convert a brave insurgent into the loyal friend. My lord +the king having heard by letters from my brother-in-law, the Earl de +Warenne, of the honorable manner with which you treated the English +whom the fate of battle threw into your power, his majesty, instead of +sending over from Flanders a mighty army to overwhelm this rebellious +kingdom, has deputed me, even as an embassador, to reason with the +rashness he is ready to pardon. Also, with this diadem," continued the +earl, drawing a circlet of jewels from the casket, "which my brave +sovereign tore from the brows of a Saracen prince, on the ramparts of +Acre, he sends the assurance of his regard for the heroic virtues of +his enemy. And to these jewels, he will add a more efficient crown, if +Sir William Wallace will awake from this trance of false enthusiasm, +and acknowledge, as he is in duty bound to do, the supremacy of England +over this country. Speak but the word, noblest of Scots," added the +earl, "and the bishop of Durham has orders from the generous Edward +immediately to anoint you king of Scotland--that done, my royal master +will support you in your throne against every man who may dare in +dispute your authority." + +At these words Wallace rose from his seat. "My lord," said he, "since +I took up arms for injured Scotland, I have been used to look into the +hearts of men; I therefore estimate with every due respect the +compliment which this message of your king pays to my virtues. Had he +thought that I deserved the confidence of Scotland, he would not have +insulted me with offering a price for my allegiance. To be even a +crowned vassal of King Edward is far beneath my ambition. Take back +the Saracen's diadem; it shall never dishonor the brows of him who has +sworn by the cross to maintain the independence of Scotland, or to lay +down his life in the struggle!" + +"Weigh well, brave sir," resumed the earl, "the consequences of this +answer. Edward will soon be in England; he will march hither himself; +not at the head of such armies as you have discomfited, but with +countless legions; and when he falls upon any country in indignation, +the places of its cities are known no more." + +"Better for a brave people so to perish," replied Wallace, "than to +exist in dishonor." + +"What dishonor, noble Scot, can accrue from acknowledging the supremacy +of your liege lord; or to what can the proudest ambition in Scotland +extend beyond that of possessing its throne?" + +"I am not such a slave," cried Wallace, "as to prefer what men might +call aggrandizement before the higher destiny of preserving to my +country its birthright, independence. To be the guardian of her laws, +and of the individual right of every man born on Scottish ground, is my +ambition. Ill should I perform the one duty, were I to wrong the +posterity of Alexander by invading their throne; and horrible would be +my treason against the other, could I sell my confiding country for a +name and a bauble into the grasp of a usurper." + +"Brand not with so unjust an epithet the munificent Edward!" +interrupted Lord Arundel; "let your own noble nature be a witness of +his. Put from you all the prejudice which the ill conduct of his +officers have excited, and you must perceive that in accepting his +terms you will best repay your country's confidence by giving it peace." + +"So great would be my damning sin in such an acceptance," cried +Wallace, "that I should be abhorred by God and man. You talk of noble +minds, earl; look into your own, and will it not tell you that in the +moment a people bring themselves to put the command of their actions, +and with that, their consciences, into the hands of a usurper (and that +Edward is one in Scotland our annals and his tyrannies declare), they +sell their birthright and become unworthy the name of men? In that +deed they abjure the gift with which God had intrusted them; and +justly, the angels of his host depart from them. You know the sacred +axiom, Virtue is better than life! By that we are commanded to +preserve the one at the expense of the other; and we are ready to obey. +Neither the threats nor the blandishments of Edward have power to +shake the resolves of those who draw the sword of the Lord and of +Gideon!" + +"Rebellious man!" exclaimed Beck, who had listened impatiently; and +whose haughty spirit could ill brook such towering language being +directed to his sovereign; "since you dare quote Scripture to sanction +crime, hear my embassage. To meet the possibility of this flagitious +obstinacy, I came armed with the thunder of the church, and the +indignation of a justly incensed monarch. Accept his most gracious +offers, delivered to you by the Earl of Arundel. Here is the cross, to +receive your oath of fealty," cried he, stretching it forth, as if he +thought his commands were irrestible; "but beware! keep it with a truer +faith than did the traitor Baliol, or expect the malediction of Heaven, +the exterminating vengeance of your liege lord!" + +Wallace was not discomposed by this attack from the stormy prelate. +"My Lord of Durham," replied he with his usual tranquil air, "had your +sovereign sent me such proposals as became a just king, and were +possible for an honest Scot to admit, he should have found me ready to +have treated him with the respect due to his rank and honor; but when +he demands the sacrifice of my integrity; when he asks me to sign a +deed that would again spread this renovated land with devastation, were +I to consider the glozing language of his embassy as grace and +nobleness. I should belie my own truth, which tramples alike on his +menaces and his pretended claims. And I ask you, priest of Heaven! is +he a god greater than Jehovah, that I should fear him?" + +"And durst thou presume, audacious rebel!" exclaimed Beck "that the +light of Israel deign, to shine on a barbarian nation in arms against a +hero of the cross? Reprobate that thou art, answer to thine own +condemnation? Does not the church declare the claims of Edward to be +just! and who dare gainsay her decrees?" + +"The voice of Him you pretend to serve! He is no respecter of persons; +he raises the poor from the dust; and by his arm the tyrant and his +host are plunged into the whelming waves! Bishop, I know in whom I +trust. Is the minister greater than his lord, that I should believe +the word of a synod against the declared will of God? Neither anathema +nor armed thousands shall make me acknowledge the supremacy of Edward. +He may conquer the body, but the soul of a patriot he can never subdue." + +"Then," cried Beck, suddenly rising, black with choler, and stretching +his crosier over the head of Wallace, "as the rod of Moses shed +plagues, miseries, and death over the land of Egypt, I invoke the like +judgments to fall on this rebellious land, on its blasphemous leader! +And thus I leave it my curse." + +Wallace smiled as the terrific words fell from the lips of this demon +in sacred guise. Lord Arundel observed him. "You despise this +malediction, Sir William Wallace! I thought more piety had dwelt with +so much military nobleness!" + +"I should not regard the curses of a congregated world," replied +Wallace, "when my conscience as loudly proclaims that God is on my +side. And is he not omniscient, that he should be swayed by the +prejudices of men? Does he not read the heart? Is he not master of +all causes? And shall I shrink when I know that I hold his commission? +Shall I not regard those anathemas even as the artillery with which +the adversary would drive me from my post? But did the clouds rain +fire, and the earth open beneath me, I would not stir; for I know who +planted me here; and as long as he wills me to stand, neither men nor +devils can move me hence." + +"Thou art incorrigible!" cried Beck. + +"I would say, firm," rejoined Arundel, overawed by the majesty of +virtue, "could I regard, as he does, the cause he has espoused. But, +as it is, noble Wallace," continued he, "I must regret your +infatuation; and instead of the peace I thought to leave with you, hurl +war, never-ending, extirpating war, upon the head of this devoted +nation!" As he spoke, he threw his lance** against the opposite wall, +in which it stuck and stood shivering; then taking up the casket, with +its splendid contents, he replaced it in his bosom. + +**To throw a spear was an ancient mode of denouncing war. + +Beck had turned away in wrath from the table, and advancing with a +magisterial step to the door, he threw it open; as if he thought, that +longer to breathe the same air with the person he had excommunicated, +would infect him with his own curses. On opening the door, a group of +Scots, who waited in the antechamber, hastened forward. At the sight +of the prelate they raised their bonnets, and hesitated to pass. He +stood on the threshold, proudly neglectful of their respect. In the +next minute, Wallace appeared with Lord Arundel. + +"Brave knight," said the earl, "the adieus of a man, as sensible of +your private worth as he regrets the errors of your public opinion, +abide with you." + +"Were Edward sensible to virtue, like his brave subjects," replied the +chief, "I should not fear that another drop of blood need be shed in +Scotland to convince him of his present injustice. Farewell, noble +earl; the generous candor of yourself and of your brother-in-law will +ever live in the remembrance of William Wallace." + +While he yet spoke, a youth broke from the group before them, and +rushing toward the regent, threw himself with a cry of joy at his feet. +"My Edwin, my brother!" exclaimed Wallace; and immediately raising +him, clasped him in his arms. The throng of Scots who had accompanied +their young leader from Stirling, now crowded about the chief; some +kneeling and kissing his garments; others ejaculating, with uplifting +hands, their thanks at seeing their protector in safety, and with +redoubled glory. + +"You forgive me, my master and friend?" cried Edwin, forgetting, in the +happy agitation of his mind, the presence of the English embassadors. + +"It was only as a master I condemned you, my brother," returned +Wallace; "every proof of your affection must render you dearer to me; +and had it been exerted against an offender not so totally in my power, +you would not have met my reprimand. But ever remember that the +persons of prisoners are inviolable, for they lie on the bosom of +mercy; and who that has honor would take them thence?" + +Lord Arundel, who had lingered to observe this short but animated +scene, now ventured to interrupt it: "May I ask, noble Wallace," said +he, "if this interesting youth be the brave young Ruthven, who +distinguished himself at Dumbarton, and who, De Warenne told me, +incurred a severe though just sentence from you, in consequence of his +attack upon one whom, as a soldier, I blush to name?" + +"It is the same," replied Wallace; "the valor and fidelity of such as +he are as sinews to my arms, and bring a more grateful empire to my +heart than all the crowns which may be in the power of Edward to +bestow." + +"I have often seen the homage of the body," said the earl; "but here I +see that of the soul; and were I a king, I should envy Sir William +Wallace!" + +"This speech is that of a courtier or a traitor!" suddenly exclaimed +Beck, turning with a threatening brow on Lord Arundel. "Beware, earl! +for what has now been said must be repeated to the royal Edward; and he +will judge whether flattery to this proud rebel be consistent with your +allegiance." + +"Every word that has been uttered in this conference** I will myself +deliver to King Edward," replied Lord Arundel; "he shall know the man +on whom he may be forced by justice to denounce the sentence of +rebellion; and when the pruissance of his royal arm lays this kingdom +at his feet, the virtues of Sir William Wallace may then find the +clemency he now contemns!" + +Beck did not condescend to listen to the latter part of this +explanation; but proceeding to the court-yard, had mounted his horse +before his worthier colleague appeared from the hall. Taking a +gracious leave of Sir John Graham, who attended him to the door, the +earl exclaimed, "What miracle is before me? Not the mighty mover only +of this wide insurrection is in the bloom of manhood, but all his +general that I have seen appear in the very morning of youth! And you +conquer our veterans; by long experience, and hairs grown gray in camps +and battles!" + +"Then by our morning judge what our day may be," replied Graham; "and +show your monarch that as surely as the night of death will in some +hour close upon prince and peasant, this land shall never again be +overshadowed by his darkness." + +"Listen not to their bold treasons!" cried Beck; and setting spurs to +his horse, in no very clerical style he galloped out of the gates. +Arundel made some courteous reply to Graham; then, bowing to the rest +of the Scottish officers who stood around, turned his steed, and +followed by his escort, pursued the steps of the bishop along the +snow-covered banks of the Clyde. + + + + +Chapter XLVII. + +Lammington. + + +When Wallace was left alone with Edwin, the happy youth (after +expressing delight that Murray then held his headquarters in Bothwell +Castle) took from his bosom two packets; one from Lord Mar, the other +from the countess. "My dear cousin," said he, "has sent you many +blessings; but I could not persuade her to register even one on paper +while my aunt wrote all this. Almost ever since her own recovery, +Helen has confined herself to my uncle's sick chamber, now totally +deserted by the fair countess, who seems to have forgotten all duties +in the adulation of the audience-hall." + +Wallace remarked on the indisposition of Mar, and the attention of his +daughter, with tenderness. And Edwin, with the unrestrained vivacity +of happy friendship, proceeded sportively to describe the regal style +which the countess had affected, and the absurd group with which she +had welcomed the Earls Badenoch and Athol to their native country. +"Indeed," continued he, "I cannot guess what vain idea has taken +possession of her; but when I went to Snawdoun, to receive her commands +for you, I found her seated on a kind of throne, with ladies standing +in her presence, and our younger chieftains thronging the gallery, as +if she were the regent himself. Helen entered for a moment, but, +amazed, started back, never before having witnessed the morning courts +of stepmother." + +But Edwin did not relate to his friend all that had passed in the +succeeding conference between him and his gentle cousin. + +Blushing for her father's wife, Helen would have retired immediately to +her own apartments, but Edwin drew her into one of Lady Mar's rooms, +and seating her beside him, began to speak of his anticipated meeting +with Wallace. He held her hand in his. "My dearest cousin," said he, +"will not this tender hand, which has suffered so much for our brave +friend, write him one word of kind remembrance? Our queen here will +send him volumes." + +"Then he would hardly have time to attend to one of mine," replied +Helen, with a smile. "Besides, he requires no new assurance to +convince him that Helen Mar can never cease to remember her benefactor +with the most grateful thoughts." + +"And is this all I am to say to him, Helen?" + +"All, my Edwin." + +"What! not one word of the life you have led since he quitted Stirling? +Shall I not tell him that, when this lovely arm no longer wore the +livery of its heroism in his behalf, instead of your appearing at the +gay assemblies of the countess, you remained immured within your +oratory? Shall I not tell him that since the sickness of my uncle you +have sat days and nights by his couch-side, listening to the dispatches +from the borders--subscribing, with smiles and tears, to his praises of +our matchless regent? Shall I not tell him of the sweet maid who lives +here the life of a nun for him? Or, must I entertain him with the +pomps and vanities of my most unsaintly aunt?" + +Helen had in vain attempted to stop him, while, with an arch glance at +her mantling blushes, he half whispered these insidious questions. +"Ah, my sweet cousin, there is something more at the bottom of that +beating heart than you will allow your faithful Edwin to peep into." + +Helen's heart did beat violently, both before and after this remark; +but conscious, whatever might be there, of the determined purpose of +her soul, she turned on him a steady look. "Edwin," said she, "there +is nothing in my heart that you may not see. That it reveres Sir +William Wallace beyond all other men, I do not deny. But class not my +deep veneration with a sentiment which may be jested on! He has spoken +to me the language of friendship--you know what it is to be his +friend--and having tasted of heaven, I cannot stoop to earth. What +pleasure can I find in pageants?-what interest in the admiration of +men? Is not his esteem of a value that puts to naught the homages of +all else in the world? Do me then justice, my Edwin! believe me, I am +no gloomy, no sighing, recluse. I am happy with my thoughts, and +thrice happy at the side of my father's couch; for there I meet the +image of the most exemplary of human beings, and there I perform the +duties of a child to a parent deserving all my love and honor." + +"Ah, Helen! Helen!" cried Edwin; "dare I speak the wish of my heart! +But you and Sir William Wallace would frown on me, and I may not!" + +"Then, never utter it!" exclaimed Helen, turning pale, and trembling +from head to foot; too well guessing, by the generous glow in his +countenance, what would have been that wish. + +At this instant the door opened, and Lady Mar appeared. Both rose at +her entrance. She bowed her head coldly to Helen. To Edwin she +graciously extended her hand. "Why, my dear nephew, did you not come +into the audience-hall?" + +Edwin answered, smiling, that as he "did not know the Governor of +Stirling's lady lived in the state of a queen, he hoped he should be +excused for mistaking lords and ladies in waiting for company; and for +that reason, having retired till he could bid her adieu in a less +public scene." + +Lady mar, with much stateliness, replied, "Perhaps it is necessary to +remind you, Edwin, that I am more than Lord Mar's wife. I am not only +heiress to the sovereignty of the northern isles, but, like Badenoch, +am of the blood of the Scottish kings." + +To conceal an irrepressible laugh at this proud folly in a woman, +otherwise of shrewd understanding, Edwin turned toward the window; but +not before the countess had observed the ridicule which played on his +lips. Vexed, but afraid to reprimand one who might so soon resent it, +by speaking of her disparagingly to Wallace, she unburdened the +swelling of her anger upon the unoffending Helen. Not doubting that +she felt as Edwin did, and fancying that she saw the same expression in +her countenance. "Lady Helen," cried she, "I request an explanation of +that look of derision which I now see on your face. I wish to know +whether the intoxication of your vanity dare impel you to despise +claims which may one day be established to your confusion." + +This attack surprised Helen, who, absorbed in other meditations, had +scarcely heard her mother's words to Edwin. "I neither deride you, +Lady Mar, nor despise the claims of your kinsman, Badenoch. But since +you have condescended to speak to me on the subject, I must, out of +respect to yourself, and duty to my father, frankly say, that the +assumption of honors not legally in your possession may excite ridicule +on him, and even trouble to our cause." + +Provoked at the just reasoning of this reply and at being +misapprehended with regard to the object with whom she hoped to share +all the reflected splendors of a throne, Lady Mar answered, rather +inconsiderately, "Your father is an old man, and has outlived every +noble emulation. He neither understands my actions, nor shall he +control them." Struck dumb by this unexpected declaration, Helen +suffered her to proceed. "And as to Lord Badenoch giving me the rank +to which my birth entitled me, that is a foolish dream--I look to a +greater hand." + +"What!" inquired Edwin, with a playful bow, "does my highness aunt +expect my uncle to die, and that Bruce will come hither to lay the +crown of Scotland at her feet?" + +"I expect nothing of Bruce, nor of your uncle," returned she, with a +haughty rearing of her head; "but I look for respect from the daughter +of Lord Mar, and from the friend of Sir William Wallace." + +She rose from her chair, and presenting Edwin with a packet for +Wallace, told Helen she might retire to her own room. + +"To my father's I will, madam," returned she. + +Lady Mar colored at this reproof, and, turning to Edwin, more gently +said, "You know that the dignity of his situation must be maintained; +and while others attend his couch, I must his reputation." + +"I have often heard that 'Fame is better than life!'" replied Edwin, +still smiling; "and I thank Lady mar for showing me how differently +people may translate the same lesson. Adieu, dear Helen!" said he, +touching her mantling cheek with his lips. + +"Farewell," returned she, "may good angels guard you!" + +The substance of the latter part of this scene Edwin did relate to +Wallace. He smiled at the vain follies of the countess, and broke the +seal of her letter. It was in the same style with her conversation; at +one moment declaring herself his disinterested friend, in the next, +uttering wild professions of never-ending attachment. She deplored the +sacrifice which had been made of her, when quite a child, to the doting +passion of Lord Mar; and complained of his want of sympathy with any of +her feelings. Then picturing the happiness which must result from the +reciprocal love of congenial hearts, she ventured to show how truly +hers would unite with Wallace's. The conclusion of this strange +epistle told him that the devoted gratitude of all her relations of the +house of Cummin was ready, at any moment, to relinquish their claims on +the crown, to place it on brows so worthy to wear it. + +The words of this letter were so artfully and so persuasively penned, +that had not Edwin described the inebriated vanity of Lady Mar, Wallace +might have believed that she was ambitious only for him, and that could +she share his heart, his throne would be a secondary object. To +establish this deception in his mind, she added, "I live here as at the +head of a court, and fools around me think I take pleasure in it; but +did they look into my actions, they would see that I serve while I seem +to reign. I am working in the hearts of men for your advancement." + +But whether this were her real motive or not, it was the same to +Wallace; he felt that she would always be, were she even free, not +merely the last object in his thoughts, but the first in his aversion. +Therefore, hastily running over her letter, he recurred to a second +perusal of Lord Mar's. In this he found satisfactory details of the +success of his dispositions. Lord Lochawe had possessed himself of the +western coast of Scotland, from the Mull of Kintyre, to the furthest +mountains of Glenmore. There the victorious Lord Ruthven had met him, +having completed the recovery of the Highlands, by a range of conquests +from the Spey to the Murray frith and Inverness-shire. Lord Bothwell, +also, as his colleague, had brought from the shore of Ross and the +hills of Caithness, every Southron banner which had disgraced their +embattled towers. + +Graham was sent for by Wallace to hear these pleasant tidings. + +"Ah!" cried Edwin, in triumph, "not a spot north of the Forth now +remains, that does not acknowledge the supremacy of the Scottish lion!" + +"Nor south of it either," returned Graham; "from the Mull of Galloway +to my gallant father's government on the Tweed; from the Cheviots to +the Northern Ocean, all now is our own. The door is locked against +England, and Scotland must prove unfaithful to herself before the +Southrons can again set feet on her borders." + +The more private accounts were not less gratifying to Wallace; for he +found that his plans for disciplining and bringing the people into +order were everywhere adopted, and that in consequence, alarm and +penury had given way to peace and abundance. To witness the success of +his comprehensive designs, and to settle a dispute between Lord Ruthven +and the Earl of Athol, relative to the government of Perth, Lord Mar +strongly urged him (since he had driven the enemy so many hundred miles +into their own country) to repair immediately to the scene of +controversy. "Go," added the earl, "through the Lothians, and across +the Queens ferry, directly into Perthshire. I would not have you come +to Stirling, lest it should be supposed that you are influenced in your +judgment either my myself or my wife. But I think there cannot be a +question that Lord Ruthven's services to the great cause invest him +with a claim which his opponent does not possess. Lord Athol has none +beyond that of superior rank; but being the near relation of my wife, I +believe she is anxious for his elevation. Therefore come not near us, +if you would avoid female importunity, and spare me the pain of hearing +what I must condemn." + +Wallace now recollected a passage in Lady Mar's letter which, though +not speaking out, insinuated how she expected he would decide. She +said: "As your interest is mine, my noble friend, all that belongs to +me is yours. My kindred are not withheld in the gift my devoted heart +bestows on you. Use them as your own; make them bulwarks around your +power, the creatures of your will, the instruments of your benevolence, +the defenders of your rights." + +Well pleased to avoid another rencounter with this lady's love and +ambition, Wallace sent off the substance of these dispatches to Murray; +and next morning, taking a tender leave of the venerable Gregory and +his family, with Edwin and Sir John Graham, he set off for the Frith of +Forth. + + + + +Chapter XLVIII. + +Loch Awe. + + +It was on the eve of St. Nicholas that the boat which contained Wallace +drew near to the coast of Fife. A little of the right towered the +tremendous precipice of Kinghorn. + +"Behold, Edwin," said he, "the cause of all our woe! From those +horrible cliffs fell the best of kings, the good Alexander. My father +accompanied him in that fatal ride, and was one of the unhappy group +who had the evil hap to find his mangled body among the rocks below." + +"I have heard," observed Graham, "that the sage of Ercildown prophesied +this dreadful calamity to Scotland." + +"He did prognosticate," replied Wallace, "that on the eighteenth of +April, a storm should burst over this land which would lay the country +in ruins. Fear seized the farmers; but his prophecy regarded a nobler +object than their harvests. The day came, rose unclouded, and +continued perfectly serene. Lord March, to whom the seer had presaged +the event, at noon reproached him with the unlikeliness of its +completion. But even at the moment he was ridiculing the sage, a man +on a foaming steed arrived at the gate, with tidings that the king had +accidentally fallen from the precipice of Kinghorn, and was killed. +'This,' said the Lord of Ercildown, 'is the scathing wind and dreadful +tempest which shall long blow calamity and trouble on the realm of +Scotland!' And surely his words have been verified, for still the +storm rages around our borders--and will not cease, I fear, till the +present dragon of England be laid as low as our noble lion was by that +mysterious blast."** + +**Alexander III. was killed in this manner on the 18th of April, 1290, +just seven years before the consequent calamities of his country made +it necessary for Wallace to rise in its defense. + +The like discourse held the friends till they landed at Roseyth Castle, +where they lodged for the night; and next morning recommencing their +journey at daybreak, they crossed the Lomonds under a wintery sun, and +entered Perth in the midst of a snow-storm. + +The regent's arrival soon spread throughout the province, and the hall +of the castle was speedily crowded with chieftains, come to pay their +respects to their benefactor; while an army of grateful peasantry from +the hills filled the suburbs of the town, begging for one glance only +of their beloved lord. To oblige them, Wallace mounted his horse, and +between the Lords Ruthven and Athol, with his bonnet off, rode from the +castle to the populace-covered plain, which lay to the west of the +city. He gratified their affectionate eagerness by this condescension, +and received in return the sincere homage of a thousand grateful +hearts. The snow-topped Grampians echoed with the proud acclamations +of "Our deliverer," "Our prince," "The champion of Scotland," "The +glorious William Wallace!" and the shores of the Tay resounded with +similar rejoicings at sight of him who made the Scottish seamen lords +of the Northern Ocean. + +Ruthven beheld this eloquence of nature with sympathetic feelings. His +just sense of the unequaled merits of the regent had long internally +acknowledged him as his sovereign; and he smiled with approbation at +every breathing amongst the people which intimated what would at last +be their general shout. Wallace had proved himself not only a warrior +but a legislator. In the midst of war he had planted the fruits of +peace, and now the olive and the vine waved abundant on every hill. + +Different were the thoughts of the gloomy Athol as he rode by the side +of the regent. Could he by a look have blasted those valiant arms--have +palsied that youthful head, whose judgment shamed the hoariest +temples--gladly would he have made Scotland the sacrifice so that he +might never again find himself in the triumphant train of one whom he +deemed a boy and an upstart! Thus did he muse, and thus did envy open +a way into his soul for those demons to enter which were so soon to +possess it with the fellest designs. + +The issue of Ruthven's claims did not lessen Lord Athol's hatred of the +regent. Wallace simply stated the case to him, only changing the +situations of the opponents; he supposed Athol to be in the place of +Ruthven and then asked the frowning earl if Ruthven had demanded a +government which Athol had bravely won and nobly secured, whether he +should deem it just to be sentenced to relinquish it into the hands of +his rival? By this question he was forced to decide against himself. +But while Wallace generously hoped that, by having made him his own +judge, he had found an expedient both to soften the pain of +disappointment and to lessen the humiliation of defeat, he had only +redoubled the hatred of Athol, who thought he had thus been cajoled out +of even the privilege of complaint. He, however, affected to be +reconciled to the issue of the affair, and, taking a friendly leave of +the regent, retired to Blair; and there, amongst the numerous +fortresses which owned his power--amongst the stupendous strongholds of +nature, the cloud invested mountains and the labyrinthine winding of +his lochs and streams--he determined to pass his days and nights in +devising the sure fall of this proud usurper; for so the bitterness of +an envy he durst not yet breathe to any impelled him internally to +designate the unpretending Wallace. + +Meanwhile, the unconscious object of this hatred, oppressed by the +overwhelming crowds constantly assembling at Perth to do him homage, +retired to Huntingtower--a castle of Lord Ruthven's, at some distance +from the town. Secluded from the throng, he there arranged, with the +chiefs of several clans, matters of consequence to the internal repose +of the country; but receiving applications for similar regulations from +the counties further north, he decided on going thither himself. +Severe as the weather was at that season, he bade adieu to the warm +hospitalities of Huntingtower, and, accompanied by Graham and his young +friend Edwin, with a small but faithful train he commenced a journey +which he intended should comprehend the circuit of the Highlands. + +With the chieftain of almost every castle in his progress he passed a +day, and according to the interest which the situation of the +surrounding peasantry created in his mind he lengthened his sojourn. +Everywhere he was welcomed with enthusiasm, and his glad eye beheld the +festivities of Christmas with a delight which recalled past emotions, +till they wrung his heart. + +The last day of the old year he spent with Lord Loch-awe, in Kichurn +Castle; and after a bounteous feast, in which lord and vassal joined, +sat up the night to hail the coming in of the new season. Wallace had +passed that hour, twelve months ago, alone with his Marion. They sat +together in the window of the eastern tower of Ellerslie: and while he +listened to the cheerful lilts to which their servants were dancing, +the hand of his lovely bride was clasped in his. Marion smiled and +talked of the happiness which should await them in the year to come. +"Ay, my beloved," answered he, "more than thy beauteous self will then +fill these happy arms! Thy babe, my wife, will then hand at thy bosom, +to bless with a parent's joys thy grateful husband!" + +That time was now come round, and where was Marion?-cold in the grave. +Where that smiling babe?-a murderer's steel had reached it ere it saw +the light. + +Wallace groaned at these recollections; he struck his hand forcibly on +his bursting heart, and fled from the room. The noise of the harps, +the laughing of the dancers, prevented his emotions from being +observed; and rushing far from the joyous tumult, till its sounds died +in the breeze, or were only brought to his ear by fitful gusts, he +speeded along the margin of the lake, as if he would have flown even +from himself. But memory, racking memory, followed him. Throwing +himself on a bank, over which the ice hung in pointed masses, he felt +not the roughness of the ground, for all within him was disturbed and +at war. + +"Why," cried he, "O! why was I selected for this cruel sacrifice? Why +was this heart, to whom the acclaim of multitudes could bring no +selfish joy--why was it to be bereft of all that ever made it beat with +transport? Companion of my days, partner of my soul! my lost, lost +Marion! And are thine eyes forever closed on me? Shall I never more +clasp that hand which ever thrilled my frame with every sense of +rapture? Gone, gone forever--and I am alone!" + +Long and agonizing was the pause which succeeded to this fearful +tempest of feeling. In that hour of grief, renewed in all its former +violence, he forgot country, friends and all on earth. The +recollection of his fame was mockery to him; for where was she to whom +the sound of his praises would have given so much joy? + +"Ah!" said he, "it was indeed happiness to be brightened in those eyes! +When the gratitude of our poor retainers met thine ear, how didst thou +lay thy soft cheek to mine, and shoot its gentle warmth into my heart!" +At that moment he turned his face on the gelid bank; starting with +wild horror, he exclaimed, "Is it now so cold? My Marion, my murdered +wife!" and, rushing from the spot, he again hastened along the margin +of the loch. But there he still heard the distant sound of the pipes +from the castle; he could not bear their gay notes; and, darting up the +hill which overhung Loch-awe's domain, he ascended, with swift and +reckless steps, the rocky sides of Ben Cruachan. Full of distracting +thoughts, and impelled by a wild despair, he hurried from steep to +steep, and was rapidly descending the western side of the mountain, +regardless of the piercing sleet, when his course was suddenly checked +by coming with a violent shock against another human being, who, +running as hastily through the storm, had driven impetuously against +Wallace; but, being the weaker of the two, was struck to the ground. +The accident rallied the scattered senses of the chief. He now felt +that he was out in the midst of a furious winter tempest, had wandered +he knew not whither, and probably had materially injured some poor +traveler by his intemperate motion. + +He raised the fallen man, and asked whether he were hurt. The +traveler, perceiving by the kind tone of the inquirer that no harm had +been intended, answered, "Not much, only a little lamed, and all the +recompense I ask for this unlucky upset is to give me a helping hand to +my father's cot--it is just by. I have been out at a neighbor's to +dance in the new year with a bonny lass, who, however, may not thank +you for my broken shins!" + +As the honest lad went on telling his tale, with a great many +particulars dear to his simple wishes, Wallace helped him along; and +carefully conducting him through the gathering snow, descended the +declivity which led to the shepherd's cottage. When within a few yards +of it, Wallace heard the sound of singing, but it was not the gay +caroling of mirth; the solemn chant of more serious music mingled with +the roaring blast. + +"I am not too late yet!" cried the communicative lad; "I should not +have run so fast had I not wanted to get home in time enough to make +one in the New-year's hymn." + +They had now arrived at the little door, and the youth, without the +ceremony of knocking, opened the latch; as he did so, he turned and +said to his companion, "We have no occasion for bolts, since the brave +Lord Wallace has cleared the country of our Southron robbers." He +pushed the door as he spoke, and displayed to the eyes of the chief a +venerable old man on his knees before a crucifix; around him knelt a +family of young people and an aged dame, all joining in the sacred +thanksgiving. The youth, without a word, dropped on his knees near the +door, and making a sign to his companion to do the same, Wallace +obeyed; and as the anthems rose in succession on the ear, to which the +low breathings of the lightly touched harp echoed its heavenly strains, +he felt the tumult of his bosom gradually subside; and when the +venerable sire laid down the instrument and clasped his hands in +prayer, the natural pathos of his invocations, and the grateful +devotions with which the young people gave their response, all tended +to tranquilize his mind into a holy calm. + +At the termination of the concluding prayer, how sweet were the +emotions of Wallace when he heard these words, uttered with augmented +fervor by the aged petitioner! + +"While we thus thank thee, O gracious God! for the mercies bestowed +upon us, we humbly implore thee to hold in thine Almighty protection +him by whose arm thou has wrought the deliverance of Scotland. Let our +preserver be saved from his sins by the blood of Christ! Let our +benefactor be blessed in mind, body, and estate, and all prosper with +him that he takes in hand! May the good he has dispensed to his +country be returned four-fold into his bosom; and may he live to see a +race of his own reaping the harvest of his virtues, and adding fresh +honors to the stalwart name of Wallace!" + +Every mouth echoed a fervent amen to this prayer, and Wallace himself +inwardly breathed, "And have I not, even now, sinned, all-gracious God! +in the distraction of this night's remembrance? I mourned--I would not +be comforted. But in thy mercy thou hast led me hither to see the +happy fruits of my labors; and I am resigned and thankful!" + +The sacred rites over, two girls ran to the other side of the room, and +between them brought forward a rough table covered with dishes and +bread; while the mother, taking off a large pot, emptied its smoking +contents into the different vessels. Meanwhile the young man, +introducing the stranger to his father, related the accident of the +meeting, and the good old shepherd, bidding him a hearty welcome, +desired him to draw near the fire and partake of their New-year's +breakfast. + +"We need the fire, I assure you," cried the lad, "for we are dripping." + +Wallace now advanced from the shadowed part of the room, where he had +knelt, and drawing toward the light, certainly displayed to his host +the truth of his son's observation. He had left the castle without his +bonnet, and hurrying on regardless of the whelming storm, his hair +became saturated with wet, and now streamed in water over his +shoulders. The good old wife, seeing the stranger's situation was +worse than her son's snatched away the bottle out of which he was +swallowing a heavy cordial, and poured it over the exposed head of her +guest; then ordering one of her daughters to rub it dry, she took off +his plaid, and wringing it, hung it to the fire. + +During these various operations--for the whole family seemed eager to +show their hospitality--the old man discovered, not so much by the +costliness of his garments as by the noble mien and gentle manners of +the stranger, that he was some chieftain from the castle. "Your +honor," said he, "must pardon the uncourtliness of our ways; but we +give you the best we have: and the worthy Lord Loch-awe cannot do more." + +Wallace gave smiling answers to all their remarks, and offers of +service. He partook of their broth, praised the good wife's cakes, and +sat discoursing with the family with all the gayety and frankness of +one of themselves. His unreserved manners opened every heart around +him, and with confidential freedom the venerable shepherd related his +domestic history, dwelling particularly on the projected marriages of +his children, which he said, "should now take place, since the good Sir +William Wallace had brought peace to the land." + +Wallace gratified the worthy father, he appearing to take an interest +in all his narratives, and then allowing the happy spirits of the young +people to break in upon these graver discussions, he smiled with them, +or looked serious with the garrulous matron, who turned the discourse +to tales of other times. He listened with complacency to every legend +of witch, fairy, and ghost; and his enlightened remarks sometimes +pointed out natural causes for the extraordinary appearances she +described; or, at better--attested and less equivocal accounts of +supernatural apparitions, he acknowledged that there are "more things +in heaven and earth than are dreamed of in philosophy." + +Morning dawned before the tranquilized, nay, happy Wallace, happy in +the cheerful innocence of the scene, discovered that the night was +past. As the gray light gleamed through the wooden shutters he arose. +"My friends, I must leave you," said he; "there are those not far off +who may be alarmed at my disappearance, for none knew when I walked +abroad, and unwittingly I have been charmed all these hours to remain, +enjoying the happiness of your circle, forgetful of the anxiety I have +perhaps occasioned in my own." + +The old man declared his intention of seeing him over the hill. +Wallace declined giving him that trouble, saying that as it was +daylight, and the snow had ceased, he could easily retrace his steps to +the castle. + +"No, no," returned the shepherd; "and besides," said he, "as I hear the +good lord regent is keeping the New Year with our noble earl, who knows +but I may get a glimpse of his noble countenance, and that will be a +sight to tell of till I die!" + +"God's blessing on his sweet face!" cried the old woman; "but I would +give all the yarn in my muckle chest to catch one look of his lucky +eye! I warrant you, witch nor fairy could never harm me more." + +"Ah, father," cried the eldest of the girls, blushing, "if you go near +enough to him! Do you know, Madgie Grant told me, if I could but get +even the least bit of Sir William Wallace's hair, and give it to Donal +Cameron to wear in a true lover's know on his breast, no Southron will +be able to do him harm as long as he lives!" + +"And do you believe it would protect your lover, my pretty Jeannie?" +inquired Wallace, with a sweet smile. + +"Surely," she replied; "for Madgie is a wise woman, and has the second +sight." + +"Well, then," returned he, "you shall be gratified. For, though I must +for once contradict the testimony of a wise woman, and tell you that +nothing can render a man absolutely safe but the protection of Heaven, +yet, if a hair from the head of Sir William Wallace would please you, +and a glance from his eye gratify your mother, both shall be +satisfied," and lifting up the old woman's shears, which lay on a +working-stool before him, he cut off a golden lock from the middle of +his head and put it into the hand of Jeannie. At this action--which was +performed with such noble grace that not one of the family now doubted +who had been their guest--the good dame fell on her knees, and Jeannie, +with a cry of joy, putting the beautiful lock into her bosom, followed +the example, and in a woman all were clinging around him. The old man +grasped his hand. "Bravest of men!" cried he, "the Lord has indeed +blessed this house, since he has honored it with the presence of the +deliverer of Scotland! My prayers, and the benedictions of all good +men, friend or foe, must ever follow your footsteps!" + +Tears of pleasure started into the eyes of Wallace. He raised the +family one by one from the ground, and putting his purse into the hand +of the dame, "There, my kind hostess," said he, "let that fill the +chests of your daughters on their bridal day; they must receive it as a +brother's portion to his sisters, for it is with fraternal affection +that William Wallace regards the sons and daughters of Scotland." + +The happy sobs of the old woman stopped the expressions of her +gratitude, but her son, fearing his freedom of the night before might +have offended, stood abashed at a distance. Wallace stretched out his +hand to him. "My good Archibald," cried he, "do not hold back from one +who will always be your friend. I shall send from the castle this day +sufficient to fill your bridal coffers also." + +Archibald now petitioned to be allowed to follow him in his army. "No, +my brave youth," replied the chief; "Lord Lochawe will lead you forth, +whenever there is occasion; and, meanwhile, your duty is to imitate the +domestic duties of your worthy father. Make the neighboring valley +smile with the fruits of your industry; and raise a family to bless +you, as you now bless him." + +Wallace, having wrapped himself in his plaid, now withdrew amidst the +benedictions of the whole group; and swiftly recrossing the mountain +heights, was soon on the western brow of Ben Cruachan. In ten minutes +afterward he entered the hall of Kilchurn Castle. A few servants only +were astir; the rest of the family were still asleep. About an hour +after their friend's departure, the earl and Graham had missed him; but +supposing that, whithersoever he was gone, he would soon return, they +made no inquiries; and when the tempest began, on Edwin expressing his +anxiety to know where he was, one of the servants said he was gone to +his chamber. This answer satisfied every one, and they continued to +enjoy the festal scene until the Countess of Loch-awe made the signal +for repose. + +Next morning, when the family met at the breakfast-board, they were not +a little surprised to hear Wallace recount the adventure of the night; +and while Loch-awe promised every kindness to the shepherd, and a +messenger was dispatched with a purse to Archibald Edwin learned from +the earl's servant, that his reason for supposing the regent was gone +to his room arose from the sight of his bonnet in the outer hall. +Wallace was glad that such an evidence had prevented his friends being +alarmed; and retiring with Lord Loch-awe, with his usual equanimity of +mind resumed the graver errand of his tour. + +The hospitable rites of the season being over, in the course of a few +days the earl accompanied his illustrious guest to make the circuit of +Argyleshire. At Castle Urguhart they parted; and Wallace, proceeding +with his two friends, performed his legislative visits from sea to sea. +Having traversed with perfect satisfaction the whole of the northern +part of the kingdom, he returned to Huntingtower on the very morning +that a messenger had reached it from Murray. That vigilant chieftain +informed the regent of King Edward's arrival from Flanders, and that he +was preparing a large army to march into Scotland. + +"We must meet him," cried Wallace, "on his own shores; and so let the +horrors attending the seat of war full on the country whose king would +bring desolation to ours." + + + + +Chapter XLIX. + +Stanmore. + + +The gathering word was dispatched from chief to chief, to call the +clans of the Highlands to meet their regent by a certain day in +Clydesdale. Wallace himself set forward to summon the strength of the +Lowlands; but at Kinclavin Castle, on the coast of Fife, he was +surprised with another embassy from Edward--a herald, accompanied by +that Sir Hugh le de Spencer who had conducted himself so insolently on +his first embrassage. + +On his entering the chamber where the regent sat with the chiefs who +had accompanied him from Perthsire, the two English men walked forward; +but before the herald could pay the customary respects, Le de Spencer +advanced to Wallace; and to the price of a little mind, elated at being +empowered to insult with impunity, he broke forth: "Sir William +Wallace, the contumely with which the embassadors of Prince Edward were +treated, is so resented by the King of England, that he invests his own +majesty in my person to tell you, that your treasons have filled up +their measure! that now, in the plenitude of his continental victories, +he descends upon Scotland, to annihilate this rebellious nation; and-" + +"Stop, Sir Hugh le de Spencer," cried the herald, touching him with his +scepter; "whatever may be the denunciations with which our sovereign +has intrusted you, you must allow me to perform my duty before you +declare them. And thus I utter the gracious message with which his +Majesty has honored my mouth." + +He then addressed Wallace; and in the king's name, accusing him of +rebellion, and of unfair and cruel devastations made in Scotland and in +England, promised him pardon for all if he would immediately disband +his followers and acknowledge his offense. + +Wallace motioned with his hand for his friends to keep silence (for he +perceived that two or three of the most violent were ready to break +forth in fierce defiance of King Edward), and being obeyed, he calmly +replied to the herald: "When we were desolate, your king came to us as +a comforter, and he put us in chains! While he was absent, I invaded +his country as an open enemy. I rifled your barns, but it was to feed +a people whom his robberies had left to perish! I marched through your +lands, I made your soldiers fly before me; but what spot in all your +shores have I made black with the smoke of ruin? I leave the people of +Northumberland to judge between me and your monarch. And that he never +shall be mine or Scotland's, with God's blessing on the right, our +deeds shall further prove!" + +"Vain and ruinous determination!" exclaimed Le de Spencer; "King Edward +comes against you, with an army that will reach from sea to sea. +Wherever the hoofs of his war-horse strike, there grass never grows +again. The sword and the fire shall make a desert of this devoted +land; and your arrogant head, proud Scot, shall bleed upon the +scaffold!" + +"He shall first see my fires, and meet my sword in his own fields," +returned Wallace; "and if God continues my life, I will keep my Easter +in England, in despite of King Edward, and of all who bear armor in his +country!" + +As he spoke he rose from his chair, and bowing his head to the herald, +the Scottish marshals conducted the embassadors from his presence. Le +de Spencer twice attempted to speak, but the marshals would not allow +him. They said that the business of the embassy was now over; and +should he presume further to insult their regent, the privilege of his +official character should not protect him from the wrath of the Scots. +Intimidated by the frowning brows and nervous arms of all around, he +held his peace, and the doors were shut on him. + +Wallace foresaw the heavy tempest to Scotland threatened by these +repeated embassies. He perceived that Edward, by sending overtures +which he knew could not be accepted--by making a show of pacific +intentions, meant to throw the blame of the continuation of hostilities +upon the Scots, and so overcome the reluctance of his more equitable +nobility, to further persecute a people whom he had made suffer so +unjustly. The same insidious policy was likewise meant to change the +aspect of the Scottish cause in the eyes of Philip of France, who had +lately sent congratulations to the regent, on the victory of +Cambus-Kenneth; and by that means deprive him of a powerful ally and +zealous negotiator for an honorable peace. + +To prevent this last injury, Wallace dispatched a quick-sailing vessel +with Sir Alexander Ramsay, to inform King Philip of the particulars of +Edward's proposals, and of the consequent continued warfare. + +On the twenty-eighth of February, Sir William Wallace joined Lord +Andrew Murray, on Bothwell Moor, where he had the happiness of seeing +his brave friend again lord of the domains he had so lately lost in the +Scottish cause. Wallace did not visit the castle. At such a crisis, +he forbore to unnerve his mind, by awakening the griefs which lay +slumbering at the bottom of his heart. Halbert came from his convent +once more to look upon the face of his beloved master. The meeting +cost Wallace many agonizing pangs, but he smiled on his faithful +servant. He pressed the venerable form in his manly arms, and promised +him news of his life and safety. "May I die," cried the old man, "ere +I hear it is otherwise! But youth is no warrant for life; the vigor of +those arms cannot always assure themselves of victory; and should you +fall, where would be our country?" + +"With a better than I," returned the chief, "in the arms of God. He +will fight for Scotland when Wallace is laid low." Halbert wept. But +the trumpet sounded for the field. He blessed his lord, and they +parted forever. + +A strong force from the Highlands joined the troops from Stirling; and +Wallace had the satisfaction of seeing before him thirty thousand +well-appointed men eager for the fight. With all Scotland pressing on +his heart, his eye lingered for a moment on the distant towers of +Bothwell; but not delaying a moment, he placed himself at the head of +his legions, and set forth through a country now budding with all the +charms of the cultivation he had spread over it. In the midst of a +fine glen of renovated corn fields, he was met by a courier from Sir +Roger Kirkpatrick, with information that the Northumbrians, being +apprised of King Edward's approach, were assembling in immense bodies; +and having crossed the debatable land in the night, had driven Sir +Eustace Maxwell, with great loss, into Carlaveroch; and though harassed +by Kirkpatrick himself, were ravaging the country as far as Dumfries. +The letter of the brave knight added, "These Southron thieves blow the +name of Edward before them, and with its sound have spell-bound the +courage of every soul I meet. Come then, valiant Wallace, and conjure +it down again, else I shall not be surprised if the men of Annandale +bind me hand and foot, and deliver me up to Algernon Percy (the leader +of this inroad), to purchase mercy to their cowardice." + +Wallace made no reply to this message, and proclaiming to his men that +the enemy were in Dumfriesshire, every foot was put to the speed; and +in a short time they arrived on the ridgy summits of the eastern +mountains of Clydesdale. His troops halted for rest near the village +of Biggar; and it being night, he ascended to the top of the highest +craig, and lighted a fire, whose far-streaming light he hoped would +send the news of his approach to Annandale. The air being calm and +clear, the signal rose in such a long pyramid of flame, that distant +shouts of rejoicing were heard breaking the deep silence of the hour. +A moment after a hundred answering beacons burned along the horizon. +Torthorald saw the propitious blaze; he showed it to his terrified +followers. "Behold that hill of fire!" cried he, "and cease to +despair." "Wallace comes!" was their response; "and we will do or +die!"** + +**The mountain from which this beacon sent its rays has from that hour +been called Tinto or Tintoc (which signifies the Hill of Fire), and is +yet regarded by the country people with a devotion almost idolatrous. +Its height is about 2,260 feet from the sea. + +Day broke upon Wallace as he crossed the heights of Drumlaurig, and +pouring his thousands over the almost deserted valleys of Annandale, +like a torrent he swept the invaders back upon their steps. He took +young Percy prisoner, and leaving him shut up in Lochmaben, drove his +flying vassals far beyond the borders. + +Annandale again free, he went into its various quarters, and summoning +the people (who now crept from their caves and woods, to shelter under +his shield), he reproved them for their cowardice; and showed them, +that unless every man possesses a courage equal to his general, he must +expect to fall under the yoke of the enemy. "Faith in a leader is +good," said he; "but not such a faith as leaves him to act, without +yourselves rendering that assistance to your own preservation, which +Heaven itself commands. When absent from you in person, I left my +spirit with you in the brave Knights of Carlaveroch and Torthorald, and +yet you fled. Had I been here, and you done the same, the like must +have been the consequence. What think you is in my arm, that I should +alone stem your enemies? The expectation is extravagant and false. I +am but the head of the battle, you are the aims; if you shrink, I fall, +and the cause is ruined. You follow my call to the field, you fight +valiantly, and I win the day! Respect then yourselves; and believe +that you are the sinews, the nerves, the strength of Sir William +Wallace!" + +Some looked manfully up at this exhortation; but most hung their heads +in remembered shame, while he continued: "Dishonor not your fathers and +your trust in God by relying on any one human arm, or doubting that +from heaven. Be confident that while the standard of true liberty is +before you, you fight under God's banner. See how I in that faith +drove these conquering Northumbrians before me like frighted roes. You +might, and must do the same, or the sword of Wallace is drawn in vain. +Partake my spirit, brethren of Annandale; fight as stoutly over my +grave as by my side, or before the year expires you will again be the +slaves of Edward." + +Such language, while it covered the fugitives with confusion of face, +awoke emulation in all to efface with honorable deeds the memory of +their disgrace. With augmented forces he therefore marched into +Cumberland; and having drawn up his array between a river and a high +ground, which he covered with archers, he stood prepared to meet the +approach of King Edward. + +But Edward did not appear till late in the next day; and then the Scots +descried his legions advancing from the horizon to pitch their vanguard +on the plain of Stanmore. Wallace knew that for the first time he was +now going to pit his soldiership against that of the greatest general +in Christendom. But he did not shrink from measuring him arm to arm +and mind to mind, for the assurance of his cause was in both. + +His present aim was to draw the English toward the Scottish lines, +where, at certain distances, he had dug deep pits; and having covered +them lightly with twigs and loose grass, left them as traps for the +Southron cavalry; for in cavalry, he was told by his spies, would +consist the chief strength of Edward's army. The waste in which +Wallace had laid the adjoining counties, rendered the provisioning of +so large a host difficult; and besides, as it was composed of a mixed +multitude from every land on which the King of England had set his +invading foot, harmony could not be expected to continue amongst its +leaders. Delay was therefore an advantage to the Scottish regent; and +observing that his enemy held back, as if he wished to draw him from +his position, he determined not to stir, although he might seem to be +struck with awe of so great an adversary. + +To this end he offered him peace, hoping either to obtain what he asked +(which he did not deem probable), or, by filling Edward with an idea of +his fear, urge him to precipitate himself forward, to avoid the danger +of a prolonged sojourn in so barren a country, and to take Wallace, as +he might think, in his panic. Instructing his heralds what to say, he +sent them on to Roycross, near which the tent of the King of England +was pitched. Supposing that his enemy was now at his feet, and ready +to beg the terms he had before objected, Edward admitted the +embassadors, and bade them deliver their message. Without further +parley the herald spoke. + +"Thus saith Sir William Wallace. Were it not that the kings and nobles +of the realm of Scotland have ever asked redress of injuries before +they sought revenge, you King of England, and invader of our country, +should not now behold orators in your camp, persuading concord, but an +army in battle array, advancing to the onset. Our lord regent being of +the ancient opinion of his renowned predecessors, that the greatest +victories are never of such advantage to a conqueror as an honorable +and bloodless peace, sends to offer this peace to you at the price of +restitution. The lives you have rifled from us you cannot restore, but +the noble Lord Douglas, whom you now unjustly detain a prisoner, we +demand; and that you retract those claims on our monarchy, which never +had existence till ambition begot them on the basest treachery. Grant +these just requisitions, and we lay down our arms; but continue to deny +them, and our nations is ready to rise to a man, and with heart and +hand avenge the injuries we have sustained. You have wasted our lands, +burned our towns, and imprisoned our nobility. Without consideration +of age or condition, women, children, and feeble old men have +unresisting fallen by your sword. And why was all this? Did our +confidence in your honor offend you, that you put our chieftains in +durance, and deprived our yeomanry of their lives? Did the +benedictions with which our prelates hailed you as the arbitrator +between our princes, raise your ire, that you burned their churches, +and slew them on the altars? These, O king, were thy deeds, and for +these William Wallace is in arms. But yield us the peace we +ask--withdraw from our quarters--relinquish your unjust pretensions, and +we shall once more consider Edward of England as the kinsman of +Alexander the Third, and his subjects the friends and allies of our +realm." + +Not in the least moved by this address, Edward contemptuously answered, +"Intoxicated by a transitory success, your leader is vain enough to +suppose that he can discomfort the King of England, as he has done his +unworthy officers, by fierce and insolent words; but we are not so weak +as to be overthrown by a breath, nor so base as to bear argument from a +rebel. I come to claim my own, to assert my supremacy over Scotland; +and it shall acknowledge its liege lord, or be left a desert, without a +living creature to say, 'This was a kingdom.' Depart, this is my +answer to you; your leader shall receive his at the point of my lance." + +Wallace, who did not expect a more favorable reply, ere his embassadors +returned had marshaled his lines for the onset. Lord Bothwell, with +Murray, his valiant son, took the lead on the left wing; Sir Eustace +Maxwell and Kirkpatrick commanded on the right. Graham (in whose quick +observation and promptitude to bring it to effect, Wallace placed the +first confidence) held the reserve behind the woods; and the regent +himself, with Edwin and his brave standard-bearer, occupied the center. +Having heard the report of his messengers, he repeated to his troops +the lines, he exhorted them to remember that on that day the eyes of +all Scotland would be upon them. They were the first of their country +who had gone forth to meet the tyrant in a pitched battle; and in +proportion to the danger they confronted, would be their meed of glory. +"But it is not for renown merely that you are called upon to fight +this day," said he; "your rights, your homes are at stake. You have no +hope of security for your lives but in an unswerving determination to +keep the field, and let the world see how much more might lies in the +arms of a few contending for their country and herediatry liberties, +than in hosts which seek for blood and spoil. Slavery and freedom lie +before you! Shrink but one backward step, and yourselves are in +bondage, your wives become the prey of violence. Be firm--trust Him who +blesses the righteous cause, and victory will crown your arms!" + +Though affecting to despise his young opponent, Edward was too good a +general really to condemn an enemy who had so often proved himself +worthy of respect; and therefore, by declaring his determination to put +all the Scottish chieftains to death, and to transfer their estates to +his conquering officers, he stimulated their avarice, as well as love +of fame, and with every passion in arms, they pushed to the combat. + +Wallace stood unmoved. Not a bow was drawn till the impetuous +squadrons, in full charge toward the flanks of the Scots, fell into the +pits; then it was that the Highland archers on the hill launched their +arrows; the plunging horses were instantly overwhelmed by others who +could not be checked in their career. New showers of darts rained upon +them, and, sticking into their flesh, made them rear and roll upon +their riders; while others, who were wounded, but had escaped the pits, +flew back in rage of pain upon the advancing infantry. A confusion +ensued, so perilous, that the king thought it necessary to precipitate +himself forward, and in person attack the main body of his adversary, +which yet stood inactive. Giving the spur to his charger, he ordered +his troops to press on over the struggling heaps before them; and being +obeyed, with much difficulty and great loss, he passed the first range +of pits; but a second and wider awaited him; and there, seeing his men +sink into them by squadrons, he beheld the whole army of Wallace close +in upon them. Terrific was now the havoc. The very numbers of the +Southrons, and the mixed discipline of their army, proved its bane. In +the tumult they hardly understood the orders which were given; and some +mistaking them, acted so contrary to the intended movements, that +Edward, galloping from one end of the field to the other, appeared like +a frantic man, regardless of every personal danger, so that he could +but fix others to front the same tempest of death with himself. His +officers trembled at every step he took, for fear that some of the +secret pits should ingulf him. + +However, the unshrinking courage of their monarch rallied a part of the +distracted army, which, with all the force of desperation, he drove +against the center of the Scots. But at this juncture, the reserve +under Graham, having turned the royal position, charged him in the +rear; and the archers redoubling their discharge of artillery, the +Flanderkins, who were in the van of Edward, suddenly giving way with +cries of terror, the amazed king found himself obliged to retreat, or +run the risk of being taken. He gave a signal--the first of the kind he +had ever sounded in his life-and drawing his English troops around him, +after much hard fighting, fell back in tolerable order beyond the +confines of his camp. + +The Scots were eager to pursue him, but Wallace checked the motion. +"Let us not hunt the lion till he stand at bay!" cried he. "He will +retire far enough from the Scottish borders, without our leaving this +vantage ground to drive him." + +What Wallace said came to pass. Soon no vestige of a Southron soldier, +but the dead which strewed the road, was to be seen from side to side +of the wide horizon. The royal camp was immediately seized by the +triumphant Scots; and the tent of King Edward, with its costly +furniture, was sent to Stirling as a trophy of the victory. + + + + +Chapter L. + +Stirling. + + +Many chieftains from the north had come to Stirling, to be near +intelligence from the borders. They were aware that this meeting +between Wallace and Edward must be the crisis of their fate. The few +who remained in the citadel, of those who had borne the brunt of the +opening of this glorious revolution for their country, were full of +sanguine expectations. They had seen the prowess of their leader, they +had shared the glory of his destiny, and they feared not that Edward +would deprive him of one ray. But they who, at their utmost wilds of +Highlands, had only heard his fame; though they had afterward seen him +amongst themselves, transforming the mountain-savage into a civilized +man and disciplined soldier; though they had felt the effects of his +military successes; yet they doubted how his fortunes might stand the +shock of Edward's happy star. The lords whom he had released from the +Southron prisons were all of the same apprehensive opinion; for they +knew what numbers Edward could bring against the Scottish power, and +how hitherto unrivaled was his skill in the field. "Now," thought Lord +Badenoch, "will this brave Scot find the difference between fighting +with the officers of a king and a king himself, contending for what he +determines shall be a part of his dominions!" Full of this idea, and +resolving never to fall into the hands of Edward again (for the conduct +of Wallace had made the earl ashamed of his long submission to the +usurpation of rights to which he had a claim), he kept a vessel in +readiness at the mouth of the Forth, to take him, as soon as the news +of the regent's defeat should arrive, far from the sad consequences, to +a quiet asylum in France. + +The meditations of Athol, Buchan, and March, were of a different +tendency. It was their design, on the earliest intimation of such +intelligence, to set forth, and be the first to throw themselves at the +feet of Edward, and acknowledge him their sovereign. Thus, with +various projects in their heads (which none but the three last breathed +to each other), were several hundred expecting chiefs assembled round +the Earl of Mar; when Edwin Ruthven, glowing with all the effulgence of +his general's glory, and his own, rushed into the hall; and throwing +the royal standard of England on the ground, exclaimed, "There lies the +supremacy of King Edward!" + +Every man started to his feet. "You do not mean," cried Athol, "that +King Edward has been beaten?" + +"He has been beaten, and driven off the field!" returned Edwin. "These +dispatches," added he, laying them on the table before his uncle, "will +relate every particular. A hard battle our regent fought, for our +enemies were numberless; but a thousand good angels were his allies, +and Edward himself fled. I saw the king, after he had thrice rallied +his troops and brought them to the charge, at last turn and fly. It +was at that moment I wounded his standard-bearer, and seized this +dragon." + +"Thou art worthy of thy general, brave Ruthven!" cried Badenoch to +Edwin. "James," added he, addressing his eldest son, who had just +arrived from France, "what is left to us to show ourselves also of +Scottish blood? Heaven has given him all!" + +Lord Mar, who had stood in speechless gratitude, opened the dispatches; +and finding a circumstantial narrative of the battle, with accounts of +the previous embassies, he read them aloud. Their contents excited a +variety of emotions. When the nobles heard that Edward had offered +Wallace the crown; when they found that by vanquishing that powerful +monarch, he had subdued even the soul of the man who had hitherto held +them all in awe; though in the same breath, they read that their regent +had refused royalty; and was now, as a servant of the people, preparing +to strengthen their borders; yet the most extravagant suspicions awoke +in almost every breast. The eagle flight of his glory, seemed to have +raised him so far above their heads, so beyond their power to restrain +or to elevate him, that an envy, dark as Erebus--a jealousy which at +once annihilated every grateful sentiment, every personal +regard--passed like electricity from heart to heart. The eye, turning +from one to the other, explained what no lip dared utter. A dead +silence reigned, while the demon of hatred was taking possession of +almost every beast; and none but the Lords Mar, Badenoch, and Loch-awe, +escaped the black contagion. + +When the meeting broke up, Lord Mar placed himself at the head of the +officers of the garrison, and with a herald holding the banner of +Edward beneath the colors of Scotland, rode forth to proclaim to the +country the decisive victory of its regent. Badenoch and Loch-awe left +the hall, to hasten with the tidings to Snawdoun. The rest of the +chiefs dispersed. But as if actuated by one spirit, they were seen +wandering about the outskirts of the town, where they soon drew +together in groups, and whispered among themselves these and similar +statements: "He refused the crown offered to him in the field by the +people; he rejected it from Edward, because he would reign +uncontrolled. He will now seize it as a conqueror, and we shall have +an upstart's foot upon our necks. If we are to be slaves, let us have +a tyrant of our own choosing." + +As the trumpets before Lord Mar blew the loud acclaim of triumph, Athol +said to Buchan, "Cousin, that is but the forerunner of what we shall +hear to announce the usurpation of this Wallace. And shall we sit +tamely by, and have our birthright wrested from us by a man of +yesterday? No; if the race of Alexander be not to occupy the throne, +let us not hesitate between the monarch of a mighty nation and a +low-born tyrant, between him who will at least gild our chains with +chivalric honors, and an upstart, whose domination must be as stern as +debasing!" + +Murmurings such as these, passing from chief to chief, descended to the +minor chieftains, who held lands in fee of those more sovereign lords. +Petty interests extinguished gratitude for general benefits; and by +secret meetings, at the heads of which were Athol, Buchan, and March, a +conspiracy was formed to overset the power of Wallace. They were to +invite Edward once more to take possession of the kingdom; and +meanwhile, to accomplish this with certainty, each chief was to assume +a pre-eminent zeal for the regent. March was to persuade Wallace to +send him to Dunbar as governor of the Lothiaus, to hold the refractory +Soulis in check; and to divide the public cares of Lord Dundaff; who, +indeed, found Berwick a sufficient charge for his age and comparative +inactivity. "Then," cried the false Cospatrick,** "when I am fixed at +Dunbar, Edward may come round from Newcastle to that port; and, by your +management, he must march unmolested to Stirling, and seize the usurper +on his throne." + +**The name by which Patrick Dunbar, Earl of March, was familiarly +called. + +Such suggestions met with full approval from these dark incendiaries; +and as their meetings were usually held at night, they walked forth in +the day with cheerful countenances, and joined the general rejoicing. + +They feared to hint even a word of their intentions to Lord Badenoch; +for, on Buchan having expressed some discontent to him, at the homage +that was paid to a man so much their inferior, his answer was, "Had we +acted worthy of our birth, Sir William Wallace never could have had the +opportunity to rise upon our disgrace. But as it is, we must submit, +or bow to treachery instead of virtue." This reply determined them to +keep their proceedings secret from him, and also from Lady Mar; for +both Lord Buchan and Lord Athol had, at different times, listened to +the fond dreams of her love and ambition. They had flattered her with +entering into her designs. Athol gloomily affected acquiescence, that +he might render himself master of all that was in her mind, and, +perhaps, in that of her lover; for he did not doubt that Wallace was as +guilty as her wishes would have made him. And Buchan, ever ready to +yield to the persuasions of woman, was not likely to refuse, when his +fair cousin promised to reward him with all the pleasures of the gayest +court in Europe. For, indeed, both lords had conceived, from the +evident failing state of her veteran husband, in consequence of the +unhealing condition of one of his wounds, that it might not be long +before this visionary game would be thrown into her hands. + +Thus were they situated, when the news of Wallace's decisive victory, +distancing all their means to raise him who was now at the pinnacle of +power, determined the dubious to become at once his mortal enemies. +Lord Badenoch had listened with a different temper to the first +breathings of Lady Mar on her favorite subject. He told her, if the +nation chose to make their benefactor king, he should not oppose it; +because he thought that none of the blood royal deserved to wear the +crown which they had all consented to hold in fee of Edward; yet he +would never promote by intrigue an election which must rob his own +posterity of their inheritance. But when she gave hints of her +becoming one day the wife of Wallace, he turned on her with a frown. +"Cousin," said he, "beware how you allow so guilty an idea to take +possession of your heart! It is the parent of dishonor and death. And +did I think that Sir William Wallace were capable of sharing your +wishes, I would be the first to abandon his standard. But I believe +him too virtuous to look on a married woman with the eyes of passion; +and that he holds the houses of Mar and Cummin in too high a respect to +breathe an illicit sigh in the ear of my kinswoman." + +Despairing of making the impression she desired on the mind of this +severe relative, Lady Mar spoke to him no more on the subject. And +Lord Badenoch, ignorant that she had imparted her criminal project to +his brother and cousin, believed that his reproof had performed her +cure. Thus flattering himself, he made no hesitations to be the first +who should go to Snawdoun, to communicate to her the brilliant +dispatches of the regent, and to declare the freedom of Scotland to be +now almost secured. He and Lord Loch-awe set forth; but they had been +some time preceded by Edwin. + +The moment the countess heard the name of her nephew announced, she +made a sign for her ladies to withdraw, and starting forward at his +entrance, "Speak!" cried she; "tell me, Edwin, is the regent still a +conqueror?" + +"Where are my mother and Helen," replied he, "to share my tidings?" + +"Then they are good!" exclaimed lady mar, with one of her bewitching +smiles. "Ah! you sly one, like your chief, you know your power!" + +"And like him I exercise it," replied he, gayly; "therefore, to keep +your ladyship no longer in suspense, here is a letter from the regent +himself." He presented it as he spoke, and she, catching it from him, +turned round, and pressing it rapturously to her lips (it being the +first she had ever received from him), eagerly ran over its brief +contents. While reperusing it--for she could not tear her eyes from +the beloved characters--Lady Ruthven and Helen entered the room. The +former hastened forward, the latter trembled as she moved, for she did +not yet know the information which her cousin brought. But the first +glance of his face told her all was safe, and as he broke from his +mother's embrace, to clasp Helen in his arms, she fell upon his neck, +and, with a shower of tears, whispered, "Wallace lives? Is well?" + +"As you would wish him," rewhispered he, "and with Edward at his feet." + +"Thank God, thank God!" + +While she spoke, Lady Ruthven exclaimed: "But how is our regent? +Speak, Edwin! How is the delight of all hearts?" + +"Still the Lord of Scotland," answered he; "the invincible dictator of +her enemies! The puissant Edward has acknowledged the power of Sir +William Wallace, and after being beaten on the plain of Stanmore, is +now making the best of his way toward his own capital." + +Lady Mar again and again pressed the cold letter of Wallace to her +burning bosom. "The regent does not mention these matters in his +letter to me," said she, casting an exulting glance over the glowing +face of Helen. But Helen did not notice it; she was listening to +Edwin, who, with joyous animation, related every particular that had +befallen Wallace from the time of his rejoining him to that very +moment. The countess heard all with complacency, till he mentioned the +issue of the conference with Edward's first embassadors. "Fool!" +exclaimed she to herself, "to throw away the golden opportunity, that +may never return!" Not observing her disturbance, Edwin went on with +his narrative; every word of which spread the eloquent countenance of +Helen with admiration and joy. + +Since her heroic heart had wrung from it all selfish wishes with regard +to Wallace, she allowed herself to openly rejoice in his success, and +to look up unabashed when the resplendent glories of his character were +brought before her. None but Edwin made her feel her exclusion from +her soul's only home, by dwelling on his gentle virtues; by portraying +the exquisite tenderness of his nature, which seemed to enfold the +objects of his love in his heart of hearts. When Helen thought on +these discourses she would sigh, but it was a sigh of resignation, and +she loved to meditate on the words which Edwin had carelessly +spoken--that "she made herself a nun for Wallace!" "And so I will," +said she to herself; "and that resolution stills every wild emotion. +All is innocence in heaven, Wallace! You will there read my soul, and +love me as a sister." + +In such a frame of mind did she listen to the relation of Edwin; did +her animated eye welcome the entrance of Badenoch and Loch-awe, and +their enthusiastic encomiums on the lord of her heart. Then sounded +the trumpet; and the herald's voice in the streets proclaimed the +victory of the regent. Lady mar rushed to the window, as if there she +would see himself. Lady Ruthven followed, and as the acclamations of +the people echoed through the air, Helen pressed the precious cross of +Wallace to her bosom and hastily left the room to enjoy the rapture of +her thoughts in the blessed retirement of her own oratory. + +In the course of a few days, after the promulgation of all this happy +intelligence, it was announced that the regent was on his return to +Stirling. Lady Mar was not so inebriated with her vain hopes as to +forget that Helen might traverse the dearest of them, should she again +present herself to its object. She therefore hastened to her when the +time of his expected arrival drew near; and putting on all the matron, +affected to give her the counsel of a mother. + +As all the noble families around Stirling would assemble to hail the +victor's return, the countess said, she came to advise her, in +consideration of what had passed in the chapel before the regent's +departure, not to submit herself to the observation of so many eyes. +Not suspecting the occult devices which worked in her stepmother's +heart, Helen meekly acquiesced, with the reply, "I shall obey." But +she inwardly thought, "I, who know the heroism of his soul, need not +pageants nor acclamations of the multitude to tell me what he is. He +is already too bring for my senses to support, and with his image +pressing on my heart, it is mercy to let me shrink from his glorious +presence." + +The "obey" was sufficient for Lady Mar; she had gained her point. For +though she did not seriously think (what she had affected to believe) +that anything more had passed between Wallace and Helen than what they +had openly declared, yet she could not but discern the harmony of their +minds, and she feared that frequent intercourse might draw such +sympathy to something dearer. She had understanding to perceive his +virtues, but they found no answering qualities in her breast. The +matchless beauty of his person, the penetrating tenderness of his +manner, the splendor of his fame, the magnitude of his power, all +united to set her impassioned and ambitious soul in a blaze. Each +opposing duty seemed only a vapor through which she could easily pass +to the goal of her desire. Hence art of every kind appeared to her to +be no more than a means of acquiring the object most valuable to her in +life. Education had not given her any principle by which she might +have checked the headlong impulse of her now aroused passions. Brought +up as a worshiped object, in the little court of her parents, at +Kirkwall, in the Orkneys, her father the Earl of Strathern, in +Scotland, and her mother being a princess of Norway, whose dowry +brought him the sovereignty of those isles, their daughter never knew +any law but her own will, from her doting mother. And on the fearful +loss of that mother, in a marine excursion of pleasure, by an accident +oversetting the boat she was in, the bereaved daughter fell into such a +despair, on her first pang of grief of any kind, that her similarly +distracted father (whose little dominions happened then to be menaced +by a descent of the Danes) sought a safe and cheering home for his only +child, at the interesting age of seventeen, by sending her over sea, to +the protecting care of his long-affianced friend, the Earl of Mar, and +to his lovely countess, then an only three years' wife with one infant +daughter. + +Though fond of admiration, the young Joanna of Orkney had held herself +at too high a price, to bestow a thought on the crowd of rough sons of +the surge (chiefs of the surrounding isles, who owned her father as +lord), who daily adulated her charms with all the costliest trophies +from their ocean-spoils. She trod past them, and by all the female +beauties in her isle, with the step of an undisputed right to receive, +and to despise. But when she crossed to the mainland, and found +herself by the side of a woman almost as young as herself, and equally +beautiful, though of a different mold, soft and retreating, while hers +commanded and compelled; and that the husband of that woman, whose +tender adoration hovered over her with a perpetual eye; that he, though +of comparative veteran years, was handsomer than any man she had ever +seen, and fraught with every noble grace to delight the female heart; +she felt what she had never done before, that she had met a rival and +an object worthy to subdue. + +What Joanna began in mere excited vanity, jealous pride, and ambition +of conquest, ended in a fatal attachment to the husband of her +innocent and too confiding protectress. And he, alas! betrayed, first +by her insidious wiles, and then by her overpowering and apparently +restrainless demonstrations of devoted love, was so far won "from the +propriety" of his noble heart, as to regard with a grateful admiration, +as well as a manly pity, the beautiful victim of a passion he had so +unwittingly raised. In the midst of these scenes, too often acted for +his peace (though not for his honor and fidelity to his marriage vow), +his beloved Isabella, the wife of his bosom, and till then the joy of +his life, died in the pangs of a premature confinement, breathing her +last sigh in the birth of a daughter. Scarcely was the countess +consigned to her bed of earth, and even in the hour after the last +duties were paid to her, whose closed tomb seemed to have left unto him +"his house desolate!" when the heart-desperate Joanna rushed into the +weeping husband's presence, fearful of being now restrainingly +reclaimed by her father, who had, only a short while before, intimated +his intention to relieve his friends of a guardianship they had so +partially fulfilled, and to send a vessel for his daughter, to bring +her back to Kirkwall, there to be united in marriage to the brave +native chieftain, whose singular prowess had preserved the island from +a Danish yoke. Dreading this event, even while her siren tears mingled +with those of the widowed Mar, she wrought on him, by lavish +protestations of a devoted love for his two infant orphans (Helen, then +a child of hardly two years, and the poor babe whose existence had just +cost its mother her life)--also of a never-dying dedication of herself +to that mother's memory, and to the tenderest consolations of his own +mourning spirit, she wrought upon him to rescue her from her +now-threatened abhorrent fate, even to give her his vow--to wed her +himself! In the weakness of an almost prostrated mind, under the load +of conflicting anguish which then lay upon him--for now feeling his own +culpable infirmity, in having suffered this dangerously flattering +preference of him to have ever showed itself to him, without his having +down his positive duty, by sending her home at once to her proper +protector--in a sudden self-immolating agony of self-blame, he assented +to her heart-wringing supplication, that as soon as propriety would +permit, she should become his wife. + +The Earl of Strathern arrived himself within the week, to condole with +his friend, and to take back his daughter. But the scene he met, +changed his ultimate purpose. Joanna declared, that were she to be +carried away to marry any man save that friend, whose protection, +during the last six months, had been to her as that of all relatives in +one, she should expire on the threshold of Castle Braemer, for she +never would cross it alive! And as the melancholy widower, but +grateful lover, verified his vow to her, by repeating it to her +father--within four months from that day, the Earl of Mar rejoined the +Lady Joanna at Kirkwall, and brought her away as his bride. But to +avoid exciting any invidious remarks, by immediately appearing in +Scotland after such prompt nuptials, the new countess, wary in her +triumph, easily persuaded her husband to take her for awhile to France; +where, assuming a cold and majestic demeanor, which she thought +becoming her royal descent, she resided several years. Thus changed, +she returned to Scotland. She found the suspicion of any former +indiscretion faded from all minds, and passing her time in the stately +hospitalities of her lord's castles, conducted herself with a matronly +dignity, that made him the envy of all the married chieftains in his +neighborhood. Soon after her arrival at Kildrumy on the River Dee, her +then most favorite residence, she took the Lady Helen, the supplanted +Isabella's first-born daughter, from her grandfather at Thirlestance, +where both children had been left on the departure of their father and +his bride for France. Though hardly past the period of absolute +childhood, the Lord Soulis at this time offered the young heiress of +Mar his hand. The countess had then no interest in wishing the union; +having not yet any children of her own, to make her jealous for their +father's love, she permitted her daughter-in-law to decide as she +pleased. A second time he presented himself, and Lady Mar, still +indifferent, allowed Helen a second time to refuse him. Years flew +over the heads of the ill-joined pair; but while they whitened the +raven locks of the earl, and withered his manly brow, the beauty of his +countess blew into fuller luxuriance. + +Yet it was her mirror aloe that told her she was fairer than all the +ladies around, for none durst invade the serene decorum of her manners, +with so light a whisper. Such was her state, when she first heard of +the rise of Sir William Wallace, and when she thought that her husband +might not only lose his life, but risk the forfeiture of his family +honors, by joining him, for her own sake and for her children's (having +recently become the mother of twins), she had then determined, if it +were necessary, to make the outlawed chief a sacrifice. To this end, +she became willing to bribe Soulis' participation, by the hand of +Helen. She knew that her daughter-in-law abhorred his character, but +love, indifference, or hatred, she now thought of little consequence in +a marriage which brought sufficient antidotes in rank and wealth. She +had never felt what real love was, and her personal vanity being no +longer agitated by the raptures of a frantic rivalry, she now lived +tranquilly with Lord Mar. What then was her astonishment, what the +wild distraction of her heart, when she first beheld Sir William +Wallace, and found in her breast for him, all which, in the moment of +the most unreflecting intoxication, she had ever felt for her lord, +with the addition of feelings and sentiments, the existence of which +she had never believed, but now knew in all their force! Love for the +first time penetrated through every nerve of her body, and possessed +her whole mind. Taught a theory of virtue by her husband, she was +startled at wishes which militated against his honor, but no principles +being grounded in her mind, they soon disappeared before the furious +charge of his passions, and after a short struggle she surrendered +herself to the lawless power of a guilty and ambitious love. Wishes, +hopes, and designs, which two years before, she would have shuddered +at, as not only sinful but derogatory to female delicacy, she now +embraced with ardor, and naught seemed dreadful to her but +disappointment. The prolonged life of Lord Mar cost her many tears, +for the master-passions of her nature, which she had laid asleep on her +marriage with the earl, broke out with redoubled violence at the sight +of Wallace. His was the most perfect of manly forms--and she loved; he +was great--and her ambition blazed into an unextinguishable flame. +These two strong passions, meeting in a breast weakened by the +besetting sin of her youth, their rule was absolute, and neither +virtue, honor, nor humanity could stand before them. Her husband was +abhorred, her infant son forgotten, and nothing but Wallace and a crown +could find a place in her thoughts. + + + + +CHAPTER LI. + +Stirling and Snawdoun. + + +The few chieftains who had remained on their estates during the +suspense before the battle, from a belief that if the issue proved +unfavorable they should be safest amongst their native glens, now came +with numerous trains to greet the return of their victorious regent. +The ladies brought forth their most splendid apparel; and the houses of +Stirling were hung with tapestry to hail with due respect the +benefactor of the land. + +At last the hour arrived when a messenger, whom Lord Mar had sent out +for the purpose, returned on full speed with information that the +regent was passing the Carron. At these tidings the animated old earl +called out his retinue, mounted his coal-black steed, and ordered a +sumptuous charger to be caparisoned with housings wrought in gold by +the hands of Lady Mar and her ladies. The horse was intended to meet +Wallace and to bring him into the city. Edwin led it forward. In the +rear of the Earls Mar and Badenoch came all the chieftains of the +country, in gallant array. Their ladies, on splendid palfreys, +followed the superb car of the Countess of Mar; and, preceding the +multitudes of Stirling, left the town a desert. Not a living being +seemed now within its walls except the Southron prisoners, who had +assembled on the top of the citadel to view the return of their +conqueror. + +Helen remained in Snawdoun, believing that she was the only soul left +in that vast palace. She sat musing on the extraordinary fate of +Wallace, a few months ago a despised outlaw, at this moment the idol of +the nation! And then turned to herself--the wooed of many a gallant +heart, and now devoted to one, whom, like the sun, she must ever +contemplate with admiration, while he should pass on above her sphere, +unconscious of the devotion which filled her soul. + +The distant murmur of the populace thronging out of the streets toward +the Carse, gradually subsided; and at last she was left in profound +silence. "He must be near," thought she, "he whose smile is more +precious to me than the adulation of all the world besides, now smiles +upon every one! All look upon him, all hear him, but I--and I--ah, +Wallace, did Marion love thee dearer?" As her devoted heart demanded +this question, her tender and delicate soul shrunk within herself, and +deeply blushing, she hid her face in her hands. A pause of a few +minutes--and a sound as if the skies were rent, tore the air; a noise, +like the distant roar of the sea, succeeded; and soon after, the shouts +of an approaching multitude shook the palace to its foundations. Helen +started on her feet; the tumult of voices augmented; the sound of +coming squadrons thundered over the ground. At this instant every bell +in the city began its peals, and the door of Helen's room suddenly +opened--Lady Ruthven hurried in. "Helen," cried she, "I would not +disturb you before; but as you were to be absent, I would not make one +in Lady Mar's train; and I come to enjoy with you the return of our +beloved regent!" + +Helen did not speak, but her eloquent countenance amply told her aunt +what were the emotions of her heart; and Lady Ruthven taking her hand, +attempted to draw her toward an oriel window which opened to a view of +the High Street; but Helen, shrinking from the movement, begged to be +excused. "I hear enough," said she, "my dear aunt; sights like these +overcome me; let me remain where I am." + +Lady Ruthven was going to remonstrate, when the loud huzzas of the +people and soldiers, accompanied by acclamations of "Long live +victorious Wallace, our prince and king!" struck Helen back into her +seat, and Lady Ruthven darting toward the window, cried aloud, "He +comes, Helen, he comes! His bonnet off his noble brow. Oh! how +princely does he look!