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diff --git a/old/66808-0.txt b/old/66808-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 97b8a90..0000000 --- a/old/66808-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,14949 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of Laura Everingham, by James Grant - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: Laura Everingham - or, The Highlanders of Glen Ora - -Author: James Grant - -Release Date: January 26, 2022 [eBook #66808] - -Language: English - -Produced by: Al Haines - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LAURA EVERINGHAM *** - - - - - - - LAURA EVERINGHAM; - - OR, - - THE HIGHLANDERS OF GLEN ORA. - - - - BY - - JAMES GRANT, - - AUTHOR OF "THE ROMANCE OF WAR," "THE AIDE-DE-CAMP," - ETC. ETC. - - - - "Ruin's wheel has driven o'er us, - Not a hope dare now attend; - The world wide is all before us, - But a world without a friend!" - _Strathallan's Lament._ - - - - LONDON: - GEORGE ROUTLEDGE AND SONS, - THE BROADWAY, LUDGATE. - NEW YORK: 416, BROOME STREET. - - - - - LONDON: - BRADBURY AND EVANS, PRINTERS, WHITEFRIARS. - - - - - CONTENTS. - - CHAP. - - I. The Foster Brothers - II. The Feudal Lords of the Nineteenth Century - III. Mr. Ephraim Snaggs - IV. The Rock of the Boar - V. Callum Dhu - VI. Which Treats of many Things - VII. The Rent Court - VIII. Minnie - IX. The Red Priest of Applecross - X. The Stone of the Sun - XI. My Mother - XII. The Gathering - XIII. The Stone of Strength - XIV. The Seven Bullets - XV. The Sixth Day - XVI. Sir Horace - XVII. Mr. Snobleigh - XVIII. Death! - XIX. The Eviction - XX. Desolation - XXI. The Heather on Fire! - XXII. The Uisc Dhu - XXIII. The Ruined Cottage - XXIV. The White Stag - XXV. The Gael and the Saxon - XXVI. A Last Interview - XXVII. Dumbarton - XXVIII. My Regiment - XXIX. The Route--We Sail - XXX. The Troop Ship - XXXI. The Reefs of Palegrossa - XXXII. The Yuze Bashi - XXXIII. The Khan - XXXIV. Story of the Greek Lieutenant - XXXV. The Execution - XXXVI. In Orders for Duty - XXXVII. I March To Rodosdchigg - XXXVIII. The Vision of Corporal Moustapha - XXXIX. The Turkish Veil - XL. A Love Adventure - XLI. A Strange Task - XLII. Two Charming Eyes - XLIII. I Scale the Window - XLIV. Temptation and Folly - XLV. Story of the Wise King and the Wicked Geni - XLVI. Hussein's Wrath - XLVII. Sequel to Chapter Forty-Three - XLVIII. The Turkish Boat - XLIX. The Bagnio - L. The Two Turkish Lieutenants - LI. Dreams and Longings - LII. The Galiondoi - LIII. A Row in the Bagnio - LIV. Flight - LV. Resume my Command - LVI. Biodh Treun! - LVII. The Isle of Marmora - LVIII. The Fairy Bell