--and now he bows. Ah, they shower flowers upon +him from the houses on each side of the street; how sweetly he smiles +and bows to the ladies as they lean from their windows! Come, Helen, +come, if you would see the perfection of majesty and modesty united in +one!" + +Helen did not move; but Lady Ruthven stretching out her arm, in a +moment had drawn her within view of Wallace. She saw him attended as a +conqueror and a king; but with the eyes of a benefactor and a brother +he looked on all around. The very memory of war seemed to vanish +before his presence, for all there was love and gentleness. Helen drew +a quick sigh, and closing her eyes, dropped against the arras. She now +heard the buzz of many voices, the rolling peal of acclamations, but +she distinguished nothing; her senses were in tumults; and had not Lady +Ruthven seen her disorder, she would have fallen motionless to the +floor. The good matron was not so forgetful of the feelings of a +virtuous youthful heart, not to have discovered something of what was +passing in that of her niece. From the moment in which she had +suspected that Wallace had made a serious impression there, she dropped +all trifling with his name. And now that she saw the distressing +effects of that impression, with revulsed feelings she took the +fainting Helen in her arms, and laying her on a couch, by the aid of +volatiles restored her to recollection. Seeing she recovered, she made +no observation on this emotion, and Helen leaned her head and wept upon +the bosom of her aunt. Lady Ruthven's tears silently mingled with +hers; but she said within herself, "Wallace cannot be always insensible +to so much excellence!" + +As the acclaiming populace passed the palace on their way to the +citadel, whither they were escorting their regent, Helen remained quiet +in her leaning position; but when the noise died away into hoarse +murmurs, she raised her head, and glancing on the tear-bathed face of +her affectionate aunt, said, with a forced smile, "My more than mother, +fear me not! I am grateful to Sir William Wallace; I venerate him as +the Southrons do their St. George, but I need not your tender pity." +As she spoke, her beautiful lip quivered, but her voice was steady. + +"My sweetest Helen," replied Lady Ruthven, "how can I pity her for whom +I hope everything." + +"Hope nothing for me," returned Helen, understanding by her looks what +her tongue had left unsaid, "but to see me a vestal here, and a saint +in heaven." + +"What can my Helen mean?" replied Lady Ruthven; "who would talk of +being a vestal with such a heart in view as that of the Regent of +Scotland? and that it will be yours, does not his eloquent gratitude +declare?" + +"No, my aunt," answered Helen, casting down her eyes; "gratitude is +eloquent where love would be silent. I am not so sacrilegious as to +wish that Sir William Wallace should transfer that heart to me, which +the blood of Marion forever purchased. No; should these people compel +him to be their king, I will retire to some monastery, and forever +devote myself to God and to prayers for my country." + +The holy composure which spread over the countenance and figure of +Helen, as she uttered this, seemed to extend itself to the before eager +mind of Lady Ruthven; she pressed her tenderly in her arms, and kissing +her: "Gentlest of human beings!" cried she, "whatever be thy lot, it +must be happy." + +"Whatever it be," answered Helen, "I know that there is an Almighty +reason for it; I shall understand it in the world to come, and I +cheerfully acquiesce in this." + +"Oh! that the ears of Wallace could hear thee!" cried Lady Ruthven. + +"They will, some time, my gracious aunt," answered she, with an angelic +smile. + +"When? where, dearest?" asked Lady Ruthven, hoping that she began to +have fairer anticipations for herself. Helen answered not; but +pointing to the sky, rose from her seat with an air as if she were +really going to ascend to those regions which seemed best fitted to +receive her pure spirit. Lady Ruthven gazed on her in speechless +admiration; and without a word, or an impeding motion, felt Helen +softly kiss her hand, and with another seraphic smile, glide gently +from her into her closet, and close the door. + +Far different were the emotions which agitated the bosoms of every +person present at the entry of Sir William Wallace. All but himself +regarded it as the triumph of the King of Scotland. And while some of +the nobles exulted in their future monarch, the major part felt the +demon of envy so possess their souls, that they who, before his +arrival, were ready to worship his name, now looked on the empire to +which he seemed borne on the hearts of the people, with a rancorous +jealousy, which from that moment vowed his humiliation, or the fall of +Scotland. The very tongues which in general acclaim, called loudest, +"Long live our king!" belonged to those who, in the secret recesses of +their souls, swore to work his ruin, and to make these full-blown +honors the means of his destruction. He had in vain tried to check +what his moderate desires deemed the extravagant gratitude of the +people; but finding his efforts only excited still louder +demonstrations of their love, and knowing himself immovable in his +resolution to remain a subject of the crown, he rode on composedly +toward the citadel. + +Those ladies who had not retired from the cavalcade to hail their +regent a second time from their windows, preceded him in Lady Mar's +train to the hall, where she had caused a sumptuous feast to be spread +to greet his arrival. Two seats were placed under a canopy of cloth of +gold, at the head of the board. The countess stood there in all the +splendor of her ideal rank, and would have seated Wallace in the royal +chair on her right hand, but he drew back. + +"I am only a guest in this citadel," returned he; "and it would ill +become me to take the place of the master of the banquet." + +As he spoke, he looked on Lord Mar, who, understanding the language of +his eyes, which never said the thing he would not, without a word took +the kingly seat, and so disappointed the countess. By this refusal she +still found herself as no more than the Governor of Stirling's wife, +when she had hoped a compliance with her cunning arrangement would have +hinted to all that she was to be the future queen of their acknowledged +sovereign. They knew Wallace, saw his unshaken resolution in this +apparently slight action; but others who read his design in their own +ambition, translated it differently, and deemed it only an artful +rejection of the appendages of royalty, to excite the impatience of the +people to crown him in reality. + +As the ladies took their seats at the board, Edwin, who stood by the +chair of his beloved lord, whispered: + +"Our Helen is not here." + +Lady Mar overheard the name of Helen, but she could not distinguish +Wallace's reply; and fearing that some second assignation of more happy +termination than that of the chapel might be designed, she determined +that if Edwin were to be the bearer of a secret correspondence between +the man she loved and the daughter she hated, to deprive them speedily +of so ready an assistant. + + + + +CHAPTER LII. + +Banks of the Forth. + + +In the collected council of the following day, the Earl of March made +his treacherous request; and Wallace, trusting his vehement oaths of +fidelity (because he thought the versatile earl had now discovered his +true interest), granted him charge of the Lothians. The Lords Athol +and Buchan were not backward in offering their services to the regent; +and the rest of the discontented nobles, following the base example, +with equal deceit bade him command their lives and fortunes. While +asseverations of loyalty filled the walls of the council-hall, and the +lauding rejoicings of the people still sounded from without, all spoke +of security and confidence to Wallace; and never, perhaps, did he think +himself so absolute in the heart of Scotland as at the very moment when +three-fourths of its nobility were plotting his destruction. + +Lord Loch-awe knew his own influence in the minds of the bravest +chieftains. From the extent of his territories and his tried valor, he +might well have assumed the title of his great ancestor, and been +called King of Woody Morven, but he was content with a patriarch's sway +over so many valiant clans; and previous to the regent's appearance in +the council-hall he opened his intentions to the assembled lords. Some +assented with real satisfaction; the rest readily acquiesced in what +they had laid so sure a plan to circumvent. + +Wallace soon after entered. Loch-awe rising, stood forth before him; +and, in a long and persuasive speech, once more declared the wishes of +the nation that he would strike the decisive blow on the pretensions of +Edward, by himself accepting the crown. The Bishop of Dunkeld, with al +the eloquence of learning and the most animated devotion to the +interest of Scotland, seconded the petition. Mar and Bothwell enforced +it. The disaffected lords thought proper to throw in their +conjurations also; and every voice but that of Badenoch poured forth +fervent entreaties that he, their liberator, would grant the +supplication of the nation. + +Wallace rose, and every tongue was mute. "My gratitude to Scotland +increases with my life; but my answer must still be the same--I cannot +be its king." + +At these words the venerable Loch-awe threw himself on his knees before +him. "In my person," cried he, "see Scotland at your feet! still +bleeding with the effects of former struggles for empire, she would +throw off all claims but those of virtue, and receive as her anointed +sovereign, her father and deliverer! She has no more arguments to +utter--these are her prayers, and thus I offer them." + +"Kneel not to me, brave Loch-awe!" cried Wallace; "nor believe the +might of these victories lies so thoroughly on this arm that I dare +outrage its Maker. Were I to comply with your wishes, I should disobey +him who has hitherto made me his happy agent; and how could I guard my +kingdom from his vengeance? Your rightful king yet lives; he is an +alien from his country, but Heaven may return him to your prayers. +Meanwhile, as his representative, as your soldier and protector, I +shall be blessed in wearing out my life. My ancestors were ever +faithful to the blood of Alexander, and in the same fidelity I will +die." + +The firmness with which he spoke, and the determined expression of his +noble countenance, convinced Loch-awe that he was not to be shaken; and +rising from his knee, he bowed in silence. March whispered to Buchan, +"Behold the hypocrite! But we shall unmask him. He thinks to blind us +to his towering ambition, by this affected moderation. He will not be +called a king; because, with our own crown certain limitations are laid +on the prerogative; but he will be our regent, that he may be our +dictator, and every day demand gratitude for voluntary services, which, +performed as a king, could only be considered as his duty!" + +When the council broke up, these sentiments were actively disseminated +among the disaffected throng; and each gloomy recess in the woods +murmured with seditious meetings. But every lip in the country at +large breathed the name of Wallace, as they would have done a god's; +while the land that he had blessed, bloomed on every hill and valley +like a garden. + +Stirling now exhibited a constant carnival; peace was in every heart, +and joy its companion. As Wallace had commanded in the field, he +decided in the judgment-hall; and while all his behests were obeyed +with a promptitude which kept the machine of state constantly moving in +the most beautiful order, his bitterest enemies could not but secretly +acknowledge the perfection they were determined to destroy. + +His munificent hand stretched itself far and near, that all who had +shared the sufferings of Scotland might drink largely of her +prosperity. The good Abbot of Scone was invited from his hermitage; +and when he heard from the embassadors sent to him, that the brave +young warrior whom he had entertained was the resistless Wallace, he no +longer thought of the distant and supine Bruce, but centered every wish +for his country in the authority of her deliverer. A few days brought +him to Stirling; and wishing to remain near the most constant residence +of his noble friend, he requested that, instead of being restored to +Scone, he might be installed in the vacant monastery of Cambus-Kenneth. +Wallace gladly acquiesced; and the venerable abbot being told that his +late charge, the Lady Helen, was in the palace, went to visit her; and +as he communicated his exultation and happiness, she rejoiced in the +benedictions which his grateful spirit invoked on the head of her +almost worshiped sovereign. Her heart gave him his title; which she +believed the not-to-be-repressed affection of the people would at last +force him to accept. + +The wives and families of the Lanark veterans were brought from Loch +Doine, and again planted in their native valleys; thus, naught in the +kingdom appeared different from its most prosperous days, but the +widowed heart of the dispenser of all this good. And yet, so fully did +he engage himself in the creation of these benefits, that no time +seemed left to him for regrets; but they haunted him like persecuting +spirits, invisible to all but himself. + +During the performance of these things, the Countess of Mar, though +apparently lost to all other pursuits than the peaceable enjoyment of +her reflected dignities, was absorbed in the one great object of her +passion. Eager to be rid of so dangerous a spy and adversary as she +deemed Edwin to be, she was laboring day and night to effect by +clandestine schemes his banishment, when an unforeseen circumstance +carried him far away. Lord Ruthven, while on an embassy to the +Hebrides, fell ill. As his disorder was attended with extreme danger, +he sent for his wife; and Edwin, impelled by love for his father, and +anxiety to soothe the terrified suspense of his mother, readily left +the side of his friend, to accompany her to the isles. Lady Mar had +now no scrutinizing eye to fear; her nephew Murray was still on duty in +Clydesdale; the earl, her husband, trusted her too implicitly even to +turn on her a suspicious look; and Helen, she contrived, should be as +little in her presence as possible. + +Busy, then, as this lady was, the enemies of the regent were not less +active in the prosecution of their plans. The Earl of March had +arrived at Dunbar; and having dispatched his treasonable proposals to +Edward, had received letters from that monarch by sea, accepting his +services, and promising every reward that could satisfy his ambition, +and the cupidity of those whom he could draw over to his cause. The +wary king then told the earl, that if he would send his wife and family +to London, as hostages for his faith, he was ready to bring a mighty +army to Dunbar; and, by that gate, once more enter Scotland. These +negotiations backward and forward from London to Dunbar, and from +Dunbar to the treacherous lords at Stirling, occupied much time; and +the more, as great precaution was necessary to escape the vigilant eyes +of Wallace, which seemed to be present in every part of the kingdom at +once. So careful was he, in overlooking, by his well-chosen officers, +civil and military, every transaction, that the slightest dereliction +from the straight order of things was immediately seen and examined +into. Many of these trusty magistrates having been placed in the +Lothians, before March took the government, he could not now remove +them without exciting suspicion; and therefore, as they remained, great +circumspection was used to elude their watchfulness. + +From the time that Edward had again entered into terms with the +Scottish chiefs, Lord March sent regular tidings to Lord Soulis of the +progress of their negotiations. He knew that nobleman would gladly +welcome the recall of the King of England; for ever since the +revolution in favor of Scotland, he had remained obstinately shut up +within his castle of Hermitage. Chagrin at having lost Helen was not +the least of his mortifications; and the wounds he had received from +the invisible hand which had released her, having been given with all +the might of the valiant arm which directed the blow, were not even now +healed; his passions kept them still inflamed; and their smart made his +vengeance burn the fiercer against Wallace, who he now learned was the +mysterious agent of her rescue. + +While treason secretly prepared to spring its mine beneath the feet of +the regent, he, unsuspicious that any could be discontented where all +were free and prosperous, thought of no enemy to the tranquil +fulfillment of his duties but the minor persecutions of Lady Mar. No +day escaped without bringing him letters, either to invite him to +Snawdoun or to lead her to the citadel, where he resided. In every one +of these epistles she declared that it was no longer the wildness of +passion which impelled her to seek his society, but the moderated +regard of a friend. And though perfectly aware of all that was behind +these asseverations (for she had deceived him once into a belief of +this please, and had made him feel its falseness), he found himself +forced at times, out of the civility due to her sex, to comply with her +invitations. Indeed, her conduct never gave him reason to hold her in +any higher respect, for whenever they happened to be left alone, she +made pretensions. The frequency of these scenes at last made him never +go to Snawdoun unaccompanied (for she rarely allowed him to have even a +glimpse of Helen), and by this precaution he avoided much of her +solicitations. But, strange to say, even at the time that this +conduct, by driving her to despair, might have excited her to some +desperate act, her wayward heart threw the blame of his coldness upon +her trammels with Lord Mar, and flattering herself that were he dead, +all would happen as she wished, she panted for that hour with an +impatience which often tempted her to precipitate the event. + +Things were in this situation when Wallace, one night, received a hasty +summons from his pillow by a page of Lord Mar's, requesting him to +immediately repair to his chamber. Concluding that something alarming +must have happened, he threw on his brigandine and plaid, and entered +the apartments of the governor. Mar met him with a countenance, the +herald of a dreadful matter. + +"What has happened?" inquired Wallace. + +"Treason," answered Mar; "but from what point I cannot guess. My +daughter has braved a dark and lonely walk from Snawdoun, to bring the +proofs." + +While speaking he lead the chief into the room where Helen sat, like +some fairy specter of the night; her long hair, disordered by the winds +of a nocturnal storm, mingling with the gray folds of the mantle which +enveloped her. Wallace hastened forward--she now no longer flitted +away, scared from his approach by the frowning glances of her +step-mother. He had once attempted to express his grateful regrets for +what she had suffered in her lovely person for his sake, but the +countess had then interrupted him, and Helen disappeared. Now he +beheld her in a presence, where he could declare all his gratitude +without subjecting its gentle object to one harsh word in consequence, +and almost forgetting his errand to the governor, and the tidings he +had just heard, he remembered only the manner in which she had shielded +his life with her arms, and he bent his knee respectfully before her as +she rose to his approach. Blushing and silent, she extended her hand +to him to rise. He pressed it warmly. "Sweet excellence!" said he, "I +am happy in this opportunity, however gained, to again pour out my +acknowledgments to you; and though I have been denied that pleasure +until now, yet the memory of your generous interest in the friend of +your father, is one of the most cherished sentiments of my heart!" + +"It is my happiness, as well as my duty, Sit William Wallace," replied +she, "to regard you and my country as one; and that, I hope, will +excuse the, perhaps, rash action of this night." As she spoke, he rose +and looked at Lord Mar for explanation. + +The earl held a roll of vellum toward him. "This writing," said he, +"was found this evening by my daughter. She was enjoying with my wife +and other ladies a moonlight walk on the shores of the Forth behind the +palace, when, having strayed at some distance from her friends, she saw +this packet lying in the path before her, as if it had just been +dropped. It bore no direction; she therefore opened it, and part of +the contents soon told her she must conceal the whole, till she could +reveal them to me. Not even to my wife did she intrust the dangerous +secret, nor would she run any risk by sending it by a messenger. As +soon as the family were gone to rest, she wrapped herself in her plaid +and finding a passage through one of the low embrasures of Snawdoun, +with a fleet step made her way to the citadel and to me. She gave me +the packet. Read it, my friend, and judge if we do not owe ourselves +to Heaven for so critical a discovery!" + +Wallace took the scroll, and read as follows: + + +"Our trusty fellows will bring you this, and deliver copies of the same +to the rest. We shall be with you in four-and-twenty hours after it +arrives. The army of our liege lord is now in the Lothians, passing +through them under the appellation of succors for the regent from the +Hebrides! Keep all safe, and neither himself nor any of his adherents +shall have a head on their shoulders by this day week." + + +Neither superscription, name, nor date, was to this letter; but Wallace +immediately knew the handwriting to be that of Lord March. "Then we +must have traitors, even within these walls," exclaimed Mar; "none but +the most powerful chiefs would the proud Cospatrick admit into his +conspiracies. And what are we to do? for by to-morrow evening the army +this traitor has let into the heart of this country will be at our +gates!" + +"No," cried Wallace. "Thanks to God and this guardian angel!" +fervently clasping Helen's hand as he spoke, "we must not be +intimidated by treachery! Let us be faithful to ourselves, my veteran +friend, and all will go well. It matters not who the other traitors +are; they must soon discover themselves, and shall find us prepared to +counteract their machinations. Sound your bugles, my lord, to summon +the heads of our council." + +At this command, Helen arose, but replaced herself in her chair on +Wallace exclaiming, "Stay, Lady Helen, let the sight of such virgin +delicacy, braving the terrors of the night to warn betrayed Scotland, +nerve every heart with redoubled courage to breast this insidious foe!" +Helen did indeed feel her soul awake to all its ancient patriotic +enthusiasm; and thus, with a countenance pale, but resplendent with the +light of her thoughts, she sat the angel of her heroic inspiration. +Wallace often turned to look on her, while her eyes, unconscious of the +adoring admiration which spoke in their beams, followed his godlike +figure as it moved through the room with a step that declared the +undisturbed determination of his soul. + +The Lords Bothwell, Loch-awe, and Badenoch were the first that obeyed +the call. They started at sight of Helen, but Wallace in a few words +related the cause of her appearance, and the portentous letter was laid +before them. All were acquainted with the handwriting of Lord March, +and all agreed in attributing to its real motive his late solicitude to +obtain the command of the Lothians. "What!" cried Bothwell, "but to +open his castle gates to the enemy!" + +"And to repel him before he reaches ours, my brave chiefs," replied +Wallace, "I have summoned you! Edward will not make this attempt +without tremendous powers. He knows what he risks; his men, his life, +and his honor. We must therefore expect a resolution in him adequate +to such an enterprise. Lose not then a moment; even to-night, this +instant, and go out and bring in your followers! I will call up mine +from the banks of the Clyde, and be ready to meet him ere he crosses +the Carrou." + +While he gave these orders, other nobles thronged in, and Helen, being +severally thanked by them all, became so agitated, that stretching out +her hand to Wallace, who was nearest to her, she softly whispered, +"Take me hence." He read in her blushing face, the oppression her +modesty sustained in such a scene, and with her faltering steps she +leaned upon his arm as he conducted her to an interior chamber. +Overcome by her former fears and the emotions of the last hour, she +sunk into a chair and burst into tears. Wallace stood near her, and as +he looked on her, he thought, "If aught on earth ever resembled the +beloved of my soul, it is Helen Mar!" And all the tenderness which +memory gave to his almost adored wife, and all the grateful complacency +with which he regarded Helen, beamed at once from his eyes. She raised +her head--she felt that look--it thrilled to her soul. For a moment +every former thought seemed lost in the one perception, that he then +gazed on her as he had never looked on any woman since his Marion. Was +she then beloved? + +The impression was evanescent: "No, no!" said she to herself; and +waving her hand gently to him with her head bent down; "Leave me, Sir +William Wallace. Forgive me--but I am exhausted; my frame is weaker +than my mind." She spoke this at intervals, and Wallace respectfully +touching the hand she extended, pressed it to his breast. + +"I obey you, dear Lady Helen, and when next we meet, it will, I hope, +be to dispel every fear in that gentle bosom." She bowed her head +without looking up, and Wallace left the room. + + + + +CHAPTER LIII. + +Falkirk. + + +Before the sun rose, every brave Scot within a few hours' march of +Stirling, was on the Carse; and Lord Andrew Murray and his veteran +Clydesdale men were already resting on their arms in view of the city +walls. The messengers of Wallace had hastened with the speed of the +winds, east and west; and the noon of the day saw him at the head of +thirty thousand men determined to fight or to die for their country. + +The surrounding landscape shone in the brightness of midsummer; for it +was the eve of St. Magdalen; and sky and earth bore witness to the +luxuriant month of July. The heavens were clear, the waters of the +Forth danced in the sunbeams, and the flower-enameled green of the +extended plain stretched its beautiful borders to the deepening woods. +All nature smiled; all seemed in harmony and peace but the breast of +man. He who was made lord of this paradise awoke to disturb its +repose, to disfigure its loveliness! As the thronging legions poured +upon the plain, the sheep which had been feeding there, fled scared to +the hills; the plover and heath-fowl which nestled in the brakes, rose +affrighted from their infant broods, and flew in screaming multitudes +far over the receding valleys. The peace of Scotland was again broken, +and its flocks and herds were to share its misery. + +When the conspiring lords appeared on the Carse, and Mar communicated +to them the lately discovered treason, they so well affected surprise +at the contents of the scroll, that Wallace might not have suspected +their connection with it, had not Lord Athol declared it altogether a +forgery of some wanton persons, and then added with bitterness, "to +gather an army on such authority is ridiculous." While he spoke, +Wallace regarded him with a look which pierced him to the center; and +the blood rushing into his guilty heart, for once in his life he +trembled before the eye of man. "Whoever be the degenerate Scot, to +whom this writing is addressed," said Wallace, "his baseness cannot +betray us further. The troops of Scotland are ready to meet the enemy; +and woe to the man who that day deserts his country!" "Amen!" cried +Lord Mar. "Amen!" sounded from every lip; for when the conscience +embraces treason against its earthly rulers, allegiance to its heavenly +King is abandoned with ease; and the words and oaths of the traitor are +equally unstable. + +Badenoch's eye followed that of Wallace, and his suspicions fixed where +the regent's fell. For the honor of his blood, he forbore to accuse +the earl; but for the same reason he determined to watch his +proceedings. However, the hypocrisy of Athol baffled even the +penetration of his brother, and on his retiring from the ground to call +forth his men for the expedition, in an affected chafe he complained to +Badenoch of the stigma cast upon their house by the regent's implied +charge. + +"But," said he, "he shall see the honor of the Cummin, emblazoned in +blood on the sands of the Forth! His towering pride heeds not where it +strikes; and this comes of raising men of low estate to rule over +princes!" + +"His birth is noble if not royal," replied Badenoch; "and before this, +the posterity of kings have not disdained to recover their rights by +the sword of a brave subject." + +"True," answered Athol; "but is it customary for princes to allow that +subject to sit on their throne? It is nonsense to talk of Wallace +having refused a coronation. He laughs at the name; but see you not +that he openly affects supreme power; that he rules the nobles of the +land like a despot? His word, his nod is sufficient!--Go here! go +there!--as if he were absolute, and there was no voice in Scotland but +his own! Look at the brave Mack Callan--more, the lord of the west of +Scotland from sea to sea; he stands unbonneted before this mighty +Wallace with a more abject homage than ever he paid to the house of +Alexander! Can you behold this, Lord Badenoch, and not find the royal +blood of your descent boil in your veins? Does not every look of your +wife, the sister of a king, and your own right stamped upon your soul, +reproach you? He is greater by your strength. Humble him, my brother; +be faithful to Scotland, but humble its proud dictator!" + +Lord Badenoch replied to this rough exhortation with the tranquillity +belonging to his nature--"I see not the least foundations for any of +your charges against Sir William Wallace. He has delivered Scotland, +and the people are grateful. The nation with one voice made him their +regent; and he fulfills the duties of his office--but with a modesty, +Lord Athol, which, I must affirm, I never saw equaled. I dissent from +you in all that you have said--and I confess I did fear the blandishing +arguments of the faithless Cospatrick had persuaded you to embrace his +pernicious treason. You deny it--that is well. Prove your innocence +at this juncture in the field against Scotland's enemies; and John of +Badenoch will then see no impending cloud to darken the honor of the +name of Cummin!" + +The brothers immediately separated; and Athol calling his cousin Buchan +arranged a new device to counteract the vigilance of the regent. One +of their means was to baffle his measures by stimulating the less +treasonable but yet discontented chiefs to thwart him in every motion. +At the head of this last class was John Stewart, Earl of Bute. During +the whole of the preceding year he had been in Norway, and the first +object he met on his return to Scotland was the triumphal entry of +Wallace into Stirling. Aware of the consequence Stewart's name would +attach to any cause, Athol had gained his ear before he was introduced +to the regent; and then so poisoned his mind against Wallace that all +that was well in him he deemed ill, and ever spoke of his bravery with +coldness, and of his patriotism with disgust. He believed him a +hypocrite, and as such despised and abhorred him. + +While Athol marshaled his rebellious ranks, some to follow his broad +treason in the face of day, and others to lurk behind, and delude the +intrusted council left in Stirling; Wallace led forth his loyal chiefs +to take their stations at the heads of their different clans. Sir +Alexander Scrymgeour, with the proudest expectations for Scotland, +unfurled his golden standard to the sun. The Lords Loch-awe and +Bothwell, with others, rode on the right of the regent. Lord Andrew +Murray, with the brave Sir John Graham, and a bevy of young knights, +kept the ground on his left. Wallace looked around; Edwin was far +away, and he felt but half appointed when wanting his youthful +swordbearer. That faithful friend did not even know of the threatened +hostility; for to have intimated to Lord Ruthven a danger he could not +assist to repel, would have inflamed his disorder by anxiety, and +perhaps hurried him to dissolution. + +As the regent moved forward with these private affections checkering +his public cares, his heralds blew the trumpets of his approach, and a +hundred embattled clans appeared in the midst of the plain, awaiting +their valiant leaders. Each chief advanced to the head of his line, +and stood to hear the charge of Wallace. + +"Brave Scots!" cried he, "treachery has admitted the enemy whom +resolute patriotism had driven from our borders. Be steady in your +fidelity to Scotland, and He who hath hitherto protected the just +cause, will nerve your arms to lay invasion and its base coadjutors +again in the dust." + +The cheers of anticipated victory burst from the soldiers, mingled with +the clangor of their striking shields at the inspiring voice of their +leader. Wallace waved his truncheon (round which the plan of his array +was wrapped) to the chiefs to fall back toward their legions; and while +some appeared to linger, Athol, armed cap-a-pie, and spurring his roan +into the area before the regent, demanded, in a haughty tone, "Which of +the chiefs now in the field is to lead the vanguard?" + +"The Regent of Scotland," replied Wallace, for once asserting the +majesty of his station, "and you, Lord Athol, with the Lord Buchan, are +to defend your country under the command of the brave head of your +house, the princely Badenoch." + +"I stir not from this spot," returned Athol, fiercely striking his +lance into its rest, "till I see the honor of my country established in +the eye of the world by a leader worthy of her rank being placed in her +vanguard." + +"What he says," cried Buchan, "I second." "And in the same spirit, +chieftain of Ellerslie," exclaimed Lord Bute, "do I offer to Scotland +myself and my people. Another must lead the van, or I retire from her +standard." + +"Speak on!" cried Wallace, more surprised than confounded by this +extraordinary attack. + +"What these illustrious chiefs have uttered, is the voice of us all!" +was the general exclamation from a band of warriors who now thronged +around the incendiary nobles. + +"Your reign is over, proud chieftain," rejoined Athol; "the Scottish +ranks are no longer to be cajoled by your affected moderation. We see +the tyrant in your insidious smile, we feel him in the despotism of +your decrees. To be thus ridden by a man of vulgar blood; to present +him as the head of our nation to the King of England, is beneath the +dignity of our country, is an insult to our nobles; and therefore, in +the power of her consequence, I speak, and again demand of you to yield +the vanguard to one more worthy of the station. Before God and St. +Magdalen I swear," added he, holding up his sword to the heavens, "I +will not stir an inch this day toward the enemy unless a Cummin or a +Stewart lead our army." + +"And is this your resolution also, Lord Bute?" said Wallace, looking on +Stewart. "It is," was the reply; "a foe like Edward ought to be met as +becomes a great and independent kingdom. We go in the array of an +unanimous nation to repel him; not as a band of insurgents, headed by a +general who, however brave, was yet drawn from the common ranks of the +people. I therefore demand to follow a more illustrious leader to the +field." + +"The eagles have long enough followed their owl in peacock's feathers," +cried Buchan; "and being tired of the game, I, like the rest, soar +upward again!" + +"Resign that baton!" cried Athol; "give peace to a more honorable +leader!" repeated he, supposed that he had intimidated Wallace; but +Wallace, raising the visor of his helmet, which he had closed on his +last commands to his generals, looked on Athol with all the majesty of +his truly royal soul in his eyes: "Earl," said he, "the voices of the +three estates of Scotland declared me their regent, and God ratified +the election by the victories with which he crowned me. If in aught I +have betrayed my trust, led the powers which raised me be my accusers. +Four pitched battles have I fought and gained for this country. Twice +I beat the representatives of King Edward on the plains of Scotland; +and a few months ago I made him fly before me over the fields of +Northumberland! What then has befallen me, that my arm is to be too +short to meet this man? Has the oil of the Lord, with which the saint +of Dunkeld anointed my brows, lost its virtue, that I should shrink +before any king in Christendom? I neither tremble at the name of +Edward, nor will I so disgrace my own (which never man who bore it ever +degraded by swearing fealty to a foreign prince), as to abandon at such +a crisis the power with which Scotland has invested me. Whoever +chooses to leave the cause of their country, let them go; and so +manifest themselves of noble blood! I remain, and I lead the vanguard! +Scotsmen, to your duty." + +As he spoke with a voice of unanswerable command, several chiefs fell +back into their ranks. But some made a retrograde motion toward the +town. Lord Bute hardly knew what to think, so was he startled by the +appeal of the accused regent, and the noble frankness with which he +maintained his rights. He stood frowning as Wallace turned to him, and +said, "Do you, my lord, adhere to these violent men? or am I to +consider a chief who, though hostile to me, was generous in his ire, +still faithful to Scotland, in spite of his prejudice against her +leader? Will you fight her battles?" + +"I shall never desert them," replied Stewart; "'tis truth I seek; +therefore be it to you. Wallace, this day according to your +conscience!" Wallace bowed his head, and presented him the truncheon +around which his line of battle was wrapped. On opening it he found +that he was appointed to command the third division; Badenoch and +Bothwell to the first and second; and Wallace himself to the vanguard. + +When the scouts arrived, they informed the regent that the English army +had advanced near to the boundary of Linlithgow, and from the rapidity +of their march, must be on the Carron the same evening. On this +intelligence, Wallace put his troops to their speed and before the sun +had declined far toward the west, he was within view of Falkirk. But +just as he had crossed the Carron, and the Southron banners appeared in +sight, Lord Athol, at the head of his rebellious colleagues, rode up to +him. Stewart kept his appointed station and Badenoch, doing the same, +ashamed of his brother's disorder, called after him to keep his line. +Regardless of all check, the obstinate chief galloped on, and extending +his bold accomplices across the path of the regent, demanded of him, on +the penalty of his life, "that moment to relinquish his pretensions to +the vanguard." + +"I am not come here," replied Wallace indignantly, "to betray my +country! I know you, Lord Athol: and your conduct and mine will this +day prove who is most worthy the confidence of Scotland." + +"This day," cried Athol, "shall see you lay down the power you have +usurped." + +"It shall see me maintain it, to your confusion," replied Wallace, "and +were you not surrounded by Scots of too tried a worth for me to suspect +their being influenced by your rebellious example, I would this moment +make you feel the arm of justice. But the foe is in sight; do your +duty now, sir earl, and for the sake of the house to which you belong, +even this intemperate conduct shall be forgotten." + +At this instant, Sir John Graham, hastening forward, exclaimed: + +"The Southrons are bearing down upon us!" + +Athol glanced at their distant host and turning on Wallace with a +sarcastic smile, "My actions," cried he, "shall indeed decide the day!" +and striking his spurs furiously into his horse, he rejoined Lord +Badenoch's legion. + +Edward did indeed advance in a most terrible array. Above a hundred +thousand men swelled his numerous ranks; and with these were united all +from the Lothians and Teviotdale, whom the influence of the faithless +March and the vindictive Soulis could bring into the field. With this +augmented host, and a determination to conquer or to die, the Southrons +marched rapidly forward. + +Wallace had drawn himself up on the ascent of the hill of Falkirk, and +advantageously planted his archers on a covering eminence flanked by +the legions of Badenoch. Lord Athol, who knew the integrity of his +brother, and who cared not in so great a cause (for such his ambition +termed it) how he removed an adversary from Edward, and a censor from +himself, gave a ridding order to one of his emissaries. Accordingly, +in the moment when the trumpet of Wallace sounded the charge, and the +arrows from the hill darkened the air, the virtuous Badenoch was +stabbed through the back to the very heart. Athol had placed himself +near, to watch his purpose; but in the instant the deed was done, he +threw himself on the perpetrator, and wounding him in the same vital +part, exclaimed, holding up his dagger, "Behold the weapon that has +slain the assassin, hired by Sir William Wallace! Thus it is, that his +ambition would rob Scotland of her native princes. Let us fly from his +steel to the shield of a king and a hero." + +The men had seen their leader fall; they doubted not the words of his +brother; and with a shout exclaiming, "Whither you lead we follow!" all +at once turned toward him. "Seize the traitor's artillery!" At this +command they mounted the hill and the archers, little expecting an +assault from their countrymen, were either instantly cut down, or +hurried away prisoners by Athol and Buchan; who now, at the head of the +whole division of the Cummins, galloped toward the Southrons; and with +loud cries of "Long live King Edward!" threw themselves en masse into +their arms. The squadrons which followed Stewart not knowing but they +might be hurried into similar desertion, hesitated in the charge he had +commanded them to make; and, while thus undecisive, some obeyed in +broken ranks; and others lingered. The enemy advanced briskly up, +surrounded the division, and on their first onset slew its leader. His +faithful Brandanes,** seeing their beloved commander trampled to the +earth by an overwhelming foe, fell into confusion, and communicating +their dismay to their comrades, the whole division sunk under the shock +of the Southrons, as if touched by a spell. + +**Brandanes was the distinguished appellation of the military followers +of the chiefs of Bute. + +Meanwhile Bothwell and his legions were fiercely engaged with the Earl +of Lincoln amid the swamps of a deep morass; but being involved by +reciprocal impetuousity, equal peril engulfed them both. The firm +battalion of the vanguard; alone remaining unbroken, stood before the +pressing and now victorious thousands of Edward without receding a +step. The archers being lost by the treachery of the Cummins, all hope +lay on the strength of the spear and sword; and Wallace, standing +immovable as the rock of Stirling, saw rank after rank of his dauntless +infantry mowed down by the Southron arrows; while, fast as they fell, +their comrades closed over them, and still presented the same +impenetrable front of steady valor against the heavy charges of the +enemy's horse. The King of England, indignant at this pause in his +conquering onset, accompanied by his natural brother, the valiant Frere +de Briagny, and a squadron of resolute knights, in fury threw +themselves toward the Scottish pikesmen. Wallace descried the jeweled +crest of Edward amidst the cloud of battle there, and rushing forward, +hand to hand engaged the king. Edward knew his adversary, not so much +by his snow white plume as by the prowess of his arm. Twice did the +heavy claymore of Wallace strike fire from the steely helmet of the +monarch; but at the third stroke the glittering diadem fell in shivers +to the ground; and the royal blood of Edward followed the blow. He +reeled; and another stroke would have settled the freedom of Scotland +forever, had not the strong arm of Frere de Briagny passed between +Wallace and the king. The combat thickened; blow followed blow; blood +gushed at each fall of the sword; and the hacked armor showed in every +aperture a grisly wound. A hundred weapons seemed directed against the +breast of the Regent of Scotland, when, raising his sword with a +determined stroke, it cleft the visor and vest of De Briagny, who fell +lifeless to the ground. The cry that issued from the Southron troops +at this sight again nerved the vengeful Edward, and ordering the signal +for his reserve to advance, he renewed the attack; and assaulting +Wallace, with all the fury of his heart in his eyes and arms, he tore +the earth with the trampling of disappointed vengeance, when he found +the invincible phalanx still stood firm. + +"I will reach him yet!" cried he; and turning to De Valence, he +commanded that the new artillery should be called into action. + +On this order, a blast of trumpets in the Southron army blew; and the +answering war-wolves it had summoned sent forth showers of red-hot +stones into the midst of the Scottish battalions. At the same moment +the English reserve, charging round the hill, attacked them in the +flank, and accomplished what the fiery torrent had begun. The field +was heaped with dead; the brooks which flowed down the heights ran with +blood; but no confusion was there--no, not even in the mind of Wallace; +though, with amazement and horror, he beheld the saltire of Annandale, +the banner of Bruce, leading onward the last exterminating division! +Scot now contended with Scot, brother with brother. Those valiant +spirits, who had left their country twenty years before to accompany +their chief to the Holy Land, now re-entered Scotland to wound her in +her vital part; to wrest from her her liberties; to make her mourn in +ashes, that she had been the mother of such matricides. A horrid +mingling of tartans with tartans, in the direful grasp of reciprocal +death; a tremendous rushing of the flaming artillery, which swept the +Scottish ranks like blasting lightning, for a moment seemed to make the +reason of their leader stagger. Arrows, winged with fire, flashed +through the air; and sticking in men and beasts, drove them against +each other in maddening pain. Twice was the horse of Wallace shot +under him; and on every side were his closest friends wounded and +dispersed. But his terrific horror at the scene passed away the moment +of its perception; and though the Southron and the Bruce pressed on him +in overwhelming numbers, his few remaining ranks obeyed his call; and +with a presence of mind and military skill that was exhaustless, he +maintained the fight till darkness parted the combatants. When Edward +gave command for his troops to rest till morning, Wallace, with the +remnant of his faithful band slowly recrossed the Carron, that they +also might repose till dawn should renew the conflict. + +Lonely was the sound of his bugle, as sitting on a fragment of the +druidical ruins of Dunipacis, he blew its melancholy blast to summon +his chiefs around him. Its penetrating voice pierced the hills, but no +answering note came upon his ear. A direful conviction seized upon his +heart. But they might have fled far distant! he blushed as the thought +crossed him, and hopeless again, dropped the horn, which he had raised +to blow a second summons. At this instant he saw a shadow darken the +moonlight ruins, and Scrymgeour, who had gladly heard his commander's +bugle, hastened forward. + +"What has been the fate of this dismal day?" asked Wallace, looking +onward, as if he expected others to come up. "Where are my +friends?--Where Graham, Badenoch and Bothwell?--Where all, brave +Scrymgeour, that I do not know see?" He rose from his seat at sight of +an advancing group. It approached near and laid the dead body of a +warrior down before him. "Thus," cried one of the supporters, in +stifled sounds, "has my father proved his love for Scotland!" It was +Murray who spoke; it was the Earl of Bothwell that lay a breathless +corpse at his feet! + +"Grievous has been the havoc of Scot on Scot!" cried the intrepid +Graham, who had seconded the arm of Murray in the contest for his +father's body. "Your steadiness, Sir William Wallace, would have +retrieved the day but for the murderer of his country; that Bruce, for +whom you refused to be our king, thus destroys her bravest sons. Their +blood be on his head!" continued the young chief, extending his martial +arms toward heaven. "Power of Justice, hear! and let his days be +troubled, and his death covered with dishonor!" + +"My brave friend!" replied Wallace, "his deeds will avenge themselves, +he needs not further malediction. Let us rather bless the remains of +him who is gone before us thus in glory to his heavenly rest! Ah! +better is it thus to be laid in the bed of honor, than, by surviving, +witness the calamities which the double treason of this day will bring +upon our martyred country! Murray, my friend!" cried he to Lord +Andrew, "we must not let the brave dead perish in vain! Their monument +shall yet be Scotland's liberties. Fear not that we are forsaken +because of these traitors; but remember our time is in the hand of the +God of justice and mercy!" + +Tears were coursing each other in mute woe down the cheeks of the +affectionate son. He could not for some time answer Wallace, but he +grasped his hand, and at last rapidly articulated, "Others may have +fallen, but not mortally like him. Life may yet be preserved in some +of our brave companions. Leave me, then, to mourn my dead alone! and +seek ye them." + +Wallace saw that filial tenderness yearned for the moment when it might +unburden its grief unchecked by observation. He arose, and making a +sign to his friends, withdrew toward his men. Having sent a detachment +to guard the sacred inclosure of Dunipacis, he dispatched Graham on the +dangerous duty of gathering a reinforcement for the morning. Then +sending Scrymgeour, with a resolute band, across the Carron, to bring +in the wounded (for Edward had encamped his army about a mile south of +the field of action), he took his lonely course along the northern bank +toward a shallow ford near which he supposed the squadrons of Lord +Loch-awe must have fought, and where he hoped to gain accounts of him +from some straggling survivor of his clan. When he arrived at a point +where the river is narrowest, and winds its dark stream beneath +impending heights, he blew the Campbell pibroch; the notes reverberated +from rock to rock, but, unanswered, died away in distant echoes. Still +he could not relinquish hope, and pursuing the path, emerged upon an +open glade. The unobstructed rays of the moon illumined every object. +Across the river, at some distance from the bank, a division of the +Southron tents whitened the deep shadows of the bordering woods; and +before them, on the blood-stained plain, he thought he descried a +solitary warrior. Wallace stopped. The man approached the margin of +the stream, and looked toward the Scottish chief. The visor of Wallace +being up, discovered his heroic countenance bright in the moonbeams; +and the majesty of his mien seemed to declare him to the Southron +knight to be no other than the Regent of Scotland. + +"Who art thou?" cried the warrior, with a voice of command, that better +became his lips than it was adapted to the man whom he addressed. + +"The enemy of England!" cried the chief. + +"Thou art Wallace!" was the immediate reply; "none else dare answer the +Lord of Carrick and of Annandale with such haughty boldness." + +"Every Scot in this land," returned Wallace, inflamed with an +indignation he did not attempt to repress, "would thus answer Bruce, +not only in reference to England, but to himself! to that Bruce, who, +not satisfied with having abandoned his people to their enemies, has +stolen a base fratricide to slay his brethren in their home! To have +met them on the plain of Stanmore, would have been a deed his posterity +might have bewailed; but what horror, what shame will be theirs, when +they know that he came to ruin his own rights, to stab his people, in +the very bosom of his country! I come from gazing on the murdered body +of the virtuous Earl of Bothwell! The Lords Bute and Fyfe, and perhaps +Loch-awe, have fallen beneath the Southron sword, and your unnatural +arm; and yet do you demand what Scot would dare to tell you, that he +holds the Earl of Carrick and his coadjutors as his most mortal foes?" + +"Ambitious man! Dost thou flatter thyself with belief that I am to be +deceived by thy pompous declamation? I know the motive of all this +pretended patriotism, I am well informed of the aim of all this vaunted +prowess; and I came, not to fight the battles of King Edward, but to +punish the proud usurper of the rights of Bruce. I have gained my +point. My brave followers slew the Lord of Bothwell; my brave +followers made the hitherto invincible Sir William Wallace retreat! I +came in the power of my birthright; and, as your lawful king, I command +you, this hour, to lay your rebel sword at my feet. Obey, proud +knight, or to-morrow puts you into Edward's hand, and, without appeal, +you die the death of a traitor." + +"Unhappy prince," cried Wallace, now suspecting that Bruce had been +deceived; "is it over the necks of your most loyal subjects that you +would mount your throne? How have you been mistaken! How have you +strengthened the hands of your enemy, and weakened your own by this +day's action! The cause is now probably lost forever; and from whom +are we to date its ruin but from him to whom the nation looked as to +its appointed deliverer? From him, whose once honored name will now be +regarded with exaggeration?" + +"Burden not my name, rash young man," replied Bruce, "with the charges +belonging to your own mad ambition. Who disturbed the peace in which +Scotland reposed after the battle of Dunbar, but William Wallace? Who +raised the country in arms, but William Wallace? Who stole from me my +birthright, and fastened the people's love on himself, but William +Wallace? Who affected to repel a crown that he might the more +certainly fix it on his head, but William Wallace? And who dares now +taunt me with his errors and mishaps, but the same traitor to his +lawful sovereign?" + +"Shall I answer thee, Lord of Carrick," replied Wallace, "with a +similar appeal? Who, when the Southron tyrant preferred a false claim +to the supremacy of this realm, subscribed to the falsehood; and by +that action did all in his power to make a free people slaves? Who, +when the brand of cruelty swept this kingdom from shore to shore, lay +indolent in the usurper's court, and heard of these oppressions without +a sigh? Who, horror on horror! brought an army into his own +inheritance, to slay his brethren and to lay it desolate before his +mortal foe? Thy heart will tell thee, Bruce, who is this man; and if +honor yet remain in that iron region, thou wilt not disbelieve the +asseverations of an honest Scot, who proclaims that it was to save them +whom thou didst abandon, that he appeared in the armies of Scotland. +It was to supply the place of thy desertion that he assumed the rule, +with which a grateful people, rescued from bondage, invested him." + +"Bold chieftain!" exclaimed Bruce, "is it thus you continue to brave +your offended prince? But in pity to your youth, in admiration of a +prowess which would have been godlike had it been exerted for your +sovereign, and not used as a bait to satisfy an ambition wild as it is +towering, I would expostulate with you; I would even deign to tell you +that, in granting the supremacy of Edward, the royal Bruce submits not +to the mere wish of a despot, but to the necessity of the times. This +is not an area of so great loyalty that any sovereign may venture to +contend against such an imperial arm as Edward's. And would you--a boy +in years, a novice in politics, and though brave, and till this day +successful--would you pretend to prolong a war with the dictator of +kingdoms? Can rational discrimination be united with the valor you +possess and you not perceive the unequal contest between a weak state, +deprived of its head and agitated by intestine commotions, and a mighty +nation conducted by the ablest and most martial monarch of his age--a +man who is not only determined to maintain his pretensions to Scotland, +but is master of every resourse, either for protracting war or pushing +it with vigor? If the love of your country be indeed your motive for +perseverance, your obstinacy tends only to lengthen her misery. But +if--as I believe is the case--you carry your views to private +aggrandizement, reflect on their probable issue. Should Edward, by a +miracle, withdraw his armies, and an intoxicated people elevate their +minion to the throne, the lords of Scotland would reject the bold +invasion and, with the noble vengeance of insulted greatness, hurl from +his height the proud usurper of their rights and mine." + +"To usurp any man's rights, and least of all, my king's" replied +Wallace, "never came within the range of my thoughts. Though lowly +born, Lord Carrick, I am not so base as to require assumption to give +me dignity. I saw my country made a garrison of Edward's, I beheld its +people outraged in every relation that is dear to man. Who heard their +cry? Where was Bruce? Where the nobles of Scotland, that none arose +to extinguish her burning villages, to shelter the mother and the +child, to rescue purity from violation, to defend the bleeding father +and his son? The shrieks of despair resounded through the land and +none appeared! The hand of violence fell on my own house! the wife of +my bosom was stabbed to the heart by a magistrate of the usurper! I +then drew the sword!--I took pity on those who suffered as I had +suffered! I espoused their cause, and never will I forsake it till +life forsakes me. Therefore, that I became champion of Scotland, Lord +of Carrick, blame not my ambition, but rather the supineness of the +nobility, and chiefly yourself--you who, uniting personal merit to +dignity of descent, had deserted to occupy! Had the Scots, from the +time of Baliol's abdication, possessed such a leader as yourself (for +what is the necessity of the times but the pusillanimity of those who +ought to contend with Edward?) by your valor and their union you must +have surmounted every difficulty under which we struggle, and have +closed the contest with success and honor. If you now start from your +guilty delusion, it may not be too late to rescue Scotland from the +perils which surround her. Listen then to my voice, prince of the +blood of Alexander! forswear the tyrant who has cajoled you to this +abandonment of your country, and resolve to be her deliverer. The +bravest of the Scots are ready to acknowledge you their lord, to reign +as your forefathers did, untrammeled by any foreign yoke. Exchange, +then a base vassalage, for freedom and a throne! Awake to yourself, +noble Bruce, and behold what it is I propose! Heaven itself cannot set +a more glorious prize before the eyes of virtue or ambition, than to +join in one object, the acquisition of royalty with the maintenance of +national independence! Such is my last appeal to you. For myself, as +I am well convinced that the real welfare of my country can never +subsist with the sacrifice of her liberties, I am determined, as far as +in me lies, to prolong, not her miseries, but her integrity, by +preserving her from the contamination of slavery. But, should +mysterious fate decree her fall, may that power which knows the vice +and horrors which accompany a tyrant's reign, terminate the existence +of a people who can no longer preserve their lives but by receiving +laws from usurpation!" + +The truth and gallantry of these sentiments struck the awakened mind of +Bruce with the force of conviction. Another auditor was nigh, who also +lost not a syllable; "and the flame was conveyed from the breast of one +hero to that of the other." + +Lord Carrick secretly repented of all that he had done; but being too +proud to acknowledge so much, he briefly answered: "Wallace, your words +have made an impression on me, that may one day still more brighten the +glory of your fame. Be silent respecting this conference; be faithful +to the principles you have declared, and ere long you shall hear +royally of Bruce." As he spoke, he turned away and was lost among the +trees. + +Wallace stood for some minutes musing on what had passed, when, hearing +a footstep behind him, he turned round, and beheld approaching him a +young and graceful form, habited in a white hacqueton wrought in gold, +with golden spurs on his feet, and a helmet of the same costly metal on +his head, crested with white feathers. Had the scene been in +Palestine, he might have mistaken him for the host's guardian angel in +arms. But the moment the eyes of Wallace fell on him, the stranger +hastened forward, and threw himself on one knee before him, with so +noble a grace that the chief was lost in wonder what this beautiful +apparition could mean. The youth, after an agitated pause, bowing his +head, exclaimed: + +"Pardon this intrusion, bravest of men! I come to offer you my heart, +my life! To wash out, by your side, in the blood of the enemies of +Scotland, the stigma which now dishonors the name of Bruce!" + +"And who are you, noble youth?" cried Wallace, raising him from the +ground. "Surely my prayers are at last answered; and I hear these +sentiments from one of Alexander's race!" + +"I am indeed of his blood," replied he; "and it must now be my study to +prove my descent by deeds worthy of my ancestor. I am Robert Bruce, +the eldest son of the Earl of Carrick and Annandale. Grieving over the +slaughter that his valor had made of his own people (although, till you +taught him otherwise, he believed they fought to maintain the +usurpation of an ambitious subject), he walked out in melancholy. I +followed at a distance; and I heard, unseen, all that has passed +between you and him. He has retired to his tent; and, unknown to him, +I hastened across the Carron, to avow my loyalty to virtue, to declare +my determination to live for Scotland, or to die for her; and to follow +the arms of Sir William Wallace, till he plants my father in the throne +of his ancestors." + +"I take you at your word, brave prince!" replied the regent; "and this +night shall give you an opportunity to redeem to Scotland, what your +father's sword has this day wrested from her. What I mean to do must +be effected in the course of a few hours. That done, it will be +prudent for you to return to the Carrick camp; and there take the most +effectual means to persuade your father to throw himself at once into +the arms of Scotland. The whole nation will then rally round their +king; and as his weapon of war, I shall rejoice to fulfill the +commission with which God has intrusted me!" He then briefly unfolded +to the eagerly listening Bruce (whose aspiring spirit, inflamed by the +fervor of youth, and winged by natural courage, saw the glory alone of +the enterprise), an attack which he meant to make on the camp of +Edward, while his victorious troops slept in fancied security. + +He had sent Sir John Graham to Stirling, to call out its garrison; Ker +he had dispatched on a similar errand; and expecting that by this time +some of the troops would be arrived on the southern extremity of the +carse, he threw his plaid over the prince's splendid garb to conceal +him from notice; then returning to the few who lay on the northern bank +of the river, he asked one of the young Gordons to lend him his armor, +saying he had use for it, and to seek another suit in the heap that had +been collected from the buried dead. The brave Scot cheerfully +acquiesced; and, Wallace retiring amongst the trees with his royal +companion, Bruce soon covered his gay hacqueton with this rough mail; +and placing the Scottish bonnet on his head, put a large stone into the +golden helmet, and sunk it in the waters of the Carron. Being thus +completely armed like one of the youthful clansmen in the ranks (and +such disguise was necessary), Wallace put the trusty claymore of his +country into its prince's hand; and clasping him with a hero's warmth +to his heart-- + +"Now it is," cried he, "that William Wallace lives anew since he has +seen this hour!" + +On re-emerging from the wood, they met Sir John Graham, who had just +arrived with five hundred fugitives from Lord Bute's slaughtered +division, whom he had rallied on the carse. He informed his friend +that the Earl of Mar was within half a mile of the Carron, with three +thousand more; and, that he would soon be joined by other +re-enforcements to a similar amount. While Graham yet spoke, a +squadron of armed men approached from the Forth side. Wallace, +advancing toward them, beheld the Bishop of Dunkeld, in his sacerdotal +robes, at their head, but with a corselet on his breast, and instead of +his crosier he carried a drawn sword. "We come to you, champion of +Scotland," cried the prelate, "with the prayers and the arms of the +church. The sword of the Levites of old smote the enemies of Israel; +and in the same faith, that the God of Justice will go before us this +night, we come to fight for Scotland's liberties." + +His followers were the younger brethren of the monastery of +Cambus-Kenneth, and others from the neighboring convents, altogether +making a stout and well-appointed legion. + +"With this handful," cried Wallace, "Heaven may find a David, who shall +yet strike yon Goliath on the forehead!" + +Lord Mar and Lord Lennox now came up; and Wallace, marshaling his +train, found that he had nearly ten thousand men. He gave to each +leader his plan of attack; and having placed Bruce with Graham in the +van, before he took his station at its head, he retired to the ruins +near Dunipacis, to visit the mourning solitude of Murray. He found the +pious son sitting silent and motionless by the side of his dead parent. +Without rousing the violence of grief by any reference to the sight +before him, Wallace briefly communicated his project. Lord Andrew +started to his feet. "I will share all the peril with you! I shall +again grapple with the foe that has thus bereaved me! This dark +mantle," cried he, turning toward the breathless corpse, and throwing +his plaid over it, "will shroud thy hallowed remains till I return. I +go where thou wouldst direct me. Oh, my father!" exclaimed he, in a +burst of grief, "the trumpet shall sound, and thou wilt not hear! But +I go to take vengeance for thy blood!" So saying, he sprung from the +place, and accompanying Wallace to the plain, took his station in the +silent but swiftly moving army. + + + + +Chapter LIV. + +Carron Banks. + + +The troops of King Edward lay overpowered with wine. Elated with +victory, they had drunk largely, the royal pavilion setting them the +example; for though Edward was temperate, yet, to flatter his recovered +friends, the inordinate Buchan and Soulis, he had allowed a greater +excess that night than he was accustomed to sanction. The banquet +over, every knight retired to his tent; every soldier to his pallet; +and a deep sleep lay upon every man. The king himself, whose many +thoughts had long kept him waking, now fell into a slumber. + +Guards had been placed around the camp more from military ceremony than +an idea of their necessity. The strength of Wallace they believed +broken; and that they should have nothing to do next morning but to +chase him into Stirling, and take him there. But the spirit of the +regent was not so easily subdued. He ever thought it shameful to +despair while it was possible to make a stand. And now, leading his +determined followers through the lower grounds of Cumbernaul, he +detached half his force under Mar, to take the Southron camp in the +rear, while he should attack the front, and pierce his way to the royal +pavilion. + +With soundless caution, the battalion of Mar wound round the banks of +the Forth to reach the point of its destination; and Wallace, +proceeding with as noiseless a step, gained the hill which overlooked +his sleeping enemies. His front ranks, shrouded by branches they had +torn from the trees in Tor Wood, now stood still. Without this +precaution, had any eye looked from the Southron line they must have +been perceived; but now should a hundred gaze on them, their figures +were so blended with the adjoining thickets, they might easily be +mistaken for a part of them. As the moon sunk in the horizon they +moved gently down the hill; and scarcely drawing breath, were within a +few paces of the first outpost, when one of the sentinels starting from +his reclining position, suddenly exclaimed, "What sound is that?" + +"Only the wind amongst the trees," returned his comrade; "I see their +branches waving. Let me sleep; for Wallace yet lives, and we may have +hot work to-morrow." Wallace did live, and the man slept--to wake no +more; for the next instant a Scottish brand was through every Southron +heart on the outpost. That done, Wallace threw away his bough, leaped +the narrow dike which lay in front of the camp; and with Bruce and +Graham at the head of a chosen band of brave men, cautiously proceeded +onward to reach the pavilion. At the moment he should blow his bugle, +the divisions he had left with Lennox and Murray, and the Lord Mar, +were to press forward to the same point. + +Still all lay in profound repose, and guided by the lamps which burned +around the royal quarters, the dauntless Scots reached the tent. +Wallace had already laid his hand upon the curtain that was its +entrance, when an armed man with a presented pike, demanded, "Who comes +here?" the regent's answer laid the interrogator's head at his feet; +but the voice had awakened the ever watchful king. Perceiving his own +danger in the fall of the sentinel, he snatched his sword, and calling +aloud on his sleeping train, sprung from his couch. He was immediately +surrounded by half a score of knights, who started on their feet before +Wallace could reach the spot. Short, however, would have been their +protection; they fell before his arm and that of Graham, and left a +vacant place, for Edward had disappeared. Foreseeing from the first +prowess of these midnight invaders, the fate of his guards, he had made +a timely escape, by cutting a passage for himself through the canvas of +his tent. Wallace perceived that his prize had eluded his grasp, but +hoping to at least drive him from the field, he blew the appointed +signal to Mar and Lennox; caught one of the lamps from the monarch's +table and setting fire to the adjoining drapery, rushed from its +blazing volumes to meet his brave colleagues amongst the disordered +lines. Graham and his followers with firebrands in their hands, threw +conflagration into all parts of the camp, and with the fearful +war-cries of their country, seemed to assail the terrified enemy from +every direction. Men half-dressed and unarmed, rushed from their tents +upon the pikes of their enemies; hundreds fell without striking a blow, +and they who were stationed nearest the outposts, betook themselves to +flight, scattering themselves in scared throngs over the amazed plains +of Linlithgow. + +The king in vain sought to rally his men--to remind them of their late +victory. His English alone hearkened to his call; superstition had +laid her petrifying hand on all the rest. The Irish saw a terrible +judgment in this scene; believing it had fallen upon them for having +taken arms against their sister people; the Welsh, as they descried the +warlike Bishop of Dunkeld issuing from the mists of the river, and +charging his foaming steed through their flying defiles, could not +persuade themselves that Merlin had not arisen to chastise their +obedience to the ravager of their country. Every superstition, every +panic created by fear took possession of the half-intoxicated, stupid +wretches; and falling in bloody and unresisting heaps all around, it +was rather a slaughter than a battle. Opposition seemed everywhere +abandoned, excepting on the spot still maintained by the King of +England and his brave countrymen. The faithless Scots who had followed +the Cummins to the field also stood there and fought with desperation. +Wallace opposed the despair and valor of his adversaries with the +steadiness of his men; and Graham having seized some of the +war-engines, discharged a shower of blazing arrows upon the Southron +phalanx. + +The camp was now on fire in every direction; and putting all to the +hazard of one decisive blow, Edward ordered his men to make at once to +the point, where, by the light of the flaming tents, he could perceive +the waving plumes of Wallace. With his ponderous mace held terribly in +the air, the king himself bore down to the shock; and breaking through +the intervening combatants assaulted the chief. The might of ten +thousand souls was then in the arm of the Regent of Scotland. The +puissant Edward wondered at himself as he shrunk from before his +strokes; as he shuddered at the heroic fierceness of a countenance +which seemed more than mortal. Was it indeed the Scottish chieftain? +or some armed delegate from heaven, descended to flight the battles of +the oppressed? Edward trembled; his mace was struck from his hand; but +immediately a glittering falchon supplied its place, and with +recovering presence of mind he renewed the combat. + +Meanwhile the young Bruce (who, in his humble armor, might have been +passed by as an enemy for meaner swords), checking the onward speed of +March, pierced him at once through the heart: "Die, thou disgrace to +the name of Scot," cried he, "and with thy blood expunge my stains!" +His sword now laid all opposition at his feet; and while the tempest of +death blew around, the groans of the dying, the shrieks of the wounded, +and the outcries of those who were perishing in the flames, drove the +king's ranks to distraction, and raised so great a fear in the minds of +the Cummin clan, that, breaking from the royal line with yells of +dismay, they fled in all directions after their already fugitive allies. + +Edward saw the Earl of March fall, and finding himself wounded in many +places, with a backward step he received the blows of Wallace; but that +determined chief, following his advantage, made a stroke at the king +which threw him astounded into the arms of his followers. At that +moment Lincoln raised his arm to strike his dagger into the back of +Wallace; but Graham arrested the blow, and sent the young lord's +motionless body to the earth. The Southron ranks closed immediately +before their insensible monarch; and a contest more desperate than any +which had preceded it, took place. Hosts seemed to fall on both sides; +at last the Southrons (having stood their ground till Edward was +carried from further danger) suddenly wheeled about and fled +precipitately toward the east. Wallace pursued them on full charge; +driving them across the lowlands of Linlithgow, where he learned from +some prisoners he took, that the Earl of Carrick was in the Lothians; +having retreated hither on the first tidings that the Scots had +attacked the English camp. + +"Now is your time," said Wallace to Bruce, "to rejoin your father. +Bring him to Scotland, where a free crown awaits him. Your actions of +this night must be a pledge to your country of the virtues which will +support his throne!" + +The young warrior, throwing off his rugged hauberk in a retired glen, +appeared again as a prince, and embracing the regent: + +"A messenger from myself or from my father," said he, "shall meet you +at Stirling; meanwhile, farewell!--and give my thanks to the young +Gordon whose sword armed me for Scotland!" + +Bruce mounted the horse Wallace had prepared, and spurring along the +banks of the Almond, was soon lost amidst its luxuriant shades. + +Wallace still led the pursuit of Edward, and meeting those auxiliaries +from the adjoining counties, which his provident orders had prepared to +turn out on the first appearance of this martial chase; he poured his +troops through Ettrick Forest, and drove the flying host of England far +into Northumberland. There checking his triumphant squadrons, he +recalled his stragglers, and returned with abated speed into his own +country. Halting on the north bank of the Twee, he sent to their +quarters those hands which belonged to the border castles, and then +marched leisurely forward, that his brave soldiers, who had sustained +the weight of the battle, might recover their exhausted strength. + +At Peebles he was agreeably surprised by the sight of Edwin. Though +ignorant of the recommenced hostilities of Edward, Lord Ruthven became +so impatient to resume his duties, that as soon as he was able to move, +he had set off on his return to Perth. On arriving at Huntingtower he +was told of the treachery of March, also of his fate, and that the +regent had beaten the enemy on the banks of the Carron, and was +pursuing him into his own dominions. Ruthven was inadequate to the +exertion of following the successful troops, but Edwin, rejoicing at +this new victory, would not be detained, and crossing the Forth into +Mid-Lothian, had sped his eager way until the happy moment that brought +him again to the side of his first and dearest friend. + +As they continued their route together, Edwin inquired the events of +the past time, and heard them related with wonder, horror, and +gratitude. Grateful for the preservation of Wallace, grateful for the +rescue of his country from the menaced destruction, for some time he +could only clasp his friend's hand with strong emotion to his heart. +The death of his uncle Bothwell made that heart tremble within him at +the thought of how much severer might have been his deprivation; at +last, extricating his powers of speech from the spell of contradictory +feelings which enchained them, he said, "But if my uncle Mar and our +brave Graham were in the last conflict, where are they, that I do not +see them share your victory?" + +"I hope," returned Wallace, "that we shall rejoin them in safety at +Stirling. Our troops parted in the pursuit, and after having sent back +the Lowland chieftains, you see I have none with me now but my own +particular followers." + +The regent's expectations that he should soon fall in with some of the +chasing squadrons, were the next morning gratified. Crossing the +Bathgate Hills, he met the returning battalions of Lennox, with Lord +Mar's, and also Sir John Graham's. Lord Lennox was thanked by Wallace +for his good services, and immediately dispatched to reoccupy his +station in Dumbarton. But the captains of Mar and of Graham, could +give no other account of their leaders, than that they saw them last +fighting valiantly in the Southron camp, and had since supposed that +during the pursuit they must have joined the regent's squadron. A cold +dew fell over the limbs of Wallace at these tidings; he looked on +Murray and on Edwin. The expression of the former's face told him what +were his fears; but Edwin, ever sanguine, strove to encourage the hope +that all might yet be well: "They may not have yet returned from the +pursuit; or they may be gone on to Stirling." + +But these comfortings were soon dispelled by the appearance of Lord +Ruthven, who (having been apprised of the regent's approach) came forth +to meet him. The pleasure of seeing the earl so far recovered as to +have been able to leave Huntingtower, was checked by the first glance +of his face, on which was deeply characterized some tale of grief. +Edwin thought it was the recent disasters of Scotland he mourned; and +with a cheering voice he exclaimed, "Courage, my father! our regent +comes again a conqueror! Edward has once more recrossed the plains of +Northumberland!" + +"Thanks be to God for that!" replied Ruthven! "but what have not these +last conflicts cost the country! Lord Mar is wounded unto death, and +lies in a chamber next to the yet unburied corpses of Lord Bute and the +dauntless Graham." Wallace turned deadly pale; a mist passed over his +eyes, and staggering, he breathlessly supported himself on the arm of +Edwin. Murray looked on him; but all was still in his heart: his own +beloved father had fallen; and in that stroke Fate seemed to have +emptied all her quiver. + +"Lead me to their chambers!" cried Wallace; "show me where my friends +lie; let me hear the last prayer for Scotland from the lips of the +bravest of her veterans!" + +Ruthven turned the head of his horse; and, as he rode along, he +informed the regent that Edwin had not left Huntingtower for the Forth +half an hour when an express arrived from Falkirk. By it he learned +that, as soon as the inhabitants of Stirling saw the fire of the +Southron camp, they had hastened thither to enjoy the spectacle. Some, +bolder than the rest, entered its deserted confines (for the retreating +squadrons were then flying over the plain); and amidst the slaughtered, +near the royal tent, one of these visitors thought he distinguished +groans. Whether friend or foe, he stooped to render assistance to the +sufferer, and soon found it to be Lord Mar. The earl begged to be +carried to some shelter that he might see his wife and daughter before +he died. The people drew him out from under his horse and many a +mangled corpse; and, wrapping him in their plaids, conveyed him to +Falkirk, where they lodged him in the convent. + +"A messenger was instantly dispatched to me," continued Ruthven; "and, +indifferent to all personal considerations, I set out immediately. I +saw my dying brother-in-law. At his request, that others might not +suffer what he had endured under the pressure of the slain, the field +had been sought for the wounded. Many were conveyed into the +neighboring houses, while the dead were consigned to the earth. Deep +have been dug the graves of mingled Scot and English on the banks of +the Carron! Many of our fallen nobles, amongst whom was the princely +Badenoch, have been conveyed to the cemetery of their ancestors; others +are entombed in the church of Falkirk; but the bodies of Sir John +Graham and my brother Bothwell," said he, in a lower tone, "I have +retained till your return." + +"You have done right," replied the till then, silent Wallace; and +spurring forward, he saw not the ground he trod, till, ascending the +hill of Falkirk, the venerable walls of its monastery presented +themselves to his view. He threw himself off his horse and entered, +preceded by Lord Ruthven. + +He stopped before the cell which contained the dying chief, and desired +the abbot to apprise the earl of his arrival. The sound of that voice, +whose heart-consoling tones could be matched by none on earth, +penetrated to the ear of his almost insensible friend. Mar started +from his pillow, and Wallace through the half-open door heard him say: +"Let him come in, Joanna! All my mortal hopes now hang on him." + +Wallace instantly stepped forward, and beheld the veteran stretched on +a couch, the image of that death to which he was so rapidly +approaching. He hastened toward him; and the dying man, stretching +forth his arms exclaimed: "Come to me, Wallace, my son, the only hope +of Scotland, the only human trust of this anxious paternal heart!" + +Wallace threw himself on his knees beside him, and taking his hand, +pressed it in speechless anguish to his lips; every present grief was +then weighing on his soul, and denied him the power of utterance. Lady +Mar sat by the pillow of her husband, but she bore no marks of the +sorrow which convulsed the frame of Wallace. She looked serious, but +her cheek wore its freshest bloom. She spoke not, and the veteran +allowed the tears of enfeebled nature to fall on the bent head of his +friend. "Mourn not for me," cried he, "nor think that these are +regretful drops. I die as I have wished, in the field for Scotland. +Time must have soon laid my gray hair ignobly in the grave; and to +enter it thus covered with honorable wounds, in glory, has long been my +prayer. But, dearest, most unwearied of friends, still the tears of +mortality will flow; for I leave my children fatherless in this +faithless world. And my Helen! Oh, Wallace, the angel who exposed her +precious self through the dangers of that midnight walk to save +Scotland, her father, and his friends, is--lost to us! Joanna, tell the +rest," said he, gasping, "for I cannot." + +Wallace turned to Lady Mar with an inquiring look of such wild horror +that she found her tongue cleave to the roof of her mouth, and her +complexion faded into the pallidness of his. + +"Surely," exclaimed he, "there is not to be a wreck of all that is +estimable on earth. The Lady Helen is not dead?" + +"No," rejoined the earl; "but-" + +He could proceed no further, and Lady Mar forced herself to speak. + +"She has fallen into the hands of the enemy. On my lord's being +brought to this place, he sent for myself and Lady Helen; but in +passing by Dunipacis, an armed squadron issued from behind the mound, +and putting our attendants to flight, carried her off. I escaped +hither. The reason for this attack was explained afterward by one of +the Southrons, who, having been wounded by our escort, was taken, and +brought to Falkirk. He said that Lord Aymer de Valence, having been +sent by his beset monarch to call Lord Carrick to his assistance, found +the Bruce's camp deserted; but by accident learning that Lady Helen Mar +was to be brought to Falkirk, he stationed himself behind Dunipacis; +and springing out as soon as our cavalcade was in view, seized her. +She obtained, the rest were allowed to escape, but as the Lord de +Valence loves Helen, I cannot doubt he will have sufficient honor not +to insult the fame of her family, and so will make her his wife." + +"God forbid!" ejaculated Mar, holding up his trembling hands; "God +forbid that my blood should ever mingle with that of any one of the +people who have wrought such woe to Scotland! Swear to me, valiant +Wallace, by the virtues of her virgin heart, by your own immaculate +honor, that you will move heaven and earth to rescue my Helen from the +power of his Southron lord!" + +"So help me Heaven!" answered Wallace, looking steadfastly upward. A +groan burst from the lips of Lady Mar, and her head sunk on the side of +the couch. + +"What? Who is that?" exclaimed Mar, raising his head in alarm from his +pillow. + +"Believe it your country, Donald!" replied she; "to what do you bind +its only defender? Are you not throwing him into the very center of +his enemies, by making him swear to rescue Helen? Think you that De +Valence will not foresee a pursuit, and take her into the heart of +England? And thither must our regent follow him! Release Sir William +Wallace from a vow that must destroy him!" + +"Wallace," cried the now soul-struck earl, "what have I done? Has a +father's anxiety asked amiss? If so, pardon me! But if my daughter +also must perish for Scotland, take her, O God, uncontaminated, and let +us meet in heaven! Wallace, I dare not accept your vow." + +"But I will fulfill it," cried he. "Let thy paternal heart rest in +peace; and by Jesus' help, Lady Helen shall again be in her own +country, as free from Southron taint as she is from all mortal sin! De +Valence dare not approach her heavenly innocence with violence; and her +Scottish heart will never consent to give him a lawful claim to her +precious self. Edward's legions are far beyond the borders! but +wherever this earl may be, yet I will reach him. For there is a +guiding hand above, and the demands of the morning at Falkirk are now +to be answered in the halls of Stirling." + +Lord Ruthven, followed by Edwin and Murray, entered the room. And the +two nephews were holding each a hand of their dying uncle in theirs, +when Lady Ruthven (who, exhausted with fatigue and anxiety, had retired +an hour before), reappeared at the door of the apartment. She had been +informed of the arrival of the regent and her son, and now hastened to +give them a sorrowful welcome. + +"Ah, my lord," cried she, as Wallace pressed her matron cheek to his; +"this is not as your triumphs are wont to be greeted! You are still a +conqueror, and yet death, dreadful death, lies all around us! And our +Helen, too--" + +"Shall be restored to you, by the blessed aid of Heaven!" returned he, +"What is yet left for me to do, must be done; and then-" He paused, and +added, "The time is not far distant, then--" He paused, and added "The +time is not far distant, Lady Ruthven, when we shall meet in the realms +to which so many of our bravest and dearest have just hastened." + +With swimming eyes Edwin drew toward his master. "My uncle would +sleep," said he; "he is exhausted, and will recall us when he wakes +from rest." The eyes of the veteran were at that moment closed with +heavy slumber. Lady Ruthven remained with the countess to watch by +him; and Wallace, gently withdrawing, was followed by Ruthven and the +two young men out of the apartment. + +Lord Lochawe, with the Bishop of Dunkeld, and other chiefs, lay in +different chambers, pierced with many wounds; but none so grievous as +those of Lord Mar. Wallace visited them all, and having gone through +the numerous places in the neighborhood, then made quarters for his +wounded men. At the gloom of evening he returned to Falkirk. He sent +Edwin forward to inquire after the repose of his uncle; but on himself +re-entering the monastery, he requested the abbot to conduct him to the +apartment in which the remains of Sir John Graham were deposited. The +father obeyed; leading him along a dark passage, he opened a door, and +discovered the slain hero lying on a bier. Two monks sat at its head, +with tapers in their hands. Wallace waved them to withdraw; they set +down the lights and departed. He was then alone. + +For some time he stood with clasped hands, looking intently on the body +as it lay extended before him. "Graham! Graham!" cried he, at last, +in a voice of unutterable grief; "dost thou not rise at thy general's +voice? Oh! is this to be the tidings I am to send to the brave father +who intrusted to me his son? Lost in the prime of youth, in the +opening of thy renown, is it thus that all which is good is to be +martyrized by the enemies of Scotland?" He sunk gradually on his knees +beside him. "And shall I not look once more on that face," said he, +"which ever turned toward mine with looks of faith and love?" The +shroud was drawn down by his hand. He started on his feet at the +sight. The changing touch of death had altered every feature--had +deepened the paleness of the bloodless corpse into an ashy hue. "Where +is the countenance of my friend?" cried he. "Where the spirit which +once moved in beauty and animating light over this face! Gone; and all +I see before me is a mass of molded clay! Graham! Graham!" cried he, +looking upward, "thou art not here. No more can I recognize my friend +in this deserted habitation of thy soul. Thine own proper self, thine +immortal spirit, is ascended up above; and there my fond remembrance +shall ever seek thee!" Again he knelt, but it was in devotion--a +devotion which drew the sting from death, and opened to his view the +victory of the Lord of Life over the King of Terrors. + +Edward having learned from his father that Lord Mar still slept, and +being told by the abbot where the regent was, followed him to the +consecrated chamber. On entering, he perceived him kneeling by the +body of his friend. The youth drew near. He loved the brave Graham, +and he almost adored Wallace; the scene, therefore, smote upon his +heart. He dropped down by the side of the regent, and, throwing his +arms around his neck, in a convulsive voice exclaimed: "Our friend is +gone; but I yet live, and only in your smiles, my friend and brother!" + +Wallace strained him to his breast. He was silent for some minutes, +and then said: "To every dispensation of God I am resigned, my Edwin. +While I bow to this stroke, I acknowledge the blessing I still hold in +you and Murray. But did we not feel these visitations from our Maker, +they would not be decreed to us. To behold the dead is the penalty of +man for sin; for it is more pain to witness and to occasion death, than +for ourselves to die. It is also a lesson which God teaches his sons; +and in the moment that he shows us death he convinces us of +immortality. Look upon that face, Edwin!" continued he, turning his +eyes on the breathless clay. His youthful auditor, awestruck, and his +tears checked by the solemnity of this address, looked as he directed +him. "Doth not that inanimate mold of earth testify that nothing less +than an immortal spirit could have lighted up its marble substance with +the life and god-like actions we have seen it perform?" Edwin +shuddered; and Wallace, letting the shroud fall over the face, added: +"Never more will I look at it, for it no longer wears the characters of +my friend--they are pictured on my soul; and himself, my Edwin, still +effulgent in beauty and glowing with imperishable life, looks down on +us from heaven!" He rose as he spoke, and opening the door, the monks +re-entered, and placing themselves at the head of the bier, chanted the +vesper requiem. When it was ended, Wallace kissed the crucifix they +laid on his friend's breast, and left the cell. + + + + +Chapter LV. + +Church of Falkirk. + + +No eye closed that night in the monastery of Falkirk. The Earl of Mar +awaked about the twelfth hour, and sent to call Lord Ruthven, Sir +William Wallace, and his nephews, to attend him. As they approached, +the priests, who had just anointed his dying head with the sacred +unction, drew back. The countess and Lady Ruthven supported his +pillow. He smiled as he heard the advancing steps of those so dear to +him. "I send for you," said he, "to give you the blessing of a true +Scot and a Christian! May all who are here in thy blessed presence, +Redeemer of mankind!" cried he, looking up with a supernatural +brightness in his eye, "die as I do, rather than survive to see +Scotland enslaved! But oh! may they rather long live under that +liberty, perpetuated, which Wallace has again given to his country; +peaceful will then be their last moments on earth, and full of joy +their entrance into heaven!" His eyes closed as the concluding word +died upon his tongue. Lady Ruthven looked intently on him; she bent +her face to his, but he breathed no more; and, with a feeble cry, she +fell back in a swoon. + +The soul of the veteran earl was indeed fled. The countess was taken, +shrieking, out of the apartment; but Wallace, Edwin, and Murray +remained, kneeling over the body, and when they concluded, the priests +throwing over it a cloud of incense, the mourners withdrew, and +separated to their chambers. + +By daybreak, Wallace met Murray by appointment in the cloisters. The +remains of his beloved father had been brought from Dunipacis to the +convent, and Murray now prepare to take them to Bothwell Castle, there +to be interred in the cemetery of his ancestors. Wallace, who had +approved his design, entered with him into the solitary court-yard, +where the war-carriage stood which was to convey the deceased earl to +Clydesdale. Four soldiers of his clan brought the corpse of their Lord +from a cell, and laid him on his martial bier. His bed was the sweet +heather of Falkirk, spread by the hands of his son. As Wallace laid +the venerable chief's sword and helmet on his bier, he covered the +whole with the flag he had torn from the standard of England in the +last victory. "None other shroud is worthy of thy virtues!" cried he. +"Dying for Scotland, thus let the memorial of her glory be the witness +of thine!" + +"Oh! my friend," answered Murray, looking on his chief with a smile, +which beamed the fairer shining through sorrow, "thy gracious spirit +can divest even death of its gloom. My father yet lives in his fame!" + +"And in a better existence, too!" gently replied Wallace; "else the +earth's fame were an empty shroud--it could not comfort." + +The solemn procession, with Murray at its head, departed toward the +valleys of Clydesdale, and Wallace returned to his chamber. Two hours +before noon he was summoned by the tolling of the chapel bell. The +Earl of Bute and his dearer friend were to be laid in their last bed. +With a spirit that did not murmur, he saw the earth closed over both +graves; but at Graham's he lingered; and when the funeral stone shut +even the sod that covered him from his eyes, with his sword's point he +drew on the surface these memorable words: + + "Mente manuque potens, et Walli fidus Achates. + Conditus hic Gramus, bello interfectus ab Anglis."** + +**These lines may be translated thus: + + Here lies + The powerful in mind and body, the friend of Wallace; + Graham, faithful unto death! slain in battle by the English. + +While he yet leaned on the stone, which gently gave way to the +registering pen of friendship, to be more deeply engraved afterward, a +monk approached him, attended by a shepherd boy. At the sound of +steps, Wallace looked up. + +"This young man," said the father, "brings dispatches to the lord +regent." + +Wallace rose, and the youth presented his packet. Withdrawing to a +little distance, he broke the seal, and read to this effect: + +"My father and myself are in the Castle of Durham, and both under an +arrest. We are to remain so till our arrival in London renders its +sovereign, in his own opinion, more secure: when there, you shall hear +from me again. Meanwhile, be on your guard: the gold of Edward has +found its way into your councils. Beware of them who, with patriotism +in their mouths, are purchased to betray you and their country into the +hands of the enemy! Truest, noblest, best of Scots, farewell!--I must +not write more explicitly. + +"P.S.--The messenger who takes this is a simple border shepherd: he +knows not whence comes the packet, hence he cannot bring an answer." + +Wallace closed the letter; and putting gold into the shepherd's hand, +left the chapel. In passing through the cloisters he met Ruthven, just +returned from Stirling, whither he had gone to inform the chiefs of the +council of the regent's arrival. "When I summoned them to the +council-hall," continued Lord Ruthven, "and told them you had not only +defeated Edward on the Carron, but in so doing had gained a double +victory, over a foreign usurper and domestic traitors!-instead of the +usual open-hearted gratulations on such a communication, a low whisper +murmured through the hall; and the young Badenoch, unworthy of his +patriotic father, rising from his seat, gave utterance to so many +invectives against you, our country's soul, and arm! I should deem it +treason even to repeat them. Suffice it to say, that out of five +hundred chiefs and chieftains who were present, not one of those +parasites who used to fawn on you a week ago, and make the love of +honest men seem doubtful, now breathes one word for Sir William +Wallace. But this ingratitude, vile as it is, I bore with patience +till Badenoch, growing in insolency, declared that late last night +dispatches had arrived from the King of France to the regent, and that +he (in right of his birth, assuming to himself that dignity) had put +their bearer, Sir Alexander Ramsay, under confinement, for having +persisted to dispute his authority to withhold them from you." + +Wallace, who had listened in silence, drew a deep sigh as Ruthven +concluded; and, in that profound breath, exclaimed--"God must be our +fortress still; must save Scotland from this gangrene in her heart! +Ramsay shall be released; but I must first meet these violent men. And +it must be alone, my lord," continued he; "you, and our coadjutors, may +wait my return at the city gates; but the sword of Edward, if need be, +shall defend me against his gold." As he spoke, he laid his hand on +the jeweled weapon which hung at his side, and which he had wrested +from that monarch in the last conflict. + +Aware that this treason, aimed at him, would strike his country, unless +timely warded off, he took his resolution; and requesting Ruthven not +to communicate to any one what had passed, he mounted his horse, and +struck into the road to Stirling. He took the plume from his crest, +and closing his visor, enveloped himself in his plaid, that the people +might not know him as he went along. But casting away his cloak, and +unclasping his helmet at the door of the keep, he entered the +council-hall, openly and abruptly. By an instantaneous impulse of +respect, which even the base pay to virtue, almost every man arose at +his appearance. He bowed to the assembly, and walked, with a composed +yet severe air, up to his station at the head of the room. Young +Badenoch stood there; and as Wallace approached he fiercely grasped his +sword. "Proud upstart!" cried he, "betrayer of my father! set a foot +further toward this chair, and the chastisement of every arm in this +council shall fall on you for your presumption!" + +"It is not in the arms of thousands to put me from my right," replied +Wallace, calmly putting forth his hand and drawing the regent's chair +toward him. + +"Will ye bear this?" cried Badenoch, stamping with his foot, and +plucking forth his sword; "is the man to exist who thus braves the +assembled lords of Scotland?" While speaking, he made a desperate +lunge at the regent's breast; Wallace caught the blade in his hand, and +wrenching it from his intemperate adversary, broke it into shivers, and +cast the pieces at his feet; then, turning resolutely toward the +chiefs, who stood appalled, and looking on each other, he said, "I, +your duly elected regent, left you only a few days ago, to repel the +enemy whom the treason of Lord March would have introduced into these +very walls. Many brave chiefs followed me to that field! and more, +whom I see now, loaded me as I passed with benedictions. Portentous +was the day of Falkirk to Scotland. Then did the mighty fall, and the +heads of counsel perish. But treason was the parricide! The late Lord +Badenoch stood his ground like a true Scot; but Athol and Buchan +deserted to Edward." While speaking, he turned toward the furious son +of Badenoch, who, gnashing his teeth in impotent rage, stood listening +to the inflaming whispers of Macdougal of Lorn. "Young chief," cried +he, "from their treachery date the fate of your brave father, and the +whole of our grievous loss of that day; but the wide destruction has +been avenged! more than chief for chief have perished in the Southron +ranks, and thousands of the lowlier sort now swell the banks of Carron. +Edward himself fell, wounded by my arm, and was born by his flying +squadrons over the wastes of Northumberland. Thus have I returned to +you with my duties achieved in a manner worthy of your regent! What, +then, means the arrest of my embassador? what this silence when the +representative of your power is insulted to your face? + +"They mean," cried Badenoch, "that my words are the utterance of their +sentiments." "They mean," cried Lorn, "that the prowess of the haughty +boaster, whom their intoxicated gratitude raised from the dust, shall +not avail him against the indignation of a nation over which he dares +to arrogate a right." + +"Mean they what they will," returned Wallace, "they cannot dispossess +me of the rights with which assembled Scotland invested me on the +plains of Stirling. And again I demand, by what authority do you and +they presume to imprison my officer, and withhold from me the papers +sent by the King of France to the Regent of Scotland?" + +"By the authority that we will maintain," replied Badenoch; "by the +right of my royal blood, and by the sword of every brave Scot, who +spurns at the name of Wallace!" + +"And as a proof that we speak not more than we act," cried Lorn, making +assign to the chiefs, "you are our prisoner!" + +Many weapons were instantly unsheathed; and their bearers, hurrying to +the side of Badenoch and Lorn, attempted to lay hands on Wallace; but +he, drawing the sword of Edward, with a sweep of his valiant arm that +made the glittering blade seem a brand of fire, set his back against +the wall, and exclaimed: + +"He that first makes a stroke at me shall find his death on this +Southron steel! This sword I made the puissant arm of the usurper +yield to me; and this sword shall defend the Regent of Scotland against +his ungrateful countrymen!" + +The chieftains who pressed on him recoiled at these words, but their +leaders, Badenoch and Lorn, waved them forward, with vehement +exhortations. + +"Desist, young men!" continued he, "provoke me not beyond my bearing. +With a single blast of my bugle I could surround this building with a +band of warriors, who at sight of their chief being thus assaulted, +would lay this tumult in blood. Let me pass, or abide the consequence!" + +"Through my breast, then," exclaimed Badenoch; "for, with my consent, +you pass not here but on your bier. What is in the arm of a single +man," cried he to the lords, "that ye cannot fall on him at once, and +cut him down?" + +"I would not hurt a son of the virtuous Badenoch," returned Wallace; +"but his life be on your hands," said he, turning to the chiefs, "if +one of you point a sword to impede my passage." + +"And wilt thou dare it, usurper of my powers and honors?" cried +Badenoch. "Lorn, stand by your friend--all here who are true to the +Cummin and Macdougal, hem in the tyrant." + +Many a traitor hand now drew forth its dagger, and the intemperate +Badenoch, drunk with choler and mad ambition, snatching a sword from +one of his accomplices, made another violent plunge at Wallace, but its +metal flew in splinters on the guard-stroke of the regent, and left +Badenoch at his mercy. "Defend me, chieftains, or I am slain!" cried +he. But Wallace did not let his hand follow its advantage; with the +dignity of conscious desert, he turned from the vanquished, and casting +the enraged Lorn from him, who had thrown himself in his way, he +exclaimed: "Scots, that arm will wither which dares to point its steel +on me." The pressing crowd, struck in astonishment, parted before him +as they could have done in the path of a thunderbolt, and unimpeded, he +passed to the door. + +That their regent had entered the keep was soon rumored through the +city; and when he appeared from the gate he was hailed by the +acclamations of the people. He found his empire again in the hearts of +the lowly, they whom he had restored to their cottages, knelt to him in +the streets, and called for blessings on his name; while they--oh! +blasting touch of envy!-whom he had restored to castles, and elevated +from a state of vassalage to the power of princes, they raised against +him that very power to lay him in the dust. + +Now it was, that when surrounded by the grateful citizens of Stirling +(whom it would have been as easy for him to have inflamed to the +massacre of Badenoch and his council, as to have lifted his bugle to +his lips), that he blew the summons for his captains. Every man in the +keep flew to arms, expecting that Wallace was returning upon them with +the host he had threatened. In a few minutes the Lord Ruthven, with +his brave followers, entered the inner ballium gate. Wallace smiled +proudly as they drew near. "My lords," said he, "you come to witness +the last act of my delegated power! Sir Alexander Scrymgeour, enter +into that hall, which was once the seat of council, and tell the +violent men who fill it, that for the peace of Scotland, which I value +more than my life, I allow them to stand unpunished of their offense +against me. But the outrage they have committed on the freedom of one +of her bravest sons I will not pardon, unless he be immediately set at +liberty; let them deliver to you Sir Alexander Ramsay, and then I +permit them to hear my final decision. IF they refuse obedience, they +are all my prisoners, and, but for my pity on their blindness, should +perish by the laws." + +Eager to open the prison door for his friend Ramsay, and little +suspecting to what he was calling the insurgents, Scrymgeour hastened +to obey. Lorn and Badenoch gave him a very rough reception, uttering +such rebellious defiance of the regent that the brave standard-bearer +lost all patience, and denounced the immediate deaths of the whole +refractory assembly. "The courtyard," cried he, "is armed with +thousands of the regent's followers, his foot is on your necks, obey, +or this will be a more grievous day for Scotland than even that of +Falkirk; for the Castle of Stirling will run with Scottish blood!" At +this menace Badenoch became more enraged, and Scrymgeour, seeing no +chance of prevailing by argument, sent a messenger to privately tell +Wallace the result. The regent immediately placed himself at the head +of twenty men, and, re-entering the keep, went directly to the warder, +whom he ordered, on his allegiance to the laws, to deliver Sir +Alexander Ramsay into his hands. He was obeyed, and returned with his +recovered chieftain to the platform. When Scrymgeour was apprised of +the knight's release, he turned to Badenoch, with whom he was still +contending in furious debate, and demanded: + +"Will you or will you not attend me to the regent? He of you all," +added he, addressing the chieftains, "who in this simple duty disobeys, +shall receive from him the severer doom." + +Badenoch and Lorn, affecting to deride this menace, replied, they would +not for an empire do the usurper the homage of a moment's voluntary +attention; but if any of their followers chose to view the mockery, +they were at liberty. A very few, and those of the least turbulent +spirits went forth. They began to fear having embarked in a desperate +cause; and, by their present acquiescence, were willing to deprecate +the wrath of Wallace, while thus assured of not exciting the resentment +of Badenoch. + +When Wallace looked around him and saw the space before the keep filled +with armed men and citizens, he ascended an elevated piece of ground, +which rose a little to the left, and waving his hand in token that he +intended to speak, a profound silence took place of the buzz of +admiration, gratitude, and discontent. He then addressed the people: + +"Brother soldiers! friends! And--am I so to distinguish Scots?-enemies!" + +At this word, a loud cry of "Perish all who are the enemies of our +glorious regent!" penetrated to the inmost chambers of the citadel. + +Believing that the few of his partisans who had ventured out, were +falling under the vengeance of Wallace, Badenoch, with a brandished +weapon, and followed by the rest, sallied toward the door, but there he +stopped, for he saw his friends standing unmolested. + +Wallace proceeded; and, with calm dignity, announced the hatred that +was now poured upon him by a large part of that nobility who had been +so eager to invest him with the high office he then held. + +"Though they have broken their oaths," cried he, "I have fulfilled +mine! They vowed to me all lawful obedience; I swore to free Scotland +or to die. Every castle in this realm is restored to its ancient lord; +every fortress is filled with a native garrison; the sea is covered +with our ships, and the kingdom, one in itself, sits secure behind her +well-defended bulwarks. Such have I, through the strength of the +Almighty arm, made Scotland! Beloved by a grateful people, I could +wield half her power to the destruction of the rest; but I would not +pluck one stone out of the building I have raised. To-day I deliver up +my commission, since its design is accomplished. I resign the regency." + +As he spoke, he took off his helmet, and stood uncovered before the +people. + +"No, no!" seemed the voice from every lip; "we will acknowledge no +other power, we will obey no other leader!" + +Wallace expressed his sense of their attachment, but repeating to them +that he had fulfilled the end of his office, by setting them free, he +explained that his retaining it was no longer necessary. "Should I +remain your regent," continued he, "the country would be involved in +ruinous dissensions. The majority of your nobles now find a vice in +the virtue they once extolled; and seeing its power, no longer needful, +seek to destroy my upholders with myself. I therefore remove the cause +of contention. I quit the regency; and I bequeath your liberty to the +care of your chiefs. But should it be again in danger, remember, that +while life breathes in this heart, the spirit of William Wallace will +be with you still!" + +With these words he descended the mound, and mounted his horse, amidst +the cries and tears of the populace. They clung to his garments as he +rode along; and the women, with their children, throwing themselves on +their knees in his path, implored him not to leave them to the inroads +of a ravager; not to abandon them to the tyranny of their own lords; +who, unrestrained by a king, or a regent like himself, would soon +subvert his good laws, and reign despots over every district in the +country. Wallace answered their entreaties with the language of +encouragement; adding, that he was not their prince, to lawfully +maintain a disputed power over the legitimate chiefs of the land. +"But," he said, "a rightful sovereign may yet be yielded to your +prayers; and to procure that blessing, daughters of Scotland, night and +day invoke the Giver of every good gift." + +When Wallace and his weeping train separated, at the foot of Falkirk +Hill, he was met by his veterans of Lanark; who, having heard of what +had passed in the citadel, advanced to him with one voice, to declare +that they never would fight under any other commander. "Wherever you +are, my faithful friends," returned he, "you shall still obey my word." +When he entered the monastery, the opposition that was made to his +resignation of the regency, by the Bishop of Dunkeld, Lord Loch-awe, +and others, was so vehement, so persuasive, that had not Wallace been +steadily principled not to involve his country in domestic war, he must +have yielded to the affectionate eloquence of their pleading. But +showing to them the public danger attendant on his provoking the wild +ambition of the Cummins, and their multitudinous adherents, his +arguments, which the sober judgment of his friends saw conclusive, at +last ended the debate. He then rose, saying, "I have yet to perform my +vow to our lamented Mar. I shall seek his daughter; and then, my brave +companions, you shall hear of me, and, I trust, see me again!" + + + + +Chapter LVI. + +The Monastery. + + +It being Lady Ruthven's wish that the remains of her brother should be +entombed with his ancestors, preparations were made for the mournful +cavalcade to set forth toward Braemar Castle. The countess, hoping +that Wallace might be induced to accompany them, did not long object to +this proposal, which Lady Ruthven had enforced with tears. Had any one +seen the tow, and been called upon to judge, by their deportment, of +the relationship in which each lady stood to the deceased, he must have +decided that the sister was the widow. At the moment of her husband's +death, Lady Mar had felt a shock; she had long looked for this event, +as to the seal of her happiness; it was the sight of mortality that +appalled her. The man she doted on, nay, even herself, must one day +lie as the object now before her--dead!-insensible to all earthly joys, +or pains! but awake, perhaps, fearfully awake, to the judgments of +another world! This conviction caused her shrieks, when she saw Lord +Mar expire. Every obstacle between her and Wallace she now believed +removed. Her husband was dead; Helen was carried away by a man +devotedly enamored of her; and most probably was at that time his wife. +The specters of conscience passed from her eyes; she no longer thought +of death and judgment; and, under a pretense that her feelings could +not bear the sight of her husband's bier, she determined to seclude +herself in her own chamber, till the freshness of Wallace's grief for +his friend should have passed away. But when she heard, from the +indignant Edwin, of the rebellious conduct of the young Lord Badenoch, +and that the regent had abdicated, her consternation superseded all +caution. "I will soon humble that proud boy," exclaimed she; "and let +him know, that in opposing the elevation of Sir William Wallace, he +treads down his own interest. You are beloved by the regent, Edwin!" +cried she, interrupting herself, and clasping his hand with +earnestness; "teach his enthusiastic heart the true interests of his +country! I am the first woman of the house of Cummin; and is not that +family the most powerful** in the kingdom? By the adherence of one +branch to Edward, the battle of Falkirk was lost; by the rebellion of +another, the regent of Scotland is obliged to relinquish that dignity? +It is in my power to move the whole race at my will; and if Wallace +would mingle his blood with theirs, would espouse me (an overture which +the love I bear my country impels me to make), every nerve would then +be strained to promote the elevation of their nearest kinswoman. +Wallace would reign in Scotland, and the whole land lie at peace." + +**The family of Cummin was so powerful and numerous, that an incredible +number of chieftains of that name attended the first parliament which +Robert I. Held at Dunstaffnage Castle. The relationship between the +heiress of Stratheaarn and that family was very near, her paternal +grandmother having been the daughter of a Lord Badenoch.--(1809.) + +Edwin eyed her with astonishment while she spoke. All her late conduct +to his cousin Helen, to his uncle, and to Wallace, was now explained; +and he saw in her flushed cheek, that it was not the patriot who +desired this match, but the enamored woman. + +"You do not answer," said she; "have you any apprehension that Sir +William Wallace would reject the hand which would give him a crown? +which would dispense happiness to many thousand people?" + +"No," replied he; "I believe that, much as he is devoted to the memory +of her, whom alone he can ever love, could he purchase true happiness +to Scotland by the sacrifice, he would espouse any virtuous woman who +could bring him so blessed a dowry. But in your case, my honored aunt, +I can see no probability of such a consequence. In the first place, I +know, that now the virtuous Earl of Badenoch is no more, he neither +respects nor fears the Cummins; and that he would scorn to purchase a +crown or even the people's happiness, by baseness in himself. To rise +by their means, who, you have seen, will at any time immolate all that +is sacred to man to their own caprice, or fancied interests, would be +unworthy of him; therefore, I am sure, if you wish to marry Sir William +Wallace, you must not urge the use he may make of the Cummins as an +argument. He need not stoop to cajole the men he may command. Did he +not drive the one-half of their clan, with the English host to boot, to +seek any shelter from his vengeance? And for them in the citadel, had +he chosen to give the word, they would now be all numbered with the +dust! Aunt! he has a Divine Master, whose example he follows, though +in deep humility! He lays down his power; it is not taken from him. +Earthly crowns are dross to him who looks for a heavenly one. +Therefore, honored lady, believe it no longer necessary to wound your +delicacy, by offering him a hand, which cannot produce the good you +meditate!" + +The complexion of the countess varied a thousand times during this +answer. Her reason assented to many parts of it; but the passion she +could not acknowledge to her nephew, urged her to persist. "You may be +right, Edwin," she replied; "but still, as there is nothing very +repugnant in me, the project is surely worth trying! At any rate, even +setting the Cummins aside, a marriage with the daughter of Strathearn, +by allying your noble friend to every illustrious house in the kingdom, +would make his interest theirs, and all must unit in retaining to him +the regency. Scotland will be wrecked should he leave the helm; and, +sweet Edwin, though your young heart is yet unacquainted with the +strange inconsistencies of the tenderest passion, I must whisper you +that your friend will never be happy till he again live in the bosom of +domestic affection." + +"Ah! but where is he to find it?" cried Edwin, "what will ever restore +his Marion to his arms?" + +"I," cried she-"I will be more than ever Marion was to him! She knew +not--O! she could not--the boundless love that fills my heart for him!" +Edwin's blushes at this wild declaration told her how far she had +betrayed herself. She attempted to palliate what she could no longer +conceal, and, covering her face with her hand, exclaimed, "You, who +love Sir William Wallace, cannot be surprised that all who adore human +excellence should participate in that sentiment. How could I see him, +the benefactor of my family, the blessing to all Scotland, and not love +him?" + +"True," replied Edwin; "but not as a wife would love her husband! You +were married. And was it possible you could feel thus when my uncle +lived? So strong a passion cannot have grown in your breast since he +died; for surely, love should not enter a widow's heart at the side of +an unburied husband!" + +"Edwin!" replied she, "you, who never felt the throbs of this tyrant, +judge with a severity you will one day regret. When you love, and +struggle with a passion that drinks your very life, you will pity +Joanna of Mar, and forgive her!" + +"I pity you now, aunt," replied he; "but you bewilder me. I cannot +understand the possibility of a virtuous married woman suffering any +passion of this kind to get such domination over her as to cause her +one guilty sigh; for guilty must every wish be that militates against +the duty of her marriage vow. Surely, love comes not in a whirlwind, +to seize the soul at once; but grows by degrees, according to the +development of the virtues of the object, and the freedom we give +ourselves in their contemplation--and, if it be virtue that you love in +Sir William Wallace, had you not virtue in your noble husband?" + +The countess perceived by the remarks of Edwin than he was deeper read +in the human heart than she had suspected; that he was neither ignorant +of the feelings of the passion, nor of what ought to be its source; and +therefore, with a deep blush, she replied: + +"Think for a moment before you condemn me. I acknowledge every good +quality that your uncle possessed--but oh! Edwin, he had frailties that +you know not of--frailties that reduced me to be, what the world never +saw, the most unhappy of women." + +Edwin turned pale at this charge against his uncle; and, while he +forbore to draw aside the veil which covered the sacred dead, little +did he think that the artful woman meant a frailty to which she had +equally shared, and the consequences of which dangerous vanity had +constrained her to become his wife. She proceeded: + +"I married your uncle when I was a girl, and knew not that I had a +heart. I saw Wallace; his virtues stole me from myself, and I found-- +In short, Edwin, your uncle became of too advanced an age to sympathize +with my younger heart. How could I, then, defend myself against the +more congenial soul of your friend? He was reserved during Mar's life! +but he did not repulse me with unkindness. I therefore hope; and do +you, my Edwin, gently influence him in my favor, and I will forever +bless you." + +"Aunt," answered he, looking at her attentively, "can you, without +displeasure, hear me speak a few, perhaps ungrateful, truths?" + +"Say what you will," said she, trembling; "only be my advocate with the +noblest of human beings, and I can take naught amiss." + +"Lady Mar," resumed he, "I answer you with unqualified sincerity, +because I love you, and venerate the memory of my uncle, whose +frailties, whatever they might be, were visible to you alone. I answer +you with sincerity, because I would spare you much future pain, and Sir +William Wallace a task that would pierce him to the soul. You confess +that he already knows you love him--that he has received such +demonstrations with coldness. Recollect what it is you love him for, +and then judge if he could do otherwise. Could he approve affections +which a wife transferred to him from her husband, and that husband his +friend?" + +"Ah! but he is now dead!" interrupted she; "that obstacle is removed." + +"But the other, which you raised yourself!" replied Edwin; "while a +wife, you showed to Sir William Wallace that you could not only indulge +yourself in wishes hostile to your nuptial faith, but divulge them to +him. Ah! my aunt, what could you look for as the consequence of this? +My uncle yet lived when you did this! And that act, were you youthful +as Hebe, and more tender than ever was fabled the queen of love, I am +sure, the virtue of Wallace would never pardon. He never could pledge +his faith to one whose passions had so far silenced her sense of duty; +and did he even love you, he would not, for the empire of the world, +repose his honor in such keeping." + +"Edwin!" cired she, at last summoning power to speak, for during the +latter part of this address she had sat gasping from unutterable +disappointment and rage; "are you not afraid to breathe all this to me? +I have given you my confidence and do you abuse it? Do you stab me, +when I ask you to heal?" + +"No, my dear aunt," replied he; "I speak the truth to you, ungrateful +as it is, to prevent you hearing it in perhaps a more painful form from +Wallace himself." + +"Oh, no!" cried she, with contemptuous haughtiness; "he is a man, and +he knows how to pardon the excesses of love! Look around you, foolish +boy, and see how many of our proudest lords have united their fates +with women who not only loved them while their husbands lived, but left +their homes and children to join their lovers! And what is there in +me, a princess of the crowns of Scotland and of Norway--a woman who has +had the nobles of both kingdoms at her feet, and frowned upon them +all-that I should now be contemned? Is the ingrate for whom alone I +ever felt a wish of love--is he to despise me for my passion? You +mistake, Edwin; you know not the heart of man." + +"Not of the common race of men, perhaps," replied he; "but certainly +that of Sir William Wallace. Purity and he are too sincerely one for +personal vanity to blind his eyes to the deformity of the passion you +describe. And mean as I am when compared with him, I must aver that, +were a married woman to love me, and seek to excuse her frailty, I +should see alone her contempt of the principles which are the only +impregnable bulwarks of innocence, and shrink from her as I would from +pollution." + +"Then you declare yourself my enemy, Edwin?" + +"No," replied he; "I speak to you as a son; but if you are determined +to avow to Sir William Wallace what you have revealed to me, I shall +not even observe on what has passed, but leave you, unhappy lady, to +the pangs I would have spared you." + +He rose. Lady Mar wrung her hands in a paroxysm of conviction that +what he said was true. + +"Then, Edwin, I must despair?" + +He looked at her with pity. + +"Could you abhor the dereliction that your soul has thus made from +duty, and leave him, whom your unwidowed wishes now pursue, to seek +you; then I should say that you might be happy; for penitence appeases +God, and shall it not find grace with man?" + +"Blessed Edwin," cried she, falling on his neck, and kissing him; +"whisper but my penitence to Wallace; teach him to think I hate myself. +Oh, make me that in his eyes which you would wish, and I will adore +you on my knees?" + +The door opened at this moment, and Lord Ruthven entered. The tears +she was profusely shedding on the bosom of his son, he attributed to +some conversation she might be holding respecting her deceased lord, +and taking her hand, he told her he came to propose her immediate +removal from the scene of so many horrors. + +"My dear sister," said he, "I will attend you as far as Perth. After +that, Edwin shall be your guard to Braemar, and my Janet will stay with +you there till time has softened your griefs." + +Lady Mar looked at him. + +"And where will be Sir William Wallace?" + +"Here," answered Ruthven. "Some considerations, consequent to his +receiving the French dispatches, will hold him some time longer south +of the Forth." + +Lady Mar shook her head doubtfully, and reminded him that the chiefs in +the citadel had withheld the dispatches. + +Lord Ruthven then informed her that, unknown to Wallace, Lord Loch-awe +had summoned the most powerful of his friends then near Stirling, and +attended by them, was carried on a littler into the citadel. It +entered the council-hall, and from that bed of honorable wounds, he +threatened the assembly with instant vengeance from his troops without, +unless they would immediately swear fealty to Wallace, and compel +Badenoch to give up the French dispatches. Violent tumults were the +consequence; but Loch-awe's litter being guarded by a double rank of +armed chieftains, and the keep being hemmed round by his men prepared +to put to the sword every Scot hostile to the proposition of their +lord, the insurgents at last complied, and forced Badenoch to +relinquish the royal packet. This effected, Loch-awe and his train +returned to the monastery. Wallace refused to resume the dignity he +had resigned, the reinvestment of which had been extorted from the +lords in the citadel. + +"No," said he to Loch-awe; "it is indeed time that I should sink into +shades where I cannot be found, since I am become a word of contention +amongst my countrymen." + +"He was not to be shaken," continued Ruthven; "but seeing matter in the +French dispatches that ought to be answered without delay, he yet +remains a few days at Falkirk." + +"Then we will await him here," cried the countess. + +"That cannot be," answered Ruthven, "it would be against ecclesiastical +law to detain the sacred dead so long from the grave. Wallace will +doubtless visit Braemar, therefore I advise that to-morrow you leave +Falkirk." + +Edwin seconded this counsel; and fearing to make further opposition, +she silently acquiesced. But her spirit was not so quiescent. At +night when she went to her cell, her ever wakeful fancy aroused a +thousand images of alarm. She remembered the vow that Wallace had made +to seek Helen. He had already given up the regency--an office which +might have detained him from such a pursuit; and might not a passion +softer than indignation against the ungrateful chieftains have dictated +this act? "Should he love Helen, what is there not to fear?" cried +she; "and should he meet her, I am undone?" Racked by jealousy, and +goaded by contradicting expectations, she rose from her bed and paced +the room in wild disorder. One moment she strained her mind to +recollect every gracious look or word from him, and then her +imagination glowed with anticipated delight. Again she thought of his +address to Helen, of his vow in her favor, and she was driven to +despair. All Edwin's kind admonitions were forgotten; passion alone +was awake; and forgetful of her rank and sex, and of her situation, she +determined to see Wallace, and appeal to his heart for the last time. +She knew that he slept in an apartment at the other end of the +monastery; and that she might pass thither unobserved, she glided into +an opposite cell belonging to a sick monk, and stealing away his cloak, +threw it over her, and hurried along the cloisters. + +The chapel doors were open. In passing, she saw the bier of her lord +awaiting the hour of its removal, surrounded by priests, singing +anthems for the repose of his soul. No tender recollections, no +remorse, knocked at the heart of Lady mar as she sped along. Abandoned +all to thoughts of Wallace, she felt not that she had a soul; she +acknowledged not that she had a hope, but what centered in the smiles +of the man she was hastening to seek. + +His door was fastened with a latch; she gently opened it, and found +herself in his chamber. She trembled--she scarcely breathed; she +looked around; she approached his bed--but he was not there. +Disappointment palsied her heart, and she sunk upon a chair. "Am I +betrayed?" said she to herself: "Has that youthful hypocrite warned him +hence?" And then again she thought, "But how should Edwin guess that I +should venture here? Oh, no, my cruel stars alone are against me!" + +She now determined to await his return, and nearly three hours she had +passed there, enduring all the torments of guilt and misery; but he +appeared not. At last, hearing the matinbell, she started up, fearful +that her maids might discover her absence. Compelled by some regard to +reputation, with an unwilling mind she left the shrine of her idolatry, +and once more crossed the cloisters. While again drawing toward the +chapel, she saw Wallace himself issue from the door, supporting on his +bosom the fainting head of Lady Ruthven. Edwin followed them. Lady +Mar pulled the monk's cowl over her face and withdrew behind a pillar. +"Ah!" thought she, "absenting myself from my duty, I fled from thee!" +She listened with breathless attention to what might be said. + +Lord Ruthven met them at that instant. "This night's watching by the +bier of her brother," said Wallace, "has worn out your gentle lady; we +strove to support her through these sad vigils, but at last she sunk." +What Ruthven said in reply, when he took his wife in his arms, the +countess could not hear; but Wallace answered, "I have not seen her." + +"I left her late in the evening drowned in tears," replied Ruthven, in +a more elevated tone, "I therefore suppose that in secret she offers +those prayers for her deceased husband, which my tender Janet pours +over his grave." + +"Such tears," replied Wallace, "are Heaven's own balm; I know they +purify the heart whence they flow. Yes; and the prayers we breathe for +those we love, unite our souls the closer to theirs. Look up, dear +Lady Ruthven," said he, as she began to revive, "look up and hear how +you may, while still on earth, retain the society of your beloved +brother! Seek his spirit at the footstool of God. 'Tis thus I live, +sister of my most venerated friend! My soul is ever on the wing of +heaven, whether in the solitary hour, in joy, or in sorrow, for theeere +my treasure lives!" + +"Wallace! Wallace," cried Lady Ruthven, looking on his animated +countenance with wondering rapture; "and art thou a man of earth and of +the sword? Oh! rather say, an angel; lent us here a little while to +teach us to live and to die!" + +A glowing blush passed over the pale but benign cheek of Wallace. + +"I am a soldier of Him who was, indeed, brought into the world to show +us, by his life and death, how to be virtuous and happy. Know me, by +my life, to be his follower; and David himself wore not a more glorious +title!" + +Lady mar, while she contemplated the matchless form before her, +exclaimed to herself, "Why is it animated by as faultless a soul? Oh, +Wallace! wert thou less excellent, I might hope; but hell is in my +heart, and heaven in thine!" + +She tore her eyes from a view which blasted while it charmed her, and +rushed from the cloisters. + + + + +Chapter LVII. + +Durham. + + +The sun rose as the funeral procession of the Earl of Mar moved from +before the gates of the monastery at Falkirk. Lord Ruthven and Edwin +mounted their horses. The maids of the two ladies led them forth +toward the litters which were to convey them so long a journey. Lady +Ruthven came first, and Wallace placed her tenderly in her carriage. +The countess next appeared, clad in the deep weeds of widowhood. Her +child followed in the arms of its nurse. At the sight of the innocent +babe, whom he had so often seen pressed to the fond bosom of the father +it was now following to his grace, tears rushed into the eyes of +Wallace. Lady Mar hid the tumult of her feelings on the shoulder of +her maid. He advanced to her respectfully, and handing her to her +vehicle, urged her to cherish life for the sake of her child. She +threw herself with increased agitation on her pillow, and Wallace, +deeming the presence of her babe the surest comforter, laid it tenderly +by her side. At that moment, before he had relinquished it, she bent +her face upon his hands, and bathing them with tears, faintly murmured, +"Oh! Wallace, remember me!" Lord Ruthven rode up to bid adieu to his +friend, and the litters moved on. Wallace promised that both he and +Edwin should hear of him in the course of a few days; and +affectionately grasping the hand of the latter, bade him farewell. + +Hear of him they should, but not see him; for it was his determination +to set off that night for Durham, where, he was informed, Edward now +lay, and, joined by his young queen, meant to sojourn till his wounds +were healed. Believing that his presence in Scotland could no longer +be serviceable, and would engender continual intestine divisions, +Wallace did not hesitate in fixing his course. His first object was to +fulfill his vow to Lord Mar. He thought it probable, that Helen might +have been carried to the English court; and that in seeking her, he +might also attempt an interview with young Bruce; hoping to learn how +far he had succeeded in persuading his father to leave the vassalage of +Edward, and once more dare resuming the specter of his ancestors. + +To effect his plan without hinderance, on the disappearance of the +funeral cavalcade, Wallace retired to his apartment to address a letter +to Lord Ruthven. In this epistle he told the chief that he was going +on an expedition which he hoped would prove beneficial to his country; +but it was an enterprise of rashness, he would not make any one his +companion; he therefore begged Lord Ruthven to teach his friends to +consider with candor a flight they might otherwise deem unkind. + +All the brother was in his letter to Edwin, conjuring him to prove his +affection for his friend by quietly abiding at home till they should +meet again in Scotland. + +He wrote to Andrew Murray (now Lord Bothwell), addressing him as the +first of his compatriots who had struck a blow for Scotland; and, as +his dear friend and brother soldier, he confided to his care the +valiant troop which had followed him from Lanark. "Tell them," said +he, "that in obeying you they still serve with me, they perform their +duty to Scotland at home--I abroad; our aim is the same; and we shall +meet again at the consummation of our labors." + +These letters he inclosed in one to Scrymgeour, with orders to dispatch +two of them according to their directions; but that to Murray, +Scrymgeour was himself to deliver at the head of the Lanark veterans. + +At the approach of twilight Wallace quitted the monastery, leaving his +packet with the porter, to present to Scrymgeour when he should arrive +at his usual hour. As the chief meant to assume a border-minstrel's +garb, that he might travel the country unrecognized as its once adored +regent, he took his way toward a large hollow oak in Tor Wood, where he +had deposited his means of disguise. When arrive there he disarmed +himself of all but his sword, dirk, and breastplate; he covered his +tartan gambeson with a minstrel's cassock, and staining his bright +complexion with the juice of a nut, concealed his brighter locks +beneath a close bonnet. Being thus equipped, he threw his harp over his +shoulder; and having first, in that solitude, where no eye beheld, no +ear heard but that of God, invoked a blessing on his enterprise, with a +buoyant spirit--rejoicing in the power in whose light he moved--he went +forth, and under the sweet serenity of a summer night pursued his way +along the broom-clad hills of Muiravenside. + +All lay in profound rest--not a human creature crossed his path till the +carol of the lark summoned the husbandman to his toil, and spread the +thymy hills and daisied pastures with herds and flocks. As the lowing +of cattle descending to the water, and the bleating of sheep, hailing +the morning beam, came on the breeze, mingled with the joyous voices of +their herdsmen, calling to each other from afar--as all met the ear of +Wallace--his conscious heart could not but whisper: "I have been the +happy instrument to effect this! I have restored every man to his +paternal fields! I have filled all these honest breasts with gladness!" + +He stopped at a little moss-covered cabin on the burn-side, beneath +Craig Castle in Mid-Lothian, and was hospitably entertained by its +simple inhabitants. Wallace repaid their kindness with a few ballads, +which he sung accompanied by his harp. As he gave the last notes of +"King Arthur's Death in Glory," the worthy cotter raised his head from +the spade on which he leaned, and asked whether he could not sing the +glory of Scotland. + +"Our renowned Wallace," said he, "is worth King Arthur and all the +stranger knights of his round table, for he not only conquers for us in +war, but establishes us in happy peace. Who like him, of all our great +captains, ever took such care of the poor as to give them, not only the +bread which sustains temporal, but that which supports eternal life? +Sing us then his praises, minstrel, and tarry with us days instead of +hours." + +The wife, and the children who clung around their melodious visitant, +joined in this request. Wallace rose with a saddened smile, and +replied: + +"I cannot do what you require; but I can yield you an opportunity to +oblige Sir William Wallace. Will you take a letter from him, of which +I am the bearer, to Lord Dundaf at Berwick? I have been seeking, what +I have now found, a faithful Scot, with whom I could confide this +trust. It is to reveal to a father's heart the death of a son, for +whom Scotland must mourn to her latest generations." + +The honest shepherd respectfully accepted this mission; and his wife, +loading her guest's scrip with her choicest fruits and cakes, +accompanied him, followed by the children, to the bottom of the hill. + +In this manner, sitting at the board of the lowly, and sleeping beneath +the thatched roof, did Wallace pursue his way through Tweedale and +Ettrick Forest, till he reached the Cheviots. From every lip he heard +his own praises, heard them with redoubled satisfaction, for he could +have no suspicion of their sincerity, as they were uttered without +expectation of their ever reaching the regent's ear. + +It was the Sabbath day when he mounted the Cheviots. He stood on one +of their summits, and leaning on his harp, contemplated the fertile +dales he left behind. The gay villagers, in their best attires, were +thronging to their churches; while the aged, too infirm for the walk, +were sitting in the sun at their cottage doors, adoring the Almighty +Benefactor in his sublimer temple of the universe. All spoke of +security and happiness. "Thus I leave thee, beloved Scotland! And on +revisiting these hills, may I still behold thy sons and daughters +rejoicing in the heaven-bestowed peace of their land!" + +Having descended into Northumberland, his well-replenished script was +his provider; and when it was exhausted, he purchased food from the +peasantry; he would not accept the hospitality of a country he had so +lately trodden as an enemy. Here he heard his name mentioned with +terror as well as admiration. While many related circumstances of +misery to which the ravaging of their lands had reduced them, all +concurred in praising the moderation with which the Scottish leader +treated his conquests. + +Late in the evening, he arrived on the banks of the river that +surrounds the episcopal city of Durham. He crossed Framlinggate +Bridge. His mistrel garb prevented his being stopped by the guard at +the gate; but as he entered its porch, a horse that was going through +started at his abrupt appearance. Its rider suddenly exclaimed, "Fool, +thou dost not see Sir William Wallace!" Then turning to the disguised +knight, "Harper," cried he, "you frighten my steed; draw back till I +pass." Not displeased to find the terror him so great amongst the +enemies of Scotland, that they even addressed their animals as sharers +in the dread, Wallace stood out of the way, and saw the speaker to be a +young Southron knight, who with difficulty kept his seat on the restive +horse. Rearing and plunging, it would have thrown its rider, had not +Wallace put forth his hand and seized the bridle. By his assistance, +the animal was soothed; and the young lord thanking him for his +service, told him that, as a reward, he would introduce him to play +before the queen, who that day held a feast at the bishop's palace. +Wallace thought it probable he might see or hear of Lady Helen in this +assembly, or find access to Bruce, and he gladly accepted the offer. +The knight, who was Sir Piers Gaveston, ordering him to follow, turned +his horse toward the city, and conducted Wallace through the gates of +the citadel, to the palace within its walls. + +On entering the banqueting-hall, he was placed by the knight in the +musicians' gallery, there to await his summons to her majesty. This +entertainment being spread, and the room full of guests, the queen was +led in by the haughty bishop of the see, the king being too ill of his +wounds to allow his joining so large a company. The beauty of the +lovely sister of Philip le Bel seemed to fill the gaze and hearts of +all bystanders, and none appeared to remember that Edward was absent. +Wallace hardly glanced on her youthful charms; his eyes roamed from +side to side in quest of a fairer, a dearer object--the captive +daughter of his dead friend! She was not there; neither was De +Valence; but Buchan, Athol, and Soulis, were near the royal Margaret; +in all the pomp of feudal grandeur. In vain waived the trophied +banners over their heads; they sat sullen and revengeful, for the +defeat on the Carron had obscured the treacherous victory of Falkirk; +and instead of having presented Edward to his young queen as the +conqueror of Scotland; she had found him, and them fugitives in the +castle of Durham! + +Immediately on the royal band ceasing to play, Gaveston pressed toward +the queen, and told her he had presumed to introduce a traveling +minstrel into the gallery; hoping that she would order him to perform +for her amusement, as he could sing legends from the descent of the +Romans to the victories of her royal Edward. With all her age's +eagerness in quest of novelties, she commanded him to be brought to her. + +Gaveston having presented him, Wallace bowed with the respect due to +her sex and dignity, and to the esteem in which he held the character +of her royal brother. Margaret desired him to place his harp before +her, and begin to sing. As he knelt on one knee, and struck its +sounding chords, she stopped him by the inquiry, of whence he came? + +"From the north country," was his reply. + +"Were you ever in Scotland?" asked she. + +"Many times." + +The young lords crowded round to hear this dialogue between majesty and +lowliness. She smiled, and turned toward them. + +"Do not accuse me of disloyalty, but I have a curiosity to ask another +question." + +"Nothing your majesty wishes to know," said Bishop Beck, "can be amiss." + +"Then tell me," cried she--"for you wandering minstrels see all great +people, good or bad, else how could you make songs about them!--did you +ever see Sir William Wallace in your travels?" + +"Often, madam." + +"Pray tell me what he is like! you probably will be unprejudiced, and +that is what I can hardly expect in this case from any of these brave +lords." + +Wishing to avoid further questioning on this subject, Wallace replied: + +"I have never seen him so distinctly as to be enabled to prove any +right to your majesty's opinion of my judgment." + +"Cannot you sing me some ballad about him?" inquired she, laughing; +"and if you are a little poetical in your praise, I can excuse you; for +my royal brother thinks this bold Scot would have shone brightly in a +fairer cause." + +"My songs are dedicated to glory set in the grave," returned Wallace, +"therefore Sir William Wallace's faults or virtues will not be sung by +me." + +"Then he is a very young man, I suppose? for you are not old, and yet +you speak of not surviving him. I was in hopes," cried she, addressing +Beck, "that my lord the king would have brought this Wallace to have +supped with me here; but for once rebellion overcame its master." + +Beck made some reply which Wallace did not hear, and the queen again +turning to him resumed: + +"Minstrel, we French ladies are very fond of a good mien; and I shall +be a little reconciled to your northern realms if you tell me that Sir +William Wallace is anything like as handsome as some of the gay knights +by whom you see me surrounded." + +Wallace smiled, and replied: + +"The comeliness of Sir William Wallace lies in a strong arm and a +feeling heart; and if these be charms in the eyes of female goodness, +he may hope to be not quite an object of abhorrence to the sister of +Philip le Bel!" + +The minstrel bowed as he spoke, and the young queen laughing again, +said: + +"I wish not to come within the influence of either. But sing me some +Scottish legend, and I will promise wherever I see the knight to treat +him with all courtesy due to valor." + +Wallace again struck the chords of his harp; and with a voice whose +full and melodious tones rolled round the vast dome of the hall, he +sung the triumphs of Beuther.** The queen fixed her eyes upon him; and +when he ended, she turned and whispered Gavestton: + +"If the voice of this man had been Wallace's trumpet, I should not now +wonder at the discomfiture of England. He almost tempted me from my +allegiance, as the warlike animation of his notes seemed to charge the +flying Southrons." + +**In commemoration of the victory which this ancient Scottish prince +obtained over the Britons before the Christian era, the field of +conquest has ever since been called Rutherglen. + +Speaking, she rose, and presenting a jeweled ring to the mistrel, left +the apartment. + +The lords crowded out after her, and the musicians coming down from the +gallery, seated themselves with much rude jollity to regale on the +remnants of the feast. Wallace, who had discovered the senachie of +Brue by the escutcheon of Annandale suspended at his neck, gladly saw +him approach. He came to invite the stranger minstrel to partake of +their fare. Wallace did not appear to decline it, and as the court +bard seemed rather devoted to the pleasures of wine, he found it not +difficult to draw from him what he wanted to know. He learned that +young Bruce was still in the castle under arrest, "and," added the +senachie, "I shall feel no little mortification in being obliged, in +the course of half an hour, to relinquish these festivities for the +gloomy duties of his apartment." + +This was precisely the point to which Wallace had wished to lead him; +and pleading disrelish of wine, he offered to supply his place in the +earl's chamber. The half-intoxicated bard accepted the proposition +with eagerness; and as the shades of nigh had long closed in, he +conducted his illustrious substitute to the large round tower of the +castle, informing him as they went along, that he must continue playing +in a recess adjoining Bruce's room till the last vesper bell from the +abbey in the neighborhood should give the signal for his laying aside +the harp. At that time the earl would be fallen asleep, and he might +then lie down on a pallet he would find in the recess. + +All this Wallace promised punctually to obey; and being conducted by +the senachie up a spiral staircase, was left in the little anteroom. +The chief drew the cowl of his minstrel cloak over his face and set his +harp before him in order to play. He could see through its strings +that a group of knights were in earnest conversation at the further end +of the apartment; but they spoke so low he could not distinguish what +was said. One of the party turned round, and the light of a suspended +lamp discovered him to be the brave Earl Gloucester, whom Wallace had +taken, and released at Berwick. The same ray showed another to be +Percy, Earl of Northumberland. Wallace found the strangeness of his +situation. He, the conqueror of Edward, to have been singing as a +mendicant in his halls; and having given laws to the two great men +before him, he now sat in their view unobserved and unfeared! Their +figures concealed that of Bruce, but at last when all rose together, he +heard Gloucester say, in rather an elevated voice, "Keep up your +spirits. This envy of your base countrymen must recoil upon +themselves. It cannot be long before King Edward discovers the motives +of their accusations, and his noble nature will acquit you accordingly." + +"My acquittal," replied Bruce, in a firm tone, "cannot restore what +Edward's injustice has rifled from me. I abide by the test of my own +actions, and by it will open the door of my freedom. Your king may +depend on it," added he, with a sarcastic smile, "that I am not a man +to be influenced against the right. Where I owe duty I will pay it to +the uttermost farthing." + +Not apprehending the true meaning of this speech, Percy immediately +answered, "I believe you, and so must all that world; for did you not +give brave proofs of it that fearful night on the Carron, in bearing +arms against the triumphant Wallace?" + +"I did indeed give proofs of it," returned Bruce, "which I hope the +world will one day know, by bearing arms against the usurper of my +country's rights! and in defiance of injustice and of treason, before +men and angels I swear," cried he, "to perform my duty to the end--to +retrieve, to honor the insulted, the degraded name of Bruce!" + +The two earls fell back before the vehement action which accompanied +this burst from the soul of Bruce; and Wallace caught a glimpse of his +youthful form, which stood pre-eminent in patriotic virtue between the +Southron lords: his fine countenance glowed, and his brave spirit +seemed to emanate in light from every part of his body. "My prince and +brother!" exclaimed Wallace to himself, ready to rush forward and throw +himself at his feet, or into his arms. + +Gloucester, as little as Northumberland, comprehending Bruce's +ambiguous declaration, replied, "Let not your heart, my brave friend, +burn too hotly against the king for this arrest. He will be the more +urgent to obliterate by kindness this injustice when he understands the +aims of the Cummins. I have myself felt his misplaced wrath; and who +now is more favored by Edward than Ralph de Monthermer? My case will +be yours. Good night, Bruce. May propitious dreams repeat the augury +of your true friends!" Percy shook hands with the young earl, and the +two English lords left the room. + +Wallace could now take a more leisurely survey of Bruce. He no longer +wore gay embroidered hacqueton; his tunic was black velvet, and all the +rest of his garments accorded with the same mourning hue. Soon after +the lords had quitted him, the buoyant elasticity of his figure, which +before seemed ready to rise from the earth, so was his soul elevated by +his sublime resolves, gave way to melancholy retrospections, and he +threw himself into a chair with his hands clasped upon his knee and his +eyes fixed in musing gaze upon the floor. It was now that Wallace +touched the strings of his harp. "The Death of Cathullin" wailed from +the sounding notes; but Bruce heard as though he heard them not; they +sooth his mood without his perceiving what it was that calmed, yet +deepened, the saddening thoughts which possessed him. His posture +remained the same; and sigh after sigh gave the only response to the +strains of the bard. + +Wallace grew impatient for the chimes of that vesper bell which, by +assuring Bruce's attendants that he was going to rest, would secure +from interruption the conference he meditated. Two servants entered. +Bruce, scarcely looking up, bade them withdraw; he should not need +their attendance; he did not know when he should go to bed; and he +desired to be no further disturbed. The men obeyed; and Wallace, +changing the melancholy strain of his harp, struck the chords to the +proud triumph he had played in the hall. Not one note of either ballad +had he yet sung to Bruce; but when he came to the passage in the latter +appropriated to these lines-- + + "Arise, glory of Albin, from thy cloud, + And shine upon thy own!" + +he could not forbear giving the words voice. Bruce started from his +seat. He looked toward the minstrel--he walked the room in great +disorder. The pealing sounds of the harp, and his own mental +confusion, prevented his distinguishing that it was not the voice of +his senachie. The words alone he heard; and they seemed a call which +his heart panted to obey. The hand of Wallace paused upon the +instrument. He looked around to see that observation was indeed at a +distance. Not that he dreaded harm to himself, for his magnanimous +mind, courageous from infancy, by a natural instinct had never known +personal fear; but anxious not to precipitate Bruce into useless +danger, he first satisfied himself that all was safe, and then, as the +young earl sat in a paroxysm of racking reflections (for they brought +self-blame, or rather a blame on his father, which pierced him to the +heart), Wallace slowly advanced from the recess. The agitated Bruce, +accidentally raising his head, beheld a man in a minstrel's garb, much +to tall to be his senachie, approaching him with a caution which he +thought portended treachery. He sprung to his feet, and caught his +sword from the table; but, in that moment, Wallace threw off his cowl. +Bruce stood gazing on him, stiffened with astonishment. Wallace, in a +low voice, exclaimed, "My prince! do you not know me?" Bruce, without +speaking, threw his arms about his neck. He was silent, as he hung on +him, but his tears flowed; he had much to say, but excess of emotion +rendered it unutterable. As Wallace returned the fond embrace of +friendship, he gently said, "How is it that I not only see you a close +prisoner, but in these weeds?" Bruce at last forced himself to +articulate: "I have known misery, in all its forms, since we parted; +but I have not power to name even my grief of griefs, while trembling +at the peril to which you have exposed yourself by seeking me! The +vanquisher of Edward, the man who snatched Scotland from his grasp, +were he known to be within these walls, would be a prize for which the +boiling revenge of the tyrant would give half his kingdom! Think, +then, my friend, how I shudder at this daring. I am surrounded by +spies, and should you be discovered, Robert Bruce will then have the +curses of his country added to the judgments which already have fallen +on his head." As he spoke, they sat down together, and he continued: +"Before I answer your questions, tell me what immediate cause could +bring you to seek the alien Bruce in prison, and by what stratagem you +came in this disguise into my apartment? Tell me the last, that I may +judge, by the means, of your present safety!" + +Wallace briefly related the events which had sent him from Scotland, +his reencounter with Piers Gaveston, and his arrangement with the +senachie. To the first part of the narrative, Bruce listened with +indignation. "I knew," exclaimed he, "from the boastings of Athol and +Buchan, that they had left in Scotland some dregs of heir own +refractory spirits; but I could not have guessed that envy had so +obliterated gratitude in the hearts of my countrymen. The wolves have +now driven the shepherd from the fold," cried he, "and the flock will +soon be devoured! Fatal was the hour for Scotland, and your friend, +when you yielded to the voice of faction, and relinquished the power +which would have finally given peace to the nation!" + +Wallace recapitulated his reasons for having refrained from forcing the +obedience of the young Lord Badenoch and his adherents; for abdicating +a dignity he could no longer maintain without shedding the blood of the +misguided men who opposed him. Bruce acknowledged the wisdom of this +conduct, but could not restrain his animadversions on the characters of +the Cummins. He told Wallace that he had met the two sons of the late +Lord Badenoch in Guienne; that James, who now pretended such resentment +of his father's death, had ever been a rebellious son. John, who yet +remained in France, appeared of a less violent temper; "but," added the +prince, "I have been taught by one who will never counsel me more, that +all the Cummins, male and female, would be ready at any time to +sacrifice earth and heaven to their ambition. It is to Buchan and +Athol that I owe my prolonged confinement, and to them I may date the +premature death of my father." + +The start of Wallace declared his shock at this information. "How?" +exclaimed he, "The Earl of Carrick dead? Fell, fell assassins of their +country!" The swelling emotions of his soul would not allow him to +proceed, and Bruce resumed: "It is for him I wear these sable +garments--poor emblems of the mournings of my soul, mournings, not so +much for his loss (and that is grievous as ever son bore), but because +he lived not to let the world know what he really was; he lived not to +bring into light his long-obscured honor! There, there, Wallace, is +the bitterness of this cup to me!" + +"But can you not sweeten it, my dear prince," cried Wallace, "by +retrieving all that he was cut off from redeeming? To open the way to +you I come." + +"And I will enter where you point," returned Bruce; "but heavy is my +woe that, knowing the same spirit was in my father's bosom, he should +be torn from the opportunity to make it manifest. Oh, Wallace! that he +should be made to lie down in a dishonored grave! Had he lived, my +friend, he would have brightened that name which rumor has sullied, and +I should have doubly gloried in wearing the name he had rendered so +worthy of being coupled with the kingly title. Noble was he in soul; +but he fell amidst a race of men whose art was equal to their venality, +and he became their dupe. Betrayed by friendship, he sunk into the +snare; for he had no dishonor in his own breast to warn him of what +might be the villainy of others. He believed the cajoling speeches of +Edward, who, on the first offense of Baliol, had promised to place my +father on the throne. Month after month passed away, and the +engagement was unperformed. The disturbance on the Continent seemed to +his confiding nature a sufficient excuse for these various delays; and +he waited in quiet expectation till your name, my friend, rose glorious +in Scotland. My father and myself were then in Guienne; Edward +persuaded him that you affected the crown; and he returned with that +deceiver to draw his sword against his people and their ambitious +idol--for so he believed you to be; and grievous has been the expiation +of that fatal hour! Your conference with him on the banks of the +Carron opened his eyes; he saw what his credulity had made Scotland +suffer; what a wreck he had made of his own fame; and from that moment +he resolved to follow another course. But the habit of trusting the +affection of Edward inclined him rather to remonstrate on his rights +than immediately to take up arms against him; yet, resolved not to +strike a second blow on his people, when you assailed the Southron camp +he withdrew his few remaining followers, who had survived the +hard-fought day of Falkirk, into a remote defile. On quitting you, I +came up with him in Mid=Lothian; and never having missed me from the +camp, he concluded that I had appeared thus late from having kept in +the rear of the division." + +Bruce now proceeded to narrate to Wallace the particulars of his +father's meeting with the king at Durham. Instead of that monarch +receiving the Earl of Carrick with his wonted familiar welcome, he +turned coldly from him when he approached, and suffered him to take his +usual seat at the royal table without deigning him the slightest +notice. Young Bruce was absent from the banquet, having determined +never to mingle again in social communion with the man whom he now +regarded as the usurper of his father's rights. The absence of the +filial eye which had once looked the insolent Buchan into his inherent +insignificance, now emboldened the audacity of this enemy of the house +of Carrick; and, supported by Athol on the one side, and Soulis on the +other, the base voluptuary seized a pause in the conversation (that he +might draw the attention of all present to the disgrace of the chief), +and said, with affected carelessness, "My Lord of Carrick, to-day you +dine with clean hands; the last time, I saw you at meat, they were +garnished with your own blood!" The earl turned on him a look which +asked him to explain. Lord Buchan laughed, and continued, "When we +last met at table, was it not in his majesty's tent after the victory +at Falkirk? You were then red from the slaughter of those bastardized +people to whom I understand you now give the fond appellation of sons. +Having recognized the relationship, it was not probable we should again +see your hands in their former brave livery; and their present pallid +hue convinces more than myself, of the truth of our information." + +"And me," cried Edward, rising on the couch to which his wounds +confined him, "that I have discovered a traitor! You fled, Lord +Carrick, at the first attack which the Scots made on my camp, and you +drew thousands after you. I know you too well to believe that +cowardice impelled the motion. It was treachery, accursed treachery to +your friend and king; and you shall feel the weight of his resentment!" + +"To this hour, Kind Edward," replied the earl, starting from his chair, +"I have been more faithful to you than to my country or my God! I +heard, saw, and believed, only what you determined; and I became your +slave, your vile, oppressed slave! the victim of your artifice! How +often have you pledged yourself that you fought in Scotland only for my +advantage! I gave my faith and my power to you; and how often have you +promised, after the next successful battle, to restore me to the crown +of my ancestors! I still believed you, and I still engaged all who yet +acknowledged the influence of Bruce, to support your name in Scotland. +Was not such the reiterated promise by which you allured me to the +field of Falkirk? And when I had covered myself, as Lord Buchan too +truly says, with the blood of my children; when I asked my friend for +the crown I had served for, what was his answer? 'Have I naught to do +but to win kingdoms to make gifts of?' Thus, then, did a king, a +friend, break his often-repreated word! What wonder, then, that I +should feel the indignation of a prince and a friend; and leave the +false, alas! the perjured, to defenders whom he seemed more highly to +approve? But of treachery, what have I shown? Rather confidence, King +Edward; and the confidence that was awakened in the fields of Palestine +brought me hither to-day to remonstrate with you on my rights; when by +throwing myself into the arms of my people, I might have demanded them +at the head of a victorious army." + +Edward, who had prepared by the Cummins to discredit all that Carrick +might say in his defense, turned with a look of contempt toward him, +and said, "You have persuaded to act like a madman, and as maniacs both +yourself and your son shall be guarded till I have leisure to consider +any rational evidence you may in future offer in your vindication." + +"And is this the manner, King Edward, that you treat your friend, once +your preserver?" + +"The vassal," replied Edward, "who presumes upon the condescension of +his prince, and acts as if he were really his equal, ought to meet the +punishment due to such arrogance. You saved my life on the walls of +Acre; but you owed that duty to the son of your liege lord. In the +fervor of youth I inconsiderately rewarded you with my friendship, and +the return is treason." As he concluded he turned from Lord Carrick; +and the marshals immediately seizing the earl, took him to the keep of +the castle.** + +**These speeches are historically true; as is also Edward's +after-treatment of the Earl of Carrick. + +His son, who had been sought in the Carrick quarters, and laid under an +arrest, met his father in the guard-chamber. Carrick could not speak; +but motioning to be conducted to the place appointed for his prison, +the men with equal silence led him through a range of apartments which +occupied the middle story, and stopping in the furthest, left him there +with his son. Bruce was not surprised at his own arrest; but at that +of his father, he stood in speechless astonishment until the guards +withdrew; then, seeing Lord Carrick with a changing countenance throw +himself on the bed (for it was in his sleeping room they had left him), +he exclaimed, "What is the meaning of this, my father? Has any charge +against me brought suspicion on you?" + +"No, Robert, no," replied the earl; "it is I who have brought you into +this prison, and into disgrace; disgrace with all the world, for having +tacitly surrendered my inheritance to the invader of my country. +Honest men abhor, villains treat me with contumely; and he for whom I +incurred all this, because I would not, when my eyes were open to my +sin, again imbrue my hands in the blood of my country, now thrusts me +from him! You are implicated in my crime; and for not joining the +Southrons to repel the Scots from the royal camp, we are both +prisoners!" + +"Then," replied Bruce, "he shall feel that you have a son who has +virtue to be what he suspects; and from this hour I proclaim eternal +enmity to the betrayer of my father; to the ingrate who embraced you to +destroy!" + +The indignation of the youthful prince wrought him to so vehement a +declaration of resolute and immediate hostility, that Lord Carrick was +obliged to give his transports way; but when he saw that his +denunciations were exhausted, though not the determined purpose of his +soul (for he trod the room with a step which seemed to shake its +foundations, with the power of his mighty mind), Carrick gazed on him +with pride, yet grief, and sighing heavily called him to approach him. +"Come to me, my Robert!" said he, "hear and abide by the last +injunctions of your father, for from this bed I may never rise more. A +too late sense of the injuries my sanction has doubled on the people I +was born to protect, and the ingratitude of him for whom I have +offended my God and wronged my country, have broken my heart. I shall +die, Robert, but you will avenge me!" + +"May God so prosper me!" cried Bruce, raising his arms to heaven. +Carrick resumed: + +"Attend to me, my dear and brave son, and do not mistake the nature of +my last wish. Do not allow the perhaps too forcible word I have used, +to hurry you into any personal revenge on Edward. Let him live to feel +and to regret the outrages he has committed on the peace and honor of +his too faithful friend. Pierce him on the side of his ambition, there +he is vulnerable, and there you will heal while you wound. This would +be my revenge, dear Robert, that you should one day have his life in +your power, and in memory of what I now say, spare it. When I am gone, +think not of private resentment. Let your aim be the recovery of the +kingdom, which Edward rifled from your fathers. Join the virtuous and +triumphant Wallace. Tell him of my remorse, of my fate, and be guided +wholly by his counsels. To insure the success of this enterprise, my +son--a success to which I look as to the only means of redeeming the +name I have lost, and of inspiring my separated spirit with courage to +meet the freeborn souls of my ancestors--urge not your own destruction +by any premature disclosure of your resolutions. For my sake and for +your country's, suppress your resentment, threaten not the King of +England, provoke not the unworthy Scottish lords who have gained his +ear; but bury all in your own bosom till you can join Wallace. Then, +by his arm, and your own, seat yourself firmly on the throne of your +fathers. That moment will sufficiently avenge me on Edward!--and in +that moment, Robert! or at least as soon as circumstances can allow, +let the English ground which will then hold my body, give up its dead! +Remove me to a Scottish grave, and, standing over my ashes, proclaim to +them who might have been my people, that for every evil I suffered to +fall on Scotland, I have since felt answering pangs, and that dying, I +beg their forgiveness, and bequeath them my best blessing--my virtuous +son, to reign in my stead!" + +These injunctions to assert his own honor and that of his father, were +readily sworn to by Bruce; but he could not so easily be made to quell +the imperious indignation which was precipitating him to an immediate +and loud revenge. The dying earl trembled before the overwhelming +passion of his son's wrath and grief. Treated with outrage and +contumely, he saw his father stricken to the earth before him, and he +could not bear to hear any temporizing with his murderers. But all +this tempest of the soul the wisdom-inspired arguments of the earl at +last becalmed, but could not subdue. He convinced his son's reason by +showing him that caution would insure the blow, and that his aim could +only be effected by remaining silent till he could publish his father's +honor, evidenced by his own heroism. "Do this," added Carrick, "and I +shall live fair in the memories of men. But be violent, threaten +Edward from these walls, menace the wretches who have trodden on the +gray hairs of their prince, and your voice will be heard no more; this +ground will drink your blood, and blindly judging infamy will forever +after point to our obscure graves!" + +Such persuasives at last prevailed with Bruce, and next day, writing +the hasty lines which Wallace received at Falkirk, he intrusted them to +his senachie, who conveyed them to Scotland by means of the shepherd +youth. + +Shortly after the dispatch of this letter, the presage of Lord Carrick +was verified; he was seized in the night with spasms, and died in the +arms of his son. + +When Bruce related these particulars, his grief and indignation became +so violent, that Wallace was obliged to enforce the dying injunctions +of the father he thus vehemently deplored, to moderate the delirium of +his soul. "Ah!" exclaimed the young earl, "I have indeed needed some +friend to save me from myself, some one to reconcile me to the Robert +Bruce who had so long slept in the fatal delusions which poisoned his +father and laid him low! Oh! Wallace! at times I am mad. I know not +whether this forbearance be not cowardice. I doubt whether my father +meant what he spoke, that he did not yet seek to preserve the life of +his son at the expense of his honor, and I have been ready to +precipitate myself on the steel of Edward, so that he should but meet +the point of mine!" + +Bruce then added, that in his more rational meditations, he had +resolved to attempt an escape in the course of a few days. He +understood that a deputation of English barons, seeking a ratification +of their charter, were soon to arrive in Durham; the bustle attendant +on their business would, he hoped, draw attention from him, and afford +him the opportunity he sought. "In that case," continued he, "I should +have made directly to Stirling, and had not Providence conducted you to +me, I might have unconsciously thrown myself into the midst of enemies. +James Cummin is too ambitious to have allowed my life to pass +unattempted." + +Whilst he was yet speaking, the door of the chamber burst open, and +Bruce's two attendants rushed into the room with looks aghast. Bruce +and Wallace started on their feet and laid their hands on their swords. +But instead of anything hostile appearing behind the servants, the +inebriated figure of the senachie staggered forward. The men, hardly +awake, stood staring and trembling, and looking from the senachie to +Wallace; at last one, extricating his terror-struck tongue, and falling +on his knees, exclaimed: "Blessed St. Andrew! here is the senachie and +his wraith." Bruce perceived the mistake of his servants, and +explaining to them that a traveling minstrel had obliged the senachie +by performing his duty, he bade them retire to rest, and think no more +of their alarm. The intoxicated bard threw himself without ceremony on +his pallet in the recess, and the servants, though convinced, still +shaking with superstitious fright, entreated permission to bring their +heather beds into their lord's chamber. To deny them was impossible, +and all further converse with Wallace that night being put an end to, a +couch was laid for him in an interior apartment, and with a grateful +pressure of the hands, in which their hearts silently embraced, the +chiefs separated to repose. + + + + +Chapter LVIII. + +The Bishop's Palace. + + +The second matin bell sounded from the abbey before the eyes of Wallace +opened from the deep sleep which had sealed them. A bath refreshed him +from every toil, then renewing the stain on his face and hands with the +juice of a nut which he carried about him, and once more covering his +martial figure and golden hair with the minstrel's cassock and cowl, he +rejoined his friend. + +Bruce had previously affected to consider the senachie as still +disordered by his last night's excess, and ordering him from his +presence for at least a day, commanded that the traveling minstrel +should be summoned to supply his place. + +The table was spread when Wallace entered, and several servants were in +attendance. Bruce hastily rose and would have embraced him, so did his +comforted heart spring to meet his friend; but before these people it +would have been more than imprudent, and hailing him with only one of +his love-beaming looks, he made a sign to him to take his place at a +board near his own. To prevent suspicioin in the attendants (some of +whom might be spies of Edward's), during the repast he discoursed with +Wallace on subjects relative to northern literature, repeating many +passages apposite to his own heroic sentiments, from Ossian and other +Scottish bards. + +The meal finished, Wallace, to maintain his assumed character while the +servants were removing the table, was tuning his harp when the Earl of +Gloucester entered the room. The earl told Bruce the king had required +the attendance of the border minstrel, and that after searching over +the castle, the royal seneschal had at last discovered he was in the +keep with him. On this being intimated to Gloucester, he chose rather +to come himself to demand the harper from his friend, than to subject +him to the insolence of the royal servants. The king desired to hear +"The Triumph," with which the minstrel had so much pleased the queen. +Bruce turned pale at this message; and was opening his mouth to utter a +denial, when Wallace, who read in his countenance what he was going to +say, and aware of the consequences, immediately spoke: + +"If my lord Bruce will grant permission, I should wish to comply with +the King of England's request." + +"Minstrel!" replied Bruce, casting on him a powerful expression of what +was passing in his mind, "you know not, perhaps that the King of +England is at enmity with me, and cannot mean well to any one who has +been my guest, or servant! The Earl of Gloucester will excuse your +attendance in the presence." + +"Not for my life or the minstrel's!" replied the earl; "the king would +suspect some mystery, and this innocent man might fall into peril. But +as it is, his majesty merely wishes to hear him play and sing, and I +pledge myself he shall return in safety." + +Further opposition would only have courted danger, and with as good a +grace as he could assume, Bruce gave his consent. A page who followed +Gloucester took up the harp, and with a glance at his friend, which +spoke the fearless mind with which he ventured into the power of his +enemy, Wallace accompanied Gloucester out of the room. + +The earl moved swiftly forward, and leading him through a double line +of guards, the folding-doors of the royal apartment were thrown open by +two knights in waiting, and Wallace found himself in the royal +presence. Perforated with wounds which the chief's own hand had given +him, the king lay upon a couch overhung with a crimson-velvet canopy, +with long golden fringes which swept the floor. His crown stood on a +cushion at his head, and his queen, the blooming Margaret of France, +sat full of smiles at his feet. The young Countess of Gloucester +occupied a seat by her side. + +The countess, who from indisposition had not been at court the +preceding day, fixed her eyes on the minstrel as he advanced into the +middle of the room, where the page, by Gloucester's orders, planted the +harp. She observed the manner of his obeisance to the king and queen, +and to herself, and the queen whispering her with a smile, said, while +he was taking his station at the harp, "Have your British troubadours +usually such an air as that? Am I right, or am I wrong?" + +"Quite right," replied the countess in as low a voice; "I suppose he +has sung of kings and heroes till he cannot help assuming their step +and demeanor!" + +"But how did he come by those eyes?" answered the queen. "If singing +of Reuther's 'beamy gaze' have so richly endowed his own, by getting +him to teach me his art, I may warble myself into a complexion as fair +as any northern beauty!" + +"But then his must not be the subject of your song," whispered the +countess with a laugh, "for methinks it is rather of the Ethiop hue!" + +During this short dialogue, which was heard by none but the two ladies, +Edward was speaking with Gloucester, and Wallace leaned upon his harp. + +"That is enough," said the king to his son-in-law; "now let me hear him +play." + +The earl gave the word, and Wallace, striking the chords with the +master hand of genius, called forth such strains and uttered such tones +from his full and richly-modulated voice, that the king listened with +wonder, and the queen and countess scarcely allowed themselves to +breathe. He sung the parting of Reuther and his bride, and their souls +seemed to pant upon his notes; he changed his measure, and their bosoms +heaved with the enthusiasm which spoke from his lips and hand, for he +urged the hero to battle, he described the conflict, he mourned the +slain, he sung the glorious triumph; as the last sweep of the harp +rolled its lofty diapason on the ear of the king, the monarch deigned +to pronounce him unequaled in his art. Excess of delight so agitated +the more delicate frames of the ladies, that while they poured their +encomiums on the minstrel, they wiped the glistening tears form their +cheeks. The queen approached him, laid her hand upon the harp, and +touching the strings with a light finger, said with a sweet smile, "You +must remain with the king's musicians, and teach me how to charm as you +do!" Wallace replied to this innocent speech with a smile sweet as her +own, and bowed. + +The countess drew near. Though not much older than the youthful queen, +she had been married twice, and being therefore more acquainted with +the proprieties of life, her compliments were uttered in a form more +befitting her rank, and the supposed quality of the man to whom the +queen continued to pour forth her less considerate praises. + +Edward desired Gloucester to bring the minstrel closer to him. Wallace +approached the royal couch. Edward looked at him from head to foot +before he spoke. Wallace bore his eagle gaze with an undisturbed +countenance; he neither withdrew his eye from the king, nor did he +allow a conqueror's fire to emit from its glance. + +"Who are you?" at length demanded Edward, who, surprised at the noble +mien and unabashed carriage of the minstrel, conceived some suspicions +of his quality. + +Wallace saw what was passing in the king's mind, and determining by a +frank reply to uproot his doubts, mildly but fearlessly answered: + +"A Scot." + +"Indeed!" said the king, satisfied that no incendiary would dare thus +to proclaim himself. "And how durst you, being of that outlawed +nation, venture into my court? Feared you not to fall a sacrifice to +my indignation against the mad leader of your rebellious countrymen?" + +"I fear nothing on earth," replied Wallace. "This garb is privileged, +none who respect that sacred law dare commit violence on a minstrel, +and against them who regard no law but that of their own wills, I have +this weapon to defend me." As Wallace spoke he pointed to a dirk stuck +in his girdle. + +"You are a bold man, and an honest man, I believe," replied the king; +"and as my queen desires it, I order your enrollment in my traveling +train of musicians. You may leave the presence." + +"Then follow me to my apartment," cried the queen; "countess, you will +accompany me, to see me take my first lesson." + +A page took up the harp; and Wallace, bowing his head to the king, was +conducted by Gloucester to the anteroom of the queen's apartments. The +earl there told him, that when dismissed by the queen, a page he would +leave would show him the way back to Lord Carrick. + +The royal Margaret herself opened the door, so eager was she to admit +her teacher; and placing herself at the harp, she attempted a passage +of "The Triumph," which had particularly struck her, but she played +wrong. Wallace was asked to set her right; he obeyed. She was +quick--he clear in his explanations; and in less than half an hour he +made her execute the whole movement in a manner that delighted her. + +"Why, minstrel," cried she, looking up in his face, "either your harp +is enchanted, or you are a magician. I have studied three long years +to play the lute, and could never bring forth any tone that did not +make me ready to stop my own ears. And now, countess," cried she, +again touching a few chords, "did you ever hear anything so enchanting?" + +"I suppose," returned the countess, "all your former instructors have +been novices, and this Scot alone knows the art to which they +pretended." + +"Do you hear what the countess says?" exclaimed the queen, affecting to +whisper to him; "she will not allow of any spiritual agency in my +wonderfully-awakened talent. If you can contradict her, do; for I want +very much to believe in fairies, magicians, and all the enchanting +world!" + +Wallace, with a respectful smile, answered, "I know of now spirit that +has interposed in your majesty's favor but that of your own genius; and +it is more efficient than the agency of all fairy-land." + +The queen looked at him very gravely, and said, "If you really think +there are no such things as fairies and enchantments, for so your words +would imply, then everybody in your country must have genius, for they +seem to be excellent in everything. Your warriors are so peerlessly +brave--all, excepting these Scottish lords who are such favorites with +the king! I wonder what he can see in their uncouth faces, or find in +their rough indelicate conversation to admire. If it had not been for +their besetting my gracious Edward, I am sure he never would have +suspected ill of the noble Bruce!" + +"Queen Margaret!" cried the Countess of Gloucester, giving her a look +of respectful reprehension; "had not the minstrel better retire?" + +The queen blushed, and recollected that she was giving too free a vent +to her sentiments; but she could not suffer Wallace to withdraw. + +"I have yet to ask you," resumed she--"the warriors of Scotland being +so resistless, and their minstrels so perfect in their art--whether all +the ladies can be so beautiful as the Lady Helen Mar?" + +The eagerness with which Wallace grasped at any tidings of her who was +so prime an object of his enterprise at once disturbed the composure of +his air, and had the penetrating eyes of the countess been then +directed toward him, she might have drawn some dangerous conclusions +from the start he gave at the mention of her name, and from the +heightened color which, in spite of his exertions to suppress all +evident emotion, maintained its station on his cheek. + +"But, perhaps you have never seen her?" added the queen. + +Wallace replied, neither denying nor affirming her question: "I have +heard many praise her beauty, but more her virtues." + +"Well, I am sorry," continued her majesty, "since you sing so sweetly +of female charms, that you have not seen this wonder of Scottish +ladies. You have now little chance of that good fortune, for Earl de +Valence has taken her abroad, intending to marry her amidst all the +state with which my lord has invested him." + +"Is it to Guienne he has taken her?" inquired Wallace. + +"Yes," replied the queen, rather pleased than offended at the +minstrel's ignorance of court ceremony in thus familiarly presuming to +put a question to her. She continued to answer: "While so near +Scotland he could not win her to forget her native country and her +father's danger, who it seems was dying when De Valence carried her +away. And, to prevent bloodshed between the earl and Soulis, who is +also madly in love with her, my ever-gracious Edward gave the English +lord a high post in Guienne, and thither they are gone." + +Before Wallace could reply to some remark which the queen laughingly +added to her information, the countess thought it proper to give her +gay mother-in-law a more decisive reminder of decorum, and, rising, she +whispered something which covered the youthful Margaret in blushes. +Her majesty rose directly, and pushing away the harp, hurryingly said: +"You may leave the room;" and turning her back to Wallace, walked away +through an opposite door. + + + + +Chapter LIX. + +The Round Tower. + + +Wallace was yet recounting the particulars of his royal visit to Bruce +(who had anxiously watched his return), when one of the queen's +attendants appeared; and presenting him with a silk handkerchief +curiously coiled up, said, that he brought it from her majesty; who +supposed it must be his, as she found it in the room where he had been +playing the harp. Wallace was going to say that it did not belong to +him, when Bruce gave him a look which directed him to take the +handkerchief. He obeyed, without a word, and the boy withdrew. + +Bruce smiled. "There is more in that handkerchief than silk, my +friend! Queens send not these embassies on trifling errands." While +Bruce spoke, Wallace unwrapped it. "I told you so!" cried the prince, +with a frank archness playing over his before pensive features, and +pointing to a slip of emblazoned vellum, which became unfolded. "Shall +I look aside while you peruse it?" + +"Look on it, my dear prince," replied Wallace; "for in trifles, as well +as in things of moment, I would hold no reserves with you." + +The vellum was then opened, and these words presented themselves: + +"Presume not on condescension. This injunction may be necessary for +the noble lady who was present at our interview tells me the men of +this island are very presuming. Redeem the character of your +countrymen, and transgress not on a courtesy that only means to say, I +did not leave you this morning so abruptly out of unkindness. I write +this, because having the countess ever with me, I shall not even dare +to whisper it in her presence. Be always faithful, and respectful, +minstrel, and you shall ever find an indulgent mistress. + +"A page will call you when your attendance is desired." + +Wallace and Bruce looked on each other. Bruce first spoke. + +"Had you vanity, my friend, this letter, from so lovely and innocent a +creature, might be a gratification; but in your case, the sentiment it +breathes is full of danger. She knows not the secret power that +impelled her to write this, but we do; and I fear it will point an +attention to you which may produce effects ruinous to our projects." + +"Then," answered Wallace, "our alternative is to escape it by getting +away this very night. And, as you persevere in your resolution not to +enter Scotland unaccompanied by me, and will share my attempt to rescue +Lady Helen Mar, we must direct our course immediately to the Continent." + +"Yes, instantly, and securely, too, under the disguise of priests!" +returned Bruce. "I have in my possession the wardrobe of the confessor +who followed my father's fortunes, and who, on his death, retired into +the abbey which contains his remains." + +It was then settled between the friends, that when it became dark they +should dress themselves in the confessor's robes, and by means of the +queen's signet, which she had given to Wallace at the banquet, pass the +guard as priests who had entered by some other gate, and were returned +from shriving her majesty. Once without the city, they could make a +swift progress southward to the nearest seaport, and there safely +embark for France; for they were well aware that the moment they were +missed suspicion would direct pursuit toward the Scottish border. + +In these arrangements, and planning their future movements relative to +the rescue of Lady Helen, they passed several hours, and were only +interrupted by the arrival of a lute from the queen for her minstrel to +tune. Wallace obeyed; and returning it by the page who brought it, +congratulated himself that it was not accompanied by any new summons. +Then continuing his discourse with Bruce on the past, present, and to +come, their souls grew more closely entwined as they more intimately +recognized their kindred natures; and time moved on, unmarked, till the +shadows of evening deepened into night. + +"Now is our hour," cried Bruce, starting on his feet; "go you into that +room, and array yourself in the confessor's robes, while I call my +servants to dispense with their usual nightly attendance." + +With determination and hope, Wallace gladly obeyed. In that very same +instant the Earl of Gloucester suddenly entered; and, looking round the +room with a disturbed countenance, abruptly said: + +"Where is the minstrel?" + +"Why?" answered Bruce, with an alarm which he vainly tried to prevent +appearing on his face. Gloucester advanced close to him. + +"Is any one within hearing?" + +"No one." + +"Then," replied the earl, "his life is in danger. He is suspected to +be not what he seems; and I am sorry to add, to stand in favor with the +queen, of a nature to incur his mortal punishment." + +Bruce was so confounded with this stoppage of all their plans, and at +the imminent peril of Wallace, that he could not speak. Gloucester +proceeded: + +"My dear Bruce, from the circumstance of his being with you, I cannot +but suppose that you know more than you think proper to disclose. +Whoever he may be, whether he came from France, or really from +Scotland, as he says, his life is now forfeited. And that, by +attempting to screen him, you may not seem to share his imputed guilt, +I come to warn you of this discovery. A double guard is set around the +keep; so no visible means are left for his escape." + +"Then what will become of him?" exclaimed Bruce, forgetting all caution +in dismay for his friend. "Am I to see the bravest of men, the savior +of my country, butchered before my eyes by a tyrant? I may die, +Gloucester, in his defense, but I will never surrender him to his +enemy!" + +Gloucester stood aghast at this disclosure. He came to accuse the +friend of Bruce, that Bruce might be prepared to clear himself of +connivance with so treasonable a crime; but now that he found this +friend to be Wallace, the preserver of his own life, the restorer of +his honor at Berwick, he immediately resolved to give him freedom. + +"Bruce," cried he, "when I recollect the figure and deportment of this +minstrel, I am surprised that, in despite of his disguise, I did not +recognize the invincible Regent of Scotland; but now I know him, he +shall find that generosity is not confined to his own breast. Give me +your word that you will not stimulate suspicion by remonstrating with +Edward against your own arrest till the court leaves Durham, and I will +instantly find a way to conduct your friend in safety from the castle." + +"I pledge you my word of honor," cried Bruce; "release but him, and, if +you demand it of me, I would die in chains." + +"He saved me at Berwick," replied Gloucester, "and I am anxious to +repay the debt. If he be near, explain what has happened in as few +words as possible, for we must not delay a moment. I left a council +with the enraged king, settling what horrible death was to be his +punishment." + +"When he is safe," answered Bruce, "I will attest his innocence to you; +meanwhile, rely on my faith, that you are giving liberty to a guiltless +man." + +Bruce hastened to Wallace, who had just completed his disguise. He +briefly related what had passed, and received for answer, that he would +not leave his prince to the revenge of the tyrant. But Bruce, urging +that the escape of the one could alone secure that of the other, +implored him not to persist in refusing his offered safety, but to make +direct for Normandy. + +"I will join you at Rouen; and thence we can proceed to Guienne," added +he. "The hour the court leaves Durham is that of my escape; and when +free, what shall divide me from you and our enterprise!" + +Wallace had hardly assented, when a tumultuous noise broke the silence +of the courtyard; the great iron doors of the keep were thrown back on +their hinges, and the clangor of arms, with many voices, resounded in +the hall. Thinking all was lost, with a cry of despair, Bruce drew his +sword, and threw himself before his friend. At that instant Gloucester +entered the room. "They are quicker than I thought!" cried he; "but +follow me. Bruce, remain where you are: sheathe your sword--be bold; +deny you know anything of the minstrel, and all will be well." As he +spoke, the feet of them who were come to seize Wallace already sounded +in the adjoining apartment. Gloucester grasped the Scottish hero by +the hand, turned into a short gallery, and, plucking the broad shaft of +a cedar pilaster from under its capital, let himself and his companion +into a passage within the wall of the building. The ponderous beam +closed after them into its former situation; and the silent pair +descended, by a long flight of stone steps, to a square dungeon without +any visible outlet; but the earl found one, by raising a flat stone +marked by an elevated cross; and again they penetrated lower into the +bosom of the earth by a gradually declining path till they stopped on a +subterranean level ground. "This vaulted passage," said Gloucester, +"reaches, in a direct line, to Fincklay Abbey.** A particular +circumstance constrained my uncle, the then abbot of that monastery, to +discover it to me, ten years ago. He told me, that to none but the +bishops of Durham and the abbots of Fincklay was the secret of its +existence revealed. Since my coming hither this time (which was to +escort the young queen--not to bear arms against Scotland), I one day +took it into my head to revisit this recess; and, happily for the +gratitude I owe to you, I found all as I had left it in my uncle's +lifetime. But, for the sake of my honor with Edward, whose wrath would +fall upon me in most fearful shapes should he ever know that I +delivered his vanquisher out of his hands, I must enjoin you to +secrecy. Though the enemy of my king's ambition, you are the friend of +mankind. You were my benefactor, noble Wallace; and I should deserve +the rack, could I suffer one hair of your head to fall with violence to +the ground." + +**The remains of this curious subterranean passage are yet to be seen; +but parts of them are now broken in upon by water, and therefore the +communication between Durham and Fincklay is now cut off. + +With answering frankness, Wallace declared his sense of the earl's +generosity; and earnestly commended the young Bruce to his watchful +friendship. "The brave impetuosity of his mind," continued he, "at +times may overthrow his prudence, and leave him exposed to dangers +which a little virtuous caution might avoid. Dissimulation is a +baseness I should shudder at seeing him practice; but when the flood of +indignation swells his bosom, then tell him, that I conjure him, on the +life of his dearest wishes, to be silent! The storm which threatens +must blow over, and the power which guides through perils those who +trust in it, will ordain that we shall meet again!" + +Gloucester replied, "What you say I will repeat to Bruce. I am too +sensible that my royal father-in-law has trampled on his rights; and +should I ever see him restored to the throne of his ancestors, I could +not but acknowledge the hand of Heaven in the event. Far would it have +been from me to have bound him to remain a prisoner during Edward's +sojourn at Durham, had I not been certain that your escape and his +together would now give birth to a plausible argument in the minds of +my enemies; and, grounding their suspicions on my acknowledged +attachment to Bruce, the king might have been persuaded to believe me +unfaithful to his interests. The result would be my disgrace, and a +broken heart to her who has raised me by her generous love from the +humbler ranks of nobility to that of a prince, and her husband." + +Gloucester then informed Wallace that about two hours before he came to +alarm Bruce for his safety on this occasion, he was summoned by Edward +to attend him immediately. When he obeyed, he found Soulis standing by +the royal couch, and his majesty talking with vehemence. At sight of +Gloucester he beckoned him to advance, and striking his hand fiercely +on a letter he held, he exclaimed: + +"Here, my son, behold the record of your father's shame!--of a King of +England dishonored by a slave!" + +As he spoke he dashed it from him. Soulis answered, smiling: + +"Not a slave, my lord and king! can you not see, through the ill +adapted disguise, the figure and mien of nobility? He is some foreign +lover of your bride, come--" + +"Enough!" interrupted the king; "I know I am dishonored; but the +villain shall die. Read the letter, Gloucester, and say what tortures +shall stamp my vengeance!" + +Gloucester opened the vellum, and read, in the queen's hand: + +"Gentle minstrel! my lady countess tells me I must not see you again. +Were you old or ugly, as most bards are, I might, she says; but being +young, it is not for a queen to smile upon one of your calling. She +bade me remember, that when I smiled, you smiled too; and that you +asked me questions unbecoming your degree. Pray do not do this any +more; though I see no harm in it; alas! I used to smile as I liked when +I was in France. Oh, if it were not for those I love best, who are now +in England, I wish I were there again! and you would go with me, gentle +minstrel, would you not? And you would teach me to sing so sweetly! I +would then never talk with you, but would always speak in song; how +pretty that would be! and then we should be from under the eyes of this +harsh countess. My ladies in France would let you come in and stay as +long with me as I pleased. But as I cannot go back again, I will make +myself happy here in spite of the countess, who rules me more as if she +were my stepmother than I hers; but then to be sure she is a few years +older. + +"I will see you this evening, and your sweet harp shall sing all my +heart-aches to sleep. My French lady of honor will conduct you +secretly to my apartments. I am sure you are too honest even to guess +at what the countess thinks you might fancy when I smile on you. But, +gentle minstrel, presume not, and you shall ever find an indulgent +mistress in M-- + +"P.S. At the last vespers to-night, my page shall come for you." + +Gloucester knew the queen's handwriting; and not being able to +contradict that this letter was hers, he inquired how it came into his +majesty's hands. + +"I found it," replied Soulis, "in crossing the courtyard; it lay on the +ground, where, doubtless, it had been accidentally dropped by the +queen's messenger." + +Gloucester, wishing to extenuate for the queen's sake, whose youth and +inexperience he pitied, affirmed that, from the simplicity with which +the note was written, from her innocent references to the minstrel's +profession, he could not suppose that she addressed him in any other +character. + +"If he be only a base itinerant harper," replied the king, "the deeper +is my disgrace; for, if a passion of another king than music be not +portrayed in every word of this artful letter, I never read a woman's +heart!" + +The king continued to comment on the fatal scroll with the lynx-eye of +jealousy, loading her name with every opprobrium. Gloucester inwardly +thanked Heaven that none other than Soulis and himself were present to +hear Edward fasten such foul dishonor on his queen. The generous earl +could not find other arguments to assuage the mountain ire of her +husband. She might be innocent of actual guilt, or indeed of being +aware of more than a queen's usual interest in a poor wandering +minstrel was, as the king said, in every line. Gloucester remaining +silent, Edward believed him convinced of the queen's crime; and being +too wrathful to think of caution, he sent for the bishop and others of +his lords, and when they entered, vented to them also his injury and +indignation. Many were not inclined to be of the same opinion with +their sovereign; some thought with Gloucester, others deemed the letter +altogether a forgery; and a few adopted the severer inferences of her +husband; but all united (even those determined to spare the queen) in +recommending an immediate apprehension and private execution of the +minstrel. + +"It is not fit," cried Soulis, "that a man who has ever been suspected +of invading our monarch's honor, should live another hour." + +This sanguinary sentence was acceded to, and with as little remorse by +the whole assembly as if they had merely condemned a tree to the ax. +Such is the carelessness with which the generality of arbitrary +assemblies decide on the fate of a fellow mortal! Earl Percy, who gave +his vote for the death of the minstrel more from this culpable +inconsideration than that thirst of blood which stimulated the voices +of Soulis and the Cummins, proposed--as he believed the queen +innocent--that honor should be examined relative to the circumstances +mentioned in the letter. + +The king immediately ordered their attendance. + +The royal Jane of Acre appeared at the first summons, and spoke with an +air of truth and freedom from alarm which convinced every candid ear of +the innocence of the queen. Her testimony was, that she believed the +minstrel to be other than he seemed; but she was certain, from the +conversations which the queen had held with her after the bishop's +feast, that it was at this very feast she had first seen him, and that +she was ignorant of his real rank. On being questioned by the bishop, +the countess acknowledged that her majesty had praised his figure as +well as his singing; "yet not more," added she, "than she afterward did +to the king when she awakened his curiosity to send for him." Her +highness continued to reply to the interrogatories put to her, by +saying, that it was in the king's presence she herself first saw the +minstrel; and then she thought his demeanor much above his situation; +but, when he accompanied the queen and herself into her majesty's +apartments, she had then an opportunity to observe him narrowly, as the +queen engaged him in conversation; and by his answers, questions, and +easy, yet respectful deportment, she became convinced he was not what +he appeared. + +"And why, Jane," asked the king, "did you not impart these suspicions +to your husband or to me?" + +"Because," replied she, "remembering that my interference on a certain +public occasion brought my late husband, Clare, under your majesty's +displeasure; on my marriage with Monthermer, I made a solemn vow before +my confessor never to offend in the like manner. And besides, the +countenance of this stranger was so ingenious, and his sentiments so +natural and honorable, I could not suspect he came on any disloyal +errand." + +"Lady," observed one of the elder lords, "if you thought so well of the +queen and of this man, why did you caution her against his smiles, and +deem it necessary to persuade her not to see him again?" + +The countess blushed at this question, but replied, "Because I saw the +minstrel was a gentleman. He possessed a noble figure, and a handsome +face in spite of his Egyptian skin. Like most young gentlemen, he +might be conscious of these advantages, and attribute the artless +approbation, the innocent smiles of my gracious queen, to a source more +flattering to his vanity. I have known many lords, not far from your +majesty, make similar mistakes on as little grounds," added she, +looking disdainfully toward some of the younger nobles; "and, +therefore, to prevent such insolence, I desired his final dismission." + +"Thank you, my dear Jane," replied the king; "you almost persuade me of +Margaret's innocence." + +"Believe it, sire!" cried she with animation; "whatever romantic +thoughtlessness her youth and inexperience may have led her into, I +pledge my life on her purity." + +"First, let us hear what that French woman has to say to the +assignation," exclaimed Soulis, whose polluted heart could not suppose +the existence of true purity, and whose cruel disposition exulted in +torturing and death; "question her, and then her majesty may have full +acquittal." + +Again the brow of Edward was overcast. The fiends of jealously once +more tugged at his heart; and ordering the Countess of Gloucester to +withdraw he commanded the Baroness de Pontoise to be brought into his +presence. + +When she saw the king's threatening looks, and beheld the fearful +expression which shot from every surrounding countenance, she shrunk +with terror. Long backneyed in secret gallantries, the same inward +whisper which had proclaimed to Soulis that the queen was guilty, +induced her to believe that she had been the confidante of an illicit +passion; and therefore, though she knew nothing really bad of her +unhappy mistress, yet, fancying that she did, she stood before the +royal tribunal with the air and aspect of a culprit. + +"Repeat to me," demanded the king, "or answer it with your head, all +that you know of Queen Margaret's intimacy with the man who calls +himself a minstrel." + +At these words, which were delivered in a tone that seemed the sentence +of death, the French woman fell on her knees, and in a burst of terror +exclaimed, "Sire, I will reveal all if your majesty will grant me +pardon for having too faithfully served my mistress!" + +"Speak! speak!" cried the king, with desperate impatience. "I swear to +pardon you, even if you have joined in a conspiracy against my life; +but speak the truth, and all the truth, that judgment, without mercy, +may fall on the guilty heads!" + +"Then I obey," answered the baroness. + +"Foul betrayer!" half-exclaimed Gloucester, turning disappointed away. +"O! what it is to be vile, and to trust the vile! But virtue will not +be auxiliary to vice--and so wickedness falls by its own agents." + +The baroness, raised from her kneeling position by Soulis, began: + +"The only time I ever heard of, or saw this man, to my knowledge, was +when he was brought to play before my lady at the bishop's banquet. I +did not much observe him, being engaged in conversation at the other +end of the room; so I cannot say, whether I might not have seen him in +France; for many noble lords adored the Princess Margaret, though she +appeared to frown upon them all. But I must confess, when I attended +her majesty's disrobing after the feast, she put to me so many +questions about what I thought of the minstrel who had sung so +divinely, that I began to think her admiration too great to have been +awakened by a mere song. And then she asked me, if a king could have a +nobler air than he had; and she laughed, and said she would send your +majesty to school to learn of him." + +"Damnable traitress!" exclaimed the king. + +The baroness paused, and retreated before the sudden fury which flashed +from his eyes. + +"Go on!" cried he; "hide neither word nor circumstance, that my +vengeance may lose nothing of its aim!" + +She proceeded: + +"Her majesty then talked of his beautiful eyes; so blue, she said, so +tender, yet proud in their looks; and only a minstrel! 'De Pontoise,' +added she, 'can you explain that?' I being rather, perhaps, too well +learned in the idle tales of our troubadours, heedlessly answered: +'Perhaps he is some king in disguise, just come to look at your +majesty's charms, and go away again!' She laughed much at this +conceit; said he must be one of Pharaoh's race then, and that had he +not such white teeth, his complexion would be intolerable. Being +pleased to see her majesty in such spirits, and thinking no ill, I +sportively answered, 'I read once of a certain Spanish lover, who went +to the court of Tunis to carry off the king's daughter; and he had so +black a face, that none suspected him to be other than the Moorish +Prince of Granada; when lo! one day in a pleasure-party on the sea, he +fell overboard, and came up with the fairest face in the world, and +presently acknowledged himself to be the Christian King of Castile.' +The queen laughed at this story, but not answering me, went to bed. +Next morning, when I entered her chamber, she received me with even +more gayety, and putting aside my coiffure, said, 'Let me see if I can +find the devil's mark here!' 'What do you mean?' I asked, 'does your +majesty take me for a witch?' 'Exactly so,' she replied; 'for a little +sprite told me last night that all you told me was true.' And then she +began to tell me with many smiles, that she had dreamed the minstrel +was the very Prince of Portugal, whom, unseen, she had refused for the +King of England; and that he gave her a harp set with jewels. She then +went to your majesty, and I saw no more of her till she sent for me +late in the evening. She seemed very angry. 'You are faithful,' said +she to me, 'and you know me. De Pontoise; you know me too proud to +degrade myself, and too highminded to submit to tyranny. The Countess +of Gloucester, with persuasions too like commands, will not allow me to +see the minstrel any more.' She then declared her determination that +she would see him; that she would feign herself sick, and he should +come and sing to her when she was alone; and that she was sure he was +too modest to presume on her condescension. I said something to +dissuade her, but she overruled me; and, shame to myself, I consented +to assist her. She embraced me, and gave me a letter to convey to him, +which I did, by slipping it beneath the ornaments of the handle of her +lute, which I sent as an excuse for the minstrel to tune. It was to +acquaint him with her intentions, and this night he was to have visited +her apartment!" + +During this recital the king sat with compressed lips listening, but +with a countenance proclaiming the collecting tempest within--changing +to livid paleness or portentous fire, at almost every sentence. On +mentioning the letter, he clinched his hand, as if then he grasped the +thunderbolt. The lords immediately apprehended that this was the +letter which Soulis found. + +"And is this all you know of the affair?" inquired Percy, seeing that +she made a pause. "And enough, too?" cried Soulis, "to blast the most +vaunted chastity in Christendom." + +"Take the woman hence," cried the king, in a burst of wrath, that gave +his voice a preternatural force, which yet resounded from the vaulted +roof, while he added--"Never let me see her traitor face again!" The +baroness withdrew in terror; and Edward, calling Sir Piers Gaveston, +commanded him to place himself at the head of a double guard, and go in +person to bring the object of his officious introduction to meet the +punishment due to his crime. "For," cried the king, "be he prince or +peasant, I will see him hanged before my eyes, and then return his +wanton paramour, branded with infamy, to her disgraced family!" + +Soulis now suggested that, as the delinquent was to be found with +Bruce, most likely that young nobleman was privy to his designs. "We +shall see to him hereafter," replied the king; "meanwhile, look that I +am obeyed." + +The moment this order passed the king's lips, Gloucester, now not +doubting the queen's guilt, hastened to warn Bruce of what had +occurred, that he might separate himself from the crime of a man who +appeared to have been under his protection. But when he found that the +accused was no other than the universally feared, universally beloved, +and generous Wallace, all other considerations were lost in the desire +of delivering him from the impending danger. He knew the means, and he +did not hesitate to employ them. + +During the recital of this narrative, Gloucester narrowly observed the +auditor, and the ingenuous bursts of his indignation, and the horror he +evinced at the crime he was suspected of having committed, the earl, +while more fully convinced of his innocence, easily conceived how the +queen's sentiments for him might have gone no further than a childish +admiration, very pardonable in a guileless creature hardly more than +sixteen. + +"See," cried Wallace, "the power which lies with the describer of +actions! The chaste mind of your countess saw nothing in the conduct +of the queen but thoughtless simplicity. The contaminated heart of the +Baroness de Pontoise descried passion in every word, wantonness in +every movement; and, judging of her mistress by herself, she has +wrought this mighty ruin. How, then, does it behove virtue to admit +the virtuous only to her intimacy: association with the vicious makes +her to be seen in their colors! Impress your king with this +self-evident conclusion; and were it not for endangering the safety of +Bruce, the hope of my country, I myself would return and stake my life +on proving the innocence of the Queen of England. But if a letter, +with my word of honor, could convince the king--" + +"I accept the offer," interrupted Gloucester, "I am too warmly the +friend of Bruce--too truly grateful to you--to betray either into +danger; but from Sunderland, whither I recommend you to go, and there +embark for France, write the declaration you mention, and inclose it to +me. I can contrive that the king shall have your letter without +suspecting by what channel; and then, I trust, all will be well." + +During this discourse, they passed on through the vaulted passage, +till, arriving at a wooden crucifix which marked the boundary of the +domain of Durham, Gloucester stopped. + +"I must not go further. Should I prolong my stay from the castle +during the search for you, suspicion may be awakened. You must +therefore proceed alone. Go straight forward, and at the extremity of +the vault you will find a flag stone, surmounted like the one by which +we descended; raise it, and it will let you into the cemetery of the +Abbey of Fincklay. One end of that burying-place is always open to the +east. Thence you will emerge to the open world; and may it in future, +noble Wallace, ever treat you according to your unequaled merits. +Farewell!" + +The earl turned to retrace his steps, and Wallace pursued his way +through the rayless darkness toward the Fincklay extremity of the +vault. + + + + +Chapter LX. + +Gallic Seas. + + +Wallace having issued from his subterranean journey, made direct to +Sunderland, where he arrived about sunrise. A vessel belonging to +France (which, since the marriage of Margaret with Edward, had been in +amity with England as well as Scotland) rode there, waiting a favorable +wind. Wallace secured a passage in her; and, going on board, wrote his +promised letter to Edward. It ran thus: + +"This testament is to assure Edward, King of England, upon the word of +a knight, that Queen Margaret, his wife, is in every respect guiltless +of the crimes alleged against her by the Lord Soulis, and sworn to by +the Baroness de Pontoise. I came to the court of Durham on an errand +connected with my country; and that I might be unknown, I assumed the +disguise of a minstrel. By accident I encountered Sir Piers Gaveston, +and, ignorant that I was other than I seemed, he introduced me at the +royal banquet. It was there I first saw her majesty. And I never had +that honor but three times; and the third and last in her apartments, +to which your majesty's self saw me withdraw. The Countess of +Gloucester was present the whole time, and to her highness I appeal. +The queen saw in me only a minstrel; on my art alone as a musician was +her favor bestowed; and by expressing it with an ingenuous warmth which +none other than an innocent heart would have dared to display, she has +thus exposed herself to the animadversions of libertinism, and to the +false representations of a terror-struck, because worthless, friend. + +"I have escaped the snare which the queen's enemies laid for me; and +for her sake, for the sake of truth, and your own peace, King Edward, I +declare before the Searcher of all hearts, and before the world, in +whose esteem I hope to live and die--that your wife is innocent! And +should I ever meet the man, who, after this declaration, dares to unite +her name with mine in a tale of infamy--by the power of truth, I swear +that I will make him write a recantation with his blood. Pure as a +virgin's chastity is, and shall ever be, the honor of William Wallace." + +This letter was inclosed in one to the Earl of Gloucester, and having +dispatched his packet to Durham, the Scottish chief gladly saw a brisk +wind blow up from the north-west. The ship weighed anchor, cleared the +harbor, and, under a fair sky, swiftly cut the waves toward the Gallic +shores. But ere she reached them, the warlike star of Wallace directed +to his little bark the terrific sails of the Red Reaver, a formidable +pirate who then infested the Gallic seas, swept their commerce, and +insulted their navy. He attacked the French vessel, but it carried a +greater than Caesar and his fortunes; Wallace and his destiny were +there, and the enemy struck to the Scottish chief. The Red Reaver (so +surnamed because of his red sails and sanguinary deeds) was killed in +the action; but his younger brother, Thomas de Longueville, was found +alive with in the captive ship, and a yet greater prize! Prince Louis, +of France, who having been out the day before on a sailing-party, had +been descried, and seized as an invaluable booty by the Red Reaver. + +Adverse winds for some time prevented Wallace from reaching port with +his capture; but on the fourth day after the victory, he cast anchor in +the harbor of Havre. The indisposition of the prince from a wound he +had received in his own conflict with the Reaver, made it necessary to +apprise King Philip of the accident. In answer to Wallace's dispatches +on this subject, the grateful monarch added to the proffers of personal +friendship, which had been the substance of his majesty's embassy to +Scotland, a pressing invitation that the Scottish chief would accompany +the prince to Paris, and there receive a public mark of royal +gratitude, which, with due honor, should record this service done to +France to future ages. Meanwhile Philip sent the chief a suit of +armor, with a request that he would wear it in remembrance of France +and his own heroism. But nothing could tempt Wallace to turn aside +from his duty. Impatient to pursue his journey toward the spot where +he hoped to meet Bruce, he wrote a respectful excuse to the king; but +arraying himself in the monarch's martial present (to assure his +majesty by the evidence of his son that his royal wish had been so far +obeyed), he went to the prince to bid him farewell. Louis was +preparing for their departure, all three together, with young De +Longueville (whose pardon Wallace had obtained from the king on account +of the youth's abhorrence of the service which his brother had +compelled him to adopt), and the two young men, from different +feelings, expressed their disappointment when they found that their +benefactor was going to leave them. Wallace gave his highness a packet +for the king, containing a brief statement of his vow to Lord Mar, and +a promise, that when he had fulfilled it, Philip should see him at +Paris. The royal cavalcade then separated from the deliverer of its +prince; and Wallace, mounting a richly-barbed Arabian, which had +accompanied his splendid armor, took the road to Rouen. + +Meanwhile, events not less momentous took place at Durham. The instant +Wallace had followed the Earl of Gloucester from the apartment in the +castle, it was entered by Sir Piers Gaveston. He demanded the +minstrel. Bruce replied, he knew not where he was. Gaveston, eager to +convince the king that he was no accomplice with the suspected person, +put the question a second time, and in a tone which he meant should +intimidate the Scottish prince--"Where is the minstrel?" + +"I know not," replied Bruce. + +"And will you dare to tell me, earl," asked his interrogator, "that +within this quarter of an hour he has not been in this tower?--nay, in +this very room? The guards in your antechamber have told me that he +was; and can Lord Carrick stoop to utter a falsehood to screen an +wandering beggar?" + +While he was speaking, Bruce stood eying him with increasing scorn. +Gaveston paused. + +"You expect me to answer you!" said the prince. "Out of respect to +myself I will, for such is the unsullied honor of Robert Bruce, that +even the air shall not be tainted with slander against his truth, +without being repurified by its confutation. Gaveston, you have known +me five years; two of them we passed together in the jousts of +Flanders, and yet you believe me capable of falsehood! Know then, +unworthy of the esteem I have bestowed on you, that neither to save +mean or great, would I deviate from the strict line of truth. The man +you seek may have been in this tower, in this room, as you present are, +and as little am I bound to know where he now is, as whither you go +when you relieve me from an inquisition which I hold myself accountable +to no man to answer." + +"'Tis well," cried Gaveston; "and I am to carry this haughty message to +the king?" + +"If you deliver it as a message," answered Bruce, "you will prove that +they who are ready to suspect falsehood, find its utterance easy. My +reply is to you. When King Edward speaks to me, I shall find the +answer that is due to him." + +"These attempts to provoke me into a private quarrel," cried Gaveston, +"will not succeed. I am not to be so foiled in my duty. I must seek +the man through your apartments." + +"By whose authority?" demanded Bruce. + +"By my own, as the loyal subject of my outraged monarch. He bade me +bring the traitor before him; and thus I obey." + +While speaking, Gaveston beckoned to his attendants to follow him to +the door whence Wallace had disappeared. Bruce threw himself before it. + +"I must forget the duty I owe to myself, before I allow you, or any +other man, to invade my privacy. I have already given you the answer +that becomes Robert Bruce; and in respect to your knighthood, instead +of compelling I request you to withdraw." + +Gaveston hesitated; but he knew the determined character of his +opponent, and therefore, with no very good grace, muttering that he +should hear of it from a more powerful quarter, he left the room. + +And certainly his threats were not in this instance vain; for prompt +was the arrival of a marshal and his officers to force Bruce before the +king. + +"Robert Bruce, Earl of Cleveland, Carrick and Annandale, I come to +summon you into the presence of your liege lord, Edward of England." + +"The Earl of Cleveland obeys," replied Bruce; and, with a fearless +step, he walked out before the marshal. + +When he entered the presence-chamber, Sir Piers Gaveston stood beside +the royal couch, as if prepared to be his accuser. The king sat +supported by pillows, paler with the mortifications of jealousy and +baffled authority than from the effects of his wounds. + +"Robert Bruce!" cried he, the moment his eyes fell on him; but the +sight of his mourning habit made a stroke upon his heart that sent out +evidence of remorse in large globules on his forehead; he paused, wiped +his face with his handkerchief, and resumed: "Are you not afraid, +presumptuous young man, thus to provoke your sovereign? Are you not +afraid that I shall make that audacious head answer for the man whom +you thus dare to screen from my just revenge?" + +Bruce felt all the injuries he had suffered from this proud king rush +at once upon his memory; and, without changing his position or lowering +the lofty expression of his looks, he firmly answered: "The judgment of +a just king I cannot fear; the sentence of an unjust one I despise." + +"This to his majesty's face!" exclaimed Soulis. + +"Insolence--rebellion--chastisement--even death!" were the words which +murmured round the room at the honest reply. + +Edward had too much good sense to echo any one of them; but turning to +Bruce, with a sensation of shame he would gladly have repressed, he +said that, in consideration of his youth, he would pardon him what had +passed, and reinstate him in all the late Earl of Carrick's honors, if +he would immediately declare where he had hidden the offending minstrel. + +"I have not hidden him," cried Bruce; "nor do I know where he is; but +had that been confided to me, as I know him to be an innocent man, no +power on earth should have wrenched him from me!" + +"Self-sufficient boy!" exclaimed Earl Buchan, with a laugh of contempt; +"do you flatter yourself that he would trust such a novice as you are +with secrets of this nature?" + +Bruce turned on him an eye of fire. + +"Buchan," replied he, "I will answer you on other ground. Meanwhile, +remember that the secrets of good men are open to every virtuous heart; +those of the wicked they would be glad to conceal from themselves." + +"Robert Bruce," cried the king, "before I came this northern journey I +ever found you one of the most devoted of my servants, the gentlest +youth in my court; and how do I see you at this moment? Braving my +nobles to my face! How is it that until now this spirit never broke +forth?" + +"Because," answered the prince, "until now I have never seen the +virtuous friend whom you call upon me to betray." + +"Then you confess," cried the king, "that he was an instigator to +rebellion?" + +"I avow," answered Bruce, "that I never knew what true loyalty was till +he taught it me; I never knew the nature of real chastity till he +explained it to me; nor comprehended what virtue might be till he +allowed me to see in himself incorruptible fidelity, bravery undaunted, +and a purity of heart not to be contaminated! And this is the man on +whom these lords would fasten a charge of treason and adultery! But +out of the filthy depths of their own breast arise the streams from +which they would blacked his fairness." + +"Your vindication," cried the king, "confirms his guilt. You admit +that he is not a minstrel in reality. Wherefore, then, did he steal in +ambuscade into my palace, but to betray either my honor or my +life--perhaps both?" + +"His errand here was to see me." + +"Rash boy!" cried Edward; "then you acknowledge yourself a premeditated +conspirator against me?" + +Soulis now whispered in the king's ear, but so low that Bruce did not +hear him. + +"Penetrate further, my liege; this may be only a false confession to +shield the queen's character. She who has once betrayed her duty, +finds it easy to reward such handsome advocates." + +The scarlet of inextinguishable wrath now burned on the face of Edward. +"I will confront them," returned he; "surprise them into betraying +each other." + +By his immediate orders the queen was brought in. She leaned on the +Countess of Gloucester. + +"Jane," cried the king, "leave that woman; let her impudence sustain +her." + +"Rather her innocence, my lord," said the countess, bowing, and +hesitating to go. + +"Leave her to that," returned the incensed husband, "and she would +grovel on the earth like her own base passions. But stand before me +she shall, and without other support than the devils within her." + +"For pity!" cried the queen, extending her clasped hands toward Edward, +and bursting into tears; "have mercy on me, for I am innocent!" + +"Prove it then," cried the king, "by agreeing with this confidant of +your minstrel, and at once tell me by what name you addressed him when +you allured him to my court? Is he French, Spanish, or English?" + +"By the Virgin's holy purity, I swear!" cried the queen, sinking on her +knees, "that I never allured him to this court; I never beheld him till +I saw him at the bishop's banquet; and for his name, I know it not." + +"Oh, vilest of the vile!" cried the king, fiercely grasping his couch; +"and didst thou become a wanton at a glance? From my sight this +moment, or I shall blast thee!" + +The queen dropped senseless into the arms of the Earl of Gloucester, +who at that moment entered from seeing Wallace through the cavern. At +sight of him, Bruce knew that his friend was safe; and fearless for +himself when the cause of outraged innocence was at stake, he suddenly +exclaimed: + +"By one word, King Edward, I will confirm the blamelessness of this +injured queen. Listen to me, not as a monarch and an enemy, but with +the unbiased judgment of man with man; and then ask your own brave +heart if it would be possible for Sir William Wallace to be a seducer." + +Every mouth was dumb at the enunciation of that name. None dared open +a lip in accusation; and the king himself, thunderstruck alike with the +boldness of the conqueror venturing within the grasp of his revenge and +at the daringness of Bruce in thus declaring his connection with him, +for a few minutes he knew not what to answer; only he had received +conviction of his wife's innocence! He was too well acquainted with +the history and uniform conduct of Wallace to doubt his honor in this +transaction; and though a transient fancy of the queen's might have had +existence, yet he had now no suspicion of her actions. "Bruce," said +he, "your honesty has saved the Queen of England. Though Wallace is my +enemy, I know him to be of an integrity which neither man nor woman can +shake; and therefore," added he, turning to the lords, "I declare +before all who have heard me so fiercely arraign my injured wife, that +I believe her innocent of every offense against me. And whoever, after +this, mentions one word of what has passed in these investigations, or +even whispers that they have been held, shall be punished as guilty of +high treason." + +Bruce was then ordered to be reconducted to the round-tower; and the +rest of the lords withdrawing by command, the king was left with +Gloucester, his daughter Jane, and the now reviving queen to make his +peace with her, even on his knees. + +Burce was more closely immured than ever. Not even his senachie was +allowed to approach him; and double guards were kept constantly around +his prison. On the fourth day of his seclusion an extra row of iron +bars was put across his windows. He asked the captain of the party the +reason for this new rivet on his captivity; but he received no answer. +His own recollection, however, solved the doubt; for he could not but +see that his own declaration respecting his friendship with Wallace had +increased the alarm of Edward respecting their political views. One of +the warders, on having the same inquiry put to him which Bruce had +addressed to his superior, in a rough tone replied: + +"He had best not ask questions, lest he should hear that his majesty +had determined to keep him under Bishop Beck's padlock for life." + +Bruce was not to be deprived of hope by a single evidence, and smiling, +said: + +"There are more ways of getting out of a tyrant's prison, than by the +doors and windows!" + +"Why, you would not eat through the walls?" cried the man. + +"Certainly," replied Bruce, "if I have no other way, and through the +guards too." + +"We'll see to that," answered the man. + +"And feel it too, my sturdy jailer," returned the prince; "so look to +yourself." + +Bruce threw himself recklessly into a chair as he spoke; while the man, +eying him askance, and remembering how strangely the minstrel had +disappeared, began to think that some people born in Scotland inherited +from nature a necromantic power of executing whatever they determined. + +Though careless in his manner of treating the warder's information, +Bruce thought of it with anxiety; and lost in reflections, checkered +with hope and doubt of his ever effecting an escape, he remained +immovable on the spot where the man had left him, till another sentinel +brought in a lamp. He set it down in silence, and withdrew; Bruce then +heard the bolts on the outside of his chamber pushed into their guards. +"There they go," said he to himself; "and those are to be the morning +and evening sounds to which I am to listen all my days! At least +Edward would have it so. Such is the gratitude he shows to the man who +restored to him his wife; who restored to him the consciousness of +possessing that honor unsullied which is so dear to every married man! +Well, Edward, kindness might bind generous minds even to forget their +rights; but thanks to you, neither in my own person, nor for any of my +name, do I owe you aught, but to behold me King of Scotland; and please +God, that you shall, if the prayers of faith may burst these +double-steeled gates, and set me free!" + +While invocations to the Power in which he confided, and resolutions +respecting the consequences of his hoped-for liberty, by turns occupied +his mind, he heard the tread of a foot in the adjoining passage. He +listened breathless; for no living creature, he thought, could be in +that quarter of the building, as he had suffered none to enter it since +Wallace had disappeared by that way. He half rose from his couch, as +the door at which he had seen him last gently opened. He started up, +and Gloucester, with a lantern in his hand, stood before him. The earl +put his finger on his lip, and taking Bruce by the hand, led him, as he +had done Wallace, down into the vault which leads to Fincklay Abbey. + +When safe in that subterraneous cloister, the earl replied to the +impatient gratitude of Bruce (who saw that the generous Gloucester +meant he should follow the steps of his friend) by giving him a +succinct account of his motives for changing his first determination, +and now giving him liberty. He had not visited Bruce since the escape +of Wallace, that he might not excite any new suspicion in Edward; and +the tower being fast locked at every usual avenue, he had now entered +it from the Fincklay side. He then proceeded to inform Bruce, that +after his magnanimous forgetfulness of his own safety to insure that of +the queen had produced a reconciliation between her and her husband, +Buchan, Soulis, and Athol, with one or two English lords, joined the +next day to persuade the king that Bruce's avowal respecting Wallace +had been merely an invention of his own to screen some baser friend and +royal mistress. They succeeded in reawakening doubts in Edward, who, +sending for Gloucester, said to him, "Unless I could hear from +Wallace's own lips (and in my case the thing is impossible), that he +has been here, and that my wife is guiltless of this foul stain, I must +ever remain in horrible suspense. These base Scots, ever fertile in +maddening suggestions, have made me even more suspect that Bruce had +other reasons for his apparently generous risk of himself, than a love +of justice." + +While these ideas floated in the mind of Edward, Bruce had been more +closely immured. And Gloucester having received the promised letter +from Wallace, determined to lay it before the king. Accordingly, one +morning the earl, gliding unobserved into the presence-chamber before +Edward was brought in, laid the letter under his majesty's cushion. As +Gloucester expected, the moment the king saw the superscription, he +knew the hand; and hastily breaking the seal, read the letter twice +over to himself without speaking a word. But the clouds which had hung +on his countenance all passed away; and with a smile reaching the +packet to Gloucester, he commanded him to read aloud "that silencer of +all doubts respecting the honor of Margaret of France and England." +Gloucester obeyed; and the astonished nobles, looking on each other, +one and all assented to the credit that ought to be given to Wallace's +word, and deeply regretted having ever joined in a suspicion against +her majesty. Thus, then, all appeared amicably settled. But the +embers of discord still glowed. The three Scottish lords, afraid lest +Bruce might be again taken into favor, labored to show that his +friendship with Wallace, pointed to his throwing off the English yoke, +and independently assuming the Scottish crown. Edward required no +arguments to convince him of the probability of this; and he readily +complied with Bishop Beck's request to allow him to hold the royal +youth his prisoner. But when the Cummins won this victory over Bruce, +they gained nothing for themselves. During the king's vain inquiries +respecting the manner in which Wallace's letter had been conveyed to +the apartment, they had ventured to throw hints of Bruce having been +the agent, by some secret means, and that however innocent the queen +might be, he certainly evinced, by such solicitude for her exculpation, +a more than usual interest in her person. These latter innuendoes the +king crushed in the first whisper. "I have done enough with Robert +Bruce," said he. "He is condemned a prisoner for life, and a mere +suspicion shall never provoke me to give sentence for his death." +Irritated by this reply, and the contemptuous glance with which it was +accompanied, the vindictive triumvirate turned from the king to the +court; and having failed in accomplishing the destruction of Bruce and +his more renowned friend, they determined at least to make a wreck of +their moral fame. The guilt of Wallace and the queen, and the +participation of Bruce, was now whispered through every circle, and +credited in proportion to the evil disposition of the hearers. + +Once of his pages at last brought to the ears of the kings the stories +which these lords so basely circulated; and sending for them, he gave +them so severe a reprimand, that, retiring from his presence with +stifled wrath, they agreed to accept the invitation of young Lord +Badenoch, return to their country, and support him in the regency. +Next morning Edward was informed they had secretly left Durham; and +fearing that Bruce might also make his escape, a consultation was held +between the king and Beck of so threatening a complexion, that +Gloucester no longer hesitated to run all risks, but immediately to +give the Scottish prince his liberty. + +Having led him to safety through the vaulted passage, they parted in +the cemetery of Fincklay; Gloucester, to walk back to Durham by the +banks of the Wear; and Bruce, to mount the horse the good earl had left +tied to a tree, to convey him to Hartlepool. There he embarked for +Normandy. + +When he arrived at Caen, he made no delay, but taking a rapid course +across the country toward Rouen, on the second evening of his +traveling, having pursued his route without sleep, he felt himself so +overcome with fatigue, that, in the midst of a vast and dreary plain, +he found it necessary to stop for rest at the first habitation he might +find. It happened to be the abode of one of those poor, but pious +matrons, who, attaching themselves to some neighboring order of +charity, live alone in desert places for the purpose of succoring +distressed travelers. Here Bruce found the widow's cruse, and a pallet +to repose his weary limbs. + + + + +Chapter LXI. + +Normandy. + + +Wallace, having separated from the Prince Royal of France, pursued his +solitary way toward the capital of Normandy, till night overtook him +ere he was aware. Clouds so obscured the sky, that not a star was +visible; and his horse, terrified at the impenetrable darkness, and the +difficulties of the path, which lay over a barren and stony moor, +suddenly stopped. This aroused Wallace from a long fit of musing to +look around him; but on which side lay the road to Rouen, he could form +no guess. To pass the night in so exposed a spot might be dangerous, +and spurring the animal, he determined to push onward. + +He had ridden nearly another hour, when the dead silence of the scene +was broken by the roll of distant thunder. Then forked lightning +shooting from the horizon showed a line of country unmarked by any +vestige of human habitation. Still he proceeded. The storm +approached, till, breaking in peals over his head, it discharged such +sheets of livid fire at his feet that the horse reared, and plunging +amidst the blaze, flashed the light of his rider's armor on the eyes of +a troop of horsemen, who also stood under the tempest, gazing with +affright at the scene. Wallace, by the same transitory illumination, +saw the travelers, as they seemed to start back at his appearance; and, +mistaking their apprehension, he called to them, that his well-managed, +though terrified steed, would do theirs no harm. One of them advanced +and respectfully inquired of him the way to Rouen. Wallace replied +that he was a stranger in this part of the country, and was also +seeking that city. While he was yet speaking the thunder became more +tremendous, and the lightning rolled in volumes along the ground, the +horses of the troop became restive, and one of them threw its rider. +Cries of lamentation, mingling with the groans of the fallen person, +excited the compassion of Wallace. He rode toward the spot from when +the latter proceeded, and asked the nearest bystander (for several had +alighted) whether the unfortunate man was much hurt. The answer +returned was full of alarm for the sufferer, and anxiety to obtain some +place of shelter, for rain began to fall. In a few minutes it +increased to torrents, and the lightning ceasing, deepened the horrors +of the scene by preventing the likelihood of discovering any human +abode. The men gathered round their fallen companion bewailing the +prospect of his perishing under these inclemencies; but Wallace cheered +them by saying he would seek a shelter for their friend, and blow his +bugle when he had found one. With the word he turned his horse, and as +he galloped along, called aloud on any Christian man who might live +near, to open his doors to a dying traveler! After riding about in all +directions, he saw a glimmering light for a moment, and then all was +darkness; but again he called aloud for charity! and a shrill female +voice answered, "I am a lone woman, with already one poor traveler in +my house; but, for the Virgin's sake, I will open my door to you, +whatever you may be." The good woman relighted her lamp, which the +rain had extinguished; and, on her unlatching the door, Wallace briefly +related what had happened, entreating her permission to bring the +unfortunate person into the cottage. She readily consented; and giving +him a lantern to guide his way, he blew his bugle, which was instantly +answered by so glad and loud a shout that it assured him his companions +could not be far distant, and that he must have made many a useless +circuit before he had stopped at this charitable door. + +The men directed him through the darkness by their voices, for the +lantern threw its beams but a very little way, and, arriving at their +side, by his assistance the bruised traveler was brought to the +cottage. It was a poor hovel; but the good woman had spread a clean +wooden coverlet over her own bed, in the inner chamber, and thither +Wallace carried the invalid. He seemed in great pain, but his kind +conductor answered their hostess' inquiries respecting him, with a +belief that no bones were broken. + +"But yet," cried she, "sad may be the effects of internal bruises on so +emaciated a frame. I will venture to disturb my other guest, who +sleeps in the loft, and bring down a decoction that I keep there. It +is made from simple herbs, and I am sure will be of service." + +The old woman having shown to the attendants where they might put their +horses under shelter of a shed which projected from the cottage, +ascended a few steps to the chamber above. Meanwhile, the Scottish +chief, assisted by one of the men, disengaged the sufferer from his wet +garments, and covered him with the blankets of the bed. Recovered to +recollection by the comparative comfort of his bodily feelings, the +stranger opened his eyes. He fixed them on Wallace, then looked +around, and turned to Wallace again. + +"Generous knight!" cried he, "I have nothing but thanks to offer for +this kindness. You seem to be of the highest rank, and yet have +succored one who the world abjures!" + +The knight returned a courteous answer, and the invalid, in a paroxysm +of emotion, added: + +"Can it be possible that a prince of France has dared to act contrary +to his peers?" + +Wallace, not apprehending what had given rise to this question, +supposed the stranger's wits were disordered, and looked with that +inquiry toward the attendant. Just at that moment a step, more active +than that of their aged hostess, sounded above, and an exclamation of +surprise followed it, in a voice that startled Wallace. He turned +hastily round, and a young man sprung from the cottage stairs into the +apartment--joy danced in every feature, and the ejaculation, +"Wallace!"--"Bruce!" burst at once from the hearts of the two friends +as they rushed into each other's arms. All else present was lost to +them in the delight of meeting after so perilous a separation--a +delight not confined for its object to their individual selves, each +saw in the other the hope of Scotland; and when they embraced, it was +not merely with the ardor of friendship, but with that of patriotism, +rejoicing in the preservation of its chief dependence. + +While the chiefs spoke freely in their native tongue, before a people +who could not be supposed to understand them, the aged stranger on the +bed reiterated his moans. Wallace, in a few words, telling Bruce the +manner of his reencounter with the sick man, and his belief that he was +disordered in his mind, drew toward the bed, and offered him some of +the decoction which the woman now brought. The invalid drank it, and +gazed earnestly, first on Wallace and then on Bruce. "Pierre, +withdraw," cried he to his personal attendant. The man obeyed. "Sit +down by me, noble friends," said he to the Scottish chiefs, "and read a +lesson, which I pray ye lay to your hearts!" Bruce glanced a look at +Wallace that declared he was of his opinion. Wallace drew a stool, +while his friend seated himself on the bed. The old woman, perceiving +something extraordinary in the countenance of the bruised stranger, +thought he was going to reveal some secret heavy on his mind, and also +withdrew. + +"You think my intellects are injured," returned he, turning to Wallace, +"because I addressed you as one of the house of Philip! Those jeweled +lilies round your helmet led me into the error; I never before saw them +granted to other than a prince of the blood. But think not, brave man, +I respect you less, since I have discovered that you are not of the +race of Philip--that you are other than a prince! Look on me--at this +emaciated form--and behold the reverses of all earthly grandeur! This +palsied hand once held a scepter--these hollow temples were once bound +with a crown! He that used to be followed as the source of honor, as +the fountain of prosperity--with suppliants at his feet, and flatterers +at his side--would now be left to solitude were it not for these few +faithful servants, who, in spite of all changes, have preserved their +allegiance to the end. Look on me, chiefs, and behold him who was the +King of Scots!" + +At this declaration, both Wallace and Bruce, struck with surprise and +compassion at meeting their ancient enemy reduced to such abject +misery, with one impulse bowed their heads to him with an air of +reverence. The action penetrated the heart of Baliol. For when at the +meeting and mutual exclamation of the two friends, he recognized in +whose presence he lay, he fearfully remembered that, by his base +submissions, turning the scale of judgment in his favor, he had +defrauded the grandsire of the very Bruce now before him of a fair +decision on his rights to the crown! And when he looked on Wallace, +who had preserved him from the effects of his accident, and brought him +to a shelter from the raging terrors of the night, his conscience +doubly smote him! for, from the hour of his elevation to that of his +downfall, he had ever persecuted the family of Wallace; and, at the +hour which was the crisis of her fate, had denied them the right of +drawing their swords in defense of Scotland. He, her king, had +resigned her into the hands of an usurper; but Wallace, the injured +Wallace, had arisen, like a star of light on the deep darkness of her +captivity, and Scotland was once more free. In the tempest, the exiled +monarch had started at the blaze of the unknown knight's jeweled +panoply; at the declaration of his name he shrunk before the brightness +of his glory! and, falling back on the bed, he groaned aloud. To these +young men, so strangely brought before him, and both of whom he had +wronged, he determined immediately to reveal himself, and see whether +they were equally resentful of injuries as those he had served had +proved ungrateful for benefits received. He spoke; and when, instead +of seeing the pair rise in indignation on his pronouncing his name, +they bowed their heads and sat in respectful silence, his desolate +heart expanded at once to admit the long-estranged emotion, and he +burst into tears. He caught the hand of Bruce, who sat nearest to him, +and, stretching out the other to Wallace, exclaimed, "I have not +deserved this goodness from either of you. Perhaps you two are the +only men now living whom I ever greatly injured; and you, excepting my +four poor attendants, are, perhaps, the only men living who would +compassionate my misfortunes!" + +"These are lessons, king," returned Wallace, with reverence, "to fit +you for a better crown. And never in my eyes did the descendant of +Alexander seem so worthy of his blood!" + +The grateful monarch pressed his hand. Bruce continued to gaze on him +with a thousand awful thoughts occupying his mind. Baliol read in his +expressive countenance the reflections which chained his tongue. + +"Behold, how low is laid the proud rival of your grandfather!" +exclaimed he, turning to Bruce. "I compassed a throne I could not +fill. I mistook the robes, the homage, for the kingly dignity. I +bartered the liberties of my country for a crown I knew not how to +wear, and the insidious trafficker not only reclaimed it, but repaid me +with a prison. There I expiated my crime against the upright Bruce! +Not one of all the Scottish lords who crowded Edward's court came to +beguile a moment of sorrow from their captive monarch. Lonely I lived, +for the tyrant even deprived me of the comfort of seeing my +fellow-prisoner, Lord Douglas--he whom attachment to my true interests +had betrayed to an English prison. I never saw him after the day of +his being put into the Tower until that of his death." Wallace +interrupted the afflicted Baliol with an exclamation of surprise. +"Yes," added he, "I myself closed his eyes. At that awful hour he had +petitioned to see me, and the boon was granted. I went to him, and +then, with his dying breath, he spoke truths to me, which were indeed +messengers from Heaven! They taught me what I was, and what I might +be. He died. Edward was then in Flanders, and you, brave Wallace, +being triumphant in Scotland, and laying such a stress in your +negotiations for the return of Douglas, the Southron cabinet agreed to +conceal his death, and, by making his name an instrument to excite your +hopes and fears, turn your anxiety for him to their own advantage." + +A deep scarlet kindled over the face of Bruce. "With what a race have +I been so long connected! What mean subterfuges, what dastardly +deceits, for the leaders of a great nation to adopt! Oh, king!" +exclaimed he, turning to Baliol, "if you have errors to atone for, what +then must be the penalty of my sin, for holding so long with an enemy +as vile as he is ambitious! Scotland! Scotland! I must weep tears of +blood for this!" He rose in agitation. Baliol followed him with his +eyes. + +"Amiable Bruce! you too severely arraign a fault that was venial in +you. Your father gave himself to Edward, and his son accompanied the +tribute." + +Bruce vehemently answered, "If King Edward ever said that, he uttered a +falsehood. My father loved him, confided in him, and the ingrate +betrayed him! His fidelity was no gift of himself, in acknowledgment +of inferiority; it was the pledge of a friendship exchanged on equal +terms on the fields of Palestine. And well did King Edward know that +he had no right over either my father or me; for in the moment he +doubted our attachment, he was aware of having forfeited it. He knew +he had no legal claim on us; and forgetting every law, human and +divine, he made us prisoners. But my father found liberty in the +grave, and I am ready to take a sure revenge in--" he would have added +"Scotland," but he forbore to give the last blow to the unhappy Baliol, +by showing him that his kingdom had indeed passed from him, and that +the man was before him who might be destined to wield his scepter. +Bruce paused, and sat down in generous confusion. + +"Hesitate not," said Baliol, "to say where you will take your revenge! +I know that the brave Wallace has laid open the way. Had I possessed +such a leader of my troops, I should not now be a mendicant in this +hovel; I should not be a creature to be pitied and despised. Wear him, +Bruce--wear him in your heart's core. He gives the throne he might +have filled." + +"Make not that a subject of praise," cried Wallace, "which if I had +left undone, would have stamped me a traitor. I have only performed my +duty; and may the Holy Anointer of the hearts of kings guide Bruce to +his kingdom, and keep him there in peace and honor!" + +Baliol rose in his bed at these words: "Bruce," said he, "approach me +near." He obeyed. The feeble monarch turned to Wallace: "You have +supported what was my kingdom through its last struggles for liberty; +put forth your hand and support its exiled sovereign in his last legal +act." Wallace raised the king, so as to enable him to assume a +kneeling posture. Dizzy with the exertion, for a moment he rested on +the shoulder of the chief; and then looking up, he met the eyes of +Bruce gazing on him with compassionate interest. The unhappy monarch +stretched out his arms to Heaven: "May God pardon the injuries which my +fatal ambition did to you and yours--the miseries I brought upon my +country; and let your reign redeem my errors! May the spirit of wisdom +bless you, my son!" His hands were now laid, with pious fervor, on the +head of Bruce, who sunk on his knees before him. "Whatever rights I +had to the crown of Scotland, by the worthlessness of my reign they are +forfeited; and I resign all unto you, even to the participation of the +mere title of king. It has been as the ghost of my former self, as an +accusing spirit to me, but, I trust, an angel of light to you, it will +conduct your people into all happiness!" Exhausted by his feelings, he +sunk back into the arms of Wallace. Bruce, rising from his knees, +poured a little of the herb-balsam into the king's mouth, and he +revived. As Wallace laid him back on his pillows, he gazed wistfully +at him, and grasping his hand, said in a low voice: "How did I throw a +blessing from me! But in those days, when I rejected your services at +Dunbar, I knew not the Almighty arm which brought the boy of Ellerslie +to save his country! I scorned the patriot flame that spoke your +mission, and the mercy of Heaven departed from me!"** + +**This renunciation of Baliol's in favor of Bruce is an historical +fact, and it was made in France. + +Memory was now busy with the thoughts of Bruce. He remembered his +father's weak, if not criminal devotion at that time to the interests +of Edward; he remembered his heart-wrung death; and looking at the +desolate old age of another of Edward's victims, his brave soul melted +to pity and regret, and he retired into a distant part of the room, to +shed, unobserved, the tears he could not restrain. Wallace soon after +saw the eyes of the exhausted king close in sleep; and cautious of +awakening him, he did not stir; but leaning against the thick oaken +frame of the bed, was soon lost in as deep a repose. + +After some time of complete stillness (for the old dame and the +attendants were at rest in the outer chamber), Bruce, whose low sighs +were echoed by the wind alone, which swept in gusts by the little +casement, looked toward the abdicated monarch's couch. He slept +profoundly, yet frequently started, as if disturbed by troubled dreams. +Wallace moved not on his hard pillow; and the serenity of perfect +peace rested upon all his features. + +"How tranquil is the sleep of the virtuous!" thought Bruce, as he +contemplated the difference between his state and that of Baliol; +"there lies an accusing conscience; here rests one of the most +faultless of created beings. It is, it is the sleep of innocence! +Come, ye slanderers," continued he, mentally calling on those he had +left at Edward's court, "and tell me if an adulterer could look thus +when he sleeps! Is there one trace of irregular passion about that +placid mouth? Does one of those heavenly-composed features bear +testimony to emotions which leave marks even when subdued? No, virtue +has set up her throne in that breast, and well may kings come to bow to +it!" + + + + +Chapter LXII. + +The Widow's Cell. + + +The entrance of the old woman, about an hour after sunrise, awakened +Wallace; but Baliol continued to sleep. On the chief's opening his +eyes, Bruce with a smile, stretched out his hand to him. Wallace rose; +and whispering the widow to abide by her guest till they should return, +the twain went forth to enjoy the mutual confidence of friendship. A +wood opened its umbrageous arms at a little distance; and thither, over +the dew-bespangled grass, they bent their way. The birds sung from +tree to tree; and Wallace, seating himself under an overhanging beech, +which canopied a narrow winding of the River Seine, listened with +mingled pain and satisfaction, to the communications which Bruce had to +impart relative to the recent scenes at Durham. + +"So rapid had been the events," observed the Scottish prince, when he +concluded his narrative, "that all appears to me a troubled vision; and +blessed, indeed, was the awaking of last night, when your voice, +sounding from the room below that in which I slept, called me to +embrace my best friend, as became the son of my ancestors--free, and +ready to renew the brightness of their name!" + +The discourse next turned to their future plans. Wallace, narrating +his adventure with the Red Reaver, proposed that the favor he should +ask in return (the King of France being earnest to bestow on him some +especial mark of gratitude), should be his interference with Edward to +grant the Scots a peaceable retention of their rights. + +"In that case, my prince," said he, "you will take possession of your +kingdom with the olive-branch in your hand." + +Bruce smiled, but shook his head. + +"And what then will Robert Bruce be? A king to be sure!--but a king +without a name! Who won me my kingdom? Who accomplished this peace? +Was it not William Wallace? Can I then consent to mount the throne of +my ancestors--so poor, so inconsiderable a creature? I am not jealous +of your fame, Wallace; I glory in it; for you are more to me than the +light to my eyes; but I would prove my right to the crown by deeds +worthy of a sovereign. Till I have shown myself in the field against +Scotland's enemies, I cannot consent to be restored to my inheritance, +even by you." + +"And is it in war alone," returned Wallace, "that you can show deeds +worthy of a sovereign? Think a moment, my honored prince, and then +scorn your objection. Look on the annals of history, nay, on the daily +occurrences of the world, and see how many are brave and complete +generals; how few wise legislators; how few such efficient rulers as to +procure obedience to the laws, and so give happiness to their people. +This is the commission of a king--to be the representative on earth of +the Father who is in heaven. Here is exercise for courage, for +enterprise, for fortitude, for every virtue which elevates the +character of a man, this is the godlike jurisdiction of a sovereign. +TO go to the field, to lead his people to scenes of carnage, is often a +duty in kings; but it is one of those necessities, which, more than the +trifling circumstances of sustaining nature by sleep and food, reminds +the conqueror of the degraded state of mortality.** The one shows the +weakness of the body, the other, the corruption of the soul. For, how +far must man have fallen beneath his former heavenly nature before he +can delight in the destruction of his fellow-men! Lament not, then, +brave and virtuous prince, that I have kept your hands from the stains +of blood. Show yourself beyond the vulgar apprehension of what is +fame; and, conscious of the powers with which the Creator has endowed +you, assume your throne with the dignity that is their due. Whether it +be to the cabinet or to the field that He calls you to act, obey; and +rely on it, a name greater than that of the hero of Macedon will await +Robert, King of Scots!" + +**Alexander the Great one day said to his friend Hephaestion, that "the +business of eating and drinking compelled him to remember, and with a +sense of abasement, his mortal nature, although he was the son of +Ammon." + +"You almost persuade me," returned Bruce; "but let us see Philip, and +then I will decide." + +As morning was now advanced, the friends turned toward the cottage, +intending to see Baliol safe, and then proceed together to Guienne to +the rescue of Lady Helen. That accomplished, they would visit Paris +and hear its monarch's determination. + +On entering the humble mansion they found Baliol awake, and anxiously +inquiring of the widow what was become of the two knights. At sight of +them he stretched out his hands to both, and said he should be able to +travel in a few hours. Wallace proposed sending to Rouen for a litter +to carry him the more easily thither. "No," cried Baliol with a frown; +"Rouen shall never see me again within its walls. It was coming from +thence that I lost my way last night; and though my poor servants would +gladly have returned with me sooner than see me perish in the storm; +yet rather would I have been found dead on the road, a reproach to the +kings who have betrayed me, than have taken an hour's shelter in that +inhospitable city." + +While the friends took the simple breakfast prepared for them by the +widow, Baliol related, that in consequence of the interference of +Philip le Bel with Edward, he had been released from the Tower of +London and sent to France, but under an oath never to leave that +country. Philip gave the exiled king the castle of Galliard for a +residence; where for some time he enjoyed the shadow of royalty, having +still a sort of court composed of his own noble followers, some of whom +were now with him, and the barons of the neighborhood. Philip allowed +him guards and a splendid table. But on the peace being signed between +France and England, in order that Edward might give up his ally the +Earl of Flanders to his offended liege lord, the French monarch +consented to relinquish the cause of Baliol, and though he should +continue to grant him a shelter in his dominions, he removed from him +all the appendages of a king. + +"Accordingly," continued Baliol, "the guard was taken from my gates, my +establishment reduced to that of a private nobleman, and no longer +having it in my power to gratify the avidity or to flatter the ambition +of those who came about me, I was soon left nearly alone. All but the +poor old lieges whom you see, and who had been faithful to me through +every change of my life, instantly deserted the forlorn Baliol. In +vain I remonstrated with Philip. Either my letters never reached him, +or he disdained to answer the man whose claims he had abandoned. +Things were in this state when, the other day, and English lord found +it convenient to bring his suit to my castle. I received him with +hospitality, but soon found that what I gave in courtesy he seized as a +right. In the true spirit of his master Edward he treated me more like +the keeper of an hostel than a generous host. And on my attempting to +plead with him for a Scottish lady whom his turbulent passions have +forced from her country and reduced to a pitiable state of illness, he +derided my arguments, sarcastically telling me that had I taken care of +my kingdom, the door would not have been left open for him to steal its +fairest prize--" + +Wallace interrupted him: "Heaven grant you may be speaking of Lord de +Valence and Lady Helen Mar." + +"I am," replied Baliol. "They are now at Galliard, and as her illness +seems a lingering one, De Valence declared to me his intentions of +continuing there. He seized upon the best apartments, and carried +himself with so much haughtiness that, provoked beyond endurance, I +ordered my horse and, accompanied by my honest courtiers, rode to Rouen +to obtain redress from the governor. But the unworthy Frenchman +advised me to go back, and by flattering De Valence try to regain the +favor of Edward. I retired in indignation, determined to assert my own +rights in my own castle, but the storm overtook me, and being forsaken +by false friends, I am saved by generous enemies." + +Wallace explained his errand respecting Lady Helen, and anxiously +inquired of Baliol whether he meant to return to Galliard? + +"Immediately," replied he; "go with me, and if the lady consents (which +I do not doubt, for she scorns his prayers for her hand, and passes +night and day in tears), I engage to assist in her escape." + +Baliol then advised they should not all return to the castle together, +the sight of two knights of their appearance accompanying his host +being likely to alarm De Valence. + +"The quietest way," continued the deposed king, "is the surest. Follow +me at a short distance, and toward the shadows of evening, knock at the +gates and request a night's entertainment. I will grant it, and then +your happy destiny, ever fortunate Wallace, must do the rest." + +This scheme being approved, a litter of hurdles was formed for the +invalid monarch, and the old woman's pallet spread upon it. + +"I will return it to you, my good widow," said Baliol, "and with proofs +of my gratitude." + +The two friends assisted the king to rise. When he set his food on the +floor, he felt so surprisingly better that he though he could ride the +journey. Wallace overruled this wish, and with Bruce supported his +emaciated figure toward the door. The widow stood to see her guests +depart. As Baliol mounted the litter, he slid a piece of gold into her +hand. Wallace saw not what the king had given and gave a purse as his +reward. Bruce had naught to bestow. He had left Durham with little, +and that little was expended. + +"My good widow," said he, "I am poor in everything but gratitude. In +lieu of gold you must accept my prayers." + +"May they, sweet youth," replied she, "return on your own head, giving +you bread from the barren land and water out of sterile rock!" + +"And have you no blessing for me, mother?" asked Wallace, turning round +and regarding her with an impressive look; "some spirit you wist not +of, speaks in your words." + +"Then it must be a good spirit," answered she; "for all around me +betokens gladness. The Scripture saith, 'Be kind to the wayfaring man, +for many have so entertained angels unawares!' Yesterday at this time +I was the poorest of all the daughters of charity. + +"Last night I opened my doors in the storm, you enter and give me +riches; he follows and endows me with his prayers! Am I not then +greatly favored by Him who dispenseth to all who trust in Him. His +mercy and your goodness shall not be hidden; for from this day forth I +will light a fire each night in a part of my house whence it may be +seen on every side from a great distance. Like you, princely knight, +whose gold will make it burn, it shall shine afar, and give light and +comfort to all who approach it." + +"And when you look on it," said Wallace, "tell your beads for me. I am +a son of war, and it may blaze when my vital spark is expiring." + +The widow paused, gazed on him steadily, and then burst into tears. + +"Is it possible," cried she, "that beautiful face may be laid in dust, +that youthful form lay cold in clay, and these aged limbs survive to +light a beacon to your memory!--and it shall arise! it shall burn like +a holy flame, an incense to Heaven for the soul of him who has succored +the feeble, and made the widow's heart to sing for joy!" + +Wallace pressed the old woman's withered hand; Bruce did the same. She +saw them mount their horses, and when they disappeared from her eyes, +she returned into her cottage and wept. + + + + +Chapter LXIII. + +Chateau Galliard. + + +When Baliol arrived within a few miles of Chateau Galliard, he pointed +to a wooded part of the forest, and told the friends, that under its +groves they had best shelter themselves till the sun set; soon after +which he should expect them at the castle. + +Long indeed seemed the interval. It usually happens that in +contemplating a project, while the period of its execution appears +distant, we think on it with composure; but when the time of action is +near, when we only wait the approach of an auxiliary, or the lapse of +an hour, every passing moment seems an age, and the impatient soul is +ready to break every bound, to grasp the completion of its enterprise. +So Wallace now felt--felt as he had never done before; for in all his +warlike exploits each achievement had immediately followed the moment +of resolve; but here he was delayed, to grow in ardor as he +contemplated an essay in which every generous principle of man was +summoned into action. He was going to rescue a helpless woman from the +hands of a man of violence; she was also the daughter of his first ally +in the great struggle for Scotland, and who had fallen in the cause. +Glad was he then to see the sun sink behind the distant hills. At that +moment he and his friend closed their visors, mounted their horses, and +set off at full speed toward the chateau. + +When they came in view of the antique towers of Galliard, they +slackened their pace, and leisurely advanced to the gates. The bugle +of Wallace demanded admittance; a courteous assent was brought by the +warder; the gates unfolded, the friends entered; and in the next +instant they were conducted into a room where Baliol sat. De Valence +was walking to and fro in a great chafe; he started at sight of the +princely armor of Wallace (for he, as Baliol had done, now conceived, +from the lilied diadem, that the stranger must be of the royal house of +France); and composing his turbulent spirit, he bowed respectfully to +the supposed prince. Wallace returned the salutation, and Baliol +rising, accosted him with a dignified welcome. He saw the mistake of +De Valence, and perceived how greatly it might facilitate the execution +of their project. + +On his host's return to the chateau, De Valence had received him with +more than his former insolence, for the Governor of Rouen had sent him +information of the despised monarch's discontent; and when the despotic +lord hear a bugle at the gate, and learned that it was answered by the +admission of two traveling knights, he flew to Baliol in displeasure, +commanding him to recall his granted leave. At the moment of his +wrath, Wallace entered, and covered him with confusion. Struck at +seeing a French prince in one of the persons he was going to treat with +such indignity, he shrunk into himself, and bowed before him with all +the cowering meanness of a base and haughty soul. Wallace, feeling his +real pre-eminence, bent his head in acknowledgment, with a majesty +which convinced the earl that he was not mistaken. Baliol welcomed his +guest in a manner not to dispel the illusion. + +"Happy am I," cried he, "that the hospitality which John Baliol +intended to show to a mere traveler, confers on him the distinction of +serving one of a race whose favor confers protection, and its +friendship honor." + +Wallace returned a gracious reply to this speech; and turning to Bruce, +said: + +"This knight is my friend; and though from peculiar circumstances +neither of us chooses to disclose his name during our journey, yet, +whatever they may be, I trust you will confide in the word of one whom +you have honored by the address you have now made, and believe that his +friend is not unworthy the hospitalities of him who was once King of +Scots." + +De Valence now approached, and announcing who he was, assured the +knights in the name of the King of England, whom he was going to +represent in Guienne, of every respect from himself, assistance from +his retinue, to bring them properly on their way. + +"I return you the thanks due to your courtesy," replied Wallace; "and +shall certainly remain to-night a burden on King Baliol; but in the +morning we must depart as we came, having a vow to perform, which +excludes the service of attendants." + +A splendid supper was served, at the board of which De Valence sat, as +well as Baliol. From the moment that the strangers entered, the +English earl never withdrew; so cautious was he to prevent Baliol +informing his illustrious guests of the captivity of Lady Helen Mar. +Wallace ate nothing; he sat with his visor still closed, and almost in +profound silence, never speaking but when spoken to, and then only +answering in as few words as possible. De Valence supposed that this +taciturnity was connected with his vow, and did not further remark it; +but Bruce (who at Caen had furnished himself with a complete suit of +black armor) appeared, though equally invisible under his visor, +infinitely more accessible. The humbler fashion of his martial +accouterment did not announce the prince; but his carriage was so +noble, his conversation bespoke so accomplished a mind, and brave a +spirit, that De Valence did not doubt that both men before him were of +the royal family. He had never seen Charles de Valois; and believing +that he now saw him in Wallace, he directed all that discourse to +Bruce, which he meant should reach the ear of De Valois, and from him +pass to that of the King of France. Bruce guessed what was passing in +his mind; and, with as much amusement as design, led forward the earl's +mistake--but rather by allowing him to deceive himself, than by any +actual means on his side to increase the deception. De Valence threw +out hints respecting a frontier town in Guienne, which, he said, he +thought his royal master could be persuaded to yield to the French +monarch, as naturally belonging to Gascony. But then the affair must +be properly represented, he added; and had he motive enough to +investigate some parchments in his possession, he believed he could +place the affair in a true light, and convince Edward of the superior +claims of the French king. Then casting out hints of the claim he had, +by right of his ancestors, to the seigniory of Valence in Dauphiny, he +gave them to understand, that if Philip would invest him with the +revenues of Valence on the Rhone, he would engage that the other town +in question should be delivered to France. + +Notwithstanding Baliol's resolution to keep awake and assist his +friends in their enterprise, he was so overcome by fatigue that he fell +asleep soon after supper, and so gave De Valence full opportunity to +unveil his widely-grasping mind to the Scottish chiefs. Wallace now +saw that the execution of his project must depend wholly upon himself; +and how to inform Helen that he was in the castle, and of his plan to +get her out of it, hardly occupied him more than what to devise to +detain De Valence in the banqueting-room, while he went forth to +prosecute his design. As these thoughts absorbed him, by an +unconscious movement he turned toward the English earl. De Valence +paused, and looked at him, supposing he was going to speak; but finding +him still silent, the earl addressed him, though with some hesitation, +feeling an inexplicable awe of directly saying to him what he had so +easily uttered to his more approachable companion. + +"I seek not, illustrious stranger," said he, "to inquire the name you +have already intimated must be concealed; but I have sufficient faith +in that brilliant circlet around your brows, to be convinced (as none +other than the royal hand of Philip could bestow it) that it +distinguishes a man of the first honor. You now know my sentiments, +prince; and for the advantage of both kings, I confide them to your +services." + +Wallace rose. + +"Whether I am prince or vassal," replied he, "my services shall ever be +given in the cause of justice; and of that, Earl de Valence, you will +be convinced when next you hear of me. My friend," cried he, turning +to Bruce, "you will remain with our host; I go to perform the vigils of +my vow." + +Bruce understood him. It was not merely with their host he was to +remain, but to detain De Valence, and, opening at once the versatile +powers of his abundant mind, his vivacity charmed the earl, while the +magnificence of his views in policy corroborated to De Valence the idea +that he was conversing with one whose birth had placed him beyond even +the temptations of those ambitions which were at that moment subjecting +his auditor's soul to every species of flattery, meanness, and, in +fact, disloyalty. Bruce, in his turn, listened with much apparent +interest to all De Valence's dreams of aggrandizement, and recollecting +his reputation for a love of wine, he replenished the earl's goblet so +often, that the fumes made him forget all reserve; and after pouring +forth the whole history of his attachments to Helen, and his resolution +to subdue her abhorrence by love and grandeur, he gradually lowered his +key, and at last fell fast asleep. + +Meanwhile Wallace wrapped himself in Baliol's blue cloak, which lay in +the anteroom, and enveloping even his helmet in the friendly mantle, he +moved swiftly along the gallery toward the chamber of Helen. To be +prepared for obstacles, he had obtained from Baliol a particular +description of the situation of every apartment leading to it. It was +now within an hour of midnight. He passed through several large vacant +rooms, and at last arrived at the important door. It opened into a +small chamber, in which two female attendants lay asleep. He gently +raised the latch, and, with caution taking the lamp which burned on the +table, glided softly through the curtains which filled the cedar arch +that led into the apartment of Helen. He approached the bed, covering +the light with his hand, while he observed her. She was in a profound +sleep, but pale as the sheet which enveloped her--her countenance +seemed troubled, her brows frequently knit themselves, and she started +as she dreamed, as if in apprehension. Once he heard her lips faintly +murmur, "Save me, my father! on you alone--" There she stopped. His +heart bled at this appeal. "Thy father's friend comes to save thee," +he would have cried, but he checked the exclamation--his hand dropped +at the same instant from before the lamp, and the blaze striking full +on her eyes, waked her. She looked up, and she believed her dream +realized--De Valence leaning over the bed, and herself wholly in his +power! A shriek of horror as bursting from her lips, when Wallace +hastily raised his visor. At the moment when despair was in her orphan +heart, and her whole soul turned with abhorrence from the supposed De +Valence, she met the eyes of the dearest to her on earth--those of +indeed her father's friend! Stretching forth her arms, for an instant +she seemed flying to the protection of him to whose honor she had been +bequeathed; but falling back again on her bed, the glad surprise of +seeing him, who in her estimation was her only earthly security now +that her father was no more, shook her with such emotion, that Wallace +feared to see her delicate frame sink into some deadly swoon. + +Alarmed for her life, or the accomplishment of her deliverance, he +threw himself on his knees beside her, and softly whispered, "Be +composed, for the love of Heaven and your own safety. Be collected and +firm, and you shall fly this place with me to-night." + +Hardly conscious of the action, Helen grasped the hand that held hers, +and would have replied; but her voice failing, she fainted on his arm. +Wallace now saw no alternative but to remove her hence, even in this +insensible state; and, raising her gently in his arms, enveloped in the +silk coverlet, with cautious steps he bore her through the curtained +entrance, and passed the sleeping damsels into the anterooms. To meet +any of De Valence's men while in this situation would betray ll. To +avoid this, he hastened through the illuminated passages, and turning +into the apartment appointed for himself, laid the now reviving Helen +upon a couch. "Water," said she, "and I shall soon be myself again." + +He gave her some, and at the same time laying a page's suit of clothes +(which Baliol had provided) beside her, "Dress yourself in these, Lady +Helen," said he; "I shall withdraw meanwhile into the passage, but your +safety depends on expedition." + +Before she could answer he had disappeared. Helen instantly threw +herself on her knees to thank a higher power for this commencement of +her deliverance, and to beseech His blessing on its consummation. She +rose strengthened, and, obeying Wallace, the moment she was equipped, +she laid her hand upon the latch, but the watchful ear of her friend +heard her, and he immediately opened the door. The lamps of the +gallery shone full upon the light grace of her figure, as shrinking +with blushing modesty, and yet eager to be with her preserver, she +stood hesitating before him. He threw his cloak over her, and putting +her arm through his, in the unobscured blaze of his princely armor, he +descended to the lower hall of the castle. One man only was there. +Wallace ordered him to open the great door. "It is a fine night," said +he, "and I shall ride some miles before I sleep." The man asked if he +were to saddle the horses; he was answered in the affirmative, and the +gate being immediately unbarred, Wallace led his precious charge into +the freedom of the open air. As soon as she saw the outside of those +towers, which she had entered as the worst of all prisoners, her heart +so overflowed with gratitude to her deliverer, that sinking by his side +upon her knees, she could only grasp his hand, and bathe it with the +pure tears of rescued innocence. Her manner penetrated his soul, and +he raised her in his arms; but she, dreading that she had perhaps done +too much, convulsively articulated, "My father--his blessing--" + +"Was a rich endowment, Lady Helen," returned Wallace, "and you shall +ever find me deserving of it." Her head leaned on his breast. But how +different was the lambent flame which seemed to emanate from either +heart, as they now beat against each other, from the destructive fire +which shot from the burning veins of Lady mar, when she would have +polluted with her unchaste lips this shrine of a beloved wife, this +bosom consecrated to her sacred image! Wallace had shrunk from her, as +from the touch of some hideous contagion, but with Lady Helen it was +soul meeting soul, it was innocence resting on the bosom of virtue. No +thought that saints would not have approved was there, no emotion which +angels might not have shared, glowed in their grateful bosoms--she, +grateful to him; both grateful to God. + +The man brought the horses from the stable. He knew that two strangers +had arrived at the castle, and not noticing Helen's stature, supposed +they were both before him. He had been informed by the servants, that +the taller of the two was the Count de Valois, and he now held the +stirrup for him to mount; But Wallace placed Helen on Bruce's horse, +and then vaulting on his own, put a piece of gold into the attendant's +hand. + +"You will return, noble prince?" inquired the man. + +"Why should you doubt it?" answered Wallace. + +"Because," replied the servant, "I wish the brother of the King of +France to know the foul deeds which are doing in his dominions." + +"By whom?" asked Wallace, surprised at this address. + +"By the Earl de Valence, prince," answered he; "he has now in this +castle a beautiful lady, whom he brought from a foreign land, and +treats in a manner unbecoming a knight or a man." + +"And what would you have me do?" said Wallace, willing to judge whether +this applicant were honest in his appeal. + +"Come in the power of your royal brother," answered he, "and demand the +Lady Helen Mar of Lord de Valence." + +Helen, who had listened with trepidation to this dialogue, drew nearer +Wallace, and whispered in an agitated voice, "Ah! let us hasten away." + +The man was close enough to hear her. + +"Hah!" cried he, in a burst of doubtful joy; "is it so? Is she here? +say so, noble knight, and Joppa Grimsby will serve ye both forever!" + +"Grimsby!" cried Helen, recollecting his voice the moment he had +declared his name; "what! the honest English soldier? I and my +preserver will indeed value so trusty a follower." + +The name of Grimsby was too familiar to the memory of Wallace, too +closely associated with his most cherished meditations, for him not to +recognize it with melancholy pleasure. He had never seen Grimsby, but +he knew him well worthy of his confidence; and ordered him (if he +really desired to follow Lady Helen) to bring two more horses from the +stables. When they were brought, Wallace made the joyful signal +concerted with Bruce and Baliol, to sound the Scottish pryse as soon as +he and his fair charge were out of the castle. + +The happy tidings met the ear of the prince while anxiously watching +the sleeping of De Valence, for fear he should awake and, leaving the +room, interrupt Wallace in his enterprise. What, then, was his +transport when the first note of the horn burst upon the silence around +him! He sprung on his feet. The impetuosity of the action roused +Baliol, who had been lying all the while sound asleep in his chair. +Bruce made a sign to him to be silent, and pressing his hand with +energy, forgot the former Baliol in the present, and, for a moment +bending his knee, kissed the hand he held; then, rising, disappeared in +an instant. + +He flew through the open gates. Wallace perceiving him, rode out from +under the shadow of the trees. The bright light of the moon shone on +his sparkling crest; that was sufficient for Bruce, and Wallace, +falling back again into the shade, was joined the next moment by his +friend. Who this friend was for whom her deliverer had told Helen he +waited, she did not ask; for she dreaded, while so near danger, to +breathe a word; but she guessed that it must either be Murray or Edwin. +De Valence had barbarously told her that not only her father was no +more, but that her uncles, the Lords Bothwell and Ruthven, had both +been killed in the last battle. Hence, with a saddened joy, one of her +two bereaved cousins she now prepared to see; and every filial +recollection pressing on her heart her tears flowed silently and in +abundance. As Bruce approached, his black mantle so wrapped him she +could not distinguish his figure. Wallace stretched forth his hand to +him in silence; he grasped it with the warm but mute congratulation of +friendship, and throwing himself on his horse, triumphantly exclaimed, +"Now for Paris!" Helen recognized none she knew in that voice; and +drawing close to the white courser of Wallace, with something like +disappointment mingling with her happier thoughts, she made her horse +keep pace with the fleetness of her companions. + + + + +Chapter LXIV. + +Forest of Vincennes. + + +Avoiding the frequented track to Paris, Wallace (to whom Grimsby was +now a valuable auxiliary, he being well acquainted with the country) +took a sequestered path by the banks of the Marne, and entered the +Forest of Vincennes just as the moon set. Having ridden far, and +without cessation, the old soldier proposed their alighting, to allow +the lady an opportunity of reposing awhile under the trees. Helen was +indeed nearly exhausted, though the idea of her happy flight, by +inspiring her with a strength which surprised even herself, for a long +time had kept her insensible to fatigue. While her friends pressed on +with a speed which allowed no more conversation than occasional +inquiries of how she bore the journey, the swiftness of the motion and +the rapidity of the events which had brought her from the most +frightful of situations into one the dearest to her secret and +hardly-breathed wishes, so bewildered her faculties, that hse almost +feared she was only enjoying one of those dreams which since her +captivity had often mocked her with the image of Wallace and her +release; and every moment she dreaded to awake and find herself still a +prisoner to De Valence. "I want no rest," replied she to the +observation of Grimsby; "I could feel none till we are beyond the +possibility of being overtaken by my enemy." + +"You are as safe in this wood, lady," returned the soldier, "as you can +be in any place betwixt Galliard and Paris. It is many miles from the +chateau, and lies in so remote a direction, that were the earl to +pursue us, I am sure he would never choose this path." + +"And did he even come up with us, dear Lady Helen," said Wallace, +"could you fear, when with your father's friend?" + +"It is for my father's friend I fear," gently answered she; "I can have +no dread for myself while under such protection." + +A very little more persuaded Helen; and Grimsby having spread his cloak +on the grass, Wallace lifted her from her horse. As soon as she put +her foot to the ground her head grew giddy, and she must have fallen +but for the supporting arm of her watchful friend. He carried her to +the couch prepared by the good soldier, and laid her on it. Grimsby +had been more provident than they could have expected; for after +saddling the second pair of horses, he had returned into the hall for +his cloak, and taking an undrawn flask of wine from the seneschal's +supper-table, put it into his vest. This he now produced, and Wallace +made Helen drink some of it. The cordial soon revived her, and sinking +on her pillow of leaves, she soon found the repose her wearied frame +demanded and induced. For fear of disturbing her not a word was +spoken. Wallace watched at her head, and Bruce sat at her feet, while +Grimsby remained with the horses, as a kind of outpost. + +Sweet was her sleep, for the thoughts with which she sunk into slumber +occupied her dreams. Still she was riding by the side of Wallace, +listening to his voice, cheering her through the lengthening way! But +some wild animal in its nightly prowl crossing before the horses, they +began to snort and plunge, and though the no less terrified alarmer +fled far away, it was with difficulty the voice and management of +Grimsby could quiet them. The noise suddenly awoke Helen, and her +scattered faculties not immediately recollecting themselves, she felt +an instant impression that all had indeed been a dream, and starting in +affright, she exclaimed, "Where am I? Wallace, where art thou?" + +"Here!" cried he, pressing her hand with fraternal tenderness; "I am +here; you are safe with your friend and brother." + +Her heart beat with a terror which this assurance could hardly subdue. +At last she said in an agitated voice, "Forgive me if my senses are a +little strayed! I have suffered so much, and this release seems so +miraculous, that at moments I hardly believe it real. I wish daylight +were come that I might be convinced." When she had uttered these +words, she suddenly stopped, and then added, "But I am very weak to +talk thus; I believe my late terrors have disordered my head." + +"What you feel, lady, is only natural," observed Bruce; "I experienced +the same when I first regained my liberty, and found myself on the road +to join Sir William Wallace. Dear, indeed, is liberty; but dearer is +the friend whose virtues make our recovered freedom sure." + +"Who speaks to me?" said Helen, in a low voice to Wallace, and raising +her head from that now supporting arm, on which she felt she did but +too much delight to lean. + +"One," answered Wallace, in the same tone, "who is not to be publicly +known until occasion demands it; one who, I trust in God, will one day +seal the happiness of Scotland--Robert Bruce." + +That name which, when in her idea it belonged to Wallace, used to raise +such emotions in her breast, she now heard with an indifference that +surprised her. But who could be more to Scotland than Wallace had +been? All that was in the power of patriot or of king to do for his +country, he had done; and what then was Bruce in her estimation? One +who, basking in pleasures while his country suffered, allowed a brave +subject to breast, to overthrow every danger, before he put himself +forward? and now he appeared to assume a throne, which, though his +right by birth, he had most justly forfeited, by neglecting the duties +indispensable in the heir of so great and oppressed a kingdom! These +would have been her thoughts of him; but Wallace called this Bruce his +friend! and the few words she had heard him speak, being full of +gratitude to her deliverer, that engaged her esteem. + +The answer, however, which she made to the reply of Wallace was +spontaneous, and it struck upon the heart of Bruce. "How long," said +she, "have you promised Scotland that it should see that day!" + +"Long, to my grief, Lady Helen," rejoined Bruce; "I would say to my +shame--had I ever intentionally erred toward my country; but ignorance +of her state, and of the depth of Edward's treachery, was my crime. I +only required to be shown the right path to pursue it, and Sir William +Wallace came to point the way. My soul, lady, is not unworthy the +destiny to which he calls me." Had there been light, she would have +seen the flush of conscious virtue that overspread his fine countenance +while he spoke; but the words were sufficient to impress her with that +respect he deserved, and which her answer showed. + +"My father taught me to consider the Bruce the rightful heirs of +Scotland; and now that I see the day which he so often wished to hail, +I cannot but regard it as the termination of Scotland's woes. Oh! had +it been before! perhaps--" Here she paused, for tears stopped her +utterance. + +"You think," rejoined Bruce, "that much bloodshed might have been +spared! But, dear lady, poison not the comfort of your life by that +belief. No man exists who could have effected so much for Scotland in +so short a time, and with so little loss, as our Wallace has done. +Who, like him, makes mercy the companion of war, and compels even his +enemies to emulate the clemency he shows? Fewer have been slain on the +Scottish side during the whole of his struggle with Edward, than were +lost by Baliol on the fatal day of Dunbar. Then, no quarter was given; +and too many of the wounded were left to perish on the field. But with +Wallace, life was granted to all who asked; the wounded enemy and the +friend were alike succored by him. This conduct provoked the jealousy +of the Southron generals, not to be surpassed in generosity, and thus +comparatively few have been lost. But if in that number some of our +noblest chiefs, we must be resigned to yield to God what is his own; +may, we must be grateful, daughter of the gallant Mar, for the manner +in which they were taken. They fell in the arms of true glory, like +parents defending their offspring; while others--my grandfather and +father--perished with broken hearts, in unavailing lamentations that +they could not share the fate of those who died for Scotland." + +"But you, dear Bruce," returned Wallace, "will live for her; will teach +those whose hearts have bled in her cause, to find a balm for every +wound in her prosperity." + +Helen smiled through her tears at those words. They spoke the heavenly +consolation which had descended on her mourning spirit. "If Scotland +be to rest under the happy reign of Robert Bruce, then envy cannot +again assail Sir William Wallace, and my father has not shed his blood +in vain. His beautified spirit, with those of my uncles Bothwell and +Ruthven, will rejoice in such a peace, and I shall enjoy it to +felicity, in so sacred a participation." Surprised at her associating +the name of Lord Ruthven with those who had fallen, Wallace interrupted +her with the assurance of her uncle's safety. The Scottish chiefs +easily understood that De Valence had given her the opposite +intelligence, to impress her with an idea that she was friendless, and +so precipitate her into the determination of becoming his wife. But +she did not repeat to her brave auditors all the arguments he had used +to shake her impregnable heart--impregnable, because a principle kept +guard there, which neither flattery nor ambition could dispossess. He +had told her that the very day in which she would give him her hand, +King Edward would send him viceroy into Scotland, where she should +reign with all the power and magnificence of a queen. He was handsome, +accomplished, and adored her; but Helen could not love him whom she +could not esteem, for she knew he was libertine, base and cruel. That +he loved her affected her not; she could only be sensible to an +affection placed on worthy foundations; and he who trampled on all +virtues in his own actions, could not desire them when seen in her; he +therefore must love her for the fairness of her form alone; and to +place any value on such affection was to grasp the wind. + +Personal flatteries having made no impression on Helen, ambitious +projects were attempted with equal failure. Had De Valence been lord +of the eastern and western empires, could he have made her the envy and +admiration of a congregated world, all would have been in vain; she had +seen and known the virtues of Sir William Wallace; and from that hour, +all that was excellent in man, and all that was desirable on earth, +seemed to her to be in him summed up. "On the barren heath," said she +to herself, "in some desert island, with only thee and thy virtues, how +happy could be Helen Mar! how great! For, to share thy heart--thy +noble, glorious heart--would be a bliss, a seal of honor from Heaven, +with which no terrestrial elevation could compare!" Then would she +sigh; capable of appreciating and loving above all earthly things the +matchless virtues of Sir William Wallace. On the very evening of the +night in question in which he had so unexpectedly appeared to release +her, her thoughts had been engaged in this train: "Yes," cried she to +herself, "even in loving thy perfections there is such enjoyment, that +I would rather be as I am--what others might call the hopeless Helen, +than the loving and beloved of any other man on earth. In thee I love +virtue; and the imperishable sentiment will bless me in the world to +come." With these thoughts she had fallen asleep; she dreamed that she +called on her father, on Wallace to save her, and on opening her eyes, +she had found him indeed near. + +Every word which this almost adored friend now said to comfort her with +regard to her own immediate losses, to assure her of the peace of +Scotland, should Heaven bless the return of Bruce, took root in her +soul, and sprung up into resignation and happiness. She listened to +the plans of Wallace and of Bruce to effect their great enterprise, and +the hours of the night passed to her not only in repose, but in +enjoyment. Wallace, though pleased with the interest she took in even +the minutest details of their design, became fearful of overtasking her +weakened frame; he whispered Bruce to gradually drop the conversation; +and, as it died away, slumber again stole over her eyelids. + +The dawn had spread far over the sky while she yet slept. Wallace sat +contemplating her, and the now sleeping Bruce, who had also +imperceptibly sunk to rest. Various and anxious were his meditations. +He had hardly seen seven-and-twenty years, yet so had he been tried in +the vicissitudes of life, that he felt as if he had lived a century; +and instead of looking on the lovely Helen as on one whose charms might +claim a lover's lovely Helen as on one whose charms might claim a +lover's wishes in his breast, he regarded her with sentiments more like +parental tenderness. That, indeed, seemed the affection which now +reigned in his bosom. He felt as a father toward Scotland. For every +son and daughter of that harassed country, he was ready to lay down his +life. Edwin he cherished in his heart as he would have done the +dearest of his own offspring. It was as a parent to whom a beloved and +prodigal son had returned, that he looked on Bruce. But Helen, of all +Scotland's daughters, she was the most precious in his eyes; set love +aside, and no object without the touch of that all-pervading passion +could he regard with more endearing tenderness than he did Helen Mar. + +The shades of night vanished before the bright uprise of the king of +day, and with them her slumbers. She stirred; she awoke. The lark was +then soaring with shrill cadence over her head; its notes pierced the +ear of Bruce, and he started on his feet. + +"You have allowed me to sleep, Wallace?" + +"And why not?" replied he. "Here it was safe for all to have slept. +Yet had there been danger, I was at my post to have called you." He +gently smiled as he spoke. + +"Whence, my friend," cried Bruce, with a respondent beam on his +countenance, "did you draw the ethereal essence that animates your +frame? You toil for us--watch for us, and yet you never seem fatigued, +never discomposed! How is this? What does it mean?" + +"That the soul is immortal," answered Wallace; "that it has a godlike +power given to it by the Giver of all good, even while on earth, to +subdue the wants of this mortal frame. The circumstances in which +Heaven has cast me, have disciplined my circumstances in which Heaven +has cast me, have disciplined my body to obey my mind in all things; +and, therefore, when the motives for exertion are strong within me, it +is long, very long, before I feel hunger, thirst, or drowsiness. +Indeed, while thus occupied, I have often thought it possible for the +activity of the soul so to wear the body, that some day she might find +it suddenly fall away from about her spiritual substance, and leave her +unencumbered, without having felt the touch of death. And yet, that +Elisha-like change," continued Wallace, following up on his own +thought, "could not be till Heaven sees the appointed time. 'Man does +not live by bread alone;' neither by sleep, nor any species of +refreshment. His Spirit alone, who created all things, can give us a +rest, while we keep the strictest vigils; His power can sustain the +wasting frame, even in a barren wilderness." + +"True," replied Helen, looking timidly up: "but, because Heaven is so +gracious as sometimes to work miracles in our favor, surely we are not +authorized to neglect the natural means of obtaining the same end?" + +"Certainly not," returned Wallace; "it is not for man to tempt God at +any time. Sufficient for us it is to abide by His all-wise +dispensations. When we are in circumstances that allow the usual means +of life, it is demanded of us to use them. But when we are brought +into situations where watching, fasting, and uncommon toils are not to +be avoided, then it is an essential part of our obedience to perform +our duties to the end, without any regard to the wants which may impede +our way. It is in such an hour, when the soul of man, resolved to +obey, looks down on human nature and looks up to God, that he receives +both the manna and the ever-living waters of heaven. By this faith and +perseverance, the uplifted hands of Moses prevailed over Amalek in +Rephidim; and by the same did the lengthened race of the sun light +Joshua to a double victory in Gibeon." + +The morning vapors having dispersed from the opposite plain, and Helen +being refreshed by her long repose, Wallace seated her on horseback, +and they recommenced their journey. The helmets of both chiefs were +now open. Grimsby looked at one and the other; the countenances of +both assured him that he should find a protector in either. He drew +toward Helen; she noticed his manner, and observing to Wallace that she +believed the soldier wished to speak with her, checked her horse. At +this action, Grimsby presumed to ride up, and bowing respectfully, +said, that before he followed her to Paris, it would be right for the +Count de Valois to know whom he had taken into his train; "one, madam, +who has been degraded by King Edward; degraded," added he, "but not +debased; that last disgrace depends on myself; and I should shrink from +your protection rather than court it, were I indeed vile." + +"You have too well proved your integrity, Grimsby," replied Helen, "to +doubt it now; but what has the Count de Valois to do with your being +under my protection? It is not to him we go, but to the French king." + +"And is not that knight with the diadem," inquired Grimsby, "the Count +de Valois? The servants at Chateau Galliard told me he was so." + +Surprised at this, Helen said the knight should answer for himself; and +quickening the step of her horse, followed by Grimsby, rejoined his +side. + +When she informed Wallace of what had passed, he called the soldier to +approach. "Grimsby," said he, "you have claims upon me which should +insure you my protection were I even insensible to the honorable +principles you have just declared to Lady Helen. But, I repeat, I am +already your friend. You have only to speak, and all in my power to +serve you shall be done." + +"Then, sir," returned he, "as mine is rather a melancholy story, and +parts of it have already drawn tears from Lady Helen, if you will honor +me with your attention apart from her, I would relate how I fell into +disgrace with my sovereign." + +Wallace fell a little back with Grimsby; and while Bruce and Helen rode +briskly forward, he, at a slower pace, prepared to listen to the +recapitulation of scenes in which he was only too deeply interested. +The soldier began by narrating the fatal events at Ellerslie, which had +compelled him to leave the army in Scotland. He related that after +quitting the priory of St. Fillan, he reached Guienne, and there served +under the Earl of Lincoln, until the marriage of Edward with King +Philip's sister gave the English monarch quiet possession of that +province. Grimsby then marched with the rest of the troops to join +their sovereign in Flanders. There he was recognized, and brought to +judgment by one of Heselrigge's captains; one who had been a particular +favorite with the tyrant from their similarity of disposition, and to +whom he had told the mutiny and desertion (as he called it) of Grimsby. +But on the presentation of the Earl of Lincoln, his punishment was +mitigated from death to the infliction of a certain number of lashes. +This sentence, which the honest officer regarded as worse than the loss +of life, was executed. On stripping him at the halberts, Lady Helen's +gift, the diamond clasp, was found hanging round his neck; this was +seized as a proof of some new crime; his general now gave him up; and +so inconsistent were his judges, that while they allowed this treason +(for so they stigmatized his manly resentment of Heselrigge's cruelty) +to prejudice them in this second charge, they would not believe what +was so probable, that this very jewel had been given to him by a friend +of Sir William Wallace in reward for his behavior on that occasion. He +appealed to Edward, but he appealed in vain; and on the following day +he was adjudged to be broken on the wheel for the supposed robbery. + +Every heart was callous to his sufferings, but that of the wife of his +jailer; who, fancying him like a brother of hers, who had been killed +ten years before in Italy, at the dead of the night she opened his +prison doors. He fled into Normandy; and, without a home, outlawed, +branded as a traitor and a thief, he was wandering half-desperate one +stormy night on the banks of the Marne, when a cry of distress +attracted his attention. It issued from the suit of De Valence, on his +way to Guienne. Scared at the tempest, the female attendants of Lady +Helen had abandoned themselves to shrieks of despair; but she, +insensible to anything but grief, lay in perfect stillness in the +litter that conveyed her. As Grimsby approached the travelers, De +Valence demanded his assistance to conduct them to a place of shelter. +Chateau Galliard was the nearest residence fit to receive the earl and +his train. Thither the soldier led them, and heard from the servants +that the lady in the vehicle was their lord's wife, and a lunatic. +Grimsby remained in the chateau, because he had nowhere else to go; and +by accidental speeches from the lady's attendants soon found that she +was not married to the earl; and was not only perfectly sane, but often +most cruelly treated. Her name he had never learned until the last +evening, when, carrying some wine into the banqueting-room, he heard De +Valence mention it to the other stranger knight. He then retired full +of horror, resolving to essay her rescue himself; but the unexpected +sight of the two knights in the hall determined him to reveal the case +to them. "This," added Grimsby, "is my story; and whoever you are, +noble lord, if you think me not unworthy your protection, grant it, and +you shall find me faithful unto death." + +"I owe you that, and more," replied the chief; "I am that Wallace on +whose account you fled your country; and if you be willing to share the +fortunes of one who may live and die in camps, I pledge you that my +best destiny shall be yours." Could Grimsby in his joyful surprise +have thrown himself at the feet of Wallace, he would have done so; but +taking hold of the end of his scarf, he pressed it enthusiastically to +his lips, and exclaimed: + +"Bravest of the brave, this is beyond my prayers; to meet here the +triumphant lord of Scotland! I fell innocently into disgrace; ah! how +am I now exalted unto honor! My country would have deprived me of +life; I am therefore dead to it, and live only to gratitude and you!" + +"Then," replied Wallace, "as the first proof of the confidence I repose +in you, know that the young chief who is riding forward with Lady Helen +is Robert Bruce, the Prince of Scotland. Our next enterprise is to +place him upon the throne of his ancestors. Meanwhile, till we license +you to do otherwise, keep our names a secret, and call us by those we +may hereafter think fit to assume." + +Grimsby, once more reinstated in the station he deserved--that of trust +and respect--no longer hung his head in abject despondency; but looking +erect as one born again from disgrace, he became the active, cheerful, +and faithful servant of Wallace. + +During Wallace's conversation with the soldier, Helen was listening +with delight to the encomiums which Bruce passed upon his friend and +champion. As his eloquent tongue described the merits of Wallace, and +expressed an ardent gratitude for his having so gloriously supplied his +place to Scotland, Helen turned her eyes upon the prince. Before she +had scarcely remarked that he was more than young and handsome; but +now, while she contemplated the noble confidence which breathed in +every feature, she said to herself: "This man is worthy to be the +friend of Wallace! His soul is a mirror to reflect all the brightness +of Wallace's; ay, like as with the sun's rays, to kindle with heaven's +fire all on whom it turns." + +Bruce remarked the unusual animation of her eyes as she looked at him. + +"You feel all I say of Wallace," said he. And it was not a charge at +which she need blush. + +It was addressed to that perception of exalted worth which regards +neither sex nor age. Helen did not misapprehend him. The amiable +frankness of his manner seemed to open to him her heart. Wallace she +adored almost as a god; Bruce she could love as a brother. It requires +not time nor proof to make virtuous hearts coalesce; there is a +language without sounds, a recognition, independent of the visual +organ, which acknowledges the kindred of congenial souls almost in the +moment they meet. "The virtuous mind knoweth its brother in the dark!" +This was said by the man whose soul sympathized in every noble purpose +with that of Wallace; while Helen, impelled by the same principle, and +blushing with an emotion untainted by any sensation of shame, replied: + +"I am too grateful to Heaven for having allowed me to witness the +goodness, to share the esteem of such a being--a man whose like I have +never seen." + +"He is one of the few, Lady Helen," replied Bruce, "who is worthy of so +august a title; and he brightly shows the image in which he was made; +so humble, so dignified, so great, so lowly; so super-eminent in all +accomplishments of mind and body; wise, brave, and invincible; yet +forbearing, gentle, and unassuming; formed to be beloved, yet without a +touch of vanity; loving all who approach him, without the least alloy +of passion. Ah! Lady Helen, he is a model after which I will fashion +my life; for he has written the character of the Son of God in his +heart, and it shall be my study to transcribe the blessed copy into +mine!" + +Tears of gratitude glittered in the eye, and on the smile of Helen. To +answer Bruce she found to be impossible, but that her smile and look +were appreciated by him, his own told her; and stretching out his hand +to her, as she put hers into his, he said: + +"We are united in his heart, my sweet friend!" + +At this moment Wallace joined them. He saw the action, and the +animation on each countenance, and looked at Bruce with a glance of +inquiry; but Bruce perceived nothing of a lover's jealousy in the look; +it carried the wish of a friend to share what had impressed them with +such happy traits. + +"We have been talking of you," returned the prince, "and if to be +beloved is a source of joy, you must be peculiarly blessed. The +affections of Lady Helen and myself have met, and made your heart the +altar on which we have pledged our fraternal love." + +Wallace regarded each with a look of tenderness. "It is my joy to love +you both like a brother, but Lady Helen must consider me as even more +than that to her. I am her father's representative, I am the voice of +grateful Scotland, thanking her for the preservation her generous +exertions yielded! And to you, my prince, I am your friend, your +subject--all that is devoted and true." + +Thus enjoying the dear communion of hearts, the interchange of mind, +and mingling soul with soul, did these three friends journey toward the +gates of Paris. Every hour seemed an age of blessedness to Helen, so +gratefully did she enjoy each passing moment of a happiness that seemed +to speak of Paradise. Nature never before appeared so beautiful in her +eyes, the sky was more serene, the birds sung with sweeter notes, the +landscape shone in brighter charms; the fragrances of the flowers +bathed her senses in the softest balm; and the very air as it breathed +around her, seemed fraught with life and joy. But Wallace animated the +scene; and while she fancied that she inhaled his breath in every +respiration, she moved as if on enchanted ground. Oh! she could have +lingered there forever! and hardly did she know what it was to draw any +but sighs of bliss till she saw the towers of Paris embattling the +horizon. They reminded her that she was now going to be occasionally +divided from him; that when entered within those walls, it would no +longer be decorous for her to pass days and nights in listening to his +voice, in losing all of woman's love in the beautified affection of an +angel. + +This passion of the soul (if such it may be called), which has its rise +in virtue and its aim the same, would be most unjustly degraded were it +classed with what the herd generally entitle love. The love which men +stigmatize, deride, and yet encourage, is a fancy, an infatuation, +awakened by personal attraction, by--the lover knows not what, +sometimes by gratified vanity, sometimes by idleness, and often by the +most debasing propensities of human nature. Earthly it is, and unto +earth it shall return! But love, true heaven-born love, that pure +affection which unites congenial spirits here, and with which the +Creator will hereafter connect in one blessed fraternity the whole +kindred of mankind, has but one cause--the universal unchangeableness +and immortality, a something so excellent that the simple wish to +partake its essence in the union of affection, to facilitate and to +share its attainment of true and lasting happiness, invigorates our +virtue and inspires our souls. These are the aims and joys of real +love. It has nothing selfish; in every desire it soars above this +earth; and anticipates, as the ultimatum of its joy, the moment when it +shall meet its partner before the throne of God. Such was the +sentiment of Helen toward Wallace. So unlike what she had seen in +others of the universal passion, she would hardly have acknowledged to +herself that what she felt was love, had not the anticipation of even +an hour's separation from him, whispered the secret to her heart. + + +CHAPTER LXV. + +Paris. + + +When they were arrived within a short distance from Paris, Wallace +wrote a few lines to King Philip, informing him who were the companions +of his journey, and that he would rest near the Abbey of St. Genevieve +until he should receive his majesty's greetings to Bruce; also the +queen's granted protection for the daughter of the Earl of Mar. +Grimsby was the bearer of this letter. He soon returned with an escort +of honor, accompanied by Prince Louis himself. At sight of Wallace he +flew into his arms, and after embracing him again and again with all +the unchecked ardor of youthful gratitude, he presented to him a packet +from the king. + +It expressed the satisfaction of Philip at the near prospect of his +seeing the man whom he had so long admired, and whose valor had wrought +him such service as the preservation of his son. He then added that he +had other matters to thank him for when they should meet, and subjects +to discuss which would be much elucidated by the presence of Bruce. +"According to your request," continued he, "the name of neither shall +be made public at my court. My own family only know who are to be my +illustrious guests. The queen is impatient to bid them welcome, and no +less eager to greet the Lady Helen Mar with her friendship and +protection." + +A beautiful palfrey, superbly caparisoned, and tossing its fair neck +amid the pride of its gorgeous chamfraine, was led forward by a page. +Two ladies, also, bearing rich apparel for Helen, appeared in the +train. When their errand was made known to Wallace, he communicated it +to Helen. Her delicacy indeed wished to lay aside her page's apparel +before she was presented to the queen; but she had been so happy while +she wore it! + +"Days have passed with me in these garments," said she to herself, +"which may never occur again!" + +The laddies were conducted to her. They delivered a gracious message +from their royal mistress, and opened the caskets. Helen sighed; she +could urge nothing in opposition to their embassy, and reluctantly +assented to the change they were to make in her appearance. She stood +mute while they disarrayed her of her humble guise, and clothed her in +the robes of France. During their attendance, in the adulatory strains +of the court, they broke out in encomiums on the graces of her person; +but to all this she turned an inattentive ear--her mind was absorbed in +what she had enjoyed, in the splendid penance she might now undergo. + +One of the women was throwing the page's clothes carelessly into a bag, +when Helen perceiving her, with ill-concealed eagerness, cried: + +"Take care of that suit, it is more precious to me than gold or jewels." + +"Indeed!" answered the attendant, more respectfully folding it; "it +does not seem of very rich silk." + +"Probably not," returned Helen, "but it is valuable to me, and wherever +I lodge, I will thank you to put it into my apartment." + +A mirror was now presented that she might see herself. She started at +the load of jewels with which they had adorned her, and while tears +filled her eyes, she mildly said: + +"I am a mourner, and these ornaments must not be worn by me." + +The ladies obeyed her wish to have them taken off, and with thoughts +divided between her father and her father's friend, she was conducted +toward the palfrey. Wallace approached her, and Bruce flew forward, +with his usual haste, to assist her; but it was no longer the beautiful +little page that met his view, the confidential and frank glance of a +youthful brother--it was a lovely woman arrayed in all the charms of +female apparel, trembling and blushing, as she again appeared as a +woman before the eyes of the man she loved. Wallace sighed as he +touched her hand, for there was something in her air which seemed to +say, "I am not what I was a few minutes ago." It was the aspect of the +world's austerity, the decorum of rank and situation--but not of the +heart--that had never been absent from the conduct of Helen; had she +been in the wilds of Africa, with no other companion than Wallace, +still would those chaste reserves which lived in her soul have been +there the guardian of her actions, for modesty was as much the +attribute of her person, as magnanimity the character of her mind. + +Her more distant air at this time was the effect of reflections while +in the abbey where he had lodged her. She saw that the frank +intercourse between them was to be interrupted by the forms of a court, +and her manner insensibly assumed the demeanor she was so soon to wear. +Bruce looked at her with delighted wonder. He had before admired her +as beautiful, he now gazed on her as transcendently so. He checked +himself in his swift step--he paused to look on her and Wallace, and +contemplating them with sentiments of unmingled admiration, this +exclamation unconsciously escaped him: + +"How lovely!" + +He could not but wish to see two such perfectly amiable and perfectly +beautiful beings united as closely by the bonds of the altar as he +believed they were in heart, and he longed for the hour when he might +endow them with those proofs of his fraternal love which should class +them with the first of Scottish princes. + +"But how," thought he, "can I ever sufficiently reward thee, Wallace, +for what thou hast done for me and mine? Thy services are beyond all +price; thy soul is above even empires. Then how can I show thee all +that is in my heart for thee?" + +While he thus apostrophized his friend, Wallace and Helen advanced +toward him. Bruce held out his hand to her with a cordial smile. + +"Lady Helen, we are still to be the same! Robes of no kind must ever +separate the affections born in our pilgrimage!" + +She put her hand into his with a glow of delight. + +"While Sir William Wallace allows me to call him brother," answered +she, "that will ever be a sanction to our friendship; but courts are +formal places, and I now go to one." + +"And I will soon remove you to another," replied he, "where"--he +hesitated--looked at Wallace and then resumed: "where every wish of my +sister Helen's heart shall be gratified, or I be no king." + +Helen blushed deeply and hastened toward the palfrey. Wallace placed +her on the embroidered saddle, and Prince Louis preceding the +cavalcade, it moved on. + +As Bruce vaulted into his seat he said something to his friend of the +perfectly feminine beauty of Helen. + +"But her soul is fairer!" returned Wallace. + +The Prince of Scotland, with a gay but tender smile, softly whispered: + +"Fair, doubly fair to you!" + +Wallace drew a deep sigh. + +"I never knew but one woman who resembled her, and she did indeed excel +all of created mold. From infancy to manhood I read every thought of +her angelic heart; I became the purer by the study, and I loved my +model with an idolatrous adoration. There was my error! But those +sympathies, those hours are past. My heart will never throb as it has +throbbed; never rejoice as it has rejoiced; for she who lived but for +me, who doubled all my joys, is gone! Oh, my prince, though blessed +with friendship, there are times when I feel that I am solitary!" + +Bruce looked at him with some surprise. + +"Solitary, Wallace! can you ever be solitary, and near Helen of Mar?" + +"Perhaps more so then than at any other time; for her beauties, her +excellences, remind me of what were once mine, and recall every regret. +Oh, Bruce! thou canst not comprehend my loss! To mingle thought with +thought, and soul with soul, for years; and then, after blending our +very beings, and feeling as if indeed made one, to be separated--and by +a stroke of violence! This was a trial of the spirit which, but for +Heaven's mercy, would have crushed me. I live, but still my heart will +mourn, mourn her I have lost--and mourn that my rebellious nature will +not be more resigned to the judgments of its God." + +"And is love so constant, so tenacious?" exclaimed Bruce; "is it to +consume your youth, Wallace? Is it to wed such a heart as yours to the +tomb? Ah! am I not to hope that the throne of my children may be +upheld by a race of thine?" + +Wallace shook his head, but with a placid firmness replied: + +"Your throne and your children's, if they follow your example, will be +upheld by Heaven; but should they pervert themselves, a host of mortal +supports would not be sufficient to stay their downfall." + +In discourse like this, the youthful Prince of Scotland caught a +clearer view of the inmost thoughts of his friend than he had been able +to discern before; for war, or Bruce's own interests, having +particularly engaged them in all their former conversations, Wallace +had never been induced to glance at the private circumstances of his +history. While Bruce sighed in tender pity for the captivated heart of +Helen, he the more deeply revered, more intensely loved, his suffering +and heroic friend. + +A few hours brought the royal escort to the Louvre; and through a train +of nobles, Helen was led by Prince Louis into the regal saloon. The +Scottish chiefs followed. The queen and the Count D'Evereux received +Bruce and Helen, while De Valois conducted Wallace to the king, who had +retired for the purpose of this conference to his closet. + +At sight of the armor which he had sent to the preserver of his son, +Philip instantly recognized the Scottish hero, and rising from his +seat, hastened forward and clasped him in his arms. "Wonder not, +august chief," exclaimed he, "at the weakness exhibited in these eyes! +It is the tribute of nature to a virtue which loads even kings with +benefits. You have saved my son's life; you have preserved from taint +the honor of my sister!" Philip then proceeded to inform his auditor +that he had heard from a confessor of Queen Margaret's, just arrived +from England, all that had lately happened at Edward's court; and of +Wallace's letter, to clear the innocence of that injured princess. +"She is perfectly reinstated in the king's confidence," added Philip, +"but I can never pardon the infamy with which he would have overwhelmed +her; nay, it has already dishonored her, for the blasting effects of +slander no time nor labor can erase. I yield to the prayers of my too +gentle sister, not to openly resent this wrong, but in private he shall +feel a brother's indignation. I do not declare war against him, but +ask what you will, bravest of men, and were it to place the crown of +Scotland on your head, demand it of me, and by my concealed agency it +shall be effected." + +The reply of Wallace was simple. He claimed no merit in the justice he +had done the Queen of England; neither in his rescue of Prince Louis, +but as a proof of King Philip's friendship, he gladly embraced his +offered services with regard to Scotland. + +"Not," added he, "to send troops into that country against England. +Scotland is now free of its Southron invaders; all I require is that +you will use your royal influence with Edward to allow it to remain so. +Pledge your faith, most gracious monarch, with my master the royally +descended Bruce, who is now in your palace. He will soon assume the +crown that is his right; and with such an ally as France to hold the +ambition of Edward in check, we may certainly hope that the bloody +feuds between Scotland and England may at last be laid to rest." + +Wallace explained to Philip the dispositions of the Scots, the nature +of Bruce's claims, and the transcendent virtues of his youthful +character. The monarch took fire at the speaker's enthusiasm, and, +giving him his hand, exclaimed: + +"Wallace, I know not what manner of man you are! You seem born to +dictate to kings, while you put aside as things of no moment the crowns +offered to yourself. You are young and, marveling, I would say without +ambition, did I not know that your deeds and your virtues have set you +above all earthly titles. But to convince me that you do not disdain +the gratitude we pay, at least accept a name in my country; and know, +that the armor you wear, the coronet around your helmet, invest you +with the rank of a prince of France, and the title of Count of Gascony." + +To have refused this mark of the monarch's esteem would have been an +act of churlish pride foreign from the character of Wallace. He +graciously accepted the offered distinction, and bowing his head, +allowed the king to throw the brilliant collar of Gascony over his neck. + +This act was performed by Philip with all the emotions of disinterested +esteem. But when he had proposed it to his brother D'Evereux, as the +only way he could devise of rewarding Wallace for the preservation of +his son, and the honor of their sister, he was obliged to urge in +support of his wish, the desire he had to take the first opportunity of +being revenged on Edward by the reseizure of Guienne. To have Sir +William Wallace lord of Gascony would then be of the greatest advantage +as no doubt could be entertained of his arms soon restoring the sister +province to the French monarchy. In such a case, Philip promised to +bestow Guienne on his brother D'Evereux. + +To attach this new count to France was now all the wish of Philip, and +he closed the conference with every expression of friendship which man +could deliver to man. Wallace lost not the opportunity of pleading for +the abdicated King of Scots; and Philip, eager as well to evince his +resentment to Edward as to oblige Wallace, promised to send immediate +orders to Normandy that De Valence should leave Chateau Galliard, and +Baliol be attended with his former state. + +The king then led his guest into the royal saloon, where they found the +queen seated between Bruce and Helen. At sight of the Scottish chief +her majesty rose. Philip led him up to her; and Wallace, bending his +knee, put the fair hand extended to his lips. + +"Welcome," said she, "bravest of knights; receive a mother's thanks." +Tears of gratitude stood in her eyes. She clasped the hand of her son +and his together, and added, "Louis, wherever our Count of Gascony +advises you to pledge this hand, give it." + +"Then it will follow mine!" cried the king, putting his into that of +Bruce; "You are Wallace's acknowledged sovereign, young prince, and you +shall ever find brothers in me and my son! Sweet lady," added he, +turning to the glowing Helen, "thanks to your charms for having drawn +this friend of mankind to bless our shores!" + +The court knew Wallace merely as Count of Gascony; and, to preserve an +equal concealment, Bruce assumed the name of the young De Longueville, +whom Prince Louis had, in fact, allowed to leave him on the road to +Paris to retire to Chartres, there to pass a year of mourning within +its penitential monastery. Only two persons ever came to the Louvre +who could recognize Bruce to be other than he seemed, and they were, +John Cummin, the elder twin brother of the present Regent of Scotland, +and James Lord Douglas. The former had remained in France, out of +dislike to his brother's proceedings, and as Bruce knew him in Guienne, +and believed him to be a blunt, well-meaning young man, he saw no +danger in trusting him. The brave son of William Douglas was +altogether of a nobler mettle, and both Wallace and his prince rejoiced +at the prospect of receiving him to their friendship. + +Philip opened the affair to the two lords; and having declared his +designs in favor of Bruce, conducted them into t he queen's room, and +pointing where he stood, "There," cried he, "is the King of Scotland." + +Douglas and Cummin would have bent their knees to their young monarch, +but Bruce hastily caught their hands, and prevented them: + +"My friends," said he, "regard me as your fellow-soldier only, till you +see me on the throne of my fathers. Till then, that is our prince," +added he, looking on Wallace; "he is my leader, my counselor, my +example! And, if you love me, he must be yours." + +Douglas and Cummin turned toward Wallace at these words. Royalty did +indeed sit on his brow, but with a tempered majesty which spoke only in +love and honor. From the resplendent countenance of Bruce it smiled +and threatened, for the blaze of his impassioned nature was not yet +subdued. The queen looked from one to the other. The divinely +composed air of Wallace seemed to her the celestial port of some +heaven-descended being, lent awhile to earth to guide the steps of the +Prince of Scotland. She had read, in Homer's song, of the deity of +wisdom assuming the form of Mentor to protect the son of Ulysses, and +had it not been for the youth of the Scottish chief, she would have +said, here is the realization of the tale. + +Helen had eyes for none but Wallace. Nobles, princes, kings, were all +involved in one uninteresting mass to her when he was present. Yet she +smiled on Douglas when she heard him express his gratitude to the +champion of Scotland for the services he had done a country for which +his own father had died. Cummin, when he paid his respects to Wallace, +told him that he did so with double pleasure, since he had two +unquestionable evidences of his unequaled merit--the confidence of his +father, the Lord Badenoch, and the hatred of his brother, the present +usurper of that title. + +The king soon after led his guests to the council-room, where a secret +cabinet was to be held, to settle the future bonds between the two +kingdoms; and Helen, looking long after the departing figure of +Wallace, with a pensive step followed the queen to her apartment. + + + + +Chapter LXVI. + +The Louvre. + + +These preliminaries of lasting friendship being arranged, and sworn to +by Philip, Wallace dispatched a messenger to Scotland, to Lord Ruthven, +at Huntingtower, informing him of the present happy dispositions with +regard to Scotland. He made particular inquiries respecting the state +of the public mind; and declared his intention not to introduce Bruce +amongst the cabals of his chieftains until he knew exactly how they +were all disposed. Some weeks passed before a reply to this letter +arrived. During the time, the health of Helen, which had been much +impaired by the sufferings inflicted on her by De Valence, gradually +recovered, and her beauty became as much the admiration of the French +nobles as her meek dignity was of their respect. A new scene of +royalty presented itself in this gay court to Wallace, for all was +pageant and chivalric gallantry; but it had no other effect on him than +that of exciting those benevolent affections which rejoiced in the +innocent gayeties of his fellow-beings. His gravity was not that of a +cynic. Though hilarity never awakened his mind to buoyant mirth, yet +he loved to see it in others, and smiled when others laughed. + +With a natural superiority, which looked over these court pastimes to +objects of greater moment, Bruce merely endured them; but it was with +an urbanity congenial with his friend's, and while the princes of +France were treading the giddy mazes of the dance, or tilting at each +other in the mimic war of the tournament, the Prince of Scotland, who +excelled in all these exercises, left the field of gallantry +undisputed, and moved an uninterested spectator in the splendid scene, +talking with Wallace or with Helen on events which yet lay in fate, and +whose theater would be the field of his native land. So accustomed had +the friends now been to share their thoughts with Lady Helen, that they +imparted to her their plans, and listened with pleasure to her timid +yet judicious remarks. Her soul was inspired with the same zeal for +Scotland which animated their own breasts; like Bruce's it was ardent; +but, like Wallace's, it was tempered with a moderation which, giving +her foresight, freed her opinion from the hazard of rashness. What he +possessed by the suggestions of genius, or had acquired by experience, +she learned from love. It taught her to be careful for the safety of +Wallace; and while she saw that his life must often be put in peril for +Scotland, her watchful spirit, with an eagle's ken, perceived and gave +warning where his exposure might incur danger without adequate +advantage. + +The winds of this season of the year being violent and often adverse. +Wallace's messenger did not arrive at his destined port in Scotland +till the middle of November, and the January of 1299 had commenced +before his returning bark entered the mouth of the Seine. + +Wallace was alone, with Grimsby, opening the door, announced Sir Edwin +Ruthven. In a moment the friends were locked in each other's arms. +Edwin, straining Wallace to his heart, reproached him in affectionate +terms for having left him behind; but while he spoke, joy shone through +the tears which hung on his eyelids, and with the smiles of fraternal +love, again and again he kissed his friend's hand, and pressed it to +his bosom. Wallace answered his glad emotions with similar +demonstrations of affection, and when the agitations of their meeting +were subdued, he learned from Edwin that he had left the messenger at +some distance on the road, so impatient was he to embrace his friend +again, and to congratulate his dear cousin on her escape. + +Edwin answered the anxious inquiries of Wallace respecting his country, +by informing him that Badenoch, having arrogated to himself the supreme +power in Scotland, had determined to take every advantage of the last +victory gained over King Edward. In this resolution he was supported +by the Lords Athol, Buchan, and Soulis, who were returned, full of +indignation from the Court of Durham. Edward removed to London; and +Badenoch, soon hearing that he was preparing other armies for the +subjugation of Scotland, sent embassadors to the Vatican to solicit the +Pope's interference. Flattered by this appeal, Boniface wrote a letter +to Edward, exhorting him to refrain from Further oppressing a country +over which he had no lawful power. Edward's answer was full of +artifice and falsehood, every good principle, and declaring his +determination to consolidate Great Britain into one kingdom, or to make +the northern part one universal grave.** Wallace sighed as he listened. + +**Both these curious letters are extant in Hollingshed. + +"Ah! my dear Edwin," said he, "how just is the observation, that the +almost total neglect of truth and justice, which the generality of +statesmen discover in their transactions with each other, is an +unaccountable to reason as it is dishonorable and ruinous! It is one +source of the misery of the human race--a misery in which millions are +involved, without any compensation; for it seldom happens that this +dishonesty contributes ultimately even to the interests of the princes +who thus basely sacrifice their integrity to their ambition. But +proceed, my friend." + +"The speedy consequence of this correspondence," Edwin continued, "was +a renewal of hostilities against Scotland. Badenoch took Sir Simon +Fraser as his colleague in military duty, and a stout resistance for a +little while was made on the borders; but Berwick soon became the prey +of Lord Percy, and the brave Lord Dundaff was killed defending the +citadel. Many other places fell, and battles were fought, in which the +English were everywhere victorious; for," added Edwin, "none of your +generals would draw a sword under the command of Badenoch; and, alarmed +at these disasters, the Bishop of Dunkeld is gone to Rome, to entreat +the Pope to order your return. The Southrons are advancing into +Scotland in every direction. They have landed again on the eastern +coast; they have possessed themselves of all the border counties; and +without your Heaven-anointed arm to avert the blow, our country must be +irretrievably lost." + +Edwin had brought letters from Ruthven and the young Earl of Bothwell, +which none particularly narrated these ruinous events, to enforce every +argument to Wallace for his return. They gave it as their opinion, +however, that he must revisit Scotland under an assumed name. Did he +come openly, the jealousy of the Scottish lords would be reawakened, +and the worst of them might put a finishing stroke to their country by +taking him off by assassination or poison. Ruthven and Bothwell, +therefore, entreated that, as it was his wisdom as well as his valor +their country required, he would hasten to Scotland, and condescend to +serve her unrecognized till Bruce should be established on the throne. + +While Edwin was conducted to the apartments of Lady Helen, Wallace took +these letters to his prince. On Bruce being informed of the +circumstances in which his country lay, and of the wishes of its most +virtuous chiefs for his accession to the crown, he assented to the +prudence of their advice with regard to Wallace. "But," added he, "our +fortunes must be in every respect, as far as we can mold them, the +same. While you are to serve Scotland under a cloud, so will I. At +the moment Bruce is proclaimed King of Scotland, Wallace shall be +declared its bravest friend. We will go together--as brothers, if you +will!" continued he. "I am already considered by the French nobility +as Thomas de Longueville; you may personate the Red Reaver; Scotland +does not yet know that he was slain; and the reputation of his valor +and a certain nobleness in his wild warfare having placed him, in the +estimation of our shores, rather in the light of one of their own +island sea-kings than in that of his real character--a gallant, though +fierce pirate--the aid of his name would bring no evil odor to our +joint appearance. But were you to wear the title you bear here, a +quarrel might ensue between Philip and Edward, which I perceive the +former is not willing should occur openly. Edward must deem it a +breach of their amity did his brother-in-law permit a French prince to +appear in arms against him in Scotland; but the Reaver being considered +in England as outlawed by France, no surprise can be excited that he +and his brother should fight against Philip's ally. We will, then, +assume their characters; and I shall have the satisfaction of serving +for Scotland before I claim her as my own. When we again drive Edward +over the boarders, on that day we will throw off our visors, and Sir +William Wallace shall place the crown on my head." + +Wallace could not but approve the dignity of mind which these +sentiments displayed. In the same situation they would have been his +own; and he sought not, from any motive of policy, to dissuade Bruce +from a delicacy of conduct which drew him closer to his heart. +Sympathy of tastes is a pleasant attraction; but congeniality of +principles is the cement of souls. This Wallace felt in his new-born +friendship with Bruce; and though his regard for him had none of that +fostering tenderness with which he loved to contemplate the blooming +virtues of the youthful Edwin, yet it breathed every endearment arising +from a perfect equality in heart and mind. It was the true fraternal +tie; and while he talked with him on the fulfillment of their +enterprise, he inwardly thanked Heaven for blessing him so abundantly. +He had found a son in Edwin; a brother, and a tender sister in the +noble Bruce and lovely Helen. + +Bruce received Edwin with a welcome which convinced the before anxious +youth that he met a friend, rather than a rival, in the heart of +Wallace. And every preliminary being settled by the three friends +respecting their immediate return to Scotland, they repaired to Philip, +to inform him of Lord Ruthven's dispatches and their consequent +resolutions. + +The king liked all they said, excepting their request to be permitted +to take an early leave of his court. He urged them to wait the return +of a second embassador he had sent to England. Immediately on +Wallace's arrival, Philip had dispatched a request to the English king, +that he would grant the Scots the peace which was their right. Not +receiving any answer, he sent another messenger with a more categorical +demand. The persevered hostilities of Edward against Scotland +explained the delay; but the king yet hoped for a favorable reply, and +made such entreaties to Bruce and his friend to remain in Paris till it +should arrive, that they at last granted a reluctant consent. + +At the end of a week, the embassador returned with a conciliatory +letter to Philip; but, affirming Edward's right to Scotland, declared +his determination never to lay down his arms till he had again brought +the whole realm under his scepter. + +Wallace and his royal friend now saw no reason for lingering in France; +and having visited the young De Longueville at Chartres, they apprised +him of their intention to still further borrow his name. "We will not +disgrace it," cried Bruce; "I promised to return it to you, a theme for +your country's minstrels." When the friends rose to depart, the brave +and youthful penitent grasped their hands: "You go, valiant Scots, to +cover with a double glory, in the field of honor, a name which my +unhappy brother Guy dyed deep in his own country's blood! The tears I +weep before this cross for his and my transgressions have obtained me +mercy; and your design is an earnest to me from Him who hung on this +sacred tree, that my brother also is forgiven." + +At an early hour next day, Wallace and Bruce took leave of the French +king. The queen kissed Helen affectionately, and whispered, while she +tied a jeweled collar round her neck, that when she returned, she hoped +to add to it the coronet of Gascony. Helen's only reply was a sigh, +and her eyes turned unconsciously on Wallace. He was clad in a plain +suit of black armor, with a red plume in his helmet--the ensign of the +Reaver, whose name he had assumed. All of his former habit that he now +wore about him, was the sword which he had taken from Edward. At the +moment Helen looked toward Wallace, Prince Louis was placing a +cross-hilted dagger in his girdle. "My deliverer," said he, "wear this +for the sake of the descendant of St. Louis. It accompanied that holy +king through all his wars in Palestine. It twice saved him from the +assassin's steel; and I pray Heaven it may prove as faithful to you."** + +**The author was shown the dagger of Wallace by a friend. It was of +very strong but simple workmanship, and could be used as a knife as +well as a weapon. + +Soon after this, Douglas and Cummin entered, to pay their parting +respects to the king; and that over, Wallace taking Helen by the hand, +led her forth, followed by Bruce and his friends. + +At Havre, they embarked for the Frith of Tay; and a favorable gate +driving them through the straits of Calais, they launched out into the +wide ocean. + + + + +Chapter LXVII. + +Scotland. + + +The eighth morning from the day in which the Red Reaver's ship was +relaunched from the Norman harbor, Wallace, now the representative of +that once formidable pirate, bearing the white flag of good faith, +entered between the castled shores of the Frith of Tay, and cast anchor +under the towers of Dundee. + +When Bruce leaped upon the beach, he turned to Wallace and said with +exultation, though in a low voice, "Scotland now receives her king! +This earth shall cover me, or support my throne!" + +"It shall support your throne, and bless it too," replied Wallace; "you +are come in the power of justice, and that is the power of God. I know +Him in whom I bid you confide; for He has been my shield and sword, and +never yet have I turned my back upon my enemies. Trust, my dear +prince, where I have trusted; and while virtue is your incense, you +need not doubt the issue of your prayers." + +Had Wallace seen the face of Bruce at that moment, but the visor +concealed it, he would have beheld an answer in his eloquent eyes which +required not words to explain. He grasped the hand of Wallace with +fervor, and briefly replied, "Your trust shall be my trust!" + +The chiefs did not stay longer at Dundee than was requisite to furnish +them with horses to convey them to Perth, where Ruthven still bore +sway. When they arrived, he was at Huntingtower, and thither they +went. The meeting was fraught with many mingled feelings. Helen had +not seen her uncle since the death of her father; and, as soon as the +first gratulations were over, she retired to an apartment to weep alone. + +On Cummin's being presented to Lord Ruthven, the earl told him he must +now salute him as Lord Badenoch, his brother having been killed a few +days before in a skirmish on the skirts of Ettrick Forest. Ruthven +then turned to welcome the entrance of Bruce, who, raising his visor, +received from the loyal chief the homage due to his sovereign dignity. +Wallace and the prince soon engaged him in a discourse immediately +connected with the design of their return; and learned that Scotland +did indeed require the royal arm, and the counsel of its best and +lately almost banished friend. Much of the eastern part of the country +was again in possession of Edward's generals. They had seized on every +castle in the Lowlands; none having been considered too insignificant +to escape their hands. Nor could the quiet of reposing age elude the +general devastation; and after a dauntless defense of his castle, the +veteran Knight of Thirlestane had fallen, and with him his only son. +On hearing this disaster, the sage of Ercildown, having meanwhile +protected Lady Isabella mar at Learmont, conveyed her northward; but +falling sick at Roslyn, he had stopped there; and the messenger he +dispatched to Huntingtower with these calamitous tidings (who happened +to be that brave young Gordon whose borrowed breastplate had been that +of Bruce's, in his first battle for Scotland!), bore also information +that besides several parties of the enemy which were hovering on the +heights near Roslyn, an immense army was approaching from +Northumberland. Ercildown said he understood Sir Simon Fraser was +hastening forward with a small body to attempt cutting off these +advanced squadrons; but, he added, while the contentions continued +between Athol and Soulis for the vacant regency, no man could have hope +of any steady stand against England. + +At this communication, Cummin bluntly proposed himself as the +terminator of this dispute. "If the regency were allowed to my brother +as head of the house of Cummin, that dignity now rests with me. Give +the word, my sovereign," said he, addressing Bruce, "and none there +shall dare oppose my rights." Ruthven approved this proposal; and +Wallace, deeming it not only the best way of silencing the pretensions +of those old disturbers of the public tranquility, but a happy +opportunity of putting the chief magistracy into the hands of a +confidant of their design, seconded the advice of Ruthven. Thus John +Cummin, Lord Badenoch, was invested with the regency, and immediately +dispatched to the army, to assume it as if in right of his being the +next heir to the throne in default of the Bruce. + +Wallace sent Lord Douglas privately into Clydesdale, to inform Earl +Bothwell of his arrival, and to request his instant presence with the +Lanark division and his own troops on the banks of the Eske. Ruthven +ascended the Grampians, to call out the numerous clans of Perthshire, +and Wallace, with his prince, prepared themselves for meeting the +auxiliaries before the towers of Roslyn. Meanwhile, as Huntingtower +would be an insecure asylum for Helen, when it must be left to +domestics alone, Wallace proposed to Edwin that he should escort his +cousin to Braemar, and place her under the care of his mother and the +widowed countess. "Thither," continued he, "we will send Lady Isabella +also, should Heaven bless our arms at Roslyn." Edwin acquiesced, as he +was to return with all speed to join his friend on the southern bank of +the Forth; and Helen, aware that scenes of blood were no scenes for +her, while her heart was wrung to agony at the thought of relinquishing +Wallace to new dangers, yielded a reluctant assent, not merely to go, +but to take that look of him which might be the last. + +The sight of her uncle, and the objects around, had so recalled the +image of her father, that ever since her arrival a foreboding sadness +had hung over her spirits. She remembered that a few months ago she +had seen that beloved parent go out to battle, whence he never +returned. Should the same doom await her with regard to Wallace! The +idea shook her frame with an agitation that sunk her, in spite of +herself, on the bosom of this trust of friends, when Edwin approached +to lead her to her horse. Her emotions penetrated the heart against +which she leaned. + +"My gentle sister," said Wallace, "do not despair of our final success; +of the safety of all whom you regard." + +"Ah! Wallace," faltered she, in a voice rendered hardly audible by +tears, "but did I not lose my father?" + +"Sweet Helen," returned he, tenderly grasping her trembling hand, "you +lost him, but he gained by the exchange. And should the peace of +Scotland be purchased by the lives of your friends--if Bruce survives, +you must still think your prayers blessed. Were I to fall, my sister, +my sorrows would be over; and from the region of universal blessedness +I should enjoy the sight of Scotland's happiness." + +"Were we all to enter those regions at one time," faintly replied +Helen, "there would be comfort in such thoughts; but as it is--" Here +she paused; tears stopped her utterance. "A few years is a short +separation," returned Wallace, "when we are hereafter to be united to +all eternity. This is my consolation, when I think of Marion--when +memory dwells with the friends lost in these dreadful conflicts; and +whatever may be the fate of those who now survive, call to remembrance +my words, dear Helen, and the God who was my instructor will send you +comfort." + +"Then farewell, my friend, my brother!" cried she, forcibly tearing +herself away, and throwing herself into the arms of Edwin; "leave me +now; and the angel of the just will bring you in glory, here or +hereafter, to your sister Helen." Wallace fervently kissed the hand +she again extended to him; and, with an emotion which he had thought he +would never feel again for mortal woman, left the apartment. + + + + +Chapter LXVIII. + +Roslyn. + + +The day after the departure of Helen, Bruce became impatient to take +the field; and, to indulge this laudable eagerness, Wallace set forth +with him to meet the returning steps of Ruthven and his gathered +legions. + +Having passed along the borders of Invermay, the friends descended +toward the precipitous banks of the Earn, at the foot of the Grampians. +In these green labyrinths they wound their way, till Bruce, who had +never before been in such mountain wilds, expressed a fear that Wallace +had mistaken the track; for this seemed far from any human footstep. + +Wallace replied, with a smile. "The path is familiar to me as the +garden of Huntingtower." + +The day, which had been cloudy, suddenly turned to wind and rain, which +certainly spread an air of desolation over the scene, very dreary to an +eye accustomed to the fertile plains and azure skies of the south. The +whole of the road was rough, dangerous, and dreadful. The steep and +black rocks, towering above their heads, seemed to threaten the +precipitation of their impending masses into the path below. But +Wallace had told Bruce they were in the right track, and he gaily +breasted both the storm and the perils of the road. They ascended a +mountain, whose enormous piles of granite, torn by many a winter +tempest, projected their barren summits from a surface of moorland, on +which lay a deep incrustation of snow. The blast now blew a tempest, +and the rain and sleet beat so hard, that Bruce, laughing, declared he +believed the witches of his country were in league with Edward, and, +hid in shrouds of mist, were all assembled here to drive their lawful +prince into the roaring cataracts beneath. + +Thus enveloped in a sea of vapors, with torrents of water pouring down +the sides of their armor, did the friends descend the western brow of +this part of the Grampians until they approached Loch Earn. They had +hardly arrived there before the rain ceased, and the clouds, rolling +away from the sides of the mountains, discovered the vast and +precipitous Ben Vorlich. Its base was covered with huge masses of +cliffs, scattered in fragments, like the wreck of some rocky world, and +spread abroad in wide and horrid desolation. The mountain itself, the +highest in this chain of the Grampians, was in every part marked by +deep and black ravines, made by the rushing waters in the time of +floods; but where its blue head mingled with the clouds, a stream of +brightness issued that seemed to promise the dispersion of its vapors; +and consequently a more secure path for Wallace, to lead his friend +over its perilous heights.** + +**This description of Ben Vorlich, written ten years before the journey +of the author's brother, Sir. R. K. Porter, into Armenia and Persia, on +her reperusing it now, while revising these volumes, reminds her +strongly of his account of the appearance of Mount Arafat, as he saw it +under a storm, and which he describes with so much, she must be allowed +to say, sacred interest, in his travels through those +countries.--(1840.) + +This appearance did not deceive. The whole mantle of clouds, with +which the tops of all the mountains had been obscured, rolled away +toward the west, and discovered to the eye of Wallace that this line of +light which he had discerned through the mist, was the host of Ruthven +descending Ben Vorlich in defiles. From the nature of the path, they +were obliged to move in a winding direction, and as the sun now shone +full upon their arms, and their lengthened lines gradually extended +from the summit of the mountain to its base, no sight could contain +more of the sublime, none of truer grandeur to the enraptured mind of +Bruce. He forgot his horror of the wastes he had passed over in the +joy of beholding so noble an army of his countrymen thus approaching to +place him upon the throne of his ancestors. "Wallace," cried he, +"these brave hearts deserve a more cheerful home! My scepter must turn +this Scotia desrta into Scotia felix; and so shall I reward the service +they this day bring me." + +"They are happy in these wilds," returned Wallace, "their flocks browse +the hills, their herds the valleys. The soil yields sufficient to +support its sons; and their luxuries are, a minstrel's song and the lip +of their brides. Their ambition is satisfied with following their +chief to the field; and their honor lies in serving their God and +maintaining the freedom of their country. Beware, then, my dear +prince, of changing the simple habits of those virtuous mountaineers. +Introduce the luxurious cultivation of France into these tracts, you +will infect them with artificial wants; and, with every want, you put a +link to a chain which will fasten them to bondage whenever a tyrant +chooses to grasp it. Leave them then their rocks as you find them, and +you will ever have a hardy race, ready to perish in their defense, or +to meet death for the royal guardian of their liberties." + +Lord Ruthven no sooner reached the banks of Loch Earn, than he espied +the prince and Wallace. He joined them; then marshaling his men in a +wide tract of land at the head of that vast body of water, placed +himself with the two supposed De Longuevilles in the van; and in this +array marched through the valleys of Strathmore and Strathallen, into +Stirlingshire. The young Earl of Fife held the government of the +castle and town of Stirling; and as he had been a zealous supporter of +the rebellious Lord Badenoch, Bruce negatized Ruthven's proposal to +send in a messenger for the earl's division of the troops. + +"No, my lord," said he, "like my friend Wallace, I will have no divided +spirits near me; all must be earnest in my cause, or entirely out of +the contest. I am content with the brave men around me." + +After rapid marchings and short haltings, they arrived safe at +Linlithgow, where Wallace proposed staying a night to refresh the +troops, who were now joined by Sir Alexander Ramsay, at the head of a +thousand of his clan. While the men took rest, the chiefs waked to +think for them. And Wallace, with Bruce and Ruthven, and the brave +Ramsay (to whom Wallace had revealed himself, but still kept Bruce +unknown), were in deep consultation when Grimsby entered to inform his +master that a young knight desired to speak with Sir Guy de Longueville. + +"His name?" demanded Wallace. + +"He refused to tell it," replied Grimsby, "and wears his beaver shut." + +Wallace looked around with a glance that inquired whether the stranger +should be admitted. + +"Certainly," said Bruce, "but first put on your mask." + +Wallace closed his visor, and the moment after Grimsby reentered, with +a knight of elegant mien, habited in a suit of green armor, linked with +gold. He wore a close helmet, from which streamed a long feather, of +the same hue. Wallace rose at his entrance; the stranger advanced to +him. + +"You are he whom I seek. I am a Scot, and a man of few words. Accept +my services, allow me to attend you in this war, and I will serve you +faithfully." + +Wallace replied: "And who is the brave knight to whom Sir Guy de +Longueville must owe so great an obligation?" + +"My name," answered the stranger, "shall not be revealed till he who +now wears that of the Reaver proclaims his own in the day of victory. +I know you, sir, but your secret is as safe with me as in your own +breast. Place me to fight by your side, and I am yours forever." + +Wallace was surprised, but not confounded by this speech. "I have only +one question to ask you, noble stranger," replied he, "before I confide +a cause dearer to me than life in your integrity. How did you become +master of a secret, which I believed out of the power of treachery to +betray?" + +"No one betrayed your secret to me. I came by my information in an +honorable manner, but the means I shall not reveal till I see the time +to declare my name, and that, perhaps, may be in the moment when the +assumed brother of yon young Frenchman," added the stranger, turning to +Bruce, and lowering his voice, "again appears publicly in Scotland, as +Sir William Wallace." + +"I am satisfied," replied he, well pleased that whoever this knight +might be, Bruce yet remained undiscovered; "I grant your request. Yon +brave youth, whose name I share, forgives me the success of my sword. +I slew the red Reaver, and therefore would restore a brother to Thomas +de Longueville, in myself. He fights on my right hand, you shall be +stationed at my left." + +"On the side next your heart!" exclaimed the stranger, "let that ever +be my post, there to guard the bulwark of Scotland, the life of the +bravest of men." + +This enthusiasm did not surprise any present; it was the usual language +of all who approached Sir William Wallace; and Bruce, particularly +pleased with the heartfelt energy with which it was uttered, forgot his +disguise in the amiable fervor of approbation, and half arose to +welcome him to his cause; but a look from Wallace (who on being known +had uncovered his face), arrested his intention and the prince sat down +again, thankful for so timely a check on his precipitancy. + +In passing the Pentland Hills, into Mid-Lothian, the chiefs were met by +Edwin, who had crossed from the north by the Frith of Forth; and having +heard no tidings of the Scottish army in the neighborhood of Edinburgh, +he had turned to meet it on the most probably road. Wallace introduced +him to the Knight of the Green Plume, for that was the appellation by +which the stranger desired to be known--and then made inquiries how +Lady Helen had borne the fatigues of her journey to Braemar. "Pretty +well there," replied he, "but much better back again." He then +explained that on his arrival with her, neither Lady Mar nor his mother +would consent to remain so far from the spot where Wallace was to +contend again for the safety of their country. Helen did not say +anything in opposition to their wishes; and at last Edwin yielded to +the entreaties and tears of his mother and aunt, to bring them to where +they might, at least, not long endure the misery of suspense. Having +consented, without an hour's delay, he set forth with the ladies, to +retrace his steps to Huntingtower; and there he left them, under a +guard of three hundred men, whom he brought from Braemar for that +purpose. + +Bruce, whose real name had not been revealed to the other ladies of +Ruthven's family, in a lowered tone, asked Edwin some questions +relative to the spirits in which Helen had parted with him. "In losing +her," added he, "my friend and I feel but as part of what we were. Her +presence seemed to ameliorate the fierceness of our war-councils, and +ever reminded me of the angelic guard by whom Heaven points our way." + +"I left her with looks like the angel you speak of," answered Edwin; +"but she bade me farewell upon the platform of the eastern tower of the +castle. When I gave her the parting embrace, she raised herself from +my breast, and stretching her arms to heave, with her pure soul in her +eyes, she exclaimed, 'Bless him, gracious God; bless him, and his noble +commander! may they ever, with the prince they love, be thine especial +care!' I knelt by her as she uttered this; and touching the hem of her +garments as some holy thing, hurried from the spot." + +"Her prayers," cried Bruce, "will fight for us. They are arms well +befitting the virgins of Scotland to use against its foes." + +"And without such unction," rejoined Wallace, looking to that Heaven +she had invoked, "the warrior may draw his steel in vain." + +On Edwin's introduction, the stranger knight engaged himself in +conversation with Ramsay. But Lord Ruthven interrupted the discourse, +by asking Ramsay some questions relative to the military positions on +the banks of the Eske. Sir Alexander, being the grandson of the Lord +of Roslyn, and having passed his youth in its neighborhood, was well +qualified to answer these questions. In such discourses, the Scottish +leaders marched along, till, passing before the lofty ridge of the +Corstophine Hills, they were met by groups of flying peasantry. At +sight of the Scottish banners they stopped, and informed their armed +countrymen, that the new regent, John of Badenoch, having rashly +attacked the Southron army in its vantage ground, near Borthwick +Castle, had suffered defeat, and was in full and disordered retreat +toward Edinburgh, while the country people fled on all sides before the +victors. These reporters magnified the number of the enemy to an +incredible amount. + +Wallace was at no loss in comprehending how much to believe in this +panic; but determining, whether great or small the power of his +adversary, to intercept him at Roslyn, he sent to Cummin and to Fraser, +the two commanders in the beaten and dispersed armies, to rendezvous on +the banks of the Eske. The brave troops which he led, though ignorant +of their real leader, obeyed his direction under an idea they were Lord +Ruthven's, who was their ostensible general, and steadily pursued their +march. Every village and solitary cot seemed recently deserted; and +through an awful solitude they took their rapid way, till the towers of +Roslyn Castle hailed them as a beacon from amidst the wooded heights of +the northern Eske. + +"There," cried Ramsay, pointing to the embattled rock, "stands the +fortress of my forefathers! It must this day be made famous by the +actions performed before its walls!" + +Wallace, whose knowledge of this part of the country was not quite so +familiar as that of Ramsay, learned sufficient from him to decide at +once which would be the most favourable position for a small and +resolute band to assume against a large and conquering army; and, +accordingly disposing his troops, which did not amount to more than +eight thousand men, he dispatched one thousand, under the command of +Ramsay, to occupy the numerous caves in the southern banks of the Eske, +where they were to issue in various divisions, and with shouts, on the +first appearance of advantage, either on his side or on the enemy's. + +Ruthven, meanwhile, went for a few minutes into the castle to embrace +his niece, and to assure the venerable Lord of Roslyn that assistance +approached his beleaguered walls. + +Edwin, who, with Grimsby, had volunteered the dangerous service of +reconnoitering the enemy, returned within an hour, bringing in a +straggler from the English camp. His life was promised him on +condition of his revealing the strength of the advancing army. The +terrified wretch did not hesitate; and from him they learned that it +was commanded by Sir John Segrave and Ralph Confrey, who, deeming the +country subdued by the two last battles gained over the Black and Red +Cummins,** were preparing for a general plundering. And, to sweep the +land at once, Segrave had divided his army into three divisions, to +scatter themselves over the country, and everywhere gather in the +spoil. To be assured of this being the truth, while Grimsby remained +to guard the prisoner, Edwin went alone into the track he was told the +Southrons would take, and from a height he discerned about ten thousand +of them winding along the valley. With this confirmation of the man's +account, he brought him to the Scottish lines; and Wallace, who well +knew how to reap advantage from the errors of his enemies, being joined +by Fraser and the discomfited regent, made the concerted signal to +Ruthven. That nobleman immediately pointed out to his men the waving +colors of the Southron host, as it approached beneath the overhanging +woods of Hawthorndean. He exhorted them, by their fathers, wives, and +children, to breast the enemy at this spot; to grapple with him till he +fell. "Scotland," cried he, "is lost or won, this day. You are +freemen or slaves; your families are your own, or the property of +tyrants! Fight stoutly, and God will yield you an invisible support." + +**The Red Cummin was an attributive appellation of John, the last +regent before the accession of Bruce. His father, the princely Earl of +Badenoch, was called the Black Cummin. + +The Scots answered their general by a shout, and calling on him to lead +them forward, Ruthven placed himself, with the regent and Fraser, in +the van, and led the charge. Little expecting an assault from an +adversary they had so lately driven off the field, the Southrons were +taken by surprise. But they fought well, and resolutely stood their +ground till Wallace and Bruce, who commanded the flanking divisions, +closed in upon them with an impetuosity that drove Confrey's division +into the river. Then the ambuscade of Ramsay poured from his caves, +the earth seemed teeming with mailed warriors, and the Southrons, +seeing the surrounding heights and the deep defiles filled with the +same terrific appearances, fled with precipitation toward their second +division, which lay a few miles southward. Thither the conquering +squadrons of the Scots followed them. The fugitives, leaping the +trenches of the encampment, called out to their comrades: "Arm! arm! +Hell is in league against us!" Segrave was soon at the head of his +legions, and a battle more desperate than the first blazed over the +field. The flying troops of the slain Confrey, rallying around the +standard of their general-in-chief, fought with the spirit of revenge, +and, being now a body of nearly 20,000 men, against 8000 Scots, the +conflict became tremendous. In several points the Southrons gained so +greatly the advantage that Wallace and Bruce threw themselves +successively into those parts where the enemy most prevailed, and by +exhortations, example and prowess they a thousand times turned the fate +of the day, appearing as they shot from rank to rank to be two comets +of fire sent before the Scottish troops to consume all who opposed +them. Segrave was taken, and forty English knights besides. + +The green borders of the Eske were dyed red with Southron blood; and +the enemy on all sides were calling for quarter, when, of a sudden, the +cry of "Havoc and St. George!" issued from the adjoining hill. At the +same moment, a posse of country people (who, for the sake of plunder, +had stolen into the height), seeing the advancing troops of a third +division of the enemy, like guilty cowards rushed down amongst their +brave defenders, echoing the war-cry of England, and exclaiming, "We +are lost--a host, reaching to the horizon, is upon us!" Terror struck +to many a Scottish heart. The Southrons who were just about giving up +their arms, leaped upon their feet. The fight recommenced with +redoubled fury. Sir Robert Neville, at the head of the new +reinforcement, charged into the center of the Scottish legions. Bruce +and Edwin threw themselves into the breach which this impetuous onset +had made in that part of their line, and fighting man to man, would +have taken Neville, had not a follower of that nobleman, wielding a +ponderous mace, struck Bruce so terrible a blow, as to fracture his +helmet, and cast him from his horse to the ground. The fall of so +active a leader excited as much dismay in the surrounding Scots as it +encouraged the reviving spirits of the enemy. Edwin exerted himself to +preserve his prince from being trampled on; and while he fought for +that purpose, and afterward sent his senseless body off the field, +under charge of young Gordon (who had been chosen by the disguised +Bruce as his especial aid), to Roslyn Castle, Neville rescued Segrave +and his knights. Lord Ruthven now contended with a feeble arm. +Fatigued with the two preceding conflicts, covered with wounds, and +perceiving indeed a host pouring upon them on all sides (for the whole +of Segrave's original army of 30,000 men, excepting those who had +fallen in the preceding engagements, were now restored to the assault), +the Scots, in despair, gave ground: some threw away their arms, to fly +the faster; and by thus exposing themselves, panic-struck, to the +swords of their enemies, redoubled the confusion. + +Indeed, so great was the havoc, that the day must have ended in the +universal destruction of every Scot on the field, had not Wallace felt +the crisis, and that as Guy de Longueville he shed his blood in vain. +In vain his terrified countrymen saw him rush into the thickest of the +carnage; in vain he called to them, by all that was sacred to man, to +stand to the last. He was a foreigner, and they had no confidence in +his exhortations; death was before them, and they turned to fly. The +fate of his country was hung on an instant. The last rays of the +setting sun shone full on the rocky promontory of the hill which +projected over the field of combat. He took his resolution; and +spurring his steed up the steep ascent, stood on the summit, where he +could be seen by the whole army then taking off his helmet, he waved it +in the air with a shout, and having drawn all eyes upon him, suddenly +exclaimed, "Scots! you have this day vanquished the Southrons twice! if +you be men, remember Cambus-Kenneth, and follow William Wallace to a +third victory!" The cry which issued from the amazed troops was that +of a people who beheld the angel of their deliverance. "Wallace!" was +the chargeword of every heart. The hero's courage seemed +instantaneously diffused through every breast; and, with braced arms +and determined spirits, forming at once into the phalanx his thundering +voice dictated, the Southrons again felt the weight of the Scottish +steel; and a battle ensued, which made the bright Eske run purple to +the sea, and covered the pastoral glades of Hawthorndean with the +bodies of its invaders. + +Sir John Segrave and Neville were both taken; and ere night closed in +upon the carnage, Wallace granted quarter to those who sued for it, +and, receiving their arms, left them to repose in their before +depopulated camp. + + + + +Chapter LXIX. + +Roslyn Castle. + + +Wallace, having planted an adequate force in charge of the prisoners, +went to the two Southron commanders to pay them the courtesy he thought +due to their bravery and rank, before he retired with his victorious +followers toward Roslyn Castle. He entered their tent alone. At sight +of the warrior who had given them so signal a defeat, the generals +rose. Neville, who had received a slight wound in one of his arms, +stretched out the other to Wallace. "Sir William Wallace," said he, +"that you were obliged to declare a name so deservedly renowned, before +the troops I led, could be made to relinquish one step of their +hard-earned advantage, was an acknowledgment in their favor almost +equivalent to a victory." + +Sir John Segrave, who stood leaning on his sword with a disturbed +countenance, interrupted him. "The fate of this day cannot be +attributed to any earthly name or hand. I believe my sovereign will +allow the zeal with which I have served him; and yet thirty thousand as +brave men as ever crossed the marshes, have fallen before a handful of +Scots. Three victories, won over Edward's troops in one day, are not +events of a commonplace nature. God alone has been our vanquisher." + +"I acknowledge it," cried Wallace; "and that He is on the side of +justice, let the return of St. Matthias' Day ever remind your +countrymen!" + +When Segrave gave the victory to the Lord of Hosts, he did it more from +jealousy of what might be Edward's opinion of his conduct, when +compared with Neville's, than from any intention to imply that the +cause of Scotland was justly Heaven-defended. Such are the impious +inconsistencies of unprincipled men! He frowned at the reply of +Wallace, and turned gloomily away. Neville returned a respectful +answer, and their conqueror soon after left them. + +Edwin, with the Knight of the Green Plume (who had indeed approved his +valor by many a brave deed performed at his commander's side), awaited +Wallace's return from his prisoners' tent. Ruthven came up with +Wallace before he joined them, and told him that Bruce was safe under +the care of the sage of Ercildown, and that the regent, who had been +wounded in the beginning of the day, was also in Roslyn Castle. +Wallace then called Edwin to him, giving him orders that all of the +survivors who had suffered in these three desperate battles, should be +collected from amongst the slain, and carried into the neighboring +castles of Hawthorndean, Brunston, and Dalkeith. The rest of the +soldiers were commanded to take their refreshment still under arms. +These duties performed, Wallace turned with the eagerness of friendship +and loyalty to see how Bruce fared. + +The moon shone brightly as his party rode forward. Wallace ascended +the steep acclivity on which Roslyn Castle stands. In crossing the +drawbridge which divides its rocky peninsula from the main land, he +looked around and sighed. The scene reminded him of Ellerslie. A deep +shadow lay on the woods beneath; and the pensile branches of the now +leafless trees bending to meet the flood, seemed mourning the deaths +which now polluted its stream. The water lay in profound repose at the +base of these beautiful craigs, as if peace longed to become an +inhabitant of so lovely a scene. + +At the gate of the castle its aged master, the Lord Sinclair, met +Wallace, to bid him welcome. + +"Blessed be the saint of this day," exclaimed he, "for thus bringing +our best defender, even as by a miracle, to snatch us as a brand from +the fire! My gates, like my heart, open to receive the true Regent of +Scotland." + +"I have only done a Scotchman's duty, venerable Sinclair," replied +Wallace, "and must not arrogate a title which Scotland has transferred +to other hands." + +"Not Scotland, but rebellion," replied the old chief. "It was +rebellion against the just gratitude of the nation that invested the +Black Cummin with the regency; and only some similar infatuation has +bestowed the same title on his brother. What did he not lose till you, +Scotland's true champion, have reappeared to rescue her again from +bondage?" + +"The present Lord Badenoch is an honest and a brave man," replied +Wallace; "and as I obey the power which gave him his authority, I am +ready, by fidelity to him, to serve Scotland with as vigorous a zeal as +ever; so, noble Sinclair, when our rulers cast not trammels on our +virtue, we must obey them as the vicegerents of Heaven." + +Wallace then asked to be conducted to his wounded friend, Sir Thomas de +Longueville, for Sinclair was ignorant of the real rank of his guest. +Eager to oblige him, his noble host immediately led the way through a +gallery, and opening the door of an apartment, discovered to him Bruce, +lying on a couch; and a venerable figure, whose silver beard and +sweeping robes, announced him to be the sage of Ercildown, was bathing +the wounded chief's temples with balsams. A young creature, beautiful +as a ministering seraph, also hung over the prostrate chief. She held +a golden casket in her hand, out of which the sage drew the unctions he +applied. + +At the sound of Wallace's voice, who spoke in a suppressed tone to +Ruthven while entering the chamber, the wounded prince started on his +arm to greet his friend; but he as instantly fell back. Wallace +hastened forward. When Bruce recovered from the swoon into which the +suddenness of his attempt to rise had thrown him, he felt a hand +grasping his; he guessed to whom it belonged, and gently pressed it, +smiled; a moment afterward he opened his eyes, and in a low voice, +articulated from his wounded lips: + +"My dear Wallace, you are victorious?" + +"Completely so, my prince and king," returned he, in the same tone; +"all is now plain before you; speak but the word, and render Scotland +happy!" + +"Not yet; oh, not yet!" whispered he. "My more than brother, allow +Bruce to be himself again before he is known in the land of his +fathers! This cruel wound in my head must heal first, and then I may +again share your dangers and your glory! Oh, Wallace, not a Southron +must taint our native lands when my name is proclaimed in Scotland!"** + +**It is a curious circumstance, that when the body of Bruce was +discovered a few years ago in the abbey of Dunfermline, his head +retained all its teeth excepting two in front, evidently originally +injured by a stroke of violence. Beside this, the evidence remained in +the bone of the chest of the fact of its having been cut open after his +death, for the heart to be taken out, according to his dying command, +to be sent to the Holy Land. + +Wallace saw that his prince was not in a state to bear argument, and as +all had retired far from the couch when he approached it, in gratitude +for this propriety (for it had left him and his friend free to converse +unobserved), he turned toward the other inmates of the chamber. The +sage advanced to him, and recognizing in Wallace's now manly form the +fine youth he had seen with Sir Ronald Crawford at the claiming of the +crown, he saluted him with a paternal affection, tempering the sublime +feelings with which even he approached the resistless champion of his +country, and then beckoning the beautiful girl who had so +compassionately hung over the couch of Bruce, she drew near the sage. +He took her hand: "Sir William Wallace," said he, "this sweet child is +the youngest daughter of the brave Mar, who died in the field of glory +on the Carron. Her grandfather, the stalwart knight of Thirlestane, +fell a few weeks ago, defending his castle, and I am almost all that is +left to her, though she has, or had a sister, of whom we can learn no +tidings." Isabella, for it was she, covered her face to conceal her +emotions. + +"Dear lady," said Wallace, "these venerable heroes were both known to +and beloved by me. And now that Heaven has resumed them to itself, as +the last act of friendship that I, perhaps, may be fated to pay to +their offspring, I shall convey you to that sister whose matchless +heart yearns to receive so dear a consolation." + +To disengage Isabella's thoughts from the afflicting remembrances, now +bathing her fair cheeks with tears, Ercildown put a cup, of the mingled +juice of herbs, into her hand, and commissioned her to give it to their +invalid. Wallace now learned that his friend's wound was not only in +the head, accompanied by a severe concussion, but that it must be many +days before he could remove him from his bed without danger. Anxious +to release him from even the scarcely breathed whispers of his martial +companions, who stood at some distance from his couch, Wallace +immediately proposed leaving him to rest, and beckoning the chiefs, +they followed him out of the apartment. + +On the following morning he was aroused at daybreak by the abrupt +entrance of Andrew Lord Bothwell into his tent. The well-known sounds +of his voice made Wallace start from his pillow, and extend his arms to +receive him. + +"Murray! My brave, invaluable Murray!" cried he, "thou art welcome once +more to the side of thy brother in arms. Thee and thine must ever be +first in my heart!" + +The young Lord Bothwell returned his warm embrace in silent eloquence; +but sitting down by Wallace's couch, he grasped his hand, and pressing +it to his breast, said, "I feel a happiness here which I have never +known since the day of Falkirk. You quitted us, Wallace, and all good +seemed gone with you, or buried in my father's grave. But you return! +You bring conquest and peace with you, you restore our Helen to her +family, you bless us with yourself! And shall you not see again the +gay Andrew Murray? It must be so, my friend, melancholy is not my +climate, and I shall now live in your beams." + +"Dear Murray!" returned Wallace, "this generous enthusiasm can only be +equaled by my joy in all that makes you and Scotland happy." + +He then proceeded to confide to him all that related to Bruce; and to +describe the minutiae of those plans for his establishment, which had +only been hinted in his letters from France. Bothwell entered with +ardor into these designs, and regretted that the difficulty he found in +persuading the veterans of Lanark to follow him to any field where they +did not expect to find their beloved Wallace, had deprived him of the +participation of the late danger and new glory of his friend. + +"To compensate for that privation," replied Wallace, "while our prince +is disabled from pursuing victory in his own person, we must not allow +our present advantages to lose their expected effects. You shall +accompany me through the Lowlands, where we must recover the places +which the ill-fortune of James Cummin has lost." + +Murray gladly embraced this opportunity of again sharing the field with +Wallace, and the chiefs joined Bruce. Bothwell was presented to his +young sovereign, and Douglas entering, the discourse turned on their +different posts of duty. Wallace suggested to his royal friend, that +as his restoration to health could not be so speedy as the cause +required, it would be necessary not to await that event, but begin the +recovery of the border counties before Edward could reinforce their +garrisons. Bruce sighed; but with a generous glow suffusing his pale +face, said: + +"Go, my friend! Bless Scotland which way you will, and let my ready +acquiescence convince future ages, that I love my country beyond my own +fame; for her sake I relinquish to you the whole glory of delivering +her out of the hands of the tyrant who has so long usurped my rights. +Men may say when they hear this, that I do not merit the crown you will +put upon my head; that I have lain on a couch while you fought for me; +but I will bear all obloquy rather than deserve its slightest charge, +by withholding you an hour from the great work of Scotland's peace." + +"It is not for the breath of men, my dear prince," returned Wallace, +"that either you or I act. It is sufficient for us that we effect +their good, and whether the agent be one or the other, the end is the +same. Our deeds and intentions have one great Judge, and He will award +the only true glory." + +Such were the principles which filled the hearts of these two friends, +worthy of each other, and alike honorable to the country that gave them +birth. Gordon had won their confidence, and watched by his prince's +pillow. + +Though the wounded John Cummin remained possessed of the title of +regent, Wallace was virtually endowed with the authority. Whatever he +suggested was acted upon as by a decree--all eyes looked to him as to +the cynosure by which every order of men in Scotland were to shape +their course. The jealousies which had driven him from his former +supreme seat, seemed to have died with their prime instigator, the late +regent; and no chief of any consequence, excepting Soulis and Athol, +who had retired in disgust to their castles, breathed a word of +opposition to the general gratitude. + +Wallace having dictated his terms and sent his prisoners to England, +commenced the march that was to clear the Lowlands of the foe. His own +valiant band, headed by Scrymgeour and Lockhart of Lee,** rushed toward +his standard, with a zeal that rendered each individual a host in +himself. The fame of his new victories, seconded by the enthusiasm of +the people and the determination of the troops, soon made him master of +all the lately lost fortresses. + +**The crusading ancestor of this Lockhart was the bringer of the famous +Lee penny from the Holy Land, and from his sprung the three brave +branches of the name--Lockhart of Lee, Lockhart of Carnwarth, and +Lockhart of Drydean. + +Hardly four weeks were consumed in these conquests, and not a rood of +land remained south of the Tay in the possession of England, excepting +Berwick. Before that often-disputed stronghold, Wallace drew up his +forces to commence a regular siege. The governor, intimidated by the +powerful works which he saw the Scottish chief forming against the +town, dispatched a messenger to Edward with the tidings; not only +praying for succors, but to inform him that if he continued to refuse +the peace for which the Scots fought, he would find it necessary to +begin the conquest of the kingdom anew. + + + + +Chapter LXX. + +Berwick. + + +While Wallace, accompanied by his brave friends, was thus carrying all +before him from the Grampian to the Cheviot Hills, Bruce was rapidly +recovering. His eager wishes seemed to heal his wounds, and on the +tenth day after the departure of Wallace, he left the couch which had +been beguiled of its irksomeness by the smiling attentions of the +tender Isabella. The ensuing Sabbath beheld him still more restored, +and having imparted his intentions to the Lords Ruthven and Douglas, +who were both with him, the next morning he joyfully buckled on his +armor. Isabella, when she saw him thus clad, started, and the roses +left her cheek. "I am armed to be your guide to Huntingtower," said +he, with a look that showed her he read her thoughts. He then called +for pen and ink, to write to Wallace. The reassured Isabella, +rejoicing in the glad beams of his brightening eyes, held the standish. +As he dipped his pen, he looked at her with a grateful tenderness that +thrilled her soul, and made her bend her blushing face to hide emotions +which whispered bliss in every beat of her happy heart. Thus, with a +spirit wrapped in felicity, for victory hailed him from without, and +love seemed to woo him to the dearest transports within, he wrote the +following letter to Wallace: + +"I am now well, my best friend! This day I attend my lovely nurse, +with her venerable guardian, to Huntingtower. Eastward of Perth, +almost every castle of consequence is yet filled by the Southrons, whom +the folly of James Cummin allowed to reoccupy the places whence you had +so lately driven them. I go to root them out; to emulate in the north, +what you are now doing in the south! You shall see me again when the +banks of the Spey are as free as you have made the Forth. In all this +I am yet Thomas de Longueville. Isabella, the sweet soother of my +hours, knows me as no other; for would she not despise the unfamed +Bruce? To deserve and win her love as De Longueville, and to marry her +as King of Scotland, is the fond hope of your friend and brother, +Robert ---. God speed me, and I shall send you dispatches of my +proceedings." + +Wallace had just made a successful attack upon the outworks of Berwick, +when this letter was put into his hand. He was surrounded by his +chieftains; and having read it, he informed them that Sir Thomas de +Longueville was going to the Spey to rid its castles of the enemy. + +"The hopes of his enterprising spirit," continued Wallace, "are so +seconded by his determination, I doubt not that what he promises, God +and the justice of our cause will perform; and we may soon expect to +hear Scotland has no enemies in her Highlands." + +But in this hope Wallace was disappointed. Day after day passed, and +no tidings from the north. He became anxious; Bothwell and Edwin too +began to share his uneasiness. Continued successes against Berwick had +assured them a speedy surrender, when unexpected succors being thrown +in by sea, the confidence of the garrison became re-excited, and the +ramparts appeared doubly manned. Wallace saw that the only alternative +was to surprise and take possession of the ships, and turn the siege +into a blockade. Still trusting that Bruce would be prosperous in the +Highlands, he calculated on full leisure to await the fall of Berwick +on this plan; and so much blood might be spared. Intent and execution +were twin-born in the breast of Wallace. By a masterly stroke he +effected his design on the shipping; and having closed the Southrons +within their walls, he dispatched Lord Bothwell to Huntingtower, to +learn the state of military operations there, and above all to bring +back tidings of the prince's health. + +On the evening of the very day in which Murray left Berwick, a +desperate sully was made by the garrison; but they were beaten back +with such effect, that Wallace gained possession of one of their most +commanding towers. The contest did not end till night; and after +passing a brief while in the council-tent listening to the suggestions +of his friends relative to the use that might be made of the new +acquisition, he retired to his own quarters at a late hour. At these +momentous periods he never seemed to need sleep; and sitting at his +table setting the dispositions for the succeeding day, he marked not +the time till the flame of his exhausted lamp expired in the socket. +He replenished it and had again resumed his military labors, when the +curtain which covered the door of his tent was drawn aside, and an +armed man entered. Wallace looked up, and seeing that it was the +Knight of the Green Plume, asked if anything had occurred from the town. + +"Nothing," replied the knight, in an agitated voice, and seating +himself beside Wallace. + +"Any evil tidings from Perthshire?" demanded Wallace, who now hardly +doubted that ill news had arrived of Bruce. + +"None," was the knight's reply; "but I am come to fulfill my promise to +you, to unite myself forever heart and soul to your destiny, or you +behold me this night for the last time." + +Surprised at this address, and the emotion which shook the frame of the +unknown warrior, Wallace answered him with expressions of esteem, and +added: + +"If it depend on me to unite so brave a man to my friendship forever, +only speak the word, declare your name, and I am ready to seal the +compact." + +"My name," declared the knight, "will indeed put these protestations to +the proof. I have fought by your side, Sir William Wallace; I would +have died at any moment to have spared that breast a wound, and yet I +dread to raise my visor to show you who I am. A look will make me live +or blast me." + +"Your language confounds me, noble knight," replied Wallace. "I know +of no man living, save the base violators of Lady Helen Mar's liberty, +who need tremble before my eyes. It is not possible that either of +these men is before me; and whoever you are, whatever you may have +been, brave chief, your deeds have proved you worthy of a soldier's +friendship, and I pledge you mine." + +The knight was silent. He took Wallace's hand--he grasped it; the arms +that held it did indeed tremble. Wallace again spoke. + +"What is the meaning of this? I have a power to benefit, but none to +injure." + +"To benefit and to injure!" cried the knight, in a transport of +emotion; "you have my life in your hands. Oh! grant it, as you value +your own happiness and honor! Look on me and say whether I am to live +or die." + +As the warrior spoke, he cast himself impetuously on his knees, and +threw open his visor. Wallace saw a fine but flushed face. It was +much overshadowed by the helmet. + +"My friend," said he, attempting to raise him by the hand which clasped +his, "your words are mysteries to me; and so little right can I have to +the power you ascribe to me, that although it seems to me as if I had +seen your features before, yet--" + +"You forget me!" cried the knight, starting on his feet, and throwing +off his helmet to the ground; "again look on this face and stab me at +once by a second declaration that I am remembered no more!" + +The countenance of Wallace now showed that he too well remembered it. +He was pale and aghast. + +"Lady Mar," cried he, "not expecting to see you under a warrior's +casque--you will pardon me, that when so appareled I should not +immediately recognize the widow of my friend." + +She gasped for articulation. + +"And it is thus," cried she, "you answer the sacrifices I have made for +you? For you I have committed an outrage on my nature; I have put on +me this abhorrent steel; I have braved the dangers of many a +hard-fought day, and all to guard your life! to convince you of a love +unexampled in woman! and thus you recognize her who has risked honor +and life for you--with coldness and reproach!" + +"With neither, Lady Mar," returned he, "I am grateful for the generous +motives of your conduct; but for the sake of the fair fame you confess +you have endangered, in respect to the memory of him whose name you +bear, I cannot but wish that so hazardous an instance of interest in me +had been left undone." + +"If that is all," returned she, drawing toward him, "it is in your +power to ward from me every stigma! Who will dare to cast one +reflection on my fair fame when you bear testimony to my purity? Who +will asperse the name of Mar when you displace it with that of Wallace? +Make me yours, dearest of men," cried she, clasping his hands, "and +you will receive one to your heart who never knew how to love before, +who will be to you what your heart who never knew how to love before, +who will be to you what woman never yet was, and who will endow you +with territories nearly equal to those of the King of Scotland. My +father is no more; and now, as Countess of Strathearn and Princess of +the Orkneys, I have it in my power to earn and Princess of the Orkneys, +I have it in my power to bring a sovereignty to your head, and the +fondest of wives to your bosom." As she vehemently spoke, and clung to +Wallace, as if she had already a right to seek comfort within his arms, +her tears and violent agitations so disconcerted him that for a few +moments he could not find a reply. This short endurance of her passion +aroused her almost drooping hopes, and intoxicated with so rapturous an +illusion, she threw off the little restraint in which the awe of +Wallace's coldness had confined her, and flinging herself on his +breast, poured forth all her love and fond ambitions for him. In vain +he attempted to interrupt her, to raise her with gentleness from her +indecorous situation; she had no perception but the idea which had now +taken possession of her heart, and whispering to him softly, said: "Be +but my husband, Wallace, and all rights shall perish before my love and +your aggrandizement. In these arms, you shall bless the day you first +saw Joanna of Strathearn!" + +The prowess of the Knight of the Green Plume, the respect he owed to +the widow of the Earl of Mar, the tenderness he ever felt for all of +womankind, were all forgotten in the disgusting blandishments of this +disgrace to her sex. She wooed to be his wife, but not with the chaste +appeal of the widow of Mahlon. "Let me find favor in thy sight, for +thou hast comforted me! Spread thy garment over me, and let me be thy +wife!" said the fair Moabitess who in a strange land cast herself at +the feet of her deceased husband's friend. She was answered, "I will +do all that thou requirest, for thou art a virtuous woman!" But +neither the actions nor the words of Lady Mar bore witness that she +deserved this appellation. The were the dictates of a passion impure +as it was intemperate. Blinded by its fumes, she forgot the nature of +the heart she sought to pervert to sympathy with hers. She saw not +that every look and movement on her part filled Wallace with aversion, +and not until he forcibly broke from her did she doubt the success of +her fond caresses. + +"Lady mar," said he, "I must repeat that I am not ungrateful for the +proofs of regard you have bestowed on me; but such excess of attachment +is lavished upon a man that is a bankrupt in love. I am cold as +monumental marble to every touch of that passion to which I was once +but too entirely devoted. Bereaved of the object, I am punished; thus +is my heart doomed to solitude on earth for having made an idol of the +angel that was sent to cheer my path to Heaven." Wallace said even +more than this. He remonstrated with her on the shipwreck she was +making of her own happiness, in adhering thus tenaciously to a man who +could only regard her with the general sentiment of esteem. He urged +her beauty and yet youthful years, and how many would be eager to win +her love, and to marry her with honor. While he continued to speak to +her with the tender consideration of a brother, she, who knew no +gradations in the affections of the heart, doubted his words, and +believed that a latent fire glowed in his breast which her art might +yet blow into a flame. She threw herself upon her knees, she wept, she +implored his pity, she wound her arms around his, and bathed his hands +with her tears, but still he continued to urge her, by every argument +of female delicacy, to relinquish her ill-directed love, to return to +her domains before her absence could be generally known. She looked up +to read his countenance. A friend's anxiety, nay, authority, was +there, but no glow of passion; all was calm and determined. Her +beauty, then, had been shown to a man without eyes, her tender +eloquence poured on an ear that was deaf, her blandishments lavished on +a block of marble! In a paroxysm of despair she dashed the hand she +held far from her, and standing proudly on her feet--"Hear me, thou man +of stone!" cried she, "and answer me on your life and honor, for both +depend on your reply; is Joanna of Strathearn to be your wife?" + +"Cease to urge me, unhappy lady," returned Wallace; "you already know +the decision of this ever-widowed heart." + +Lady Mar looked steadfastly at him. + +"Then receive my last determination!" and drawing near him with a +desperate and portentous countenance, as if she meant to whisper in his +ear, she suddenly plucked St. Louis' dagger from his girdle and struck +it into his breast. He caught the hand which grasped the hilt. Her +eyes glared with the fury of a maniac, and, with a horrid laugh, she +exclaimed: "I have slain thee, insolent triumpher in my love and +agonies! Thou shalt not now deride me in the arms of thy minion; for, +I know that it is not for the dead Marion you have trampled on my heart +but for the living Helen!" + +As she spoke, he moved her hold from the dagger, and drew the weapon +from the wound. A torrent of blood flowed over his vest, and stained +the hand that grasped hers. She turned of a deadly paleness, but a +demoniac joy still gleamed in her eyes. + +"Lady Mar," cried he, while he thrust the thickness of his scarf into +the wound, "I pardon this outrage. Go in peace, I shall never breathe +to man nor woman the occurrences of this night. Only remember, that +with regard to Lady Helen, my wishes are as pure as her own innocence." + +"So they may be now, vainly boasting, immaculate Wallace!" answered +she, with bitter derision; "men are saints when their passions are +satisfied. Think not to impose on her who knows how this vestal Helen +followed you in page's attire, and without one stigma being cast upon +her maiden delicacy. I am not to learn the days and nights she passed +alone with you in the woods of Normandy? Did you not follow her to +France? Did you not tear her from the arms of Lord Aymer de Valence? +and now, relinquishing her yourself, you leave a dishonored bride to +cheat the vows of some honester man! Wallace, I know you, and as I +have been fool enough to love you beyond all woman's love, I swear by +the powers of heaven and hell to make you feel the weight of woman's +hatred!" + +Her denunciation had no effect on Wallace; but her slander against her +unoffending daughter-in-law agitated him with an indignation that +almost dispossessed him of himself. In hurried and vehement words, he +denied all that she had alleged against Helen, and appealed to the +whole court of France to witness her spotless innocence. Lady Mar +exulted in this emotion, though every sentence, by the interest it +displayed in its object, seemed to establish the truth of a suspicion +which she at first only uttered from the vague workings of her revenge. +Triumphing in the belief that he had found another as frail as +herself, and yet maddened that another should have been preferred +before her, her jealous pride blazed into redoubled flame. + +"Swear," cried she, "till I see the blood of that false heart forced to +my feet, and still I shall believe the base daughter of Mar a wanton. +I go, not to proclaim her dishonor to the world, but to deprive her of +her lover; to yield the rebel Wallace into the hands of justice! When +on the scaffold, proud exulter in those by me now detested beauties, +remember that it was Joanna Strathearn who laid thy matchless head upon +the block; who consigned those limbs, of Heaven's own statuary, to +decorate the spires of Scotland! Remember that my curse pursues you, +here and hereafter!" + +A livid fire seemed to dart from her scornful eyes, her countenance was +torn as by some internal fiend, and, with the last malediction +thundering from her tongue, she darted from his sight. + + + + +Chapter LXXI. + +The Camp. + + +Next morning Wallace was recalled from the confusion into which his +nocturnal visitor had thrown his mind by the entrance of Ker, who came, +as usual, with the reports of the night. In the course of the +communication he mentioned, that about three hours before sunrise, the +Knight of the Green Plume had left the camp with his dispatches for +Sterling. Wallace was scarcely surprised at this ready falsehood of +Lady Mar's, and, not intending to betray her, he merely said, "Long ere +be appears again I hope we shall have good tidings from our friend in +the north." + +But day succeeded day, and notwithstanding Bothweil's embassy, no +accounts arrived. The countess had left an emissary in the Scottish +camp, who did as she had done before--intercepted all messengers from +Perthshire. + +Indeed, from the first of her flight to Wallace to the hour of her +qoitting him, she had never halted in her purpose from any regard to +honor. Previous to her stealing from Huntingtower, she had bribed the +senesehal to say that on the morning of her disappearance, he had met a +knight, near Saint Concal's Well, coming to the castle; who told him +that the Countess of Mar was gone on a secret mission to Norway, and +she therefore had commanded him, by that knight, to enjoin her +sister-in-law, for the sake of the cause most dear to them all, not to +acquaint Lord Ruthven, or any of their friends, with her departure, +till she should return with happy news for Scotland. The man added, +that after declaring this, the knight rode hastily away. But this +precaution, which did indeed impose on the innocent credulty of her +husband's sister and his daughter, failed to satisfy the countess +herself. + +Fearful that Helen might communicate her flight to Wallace, and so +excite his suspicion of her not being far from him, from the moment of +her joining him at Linlithgow she intercepted every letter from +Huntingtower: and when Bruce went to that castle, she continued the +practice with double vigilance, being jealous of what might be said of +Helen by this Sir Thomas de Longueville, in whom the master of her fate +seemed so unreservedly to confide. To this end, even after she left +the camp, all packets from Perthshire were conveyed to her by the spy +she had stationed near Wallace; while all which were sent from him to +Huntingtower were stopped by the treacherous seneschal, and thrown into +the flames. No letters, however, ever came from Helen; a few bore Lord +Ruthven's superscription, and all the rest were addressed by Sir Thomas +de Longueville to Wallace. She broke the seals of this correspondence, +but she looked in vain on their contents. Bruce and his friend, as +well as Ruthven, wrote in a cipher, and only one passage, which the +former had by chance written in the common character, could she ever +make out. It ran thus: + +"I have just returned to Huntingtower, after the capture of Kinfouns. +Lady Helen sits by me on one side, Isabella on the other. Isabella +smiles on me, like the spirit of happiness. Helen's look is not less +gracious, for I tell her I am writing to Sir William Wallace. She +smiles, hut it is with such a smile as that with which a saint would +relinquish to Heaven the dearest object of its love. 'Helen,' said I, +'what shall I say from you to our friend?' 'That I pray for him.' +'That you think of him?' 'That I pray for him,' repeated she, more +emphatically; 'that is the way I always think of my preserver.' Her +manner checked me, my dear Wallace, but I would give worlds that you +could bring your heart to make this sweet vestal smile as I do her +sister!" + + +Lady Mar crushed the registered wish in her hand; and though she was +never able to decipher a word or more of Bruce's numerous letters (many +of which, could she have read them, contained complaints of that +silence she had so cruelly occasioned), she took and destroyed them all. + +She had ever shunned the penetrating eyes of young Lord Bothwell, and +to have him on the spot when she should discover herself to Wallace, +she thought would only invite discomfiture. Affecting to share the +general anxiety respecting the failure of communications from the +north, she it was who suggested the propriety of sending some one of +peculiar trust to make inquiries. By covert insinuations, she easily +induced Ker to propose Bothwell to Wallace, and, on the very night that +her machinations had prevailed, to dispatch him on this embassy; +impatient, yet doubting and agitated, she went to declare herself to +the man for whom she had thus sunk herself in shame and falsehood. + +Though Wallace heard the denunciation with which she left his presence, +yet he did not conceive it was more than the evanescent rage of +disappointed passion; and, anticipating persecutions rather from her +love than her revenge, he was relieved, and not alarmed, by the +intelligence that the Knight of the Green Plume had really taken his +departure. More delicate +of Lady Mar's honor than she was of her own, when he met Edwin at the +works, he silently acquiesced in his belief also, that their late +companion was gone with dispatches to the regent, who was now removed +to Stirling. + +After frequent sallies from the garrison, in which the Southrons were +always beaten back with great loss, the lines of circumvallation were +at last finished, and Wallace hourly anticipated the surrender of the +enemy. Reduced for want of provisions, and seeing all succors cut off +by the seizure of the fleet, the inhabitants, detesting their new +rulers, collected in bands; and lying in wait for the soldiers of the +garrison, murdered them secretly, and in great numbers. But here the +evil did not end; for by the punishments which the governor thought +proper to inflict by lots on the guilty, or the guiltless (he not being +able to discover who were actually the assassins), the distress of the +town was augmented to a horrible degree. Such a state of things could +not be long maintained. Aware that should he continue in the fortress, +his troops must assuredly perish, either by insurrection within, or +from the enemy without, the Southron commander determined no longer to +wait the appearance of a relief which might never arrive; and to stop +the internal confusion, he sent a flag of truce to Wallace, accepting +and signing his offered terms of capitulation. By this deed, he +engaged to open the gates at sunset, but begged the interval between +noon and that hour, to allow him time to settle the animosity between +his men and the people before he should surrender his brave followers +entirely into the hands of the Scots. + +Having dispatched his assent to this request of the governor's, Wallace +retired to his own tent. That he had effected his purpose without the +carnage which must have ensued had he again stormed the place, gratified +his humanity; and congratulating himself on such a termination of the +siege, he turned with more than usual cheerfulness toward a herald, who +brought him a packet from the north. The man withdrew, and Wallace broke +the seal; but what was his astonishment to find it a citation for +himself to repair immediately to Stirling, "to answer," it said, +"certain charges brought against him, by an authority too illustrious to +be set aside without examination!" He had hardly read this extraordinary +mandate when Sir Simon Fraser, his second in command, entered, and, +with consternation in his looks, put an open letter into his hand. It +ran as follows: + +"Sir Simon Fraser,--Allegations of treason against the liberties of +Scotland having been preferred against Sir William Wallace, until he +clears himself of these charges to the thanes of Scotland here +assembled, you, Sir Simon Fraser, are directed to assume, in his stead, +the command of the forces which form the blockade of Berwick, and, as +the first act of your duty, you are ordered to send the accused toward +Stirling under a strong guard, within an hour after you receive this +dispatch. + +"(Signed) + +John Cummin, + +"Earl of Badenoch, Lord Regent of Scotland. + +"Stirling Castle." + +Wallace returned the letter to Fraser with an undisturbed countenance. +"I have received a similar order from the regent," said he; "and though +I cannot guess the source whence these accusations spring, I fear not +to meet them, and shall require no guard to speed me forward to the +scene of my defense. I am ready to go, my friend, and happy to resign +the brave garrison, that has just surrendered, to your honor and +lenity." Fraser answered that he should be emulous to follow his +example in all things, and to abide by his agreements with the Southron +governor. He then retired to prepare the army for the departure of +their commander, and, much against his feelings, to call out the escort +that was to attend the calumniated chief Stirling. + +When the marshal of the army read to the officers and men the orders of +the regent, a speechless consternation seized on one part of the +troops, and as violent an indignation agitated the other to tumult. +The veterans, who had followed the chief of Ellerslie from the first +hour of his appearing as a patriot in arms, could not brook this +aspersion upon their leader's honor; and had it not been for the +vehement exhortations of the no less incensed, though more moderate, +Scrymgeour and Lockhart, they would have risen in instant revolt. +Though persuaded to sheathe their half-drawn swords, they could not be +withheld from immediately quitting the field, and marching directly to +Wallace's tent. He was conversing with Edwin when they arrived; and, +in some measure, he had broken the shock to him of so dishonoring a +charge on his friend, by his being the first to communicate it. While +Edwin strove to guess who could be the inventor of so dire a falsehood +against the truest of Scots, he awakened an alarm in Wallace for Bruce, +which could not be excited for himself, by suggesting that perhaps some +intimation had been given to the most ambitious of the thanes, +respecting the arrival of their rightful prince. "And yet," returned +Wallace, "I cannot altogether suppose that; for even their desires of +self-aggrandizement could not torture my share in Bruce's restoration +to his country into anything like treason our friend's rights are too +undisputed for that; and all I should dread, by a premature +discovery of his being in Scotland, would be secret machinations +against his life. There are men in this land who might attempt it; and +it is our duty, my dear Edwin, to suffer death upon the rack, rather +than betray our knowledge of him. "But," added he, with a smile, "we +need not disturb ourselves with such thoughts--the regent is in our +prince's confidence; and did this accusation relate to him, he would +not, on such a plea, have arraigned me as a traitor." + +Edwin again revolved in his mind the nature of the charge and who the +villain could be who had made it; and, at last suddenly recollecting +the Knight of the Green Plume, he asked if it were not possible that +he, a stranger who had so sedulously kept himself from being known, +might be the traitor? + +"I must confess to you," continued Edwin, "that this knight, who ever +appeared to dislike your closest friends, seems to me the most probable +instigator of this mischief; and is, perhaps, the author of the strange +failure of communication between you and Bruce! Accounts have not +arrived, ever since Bothwell went; and that is more than natural. +Though brave in his deeds, this unknown way prove only the more subtle +spy and agent of our enemies." + +Wallace changed color at these suggestions, but merely replied: + +"A few hours will decide your suspicion, for I shall lose no time in +confronting my accuser." + +"I go with you," said Edwin; "never while I live, will I consent to +lose sight of you again!" + +It was at this moment that the tumultuous approach of the Lanark +veterans was heard from without. The whole band rushed into the tent; +and Stephen Ireland, who was foremost, raising his voice above the +rest, exclaimed: + +"They are the traitors, my lord, who accuse you! It is determined, by +our corrupted thanes, that Scotland shall be sacrificed, and you are to +be made the first victim. Think they, then, that we will obey such +parricides? Lead us on, thou only worthy of the name of regent, and we +will hurl these usurpers from their thrones." + +This demand was reiterated by every man present--was echoed by hundreds +who surrounded the tent. The Bothwell men and Ramsay's followers +joined the men of Lanark, and the mutiny against the orders of the +regent became general. Wallace walked out into the open field, and +mounting his horse, rode forth amongst them. At sight of him the air +resounded with acclamations, unceasingly proclaiming him their only +leader, but, stretching out his arm to them, in token of silence, they +became profoundly still. + +"My friends and brother soldiers," cried he, "as you value the honor of +William Wallace, as you have hitherto done this moment yield him +implicit obedience." + +"Forever!" shouted the Bothwell men. + +"We never will obey any other!" rejoined his faithful Lanark followers, +and, with an increased uproar, they demanded to be led to Stirling. + +His extended hand again stilled the storm, and he resumed: + +"You shall go with me to Stirling, but as my friends only: never as the +enemies of the Regent of Scotland. I am charged with treason; it is +his duty to try me by the laws of my country; it is mine to submit to +the inquisition. I fear it not, and I invite you to accompany me; not +to brand me with infamy, by passing between my now darkened honor and +the light of justice--not to avenge an iniquitous sentence denounced on +a guiltless man--but to witness my acquittal; and in that my triumph +over them, who, through my breast would strike at what is greater than +I." + +At this mild persuasive every upraised sword dropped before him, and +Wallace, turning his horse into the path which led toward Stirling, his +men, with a silent determination to share the fate of their master, +fell into regular marching order, and followed him. Edwin rode by his +side, equally wondering at the unaffected composure with which he +sustained such a weight of insult, and at the men who could be so +unjust as to lay it upon him. + +At the west of the camp, the detachment appointed to guard Wallace in +his arrest came up with him. It was with difficulty that Fraser could +find an officer who would command it; and he who did at last consent, +appeared before his prisoner with downcast eyes; seeming rather the +culprit than the guard. Wallace, observing his confusion, said a few +gracious words to him; and the officer, more overcome by this than he +could have been with reproaches, burst into tears and retired into the +rear of his men. + + + + +Chapter LXXII. + +Stirling Castle. + + +Wallace entered on the Carse of Stirling, that scene of his many +victories, and beheld its northern horizon white with tents. Officers +appointed for the purpose had apprised the thanes of Wallace having +left Berwick; and knowing by the same means all his movements, an armed +cavalcade met him near the Carron, to hold his followers in awe, and to +conduct him without opposition to Stirling. In case it should be +insufficient to quail their spirit, or to intimidate him who had never +yet been made to fear by mortal man, the regent had summoned all the +vassals of the various seigniories of Cummin, and planted them in +battle array before the walls of Stirling. But whether they were +friends or foes was equally indifferent to Wallace; for, strong in +integrity, he went serenely forward to his trial; and, though inwardly +marveling at such a panoply of war, being called out to induce him to +comply with so simple an act of obedience to the laws, he met the +heralds of the regent with as much ease as if they had been coming to +congratulate him on the capitulation of Berwick, the ratification of +which he brought in his hand. + +By his order his faithful followers (who took a pride in obeying with +the most scrupulous exactness the injunctions of their now deposed +commander) encamped under Sir Alexander Scrymgeour to the northwest of +the castle, near Ballockgeich. It was then night. In the morning, at +an early hour, Wallace was summoned before the council in the citadel. + +On his re-entrance into that room which he had left, the dictator of +the kingdom, when every knee bent and every head bowed to his supreme +mandate, he found not one who even greeted his appearance with the +commonest ceremony of courtesy. Badenoch, the regent, sat upon the +throne, with evident symptoms of being yet an invalid. The Lords Athol +and Buchan, and the numerous chiefs of the clans of Cummin, were seated +on his right: on his left were arranged the Earls of Fife and Lorn, +Lord Soulis, and every Scottish baron of power who at any time bad +shown himself hostile to Wallace. Others, who were of easy faith to a +tale of malice, sat with them; and the rest of the assembly was filled +up with men of better families than personal fame, and whose names +swelled a list without adding any true importance to the side on which +they appeared. A few, and those a very few, who still respected +Wallace, were present; not because they were sent for (great care +having been taken not to summon his friends), but in consequence of a +rumor of the charge having reached them: and these were, the Lords +Lennox and Loch-awe, with Kirkpatrick, and two or three chieftains from +the western Highlands. None of them had arrived till within a few +minutes of the council being opened, and Wallace was entering at +one door as they appeared at the other. + +At sight of him a low whisper buzzed through the hail, and a marshal +took the plumed bonnet from his hand, which, out of respect to the +nobility of Scotland, he had raised from his head at his entrance. A +herald meanwhile proclaimed, in a loud voice, "Sir William Wallace! you +are charged with treason; and, by an ordinance of Fergus the First, you +must stand covered before the representative of the majesty of Scotland +until that loyalty be proved, which would again restore you to a seat +amongst her faithful barons." + +Wallace, with the same equanimity as that with which he would have +mounted the regal chair, bowed his head to marshal in token of +acquiescence. But Edwin, whose indignation was reawakened at this +exclusion of his friend from the privilege of his birth, said something +so warm to the marshal that Wallace, in a low voice, was obliged to +check his vehemence by a declaration, that, however obsolete the +custom, and revived in his case only, it was his determination to +submit himself in every respect to whatever was exacted of him by the +laws of his country. + +On Loch-awe and Lennox observing him stand thus before the bonneted and +seated chiefs (a stretch of magisterial prerogative which had not been +exercised on a Scottish knight for many a century), they took off their +caps and bowing to Wallace, refused to occupy their places on the +benches while the defender of Scotland stood. Kirkpatrick drew eagerly +toward him, and throwing down his casque and sword at his feet, cried +in a loud voice, "Lie there till the only true man in all this land +commands me to take ye up in his defense. He alone had courage to look +the Southrons in the face, and to drive their king over the borders, +while his present accusers skulked in their chains!" Wallace regarded +this ebullition from the heart of the honest veteran with a look that +was eloquent to all. He would have animatedly praised such an instance +of fearless gratitude expressed to another, and when it was directed to +himself, his ingenuous soul showed approbation in every feature of his +beaming countenance. + +"Is it thus, presumptuous Knight of Ellerslie," cried Soulis, "that by +your looks you dare encourage contumely to the lord regent and his +peers?" + +Wallace did not deign him an answer, but turning calmly toward the +throne, "Representative of my king!" said he, "in duty to the power +whose authority you wear, I have obeyed your summons, and I here await +the appearance of the accuser who has had the hardihood to brand the +name of William Wallace with disloyalty to prince or people." + +The regent was embarrassed. He did not suffer his eyes to meet those +of Wallace, but looked down in manifest confusion during this address; +and then, without reply, turned to Lord Athol, and called on him to +open the charge. Athol required not a second summons; he rose +immediately, and, in a bold and positive manner, accused Wallace of +having been won over by Philip of France to sell those rights of +supremacy to him which, with a feigned patriotism, his sword had +wrested from the grasp of England. For this treachery, Philip was to +endow him with the sovereignty of Scotland; and, as a pledge of the +compact, he had invested him with the principality of Gascony in +France. "This is the groundwork of his treason," continued Athol; "but +the superstructure is to be cemented with our blood. I have seen a +list, in his own handwriting, of those chiefs whose lives are to pave +his way to the throne." + +At this point of the charge Edwin sprung forward; but Wallace, +perceiving the intent of his movement, caught him by the arm, and, by a +look, reminded him of his recently repeated engagement to keep silent. + +"Produce the list," cried Lord Lennox. "No evidence that does not +bring proof to our eyes ought to have any weight with us against the +man who had bled in every vein for Scotland." + +"It shall be brought to your eyes," returned Athol; "that, and other +damning proofs, shall convince this credulous country of its abused +confidence." + +"I see these damning proofs now!" cried Kirkpatrick, who had frowningly +listened to Athol; "the abusers of my country's confidence betray +themselves at this moment by their eagerness to impeach her friends; +and I pray Heaven, that before they mislead others into so black a +conspiracy, the lie in their throats may choke its inventors!" + +"We all know," cried Athol, turning on Kirkpatrick, "to whom you +belong. You were brought with this shameless grant to mangle the body +of the slain Cressingham; a deed which brought a stigma on the Scottish +name never to be erased by the disgrace of its perpetrators. For this +savage triumph did you sell yourself to Sir William Wallace; and a +bloody champion you are, always ready for your secretly murderous +master!" + +"Hear you this, and bear it?" cried Kirkpatrick and Edwin in one +breath, and grasping their daggers, Edwin's flashed in his hand. + +"Seize them!" cried Athol; "my life is threatened by his myrmidons." + +Marshals instantly approached; but Wallace, who had hitherto stood in +silent dignity, turned to them with that tone of justice which had ever +commanded from his lips, and bade them forbear: + +"Touch these knights at your peril, marshals!" said he; "no man in this +chamber is above the laws, and they protect every Scot who resents +unjust aspersions upon his own character, or irrelevant and prejudicing +attacks on that of an arraigned friend. It is before the majesty of +the laws that I now stand; but were injury to usurp its place, not all +the lords in Scotland should detain me a moment in a scene so unworthy +of my country." + +The marshals retreated, for they had been accustomed to regard with +implicit deference the opinion of Sir William Wallace on the laws; and +though he now stood in the light of their violator, yet memory bore +testimony that he had always read them aright, and, to this hour, had +ever appeared to make them the guide of his actions. + +Athol saw that none in the assembly had courage to enforce this act of +violence, and blazing with fury, he poured his whole wrath upon +Wallace. "Imperious, arrogant traitor!" cried he; "this presumption +only deepens our impression of your guilt! Demean yourself with more +reverence to this august court, or expect to be sentenced on the proof +which such insolence amply gives; we require no other to proclaim your +domineering spirit, and at once to condemn you as the premeditated +tyrant of land." + +"Lord Athol," replied Wallace, "what is just I would say in the face of +all the courts in Christendom. It is not in the power of man to make +me silent when I see the laws of country outraged and my countrymen +oppressed. Though I may submit my own cheek to the blow, I will not +permit theirs to share the stroke. I have answered you, earl, to this +point and am ready to hear you to the end." + +Athol resumed. "I am not your only accuser, proudly-confident man; you +shall see one whose truth cannot be doubted, and whose first glance +will bow that haughty spirit, and cover that bold front with the livery +of shame! My lord," cried he, turning to the regent, "I shall bring a +most illustrious witness before you; one who will prove on oath that it +was the intention of this arch-hypocrite, this angler for women's +hearts, this perverter of men's understandings, before another moon to +bury deep in blood the very people whom he now insidiously affects to +protect! But to open your and the nation's eyes at once, to overwhelm +him with his fate, I now call forth the evidence." + +The marshals opened a door in the side of the hall, and led a lady +forward, habited in regal splendor, and covered from head to foot with +a veil of so transparent a texture, that her costly apparel and +majestic contour were distinctly seen through it. She was conducted to +a chair on an elevated platform a few paces from where Wallace stood. +On her being seated the regent rose, and in a tremulous voice addressed +her: + +"Joanna, Countess of Strathearn and Mar, Princess of the Orkneys, we +adjure thee by thy princely dignity, and in the name of the King of +kings, to bear a just witness to the truth or falsehood, of the charges +of treason and conspiracy now brought against Sir William Wallace." + +The name of his accuser made Wallace start; and the sight of her +unblushing face, for she threw aside her veil the moment she was +addressed, overspread his cheek with a tinge of that shame for her +which she was now too hardened in determined crime to feel herself. +Edwin gazed at her in speechless horror; while she, casting a glance at +Wallace, in which the full purpose of her soul was declared, turned +with a softened though majestic air, to the regent, and spoke: + +"My lord," said she, "you see before you a woman, who never knew what +it was to feel a self-reproachful pang till an evil hour brought her to +receive an obligation from that insidious treacherous man. But as my +first passion has ever been the love of my country, I will prove it to +this good assembly by making a confession of what was once my heart's +weakness; and by that candor, I trust they will fully honor the rest of +my narrative." + +A Clamor of approbation resounded through the hall. Lennox and +Loch-awe looked on each other with amazement. Kirkpatrick, +recollecting the scenes at Dumbarton, exclaimed--"Jezebel!"--but the +ejaculation was lost in the general burst of applause; and the countess +opening a folded paper which she held in her hand, in a calm, collected +voice, but with a flushing cheek, resumed: + +"I shall read my further deposition. I have written it, that my memory +might not err, and that my country may be unquestionably satisfied of +the accuracy of every syllable I utter." + +She paused an instant, drew a quick breath, and proceeded reading from +the paper, thus: (But as occasion occurred for particularly pointing +its contents, she turned her tutored eye upon the object, to look a +signet on her mischief.) + +"I am not to tell you, my lord, that Sir William Wallace twice released +the late Earl of Mar and myself from Southron captivity. Our deliverer +was what you see him: fraught with attractions, which he too +successfully directed against the peace of a young woman married to a +man of paternal years. While to all the rest of the world, he seemed +to consecrate himself to the memory of his ill-fated wife, to me alone +he unveiled his straying heart. I revered my nuptial vow too sincerely +to listen to him with the complacency he wished; but, I blush to own, +that his tears, his agonies of love, his manly graces, and the virtues +I believed he possessed (for well he knows to feign!), cooperating with +my gratitude, at last wrought such a change in my breast that--I became +wretched. No guilty wish was there; but an admiration of him, a pity +which undermined my health, and left me miserable! I forbade him to +approach me. I tried to wrest him from my memory; and nearly had +succeeded, when I was informed by my late husband's nephew--(the youth +who now stands beside Sir William Wallace)--that he was returned under +an assumed name from France. Then I feared that all my inward +struggles were to recommence. I had once conquered myself; for +abhorring the estrangement of my thoughts from my wedded lord, when he +died I only yearned to appease my conscience; and in penance for my +involuntary crime, I refused Sir William Wallace my hand. His return +to Scotland filled me with tumults, which only they who would sacrifice +all they prize to a sense of duty, can know. Edwin Ruthven left me at +Huntingtower; and, that very evening, while walking alone in the +garden, I was surprised by the sudden approach of an armed man. He +threw a scarf over my head, to prevent my screams, but I fainted with +terror. He then took me from the garden by the way he had entered, and +placing me on a horse before him, carried me whither I know not; but on +my recovery I found myself in a chamber, with a woman standing beside +me, and the same warrior. His visor was so closed that I could not see +his face. On my expressing alarm at my situation, he addressed me in +French, telling me he had provided a man to carry an excuse to +Huntingtower, to prevent pursuit; and then he put a letter into my +hand, which, he said, he brought from Sir William Wallace. Anxious to +know the purpose of this act, and believing that a man who had sworn to +me devoted love could not premeditate a more serious outrage, I broke +the seal and, nearly as I can recollect, read to this effect: + +"That his passion was so imperious, he had determined to make me his in +spite of those sentiments of female delicacy which, while they tortured +him, rendered me dearer in his eyes. He told me, that as he had often +read in my blushes the sympathy which my too severe virtue made me +conceal, he would now wrest me from my cheerless widowhood; and having +nothing in reality to reproach myself with, compel me to be happy. His +friend, the only confidant of his love, had brought me to a spot whence +I could not fly; there I should remain, till he, Wallace, could leave +the army for a few days, and throwing himself on my compassion and +tenderness, he received as the most faithful of lovers, the fondest of +husbands. + +"This letter," continued the countess, "was followed by many others; +and suffice it to say, that the latent affection in my heart, and his +subduing love, were too powerful in his cause. How his letters were +conveyed I know not; but they were duly presented to me by the woman +who attended me. At last the knight who had brought me to the place, +and who wore green armor, and a green plume, reappeared." + +"Prodigious villain!" broke from the lips of Edwin. + +The countess turned her eye on him for a moment and then resumed: "He +was the warrior who had borne me from Huntingtower, and from that hour +until the period I now speak of, I had never seen him. He put another +packet into my hand, desiring me to peruse it with attention, and +return Sir William Wallace a verbal answer by him. Yes! was all he +required. I retired to open it; and what was my horror, when I read a +perfect development of the treasons for which he is now brought to +account! By some mistake of my character, he had conceived me to be +ambitious; and knowing himself to be the master of my heart, he fancied +himself lord of my conscience also. He wrote, that until he saw me, he +had no other end in his exertions for Scotland than her rescue from a +foreign yoke; 'but,' added he, 'from the moment in which I first beheld +my adored Joanna, I aspired to place a crown on her brow!" Be then +told me, that he did not deem the time of its presentation to him on +the Carse of Stirling a safe juncture for its acceptance; neither was +he tempted to run the risk of maintaining an unsteady throne when I was +not free to partake it; but since the death of Lord Mar, every wish, +every hope was re-awakened; and then he determined to become a king. +Philip of France had made secret articles with him to that end. He was +to hold Scotland of him. While to make the surrender of his country's +independence sure to Philip, and its scepter to himself and his +posterity, he attempted to persuade me there would be no crime in +destroying the chiefs whose names he enrolled in this list. The pope, +he added, would absolve me from a transgression dictated by connubial +duty; and, on our bridal day, he proposed the deed should be done. He +would invite all the lords to a feast; and poison, or dagger, should +lay them at his feet. + +"So impious a proposal restored me to myself. My love at once turned +to the most decided abhorrence; and hastening to the Knight of the +Green Plume, I told him to carry my resolution to his master, that I +would never see him more till I should appear as his accuser before the +tribunal of his country. The knight tried to dissuade me from my +purpose, but in vain, and at last, becoming alarmed at the punishment +which might overtake himself as the agent of such treason, he confessed +to me that the scene of his first appearance at Linlithgow was devised +by Wallace, who, unknown to all others, had brought him from France to +assist him in the scheme he durst not confide to Scotland's friends. +If I would guarantee his life, he offered to take me from the place +where I was then confined, and convey me safe to Stirling. All else +that he asked was, that I would allow him to be the bearer of the +casket which contained Sir William Wallace's letters, and suffer my +eyes to be blindfolded during the first part of our journey. This I +consented to; but the murderous list I had undesignedly put into my +bosom. My bead was again wrapped in a thick veil, and we set out. It +was very dark; and we traveled long and swiftly till we came to a wood. +There was neither moon nor stars to point out any habitation. But +being overcome with fatigue, my conductor persuaded me to dismount and +take rest. I slept beneath the trees. In the morning, when I awoke, I +in vain looked round for the knight and called him; he was gone; and I +saw him no more. I then explored my way to Stirling, to warn my +country of its danger--to unmask to the world the direst hypocrite that +ever prostituted the name of virtue." + +The countess ceased; and a hundred voices broke out at once, pouring +invectives on the traitorous ambition of Sir William Wallace, and +invoking the regent to pass some signal condemnation on so monstrous a +crime. In vain Kirkpatrick thundered forth his indignant soul; he was +unheard in the tumult; but going up to the countess, he accused her to +her face of falsehood, and charged her with a design from some really +treasonable motive to destroy the only sure hope of her country. + +"And will you not speak?" cried Edwin in agony of spirit grasping +Wallace's arm; "will you not speak before these ungrateful men shall +dare to brand your ever-honored name with infamy! Make yourself be +heard, my noblest friend! Confute that wicked woman, who too surely +has proved what I suspected--that this self-concealing knight came to +be a traitor." + +"I will speak, my Edwin," returned Wallace, "at the proper moment; but +not in this tumult of my enemies. Rely on it, your friend will submit +to no unjust decree." + +"Where is this Knight of the Green Plume?" cried Lennox, almost +startled in his opinion of Wallace by the consistency of the countess' +narrative. "No mark of dishonor shall be passed on Sir William Wallace +without the strictest scrutiny. Let the mysterious stranger be found, +and confronted with Lady Strathearn." + +Notwithstanding the earl's insisting on impartial justice, she +perceived the doubt in his countenance, and eager to maintain her +advantage, replied--"The knight, I fear, has fled beyond our search; +but that I may not want a witness to corroborate the love I once bore +this arch-hypocrite, and, consequently, the sacrifice I make to loyalty +in thus unveiling him to the world, I call upon you, Lord Lennox, to +say whether you did not observe at Dumbarton Castle the state of my too +grateful heart?" + +Lennox, who well remembered her conduct in the citadel of that +fortress, hesitated to answer, aware that his reply might substantiate +a guilt which he now feared would be but too strongly manifest. Every +ear hung on his answer. Wallace saw what was passing in his mind; and +determined to all men to show what was in their hearts toward the earl +and said, "Do not hesitate, my lord; speak all that you know or think +of me. Could the deeds of my life be written on yon blue vault," added +he, pointing to the heavens, "and my breast be laid open for men to +scan. I should be content; for then Scotland would know me as my +Creator knows me; and the evidence which now makes even friendship +doubt, would meet the reception due to calumny." + +Lord Lennox felt the last remark, and stung with remorse for having for +a moment credited anything against the frank spirit which gave him this +permission, he replied, "To Lady Strathearn's questions I must answer, +that at Dumbarton I did perceive her preference to Sir William Wallace; +but I never saw anything in him to warrant the idea that it was +reciprocal. And yet, were it even so, that bears nothing to the point +of the countess' accusation; and, notwithstanding her princely rank, +and the deference all would pay to the widow of Lord Mar, as true +Scots, we cannot relinquish to a single witness our faith in a man who +has so eminently served his country." + +"No," cried Loch-awe; "if the Knight of the Green Plume be above +ground, he shall be brought before this tribunal. He alone can be the +traitor; and to destroy us by exciting suspicions against our best +defender, he has wrought with his own false pen this device to deceive +the patriotic widow of the Earl of Mar." + +"No, no," interrupted she; "I read the whole in his own--to me too well +known--handwriting; and this list of the chiefs, condemned by you, +indeed, traitor! to die, shall fully evince his guilt. Even your name, +too generous earl, is in the horrid catalogue." While she spoke, she +rose eagerly, to hand to him the scroll. + +"Let me now speak, or stab me to the heart!" hastily whispered Edwin to +his friend. Wallace did not withhold him, for he guessed what would be +the remark of his ardent soul. "Hear that woman!" cried the vehement +youth to the regent, "and say whether she now speaks the language of +one who had ever loved the virtues of Sir William Wallace? Were she +innocent of malice toward the deliverer of Scotland, would she not have +rejoiced in Loch-awe's suggestion, that the Green Knight is the +traitor? Or, if that scroll she has now given into the regent's hand +be too nicely forged for her to detect its not being indeed the +handwriting of the noblest of men, would she not have shown some sorrow +at the guilt of one she professes once to have loved?--of one who saved +herself, her husband, and her child from perishing! But here her +malice has overstepped her art; and after having promoted the success +of her tale by so mingling insignificant truths with falsehoods of +capital import--that in acknowledging the one we seem to grant the +other--she falls into her own snare! Even a beardless boy can now +discern that, however vile the Green Knight may be, she shares his +wickedness!" + +While Edwin spoke, Lady Stathearn's countenance underwent a thousand +changes. Twice she attempted to rise and interrupt him, but Sir Roger +Kirkpatrick having fixed his eyes on her with a menacing determination +to prevent her, she found herself obliged to remain quiescent. Full of +a newly-excited fear that Wallace had confided to her nephew the last +scene in his tent, she started up as he seemed to pause, and with +assumed mildness, again addressing the regent, said--that before this +apparently ingenuous defense could mislead impartial minds, she thought +it just to inform the council of the infatuated attachment of Edwin +Ruthven to the accused; for she had ample cause to assert that the boy +was so bewitched by his commander--who had flattered his youthful +vanity by loading him with distinctions only due to approved valor in +manhood--that he was ready at any time to sacrifice every consideration +of truth, reason, and duty, to please Sir William Wallace. + +"Such may be in a boy," observed Lord Loch-awe, interrupting her "but +as I know no occasion in which it is possible for Sir William Wallace +to falsify the truth, I call upon him, in justice to himself and to his +country, to reply to three questions!" Wallace bowed to the venerable +earl, and he proceeded: "Sir William Wallace, are you guilty of the +charge brought against you, of a design to mount the throne of Scotland +by means of the King of France?" + +Wallace replied, "I never designed to mount the throne of Scotland, +either by my own means or by any other man's." + +Loch-awe proceeded: "Was this scroll, containing the names of certain +Scottish chiefs noted down for assassination, written by you, or under +your connivance?" + +"I never saw the scroll, nor heard of the scroll, until this hour. And +harder than death is the pang at my heart when a Scottish chief finds +it necessary to ask me such a question regarding a people, to save even +the least of whom he has often seen me risk my life!" + +"Another question," replied Loch-awe, "and then, bravest of men, if +your country acquits you not in thought and deed, Campbell of Loch-awe +sits no more amongst its judges! What is your knowledge of the Knight +of the Green Plume, that, in preference to any Scottish friend, you +should intrust him with your wishes respecting the Countess of +Strathearn?" + +Wallace's answer was brief: "I never had any wishes respecting the wife +or the widow of my friend the Earl of Mar that I did not impart to +every chief in the camp, and those wishes went no further than for her +safety. As to love, that is a passion I shall know no more; and Lady +Strathearn alone can say what is the end she aims at, by attributing +feelings to me with regard to her which I never conceived, and words +which I never uttered. Like this passion, with which she says she +inspired me," added he, turning his eyes steadfastly on her face, "was +the Knight of the Green Plume! You are all acquainted with the manner +of his introduction to me at Linlithgow. By the account that he then +gave of himself, you all know as much of him as I did, till on the +night that he left me at Berwick and then I found him, like this story +of Lady Strathearn, all a fable." + +"What is his proper title? Name him, on your knighthood!" exclaimed +Buchan; "for he shall yet be dragged forth to support the veracity of +my illustrious kinswoman, and to fully unmask his insidious accomplice!" + +"Your kinswoman, Earl Buchan," replied Wallace, "can best answer your +question." + +Lord Athol approached the regent, and whispered something in his ear. +This unworthy representative of the generous Bruce, immediate rose from +his seat. "Sir William Wallace," said he, "you have replied to the +questions of Lord Loch-awe, but where are your witnesses to prove that +what you have spoken is the truth?" + +Wallace was struck with surprise at this address from a man who, +whatever might be demanded of him in the fulfillment of his office, he +believed could not be otherwise than his friend because, from the +confidence reposed in him both by Bruce and himself, he must be fully +aware of the impossibility of these allegations being true. But +Wallace's astonishment was only for a moment; he now saw with an eye +that pierced through the souls of the whole assembly, and, with +collected firmness, he replied; "My witnesses are in the bosom of every +Scotsman." + +"I cannot find them in mine," interrupted Athol. + +"Nor in mine!" was echoed from various parts of the hall. + +"Invalidate the facts brought against you by legal evidence, not a mere +rhetorical appeal, Sir William Wallace," added the regent, "else the +sentence of the law must be passed on so tacit an acknowledgment of +guilt." + +"Acknowledgment of guilt!" cried Wallace, with a flush of god-like +indignation suffusing his noble brow. "If any one of the chiefs who have +just spoken knew the beat of an honest heart, they would not have +declared that they heard no voice proclaim the integrity of William +Wallace. Let them look out on yon carse, where they saw me refuse that +crown, offered by themselves, which my accuser alleges I would yet +obtain by their blood. Let them remember the banks of the Clyde, where I +rejected the Scottish throne offered me by Edward! Let these facts bear +witness for me; and, if they be insufficient, look on Scotland, now, for +the third time, rescued by my arm from the grasp of a usurper!--That +scroll locks the door of the kingdom upon her enemies." As he spoke he +threw the capitulation of Berwick on the table. It struck a pause into +the minds of the lords; they gazed with pallid countenances, and without +a word, on the parchment where it lay, while he proceeded: "If my +actions that you see, do not convince you of my integrity, then believe +the unsupported evidence of words, the tale of a woman, whose mystery, +were it not for the memory of the honorable man whose name she once +bore, I would publicly unravel--believe her! and leave Wallace naught of +his country to remember, but that he has served it, and that it is +unjust!" + +"Noblest of Scots!" cried Loch-awe, coming toward him, "did your +accuser come in the shape of an angel of light, still we believe your +life in preference to her testimony, for God himself speaks on your +side. 'My servants,' he declares, 'shall be known by their fruits!' +And have not yours been peace to Scotland and good-will to men?" + +"They are the serpent-folds of his hypocrisy!" cried Athol, alarmed at +the awe-struck looks of the assembly. + +"They are the baits by which he cheats fools!" re-echoed Soulis. + +"They are snares, which shall catch us no more!" was now the general +acclamation; and in proportion to the transitory respect which had made +them bow, but for a moment, to virtue, they now vociferated their +center both of Wallace and this his last achievement. Inflamed with +rage at the manifest determination to misjudge his commander, and +maddened at the contumely with which their envy affected to treat him, +Kirkpatrick threw off all restraint, and with the bitterness of his +reproaches still more incensed the jealousy of the nobles and augmented +the tumult. Lennox, vainly attempting to make himself heard, drew +toward Wallace, hoping, by that movement to at least show on whose side +he thought justice lay. At this moment, while the uproar raged with +redoubled clamor--the one party denouncing the Cummins as the source of +this conspiracy against the life of Wallace; the other demanding that +sentence should instantly be passed upon him as a traitor--the door +burst open and Bothwell, covered with dust, and followed by a throng of +armed knights, rushed into the center of the hall. + +"Who is it ye arraign?" cried the young chief, looking indignantly +around him. "Is it not your deliverer you would destroy? The Romans +could not accuse the guilty Manlius in sight of the capitol he had +preserved, but you, worse than +heathens, bring your benefactor to the scene of his victories, and +there condemn him for serving you too well! Has he not plucked you +this third time out of the furnace that would have consumed you? And +yet in this hour, you would sacrifice him to the disappointed passions +of a woman! Falsest of thy sex!" cried he, turning to the countess, +who shrunk before the penetrating eyes of Andrew Murray; "do I not know +thee? Have I not read thine unfeminine, thy vindictive heart? You +would destroy the man you could not seduce! Wallace!" cried he, +"speak. Would not this woman have persuaded you to disgrace the name +of Mar? When my uncle died, did she not urge you to intrigue for that +crown which she knew you had so loyally declined?" + +"My errand here," answered Wallace, "is to defend myself, not to accuse +others. I have shown that I am innocent, and my judges will not look +on the proofs. They obey not the laws in their judgment, and whatever +may be the decree, I shall not acknowledge its authority." + +As he spoke he turned away, and walked with a firm step out of the hall. + +His disappearance gave the signal for a tumult more threatening to the +welfare of the state, than if the armies of Edward had been in the +midst of them. It was brother against brother, friend against friend. +The Lords Lennox, Bothwell, and Loch-awe, were vehement against the +unfairness with which Sir William Wallace bad been treated; Kirkpatrick +declared that no arguments could be used with men so devoid of reason, +and words of reproach and reviling passing on all sides, swords were +fiercely drawn. The Countess of Strathearn seeing herself neglected by +even her friends in the strife, and fearful that the party of Wallace +might at last gain the ascendancy, and that herself, then without her +traitor corslet on her breast, might meet their hasty vengeance, rose +abruptly, and giving her hand to a herald, hurried out of the assembly. + + + + +Chapter LXXIII. + +Ballochgeich. + + +The marshals with difficulty interrupted the mortal attack which the +enemies and friends of Wallace made on each other; several of the +Cummins were maimed, Lord Athol himself was severely wounded by +Kirkpatrick, but the teacherous regent gladly saw that none on his side +were hurt unto death. With horrid menaces the two parties separated, +the one to the regent's apartments, the other to the camp of Wallace. + +Lord Bothwell found him encircled by his veterans, in whose breasts he +was trying to allay the storm raging there against the injustice of the +regent and the ingratitude of the Scottish lords. At sight of the +young and ardent Bothwell, their clamor to be led instantly to revenge +the indignity offered to their general redoubled, and Murray, not less +incensed, turning to them exclaimed: + +"Yes, my friends, keep quiet for a few hours, and then, what honor +commands we will do!" At this assurance they retired to their +quarters, and Bothwell turned with Wallace into his tent. + +"Before you utter a word concerning the present scenes," cried Wallace, +"tell me how is the hope of Scotland? the only earthly stiller of these +horrid tumults!" + +"Alas!" replied Bothwell. "After regaining, by a valor worthy of his +destiny, every fortress north of the Forth, his last and greatest +achievement was making himself master of Scone; but in storming its +walls a fragment of stone falling heavily, terribly rent the muscles of +his breast, and now--woe to Scotland!--he lies at Huntingtower reduced +to infant weakness. All this you would have known had you received his +letters; but villainy must have been widely at work, for none of yours +have reached his hands." + +This intelligence respecting Bruce was a more mortal blow to Wallace +than all he had just sustained in his own person. He remained silent, +but his mind was thronged with thoughts. Was Scotland to be indeed +lost? Was all that he had suffered and achieved to have been done in +vain? and should he be fated to behold her again made a sacrifice to +the jealous rivalry of her selfish and contending nobles? + +Bothwell continued to speak of the prince, and added, that it was with +reluctance he had left him, even to share the anticipated success at +Berwick. But Bruce, impatient to learn the issue of the siege (as +still no letters arrived from that quarter), had dispatched him back to +the borders. At Dunfermline he was stricken with horror by the +information that treason had been alleged against Wallace, and turning +his steps westward, he flew to give that support to his friend's +innocence which the malignity of his enemies might render needful. + +"The moment I heard how you were beset," continued Bothwell, "I +dispatched a messenger to Lord Ruthven, warning him not to alarm Bruce +with such tidings, but to send hither all the spare forces in +Perthshire, to maintain you in your rights." + +"No force, my dear Bothwell, must be used so hold me in a power which +now would only keep alive a spirit of discord in my country. If I dare +apply the words of my Divine Master, I would say, I came not to bring a +sword but peace to the people of Scotland! Then, if they are weary of +me, let me go. Bruce will recover, they will rally round his standard, +and all be well." + +"Oh, Wallace! Wallace!" cried Bothwell, "the scene I have this day +witnessed is enough to make a traitor of me. I could forswear my +insensible country--I could immolate its ungrateful chieftains on those +very lands which your generous arm restored to these worthless men!" +He threw himself into a seat, and leaned his burning forehead against +his hand. + +"Cousin, you declare my sentiments," rejoined Edwin; "my soul can never +again associate with these sons of Envy. I cannot recognize a +countryman in any one of them; and, should Sir William Wallace quit a +land so unworthy of his virtues, where he goes I will go--his asylum +shall be my country, and Edwin Ruthven will forget that he ever was a +Scot." + +"Never," cried Wallace, turning on him one of those looks which struck +conviction into the heart. "Is man more just than God? Though a +thousand of your countrymen offend you by their crimes, yet while there +remains one honest Scot, for his sake and his posterity it is your duty +to be a patriot. A nation is one great family, and every individual in +it is as much bound to promote the general good as a brother or a +father to maintain the welfare of his nearest kindred. And it the +transgression of one son be no arouse for the omission of another, in +like manner, the ruin these turbulent lords would bring upon Scotland +is no excuse for your desertion of your interest. I would not leave +the helm of my country did she not thrust me from it; but though cast +by her into the waves, would you not blush for your friend should he +wish her other than a peaceful haven?" Edwin spoke not, but putting +the hand of Wallace to his lips, left the tent. + +"Oh!" cried Bothwell, looking after him, "that the breast of woman had +but half that boy's tenderness! And yet all of that dangerous sex are +not like this hyena-hearted Lady Strathearn. Tell me, try friend, did +she not, when she disappeared so strangely from Huntingtower, fly to +you? I now suspect, from certain remembrances, that she and the Green +Knight are one aid the same person. Acknowledge it, and I will unmask +her at once to the court she has deceived." + +"She has deceived no one," replied Wallace. "Before she spoke, the +members of that court were determined to brand me with guilt, and her +charge merely supplied the place of others which they would have +devised against me. Whatever she may be, my dear Bothwell, for the +sake of whose name she once bore, let us not expose her to open shame. +Her love or her hatred are alike indifferent to me now, for I neither +of them do I owe that innate malice of my countrymen which has only +made her calumny the occasion of manifesting their resolution to make +me infamous. But that, my friend, is beyond her compass. I have done +my duty to Scotland, and that conviction must live in every honest +heart--ay, and with dishonest too--for did they not fear my integrity, +they would not have thought it necessary to deprive me of power. +Heaven shield our prince! I dread that Badenoch's next shaft may be at +him!" + +"No," cried Bothwell, "all is leveled at his best friend. In a low +voice, I taxed the regent with disloyalty for permitting this outrage +on you, and his basely envious answer was: 'Wallace's removal is +Bruce's security; who will acknowledge him when they know that this man +is his dictator?'" + +Wallace sighed at this reply, which only confirmed him in his +resolution, and he told Bothwell that he saw no alternative, if he +wished to still the agitations of his country, and preserve its prince +from premature discovery, but to indeed remove the subject of all these +contentions from their sight. + +"Attempt it not!" exclaimed Bothwell; "propose but a step toward that +end, and you will determine me to avenge my country, at the peril of my +own life, on all in that accursed assembly who have menaced yours!" In +short, the young earl's denunciations were so earnest against the lords +in Stirling, that Wallace, thinking it dangerous to exasperate him +further, consented to remain in his camp till the arrival of Ruthven +should bring him the advantage of his counsel. + +The issue showed that Bothwell was not mistaken. The majority of the +Scottish nobles envied Wallace his glory, and hated him for that virtue +which drew the eyes of the people to compare him with their selfish +courses. The regent, hoping to become the first in Bruce's favor, was +not less urgent to ruin the man who so deservedly stood the highest in +that prince's esteem. He had therefore entered warmly into the project +of Lady Strathearn. But when, during a select conference between them, +previous to her open charge of Wallace, she named Sir Thomas de +Longueville as one of his foreign emissaries, Cummin observed: + +"If you would have your accusation succeed, do not mention that knight +at all. He is my friend. He is now ill near Perth, and must know +nothing of this affair till it be over. Should he live, he will nobly +thank you for your forbearance; should he die, I will repay you as +becomes your nearest kinsman." + +All were thus united in one determined effort to hurl Wallace from his +station in the state. But when they believed that done, they quarreled +amongst themselves in deciding who was to fill the great military +office, which his prowess had now rendered a post rather of honor than +of danger. + +In the midst of these feuds Sir Simon Fraser abruptly appeared in the +council-hall. His countenance proclaimed his tidings. Lennox and +Loch-awe (who had duly attended, in hopes of bringing over some of the +more pliable chiefs to embrace the cause of justice) listened with +something like exultation to his suddenly disastrous information. When +the English governor at Berwick learned the removal of Wallace from his +command and the consequent consternation of the Scottish troops, +instead of surrendering at sunset as was expected, he sallied out at +the head of the whole garrison, and attacking the Scots by surprise, +gave them a total defeat. Every outpost around the town was retaken by +the Southrons, the army of Fraser was cut to pieces or put to flight, +and himself now arriving at Stirling, smarting with many a wound but +more under his dishonor, to show to the Regent of Scotland the evil of +having superseded the only man whom the enemy feared. The council +stood in silence, staring on each other; and, to add to their dismay, +Fraser had hardly completed his narration, before a messenger from +Tiviotdale arrived to inform the regent that King Edward was himself +within a few miles of the Cheviots; and, from the recovered position of +Berwick, must have even now poured his thousands over those hills upon +the plains beneath. While all the citadel was indecision, tumult, and +alarm, Lennox hastened to Wallace's camp with the news. + +Lord Ruthven and the Perthshire chiefs were already there. They had +arrived early in the morning, but with unpromising tidings of Bruce. +The state of his wound had induced a constant delirium. But still +Wallace clung to the hope that his country was not doomed to +perish--that its prince's recovery was only protracted. In the midst +of this anxiety, Lennox entered; and relating what he had just heard, +turned the whole current of the auditor's ideas. Wallace started from +his seat. His hand mechanically caught up his sword, which lay upon +the table. Lennox gazed at him with animated veneration. "There is +not a man in the citadel," cried he, "who does not appear at his wits' +end, and incapable of facing this often-beaten foe. Will you, Wallace, +again condescend to save a country that has treated you so +ungratefully?" + +"I would die in its trenches!" cried the chief, with a generous +forgiveness of all his injuries suffusing his magnanimous heart. + +Lord Loch-awe soon after appeared, and corroborating the testimony of +Lennox added, that on the regent's sending word to the troops on the +south of Stirling, that in consequence of the treason of Sir William +Wallace the supreme command was taken from him, and they must +immediately march out under the orders of Sir Simon Fraser, to face a +new incursion of the enemy, they began to murmur among themselves, +saying that since Wallace was found to be a traitor, they knew not whom +to trust; but certainly it should not be a beaten general. With these +whisperings, they slid away from their standards; and when Loch-awe +left them they were dispersed on all sides, like an already discomfited +army. + + + + +CHAPTER LXXIV. + +Arthur's Seat. + + +For a day or two the paralyzed terrors of the people, and the tumults +in the citadel, seemed portentous of immediate ruin. A large +detachment from the royal army had entered Scotland by the marine gate +of Berwick; and, headed by De Warenne, was advancing rapidly toward +Edinburgh. Not a soldier belonging to the regent remained on the +carse; and the distant chiefs to whom he sent for aid refused it, +alleging that the discovery of Wallace's patriotism having been a +delusion, had made them suspect all men; and, now locking themselves +within their own castles, each true Scot would there securely view a +struggle in which they could feel no personal interest. + +Seeing the danger of the realm, and hearing from the Lords Ruthven and +Bothwell that their troops would follow no other leader than Sir +William Wallace, and hopeless of any prompt decision from amongst the +contusion of the council, Badenoch yielded a stern assent to the only +apparent means of saving his sinking country. He turned ashy pale, +while his silence granted to Lord Loch-awe the necessity of imploring +Sir William Wallace to again stretch out his arm in their behalf. With +this embassy the venerable chief had returned exultingly to +Ballochgeich; and the so lately branded Wallace, branded as the +intended betrayer of Scotland, was solicited by his very accusers to +assume the trust of their sole defense! + +"Such is the triumph of virtue!" whispered Edwin to his friend, as he +vaulted on his horse. + +A luminous smile from Wallace acknowledged that he felt the tribute +and, looking up to Heaven ere he placed his helmet on his head, he said: + +"Thence comes my power! and the satisfaction it brings, whether +attended by man's applause or his blame, he cannot take from me. I +now, perhaps for the last time, arm this head for Scotland. May the +God in whom I trust again crown it with victory, and forever after bind +the brows of our rightful sovereign with peace!" + +While Wallace pursued his march, the regent was quite at a stand, +confounded at the turn which events had taken, and hardly knowing +whether to make another essay to collect forces for the support of +their former leader, or to follow the refractory counsels of his lords, +and await in inactivity the issue of the +expected battle. He knew not bow to act, but a letter from Lady +Strathearn decided him. + +Though partly triumphant in her charges, yet the accusations of +Bothwell had disconcerted her; and though the restoration of Wallace to +his undisputed authority in the state; seemed to her next to +impossible, still she resolved to take another step, to confirm her +influence over the discontented of her country, and most likely to +insure the vengeance she panted to bring upon her victim's head. To +this end, on the very evening that she retreated in terror from the +council hall, she set forward to the borders; and, easily passing +thence to the English camp (then pitched at Alnwick), was soon admitted +to the castle, where De Warenne lodged. She was too well taught in the +school of vanity not to have remarked the admiration with which that +earl had regarded her while he was a prisoner in Stirling; and, hoping +that he might not be able to withstand the persuasion of her charms, +she opened her mission with no less art than effect. De Warren was +made to believe, that on the strength of a passion Wallace had +conceived for her, and which she treated with disdain, he had repented +of his former refusal of the crown of Scotland; and, misled by a hope +that she would not repeat her rejection of his hand could it present +her a scepter, he was now attempting to compass that dignity by the +most complicated intrigues. She then related how, at her instigation, +the regent had deposed him from his military command, and she ended +with saying, that impelled by loyalty to Edward (whom her better reason +now recognized as the lawful sovereign of her country), she had come to +exhort that monarch to renew his invasion of the kingdom. + +Intoxicated with her beauty, and enraptured, by a manner which seemed +to tell him that a softer sentiment than usual had made her select him +as the embassador to the king, De Warenne greedily drank in all her +words; and ere he allowed this, to him, romantic conference to break +up, he had thrown himself at her feet, and implored her, by every +impassioned argument, to grant him the privilege of presenting her to +Edward as his intended bride. De Warenne was in the meridian of life; +and being fraught with a power at court beyond most of his peers, she +determined to accept his hand and wield its high influence to the +destruction of Wallace, even should she be compelled in the act to +precipitate her country in his fall. De Warenne drew from her a +half-reluctant consent; and, while he poured forth the transports of a +happy lover, he was not so much enamored of the fine person of Lady +Strathearn as to be altogether insensible to the advantages which his +alliance with her would give to Edward in his Scottish pretensions. +And as it would consequently increase his own importance with that +monarch, he lost no time in communicating the circumstances to him. +Edward suspected something in this sudden attachment of the countess, +which, should it transpire, might cool the ardor of his officer for +uniting so useful an agent to his cause; therefore, having highly +approved De Warenne's conduct in affair, to hasten the nuptials, he +proposed being present at their solemnization that very evening. The +solemn vows which Lady Strathearn then pledged at the altar to be +pronounced by her with no holy awe of the marriage contract; but rather +as those alone by which she swore to complete her revenge on Wallace, +and, by depriving him of life, prevent the climax to her misery, of +seeing him (what she believed he intended to become) the husband of +Helen Mar. + +The day after she became De Warenne's wife, she accompanied him by sea +to Berwick; and from that place she dispatched messengers to the +regent, and to other nobles, her kinsmen, fraught with promises, which +Edward, in the event of success had solemnly pledged himself to ratify. +Her embassador arrived at Stirling the day succeeding that in which +Wallace and his troops had marched from Ballochgeich. The letters +brought were eagerly opened by Badenoch and his chieftains, and they +found their contents to this effect. She announced to them her +marriage with the lord warden, who was returned into Scotland with +every power for the final subjugation of the country; and therefore she +besought the regent and his council, not to raise a hostile arm against +him if they would not merely escape the indignation of a great king, +but insure his favor. She cast out hints to Badenoch, as if Edward +meant to reward his acquiescence with the crown of Scotland; and with +similar baits, proportioned to the views of all her other kinsmen, she +smoothed their anger against that monarch's former insults persuading +them to at least remain inactive during the last struggle of their +country. + +Meanwhile Wallace, taking his course along the banks of the Forth, when +the night drew near, encamped his little army at the base of the +craigs, east of Edinburgh Castle. His march having been long and +rapid, the men were much fatigued, and hardly were laid upon their +heather beds before they fell asleep. +Wallace had learned from his scouts that the main body of the Southrons +had approached within a few miles of Dalkeith. Thither he hoped to go +next morning, and there, he trusted, strike the conclusive blow for +Scotland, by the destruction of a division which he understood +comprised the flower of the English army. With these expectations he +gladly saw his troops lying in that repose which would rebrace their +strength for the combat, and, as the hours of night stole on while his +possessed mind waked for all around, he was pleased to see his +ever-watchful Edwin sink down in a profound sleep. + +It was Wallace's custom, once at least in the night, to go himself the +rounds of his posts, to see that all was safe. The air was serene and +he walked out on this duty. He passed from line to line, from station +to station, and all was in order. One post alone remained to be +visited, and that was a point of observation on the craigs near +Arthur's Seat. As he proceeded along a lonely defile between the rocks +which overhang the ascent of the mountain, he was startled by the +indistinct sight of a figure amongst the rolling vapors of the night, +seated on a towering cliff directly in the way he was to go. The broad +light of the moon, breaking from behind the clouds, shone full upon the +spot, and discovered a majestic form in gray robes, leaning on a harp; +while his face, mournfully gazing upward, was rendered venerable by a +long white beard that mingled with the floating mist. Wallace paused, +and stopping some distance from this extraordinary apparition, looked +on it in silence. The strings of the harp seemed softly touched, but +it was only the sighing of a transitory breeze passing over them. The +vibration ceased, but, in the next moment the hand of the master indeed +struck the chords, and with so full and melancholy a sound that Wallace +for a few minutes was riveted to the ground; then moving forward with a +breathless caution, not to disturb the nocturnal bard, he gently +approached. He was, however, descried! The venerable figure clasped +his hands, and in a voice of mournful solemnity exclaimed: + +"Art thou come, doomed of Heaven, to hear thy sad coronach?" Wallace +started at this salutation. The bard, with the same emotion, +continued; "No choral hymns hallow thy bleeding corpse--wolves howl thy +requiem--eagles scream over thy desolate grave! Fly, chieftain, fly!" + +"What, venerable father of the harp," cried Wallace, interrupting the +awful pause, "thus addresses one whom he must mistake for some other +warrior?" + +"Can the spirit of inspiration mistake its object?" demanded the bard. +"Can he whose eyes have been opened be blind to Sir William Wallace--to +the blood which clogs his mounting footsteps?" + +"And what or who am I to understand art thou?" replied Wallace. "Who +is the saint whose holy charity would anticipate the obsequies of a man +who yet may be destined to a long pilgrimage?" + +"Who I am," resumed the bard, "will be sthown to thee when thou hast +passed yon starry firmament. But the galaxy streams with blood; the +bugle of death is alone heard; and thy lacerated breast heaves in vain +against the hoofs of opposing squadrons. They charge--Scotland falls! +Look not on me, champion of thy country! Sold by thine +enemies--betrayed by thy friends! It was not the seer of St. Anton who +gave thee these wounds--that heart's blood was not drawn by me: a +woman's hand in mail, ten thousand armed warriors strike the mortal +steel--he sinks, he falls! Red is the blood of Eske! Thy vital stream +hath dyed it. Fly, bravest of the brave, and live! Stay, and perish!" +With a shriek of horror, and throwing his aged arms extended toward +the heavens, while his gray beard mingled in the rising blast, the seer +rushed from sight. Wallace saw the misty rocks alone, and was left in +awful solitude. + +For a few minutes he stood in profound silence. His very soul seemed +deprived of power to answer so terrible a denunciation, with even a +questioning thought. He had heard the destruction of Scotland +declared, and himself sentenced to perish if he did not escape the +general ruin by flying from her side! This terrible decree of fate, so +disastrously corroborated by the extremity of Bruce, and the divisions +in the kingdom, had been sounded in his ear, had been pronounced by one +of those sages of his country, on whom the spirit of prophecy, it was +believed, yet descended, with all the horrors of a woe-denouncing +prophet. Could he then doubt its truth? He did not doubt; he believed +the midnight voice he had heard. But recovering from the first shock +of such a doom, and remembering that it still left the choice to +himself, between dishonored life or glorious death, he resolved to show +his respect to the oracle by manifesting a persevering obedience to the +eternal voice which gave those agents utterance: and while he bowed to +the warning, he vowed to be the last who should fall from the side of +his devoted country. "If devoted," cried he, "then our fates shall be +the same. My fall from thee shall be into my grave. Scotland may have +struck the breast the breast that shielded her, yet, Father of Mercies, +forgive her blindness, and grant me still permission a little longer to +oppose my heart between her and this fearful doom!" + + +CHAPTER LXXV. + +Dalkeith. + + +Awed, but not intimidated by the prophecy of the seer, Wallace next day +drew up his army in order for the new battle near a convent of +Cistercian monks on the narrow plain of Dalkeith. The two rivers Eske, +flowing on each side of the little phalanx, formed a temporary barrier +between it and the pressing legions of De Warenne. The earl's troops +seemed countless, while the Southron lords who led them on, being +elated by the representations which the Countess of Strathearn had +given to them of the disunited state of the Scottish army, and the +consequent dismay which had seized their hitherto all-conquering +commander, bore down upon the Scots with an impetuosity which +threatened their universal destruction. Deceived by the blandishing +falsehoods of his bride, De Warenne had entirely changed his former +opinion of his brave opponent, and by her sophistries having brought +his mind to adopt stratagems of intimidation unworthy of his nobleness +(so contagious is baseness, in too fond a contact with the +unprincipled!), he placed himself on an adjoining height, intending +from that commanding post to dispense his orders and behold his victory. + +"Soldiers!" cried he, "the rebel's hour is come. The sentence of +Heaven is gone forth against him. Charge resolutely, and he and his +host are yours!" + +The sky was obscured; an awful stillness reigned through the air, and +the spirits of the mighty dead seemed leaning from the clouds, to +witness this last struggle of their sons. Fate did indeed hover over +the opposing armies. She descended on the head of Wallace, and +dictated from amidst his waving plumes. She pointed his spear, she +wielded his flaming sword, she charged with him in the dreadful shock +of battle. De Warenne saw his foremost thousands fall. He heard the +shouts of the Scots, the cries of his men, and the plains of Stirling +rose to his remembrance. He hastily ordered the knights around him to +bear his wife from the field; and descending the field to lead forward +himself, was met and almost overwhelmed by his flying troops; horses +without riders, men without shield or sword, but all in dismay, rushed +past him. He called to them, he waved the royal standard, he urged, he +reproached, he rallied, and led them back again. The fight +recommenced. Long and bloody was the conflict. De Warenne fought for +conquest and to recover a lost reputation. Wallace contended for his +country, and to show himself always worthy of her latest blessing +"before he should go hence and be no more seen." + +The issue declared for Scotland. But the ground was covered with the +slain, and Wallace chased a wounded foe with troops which dropped as +they pursued. At sight of the melancholy state of his intrepid +soldiers, he tried to check their ardor, but in vain. + +"It is for Wallace that we conquer!" cried they; "and we die, or prove +him the only captain in this ungrateful country." + +Night compelled them to halt, and while they rested on their arms, +Wallace was satisfied that he had destroyed the power of De Warenne. +As he leaned on his sword, and stood with Edwin near the watch-fire, +over which that youthful hero kept a guard, he contemplated with +generous forbearance the terrified Southrons as they fled precipitately +by the foot of the hill toward the Tweed. Wallace now told his friend +the history of his adventure with the seer of the craigs, and finding +within himself how much the brightness of true religion excludes the +glooms of superstition, he added, "The proof of the Divine Spirit in +prophecy is its completion. Hence let the false seer I met last night +warn you, my Edwin, by my example, how you give credit to any +prediction that might slacken the sinews of duty. God can speak but +one language. He is not a man, that he should repent; neither a +mortal, that he should change his purpose. This prophet of Baal +beguiled me into a credence of his denunciation; but not to adopt the +conduct his offered alternative would have persuaded me to pursue. I +now see that he was a traitor in both, and henceforth shall read my +fate in the oracles of God alone. Obeying them, my Edwin, we need not +fear the curses of our enemy, nor the lying of suborned soothsayers." + +The splendor of this victory struck to the souls of the council at +Stirling, but with no touch of remorse. Scotland being again rescued +from the vengeance of her implacable foe, the disaffected lords in the +citadel affected to spurn at her preservation, declaring to the regent +that they would rather bear the yoke of the veriest tyrant in the world +than owe a moment of freedom to the man who (they pretended to believe) +had conspired against their lives. And they had a weighty reason for +this decision: though De Warenne was beaten, his wife was a victor. +She had made Edward triumphant in the venal hearts of her kinsmen; gold +and her persuasions, with promises of future honors from the King of +England, had sealed them entirely his. All but the regent was ready to +commit everything into the hands of Edward. The rising favor of these +other lords with the court of England induced him to recollect that he +might rule as the unrivaled friend of Bruce, should that prince live; +or, in case of his death, he might have it in his own power to assume +the Scottish throne untrammeled. These thoughts made him fluctuate, +and his country found him as undetermined in treason as unstable in +fidelity. + +Immediately on the victory at Dalkeith, Kirkpatrick (eager to be the +first communicator of such welcome news to Lennox, who had planted +himself as a watch at Stirling) withdrew secretly from Wallace's camp, +and, hoping to move the gratitude of the refractory lords, entered full +of honest joy into the midst of their council. + +He proclaimed the success of his commander. His answer was accusations +and insults. All that had been charged against the too-fortunate +Wallace, was re-urged with added acrimony. Treachery to the state, +hypocrisy in morals, fanaticism in religion--no stigma was too +extravagant, too contradictory, to be affixed to his name. They who +had been hurt in the fray in the hall, pointed to their still smarting +wounds, and called upon Lennox to say if they did not plead against so +dangerous a man? + +"Dangerous to your crimes, and ruinous to your ambition!" cried +Kirkpatrick; "for so help me God, I believe that an honester man than +William Wallace lives not in Scotland! And that ye know, and his +virtues overtopping your littleness, ye would uproot the greatness +which ye cannot equal." + +This speech, which a burst of indignation had wrested from him, brought +down the wrath of the whole party upon himself. Lord Athol, yet stung +with his old wound, furiously struck him; Kirkpatrick drew his sword, +and the two chiefs commenced a furious combat, each determined on the +extirpation of the other. Gasping with almost the last breathings of +life, neither could be torn from their desperate revenge, till many +were hurt in attempting to separate them; and then the two were carried +off insensible, and covered with wounds. + +When this sad news was transmitted to Sir William Wallace, it found him +on the banks of the Eske, just returned from the citadel of Berwick, +where, once more master of that fortress, he had dictated the terms of +a conqueror and a patriot. + +In the scene of his former victories, the romantic shades of +Hawthorndean, he now pitched his triumphant camp; and from its verdant +bounds dispatched the requisite orders to the garrisoned castles on the +borders. While employed in this duty, his heart was wrung by an +account of the newly-aroused storm in the citadel of Stirling; but as +some equivalent, the chieftains of Mid-Lothian poured in on him on +every side; and, acknowledging him their protector, he again found +himself the idol of gratitude, and the almost deified object of trust. +At such a moment, when the one voice they were disclaiming all +participation in the insurgent proceedings at Stirling, another +messenger arrived from Lord Lennox, to conjure him, if he would avoid +open violence or secret treachery, to march his victorious troops +immediately to that city, and seize the assembled abthanes** at once as +traitors to their country. "Resume the regency," added he; "which you +only know how to conduct; and crush a treason which, increasing hourly, +now walks openly in the day, threatening all that is virtuous, or +faithful to you." + +**Abthanes, which means the great lords, was a title of pre-eminence +given to the higher order of chiefs. + +He did not hesitate to decide against this counsel, for, in following +it, it could not be one adversary he must strike, but thousands. "I am +only a brother to my countrymen," said he to himself, "and have no +right to force them to their duty. When their king appears, then these +rebellious heads may be made to bow." While he mused upon the letter +of Lennox, Ruthven entered the recess of the tent, whither he had +retired to read it. + +"I bring you better news of our friends at Huntingtower," cried the +good lord. "Here is a packet from Douglas, and another from my wife." + +Wallace gladly read them, and found that Bruce was relieved from his +delirium; but so weak, that his friends dared not hazard a relapse by +imparting to him any idea of the proceedings at Stirling. All he knew +was, that Wallace was victorious in arms, and panting for his recovery +to render such success really beneficial to his country! Helen and +Isabella, with the sage of Ercildown, were the prince's unwearied +attendants; and though his life was yet in extreme peril, it was to be +hoped that their attentions, and his own constitution, would finally +cure the wound, and conquer its attendant fever. Comforted with these +tidings, Wallace declared his intentions of visiting his suffering +friend as soon as he could establish any principle in the minds of his +followers to induce them to bear, even for a little time, with the +insolence of the abthanes. "I will then," said he, "watch by the side +of our beloved Bruce till his recovered health allows him to proclaim +himself king; and with that act I trust all these feuds will be forever +laid to sleep!" Ruthven participated in these hopes, and the friends +returned into the council-tent. But all there was changed. Most of +the Lothian chieftains had also received messages from their friends in +Stirling. Allegations against Wallace; arguments to prove "the policy +of submitting themselves and their properties to the protection of a +great and generous king, though a foreigner, rather than to risk all by +attaching themselves to the fortunes of a private person, who made +their services the ladder of his ambition," were the contents of their +packets; and they had been sufficient to shake the easy faith to which +they were addressed. On the reentrance of Wallace, the chieftains, +stole suspicious glances at each other, and, without a word, glided +severally out of the tent. + + +CHAPTER LXXVI. + +Hawthorndean. + + +Next morning, instead of coming as usual directly to their acknowledged +protector, the Lothian chieftains were seen at different parts of the +camp, closely conversing in groups; and when any of Wallace's officers +approached, they separated, or withdrew to a greater distance. This +strange conduct Wallace attributed to its right source, and thought of +Bruce with a sigh, when he contemplated the variable substance of these +men's minds. However, he was so convinced that nothing but the +proclamation of Bruce, and that prince's personal exertions, could +preserve his country from falling again into the snare from which he +had just snatched it, that he was preparing to set out for Perthshire +with such persuasions, when Ker hastily entered his tent. He was +followed by the Lord Soulis, Lord Buchan, and several other chiefs of +equally hostile intentions. Soulis did not hesitate to declare his +errand. + +"We come, Sir William Wallace, by the command of the regent, and the +assembled abthanes of Scotland, to take these brave troops, which have +performed such good service to their country, from the power of a man +who, we have every reason to believe, means to turn their arms against +the liberties of the realm. Without a pardon from the state; without +the signature of the regent; in contempt of court, which, having found +you guilty of high treason, had in mercy delayed to pronounce the +sentence on your crime, you have presumed to place yourself at the head +of the national troops, and to take to yourself the merit of a victory +won by their prowess alone! Your designs are known, and the authority +you have despised is now roused to punish. You are to accompany us +this day to Stirling. We have brought a guard of four thousand men to +compel your obedience." + +Before the indignant spirit of Wallace could utter the answer his +wrongs dictated, Bothwell, who at sight of the regent's troops had +hastened to his general's tent, entered, followed by his chieftains: +"Were your guard forty thousand, instead of four," cried he, "they +should not force our commander from us--they should not extinguish the +glory of Scotland beneath the traitorous devices of hell-engendered +envy and murderous cowardice." + +Soulis turned on him with eyes of fire, and laid his hand on his sword. + +"Ay, cowardice!" reiterated Bothwell; "the midnight ravisher, the +slanderer of virtue, the betrayer of his country, knows in his heart +that he fears to draw aught but the assassin's steel. He dreads the +scepter of honor: Wallace must fall, that vice and her votaries may +reign in Scotland. A thousand brave Scots lie under these sods, and a +thousand yet survive who may share their graves; but they never will +relinquish their invincible leader into the hands of traitors!" + +The clamors of the citadel of Stirling now resounded through the tent +of Wallace. Invectives, accusations, threatenings, reproaches, and +revilings, joined in one turbulent uproar. Again swords were drawn; +and Wallace, in attempting to beat down the weapons of Soulis and +Buchan, aimed at Bothwell's heart, must have received the point of +Soulis' in his own body, had he not grasped the blade, and wrenching it +out of the chief's hand, broke it into shivers: "Such be the fate of +every sword which Scot draws against Scot!" cried he. "Put up your +weapons, my friends. The arm of Wallace is not shrunk, that he could +not defend himself, did he think that violence were necessary. Hear my +determination, once and forever!" added he. "I acknowledge no +authority in Scotland but the laws. The present regent and his +abthanes outrage them in every ordinance, and I should indeed be a +traitor to my country did I submit to such men's behests. I shall not +obey their summons to Stirling; neither will I permit a hostile arm to +be raised in this camp against their delegates, unless the violence +begins with them. This is my answer." Uttering these words he +motioned Bothwell to follow him, and left the tent. + +Crossing a rude plank-bridge, which then lay over the Eske, he met Lord +Ruthven, accompanied by Edwin and Lord Sinclair. The latter came to +inform Wallace that embassadors from Edward awaited his presence at +Roslyn. + +"They came to offer peace to our distracted country," cried Sinclair. + +"Then," answered Wallace, "I shall not delay going where I may hear the +terms." Horses were brought; and, during their short ride, to prevent +the impassioned representations of the still raging Bothwell, Wallace +communicated, to his not less indignant friends, the particulars of the +scene he had left. "These contentions must be terminated," added he; +"and with God's blessing, a few days and they shall be so!" + +"Heaven grant it!" returned Sinclair, thinking he referred to the +proposed negotiation. "If Edward's offers be at all reasonable, I +would urge you to accept them; otherwise invasion from without, and +civil commotion within, will probably make a desert of poor Scotland." + +Ruthven interrupted him: "Despair not, my lord! Whatever be the fate +of this embassy, let us remember that it is our steadiest friend who +decides, and that his arm is still with us to repel invasion, to +chastise treason!" + +Edwin's eyes turned with a direful expression upon Wallace, while he +lowly murmured: "Treason! hydra treason!" + +Wallace understood him, and answered: "Grievous are the alternatives, +my friends, which your love for me would persuade you even to welcome. +But that which I shall choose will, I trust, indeed lay the land at +peace, or point its hostilities to the only aim against which a true +Scot ought to direct his sword at this crisis!" + +Being arrived at the gate of Roslyn, Wallace, regardless of those +ceremonials which often delay the business they pretend to dignify, +entered at once into the hall where the embassadors sat. Baron Hilton +was one, and Le de Spencer (father of the young and violent envoy of +that name) was the other. At sight of the Scottish chief they rose; +and the good baron, believing he came on a propitious errand, smiling, +said, "Sir William Wallace, it is your private ear I am commanded to +seek." While speaking, he looked on Sinclair and the other lords. + +"These chiefs are as myself," replied Wallace; "but I will not impede +your embassy by crossing the wishes of your master in a trifle." He +then turned to his friends: "Indulge the monarch of England in making +me the first acquainted with that which can only be a message to the +whole nation." + +The chiefs withdrew; and Hilton, without further parley, opened the +mission. He said that King Edward, more than ever impressed with the +wondrous military talents of Sir William Wallace, and solicitous to +make a friend of so heroic an enemy, had sent him an offer of grace, +which, if he contemned, must be the last. He offered him a theater +whereon he might display his peerless endowments to the admiration of +the world--the kingdom of Ireland, with its yet unreaped fields of +glory, and all the ample riches of its abundant provinces, should be +his! Edward only required, in return for this royal gift, that he +should abandon the cause of Scotland, swear fealty to him for Ireland, +and resign into his hands one whom he had proscribed as the most +ungrateful of traitors. In double acknowledgment for the latter +sacrifice Wallace need only send to England a list of those Scottish +lords against whom he bore resentment, and their fates should be +ordered according to his dictates. Edward concluded his offers by +inviting him immediately to London, to be invested with his new +sovereignty; and Hilton ended his address by showing him the madness of +abiding in a country where almost every chief, secretly or openly, +carried a dagger against his life; and therefore he exhorted him no +longer to contend for a nation so unworthy of freedom, that it bore +with impatience the only man who had the courage to maintain its +independence by virtue alone. + +Wallace replied calmly, and without hesitation: + +"To this message an honest man can make but one reply. As well might +your sovereign exact of me to dethrone the angels of heaven, as to +require me to subscribe to his proposals. They do but mock me; and +aware of my rejection, they are thus delivered, to throw the whole +blame of this cruelly-persecuting war upon me. Edward knows that as a +knight, a true Scot, and a man, I should dishonor myself to accept even +life, ay, or the lives of all my kindred, upon these terms." + +Hilton interrupted him by declaring the sincerity of Edward; and, +contrasting it with the ingratitude of the people whom he had served, +he conjured him, with every persuasive of rhetoric, every entreaty +dictated by a mind that revered the very firmness he strove to shake, +to relinquish his faithless country, and become the friend of a king +ready to receive him with open arms. Wallace shook his head; and with +an incredulous smile which spoke his thoughts of Edward, while his eyes +beamed kindness upon Hilton, he answered: + +"Can the man who would bribe me to betray a friend, be faithful in +friendship? But that is not the weight with me. I was not brought up +in those schools, my good baron, which teach that sound policy or true +self-interest can be separated from virtue. When I was a boy, my +father often repeated to me this proverb: + + "Dico tibi verum, honestas, optima rerum, + Nunquam servili sub nexu vivitur fili."** + +** This saying of the parental teacher of Wallace is recorded. It +means, "Know of a certainty that virtue, the best of possessions, never +can exist under the bond of servility." + +"I learned it then; I have since made it the standard of my actions, and +I answer your monarch in a word. Were all my countrymen to resign +their claims to the liberty which is their right, I alone would declare +the independence of my country; and by God's assistance, while I live, +acknowledge no other master than the laws of St. David, and the +legitimate heir of his blood!" + +The glow of resolute patriotism which overspread his countenance while +he spoke was reflected by a fluctuating color on that of Hilton. + +"Noble chief!" cried he; "I admire while I regret; I revere the virtue +which I am even now constrained to denounce. These principles, bravest +of men, might have suited the simple ages of Greece and Rome; a Phocion +or a Fabricius might have uttered the like, and compelled the homage of +their enemies; but in these days, such magnanimity is considered +frenzy, and ruin is its consequence." + +"And shall a Christian," cried Wallace, reddening with the flush of +honest shame, "deem the virtue which even heathens practiced with +veneration, of too pure a nature to be exercised by men taught by +Christ himself? There is blasphemy in the idea, and I can hear no +more." + +Hilton, in confusion, excused his argument by declaring that it +proceeded from his observations on the conduct of men. + +"And shall we," replied Wallace, "follow a multitude to do evil? I act +to one Being alone. Edward must acknowledge HIS supremacy, and by that +know that my soul is above all price!" + +"Am I answered?" said Hilton, and then hastily interrupting himself, he +added, in a voice even of supplication; "your fate rests on your reply! +Oh! noblest of warriors, consider only for the day!" + +"Not for a moment," said Wallace; "I am sensible of your kindness; but +my answer to Edward has been pronounced." + +Baron Hilton turned sorrowfully away, and Le de Spencer rose. + +"Sir William Wallace, my part of the embassy must be delivered to you +in the assembly of your chieftains." + +"In the congregation of my camp?" returned he; and opening the door of +the ante-room, in which his friends stood, he sent Edwin to summon his +chiefs to the platform before the council tent. + + + + +Chapter LXXVII. + +Wallace's Tent. + + +When Wallace approached his tent, he found not only the captains of his +own army, but the followers of Soulis and the chieftains of Lothian. +He looked on this range of his enemies with a fearless eye, and passing +through the crowd, took his station beside the embassadors, on the +platform of the tent. The venerable Hilton turned away with tears on +his veteran cheeks as the chief advanced, and Le de Spencer came +forward to speak. Wallace, with a dignified action, requested his +leave for a few minutes, and then addressing the congregated warriors +unfolded to them the offer of Edward to him, and his reply. + +"And now," added he, "the embassador of England is at liberty to +declare his master's alternative." + +Le de Spencer again advanced; but the acclamations with which the +followers of Wallace acknowledged the nobleness of his answer, excited +such an opposite clamor on the side of the Soulis party, that Le de +Spencer was obliged to mount a war carriage which stood near, and to +vociferate long and loudly for silence before he could be heard. But +the first words which caught the ears of his audience acted like a +spell, and seemed to hold them in breathless attention. + +"Since Sir William Wallace rejects the grace of his liege lord, Edward +King of England offered to him this once, and never to be again +repeated: thus saith the king in his clemency to the earls, barons, +knights, and commonalty of Scotland! To every one of them, chief and +vassal, excepting the aforesaid incorrigible rebel, he, the royal +Edward, grants an amnesty of all their past treasons against his sacred +person and rule, provided that within twenty-four hours after they hear +the words of this proclamation they acknowledge their disloyalty, with +repentance, and laying down their arms, swear eternal fealty to their +only lawful ruler, Edward, the lord of the whole island from sea to +sea." Le de Spencer then proclaimed the King of England to be now on +the borders with an army of a hundred thousand men, ready to march with +fire and sword into the heart of the kingdom, and put to the rack all +of every sex, age, and condition, who should venture to dispute his +rights. "Yield," added he, "while you may yet not only grasp the mercy +extended to you, but the rewards and the honors he is ready to bestow. +Adhere to that unhappy man, and by to-morrow's sunset your offended +king will be on these hills, and mercy shall be no more! Death is the +doom of Sir William Wallace, and a similar fate to every Scot who after +this hour dares to give him food, shelter, or succor. He is the +prisoner of King Edward, and thus I demand him at your hands!" + +Wallace spoke not, but with an unmoved countenance looked around upon +the assembly. Edwin precipitated himself into his arms. Bothwell's +full soul then forced utterance from his laboring breast: + +"Tell your sovereign," cried he, "that he mistakes. We are the +conquerors who ought to dictate terms of peace! Wallace is our +invincible leader, our redeemer from slavery, the earthly hope in whom +we trust, and it is not in the power of men nor devils to bribe us to +betray our benefactor. Away to your king and tell him that Andrew +Murray, and every honest Scot, is ready to live or to die by the side +of Sir William Wallace." + +"And by this good sword I swear the same!" cried Ruthven. + +"And so do I!" rejoined Scrymgeour, "or may the standard of Scotland be +my winding-sheet!" + +"Or may the Clyde swallow us up, quick!" exclaimed Lockhart of Lee, +shaking his mailed hand at the embassadors. + +But not another chief spoke for Wallace. Even Sinclair was +intimidated, and like others who wished him well, he feared to utter +his sentiments. But most, oh! shame to Scotland and to man, cast up +their bonnets and cried aloud, "Long live Kind Edward, the only +legitimate Lord of Scotland!" At this outcry, which was echoed even by +some in whom he had confided, while it pealed around him like a burst +of thunder, Wallace threw out his arms, as if he would yet protect +Scotland from herself. "Oh! desolate people," exclaimed he, in a voice +of piercing woe, "too credulous of fair speeches, and not aware of the +calamities which are coming upon you! Call to remembrance the miseries +you have suffered, and start, before it be too late, from this last +snare of your oppressor! Have I yet to tell ye that his embrace is +death? Oh! look yet to Heaven and ye shall find a rescue!" Bruce +seemed to rise at that moment in pale but gallant apparition before his +soul.** + +**This speech is almost verbatim from one of our old historians. + +"Seize that rebellious man," cried Soulis to his marshals. "In the +name of the King of England I command you." + +"And in the name of the King of kings I denounce death on him who +attempts it!" exclaimed Bothwell, throwing himself between Wallace and +the men; "put forth a hostile hand toward him, and this bugle shall +call a thousand resolute swords to lay this platform in blood!" + +Soulis, followed by his knights, pressed forward to execute his treason +himself. Scrymgeour, Ruthven, Lockhart, and Ker rushed before their +friend. Edwin, starting forward, drew his sword, and the clash of +steel was heard. Bothwell and Soulis grappled together, the falchion +of Ruthven gleamed amidst a hundred swords, and blood flowed around. +The voice, the arm of Wallace, in vain sought to enforce peace; he was +not heard, he was not felt in the dreadful warfare; Ker fell with a +gasp at his feet, and breathed no more. At such a sight the +soul-struck Wallace wrung his hands, and exclaimed in bitter anguish, +"Oh, my country! was it for these horrors that my Marion died? that I +became a homeless wretch, and passed my days and nights in fields of +carnage? Venerable Mar, dear and valiant Graham! is this the +consummation for which you fell?" At that moment Bothwell having +disabled Soulis, would have blown his bugle to call up his men to a +general conflict, but Wallace snatched the horn from his hand, and +springing upon the very war-carriage which Le de Spencer had proclaimed +Edward's embassy, he drew forth his sword, and stretching the mighty +arm that held it over the throng, with more than mortal energy he +exclaimed, "Peace! men of Scotland, and for the last time hear the +voice of William Wallace." A dead silence immediately ensued, and he +proceeded: "If you have aught of nobleness within ye, if a delusion +more fell than witchcraft have not blinded your senses, look beyond +this field of horror, and behold your country free. Edward, in these +apparent demands, sues for peace. Did we not drive his armies into the +sea? And were we resolved, he never could cross our borders more. +What is it then you do, when you again put your necks under his yoke? +Did he not seek to bribe me to betray you? And yet, when I refuse to +purchase life and the world's rewards in such baseness, you--you forget +that you are free-born Scots, that you are the victors, and he the +vanquished; and you give, not sell, your birthright to the demands of a +tyrant! You yield yourselves to his extortions, his oppressions, his +revenge! Think not he will spare the people he would have sold to +purchase his bitterest enemy, or allow them to live unmanacled who +possess the power of resistance. On the day in which you are in his +hands you will feel that you have exchanged honor for disgrace, liberty +for bondage, life for death! Me you abhor, and may God in your +extremest hour forget that injustice, and pardon the faithful blood you +have shed this day! I draw this sword for you no more. But there yet +lives a prince, a descendant of the royal heroes of Scotland, whom +Providence may conduct to be your preserver. Reject the proposals of +Edward, dare to defend the freedom you now possess, and that prince +will soon appear to crown your patriotism with glory and happiness!" + +"We acknowledge no prince but King Edward of England!" cried Buchan. +"His countenance our glory, his presence our happiness!" + +The exclamation was reiterated by a most disgraceful majority on the +ground. Wallace was transfixed. + +"Then," cried Le de Spencer in the first pause of the tumult, "to every +man, woman, and child throughout the realm of Scotland, excepting Sir +William Wallace, I proclaim, in the name of King Edward, pardon and +peace." + +At these words several hundred Scottish chieftains dropped on their +knees before Le de Spencer, and murmured their vows of fealty. +Indignant, grieved, Wallace took his helmet from his head, and throwing +his sword into the hand of Bothwell, "That weapon," cried he, "which I +wrested from this very King Edward, and with which I twice drove him +from our borders, I give it to you. In your hands it may again serve +Scotland, I relinquish a soldier's name, on the spot where I humbled +England three times in one day, where I now see my victorious country +deliver herself, bound, into the grasp of the vanquished! I go without +sword or buckler from this dishonored field, and what Scot, my public +or private enemy, will dare to strike the unguarded head of William +Wallace?" As he spoke, he threw his shield and helmet to the ground, +and leaping from the war-carriage, took his course, with a fearless and +dignified step, through the parting ranks of his enemies, who, +awe-struck, or kept in check by a suspicion that others might not +second the attack they would have made on him, durst not lift an arm or +breathe a word as he passed. + +Wallace had adopted this manner of leaving the ground, in hopes, if it +were possible, to awaken the least spark of honor in the breasts of his +persecutors, to prevent the bloodshed which must ensue between his +friends and them, should they attempt to seize him. Edwin and Bothwell +immediately followed him; but Lockhart and Scrymgeour remained to take +charge of the remains of the faithful Ker, and to observe the tendency +of the tumult which began to murmur amongst the lower orders of the +bystanders. + + + + +Chapter LXXVIII. + +Banks of the Eske. + + +A vague suspicion of the regent and his thanes, and yet a panic-struck +pusillanimity, which shrunk from supporting that Wallace whom those +thanes chose to abandon, carried the spirit of slavery from the +platform before the council tent, to the chieftains who thronged the +ranks of Ruthven, and even to the perversion of some few who had +followed the golden-haired standard of Bothwell. The brave troops of +Lanark (which the desperate battle of Dalkeith reduced to not more than +sixty men) alone remained unmoved; so catching is the quailing spirit +of doubt, abjectness, and fearful submission. + +In the moment when the indignant Ruthven saw his Perthshire legions +rolling off toward the trumpet of Le de Spencer, Scrymgeour placed +himself at the head of the men of Lanark. Unfurling the banner of +Scotland, he marched with a steady step to the tent of Bothwell, +whither he did not doubt that Wallace had retired. He found him +assuaging the impassioned grief of Edwin, and striving to moderate the +vehement wrath of the faithful Murray, "Pour not out the energy of your +soul upon these worthless men!" said he; "leave them to the fates they +seek--the fates they have incurred by the innocent blood shed this day! +The few brave hearts who yet remain loyal to this country, are +insufficient to stem at this spot the torrent of corruption. Retire +beyond the Forth, my friend. Rally all true Scots around Huntingtower. +Let the royal inmate proclaim himself, and, at the foot of the +Grampians, lock the gates of the Highlands upon our enemies. From +those bulwarks he will issue in strength, and Scotland may again be +free!" + +"Free, but never more honored!" cried Edwin; "never more beloved by me! +Ungrateful, treacherous, base land," added he, starting on his feet, +and raising his clasped hands with the vehement abjuration of an +indignant spirit; "oh, that the salt sea would ingulf thee at +once--that thy name and thy ingratitude could be no more remembered! I +will never wear a sword for her again." + +"Edwin!" ejaculated Wallace, in a reproachful, yet tender tone. + +"Exhort me not to forgive my country!" returned he; "tell me to take my +deadliest foe to my breast--to pardon the assassin who strikes his +steel into my heart, and I will obey you; but to pardon Scotland for +the injury she has done to you--for the disgrace with which her +self-debasement stains this cheek I never, never can! I abhor these +sons of Lucifer. Think not, noblest of masters, dearest of friends," +cried he, throwing himself at Wallace's feet, "that I will ever shine +in the light of those envious stars which have displayed the sun! No +tibi soli shall henceforth be the impress on my shield; to thee alone +will I ever turn; and till your beams restore your country and revive +me, the springing laurels of Edwin Ruthven shall whither where they +grew!" + +Wallace folded him to his heart; a tear stood in his eyes, while he +said in a low voice: + +"If thou art mine, thou art Scotland's. Me, she rejects. Mysterious +Heaven wills that I should quit my post; but for thee, Edwin, as a +relic of the fond love I yet bear this wretched country, abide by her, +bear with her, cherish her, defend her for my sake; and if Bruce lives, +he will be to thee a second Wallace, a friend, a brother!" + +Edwin listened, wept, and sobbed, but his heart was fixed; unable to +speak, he broke from his friend's arms, and hurried into an interior +apartment to subdue his emotions by pouring them forth to God. + +Ruthven joined in determined opinion with Bothwell, that if ever a +civil war could be sanctified, this was the time; and in spite of all +that Wallace could urge against the madness of contending for his +supremacy over a nation which would not yield him obedience, still they +remained firm in their resolution. Bruce they hardly dared hope could +recover; and to relinquish the guiding hand of their best approved +leader at this crisis, was a sacrifice, they said, no earthly power +should compel them to make. + +"So far from it," cried Lord Bothwell, dropping on his knees, and +grasping the cross hilt of his sword in both hands, "I swear by the +blood of the crucified Lord of this ungrateful world, that should Bruce +die, I will obey no other king of Scotland than William Wallace!" + +Wallace turned ashy pale as he listened to this vow. At that moment +Scrymgeour entered, followed by the Lanark veterans, and all kneeling +down, repeated the oath of Bothwell; then starting up, called on the +outraged chief, by the unburied corpse of his murdered Ker, to lead +them forth and avenge them of his enemies. + +When the agitation of his soul would allow him to speak to this +faithful group, Wallace stretched his hands over them, and with such +tears as a father would shed who looks on the children he is to behold +no more, he said, in a subdued and faltering voice, "God will avenge +our murdered friend; my sword is sheathed forever. May that holy +Being, who is the true and best King of the virtuous, always be present +with you! I feel your love, and I appreciate it. But Bothwell, +Ruthven, Lockhart, Scrymgeour, my faithful Lanark followers, leave me +awhile to compose my scattered thoughts. Let me pass this night alone, +and to-morrow you shall know the resolution of your grateful Wallace!" + +The shades of evening were closing in, and the men of Lanark, first +obtaining his permission to keep guard before the wood which skirted +the tent, respectfully kissing his hand, withdrew. Ruthven called +Edwin from the recess, whither he had retired to unburden his grief: +but as soon as he heard that it was the resolution of his friends to +preserve the authority of Wallace or to perish in the contest, the +gloom passed from his fair brow, a smile of triumph parted his lips, +and he exclaimed: + +"All will be well again. We shall force this deluded nation to +recognize her safety and her honor!" + +While the determined chiefs held discourse so congenial with the wishes +of the youthful knight, Wallace sat almost silent. He seemed revolving +some momentous idea: he frequently turned his eyes on the speakers with +a fixed regard, which appeared rather full of a grave sorrow than +demonstrative of any sympathy on the subjects of their discussion. On +Edwin he at times looked with penetrating tenderness; and when the bell +from the neighboring convent sounded the hour of rest, he stretched out +his hand to him with a smile, which he wished should speak of comfort +as well as of affection; but the soul spoke more eloquently than he had +intended: his smile was mournful, and the attempt to render it +otherwise, like a transient light over a dark sepulcher, only the more +distinctly showed the gloom and melancholy within. + +"And am I, too, to leave you?" said Edwin. + +"Yes, my brother," replied Wallace; "I have much to do with my own +thoughts this night. We separate now to meet more gladly hereafter. I +must have solitude to arrange my plans. To-morrow you shall know them. +Meanwhile farewell!" + +As he spoke he pressed the affectionate youth to his breast, and, +warmly grasping the hands of his three other friends, bade them an +earnest adieu. + +Bothwell lingered a moment at the tent-door, and looking back, "Let +your first plan be, that to-morrow you lead us to Lord Soulis' +quarters, to teach the traitor what it is to be a Scot and a man!" + +"My plans shall be deserving of my brave colleagues," replied Wallace; +"and whether they be executed on this or the other side of the Forth, +you shall find, my long-tried Bothwell, that Scotland's peace and the +honor of her best sons are the dearest considerations of your friend." + +When the door closed, and Wallace was left alone, he stood for awhile +in the midst of the tent, listening to the departing steps of his +friends. When the last sound died on his ear, "I shall hear them no +more!" cried he; and throwing himself into a seat, he remained for an +hour in a trance of grievous thoughts. Melancholy remembrances and +prospects dire for Scotland pressed upon his surcharged heart. "It is +to God alone I must confide my country!" cried he; "His mercy will pity +its madness, and forgive its deep transgressions. My duty is to remove +the object of ruin far from the power of any longer exciting jealousy +or awakening zeal." With these words, he took a pen in his hand to +write to Bruce. + +He briefly narrated the events which compelled him, if he would avoid +the grief of having occasioned a civil war, to quit his country +forever. The general hostility of the nobles, the unresisting +acquiescence of the people in measures which menaced his life and +sacrificed the freedom for which he had so long fought, convinced him, +he said, that his warlike commission was now closed. He was summoned +by Heaven to exchange the field for the cloister; and to the monastery +at Chartres he was now hastening, to dedicate the remainder of his days +to the peace of a future world. He then exhorted Bruce to confide in +the Lords Ruthven and Bothwell, as his soul would commune with his +spirit, for he would find them true unto death. He counseled him, as +the leading measure to circumvent the treason of Scotland's enemies, to +go immediately to Kilchurn Castle, where he knew resources would be; +for Loch-awe, who retired thither on the last approach of De Warenne, +meaning to call out his vassals for that emergency, needed it not then; +for the battle of Dalkeith was fought and gained before they could +leave their heights, and the victor did not want them afterward. To +use those brave and simple-hearted men for his establishment on the +throne of his kingdom, Wallace advised Bruce. And so, amidst the +natural fortresses of the Highlands, he might recover his health, +collect his friends, and openly proclaim himself. "Then," added he, +"when Scotland is your oqn, let its bulwarks be its mountains and its +people's arms. Dismantle and raze to the ground the castles of those +base chiefs who have only embattled them to betray and enslave their +country." Though intent on these political suggestions, he ceased not +to remember his own brave engines of war; and he earnestly conjured his +prince that he would wear the valiant Kirkpatrick as a buckler on his +heart; that he would place Scrymgeour with his Lanark veterans, and the +faithful Grimsby next him as his body-guard; and that he would love and +cherish the brave and tender Edwin for his sake. "When my prince and +friend receives this," added he, "Wallace shall have bidden an eternal +farewell to Scotland; but his heart will be amidst its hills. My king, +and the friends most dear to me will still be there! The earthly part +of my beloved wife rests within its bosom! But I go to rejoin her +soul; to meet it in the vigils of days consecrated wholly to the +blessed Being in whose presence she rejoices forever. This is no sad +destiny, my dear Bruce. Our Almighty Captain recalls me from dividing +with you the glory of maintaining the liberty of Scotland, but he +brings me closer to himself: I leave the plains of Gilgal to tread with +his angel the courts of my God. Mourn not, then, my absence; for my +prayers will be with you till we are again united in the only place +where you can fully know me as I am--thine and Scotland's never-dying +friend! Start not at the bold epithet. My body may sink into the +grave, but the affections of my immortal spirit are eternal as its +essence, and, in earth or in heaven, I am ever yours. + +"Should the endearing Helen--my heart's sister--be near your couch when +you read this, tell her that Wallace, in idea, presses her virgin cheek +with a brother's farewell; and from his inmost soul he blesses her." + +Messages of respectful adieus he sent to Isabella, Lady Ruthven, and +the sage of Ercildown; and then kneeling down in that posture, he wrote +his last invocations for the prosperity and happiness of Bruce. + +This letter finished, with a more tranquil mind he addressed Lord +Ruthven; detailing to him his reasons for leaving such faithful friends +so clandestinely; and after mentioning his purpose of proceeding to +France, he ended with those expressions of gratitude which the worthy +chief so well deserved; and exhorting him to transfer his public zeal +for him to the maguanimous and royal Bruce, closed the letter with +begging him, for the sake of his friend, his king, and his country, to +return immediately with all his followers to Huntingtower, and there to +rally round their prince. His letter to Scrymgeour spoke nearly the +same language. But when he began to write to Bothwell, to bid him that +farewell which his heart foreboded would be forever in this world--to +part from this, his steady companion in arms, his dauntless champion! +he lost some of his composure; and his handwriting testified the +emotion of his mind. How, then, was he shaken when he addressed the +young and devoted Edwin, the brother of his soul? He dropped the pen +from his hand. At that moment he felt all he was going to relinquish, +and he exclaimed, "Oh, Scotland! my ungrateful country; what is it you +do? Is it thus that you repay your most faithful servants? Is it not +enough that the wife of my bosom, the companion of my youth, should be +torn from me by your enemies; but your hand must wrest from my bereaved +heart its every other solace? You snatch from me my friends; you would +deprive me of my life. To preserve you from that crime, I imbitter the +cup of death; I go far from the tombs of my fathers--from the grave of +my Marion, where I have fondly hoped to rest!" His head sunk on his +arm; his heart gave way under the pressure of accumulated regrets, and +floods of tears poured from his eyes. Deep and frequent were his +sighs--but none answered him. Friendship was far distant; and where +was that gentle being who would have soothed his sorrow on her bosom? +She it was he lamented. "Dreary, dreary solitude!" cried he, looking +around him with an aghast perception of all that he had lost! "how have +I been mocked for these three long years! What is renown? what the +loud acclaim of admiring throngs? what the loud acclaim of admiring +throngs? what the bended knees of worshiping gratefulness but breath +and vapor! It seems to shelter the mountain's top; the blast comes; it +rolls from its sides; and the lonely hill is left to all the storm! So +stand I, my Marion, when bereft of thee. In weal or woe, thy smiles, +thy warm embrace, were mine; my head reclined on that faithful breast, +and still I found my home, my heaven. But now, desolate and alone, +ruin is around me. Destruction waits on all who would steal one pang +from the racked heart of William Wallace!--even pity is no more for me. +Take me, then, O Power of Mercy!" cried he, stretching forth his +hands, "take me to Thyself!" + +At these words, a peal of thunder burst on his ear, and seemed to roll +over his tent, till, passing off toward the west, it died away in long +and solemn reverberation. Wallace rose from his knee, on which he had +sunk at this awful response to his Heaven-directed adjuration. "Thou +callest me, my Father!" cried he, with a holy confidence dilating his +soul. "I go from the world to Thee! I come, and before Thy altars +know no human weakness." + +In a paroxysm of sacred enthusiasm he rushed from the tent, and, +reckless whither he went, struck into the depths of Roslyn woods. With +the steps of the wind he pierced their remotest thickets. He reached +their boundary--it was traversed by a rapid stream, but that did not +stop his course; he sprung over it, and, ascending its moonlight bank, +was startled by the sound of his name. Grimsby, attended by a youth, +stood before him. The veteran expressed amazement at meeting his +master alone at this hour, unhelmeted and unarmed, and in so dangerous +a direction. "The road," said he, "between this and Stirling is beset +with your enemies." Instead of noticing this information, Wallace +inquired what news he brought from Huntingtower. "The worst," said he. +"By this time the royal Bruce is no more!" Wallace gasped +convulsively, and fell against a tree. Grimsby paused. In a few +minutes the heart-struck chief was able to speak. "Listen not to my +groans for unhappy Scotland!" cried he; "show me all that is in this +last vial of wrath." + +Grimsby informed him that Bruce being so far recovered as to have left +his sick chamber for the family apartment, while he was sitting with +the ladies, a letter was brought to Lady Helen. She opened it, read a +few lines, and fell senseless into the arms of her sister. Bruce +snatched the packet, but not a word did he speak till he had perused it +to the end. It was from the Countess Strathearn, written in the +triumph of revenge, cruelly exulting in what she termed the +demonstration of Wallace's guilt; congratulating herself on having been +the primary means of discovering it, and boasting that his once adored +Scotland now held him in such detestation as to have doomed him to die. +It was this denunciation which had struck to the soul of Helen; and +while the anxious Lady Ruthven removed her inanimate form into another +room, Bruce read the barbarous triumphs of this disappointed woman. +"No power on earth can save him now," continued she; "your doting heart +must yield him, Helen, to another rest than your bridal chamber. His +iron breast has met with others as adamantine as his own. A hypcrite! +he feels not pity; he knows no beat of human sympathies; and like a +rock, he falls, unpitied, undeplored--undeplored by all but you, lost, +self-deluded girl! My noble lord, the princely De Warenne, informs me +that William Wallace would be burned as a double traitor in England, +and a price is now set upon his head in Scotland! hence, there is +safety for him no more. Those his base-born heart has outraged shall +be avenged; and his cries for mercy, who will answer? No voice on +earth! None dare support the man whom friends and enemies abandon to +destruction!" + +"Yes," cried Bruce, starting from his seat, "I will support him, thou +damned traitress! Bruce will declare himself! Bruce will throw +himself before his friend, and in his breast receive every arrow meant +for that godlike heart! Yes," cried he, glancing on the terrified +looks of Isabella, who believed that his delirium was returned. "I +would snatch him in these arms, from their murderous flames, did all +the fiends of hell guard their infernal fire!" Not a word more did he +utter, but darting from the apartment, was soon seen before the +barbican-gate, armed from head to foot. Grimsby stood there, to whom +he called to bring him a horse, "for that the Light of Scotland was in +danger." Grimsby, who understood by that term, his beloved master was +in peril, instantly obeyed; and Bruce, as instantly mourning, struck +his rowels into the horse, and was out of sight ere Grimsby could reach +his stirrup to follow. + +But that faithful soldier speeded after him like the win, and came in +view of Bruce just as he was leaping a chasm in the mountain path. The +horse struck his heel against a loose stone, and it giving way, he fell +headlong into the deep ravine. At the moment of his disappearance, +Grimsby rushed toward the spot, and saw the animal struggling in the +agonies of death at the bottom. Bruce lay insensible, amongst some +bushes which grew nearer the top. With difficulty the honest +Englishman got him dragged to the surface of the hill; and finding all +attempts to recover him ineffectual, he laid him on his own beast, and +so carried him slowly back to the castle. The assiduities of the sage +of Ercildown restored him to life, but not to recollection. "The fever +returned on him, with a delirium, so hopeless of recovery," continued +Grimsby, "that the Lady Helen, who again seems like an inspired angel +amongst us, has sent me with this youth to implore you to come to +Huntingtower, and there embattle yourself against your own and your +prince's enemies." + +"Send me," cried Walter Hay, grasping Wallace's hand, "send me back to +Lady Helen, and let me tell her that our benefactor, the best guardian +of our country, will not abandon us! Should you depart, Scotland's +genius will go with you! again she must sink, again she will be in +ruins. De Valence will regain possession of my dear lady, and you will +not be near to save her." + +"Grimsby, Walter, my friends!" cried Wallace, in an agitated voice, "I +do not abandon Scotland; she drives me from her. Would she have +allowed me, I would have borne her in my arms until my latest gasp; but +it must not be so. I resign her into the Almighty hands, to which I +commit myself; they will also preserve the Lady Helen from violence. I +cannot forego my trust, for the Bruce also! If he live, he will +protect her for my sake; and should he died, Bothwell and Ruthven will +cherish her for their own." + +"But you will return with us to Huntingtower," cried Grimsby. +"Disguised in these peasant's garments, which we have brought for the +purpose, you may pass through the legions of the regent with perfect +security." + +"Let me implore you, if not for your own sake, for ours! Pity our +desolation, and save yourself for them who can know no safety when you +are gone!" + +Walter clung to his arm while uttering this supplication. Wallace +looked tenderly upon him. + +"I would save myself; and I will, please God," said he; "but by no +means unworthy of myself. I go, but not under any disguise. Openly +have I defended Scotland, and openly will I pass through her lands. +The chalice of Heaven consecrated me the champion of my country, and no +Scot dare lift a hostile hand against this anointed head." + +The soul of Wallace swelled high, but devoutly, while uttering this. + +"Whither you go," cried Grimsby, "let me follow you, in joy or in +sorrow!" + +"And me, too, my benefactor!" rejoined Walter, "and when you look on +us, think not that Scotland is altogether ungrateful!" + +"My faithful friend," returned he, "whither I go, I must go alone. And +as a proof of your love, grant me your obedience this once. Rest +amongst these thickets till morning. At sunrise, repair to our camp; +there you will know my destination. But till Bruce proclaims himself +at the head of the country's armies, for my sake never reveal to mortal +man, that he who lies debilitated by sickness at Huntingtower, is other +than Sir Thomas de Longueville." + +"Rest we cannot," replied Grimsby; "but still we will obey our master. +You command me to adhere to Bruce; to serve him till the hour of his +death! I will--but should he die, then I may seek you, and be again +your faithful servant?" + +"You will find me before the cross of Christ," returned Wallace, "with +saints my fellow-soldiers, and God my only King! Till then, Grimsby, +farewell. Walter, carry my fidelity to your mistress. She will share +my thoughts, with the Blessed Virgin of Heaven, for in all my prayers +shall her name be remembered." + +Grimsby and Walter, struck by the holy solemnity of his manner, fell on +their knees before him. Wallace raised his hands: + +"Bless, O Father of Light!" cried he, "bless this unhappy land, when +Wallace is no more; let his memory be lost in the virtues and +prosperity of Robert Bruce!" + +Grimsby sunk on the earth, and gave way to a burst of manly sorrow. +Walter hid his weeping face in the folds of his master's mantle, which +had fallen from his shoulders to the ground. Lost in grief, no thought +seemed to exist in the young man's heart but the resolution to live +only for his persecuted benefactor; and to express this vow with all +the energy of determined devotedness, he looked up to seek the face of +Wallace--but Wallace had disappeared; and all that remained, to the +breaking hearts of his faithful servants, was the tartan plaid which +they had clasped in their arms. + + + + +Chapter LXXIX. + +Lumloch. + + +Wallace, having turned abruptly away from his lamenting servants, +struck into the deep defiles of the Pentland Hills. They pointed to +different tracks. Aware that the determined affection of some of his +friends might urge them to dare the perils attendant on his fellowship, +he hesitated a moment which path to take. Certainly not toward +Huntingtower, to bring immediate destruction on its royal inhabitant. +Nor to any chieftain of the Highlands, to give rise to a spirit of +civil warfare. Neither would he pursue the eastern track; for in that +direction, as pointing to France, his friends would most likely seek +him. He therefore turned his steps toward the ports of Ayr. The road +was circuitous; but it would soon enough take him from the land of his +fathers--from the country he must never see again! + +As morning dispelled the shades of night, it discovered still more +dreary glooms. A heavy mist hung over the hills, and rolled before him +along the valley. Still he pursued his way, although, the day +advanced, the vapors collected into thicker blackness, and, floating +down the heights, at last burst into a deluge of rain. All around was +darkened by the descending water; and the accumulating floods, dashing +from the projecting craigs above, swelled the burn in his path to a +roaring river. Wallace stood in the torrent, with its wild waves +breaking against his sides. The rain fell on his uncovered head, and +the chilling blast sighed in his streaming hair. Looking around him, +he paused amidst this tumult of nature. "Must there be strife, even +amongst the elements, to show that this is no longer a land for me? +Spirits of these hills," cried he, "pour not thus your rage on a +banished man! A man without a friend, without a home." He started and +smiled at his own adjuration. "The spirits of Heaven launch not this +tempest on a defenseless head; 'tis chance!--but affliction shapes all +things to its own likeness. Thou, oh, my Father! would not suffer any +demon of the air to bend thy broken reed! Therefore rain on, ye +torrents; ye are welcome to William Wallace. He can well breast the +mountain's storm, who has stemmed the ingratitude of his country." + +Hills, rivers, and vales were measured by his solitary steps, till +entering on the heights of Clydesdale, the broad river of his native +glen spread its endeared waters before him. Not a wave passed along +that had not kissed the feet of some scene consecrated to his memory. +Over the western hills lay the lands of his forefathers. There he had +first drawn his breath; there he imbibed from the lips of his revered +grandfather, now no more, those lessons of virtue by which he had +lived, and for which he was now ready to die. Far to the left +stretched the wide domains of Lammington: there his youthful heart +first knew the pulse of love: there all nature smiled upon him, for +Marion was near, and hope hailed him, from every sunlit mountain's +brow. Onward in the depths of the cliffs, lay Ellerslie, the home of +his heart, where he had tasted the joys of Paradise; but all there, +like that once blessed place, now lay in one wide ruin. + +"Shall I visit thee again?" said he, as he hurried along the beetling +craigs; "Ellerslie! Ellerslie," cried he; "'tis no hero, no triumphant +warrior, that approaches! Receive--shelter thy deserted, widowed +master! I come, my Marion, to mourn thee in thine own domains!" + +He flew forward; he ascended the cliffs; he rushed down the +hazel-crowned pathway--but it was no longer smooth; thistles, and +thickly-interwoven underwood, obstructed his steps. Breaking through +them all, he turned the angle of the rock--the last screen between him +and the view of his once beloved home. On this spot he used to stand +on moonlight evenings, watching the graceful form of his Marion, as she +passed to and fro within her chamber. His eyes now turned +instinctively to the point, but it gazed on vacancy. His home had +disappeared: one solitary tower alone remained, standing like "a +hermit, the last of his race," to mourn over the desolation of all by +which it had once been surrounded. Not a human being now moved on the +spot which, three years before, was thronged with his grateful vassals. +Not a voice was now heard, where then sounded the harp of +Halbert--where breathed the soul-entrancing song of his beloved Marion! + +"Death!" cried he, striking his breast, "how many ways hast thou to +bereave poor mortality! All, all gone! My Marion sleeps in Bothwell: +the faithful Halbert at her feet. And my peasantry of Lanark, how many +of you have found untimely graves in the bosom of your vainly rescued +country!" + +A few steps forward, and he stood on a mound of moldering fragments, +heaped over the pavement of what had been the hall. + +"My wife's blood marks the stones beneath!" cried he. + +He flung himself on the ruins, and a groan burst from his heart. It +echoed mournfully from the opposite rock. He started and gazed around. + +"Solitude!" cried he, with a faint smile; "naught is here, but Wallace +and his sorrow. Marion! I call, and even thou dost not answer me; +thou, who didst ever fly at the sound of my voice! Look on me, love!" +exclaimed he, stretching his arms toward the sky; "look on me, and for +once, till ever, cheer thy lonely, heart-stricken Wallace!" + +Tears choked his further utterance; and once more laying his head upon +the stones, he wept in silence, till exhausted natured found repose in +sleep. + +The sun was gilding the gray summits of the ruined tower under whose +shadow he lay, when Wallace slowly opened his eyes; looking around him, +he smote his breast, and with a heavy groan sunk back upon the stones. +In the silence which succeeded this burst of memory, he thought he +heard a rustling near him, and a half-suppressed sigh. He listened +breathless. The sigh was repeated. He gently raised himself on his +hand, and with an expectation he dared hardly whisper to himself, +turned toward the spot whence the sound proceeded. The branches of a +rose-tree that had been planted by his Marion, shook and scattered the +leaves of its ungathered flowers upon the brambles which grew beneath. +Wallace rose in agitation. The skirts of a human figure appeared, +retreating behind the ruins. He advanced toward it, and beheld Edwin +Ruthven. The moment their eyes met, Edwin precipitated himself at his +feet, and clinging to him, exclaimed: + +"Pardon me this pursuit! But we meet to part no more." + +Wallace raised him, and strained him to his breast in silence. Edwin, +in hardly articulate accents, continued: + +"Some kind power checked your hand when writing to your Edwin. You +could not command him not to follow you! you left the letter +unfinished, and thus I come to bless you for not condemning me to die +of a broken heart!" + +"I did not write farewell to thee," cried Wallace, looking mournfully +on him, "but I meant it, for I must part from all I love in Scotland. +It is my doom. The country needs me not, and I have need of Heaven. I +go into its outcourts at Chartres. Follow me there, dear boy, when +thou hast accomplished thy noble career on earth, and then our gray +hairs shall mingle together over the altar of the God of Peace; but now +receive the farewell of thy friend. Return to Bruce, and be to him the +dearest representative of William Wallace." + +"Never!" cried Edwin; "thou alone art my prince, my friend, my brother, +my all in this world! My parents, dear as they are, would have buried +my youth in a cloister, but your name called me to honor, and to you, +in life or in death, I dedicate my being." + +"Then," returned Wallace, "that honor summons you to the side of the +dying Bruce. He is now in the midst of his foes." + +"And where art thou?" interrupted Edwin; "who drove thee hence but +enemies? who line these roads, but wretches sent to betray their +benefactor? No, my friend, thy fate shall be my fate--thy woe my woe! +We live, or we die together: the field, the cloister, or the tomb--all +shall be welcomed by Edwin Ruthven, if they separate him not from +thee!" Seeing that Wallace was going to speak, and fearful that it was +to repeat his commands to be left alone, he suddenly exclaimed with +vehemence: "Father of men and angels! grant me thy favor only as I am +true to the vow I have sworn, never more to leave the side of Sir +William Wallace!" + +To urge the dangers in which such a resolution would expose this too +faithful friend, Wallace knew would be in vain: he read an invincible +determination in the eye and gesture of Edwin; and, therefore, yielding +to the demands of friendship, he threw himself upon his neck. + +"For thy sake, Edwin, I will endure yet awhile mankind at large! Thy +bloom of honor shall not be cropped by my hand. We will go together to +France; and while I seek a probationary quiet in some of its remote +cities, thou mayest bear the standard of Scotland, in the land of our +ally, against the proud enemies of Bruce." + +"Make of me what you will," returned Edwin, "only do not divide me from +yourself!" + +Wallace explained to his friend his design of crossing the hills to +Ayrshire, in some port of which he did not doubt finding some vessel +bound for France. Edwin overturned this plan by telling him that in +the moment the abthanes repledged their secret faith to England, they +sent orders into Ayrshire to watch the movements of Wallace's +relations, and to prevent their either hearing of or marching to the +assistance of their wronged kinsman. And besides this, no sooner was +it discovered by the insurgent lords at Roslyn that he had disappeared +from the camp, than, supposing he meant to appeal to Philip, they +dispatched expresses all along the western and eastern coasts, from the +Friths of Forth and Clyde to those of Solway and Berwick-upon-Tweed, to +intercept him. On hearing this, and that all avenues from the southern +parts of his country were closed upon him, Wallace determined to try +the north. Some bay in the Western Highlands might open its yet not +ungrateful arms to set its benefactor free! "If not by a ship," +continued Edwin, "a fisher's boat will launch us from a country no +longer worthy of you!" + +Their course was then taken along the Cartlane Craigs, at a distance +from villages and mountain cots, which, leaning from their verdant +heights, seemed to invite the traveler to refreshment and repose. +Though the sword of Wallace had won them this quiet, though his wisdom, +like the hand of Creation, had spread the lately barren hills with +beauteous harvest, yet had an ear of corn been asked in his name, it +would have been denied. A price was set upon his head, and the lives +of all who should succor him would be forfeited! He who had given +bread and homes to thousands was left to perish--had no where to +shelter his head. Edwin looked anxiously on him as at times they sped +silently along: "Ah!" thought he, "this heroic endurance of evil is the +true cross of our celestial Captain! Let who will carry his insignia +to the Holy Land, here is the man who bears the real substance, that +walks undismayed in the path of his sacrificed Lord!" + +The black plumage of a common Highland bonnet, which Edwin had +purchased at one of the cottages to which he had gone alone to buy a +few oaten cakes, hung over the face of his friend. That face no longer +blazed with the fire of generous valor--it was pale and sad; but +whenever he turned his eyes on Edwin, the shades which seemed to +envelop it disappeared, a bright smile spoke the peaceful consciousness +within, a look of grateful affection expressed his comfort at having +found, in defiance of every danger, he was not yet wholly forsaken. +Edwin's youthful, happy spirit rejoiced in every glad beam which shone +on the face of him he loved. It awoke felicity in his breast. To be +occasionally near Wallace to share his confidence with others, had +always filled him with joy, but now to be the only one on whom his +noble heart leaned for consolation, was bliss unutterable. He trod on +air, and even chid his beating heart for a delight which seemed to +exult when his friend suffered: "But not so," ejaculated he +internally; "to be with thee is the delight! In life or in death thy +presence is the sunshine of my soul!" + +When they arrived within sight of the high towers of Bothwell Castle, +Wallace stopped. "We must not go thither," said Edwin, replying to the +sentiment which spoke from the eyes of his friend; "the servants of my +cousin Andrew may not be as faithful as their lord!" + +"I will not try them," returned Wallace, with a resigned smile; "my +presence in Bothwell Chapel shall not pluck danger on the head of my +dauntless Murray. She wakes in heaven for me whose body sleeps there; +and knowing where to find the jewel, my friend, shall I linger over the +vacated casket?" + +While he yet spoke, a chieftain on horseback suddenly emerged from the +trees which led to the castle, and drew to their side. Edwin was +wrapped in his plaid, and, cautiously concealing his face that no +chance of his recognition might betray his companion, he walked briskly +on, without once looking at the stranger. But Wallace, being without +any shade over the noble contour of a form which for majesty and grace +was unequaled in Scotland, could not be mistaken. He, too, moved +swiftly forward. The horseman spurred after him. Perceiving himself +pursued, and therefore known, and aware that he must be overtaken, he +suddenly stopped. Edwin drew his sword, and would have given it into +the hand of his friend; but Wallace, putting it back, rapidly answered: +"Leave my defense to this unweaponed arm. I would not use steel +against my countrymen, but none shall take me while I have a sinew to +resist." + +The chieftain now checked his horse in front of Wallace, and +respectfully raising his visor, discovered Sir John Monteith. At sight +of him Edwin dropped the point of his yet unlifted sword; and Wallace, +stepping back, "Monteith," said he, "I am sorry for this rencounter. +If you would be safe from the destiny which pursues me, you must retire +immediately, and forget that we have met." + +"Never," cried Monteith; "I know the ingratitude of an envious country +drives the bravest of her champions from our borders, but I also know +what belongs to myself! To serve you at all hazards! And by conjuring +you to become my guest, in my castle on the Frith of Clyde, I would +demonstrate my grateful sense of the dangers you once incurred for me, +and I therefore thank fortune for this rencounter." + +In vain Wallace expressed his determination not to bring peril on any +of his countrymen, by sojourning under any roof till he were far away +from Scotland. In vain he urged to Monteith the outlawry which would +await him should the infuriated abthanes discover that he had given +shelter to the man whom they had chosen to suppose a traitor, and +denounce as one. Monteith, after equally unsuccessful persuasion on +his side, at last said, that he knew a vessel was lying at Newark, near +his castle, in which Wallace might immediately embark: and he implored +him, by past friendship, to allow him to be his guide to its anchorage. +To enforce this supplication, he threw himself off his horse, and, +with protestations of a fidelity that trampled on all comfort he should +ever know in his now degraded country. "Once I saw Scotland's steady +champion, the brave Douglas, rifled from her shores! Do not then doom +me to a second grief, bitterer than the first; do not you yourself +drive me from the side of her last hero! Ah! let me behold you, +companion of my school-days, friend, leader, benefactor! till the sea +wrests you forever from my eyes!" Exhausted and affected, Wallace gave +his hand to Monteith; the tear of gratitude stood in his eye. He +looked affectionately from Monteith to Edwin, from Edwin to Monteith: +"Wallace shall yet live in the memory of the trusty of this land! you, +my friend, prove it. I go richly forth, for the hearts of good men are +my companions." + +As they journeyed along the devious windings of the Clyde, and saw at a +distance the aspiring turrets of Rutherglen, Edwin pointed to them, and +said, "From that church a few months ago did you dictate a conqueror's +terms to England." + +"And now that very England makes me a fugitive," returned Wallace. + +"Oh! not England!" interrupted Edwin; "you bow not to her. It is +blind, mad Scotland, who thus thrusts her benefactor from her." + +"Ah! then, my Edwin," rejoined he, "read in me this history of +thousands. So various is the fate of a people's idol; to-day he is +worshiped as a god, to-morrow cast into the fire!" + +Monteith turned pale at this conversation; and quickening his steps, +hurried in silence past the opening of the valley which presented the +view of Rutherglen. + +Night overtook the travelers near the little village of Lumloch, about +two hours' journey from Glasgow. Here a storm coming on, Monteith +advised his friends to take shelter and rest. "As you object to +implicate others," said he, "you may sleep secure in an old barn which +at present has no ostensible owner. I remarked it while passing this +way from Newark. But I rather wish you would forget this too chary +regard for others, and lodge with me in the neighboring cottage." + +Wallace was insensible to the pelting of the elements; his unsubdued +spirit wanted rest for neither mind nor body; but the broken voice and +lingering step of the young Edwin, who had severely sprained his foot +in the dark, penetrated his heart; and notwithstanding that the +resolute boy, suddenly rallying himself, declared that he was neither +weary nor in pain, Wallace seeing he was both, yielded a sad consent to +be conducted from the storm. "But not," said he, "to the house. We +will go into the barn, and there, on the dry earth, my Edwin, we may +gratefully repose." + +Monteith did not oppose him further, and pushing open the door, Wallace +and Edwin entered. Their conductor soon after followed with a light +from the cottage; and pulling down some heaped straw, strewed it on the +ground for a bed. "Here I shall sleep like a prince!" cried Edwin, +throwing himself along the scattered truss. + +"But not," returned Monteith, "till I have disengaged you from your wet +garments, and preserved your arms and brigandine from the rust of this +night." + +Edwin, sunk in weariness, said little in opposition; and having +suffered Monteith to take away his sword and to unbrace his plated +vest, dropped at once on the straw in a profound sleep. + +Wallace, that he might not disturb him by debate, yielded to the +request of Monteith; and having resigned his armor also, waved him a +good-night. Monteith nodded the same, and closed the door upon his +victims. + +Well known to the generals of King Edward as one who estimated his +honor as a mere counter of traffic, Sir John Monteith was considered by +them all as a hireling fit for any purpose. Though De Warenne had been +persuaded to use unworthy means to intimidate his great opponent, he +would have shrunk from being a coadjutor of treachery. His removal +from the lord-wardenship of Scotland, in consequence of the wounds he +had received at Dalkeith, opened a path to the elevation of Aymer de +Valence. And when he was named viceroy in the stead of De Warenne, he +told Edward that if he would authorize him to offer an earldom, with +adequate estates, to Sir John Monteith, the old friend of Wallace, he +was sure so rapacious a chieftain would traverse sea and land to put +that formidable Scot in the hands of England. To incline Edward to the +proffer of so large a bribe, De Valence instanced Monteith's having +volunteered, while he commanded with Sir Eustace Maxwell on the +borders, to betray the forces under him to the English general. The +treachery was accepted; and for its execution he received a casket of +uncounted gold. Some other proofs of his devotion to England were +mentioned by De Valence. + +"You mean his devotion to money," replied the king, "and if that will +make him ours at this crisis, give him overflowing coffers, but no +earldom! Though I must have the head of Wallace, I would not have one +of my peers show a title written in his blood. Ill deeds must +sometimes be done; but we do not emblazon their perpetrators!" + +De Valence having received his credentials, sent Haliburton (a Scottish +prisoner, who bought his liberty too dear by such an embassage) to +impart to Sir John Monteith the King of England's approval. Monteith +was then castellan of Newark, where he had immured himself for many +months, under a pretense of the reopening of old wounds; but the fact +was his treasons were connected with so many accomplices that he feared +some disgraceful disclosure, and therefore kept out of the way of +exciting public attention. Avarice was his master passion; and the +sudden idea that there might be treasure in the iron box, which, +unwitting of such a thought at the time, he had consigned to Wallace, +first bound him a sordid slave. His murmurs for having allowed the box +to leave his possession, gave the alarm which caused the disasters at +Ellerslie, and his own immediate arrest. He was then sent a prisoner +to Cressingham at Stirling; but in his way thither he made his escape, +though only to fall into the hands of Soulis. That inhuman chief +threatened to return him to his dungeons; and to avoid such a +misfortune, Monteith engaged in the conspiracy to bring Lady Helen from +the priory to the arms of this monster. On her escape, Soulis would +have wreaked his vengeance on his vile emissary; but Monteith, aware of +his design, fled, and fled even into the danger he would have avoided. +He fell in with a party of roaming Southrons, who conveyed him to Ayr. +Once having immolated his honor, he kept no terms with conscience. +Arnulf soon understood what manner of man was in his custody; and by +sharing with him the pleasures of his table, soon drew from him every +information respecting the strength and resources of his country. His +after history was a series of secret treacheries to Scotland; and in +return for them, an accumulation of wealth from England, the +comtemplation of which seemed to be his sole enjoyment. + +This new offer from De Valence was therefore greedily embraced. He +happened to be at Rutherglen when Haliburton brought the proposal; and +in the cloisters of its church** was its fell agreement signed. He +transmitted an oath to De Valence that he would die or win his hire. +And immediately dispatching spies to the camp at Roslyn, as soon as he +was informed of Wallace's disappearance, he judged, from the knowledge +of that chief's retentive affections, that whithersoever he intended +finally to go, he would first visit Ellerslie, and the tomb of his +wife. According to this opinion, he planted his emissaries in +favorable situations on the road, and then proceeded himself to +intercept his victim at the most probable places. + +Not finding him at Bothwell, he was issuing forth to take the way to +Ellerslie, when the object of his search presented himself at the +opening of the wood. The evil plan too well succeeded. + +Triumphant in his deceit, this master of hypocrisy left the barn, in +which he had seen Wallace and his young friend lie down on that ground +from which he had determined they should never more rise. Aware that +the unconquerable soul of Wallace would never allow himself to be taken +alive, he had stipulated with De Valence that the delivery of his head +should entitle him to a full reward. From Rutherglen to Lumloch no +place had presented itself in which he thought he could so judiciously +plant an ambuscade to surprise the unsuspecting Wallace. And in this +village he had stationed so large a force of ruthless savages (brought +for the occasion by Haliburton from the Irish island of Rathlin), that +their employer had hardly a doubt of this night being the last of his +too-trusting friend's existence. These Rathliners neither knew of +Wallace nor his exploits; but the lower order of Scots, however they +might fear to succor his distress, loved his person, and felt so bound +to him by his actions, that Monteith durst not apply to any one of them +to second his villainy. + +**The events of Wallace having dictated terms of peace with England, +and Monteith pledging himself to that country's emissary to betray +Wallace, having taken place in this church, are traditionary facts. + +The hour of midnight passed, and yet he could not summon courage to +lead his men to their nefarious attack. Twice they urged him, before +he arose from his affected sleep--for sleep he could not; guilt had +"murdered sleep!" and he lay awake, restless, and longing for the dawn; +and yet, ere that dawn, the deed must be accomplished! A cock crew +from the neighboring farm. + +"That is the sign of morning, and we have yet done nothing," exclaimed +a surly ruffian, who leaned on his battle-ax in an ssopposite corner of +the apartment. + +"No, it is the signal of our enemy's captivity!" cried Monteith. +"Follow me, but gently. If ye speak a word or a single target rattle, +before ye all fall upon him, we are lost. It is a being of +supernatural might, not a mere man, whom ye go to encounter. He that +first disables him shall have a double reward." + +"Depend upon us," returned the sturdiest ruffian; and stealing +cautiously out of the cottage, the party advanced with noiseless steps +toward the barn. Monteith paused at the door, making a sign to his men +to halt while he listened. He put his ear to a crevice--not a murmur +was within. He gently raised the latch, and setting the door wide +open, with his finger on his lip, beckoned his followers. Without +venturing to draw a breath, they approached the threshold. The +meridian moon shone full into the hovel, and shed a broad light upon +their victims. The innocent face of Edwin rested on the bosom of his +friend, and the arm of Wallace lay on the spread straw with which he +had covered the tender body of his companion. So fair a picture of +mortal friendship was never before beheld. But the hearts were blind +which looked on it, and Monteith gave the signal. He retreated out of +the door, while his men threw themselves forward to bind Wallace where +he lay; but the first man, in his eagerness, striking his head against +a joist in the roof, uttered a fierce oath. The noise roused Wallace, +whose wakeful senses had rather slumbered than slept, and opening his +eyes, he sprung on his feet. + +A moment told him enemies were around. Seeing him rise, they rushed on +him with imprecations. His eyes blazed like two terrible meteors; and, +with a sudden motion of his arm, he seemed to hold the men at a +distance, while his god-like figure stood, a tower in collected might. +Awe-struck, they paused, but it was only for an instant. The sight of +Edwin, now starting from his sleep, his aghast countenance, while he +felt for his weapons, his cry when he recollected they were gone, +inspired the assassins with fresh courage. Battle-axes, swords, and +rattling chains, now flashed before the eyes of Wallace. The pointed +steel in many places entered his body, while with part of a broken +bench, which chanced to lie near him, he defended himself and Edwin +from this merciless host. Edwin, seeing naught but the death of his +friend before his sight, regardless of himself, made a spring from his +side, and snatched a dagger from the belt of one of the murderers. The +ruffian instantly caught the intrepid boy by the throat, and in that +horrible clutch would certainly have deprived him of life had not the +lion grasp of Wallace seized the man in his arms, and with a pressure +that made his mouth and nostrils burst with blood, compelled him to +forego his hold. Edwin released, Wallace dropped his assailant, who, +staggering a few paces, fell senseless to the ground, and instantly +expired. + +The conflict now became doubly desperate--Edwin's dagger twice defended +the breast of his friend. Two of his assassins he stabbed to the heart. + +"Murder that urchin!" cried Monteith, who, seeing from without the +carnage of his men, feared that Wallace might yet make his escape. + +"Hah!" cried Wallace, at the sound of Monteith's voice giving such an +order--"then we are betrayed--but not by Heaven! Strike, one of you, +that angel youth," cried he, "and you will incur damnation!" + +He spoke to the winds. They poured toward Edwin; Wallace, with a +giant's strength, dispersed them as they advanced; the beam of wood +fell on the heads, the breasts of his assailants. Himself bleeding at +every pore, he felt not a smart while yet he defended Edwin. But a +shout was heard from the door, a faint cry was heard at his side. He +looked around. Edwin lay extended on the ground, with an arrow +quivering in his breast, his closing eyes still looking upward to his +friend. The beam fell from the hands of Wallace. He threw himself on +his knees beside him. The dying boy pressed his hand to his heart, and +dropped his head upon his bosom--Wallace moved not, spoke not. His +hand was bathed in the blood of his friend, but not a pulse beat +beneath it; no breath warmed the paralyzed chill of his face as it hung +over the motionless lips of Edwin. + +The men were more terrified at this unresisting stillness than at the +invincible prowess of his arm, and stood gazing on him in mute wonder. +But Monteith, in whom the fell appetite of avarice had destroyed every +perception of humanity, sent in other ruffians with new orders to bind +Wallace. They approached him with terror; two of the strongest +stealing behind him, and taking advantage of his face being bent upon +that of his murdered Edwin, each in the same moment seized his hands. +As they griped them fast, the others advanced eagerly to fasten the +bands, he looked calmly up, but it was a dreadful calm; it spoke of +despair, of the full completion of all woe. "Bring chains," cried one +of the men, "he will burst these thongs." + +"You may bind me with a hair," said he; "I contend no more." The bonds +were fastened on his wrists; and then, turning toward the lifeless body +of Edwin, he raised it gently in his arms. The rosy red of youth yet +tinged his cold cheek; his parted lips still beamed with the same--but +the breath that had so sweetly informed them, was flown. "Oh! my best +brother that ever I had," cried Wallace in a sudden transport, and +kissing his pale forehead; "my sincerest friend in my greatest need! +In thee was truth, manhood, and nobleness; in thee was all man's +fidelity with woman's tenderness. My friend, my brother, oh! would to +God I had died for thee!" + + + + +Chapter LXXX. + +Huntingtower. + + +Lord Ruthven was yet musing, in fearful anxiety, on Wallace's solemn +adieu, and the confirmation which the recitals of Grimsby and Hay had +brought of his determined exile, when he was struck with a new +consternation by the flight of his son. A billet, which Edwin had left +with Scrymgeour, who guessed not its contents, told his father that he +was gone to seek their friend, and to unite himself forever to his +fortunes. + +Bothwell not less eager to preserve Wallace to the world, with an +intent to persuade him to at least abandon his monastic project, set +off direct for France, hoping to arrive before his friend, and engage +the French monarch to assist in preventing so grievous a sacrifice. +Ruthven, meanwhile, fearful that the unarmed Wallace and the +self-regardless Edwin might fall into the hands of the venal wretches +now widely dispersed to seize the chief and his adherents, sent out the +veterans, in divers disguises, to pursue the roads it was probable he +might take, and finding him, guard him safely to the coast. Till +Ruthven should receive accounts of their success, he forbore to forward +the letter which Wallace had left for Bruce, or to increase the +solicitude of the already anxious inhabitants of Huntingtower with any +intimation of what had happened. But on the fourth day, Scrymgeour and +his party returned with the horrible narrative of Lumloch. + +After the murder of his youthful friend, Wallace had been loaded with +irons, and conveyed, so unresistingly that he seemed in a stupor, on +board a vessel, to be carried without loss of time to the Tower of +London. Sir John Monteith, though he never ventured into his sight, +attended as the accuser, who, to put a visor on cruelty, was to swear +away his victim's life. The horror and grief of Ruthven at these +tidings were unutterable; and Scrymgeour, to turn the tide of the +bereaved father's thoughts to the inspiring recollection of the early +glory of his son, proceeded to narrate, that he found the beauteous +remains in the hovel, but bedecked with flowers by the village girls. +They were weeping over it, and lamenting the pitiless heart which could +slay such youth and loveliness. To bury him in so obscure a spot, +Scrymgeour would not allow, and he had sent Stephen Ireland with the +sacred corpse to Dumbarton, with orders to see him entombed in the +chapel of that fortress. + +"It is done," continued the worthy knight, "and those towers he so +bravely scaled with stand forever the monument of Edwin Ruthven." + +"Scrymgeour," said the stricken father, "the shafts fall thick upon us, +but we must fulfill our duty." + +Cautious of inflicting too heavy a blow on the fortitude of his wife +and of Helen, he commanded Grimsby and Hay to withhold from everybody +at Huntingtower the tidings of its young lord's fate; but he believed +it his duty not to delay the letter of Wallace to Bruce, and the +dreadful information to him of Monteith's treachery. Ruthven ended his +short epistle to his wife by saying he should soon follow his +messenger; but that at present he could not bring himself to entirely +abandon the Lowlands to even a temporary empire of the seditious chiefs. + +Ruthven ended his short epistle to his wife by saying he should soon +follow his messenger; but that at present he could not bring himself to +entirely abandon the Lowlands to even a temporary empire of the +seditious chiefs. + +On Grimsby's arrival at Huntingtower he was conducted immediately to +Bruce. Some cheering symptoms having appeared that morning, he had +just exchanged his bed for a couch when Grimsby entered the room. The +countenance of the honest Southron was the harbinger of his news. Lady +Helen started from her seat, and Bruce, stretching out his arms, +eagerly caught the packets the soldier presented. Isabella inquired if +all were well with Sir William Wallace; but ere he could make an +answer, Lady Ruthven ran breathless into the room, holding out the open +letter brought by Hay to her. Bruce had just read the first line of +his, which announced the captivity of Wallace; and, with a groan that +pierced through the souls of every one present, he made an attempt to +spring from the couch; but in the act he reeled, and fell back in a +fearful but mute mental agony. The apprehensive heart of Helen guessed +some direful explanation; she looked with speechless inquiry upon her +aunt and Grimsby. Isabella and Ercildown hastened to Bruce; and Lady +Ruthven being too much appalled in her own feelings to think for a +moment on the aghast Helen, hurriedly read to her from Lord Ruthven's +letter the brief but decisive account of Wallace's dangerous +situation--his seizure and conveyance to the Tower of England. Helen +listened without a word; her heart seemed locked within her; her brain +was on fire; and gazing fixedly on the floor while she listened, all +else that was transacted around her passed unnoticed. + +The pangs of a convulsion fit did not long shackle the determined +Bruce. The energy of his spirit struggling to gain the side of Wallace +in this his extreme need (for he well knew Edward's implacable soul), +roused him from his worse than swoon. With his extended arms dashing +away the restoratives with which both Isabella and Ercildown hung over +him, he would have leaped on the floor had not the latter held him down. + +"Withhold me not!" cried he; "this is not the time for sickness and +indulgence. My friend is in the fangs of the tyrant, and shall I lie +here? No, not for all the empires in the globe will I be detained +another hour." + +Isabella, affrighted at the furies which raged in his eyes, but yet +more terrified at the perils attendant on his desperate resolution, +threw herself at his feet, and implored him to stay for her sake. + +"No," cried Bruce, "not for thy life, Isabella, which is dearer to me +than my own! not to save this ungrateful country from the doom it +merits would I linger one moment from the side of him who has fought, +bled, and suffered for me and mine, who is now treated with ignominy, +and sentenced to die, for my delinquency! Had I consented to proclaim +myself on my landing, secure with Bruce the king envy would have feared +to strike; but I must first win a fame like his! And while I lay here, +they tore him from the vain and impotent Bruce! But, Almighty pardoner +of my sins!" cried he, with vehemence, "grant me strength to wrest him +from their grip, and I will go barefoot to Palestine, to utter all my +gratitude!" + +Isabella sunk weeping into the arms of her aunt. And the venerable +Ercildown, wishing to curb an impetuosity which could only involve its +generous agent in a ruin deeper than that it sought to revenge, with +more zeal than judgment, urged to the prince the danger into which such +boundless resentment would precipitate his own person. At this +intimation the impassioned Bruce, stung to the soul that such an +argument could be expected to have weight with him, solemnly bent his +knees, and clasping his sword, vowed before Heaven "either to release +Wallace or--" to share his fate! he would have added; but Isabella, +watchful of his words, suddenly interrupted him, by throwing herself +wildly on his neck, and exclaiming: + +"Oh, say not so! Rather swear to pluck the tyrant from his throne; +that the scepter of my Bruce may bless England, as it will yet do this +unhappy land!" + +"She says right!" ejaculated Ercildown, in a prophetic transport; "and +the scepter of Bruce, in the hands of his offspring, shall bless the +united countries to the latest generations! The walls of separation +shall then be thrown down, and England and Scotland be one people." + +Bruce looked steadfastly on the sage: "Then if thy voice utter holy +verity, it will not again deny my call to wield the power that Heaven +bestows! I follow my fate! To-morrow's dawn sees me in the path to +snatch my best treasure, my counselor, my guide, from the judgment of +his enemies--or woe to England, woe to all Scotland born who have +breathed one hostile word against his sacred life! Helen dost thou +hear me?" cried he: "Wilt thou not assist me to persuade thy too timid +sister that her Bruce's honor, his happiness, lives in the preservation +of his friend? Speak to her, counsel her, sweet Helen, and, and, +please the Almighty arm of Heaven, I will reward thy tenderness with +the return of Wallace!" + +Helen gazed intently on him while he spoke. She smiled when he ended, +but she did not answer, and there was a wild vacancy in the smile that +seemed to say she knew not what had been spoken, and that her thoughts +were far away. Without further regarding him or any present, she arose +and left the room. At this moment of fearful abstraction, her whole +soul was bent with an intensity that touched on madness, on the +execution of a project which had rushed into her mind in the moment she +heard of Wallace's deathful captivity and destination. + +Helen gazed intently on him while he spoke. She smiled when he ended, +but she did not answer, and there was a wild vacancy in the smile that +seemed to say she knew not what had been spoken, and that her thoughts +were far away. Without further regarding him or any present, she arose +and left the room. At this moment of fearful abstraction, her whole +soul was bent with an intensity that touched on madness, on the +execution of a project which had rushed into her mind in the moment she +heard of Wallace's deathful captivity and destination. + +The approach of night favored her design. Hurrying to her chamber, she +dismissed her maids with the prompt excuse that she was ill, and +desired not to be disturbed until morning, then bolting the door, she +quickly habited herself as the dear memorial of her happy days in +France, and dropping from her window into the pleasance beneath, ran +swiftly through its woody precincts toward Dundee. + +Before she arrived at the suburbs of Ferth, her tender feet became so +blistered, she found the necessity of stopping at the first cottage. +But her perturbed spirits rendered it impossible for her to take rest, +and she answered the hospitable offer of its humble owner, with a +request that he would go into the town and immediately purchase a +horse, to carry her that night to Dundee. She put her purse into the +man's hand, who without further discussion obeyed. When the animal was +brought and the honest Scot returned her the purse with its remaining +contents, she divided them with him, and turning from his thanks, +mounted the horse, and rode away. + +About an hour before dawn, she arrived within view of the ships lying +in the harbor at Dundee. At this sight she threw herself off the +panting animal, and leaving it to rest and liberty, hastened to the +beach. A gentle breeze blew freshly from the northwest, and several +vessels were heaving their anchors to get under weigh. + +"Are any," demanded she, "bound for the Tower of London?" + +"None," were the replies. Despair was now in her heart and gesture. +But suddenly recollecting that in dressing herself for flight she had +not taken off the jewels she usually wore, she exclaimed with renovated +hope, "Will not gold tempt some one to carry me thither?" A rough +Norwegian sailor jumped from the side of the nearest vessel, and +readily answered in the affirmative. "My life," rejoined she, "or a +necklace of pearls shall be yours, in the moment you land me at the +Tower of London." The man seeing the youth and agitation of the +seeming boy, doubted his power to perform so magnificent a promise, and +was half inclined to retract his assent; but Helen pointing to a jewel +on her finger as a proof that she did not speak of things beyond her +read, he no longer hesitated; and pledging his word that wind and tide +in his favor, he would land her at the Tower Stairs, she, as if all +happiness must meet her at that point, sprung into his vessel. The +sails were unfurled, the voices of the men chanted forth their cheering +responses on clearing the harbor, and Helen throwing herself along the +floor of her little cabin, in that prostration of body and soul, +silently breathed her thanks to God for being indeed launched on the +ocean, whose waves she trusted would soon convey her to Wallace; to +sooth, to serve--to die, or to compass the release of him who had +sacrificed more than his life for her father's preservation--for him +who had saved herself from worse than death. + + + + +Chapter LXXXI. + +The Thames. + + +On the evening of the fourteenth day from the one in which Helen had +embarked, the little ship of Dundee entered on the bright bosom of the +Nore. While she sat on the deck watching the progress of the vessel +with an eager spirit, which would gladly have taken wings to have flown +to the object of her voyage, she first saw the majestic waters of the +Thames. But it was a tyrannous flood to her, and she marked not the +diverging shores crowned with palaces; her eyes looked over every +stately dome to seek the black summits of the Tower. At a certain +point the captain of the vessel spoke through his trumpet to summon a +pilot from the land. In a few minutes he was obeyed. The Englishman +took the helm. Helen was reclined on a coil of ropes near him. He +entered into conversation with the Norwegian, and she listened in +speechless attention to a recital which bound up her every sense in +that hearing. The captain had made some unprincipled jest on the +present troubles of Scotland, now his adopted country from his +commercial interests, and he added with a laugh, "that he though any +ruler the right one who gave him a free course in traffic." In answer +to this remark, and with an observation not very flattering to the +Norwegian's estimation of right and wrong, the Englishman mentioned the +capture of the once renowned champion of Scotland. Even the enemy who +recounted the particulars, showed a truth in the recital which shamed +the man who had benefited by the patriotism he affected to despise, and +for which Sir William Wallace was now likely to shed his blood. + +"I was present," continued the pilot, "when the brave Scot was put on +the raft, which carried him through the Traitor's Gate into the Tower. +His hands and feet were bound with iron; but his head, owing to +faintness from the wounds he had received at Lumloch, was so bent down +on his breast as he reclined on the float, that I could not then see +his face. There was a great pause, for none of us, when he did appear +in sight, could shout over the downfall of so merciful a conqueror. +Many were spectators of this scene whose lives he had spared on the +fields of Scotland; and my brother was amongst them. However, that I +might have a distinct view of the man who has so long held our warlike +monarch in dread, I went to Westminster Hall on the day appointed for +his trial. The great judges of the land, and almost all the lords +besides were there, and a very grand spectacle they made. But when the +hall-door was opened, and the dauntless prisoner appeared, then it was +that I saw true majesty. King Edward on his throne never looked with +such a royal air. His very chains seemed given to be graced by him as +he moved through the parting crowd with the step of one who had been +used to have all his accusers at his feet. Though pale with loss of +blood, and his countenance bore traces of the suffering occasioned by +the state of his yet unhealed wounds, his head was now erect, and he +looked with undisturbed dignity on all around. The Earl of Gloucester, +whose life and liberty he had granted at Berwick, sat on the right of +the lord chancellor. Bishop Beck, the Lords de Valence and Soulis, +with one Monteith (who it seems was the man that betrayed him into our +hands), charged him with high treason against the life of King Edward +and the peace of his majesty's realms of England and Scotland. +Grievous were the accusations brought against him, and bitter the +revilings with which he was denounced as a traitor too mischievous to +deserve any show of mercy. The Earl of Gloucester at last rose +indignantly, and in energetic and respectful terms, called on Sir +William Wallace, by the reverence in which he held the tribunal of +future ages, to answer for himself! + +"'On this adjuration, brave earl!' replied he, 'I will speak!' O! men +of Scotland, what a voice was that! In it was all honesty and +nobleness! and a murmur arose from some who feared its power, which +Gloucester was obliged to check by exclaiming aloud with a stern voice; +'Silence, while Sir William Wallace answers. He who disobeys, +sergeant-at-arms, take into custody!' A pause succeeded, and the +chieftain, with god-like majesty of truth, denied the possibility of +being a traitor where he never had owed allegiance. But with a +matchless fearlessness, he avowed the facts alleged against him, which +told the havoc he had made of the English on the Scottish plains, and +the devastations he had afterward wrought in the lands of England. 'It +was a son,' cried he, 'defending the orphans of his father from the +steel and rapine of a treacherous friend! It was the sword of +restitution gathering on that false friend's fields the harvests he had +ravaged from theirs!' He spoke more and nobly--too nobly for them who +heard him. They rose to a man to silence what they could not confute; +and the sentence of death was pronounced on him--the cruel death of a +traitor! The Earl of Gloucester turned pale on his seat, but the +countenance of Wallace was unmoved. As he was led forth, I followed, +and of Wallace was unmoved. As he was led forth, I followed, and saw +the young Le de Spencer, with several other reprobate gallants of our +court, ready to receive him. With shameful mockery they flew laurels +on his head, and with torrents of derision, told him, it was meet they +should so salute the champion of Scotland! Wallace glanced on them a +look which spoke pity rather than contempt, and, with a serene +countenance, he followed the warden toward the Tower. The hirelings of +his accusers loaded him with invectives as he passed along; but the +populace who beheld his noble mien, with those individuals who had +heard of--while many had felt--his generous virtues, deplored and wept +his sentence. To-morrow at sunrise he dies." + +Helen's face being overshadowed by the low brim of her hat, the agony +of her mind could not have been read in her countenance had the good +Southron been sufficiently uninterested in his story to regard the +sympathy of others; but as soon as he had uttered the last dreadful +words, "To-morrow at sunrise he dies!" she started from her seat; her +horror-struck senses apprehended nothing further, and turning to the +Norwegian, "Captain," cried she, "I must reach the Tower this night!" + +"Impossible!" was the reply: "the tide will not take us up till +to-morrow at noon." + + +"Then the waves shall!" cried she, and frantically rushing toward the +ship's side, she would have thrown herself into the water, had not the +pilot caught her arm. + +"Boy!" said he, "are you mad? your action, your looks--" + +"No," interrupted she, wringing her hands; "but in the Tower I must be +this night, or-- Oh! God of mercy, end my misery!" + +The unutterable anguish of her voice, countenance, and gesture excited +a suspicion in the Englishman, that this youth was connected with the +Scottish chief; and not choosing to hint his surmise to the unfeeling +Norwegian, in a different tone he exhorted Helen to composure, and +offered her his own boat, which was then towed at the side of the +vessel, to take her to the Tower. Helen grasped the pilot's rough +hand, and in a paroxysm of gratitude pressed it to her lips; then +forgetful of her engagements with the insensible man who stood unmoved +by his side, sprung into the boat. The Norwegian followed her, and in +a threatening tone demanded his hire. She now recollected it, and +putting her hand into her vest, gave him the string of pearls which had +been her necklace. He was satisfied, and the boat pushed off. + +The cross, the cherished memorial of her hallowed meeting with Wallace +in the chapel of Snawdoun, and which always hung suspended on her +bosom, was now in her hand and pressed close to her heart. The rowers +plied their oars, and her eyes, with a gaze as if they would pierce the +horizon, looked intently onward, while the men labored through the +tide. Even to see the walls which contained Wallace, seemed to promise +her a degree of comfort she dared hardly hope herself to enjoy. At +last the awful battlements of England's state prison rose before her. +She could not mistake them. "That is the Tower," said one of the +rowers. A shriek escaped her, and instantly covering her face with her +hands, she tried to shut from her sight those very walls she had so +long sought amongst the clouds. They imprisoned Wallace! He groaned +within their confines! and their presence paralyzed her heart. + +"Shall I die before I reach thee, Wallace?" was the question her almost +flitting soul uttered, as she, trembling, yet with swift steps, +ascended the stone stairs which led from the water's edge to the +entrance to the Tower. She flew through the different courts to the +one in which stood the prison of Wallace. One of the boatmen, being +bargeman to the Governor of the Tower, as a privileged person, +conducted her unmolested through every ward till she reached the place +of her destination. There she dismissed him with a ring from her +finger as his reward; and passing a body of soldiers, who kept guard +before a large porch that led to the dungeons, she entered, and found +herself in an immense paved room. A single sentinel stood at the end +near to an iron grating, or small portcullis; there, then, was Wallace! +Forgetting her disguise and situation, in the frantic eagerness of her +pursuit, she hastily advanced to the man: + +"Let me pass to Sir William Wallace," cried she, "and treasures shall +be your reward." + +"Whose treasures, my pretty page?" demanded the soldier; "I dare not, +were it at the suit of the Countess of Gloucester herself." + +"Oh!" cried Helen, "for the sake of a greater than any countess in the +land, take this jeweled bracelet, and let me pass!" + +The man, misapprehending the words of this adjuration, at sight of the +diamonds, supposing the page must come from the good queen, no longer +demurred. Putting the bracelet into his bosom, he whispered Helen, +that as he granted this permission at the risk of his life, she must +conceal herself in the interior chamber of the prisoner's dungeon +should any person from the warden visit him during their interview. +She readily promised this; and he informed her that, when through this +door, she must cross two other apartments, the bolts to the entrances +of which she must undraw; and then, at the extremity of a long passage, +a door, fastened by a latch, would admit her to Sir William Wallace. +With these words, the soldier removed the massy bars, and Helen entered. + + + + +Chapter LXXXII. + +The Tower of London. + + +Helen's fleet steps carried her in a few minutes through the +intervening dungeons to the door which would restore to her eyes the +being with whose life her existence seemed blended. The bolts had +yielded to her hands. The iron latch now gave way; and the ponderous +oak, grating dismally on its hinges, she looked forward, and beheld the +object of all her solicitude leaning along a couch; a stone table was +before him, at which he seemed writing. He raised his head at the +sound. The peace of virtue was in his eyes, and a smile on his lips, +as if he had expected some angel visitant. + +The first glance at his pale, but heavenly countenance struck to the +heart of Helen; veneration, anguish, shame, all rushed on her at once. +She was in his presence! but how might he turn from consolations he had +not sought! The intemperate passion of her step-mother now glared +before her; his contempt of the countess' unsolicited advances appeared +ready to be extended to her rash daughter-in-law; and with an +irrepressible cry, which seemed to breathe out her life, Helen would +have fled, but her failing limbs bent under her, and she fell senseless +into the dungeon. Wallace started from his reclining position. He +thought his senses must deceive him--and yet the shriek was Lady +Helen's. He had heard the same cry on the Pentland Hills; in the +chamber of Chateau Galliard! He rose agitated; he approached the +prostrate youth, and bending to the inanimate form, took off the Norman +hat; he parted the heavy locks which fell over her brow, and recognized +the features of her who alone had ever shared his meditations with his +Marion. He sprinkled water on her face and hands; he touched her +cheek; it was ashy cold, and the chill struck to his heart. "Helen!" +exclaimed he; "Helen, awake! Speak to thy friend!" + +Still she was motionless. "Dead!" cried he, with increased emotion. +His eye and his heart in a moment discerned and understood the rapid +emaciation of those lovely features--now fearing the worst; "Gone so +soon!" repeated he, "gone to tell my Marion that her Wallace comes. +Blessed angel!" cried he, clasping her to his breast, with an energy of +which he was not aware, "take me, take me with thee!" The pressure, +the voice, roused the dormant life of Helen. With a torturing sigh she +unsealed her eyes from the death-like load that oppressed them, and +found herself in the arms of Wallace. + +All her wandering senses, which from the first promulgation of his +danger had been kept in a bewildered state, now rallied; and, in +recovered sanity, smote her to the soul. Though still overwhelmed with +grief at the fate which threatened to tear him from her and life, she +now wondered how she could ever have so trampled on the retreating +modesty of her nature, as to have brought herself thus into his +presence; and in a voice of horror, of despair, believing that she had +forever destroyed herself in his opinion, she exclaimed: "O! Wallace! +how came I here? I am lost--and innocently; but God--the pure God--can +read the soul!" + +She lay in hopeless misery on his breast, with her eyes again closed, +almost unconscious of the support on which she leaned. + +"Lady Helen," returned he, "was it other than Wallace you sought in +these dungeons? I dared to think that the Parent we both adore had +sent you hither to be His harbinger of consolation!" Recalled to +self-possession by the kindness of these words, Helen turned her head +on his bosom, and in a burst of grateful tears, hardly articulated: + +"And will you not abhor me for this act of madness? But I was not +myself. And yet, where should I live but at the feet of my benefactor?" + +The steadfast soul of Wallace was subdued by this language, and the +manner of its utterance. It was the disinterested dictates of a pure +though agitated spirit, which he now was convinced did most exclusively +love him, but with the passion of an angel; and the tears of a sympathy +which spoke their kindred natures stole from his eyes as he bent his +cheek on her head. She felt them; and rejoicing in such an assurance +that she yet possessed his esteem, a blessed calm diffused itself over +her mind, and raising herself, with a look of virtuous confidence, she +exclaimed: + +"Then you do understand me, Wallace? you pardon me this apparent +forgetfulness of my sex; and you recognize a true sister in Helen Mar? +I may administer to that noble heart, till--" she paused, turning +deathly pale, and then clasping his hand in both hers, in bitter agony +added, "till we meet in heaven!" + +"And blissful, dearest saint, will be our union there," replied he, +"where soul meets soul, unencumbered of these earthly fetters; and +mingles with each other, even as thy tender teardrops now glide into +mine! But there, my Helen, we shall never weep. No heart will be left +unsatisfied; no spirit will mourn in unrequited love, for that happy +region is the abode of love--of love without the defilements or the +disquietudes of mortality, for there it is an everlasting, pure +enjoyment. It is a full, diffusive tenderness, which, penetrating all +hearts, unites the whole in one spirit of boundless love in the bosom +of our God! Who, the source of all love, as John the beloved disciple +saith, 'so loved a lost world, that he sent his only Son to redeem it +from its sins, and to bring it to eternal blessedness!'" + +"Ah!" cried Helen, throwing herself on her knees in holy enthusiasm; +"join then your prayers with mine, most revered of friends, that I may +be admitted into such blessedness! Petition our God to forgive me, and +do you forgive me, that I have sometimes envied the love you bear your +Marion! But now I love her so entirely, that to be her and your +ministering spirit in Paradise would amply satisfy my soul." + +"O! Helen," cried Wallace, grasping her uplifted hands in his, and +clasping them to his heart, "thy soul and Marion's are indeed one, and +as one I love ye!" + +This unlooked-for declaration almost overpowered Helen in its flood of +happiness; and, with a smile, which seemed to picture the very heavens +opening before her, she turned her eyes from him to a crucifix which +stood on a table, and bowing her head on its pedestal, was lost in the +devotion of rapturous gratitude. + +At this juncture, when, perhaps, the purest bliss that ever descended +on woman's heart now glowed in that of Helen, the Earl of Gloucester +entered. His were not visits of consolation, for he knew that his +friend, who had built his heroism on the rock of Christianity, did not +require the comfortings of any mortal hand. At sight of him Wallace +pointing to the kneeling Helen, beckoned him into the inner cell, where +his straw pallet lay; and there, in a low voice, declared who she was, +and requested the earl to use his authority to allow her to remain with +him to the last. + +"After that," said he, "I rely on you, generous Gloucester, to convey +safely back to her country a being who seems to have nothing of earth +about her but the terrestrial body which enshrines her angelic soul!" + +The sound of a voice speaking with Wallace roused Helen from her happy +trance. Alarmed that it might be the fatal emissaries of the tyrant, +come prematurely to summon him to his last hour, she started on her +feet. "Where are you, Wallace?" cried she, looking distractedly around +her; "I must be with you even in death!" + +Hearing her fearful cry, he hastened into the dungeon, and relieved her +immediate terror by naming the Earl of Gloucester, who followed him. +The conviction that Wallace was under mortal sentence, which the +heaven-sent impression of his eternal bliss had just almost +obliterated, now glared upon her with redoubled horrors. This world +again rose before her in the person of Gloucester. It reminded her +that she and Wallace were not yet passed into the hereafter, whose +anticipated reunion had wrapt her in such sweet elysium. He had yet +the bitter cup of death to drink to the dregs; and all of human +weakness again writhed within her bosom. "And is there no hope?" +faltered she, looking earnestly on the disturbed face of Gloucester, +who had bowed with a pitying respect to her as he approached her. And +then, while he seemed hesitating for an answer, she more firmly, but +imploringly resumed: "Oh, let me seek your king? once he was a crusade +prince! The cross was then on his breast, and the love of Him who came +to redeem lost man, nay, even his direst enemies, from death unto life, +must have been then in your king's heart. Oh, if once there, it cannot +be wholly extinguished now! Let me, gracious earl, but recall to him +that he was then beloved by a queen who to this day is the glory of her +sex. On that spot of holy contest she preserved his life from an +assassin's poison, by daring the sacrifice of her own! But she lived +to bless him, and to be blessed herself! While Sir William Wallace, +also a Christian knight, anointed by virtue and his cause, hath only +done for his own country and its trampled land what King Edward then +did for Christendom in Palestine. And he was roused to the defense, by +a deed worse than ever infidel inflicted! The wife of his bosom--who +had all of angel about her, but that of her mortal body--was stabbed by +a murderous Southron governor in Scotland, because she would not betray +her husband to his desolating brand! I would relate this on my knees, +to your royal Edward, and call on the spirit of his sainted queen to +enforce my suit, by the memory of her love and her devotedness." + +Helen, who had risen in her energy of speech and supplication, suddenly +paused, clasped her hands, and stood with upward eyes, looking as if +she beheld the beatified object of her invocation. + +"Dearest sister of my soul!" cried Wallace, who had forborne to +interrupt her, taking her clasped hands in his, "thy knees shall never +bend to any less than to the blessed Lord of all mankind, for me! Did +He will my longer pilgrimage on this earth, of which my spirit is +already weary, it would not be in the power of any human tyrant to hold +me in these bonds. And, for Edward! believe, that not all thy tender +eloquence could make one impression, where a long obdurate ambition +hath set so deep a seal. I am content to go, my sister--and angels +whisper me," (and his voice became subdued, though still calm, while he +added, in a lowered tone, like that angel whisper) "that thy bridal bed +will be in William Wallace's grave!" She spoke not, but at this +assurance turned her tearful eyes upon him, with a beam of delight; +with such delight, the vestal consigns herself to the cloister; with +such delight, the widowed mourner lays her head to rest on the tomb of +him she loved. But with such delight none are acquainted who know not +what it is to be wedded to the soul of a beloved being, when the body +which was once its vestment lies moldering in the earth. + +Gloucester contemplated this chaste union of two spotless hearts, with +an admiration almost amounting to devotion. "Noble lady," said he, +"the message that I came to impart to Sir William Wallace bears with it +a show of hope; and, I trust that your gentle spirit will yet be as +persuasive as consolatory. A deputation has just arrived from our +border-counties, headed by the good Barons de Hilton and De +Blenkinsopp, praying the royal mercy for their gallant foe, who had +been most generous to them, they set forth, in their extremity. And +the king was listening to them, with what temper I know not, when a +private embassy, as opportunely, made its appearance from France, on +the same errand; in short, to negotiate with Edward for the safety of +our friend, as a prince of that realm. I left the embassadors," +continued the earl, turning to Wallace, "in debate with his majesty; +and he has at length granted a suspension--nay, has even promised a +repeal of the horrible injustice that was to be completed to-morrow, if +you can be brought to accord with certain proposals, now to be laid +before you. Accept them, and Edward will comply with all King Philip's +demands in your behalf." + +"Then you will accept them!" cried Helen, in a tumult of suspense. The +communication of Gloucester had made no change in the equable pulse of +Wallace; and he replied, with a look of tender pity upon her animated +countenance. "The proposals of Edward are too likely to be snares for +that honor which I would bear with me uncontaminated to the grave. +Therefore, dearest consoler of my last hours, do not give way to hopes +which a greater King than Edward may command me to disappoint." Helen +bowed her head in silence. The color again faded from her cheek, and +despair once more seized on her heart. + +Gloucester resumed; and, after narrating some particulars concerning +the conference between the king and the embassadors, he suggested the +impracticality of secretly retaining Lady Helen, for any length of +time, in the state dungeon. "I dare not," continued he, "be privy to +her presence here, and yet conceal it from the king. I know not what +messengers he may send to impart his conditions to you; and should she +be discovered, Edward, doubly incensed, would tear her from you; and, +as an accessory, so involve me in his displeasure, that I should be +disabled from serving either of you further. Were I so to honor his +feelings as a man as to mention it to him, I do not believe that he +would oppose her wishes; but how to reveal such a circumstance with any +regard to her fair fame, I know not; for all are not sufficiently +virtuous to believe her spotless innocence." + +Helen hastily interrupted Gloucester, and with firmness said, "When I +entered these walls, the world and I parted forever. The good or the +evil opinion of the impure in heart can never affect me--they shall +never see me more. The innocent will judge me by themselves, and by +the end of my race. I came to minister with a sister's duty to my own +and my father's preserver; and while he abides here, I will never +consent to leave his feet. When he goes hence, if it be to bless +mankind again, I shall find the longest life too short to pour forth +all my gratitude; and for that purpose I will dedicate myself in some +nunnery of my native land. But should he be taken from a world so +unworthy of him, soon, very soon, I shall cease to feel its aspersions +in the grave." + +"No aspersions which I can avert, dearest Helen," cried Wallace, "shall +ever tarnish the fame of one whose purity can only be transcended by +her who is now made perfect in heaven! Consent, noblest of women, to +wear, for the few days I may yet linger here, a name which thy sister +angel has sanctified to me. Give me a legal right to call you mine, +and Edward himself will not then dare to divide what God has joined +together!" + +Helen paused--even her heart seemed to cease its pulsation in the awful +moment. Did she hear aright? and was she indeed going to invade the +rights of the wife she had so often vowed to regard as the sole object +of Wallace's dearest wishes? Oh, no; it was not the lover that shone +in his luminous eyes; it was not the mistress that glowed in her bosom. +Words might be breathed; but no change would be wrought in the souls +of them who were already separated from the earth. With these thoughts +Helen turned toward Wallace; she attempted to answer, but the words +died on the seraphic smile which beamed upon her lips, and she dropped +her head upon his breast. + +Gloucester, who saw no other means of insuring to his friend the +comfort of her society, was rejoiced at this mutual resolution. He had +longed to propose it; but considering the peculiarities of their +situation, knew not how to do so without seeming to mock their +sensibility and fate. It was now near midnight; and having read the +consent of Helen in the tender emotion which denied her speech, without +further delay he quitted the apartment to summon the confessor of the +warden to unite their hands. + +On his re-entrance, he found Helen sitting, dissolved in tears, with +her hand clasped in his friend's. The sacred rite was soon performed +which endowed her with all the claims upon Wallace which her devoted +heart had so long contemplated with resigned hopelessness--to be his +helpmate on earth, his partner in the tomb, his dear companion in +heaven! With the last benediction she threw herself on her knees +before him, and put his hand to her lips in eloquent silence. +Gloucester, with a look of kind farewell, withdrew with the priest. + +"Thou noble daughter of the noblest Scot!" said Wallace, raising her +from the ground, "this bosom is thy place, and not my feet. Long it +will not be given me to hold thee here; but even in the hours of years +of our separation my spirit will hover near thee, to bear thine to our +everlasting home." + +The heart of Helen alternatively beat violently, and stopped, as if the +vital current were suddenly impeded. Hope and fear agitated her by +turns; but clinging to the flattering ideas which the arrival of the +embassadors had excited, she timidly breathed a hope that, by the +present interferences of King Philip, Edward might not be found +inexorable. + +"Disturb not the holy composure of your soul by such an expectation," +returned Wallace; "I know my adversary too well to anticipate his +relinquishing the object of his vengeance but at a price more infamous +than the most ignoble death. Therefore, best beloved of all on earth! +look for no deliverance for thy Wallace but what passes through the +grave; and to me, dearest Helen, its gates are on golden hinges +turning; for all is light and bliss which shines on me from within +their courts!" + +Helen's thoughts, in the idea of his being torn from her, could not +wrest themselves from the dire images of his execution; she shuddered, +and in faltering accents replied, "Ah! could we glide from sleep into +so blessed a death, I would hail it even for thee! But the threatened +horrors, should they fall on thy sacred head, will in that hour, I +trust, also divorce my soul from this grievous world!" + +"Not so, my Helen," returned he, "keep not thy dear eyes forever fixed +on the gloomy appendages of death. The scaffold and the grave have +naught to do with the immortal soul; it cannot be wounded by the one +nor confined by the other. And is not the soul thy full and perfect +Wallace? It is that which now speaks to thee--which will cherish thy +beloved idea forever. Lament not, then, how soon this body, its mere +apparel, is laid down in the dust. But rejoice still in my existence, +which, through Him who 'led captivity captive,' will never know a +pause? Comfort then thy heart, my soul's dear sister, and sojourn a +little while on this earth to bear witness for thy Wallace to the +friends he loves." + +Helen, who felt the import of his words in her heart, gently bowed her +head, and he proceeded: + +"As the first who stemmed with me the torrent which, with God's help, +we so often laid into a calm, I mention to you my faithful men of +Lanark. Many of them bled and died in the contest; and to their +orphans, with the children of those who yet survive, I consign all of +the world's wealth that yet belongs to William Wallace; Ellerslie and +its estates are theirs.** To Bruce, my sovereign and my friend--the +loved companion of the hour in which I freed you, my Helen, from the +arms of violence! to him I bequeath this heart, knit to him by bonds +more dear than even loyalty. Bear it to him; and when he is summoned +to his heavenly throne, then let his heart and mine fill up one urn. +To Lord Ruthven, to Bothwell, to Lockhart, to Scrymgeour, and to +Kirkpatrick I give my prayers and blessings." + + +**This bequest of Wallace is a fact. + + +Here Wallace paused. Helen had listened to him with a holy attention, +which hardly allowed a sigh to breathe from her steadfast heart. She +spoke, but the voice was scarcely audible. + +"And what for him who loves you dearer than life--for Edwin? He cannot +be forgotten!" + +Wallace started at this; then she was ignorant of the death of that +too-faithful friend! In a hurrying accent he replied, "Never +forgotten! Oh, Helen. I asked for him life; and Heaven gave him long +life, even forever and ever!" + +Helen's eyes met his, with a look of inquiry: + +"That would mean he is gone before you?" + +The countenance of Wallace answered her. + +"Happy Edwin!" cried she, and the tears rained over her cheeks as she +bent her head on her arms. Wallace continued-- + +"He laid down his life to preserve mine in the hovel of Lumloch. The +false Monteith could get no Scot to lay hands on their true defender; +and even the foreign ruffians he brought to the task might have spared +the noble boy, but an arrow from the traitor himself pierced his heart. +Contention was then no more, and I resigned myself, to follow him." + +"What a desert does the world become!" exclaimed Helen; then turning on +Wallace with a saint-like smile, she added, "I would hardly now +withhold you. You will bear him Helen's love, and tell him how soon I +shall be with you. If your Father would not allow my heart to break, +in his mercy he may take my soul in the prayers which I shall hourly +breathe to him!" + +"Thou hast been lent to me as my sweet consolation here, my Helen," +replied he, "and the Almighty dispenser of that comfort will not long +banish you from the object of your innocent wishes." + +While they thus poured into each other's bosoms the ineffable balm of +friendship's purest tenderness, the eyes of Wallace insensibly closed. +"Your gentle influence," gently murmured he, "brings that sleep to my +eyelids which has not visited them since I first entered these walls. +Like my Marion, Helen, thy presence brings healing on its wings." + +"Sleep, then," replied she, "and Marion's angel spirit will keep watch +with mine." + + + + +Chapter LXXXIII. + +The State Dungeon. + + +Though all the furies of the elements seemed let loose to rage around +the walls of the dungeon, still Wallace slept in the loud uproar. Calm +was within, and the warfare of the world could not disturb the balmy +rest into which the angel of peace had steeped his senses. From this +profound repose he was awakened by the entrance of Gloucester. Helen +had just sunk into a slight slumber; but the first words of the earl +aroused her, and rising, she followed her beloved Wallace to his side. + +Gloucester put a scroll into the hand of Wallace: "Sign that," said he, +"and you are free. I know not its contents; but the king commissioned +me, as a mark of his grace, to be the messenger of your release." + +Wallace read the conditions, and the color deepened on his cheek as his +eye met each article. "He was to reveal the asylum of Bruce, to +forswear Scotland forever, and to take an oath of allegiance to Edward, +the seal of which should be the English earldom of Cleveland!" Wallace +closed the parchment. "King Edward knows what will be my reply, I need +not speak it." + +"You will accept his terms?" asked the earl. + +"Not to insure me a life of ages, with all earthly bliss my portion! I +have spoken to these offers before. Read them, my noble friend, and +then give him as mine the answer which would be yours." + +Gloucester obeyed, and while his eyes were bent on the parchment, those +of Helen were fixed on her almost worshiped husband, she looked through +his beaming countenance into his very soul, and there saw the sublime +purpose that consigned his unbending head to the scaffold. When +Gloucester had finished, covered with the burning blush of shame, he +crushed the disgraceful scroll in his hand, and exclaimed, with +honorable vehemence, against the deep duplicity, the deeper cruelty, of +his father-in-law, so to mock by base subterfuges the embassy of France +and its noble object. + +"This is the morning in which I was to have met my fate!" replied +Wallace. "Tell this tyrant of the earth that I am even now ready to +receive the last stroke of his injustice. In the peaceful grave, my +Helen," added he, turning to her, who sat pale and aghast, "I shall be +beyond his power!" + +Gloucester walked the room in great disturbance of mind, while Wallace +continued, in a lowered tone, to recall some perception of his own +consolations to the abstracted and soul-struck Helen. + +The earl stopped suddenly before them: "That the king did not expect +your acquiescence without some hesitation, I cannot doubt, for when I +informed him the Lady Helen Mar, now your wife, was the sharer of your +prison, he started, and told me that should you still oppose yourself +to his conditions, I must bring her to him; who might, perhaps, be the +means of persuading you to receive his mercy." + +"Never!" replied Wallace; "I reject what he calls mercy. He has no +rights of judgment over me, and his pretended mercy is an assumption +which, as a true Scot, I despise. He may rifle me of my life, but he +shall never beguile me into any acknowledgment of an authority that is +false. No wife, nor aught of mine, shall ever stand before him as a +suppliant for William Wallace. I will die as I have lived, the equal +of Edward in all things but a crown, and his superior in being true to +the glory of prince or peasant--unblemished honor!" + +Finding the Scottish chief not to be shaken in this determination, +Gloucester, humbled to the soul by the base tyranny of his royal +father-in-law, soon after withdrew, to acquaint that haughty monarch +with the ill success of his embassy. But ere noon had turned, he +reappeared, with a countenance declarative of some distressing errand. +He found Helen awakened to the full perception of all her pending +evils--that she was on the eve of losing forever the object dearest to +her in this world! and though she wept not, though she listened to the +lord of all her wishes with smiles of holy approval, her heart bled +within; and, with a welcome which enforced his consolatory arguments, +she hailed her own inwardly foreboding mortal pains. + +"I come," said Gloucester, "not to urge you to send Lady Helen as a +suitor to King Edward, but to spare her the misery of being separated +from you while life is yours." He then said that the French +embassadors were kept in ignorance of the conditions which were offered +to the object of their mission; and on being informed that he had +refused them, they showed themselves so little satisfied with the +sincerity of what had been done, that Edward thought it expedient to +conciliate Philip by taking some pains to dislodge their suspicions. +To this effect he proposed to the French lords sending his final +propositions to Sir William Wallace by that chieftain's wife, who he +found was then his companion in the Tower. "On my intimating," +continued the earl, "that I feared she would be unable to appear before +him, his answer was, 'Let her see to that; such a refusal shall be +answered by an immediate separation from her husband.'" + +"Let me in this demand," cried she, turning with collected firmness to +Wallace, "satisfy the will of Edward. It is only to purchase my +continuance with you. Trust me, noblest of men; I should be unworthy +of the name you have given me could I sully it in my person by one +debasing word or action to the author of all our ills!" + +"Ah! my Helen," replied he, "what is it you ask? Am I to live to see a +repetition of the horrors of Ellerslie?" + +"No, on my life," answered Glouceseter; "in this instance I would +pledge my soul for King Edward's manhood. His ambition might lead him +to trample on all men; but still for woman he feels as becomes a man +and a knight." + +Helen renewed her supplications; and Wallace (aware that should he +withhold her attendance, his implacable adversary, however he might +spare her personal injury, would not forbear wounding her to the soul +by tearing her from him) gave an unwilling consent to what might seem a +submission on his part to an authority he had shed his blood to oppose. + +Helen renewed her supplications; and Wallace (aware that should he +withhold her attendance, his implacable adversary, however he might +spare her personal injury, would not forbear wounding her to the soul +by tearing her from him) gave an unwilling consent to what might seem a +submission on his part to an authority he had shed his blood to oppose. + +"But not in these garments," said he; "she must be habited as becomes +her sex and her own delicacy." + +Anticipating this propriety, Gloucester had imparted the circumstance +to his countess, and she had sent a casket, which the earl himself now +brought in from the passage. Helen retired to the inner cell, and +hastily arranging herself in the first suit that presented itself, +reappeared in female apparel, and wrapped in a long veil. As +Gloucester took her hand to lead her forth, Wallace clasped the other +in his. + +"Remember, my Helen," cried he, "that on no terms but untrammeled +freedom of soul, will your Wallace accept of life. This will not be +granted by the man to whom you go; then speak and act in his presence +as if I were already beyond the skies." + +Had this faithful friend, now his almost adoring wife, left his side +with more sanguine hopes, how grievously would they have been blasted! + +After an absence of two hours, she returned to the dungeon of Wallace: +and as her trembling form was clasped in his arms, she exclaimed, in a +passion of tears: + +"Here will I live, here will I die! They may sever my soul from my +body, but never again part me from this dear bosom!" + +"Never, never, my Helen!" said he, reading her conference with the king +in the wild terror of its effects. Her senses seemed fearfully +disordered. While she clung to him, and muttered sentences of an +incoherency that shook him to the soul, he cast a look of such +expressive inquiry upon Gloucester, that the earl could only answer by +hastily putting his hand on his face to hide his emotion. At last the +tears she shed appeared to relieve the excess of her agonies, and she +gradually sunk into an awful calm. Then rising from her husband's +arms, she seated herself on his stony couch, and said in a firm voice, +"Earl, I can now bear to hear you repeat the last decision of the King +of England." + +Though not absolutely present at the interview between his sovereign +and Lady Helen, from the anteroom Gloucester had heard all that passed, +and now he briefly confessed to Wallace, that he had too truly +appreciated the pretended conciliation of the king. Edward's proposals +to Helen were as artfully couched as deceptive in their design. Their +issue was to make Wallace his slave, or to hold him his victim. In his +conference with her, he addressed the vanity of an ambitious woman; +then, all the affections of a devoted heart: he enforced his arguments +with persuasions to allure, and threats to compel obedience. In the +last he called up every image to appall the soul of Helen; but, +steadfast in the principles of her lord, while ready to sink under the +menaced horrors of his fate, she summoned all her strength to give +utterance to her last reply. + +"Mortal distinctions, King of England!" cried she, "cannot bribe the +wife of Sir William Wallace to betray his virtues. His life is dear to +me, but his immaculate faith to his God and his lawful prince are +dearer. I can see him die and live--for I shall join him triumphant in +Heaven; but to behold him dishonor himself, to counsel him so to do, is +beyond my power--I should expire with grief in the shameful moment!" + +The indignation of the king at this answer was too oppressive of the +tender nature of Lady Wallace for Gloucester to venture repeating it to +her husband; and, while she turned deathly pale at the recollection, +Wallace, exulting in her conduct, pressed her hand silently but +fervently to his lips. + +The earl resumed, but, observing the reawakened agonies of her mind in +her too expressive countenance, he strove to soften the blow he must +inflict in the remainder of his narrative. + +"Dearest lady," said he, rather addressing her than Wallace, "to +convince your suffering spirit that no earthly means have been left +unessayed to change the unjust purpose of the king, know that when he +quitted you I left in his presence the queen and my wife, both weeping +tears of disappointment. On the moment when I found that arguments +could no longer avail, I implored him, by every consideration of God +and man, to redeem his honor, sacrificed by the unjust decree +pronounced on Sir William Wallace. My entreaties were repulsed with +anger, for the sudden entrance of Lord Athol with fresh fuel to his +flame, so confirmed his direful resolution that, desperate for my +friend, I threw myself on my knees. The queen, and then my wife, both +prostrate at his feet, enforced my suit, but all in vain; his heart +seemed hardened by our earnestness; and his answer, while it put us to +silence, granted Wallace a triumph even in his dungeon. + +"Cease!" cried the king, "Wallace and I have now come to that issue +where one must fall. I shall use my advantage, though I should walk +over the necks of half my kindred to accomplish his fate. I can find +no security on my throne, no peace in my bed, until I know that he, my +direst enemy, is no more." + +"Sorry am I, generous Gloucester," interrupted Wallace, "that for my +life, you have stooped your knee to one so unworthy of your nobleness. +Let, then, his tyranny take its course. But its shaft will not reach +the soul his unkingly spirit hopes to wound. The bitterness of death +was passed when I quitted Scotland. And for this body, he may dishonor +it, mangle its limbs, but William Wallace may then be far beyond his +reach." + +Gloucester gazed on him, doubting the expression of his countenance. +It was calm, but pale even to a marble hue. + +"Surely," said he, "my unconquered friend will not now be forced to +self violence?" + +"God forbid!" returned Wallace; "suspect me not of such base vassalage +to this poor tabernacle of clay. Did I believe it my Father's will +that I should die at every pore I would submit, for so his immaculate +Son laid down his life for a rebellious world. And is a servant +greater than his master, that I should say, Exempt me from this trial? +No! I await his summons, but he so strengthens my soul on his breast, +that the cord of Edward shall never make my free-born Scottish neck +feel its degrading touch." + +His pale cheek was now luminous with a bright smile as he pressed his +swelling heart. + +With reawakened horror Helen listened to the words of Wallace, which +referred to the last outrage to be committed on his sacred remains. +She recalled the corresponding threats of the king, and again losing +self-possession, starting wildly up, exclaimed: + +"And is there no humanity in that ruthless man! Oh!" cried she, +tearing her eyes from the beloved form on which it had been such bliss +to gaze, "let the sacrifice of my life be offered to this cruel king to +save from indignity--" + +She could add no more, but dropped half lifeless on the arm of Wallace. + +Gloucester understood the object of such anguished solicitude, and +while Wallace again seated her, he revived her by a protestation, that +the clause she so fearfully deprecated, had been repealed by Edward. +But the good earl blushed as he spoke, for in this instance he said +what was not the truth. Far different had been the issue of all his +attempts at mitigation. The arrival of Athol from Scotland with +advices from the Countess of Strathearn, that Lady Helen Mar had fled +southward to raise an insurrection in favor of Wallace, and that Lord +Bothwell had gone to France to move Philip to embrace the same cause, +gave Edward so apt an excuse for giving full way to his hatred against +the Scottish chief, that he pronounced an order for the immediate and +unrestricted execution of his sentence. Artifice to mislead the French +embassadors with an idea that he was desirous to accord with their +royal master's wish, had been the sole foundation of his proposals to +Wallace. And his interview with Lady Helen, though so intemperately +conducted, was dictated by the same subtle policy. + +When Gloucester found the impossibility of obtaining any further +respite from the murderous decree, he attempted to prevail for the +remission of the last clause, which ordered that his friend's noble +body should be dismembered, and his limbs sent, as terrors to +rebellion, to the four capital fortresses of Scotland. Edward spurned +at this petition with even more acrimony than he had done the prayer +for his victim's life, and Gloucester then starting from his knee, in a +burst of honest indignation exclaimed, "Oh! king, remember what is done +by thee this day. Refusing to give righteous judgment in favor of one +who prefers virtue to a crown and life! As insincere, as secret, have +been your last conditions with him, but they will be revealed when the +great Judge that searcheth all men's hearts shall cause thee to answer +for this matter at the dreadful day of universal doom. Thou has now +given sentence on a patriot and a prince, and then shall judgment be +given on thee!" + +"Dangerous indeed is his rebellious spirit," cried Edward, in almost +speechless wrath, "since it affects even the duty of my own house! +Gloucester, leave my presence, and on pain of your own death, dare not +approach me till I send for you, to see this rebel's head on London +Bridge!" + +To disappoint the revengeful monarch of at least this object of his +malice, Gloucester was now resolved, and imparting his wishes to the +warden of the Tower, who was his trusty friend, he laid a plan +accordingly. + +Helen had believed his declaration to her, and bowed her head in sign +that she was satisfied with his zeal. The earl, addressing Wallace, +continued: "Could I have purchased thy life, thou preserver of mine, +with the forfeiture of all I possess I should have rejoiced in the +exchange. But as that may not be, is there aught in the world which I +can do to administer to thy wishes?" + +"Generous Gloucester!" exclaimed Wallace, "how unwearied has been your +friendship! But I shall not tax it much further. I was writing my +last wishes when this angel entered my apartment; she will now be the +voice of William Wallace to his friends. But still I must make one +request to you--one which I trust will not be out of your power. Let +this heart, ever faithful to Scotland, be at least buried in its native +country. When I cease to breathe, give it to Helen, and she will +mingle it with the sacred dust of those I love. For herself, dear +Gloucester! ah! guard the vestal purity and life of my best beloved! +for there are those who, when I am gone, may threaten both." + +Gloucester, who knew that in this apprehension Wallace meant the Lords +Soulis and De Valence, pledged himself for the performance of his first +request; and for the second, he assured him he would protect Helen as a +sister. But she, regardless of all other evils than that of being +severed from her dearest and best friend, exclaimed in bitter sorrow: + +"Wherever I am, still and forever shall all of Wallace that remains on +earth be with me. He gave himself to me, and no mortal power shall +divide us!" + +Gloucester could not reply before the voice of the warden, calling to +him that the hour of shutting the gates was arrived, compelled him to +bid his friend farewell. He grasped the hand of Wallace with a strong +emotion, for he knew that the next time he should meet him would be on +the scaffold. During the moments of his parting, Helen, with her hands +clasped on her knees, and her eyes bent downward, inwardly and +earnestly invoked the Almighty to endow her with fortitude to bear the +horrors she was to witness, that she might not, by her agonies, add to +the tortures of Wallace. + +The cheering voice, that was ever music to her ears, recalled her from +this devout abstraction. He laid his hand on hers, and gazing on her +with a tender pity, held such sweet discourse with her on the +approaching end of all his troubles, of his everlasting happiness, +where "all tears are dried away!" that she listened, and wept, and even +smiled. + +"Yes," added he, "a little while, and my virgin bride shall give me her +dear embrace in heaven; angels will participate our joy, and my +Marion's grateful spirit join the blest communion! She died to +preserve my life; you suffered a living death to maintain my honor! +Can I then divide ye, noblest of created beings, in my soul! Take, +then, my heart's kiss, dear Helen, thy Wallace's last earthly kiss!" + +She bent toward him, and fixed her lips to his. It was the first time +they had met; his parting words still hung on them, and an icy cold ran +through all her veins. She felt his heart beat heavily against hers, +as he said: + +"I have not many hours to be with thee, and yet a strange lethargy +overpowers my senses; but I shall speak to thee again!" + +He looked on her as he spoke, with such a glance of holy love, that not +doubting he was now bidding her, indeed, his last farewell, that he was +to pass from this sleep out of the power of man, she pressed his hand +without a word, and as he dropped his head back upon his straw pillow, +with an awed spirit she saw him sink to profound repose. + + + + +Chapter LXXXIV. + +Tower Hill. + + +Long and silently had she watched his rest. So gentle was his breath, +that he scarcely seemed to breathe; and often, during her sad vigils, +did she stoop her cheek to feel the respiration which might still bear +witness that his outraged spirit was yet fettered to earth. She +tremblingly placed her hand on his heart, and still its warm beats +spake comfort to hers. The soul of Wallace, as well as his beloved +body, was yet clasped in her arms. "The arms of a sister enfold thee," +murmured she to herself; "they would gladly bear thee up, to lay thee +on the bosom of thy martyred wife; and there, how wouldst thou smile +upon and bless me! And shall we not meet so before the throne of Him +whose name is Truth?" + +The first rays of the dawn shone upon his peaceful face just as the +door opened, and a priest appeared. He held in his hands the sacred +host, and the golden dove, for performing the rites of the dying. At +this sight, the harbinger of a fearful doom, the fortitude of Helen +forsook her; and throwing her arms frantically over the sleeping +Wallace, she exclaimed, "He is dead! his sacrament is now with the Lord +of Mercy!" Her voice awakened Wallace; he started from his position; +and Helen seeing, with a wild sort of disappointment that he, whose +gliding to death in his sleep she had even so lately deprecated, now, +indeed, lived to mount the scaffold, in unutterable horror, fell back +with a heavy groan. + +Wallace accosted the priest with a reverential welcome; and then +turning to Helen, tenderly whispered her, "My Helen! in this moment of +my last on earth, O! engrave on thy heart, that--in the sacred words of +the patriarch of Israel--I remember thee, in the kindness of thy youth! +in the love of thy desolate espousals to me! when thou camest after me +into the wilderness, into a land thou didst not know, and comforted me! +And shalt thou not, my soul's bride, be sacred unto our Lord? the Lord +of the widow and the orphan! To Him I commit thee, in steadfast faith +that He will never forsake thee! Then, O, dearest part of myself, let +not the completion of my fate shake your dependence on the only True +and Just. Rejoice that Wallace has been deemed worthy to die for his +having done his duty. And what is death, my Helen, that we should shun +it, even to rebelling against the Lord of Life? Is it not the door +which opens to us immortality? and in that blest moment who will regret +that he passed through it in the bloom of his years? Come, then, +sister of my soul, and share with thy Wallace the last supper of his +Lord; the pledge of the happy eternity to which, by His grace, I now +ascend!" + +Helen, conscience-struck and re-awakened to holy confidence by the +heavenly composure of his manner, obeyed the impulse of his hand, and +they both knelt before the minister of peace. While the sacred rite +proceeded, it seemed the indissoluble union of Helen's spirit with that +of Wallace: "My life will expire with his!" was her secret response to +the venerable man's exhortation to the anticipated passing soul; and +when he sealed Wallace with the holy cross, under the last unction, as +one who believed herself standing on the brink of eternity, she longed +to share also that mark of death. At that moment the dismal toll of a +bell sounded from the top of the Tower. The heart of Helen paused. +The warden and his train entered. "I will follow him," cried she, +starting from her knees, "into the grave itself!" + +What was said, what was done, she knew not, till she found herself on +the scaffold, upheld by the arm of Gloucester. Wallace stood before +her, with his hands bound across and his noble head uncovered. His +eyes were turned upward, with a martyr's confidence in the Power he +served. A silence, as of some desert waste, reigned throughout the +thousands who stood below. The executioner approached to throw the +rope over the neck of his victim. At this sight, Helen, with a cry +that was re-echoed by the compassionate spectators, rushed to his bosom. +Wallace, with a mighty strength, burst the bands asunder which +confined his arms, and clasping her to him with a force that seemed to +make her touch his very heart, his breast heaved as if his soul were +breaking from its outraged tenement; and, while his head sunk on her +neck, he exclaimed, in a low and interrupted voice: + +"My prayer is heard, Helen! Life's cord is cut by God's own hand! May +he preserve my country, and-- Oh! trust from my youth--" + +He stopped--he fell; and with the shock, the hastily-erected scaffold +shook to its foundation. The pause was dreadful. + +The executioner approached the prostrate chief. Helen was still locked +close in his arms. The man stooped to raise his victim, but the +attempt was beyond his strength. In vain he called on him--to +Helen--to separate, and cease from delaying the execution of the law; +no voice replied, no motion answered his loud remonstrance. +Gloucester, with an agitation which hardly allowed him power to speak +or move, remembered the words of Wallace, "that the rope of Edward +would never sully his animate body!" and, bending to his friend, he +spoke; but all was silent there. He raised the chieftain's head, and, +looking on his face, found indeed the indisputable stamp of death. + +"There," cried he, in a burst of grief, and letting it fall again upon +the insensible bosom of Helen--"there broke the noblest heart that ever +beat in the breast of man!" + +The priests, the executioners crowded round him at this declaration. +But, while giving a command in a low tone to the warden, he took the +motionless Helen in his arms, and leaving the astonished group round +the noble dead, carried her from the scaffold back into the Tower.** + + +**The last words of Wallace were from the 71st Psalm--"My trust from my +youth! O Lord God, thou art my hope unto the end!" + + + + +Chapter LXXXV. + +The Warden's Apartments. + + +On the evening of the fatal day in which the sun of William Wallace had +set forever on his country, the Earl of Gloucester was imparting to the +Warden of the Tower his last directions respecting the sacred remains, +when the door of the chamber suddenly opened, and a file of soldiers +entered. A man in armor, with his visor closed, was in the midst of +them. The captain of the band told the warden that the person before +him had behaved in a most seditious manner. He first demanded +admittance into the Tower; then, on the sentinel making answer that in +consequence of the recent execution of the Scottish chief, orders had +been given "to allow no strangers to approach the gates till the +following morning," he, the prisoner, burst into a passionate emotion, +uttering such threats against the King of England, that the captain +thought it his duty to have him seized and brought before the warden. + +On the entrance of the soldiers, Gloucester had retired into the shadow +of the room. He turned round on hearing these particulars. When the +captain ceased speaking, the stranger fearlessly threw up his visor and +exclaimed: + +"Take me, not to our warden alone, but to your king; let me pierce his +conscience with his infamy--would it were to stab him ere I die!" + +In this frantic adjuration, Gloucester discovered the gallant Bruce. +And hastening toward him to prevent his apparently determined exposure +of himself, with a few words he dismissed the officer and his guard; +and then, turning to the warden, "Sir Edward," said he, "this stranger +is not less my friend than he that was Sir William Wallace!" + +"Then far be it from me, earl, to denounce him to our enraged monarch. +I have seen enough of noble blood shed already. And though we, the +subjects of King Edward, may not call your late friend a martyr, yet we +must think his country honored in so steady a patriot, and may surely +wish we had many the like in our own!" With these words the worthy old +knight bowed and withdrew. + +Bruce, who had hardly heard the observation of the warden, on his +departure turned upon the earl, and, with a bursting heart, exclaimed: + +"Tell me, is it true? Am I so lost a wretch as to be deprived of my +best, my dearest friend? And is it true, as I am told, that every +infernal rigor of the sentence has been executed on that brave and +breathless body! Answer me to the fact, that I may speedily take my +course!" + +Alarmed at the direful expression of his countenance, with a quivering +lip, but in silence, Gloucester laid his hand upon his arm. Bruce too +well understood what he durst not speak, and, shaking it off, +frantically: + +"I have no friend!" cried he. "Wallace! my dauntless, my only Wallace, +thou art rifled from me! And shall I have fellowship with these? No, +all mankind are my enemies, and soon will I leave their detested +sojourn!" + +Gloucester attempted to interrupt him; but he broke out afresh and with +redoubled violence: + +"And you, earl," cried he, "lived in this realm, and suffered such a +sacrilege on God's most perfect work! Ungrateful, worthless man! fill +up the measure of your baseness; deliver me to Edward, and let me brave +him to his face. Oh! let me die, covered with the blood of thy +enemies, my murdered Wallace! my more than brother, that shall be the +royal robe thy Bruce will bring to thee!" + +Gloucester stood in dignified forbearance under the invectives and +stormy grief of the Scottish prince; but when exhausted nature seemed +to take rest in momentary silence, he approached him. Bruce cast on +him a lurid glance of suspicion. + +"Leave me!" cried he; "I hate the whole world, and you the worst in it; +for you might have saved him, and you did not--you might have preserved +his sacred limbs from being made the gazing-stock of traitors, and you +did not. Away from me, apt son of a tyrant, lest I tear you in +piecemeal!" + +"By the heroic spirit of him whom this outrage on me dishonors, hear my +answer, Bruce! And, if not on this spot, let me then exculpate myself +by the side of his body, yet uninvaded by a sacrilegious touch." + +"How?" interrupted Bruce. Gloucester continued: + +"All that was mortal in our friend now lies in a distant chamber of +this quadrangle. When I could not prevail on Edward, either by +entreaty or reproaches, to remit the last gloomy vengeance of tyrants, +I determined to wrest its object from his hands. A notorious murderer +died yesterday under the torture. After the inanimate corpse of our +friend was brought into this house, to be conveyed to the scene of its +last horrors, by the assistance of the warden the malefactor's body was +conveyed here also, and placed on the traitor's sledge, in the stead of +his who was no traitor, and on that murderer most justly fell the rigor +of so dreadful a sentence." + +The whole aspect of Bruce changed during this explanation, which was +followed by a brief account from Gloucester of their friend's heroic +suffering and death. + +"Can you pardon my reproaches to you?" cried the prince, stretching out +his hand. "Forgive, generous Gloucester, the distraction of a severely +wounded spirit!" + +This pardon was immediately accorded; and Bruce impetuously added: + +"Lead me to these dear remains, that with redoubled certainty I may +strike his murderer's heart! I came to succor him. I now stay to +die--but not unrevenged!" + +"I will lead you," returned the earl, "where you shall learn a +different lesson. His soul will speak to you by the lips of his bride, +now watching by those sacred relics. Feeble is now her lamp of life; +but a saint's vigilance keeps it burning, till it may expire in the +grave with him she so chastely loved." + +A few words gave Bruce to understand that he meant Lady Helen Mar; and +with a deepened grief when he heard in what an awful hour their hands +were plighted, he followed his conductor through the quadrangle. + +When Gloucester gently opened the door, which contained the remains of +the bravest and the best, Bruce stood for a moment on the threshold. +At the further end of the apartment, lighted by a solitary taper, lay +the body of Wallace on a bier, covered with a soldier's cloak. +Kneeling by its side, with her head on its bosom, was Helen. Her hair +hung disordered over her shoulders, and shrouded with its dark locks +the marble features of her beloved. Bruce scarcely breathed. He +attempted to advance, but he staggered and fell against the wall. She +looked up at the noise; but her momentary alarm ceased when she saw +Gloucester. He spoke in a tender voice. + +"Be not agitated, lady; but here is the Earl of Carrick." + +"Nothing can agitate me more," replied she, turning mournfully toward +the prince; who, raised from his momentary dizziness, beheld her +regarding him with the look of one already an inhabitant of the grave. +"Helen!" faintly articulated Bruce; "I come to share your sorrows, and +to avenge them." + +"Avenge them!" repeated she, after a pause; "is there aught in +vengeance that can awaken life in these cold veins again? Let the +murderers live in the world they have made a desert by the destruction +of its brightest glory, and then our home will be his tomb!" Again she +bent her head upon Wallace's cold breast; and seemed to forget that she +had been spoken to--that Bruce was present. + +"May I not look upon him?" cried he, grasping her hand. "Oh! Helen, +show me that heroic face from whose beams my heart first caught the +fire of virtue!" She moved; and the clay-hued features of all that was +ever perfect in manly beauty met his sight. But the bright eyes were +shut; the radiance of his smile was dimmed in death, yet still that +smile was there. Bruce precipitated his lips to his, and sinking on +his knees, remained in a silence only broken by his sighs. + +It was an awful and heart-breaking pause, for the voice which in all +scenes of weal or woe had ever mingled sweetly with theirs, was silent. +Helen, who had not wept since the tremendous hour of the morning, now +burst into an agony of tears; and the vehemence of her feelings tearing +so delicate a frame (now rendered weak unto death by a consuming +sickness, which her late exertions and present griefs had made seize on +her very vitals), seemed to threaten the immediate extinction of her +being. Bruce, aroused by her smothered cries, as she lay almost +expiring, upheld by Gloucester, hurried to her side. By degrees she +recovered to life and observance; but finding herself removed from the +bier, she sprang wildly toward it. Bruce caught her arm to support her +tottering steps. She looked steadfastly at him, and then at the +motionless body. "He is there," cried she, "and yet he speaks not! He +soothes not my grief--I weep, and he does not comfort me! And there he +lies! O! Bruce, can this be possible? Do I really see him dead? And +what is death?" added she, grasping the cold hand of Wallace to her +heart. "Didst thou not tell me, when this hand pressed mine and +blessed me, that it was only a translation from grief to joy? And is +it not so, Bruce? Behold how we mourn and he is happy! I will obey +thee, my immortal Wallace!" cried she, casting her arms about him; "I +will obey thee, and weep no more!" + +She was silent and calm. And Bruce, kneeling on the opposite side of +his friend, listened, without interrupting him, to the arguments which +Gloucester adduced to persuade him to abstain from discovering himself +to Edward, or even uttering resentment against him till he could do +both as became the man for whom Wallace had sacrificed so much, even +till he was King of Scotland. "To that end," said Gloucester, "did +this gallant chieftain live. For, in restoring you to the people of +Scotland, he believed he was setting a seal to their liberties and +their peace. To that end did he die, and in the direful moment, +uttered prayers for your establishment. Think then of this, and let +him not look down from his heavenly dwelling and see that Bruce +despises the country for which he bled; that the now only hope of +Scotland has sacrificed himself in a moment of inconsiderate revenge to +the cruel hand which broke his dauntless heart!" + +Bruce did not oppose this counsel; and as the fumes of passion passed +away, leaving a manly sorrow to steady his determination of revenge, he +listened with approbation, and finally resolved, whatever violence he +might do his nature, not to allow Edward the last triumph of finding +him in his power. + +The earl's next essay was with Helen. He feared that a rumor of the +stranger's indignation at the late execution, and that the Earl of +Gloucester had taken him in charge, might, when associated with the +fact of the widow of Sir William Wallace still remaining under his +protection, awaken some dangerous suspicion and direct investigations, +too likely to discover the imposition he had put on the executioners of +the last clause in his royal father's most iniquitous sentence. He +therefore explained his new alarm to Helen, and conjured her, if she +would yet preserve the hallowed remains before her from any chance of +violence (which her lingering near them might induce by attracting +notice to her movements), she must consent to immediately leave the +kingdom. The valiant and ever faithful heart of Wallace should be her +companion; and an English captain, who had partaken of his clemency at +Berwick, be her trusty conductor to her native land. To meet every +objection, he added, "Bruce shall be protected by me with strict +fidelity till some safe opportunity may offer for his bearing to +Scotland the sacred corpse that must ever be considered the most +precious relic in his country." + +"As Heaven wills the trials of my heart," returned she, "so let it be!" +and bending her aching head on the dear pillow of her rest--the bosom +which, though cold and deserted by its heavenly inhabitant, was still +the bosom of her Wallace! the ravaged temple rendered sacred by the +footsteps of a god! For, had not virtue, and the soul of Wallace, +dwelt there? and where virtue is, there abides the Spirit of the Holy +One! With these thoughts, she passed the remainder of the night in +vigils; and they were not less devoutly shared by the chastened heart +of the Prince of Scotland. + + + + +Chapter LXXXVI. + +Highgate. + + +The tidings of the dreadful vengeance which Edward had taken against +the Scottish nation, by pouring all his wrath upon the head of Wallace, +struck like the lightning of heaven through the souls of men. None of +either country, but those in the confidence of Gloucester, knew that +Heaven had snatched him from the dishonor of so vile a death. The +English turned, blushing, from each other, and ventured not to breathe +the name of a man whose virtues seemed to have found a sanctuary for +his fame in every honest heart. But when the news reached Scotland, +the indignation was general. All envyings, all strifes were forgotten, +in unqualified resentment of the deed. There was not a man, even +amongst the late refractory chiefs, excepting the Cummins, and their +coadjutors Soulis and Monteith, who really had believed that Edward +seriously meant to sentence the Scottish patriot to a severer fate than +what he had pronounced against his rebellious vassal, the exiled +Baliol. The execution of Wallace, whose offense could only be that of +having served his country too faithfully, was therefore so unexpected, +that on the first promulgation of it, so great an abhorrence of the +perpetrator was excited in every breast, that the whole country rose as +one man, threatening to march instantly to London, and sacrifice the +tyrant on his throne. + +At this crisis, when the mountains of the north seemed heaving from +their base, to overwhelm the blood-stained fields of England, every +heart which secretly rejoiced in the late sanguinary event quailed +within its possessor, as it tremblingly anticipated the consequences of +the fall of Wallace. At this instant, when the furies armed every clan +in Scotland, breathing forth revenge like a consuming fire before them, +John Cummin, the regent, stood aghast. He foresaw his own downfall, in +this reawakened enthusiasm respecting the man whom his treachery had +been the first means of betraying to his enemies. Baffled in the aim +of his ambition by the very means he had taken to effect it, Cummin saw +no alternative, but to throw himself at once upon the bounty of +England; and, to this purpose, he bethought him of the only chance of +preserving the power of past events, that this tempest of the +soul--excited by remorse in some, and gratitude in others--could only +be maintained to any conclusive injury to England, by a royal hand, and +that that hand was expected to be Bruce's, he determined at once, that +the prince to whom he had sworn fealty, and to whom he owed his present +elevation, should follow the fate of his friend. By the spies which he +constantly kept round Huntingtower, he was apprised that Bruce had set +off toward London in a vessel from Dundee. On these grounds, he sent a +dispatch to King Edward, informing him that destiny had established him +supreme lord of Scotland; for not its second and its last hope had put +himself into his hands. With this intelligence, he gave a particular +account of all Bruce's proceedings, from the time of his meeting +Wallace in France, to his present following the chief to London. He +then craved his majesty's pardon for having been betrayed into a union +with such conspirators; and repeating his hope that the restitution he +now made, in thus showing the royal hand where to find its last +opponent, would give full conviction of his penitence and duty. He +closed his letter by urging the king to take instant and effectual +measures to disable Bruce from disturbing the quiet of Scotland, or +ever again disputing his regal claims! + +Gloucester happened to be in the presence when this epistle was +delivered in and read by his majesty. On the suit of his daughter, +Edwin had been reconciled to his son-in-law; but when he showed him the +contents of Cummin's letter, with a suspicious smile he said in a loud +voice, "In case you should know this new rebel's lurking-place, presume +not to leave this room till he is brought before me. See to your +obedience, Ralph, or your head shall follow Wallace's." + +The king instantly withdrew, and the earl, aware that search would be +made through all his houses, sought in his own mind for some expedient +to apprise Bruce of his danger. To write in the presence=chamber was +impossible; to deliver a message in a whisper would be hazardous--for +most of the surrounding courtiers, seeing the frown with which the king +had left the apartment, marked the commands he gave the marshal: "Be +sure that the Earl of Gloucester quits not this room till I return." + +In the confusion of his thoughts, the earl turned his eye on Lord +Montgomery, who had only arrived that very morning from an embassy to +Spain. He had heard with unutterable horror the fate of Wallace; and +extending his interest in him to those whom he loved, had arranged with +Gloucester to accompany him that very evening to pledge his friendship +to Bruce. To Montgomery, then, as to the only man acquainted with his +secret, he turned; and taking his spurs off his feet, and pulling out a +purse of gold, he said aloud, and with as easy an air as he could +assume, "Here, my Lord Montgomery, as you are going directly to +Highgate, I will thank you to call at my lodge; put these spurs and +this purse into the hands of the groom we spoke of; tell him they do +not fit me, and he will know what use to make of them." He then turned +negligently on his heel, and Montgomery quitted the apartment. + +The apprehension of this young lord was not less quick than the +invention of his friend. He guessed that the Scottish prince was +betrayed; and to render his escape the less likely to be traced (the +ground being wet, and liable to retain impression), before he went to +the lodge he dismounted in the adjoining wood, and with his own hands +reversed the iron on the feet of the animal he had provided for Bruce. +He then proceeded to the house, and found the object of his mission +disguised as a Carmelite, and in the chapel paying his vesper +adorations to the Almighty Being on whom his whole dependence hung. +Uninfluenced by the robes he wore, his was the devotion of the soul; +and not unaptly at such an hour came one to deliver him from a danger +which, unknown to himself, was then within a few minutes of seizing its +prey. + +Montgomery entered; and being instantly recognized by Bruce, the +ingenuous prince, never doubting a noble heart, stretched out his hand +to him. "I take it," returned the earl, "only to give it a parting +grasp. Behold these spurs and purse sent to you by Gloucester. You +know their use. Without further observation follow me." Montgomery +was thus abrupt, because as he left the palace he had heard the marshal +give orders for different military detachments to search every +residence of Gloucester for the Earl of Carrick; and he did not doubt +that the party dispatched to Highgate were now mounting the hill. + +Bruce, throwing off his cassock and cowl, again appeared in his martial +garb, and after bending his knee for a moment on the chancel-stone +which covered the remains of Wallace, he followed his friend from the +chapel, and thence through a solitary path to the park, to the center +of the wood. Montgomery pointed to the horse. Bruce grasped the hand +of his faithful conductor. "I go, Montgomery," said he, "to my +kingdom. But its crown shall never clasp my brows till the remains of +Wallace return to their country. And whether peace or the sword +restore them to Scotland, still shall a king's, a brother's friendship +unite my heart to Gloucester and to you." While speaking he vaulted +into his saddle, and receiving the cordial blessings of Montgomery, +touched his good steed with his pointed rowels, and was out of sight in +an instant. + + + + +Chapter LXXXVII. + +Scotland--Dumfries. + + +About the hour of twilight on the tenth day after Bruce had cast his +last look on the capital of England--that scene of his long captivity +under the spell of delusion, that theater of his family's disgrace, of +his own eternal regrets--he crossed the little stream which marked the +oft-contended barrier-land of the two kingdoms. He there checked the +headlong speed of his horse, and having alighted to give it breath, +walked by its side, musing on the different feelings with which he now +entered Scotland, from the buoyant emotions with which he had sprung on +its shore at the beginning of the year. These thoughts, as full of +sorrow as of hope, had not occupied him long when he espied a man, in +the Red Cummin's colors, speeding toward the south. He guessed him to +be some new messenger of the regent to Edward, and throwing himself +before the horse, caught it by the bridle, then coolly commanded its +rider to deliver to him the dispatches which he carried to the King of +England. The man refused, and, striking his spurs into his beast, +tried to trample down his assailant. But Bruce was not to be put from +his aim. The manner of the Scot convinced him that his suspicions were +right, and putting forth his nervous arm, with one action he pulled the +messenger from his saddle and laid him prostrate on the ground. Again +he demanded the papers. "I am your prince," cried he, "and by the +allegiance you owe to Robert Bruce, I command you to deliver them into +my hands. Life shall be your reward, immediate death the punishment of +your obstinacy." + +In such an extremity the man did not hesitate, and taking from his +bosom a sealed packet, immediately resigned it. Bruce ordered him to +stand before him till he had read the contents. Trembling with terror +of this formidable freebooter (for he placed no belief in the +declaration that he was the Prince of Scotland), the man obeyed, and +Bruce, breaking his seals, found, as he expected a long epistle from +the regent, urging the sanguinary aim of his communications. He +reiterated his arguments for the expediency of speedily putting Robert +Bruce to death; he represented the danger that there was in delay, lest +a man so royally descended and so popular as he had become (since it +was now publicly understood that he had already fought his country's +battles under the name of Sir Thomas de Longueville) should find means +of replacing himself at the head of so many zealots in his favor. +These circumstances so propitious to ambition, and now adding person +revenge to his former boldness and policy, would at this juncture +(should he arrive in Scotland) turn its growing commotions to the most +decisive uses against the English power. The regent concluded with +saying, "that the Lords Loch-awe, Douglas, and Ruthven were come down +from the Highlands with a multitudinous army, to drive out the Southron +garrisons, and to repossess themselves of the fortresses of Stirling +and Edinburgh. That Lord Bothwell had returned from France with the +real Sir Thomas de Longueville, a knight of great valiancy. And that +Sir Roger Kirkpatrick, after having massacred half the English +castellans in the border counties, was now lying at Torthorald ready to +commence his murderous reprisals through the coasts of Galloway. For +himself, Cummin told the kind he had secretly removed to the Franciscan +monastery at Dumfries, where he should most anxiously await his +majesty's pardon and commands." + +Bruce closed the packet. To prevent his discovery being betrayed ere +he was ready to act, he laid his sword upon the shoulder of the man: +"You are my prisoner," said he; "but fear not. I only mean to hold you +in safety till your master has answered for his treason." The +messenger thought, whoever this imperious stranger might be, that he +saw a truth in his eyes which ratified this assurance; and without +opposition, he walked before him till they stopped at Torthorald. + +Night had closed in when Bruce sounded his bugle under the walls. +Kirkpatrick answered from the embrasure over the barbican-gate with a +demand of who desired admittance. + +"'Tis the avenger of Sir William Wallace," was the reply. The gates +flew open at the words; and Kirkpatrick, standing in the archway amid a +blaze of torches, received his guest with a brave welcome. + +Bruce spoke no more till he entered the banqueting-hall. Three other +knights were seated by the table. He turned to Kirkpatrick. "My +valiant friend," said he, "order your servants to take charge of yon +Scot," pointing to the messenger of Cummin; "and till I command his +release, let him be treated with the lenity which shall ever belong to +a prisoner of Robert Bruce!" As he spoke he threw up his visor; and +Kirkpatrick, who had heard that the supposed De Longueville was his +rightful prince, now recognized the well-known features of the brave +foreigner in the stranger before him. Not doubting the verity of his +words, he bent his knee with the homage due to his king; and in the +action was immediately followed by Sir Eustace Maxwell, Sir James +Lindsay, and Adam Fleming, who were the other knights present. + +"I come," cried the prince, "in the spirit of my heart's sovereign and +friend, the now immortal Wallace, to live or to die with you in the +defense of my country's liberties. With such assistance as yours, his +invincible coadjutors, and with the blessing of Heaven on our arms, I +hope to redeem Scotland from the disgrace which her late horrible +submission to the tyrant has fastened on her name. The transgressions +of my house have been grievous; but that last deadly sin of my people +called for an expiation awful indeed! And it came in the moment of +guilt! in their crime they receive punishment. They broke from their +side the arms which alone had rescued them from their enemies! I now +come to save them from themselves. Their having permitted the +sacrifice of the rights of my family was the first injury committed on +the constitution, and it prepared a path for the ensuing tyranny which +seized upon the kingdom. But, by resuming these rights, which is now +my firm purpose, I open to you a way to recover our hereditary +independence. The direful scene just acted on the Tower Hill of +London, that horrible climax of Scottish treason! must convince every +reasonable mind that all the late misfortunes of our country have +proceeded from the base jealousies of its nobles. There, then, let +them die; and may the grave of Wallace be the tomb of dissension! +Seeing where their own true interests point, surely the brave +chieftains of this land will rally round their lawful prince, who here +declares he knows no medium between death and victory!" + +The spirit with which this address was pronounced, the magnanimity it +conveyed, assisted by the graces of his youth, and noble deportment, +struck the hearts of its auditors, and aroused in double vigor the +principles of resentment to which the first tidings of their heroic +countryman's fate had given birth. Kirkpatrick needed no other +stimulus than his almost idolatrous memory of Wallace, and he listened +with an answering ardor to Bruce's exhortation. The prince next +disclosed to his now zealously-pledged friends the particulars of the +Red Cummin's treachery. "He now lies at Dumfries!" cried Kirkpatrick; +"thither, then, let us go, and confront him with his treason. When +falsehood is to be confounded, it is best to grapple with the sorceress +in the moment of detection; should we hesitate, she may elude our +grasp." + +Dumfries was only a few miles distant, and they might reach its convent +before the first matins. Fatigue was not felt by Bruce when in pursuit +of a great object; and, after a slight refreshment, he and his four +determined friends took horse. + +As they had anticipated, the midnight bell was ringing for prayers when +the troop stopped at the Franciscan gate. Lindsay, having been in the +Holy Land during the late public struggles, alleged business with the +abbot, and desired to see him. On the father's bidding the party +welcome, Bruce stepped forward and addressed him: "Reverend sir, I come +from London. I have an affair to settle with Lord Badenoch; and I know +by his letters to King Edward, that he is secretly lodged in this +convent. I therefore command to be conducted to him." This peremptory +requisition, with the superior air of the person who made it, did not +leave the abbot room to doubt that he was some illustrious messenger +from the King of England, and with hardly a demur, he left the other +knights in the cloisters of the church while he led the noble Southron +(as he thought) to his kinsman. + +The treacherous regent had just retired from the refectory to his own +apartment, as the abbot conducted the stranger into his presence. +Badenoch started frowningly from his seat at such unusual intrusion. +Bruce's visor was closed; and the ecclesiastic, perceiving the regent's +displeasure, dispersed it by announcing the visitant as a messenger +from King Edward. "Then leave us together," returned he, unwilling +that even this, his convenient kinsman, should know the extent of his +treason against his country. The abbot had hardly closed the door, +when Bruce, whose indignant soul burned to utter his full contempt of +the wretch before him, hastily advanced to speak; but the cautious +Badenoch, fearful that the father might yet be within hearing, put his +finger to his lips. Bruce paused, and listened gloomily to the +departing steps of the abbot. When they were no more heard, with one +hand raising his visor, and the other grasping the scroll of detection: +"Thus, basest of the base race of Cummin!" exclaimed he, "you may for a +moment elude the universal shame which awaits your crimes." + +At sight of the fate, on hearing the words of Bruce, the unmanly coward +uttered a cry of terror, and rushed toward the door. + +"You pass not here," continued the prince, "till I have laid open all +your guilt; till I have laid open all your guilt; till I have +pronounced you the doom due to a treacherous friend and traitorous +subject." + +"Infatuated Bruce!" exclaimed Badenoch, assuming an air of insulted +friendship, not that he found escape impossible; "what false tongue has +persuaded you to arraign one who has ever been but too faithfully the +adherent of your desperate fortunes? I have labored in secret, day and +night, in your service, and thus am I repaid." + +Bruce smiled disdainfully at this poor attempt to deceive him; and, as +he stood with his back against the door, he opened the murderous +packet, and read from it all its contents. Cummin turned pale and red +at each sentence; and at last, Bruce closing it: + +"Now, then, faithful adherent of Robert Bruce!" cried he, "say what the +man deserves who, in these blood-red lines, petitions the death of his +lawful prince! Oh! thou arch-regicide! Doth not my very look kill +thee?" + +Badenoch, his complexion turning of a livid hue, and his voice +faltering, attempted to deny the letter having been his handwriting, or +that he had any concern in the former embassy to Edward; then, finding +that these falsehoods only irritated Bruce to higher indignation, and +fearful of being immediately sacrificed to his just resentment, he +threw himself on his knees, and confessing each transaction, implored +his life in pity to the natural desire of self-preservation which, +alone, had precipitated him to so ungrateful a proceeding. + +"Oh!" added he, "even this danger I have incurred upon your account! +For your ultimate advantage did I bring on my head the perils which now +fill me with dismay! Love alone for you made me hasten the execution +of William Wallace, that insidious friend, who would have crept from +your bosom into your throne. And then, fear of your mistaking the +motives of so good a service, betrayed me to throw myself into the arms +of Edward!" + +"Bury thyself and crimes, thou foulest traitor, deep in the depths of +hell!" cried the prince, starting away with a tremendous gesture! "Out +of my sight forever, that I may not pollute these hands with thy +monstrous blood!" Till this moment Bruce was ignorant that Badenoch +had been the instigator in the murder of Wallace; and forgetting all +his own person wrongs in this more mighty injury, with tumultuous +horror, he turned from the coward to avoid the self-blame of stabbing +an unarmed wretch at his feet. But at that moment Cummin, who believed +his doom only suspended, rose from his knee, and drawing his dirk from +under his plaid, struck it into the back of the prince. Bruce turned +on him with the quickness of thought. "Hah!" exclaimed he, seizing him +by the throat, "then take thy fate! This accursed deed hath removed +the only barrier between vengeance and thee--thus remember William +Wallace!" + +As the prince spoke he plunged his dagger into the breast of the +traitor. Cummin uttered a fearful cry, and rolled down at his feet +murmuring imprecations. + +Bruce fled from the spot. It was the first time his arm had drawn +blood except in the field of battle, and he felt as if the base tide +had contaminated his hand. In the cloisters he was encountered by his +friends. A few words informed them of what had happened. + +"Is he dead?" inquired Kirkpatrick. + +"I can hardly doubt it," answered Bruce. + +"Such a matter," returned the veteran, "must not be left to conjecture; +I will secure him!"** And running forward, he found the wounded regent +crawling from the door of the cell. Throwing himself upon him without +noise, he stabbed him to the heart. + + +**In memory of this circumstance, the crest of the family of +Kirkpatrick is a hand grasping a dagger distilling gouts of blood; the +motto, "I mak sikkar." + + +Before the catastrophe was known in the convent, Bruce and his friends +had left it some time, and were far on their road to Lochmaben. They +arrived before sunrise, and once more an inmate of his paternal castle, +he thence dispatched Fleming to Lord Ruthven, with a transcript of his +designs. + +In the same packed he inclosed a letter for the Lady Isabella. It +contained this brave resolution--that, in his present return to +Scotland, he did not consider himself merely as Robert Bruce, come to +reclaim the throne of his ancestors, but as the executor of the last +dying will of Sir William Wallace, which was--that Bruce should confirm +the independence of Scotland, or fall, as Wallace had done, invincible +at his post. "Till that freedom is accomplished," continued the +virtuous prince, "I will never shake the steadfast purpose of my soul +by even once glance at thy life-endearing beauties. I am Wallace's +soldier, Isabella, as he was Heaven's! and, while my captain looks on +me from above, shall I not approve myself worthy his example? I wooed +you as a knight, I will win you as a king; and on the day when no +hostile Southron breathes in Scotland I will demand my sweetest reward, +my beloved bride, of her noble uncle. You shall come to me as the +angel of peace, and in one hour we will receive the nuptial benediction +and the vows of our people!" + +The purport of the prince's letter to Ruthven was well adapted to the +strain of the foregoing. He then announced his intention of proceeding +immediately to the plain of Stirling; and there, putting himself at the +head of his loyal Scots, declare himself their lawful sovereign, and +proclaim to the world that he acknowledged no legal superior but the +Great Being whose vicegerent he was. From that center of his kingdom +he would make excursions to its furthest extremities, and, with God's +will, either drive his enemies from the country, or perish with the +sword in his hand, as became the descendant of William the Lion, as +became the friend of William Wallace! + +Ruthven lay encamped on the Carse of Gowrie when this letter was +delivered to him. He read it aloud to his assembled chieftains, and, +with waving bonnets, they hailed the approach of their valiant prince. +Bothwell alone, whose soul-devoted attachment to Wallace could not be +superseded by any other affection allowed his bonnet to remain inactive +in his hand; but with the ferver of true loyalty he thanked God for +thus bringing the sovereign whom his friend loved to bind in one the +contending interests of his country--to wrest from the hand of that +friend's assassin the scepter for which he had dyed them so deep in +blood. + + + + +Chapter LXXXVIII. + +Stirling. + + +The word of Bruce was as irreversible as his spirit was determined. No +temptation of indulgence could seduce him from the one, no mischance of +adversity could subdue the other. The standard of liberty had been +raised by him on the Carse of Gowrie, and he carried it in his +victorious arm from east to west, from the most northern point of +Sutherland to the walls of Stirling; but there, the garrison which the +treason of the late regent had admitted into the citadel gave a +momentary check to his career. The English governor hesitated to +surrender on the terms proposed, and while his first flag of truce was +yet in the tent of the Scottish monarch, a second arrived to break off +the negotiation. Whatever were the reasons for this abrupt +determination, Bruce paid him not the compliment of asking a wherefore, +but advancing his troops to the Southron outposts, drove them in with +great loss; and, approaching the lower works of the town by the road of +Ballochgeich, so alarmed the governor as to induce him to send forth +several squadrons of horse to stop his progress. + +Vain was the attempt. They shrunk before the resolute prince and his +enthusiastic followers. The governor dispatched others, and at last +marched himself out to their support. No force seemed able to +withstand the pressing valor of the Scots. The Southron saw himself in +the midst of his slain, and deserted by half of his surviving troops. +A surrender, both of himself and his fainting companions, was now his +only recourse. His herald sounded a parley. The generous victor, in +the midst of triumph, listened to the offered capitulation. It was not +to include the citadel of Stirling. + +Bruce stopped the herald at this clause, and at once demanded the +unconditional surrender of both the town and citadel. The governor, +being aware that in his present state there was no alternative, and +knowing the noble nature of the prince who made the requisition, +yielded to necessity, and resigned the whole into his hands. + +Next morning Bruce entered Stirling as a conqueror, with the whole of +his kingdom at his feet; for, from the Solway Frith to the Northern +Ocean, no Scottish town or castle owned a foreign master. The +acclamations of a rescued people rent the skies; and, while prayers and +blessings poured on him from above, below, and around, he did indeed +feel himself a king, and that he had returned to the land of his +forefathers. While he sat on his proud war-horse, in front of the +great gates of the citadel, now thrown wide asunder to admit its +rightful sovereign, his noble prisoners came forward. They bent their +knees before him; and delivering their swords, received in return, his +gracious assurance of mercy. At this moment all Scottish hearts and +wishes seemed riveted on their youthful monarch. Dismounting from his +steed, he raised his helmet from his head, as the souls of his enemies, +he raised his helmet from his head, as the Bishop of Dunkeld, followed +by all the ecclesiastics in the town, came forward to wait upon the +triumph of their king. + +The beautiful anthem of the virgins of Israel on the conquests of +David, was chanted forth by the nuns who in this heaven-hallowed hour, +like the spirits of the blest, revisited the world to give the chosen +of their land, "All hail." + +The words, the scene, smote the heart of Bothwell; he turned aside and +wept. Where were now the buoyant feelings with which he had followed +the similar triumph of Wallace into these gates? "Buried, thou +martyred hero, in thy bloody grave!" New men and new services seemed +to have worn out remembrance of the past; but in the memories of even +this joyous crowd, Wallace lived, though like a bright light which had +passed through their path, and was gone never more to return. + +On entering the citadel, Bruce was informed by Mowbray, the English +governor, that he would find a lady there in a frightful state of +mental derangement, and who might need his protection. A question or +two from the victorious monarch told him that this was the Countess of +Strathearn. On the revolted abthanes having betrayed Wallace and his +country to England, the joy and ambition of the countess knew no +bounds; and hoping to eventually persuade Edward to adjudge to her the +crown, she made it apparent to the English king how useful would be her +services to Scotland; while with a plenary though secret mission, she +took her course through her native land, to discover who were inimical +to the foreign interest, and who, likely to promote her own; after this +circuit, she fixed her mimic court at Stirling, and living there in +real magnificence, exercised the functions of a vice-queen. At this +period intelligence arrived, which the governor thought would fill her +with exultation; and hastening to declare it, he proclaimed to her, +that the King of England's authority was now firmly established in +Scotland, for that on the twenty-third of August Sir William Wallace +had been executed in London, according to all the forms of law, upon +the Tower Hill! + +On the full declaration of this event, she fell senseless on the floor. +It was not until the next morning that she recovered to perfect +animation, and then her ravings were horrible and violent. She accused +herself of the murder of Sir William Wallace. She seemed to hear him +upbraid her with his fate: and her shrieks and tremendous ejaculations +so fearfully presented the scene of his death before the eyes of her +attendants, that her women fled and none others of that sex would +afterward venture to approach her. In these fearful moments the +dreadful confession of all her premeditated guilt, of her infuriate and +disappointed passion for Wallace, and her vowed revenge, were revealed, +under circumstances so shocking, that the English governor declared to +the King of Scots, while he conducted him toward her apartment, that he +would rather wear out his life in a rayless dungeon, then endure one +hour of her agonies. + +There was a dead silence in her chamber as they approached the door. +Mowbray cautiously opened it, and discovered the object of their visit. +She was seated at the further end of the room on the floor, enveloped +in a mass of scarlet velvet she had drawn off her bed; her hands +clasped her knees, and she bent forward, with her eyes fixed on the +door at which they entered. Her once dazzling beauty was now +transformed to a haggard glare--the terrible lightning which gleamed on +the face of Satan, when he sat brooding on the burning marl of Tartarus. + +She remained motionless as they advanced. But when Bruce stopped +directly before her, contemplating with horror the woman whom he +regarded as one of the murderers of his most beloved friend, she sprung +at once upon him, and clinging to him, with shrieks buried her head in +his bosom. "Save me! save me!" cried she. "Mar drags me down to hell; +I burn there, and yet I die not!" Then bursting from Bruce, with an +imprecation that froze his blood, she flew to the other side of the +chamber, crying aloud, "Thou hast torn out my heart! Fiend, I took +thee for Wallace--but I murdered him!" Her agonies, her yells, her +attempts at self-violence, were now so dreadful, that Bruce, raising +her bleeding from the hearth on which she had furiously dashed her +head, put her into the arms of the men who attended her, and then, with +an awful sense of Divine retribution, left the apartment. + + + + +Chapter LXXXIX. + +Bannockburn. + + +The generality of his prisoners Bruce directed should be kept safe in +the citadel; but to Mobray he gave his liberty, and ordered every means +to facilitate the commodious journey of that brave knight whom he had +requested to convey the insane Lady Strathearn to the protection of her +husband. + +Mowbray accepted his freedom with gratitude, and gladly set forth with +his unhappy charge to meet his sovereign. Expectation of Edward's +approach had been the reason of his withdrawing his herald from the +camp of Bruce, and though the king did not arrive time enough to save +Stirling, Mowbray yet hoped he might still be continuing his promised +march. This anticipation the Southron's loyalty would not allow him to +impart to Bruce, and he bade that generous prince adieu, with the full +belief of soon returning to find him the vanquished of Edward. + +At the decline of day Bruce returned to his camp, to pass the night in +the field with his soldiers, intending next morning to give his last +orders to the detachments which he meant to send out under the command +of Lennox and Douglas, to disperse themselves over the border counties, +and there keep station till that peace should be signed by England +which he was determined, by unabated hostilities, to compel. + +Having taken these measures for the security of his kingdom and the +establishment of his own happiness, he had just returned to his tent on +the banks of the Bannockburn when Grimsby, his now faithful attendant, +conducted an armed knight into his presence. The light of the lamp +which stood on the table, streaming full on the face of the stranger, +discovered to the king his English friend, the intrepid Montgomery. +With an exclamation of glad surprise Bruce would have clasped him in +his arms; but Montgomery dropping on his knee, exclaimed, "Receive a +subject as well as a friend, victorious and virtuous prince! I have +forsworn the vassalage of the Plantagenets; and thus, without title or +land, with only a faithful heart, Gilbert Hambledon comes to vow +himself yours and Scotland's forever." + +Bruce raised him from the ground, and welcoming him with the warm +embrace of friendship, inquired the cause of so extraordinary an +abjuration of his legal sovereign. "No light matter," observed the +king, "could have so wrought upon my noble Montgomery!" + +"Montgomery no more!" replied the ear, with indignant eagerness; "when +I threw the insignia of my earldom at the feet of the unjust Edward, I +told him that I would lay the saw to the root of the nobility I had +derived from his house, and cut it through; that I would sooner leave +my posterity without titles and without wealth, than deprive them of +real honor.** I have done as I said! And yet I come not without a +treasure, for the sacred corpse of William Wallace is now in my bark, +floating on the waves of the Forth!" + + +**This event is perpetuated in the crest of the noble family of +Hamilton in Scotland. + + +The subjugation of England would hardly have been so welcome to Bruce +as this intelligence. He received it with an eloquent though +unutterable look of gratitude. Hambledon continued: "On the tyrant +summoning the peers of England to follow him to the destruction of +Scotland, Gloucester got excused under a plea of illness, and I could +not but show a disinclination to obey. This occasioned some remarks +from Edward respecting my known attachment to the Scottish cause, and +they were so couched as to draw from me this honest answer; my heart +would not, for the wealth of the world, permit me to join in the +projected invasion, since I had seen the spot in my own country where a +most inordinate ambition had cut down the flower of all knighthood, +because he was a Scot who would not sell his birthright! The king left +me in wrath and threatened to make me recant my words--I as proudly +declared I would maintain them. Next morning, being in waiting on the +prince, I entered his chamber, and found John le de Spencer (the coward +who so basely insulted Wallace on the day of his condemnation); he was +sitting with his highness. On my offering the services due from my +office, this worthless minion turned on me, and accused me of having +declined joining the army for the sole purpose of executing some plot +in London, devised between me and my Scottish partisans for the +subversion of the English monarchy. I denied the charge. He enforced +it with oaths, and I spurned his allegations. The prince, who believed +him, furiously gave me the lie, and commanded me as a traitor to leave +his presence. I refused to stir an inch till I made the base heart of +Le de Spencer retract his falsehood. The coward took courage on his +master's support, and drawing his sword upon me, in language that would +blister my tongue to repeat, threatened to compel my departure. He +struck me on the face with his weapon. The arms of his prince could +not then save him; I thrust him through the body, and he fell. Edward +ran on me with his dagger, but I wrested it from him. Then it was +that, I reply to his menaces, I revoked my fealty to a sovereign I +abhorred, a prince I despised. Leaving his presence before the +fluctuations of so versatile a mind could fix upon seizing me, I +hastened to Highgate, to convey away the body of our friend from its +brief sanctuary. The same night I embarked it and myself on board a +ship of my own, and am now at your feet, brave and just king!--no +longer Montgomery, but a true Scot in heart and loyalty." + +"And as a kinsman, generous Hambledon!" returned Bruce, "I receive and +will portion thee. My paternal lands of Cadzow, on the Clyde, shall be +thine forever; and may thy posterity be as worthy of the inheritance as +their ancestor is of all my love and confidence." + +Hambledon, having received his new sovereign's directions concerning +the disembarkation of those sacred remains, which the young king +declared he should welcome as the pledge of Heaven to bless his +victories with peace, returned to the haven, where Wallace rested in +that sleep which even the voice of friendship could not disturb. + +At the hour of the midnight watch, the trumpets of approaching heralds +resounded without the camp. Bruce hastened to the council-tent to +receive the now anticipated tidings. The communications of Hambledon +had given him reason to expect another struggle for his kingdom, and +the message of the trumpets declared it might be a mortal one. + +At the head of a hundred thousand men, Edward had forced a rapid +passage through the Lowlands, and was now within a few hours' march of +Stirling, fully determined to bury Scotland under her own slain, or, by +one decisive blow, restore her to his empire. + +When this was uttered by the English herald, Bruce turned to Ruthven +with an heroic smile: + +"Let him come, my brave barons, and he shall find that Bannockburn +shall page with Cambus-Kenneth!" + +The strength of the Scottish army did not amount to more than thirty +thousand men against this host of Southrons. But the relics of Wallace +were there! His spirit glowed in the heart of Bruce. The young +monarch lost not the advantage of choosing his ground first, and +therefore, as his power was deficient in cavalry, he so took his field +as to compel the enemy to make it a battle of infantry alone. + +To protect his exposed flank from the innumerable squadrons of Edward, +he dug deep and wide pits near to Bannockburn, and having overlaid +their mouths with turf and brushwood, proceeded to marshal his little +phalanx on the shore of that brook till his front stretched to St. +Ninan's Monastery. + +The center was led by Lord Ruthven and Walter Stewart; the right owned +by the valiant leading of Douglas and Ramsay, supported by the brave +young Gordon with all his clan; and the left was put in charge of +Lennox, with Sir Thomas Randolph, a crusade chieftain, who, like +Lindsay and others, had lately returned from distant lands, and now +zealously embraced the cause of his country. + +Bruce stationed himself at the head of the reserve; with him were the +veterans Loch-awe, and Kirkpatrick, and Lord Bothwell with the true De +Longueville, and the men of Lanark, all determined to make this +division the stay of their little army, or the last sacrifice for +Scottish liberty and its martyred champion's corpse. There stood the +sable hearse of Wallace, rather than yield the ground which he had +rendered doubly precious by having made it the scene and the guerdon of +his invincible deeds! When Kirkpatrick approached the side of his dead +chief, he burst into tears, and his sobs alone proclaimed his +participation in the solemnity. The vow spread to the surrounding +legions, and was echoed, with mingled cries and acclamations, from the +furthest ranks. + +"My leader, in death as in life!" exclaimed Bruce, clasping his +friend's sable shroud to his heart; "thy pale corpse shall again redeem +the country which cast thee, living, amongst devouring lions! Its +presence shall fight and conquer for thy friend and king!" + +Before the chiefs turned to resume their martial stations, the abbot of +Inchaffray drew near with the mysterious iron box, which Douglas had +caused to be brought from St. Fillan's Priory. On presenting it to the +young monarch, he repeated the prohibition which had been given with +it, and added, "Since, then, these canonized relics (for none can doubt +they are so) have found protection under the no less holy arm of St. +Fillan, he now delivers them to your youthful majesty, to penetrate +their secrets, and to nerve your mind with redoubled trust in the +saintly host." + +"The saints are to be honored, reverend father, and on that principle I +shall not invade their mysteries till the God in whom alone I trust, +marks me with more than the name of king; till, by a decisive victory, +he establishes me the approved champion of my country--the worthy +successor of him before whose mortal body and immortal spirit I now +emulate his deeds. But as a memorial that the host of heaven do indeed +learn from the bright abodes to wish well to this day, let these holy +relics repose with those of the brave till the issue of the battle." + +Bruce, having placed his array, disposed the supernumeraries of his +army, the families of his soldiers, and other apparently useless +followers of the camp, in the rear of an adjoining hill. + +By daybreak the whole of the Southron army came in view. The van, +consisting of archers and men-at-arms, displayed the banner of Earl de +Warenne; the main body was led on by Edward himself, supported by a +train of his most redoubted generals. As they approached, the bishop +of Dunkeld stood on the face of the opposite hill between the abbots of +Cambus-Keneth and Inchaffray, celebrating mass in the sight of the +opposing armies. He passed along in front of the Scottish lines +barefoot, with the crucifix in his hand, and in few but forcible words +exhorted them by every sacred hope, to fight with an unreceding step +for their rights, their king, and the corpse of William Wallace! At +this abjuration, which seemed the call of Heaven itself, the Scots fell +on their knees, to confirm their resolution with a vow. The sudden +humiliation of their posture excited an instant triumph in the haughty +mind of Edward, and spurring forward, he shouted aloud, "They yield! +They cry for mercy!" + +"They cry for mercy!" returned Percy, trying to withhold his majesty, +"but not from us. On that ground on which they kneel, they will be +victorious or find their graves." + +The king contemned this opinion of the earl, and inwardly believing +that, now Wallace was dead, he need fear no other opponent (for he knew +not that even his cold remains were risen in array against him), he +ordered his men to charge. The horsemen, to the number of thirty +thousand, obeyed; and, rushing forward, with the hope of overwhelming +the Scots ere they could rise from their knees, met a different +destiny. They found destruction amid the trenches and on the pikes in +the way, and with broken ranks and fearful confusion, fell or fled +under the missive weapons which poured on them from a neighboring hill. +De Valence was overthrown and severely wounded, and being carried off +the field, filled the rear ranks with dismay; while the king's division +was struck with consternation at so disastrous a commencement of an +action in which they had promised themselves so easy a victory. Bruce +seized the moment of confusion, and seeing his little army distressed +by the arrows of the English, he sent Bothwell round with a resolute +body of men to drive those destroying archers from the heights which +they occupied. This was effected; and Bruce coming up with his +reserve, the battle in the center became close, obstinate, and +decisive. Many fell before the determined arm of the youthful king; +but it was the fortune of Bothwell to encounter the false Monteith in +the train of Edward. The Scottish earl was then at the head of his +intrepid Lanarkmen. + +"Fiend of the most damned treason," cried he, "vengeance is come!" and +with an iron grasp, throwing the traitor into the midst of the faithful +clan, they dragged him to the hearse of their chief, and there, on the +skirts of its pall, the wretched villain breathed out his treacherous +breath, under the strokes of a hundred swords. + +"So," cried the veteran Ireland, "perish the murderers of William +Wallace!" + +"So," shouted the rest, "perish the enemies of the bravest, the most +loyal of Scots, the benefactor of his country!" + +At this crisis the women and followers of the Scottish camp, hearing +such triumphant exclamations from their friends, impatiently quitted +their station behind the hill, and ran to the summit, waving their +scarfs and plaids in exultation of the supposed victory. The English, +mistaking these people for a new army, had not the power to recover +from the increasing confusion which had seized them on King Edward +himself receiving a wound, and panic-struck with the sight of their +generals falling around them, they flung down their arms and fled. The +king narrowly escaped; but being mounted on a stout and fleet horse, he +put him to the speed and reached Dunbar, whence the young Earl of +March, being as much attached to the cause of England as his father had +been, instantly gave him a passage to England. + +The Southron camp, with all its riches, fell into the hands of Bruce. +But while his chieftains pursued their gallant chase, he turned his +steps from warlike triumph, to pay his heart's honors to the remains of +the hero whose blood had so often bathed Scotland's fields of victory. +His vigils were again beneath that sacred pall--for so long had been +the conflict, that night closed in before the last squadrons left the +banks of Bannockburn. + +At the dewy hour of morn Bruce reappeared upon the field. His helmet +was royally plumed, and the golden lion of Scotland gleamed from under +his sable surcoat. Bothwell rode at his side. The troops he had +retained from the pursuit were drawn out in array. In a brief address +he unfolded to them the solemn duty to which he had called them--to see +the bosom of their native land receive the remains of Sir William +Wallace. + +"He gave to you your homes and your liberty!--grant, then, a grave, the +peace of the tomb to him, whom some amongst you repaid with treachery +and death!" + +At these words a cry, as if they beheld their betrayed chief slain +before them, issued from every heart. + +The news had spread to the town, and with tears and lamentations a vast +crowd collected round the royal troop. Bruce ordered his bards to +raise the sad coronach, and the march commenced toward the open tent +that canopied the sacred remains. The whole train followed the +speechless woe, as if each individual had lost his dearest relative. +Having passed the wood, they came in view of the black hearse, which +contained all that now remained of him who had so lately crossed these +precincts in all the panoply of triumphant war, in all the graciousness +of peace, and love to man! The soldiers, the people rushed forward, +and precipitating themselves before the bier, implored a pardon for +their ungrateful country. They adjured him, by every tender name of +father, benefactor, and friend, and in such a sacred presence, +forgetting that their king was by, gave way to a grief which, most +eloquently, told the young monarch that he who would be respected after +William Wallace must not only possess his power and valor, but imitate +his virtues. + +Scrymgeour, who had well remembered his promise to Wallace on the +battlements of Dumbarton, with a holy reference to that vow now laid +the standard of Scotland upon the pall. Hambledon placed on it the +sword and helmet of the sacrificed hero. Bruce observed all in +silence. The sacred burden was raised. Uncovering his royal head, +with his kingly purple sweeping in the dust, he walked before the bier, +shedding tears, more precious in the eyes of his subjects than the oil +which was soon to pour upon his brow. As he thus moved on, he heard +acclamations mingle with the voice of sorrow. + +"This is our king, worthy to have been the friend of Wallace! worthy to +succeed him in the kingdom of our hearts." + +At the gates of Cambus-Kenneth, the venerable abbot appeared at the +head of his religious brethren; but without uttering the grief that +shook his aged frame, he raised the golden crucifix over the head of +the bier, and after leaning his face for a few minutes on it, preceded +the procession into the church. None but the soldiers entered. The +people remained without, and as the doors closed they fell on the +pavement, weeping as if the living Wallace had again been torn from +them. + +On the steps of the altar the bier rested. The bishop of Dunkeld, in +his pontifical robes, received the sacred deposit with a cloud of +incense, and the pealing organ, answered by the voices of the +choristers, breathed the solemn requiem of the dead. The wreathing +frankincense parted its vapor, and a wan but beautiful form, clasping +an urn to her breast, appeared stretched on a litter, and was borne +toward the spot. It was Helen, brought from the adjoining nunnery, +where since her return to these once dear shores, now made a desert to +her, she had languished in the gradual decay of the fragile bonds which +alone fettered her mourning spirit, eager for release. + +All night had Isabella watched by her couch, expecting that each +succeeding breath would be the last her beloved sister would draw in +this calamitous world; but as her tears fell in silence from her cheek +upon the cold forehead of Helen, the gentle saint understood their +expression, and looking up: + +"My Isabella," said she, "fear not. My Wallace is returned. God will +grant me life to clasp his blessed remains!" + +Full of this hope, she was borne, almost a passing spirit, into the +chancel of Cambus-Kenneth. Her veil was open, and discovered her face +like one just awakened from the dead; it was ashy pale, but it bore a +celestial brightness, which, like the silver luster of the moon, +declared its approach to the fountain of its glory. Her eye fell on +the bier, and, with a momentary strength, she sprung from the couch on +which she had leaned in dying feebleness, and threw herself upon the +coffin. + +There was an awful pause while Helen seemed to weep. But so was not +her sorrow to be shed. It was locked within the flood-gates of her +heart. + +In that suspension of the soul, when Bothwell knelt on one side of the +bier and Ruthven bent his knee on the other, Bruce stretched out his +hand to the weeping Isabella; "Come hither, my youthful bride, and let +thy first duty be paid to the shrine of thy benefactor and mine! So +may we live, sweet excellence; and so may we die, if the like may be +our meed of heavenly glory!" + +Isabella threw herself into his arms and wept aloud. Helen, slowly +raising her head at these words, regarded her sister with a look of +awful tenderness, then turning her eyes back upon the coffin, gazed on +it as if they would have pierced its confines, and clasping the urn +earnestly to her heart, she exclaimed, "'Tis come! the promise--Thy +bridal bed shall be William Wallace's grave!" + +Bruce and Isabella, not aware that she repeated words which Wallace had +said to her, turned to her with portentous emotion. She understood the +terrified glance of her sister, and with a smile which bespoke her +kindred to the soul she was panting to rejoin, she answered, "I speak +of my own espousals. But ere that moment is--and I feel it near--let +my Wallace's hallowed presence bless your nuptials! Thou wilt breathe +thy benediction through my lips," added she, laying her hand on the +coffin, and looking down on it as if she were conversing with its +inhabitant. + +"O, no, no," returned Isabella, throwing herself on her knees before the +almost unembodied aspect of her sister; "let me ever be the sharer of +your cell, or take me with you to the kingdom of Heaven!" + +"It is thy sister's spirit that speaks," cried Dunkeld, observing the +awe which not only shook the tender frame of Isabella, but had +communicated itself to Bruce, who stood in heart-struck veneration +before the yet unascended angel, "holy inspiration," continued the +bishop, "beams from her eyes, and as ye hope for further blessings, +obey its dictates!" + +Isabella bowed her head in acquiescence. As Bruce approached to take +his part in the sacred rite, he raised the hand which lay on the pall +to his lips. The ceremony began--was finished! As the bridal notes +resounded from the organ, and the royal pair rose from their knees, +Helen held her trembling hands over them. She gasped for breath, and +would have sunk without a word, had not Bothwell supported her shadowy +form upon his breast. She looked round on him with a grateful though +languid smile, and with a strong effort spoke: + +"Be you blessed in all things as Wallace would have blessed you! From +his side I pour out my soul upon you, my sister--my being--and, with +its inward-breathed prayers to the Giver of all good for your eternal +happiness, I turn, in holy faith--to my long looked-for rest!" + +Bruce and Isabella wept in each other's arms. Helen slid gently from +the boom of Bothwell prostrate on the coffin, and uttering, in a low +tone: + +"I waited only for this! We have met--I unite thy noble heart to thee +again--I claim my brother--at our Father's hands--in mercy!--in +love--by his all-blessed Son!" + +Her voice gradually faded away as she murmured these broken sentences, +which none but the close and attentive ear of Bothwell heard. But he +caught not the triumphant exclamation of her soul, which spoke, though +her lips ceased to move, and cried to the attending angels: + +"Death, where is thy sting? Grave, where is thy victory?" + +In this awful moment the Abbot of Inchaffray, believing the dying saint +was prostrate in prayer, laid his hand on the iron box, which stood at +the foot of Wallace's bier. "Before the sacred remains of the once +champion of Scotland, and in the presence of his royal successor," +exclaimed the abbot, "let this mysterious coffer of St. Fillan's be +opened, to reward the deliverer of Scotland, according to its intent!" + +"If it were to contain the relics of St. Fillan himself," returned the +king, "they could not meet a holier bosom than this!" and resting the +box on the coffin, he unclasped the lock, and the regalia of Scotland +was discovered! At this sight, Bruce exclaimed, in an agony of +grateful emotion, "Thus did this truest of human beings protect my +rights, even while the people I had deserted, and whom he had saved, +knelt to him to wear them all!" + +"And thus Wallace crowns thee!" said Dunkeld, taking the diadem from +its coffer, and setting it on Bruce's head. + +"My husband, and my king!" gently exclaimed Isabella, sinking on her +knee before him, and clasping his hand to her lips. + +"Hearest thou that, my beloved Helen?" cried Bothwell, touching the +clasped hands which rested on the coffin. He turned pale, and looked +on Bruce. Bruce, in the glad moment of his joy at this happy +consummation of so many years of blood, observed not his glance, but in +exulting accents exclaimed, "Look up, my sister; and let thy soul, +discoursing with our Wallace, tell him that Scotland is free, and +Bruce's king indeed!" + +She spoke not, she moved not. Bothwell raised her clay-cold face. +"That soul has fled, my lord!" said he; "but from yon eternal sphere, +they now together look upon your joys. Here let their bodies rest; for +'they loved in their lives, and in their deaths they shall not be +divided!" + +Before the renewing of the moon, whose waning light witnessed their +solemn obsequies, the aim of Wallace's life, the object of Helen's +prayers, was accomplished. Peace reigned in Scotland. The discomfited +King Edward died of chagrin in Carlisle; and his humbled son and +successor sent to offer such honorable terms of pacification, that +Bruce gave them acceptance, and a lasting tranquility spread prosperity +and happiness throughout the land. + + + +*** + + +APPENDIX. + +NOTE RESPECTING THE PERSONAL CONFORMATION OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE AND +KING ROBERT BRUCE. + +The extraordinary bodily, as well as mental superiority which Wallace +and Bruce possessed over their contemporaries, is thus recorded by +Hector Boetius: + +"About the latter end of the year 1430, King James I. (of Scotland), on +returning to Perth from St. Andrews, found his curiosity excited to +visit a very old lady of the house of Erskine, who resided in the +Castle of Kinnoul. In consequence of her extreme old age she had lost +her sight, but all her other senses were entire, and her body was yet +firm and active. She had seen William Wallace and Robert Bruce in her +earliest youth and frequently told particulars of them. The king, who +entertained a love and veneration for great men, resolved to visit the +old lady, that he might hear her describe the manners and strength of +the two heroes. He therefore sent a message acquainting her that he +would come to her the next day. When she was told that the king was +approaching, she went down into the hall of her castle, attended by a +train of matrons, many of whom were her own descendants. She advanced +to meet his majesty so easily and gracefully that he doubted her being +blind! At his desire she embraced and kissed him. He took her by the +hand and made her sit down on the seat next to him, and then, in a long +conference, he interrogated her on ancient matters. Among others he +asked her to tell him what sort of a man William Wallace was; what was +his personal figure; what his bearing, and with what degree of strength +he was endowed. He put the same comparing question to her concerning +Robert Bruce. 'Robert,' said she, 'was a man beautiful, and of fine +appearance. His strength was so great that he could easily have +overcome any mortal man of his time, save one--Sir William Wallace! +But in so far as he excelled other men, he was excelled by Wallace, +both in stature and in bodily strength! For in wrestling, Wallace +could have overthrown two such men as Robert. And he was comely as +well as strong, and full of the beauty of wisdom.'" + +I might have thought, had I known the above record in my young days, +when I heard my old friend Luckie Forbes describe the Scottish heroes, +that she must have been one of those matrons of honor to Lady Kinnoul, +and had "seen baith the stalwarth chiefs" in her also venerable life. +But the description of my humble historiographer was the work of her +own heart, suggested there by tradition, and a holy reverence of even +the name of William Wallace to help it out; and so my pen, moved by the +same impulse, has attempted to copy the picture she presented. + + +NOTE CONCERNING JOANNA OF MAR AND STRATHEARN. + +This unhappy and wicked woman's descendance, as daughter of a Princess +of the Orkneys, and her husband, Mellis, Earl of Strathearn, is given +in all the old Scottish genealogical words, and her marriage with Earl +de Warenne, followed up by her most unnatural treasons against her +native country, are not less faithfully recorded. But it is something +curious that while revising this volume a few years ago, I met a +paragraph in the Morning Post newspaper, relative to this very +lady--now dead upward of five hundred years--and dated August 26th, +1831; almost the very anniversary-day of Sir William Wallace's death! +It was an extract from the Perth Courier, and runs thus: + +"In preparing the foundation of the classical monument which Lady Baird +is about to erect on Tom-a-Chastel, to the memory of Sir David, the +workmen discovered the remains of an extensive edifice, intermixed with +a blackish mold, in which human bones frequently occur, with stirrups, +buckles, and other decayed fragments of ancient armor. In an +excavation were found a quantity of black earth, the debris of animal +matter, some human bones, a bracelet, and a considerable portion of +charcoal, from which it may be concluded that the individuals whose +remains were discovered, had perished during a conflagration of the +castle. The tradition of the country is, that--Three ladies had been +there burned to death. And as it is known that the Lady of Strathearn, +a daughter of the Earl of Orkney, involved herself in the quarrels +between Bruce and Baliol, and was, after the ascendency of the former, +in a parliament held at Scone in 1329, doomed to perpetual imprisonment +for the crime of laesoe majestatis, it is no violent stretch of +conjecture to come to the conclusion that this very lady may have been +one of the unhappy victims whose remains have been thus accidentally +brought to light. The excavation undoubtedly (being the most probably +supposition) was that usually found in the base of the dungeon-keep of +the castle. Tom-a-Chastel, on the summit of which Sir David Baird's +monument is to be placed, overlooks the whole strath, and is even +visible from Dundee." So far the note from the Perth, newspaper (which +was first appended to this "almost veritable romance--biography of Sir +William Wallace," in the edition of 1831); and on comparing the +circumstances and dates of the period referred to, it does not seem +improbable that such might have been the fearful end of that ambitious +and cruelly impassioned woman. Earl de Warenne was not a man to burden +himself with cares for such a partner, after her treasons had become +abortive, in the secret continuance of which, most likely, she had been +discovered in some of her territorial permitted visits to her inherited +lands in Scotland. And the relics of the other two female forms found +in the ashes, may reasonably be supposed to have been those of her +personal attendants, sharing her captivity. + +The above coincidence of recollections between the far past, and the +present nearly but passing events, may be regarded as rather +remarkable, for the hill of Tom-a-Chastel may now be looked upon as an +object recalling to memory of two heroes. One Scotland's noblest son, +of full five hundred ages gone! The other, her boast on the plains of +India, within our own remembrance. While the same summit brings two of +her daughters likewise to eminent recollection. One that disgraced her +sex in every relation of life; the other, who honors it, in all. The +hand of the first would have destroyed her country's greatest hero; the +hand of the second raised a tumulus, to maintain the memory and the +example of such true sons of her country in a perpetual existence. + + +THE SCARF OF JAMES THE FIFTH OF SCOTLAND, IN THE POSSESSION OF DR. +JEFFERSON, OF WEST LODGE, CLAPHAM. + +This scarf belonged to, and was worn by the truly royal, but something +romantically adventurous King of Scotland, James the Fifth. He was +fond of roaming about in his dominions, like the celebrated Haroun Al +Rashid, in various disguises, to see and to observe; and to make +acquaintance with his people of all degrees, without being known by +them. In one of these incognito wanderings, about the year 1533, he +was hospitably entertained for a night, by an ancestor of Dr. +Jefferson's lady, a man of liberal name in the country; and who +unwittingly had given most courteous bed and board to his sovereign +(then personally unknown to him), when he thought he was entertaining a +person not much above the rank of the commonest degree, it being the +monarch's humor generally to assume the most ordinary garb outwardly; +and it therefore depended on the tact of the entertainer, from his own +inherent nobleness, to discern the real quality of the mind and manners +of his transitory guest. The host in question did not discern that it +was his sovereign he was then treating like a prince; but he felt it +was a visitant, be he whom he may, that was worthy his utmost respect; +and the monarch, highly pleased with his night's lodging, and previous +gracious welcome, on his departure next morning, presented to the lady +of the mansion a grateful tribute to her good care, in the form of a +small parcel rolled up, which, when opened, they found to be a splendid +scarf, indorsed to herself and lord, in the name of the Gudemon o' +Ballangeich. All then knew it was the "generous and pleasant King of +Scotland" who had been their guest. + +The Scottish Chief on whom this beautiful memorial of received +hospitality had been bestowed, was John Baird, of Burntisland, in +Fifeshire, from whom the writer of this note literally traces the +present inheritance of the scarf. John Burgh had an only daughter, who +married John Balfour, K. N., who also had an only daughter, and she +married Gilbert Blair, brother to Blair of Ard-Blair. Their only son, +James Blair, married Jane Morrison, daughter of -- Morrison, Esq., and +an heiress of the brave house of Ramsay, by which marriage the ancient +and honorable families of Burgh, Blair, and Ramsay, were woven into one +branch; and from this branch, indeed, from the first set-off of its +united stem was born of this marriage, Margaret Blair, who dying in the +year 1836, bequeathed the long-cherished scarf to Dr. Jefferson, the +worthy husband of her beloved kinswoman--direct in the line of John +Burgh, to whom it had originally been given. + +The scarf was composed of a rich and brilliant tissue of gold and +silver threads, interwoven with silk-embroidered flowers in their +natural colors. They are chiefly pansies, the emblems of remembrance; +thistles, the old insignia of Scotland; and the field daisy, the +favorite symbol of King James' mother, the beautiful Queen Margaret. +The flowers, entwined together, run in stripes down the splendid web of +the scarf, which terminates at each end with what has been a +magnificent fringe of similar hues and brightness. The scarf is seven +feet in length, by one foot nine inches in width. + +This interesting bequest was still further enriched to Dr. Jefferson by +the addition of a cap and gloves, which, tradition says, the worthy +chief of Burntisland wore on his nuptial day. There was also a smaller +pair of gloves, of a more delicate size and texture, appropriated by +the same testimony to the fair bride. But these articles are supposed +to have been of earlier fabric than that of the scarf--probably the +year 1500--and they are of less exquisite manufacture; the former +appearing to be from the fine looms of France, and the latter wrought +in the less practiced machinery of our then ruder northern isle. The +cap is of a pale red silk, with gold cord and embroidery down the +seams, it being formed to fit the head, and therefore in compartments; +broad where they are inserted into the rich fillet-band round the head, +and narrowing to the closely-fitting top. It looked something like an +Albanian cap. The gloves, which are said to have been those of the +chief, were of a brownish fine leather, with embroidered gauntlet tops. +The lady's are of a lighter hue, still softer leather, with gay fringe +of varied-colored silk and gold, and tassels at the wrists. Both these +pairs of gloves were well shaped and most neatly sewed. + +On these relics of antiquity, and of ancestorial memorials devolving on +Dr. Jefferson, he sought for a place of deposit for them, suitable to +their dignity, their character, and their times. He had in his +possession a curious old table, of the era of Henry the Eighth, which +he soon adapted to the purpose. Its large oaken slab was of sufficient +dimensions to admit of the royal gift being spread in graceful folds +over the dark surface of the wood, which the better displayed the +tissue's interchanging tints, and also gave room for the disposal of +the cap and gloves, which were placed in a kind of armorial crest +between its gauntlets, at the head of the scarf, and at its foot was +added a beautifully written inscription in old emblazoned characters, +historic of the interesting relics above. The whole is secured from +dust or other injury by a covering of plate-glass, extending over the +entire surface of the table, which, having a raised carved oak +parapet-border of about four inches high along all its sides, forms a +sort of castellated sanctuary that completely defends from accident the +glass and the treasure beneath it; which is distinctly seen through the +lucid medium. + +The shape of the table is like that we call a sofa-table, but very +long, being five feet by two and a half. The depth of its frieze +altogether is eight inches, for it extends four inches below the +four-inch parapet above, and this lower portion is worked into a +foliage enwreathing the sides. The whole height of the table from the +feet of its four-clawed pedestal, is three feet two inches. This +pedestal, or rather branching stem of polished oak--being of the sturdy +contour of its original growth, with its superb ramifications +supporting the precious slab above--shows an elaborate design in its +carvings, far beyond my power to describe, so luxuriant, so various, so +intricate, one might almost suppose that the matchless tool of the +famous Benevanta Cellini had traced its wild and graceful grotesque. +The four claws, which are like roots from the stem of the pedestal, +partake of the same rich arabesque in their design, and terminate in +the form of lion's paws. + + +The End. + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Scottish Chiefs, by Jane Porter + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SCOTTISH CHIEFS *** + +***** This file should be named 6086.txt or 6086.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/6/0/8/6086/ + +Produced by Carrie + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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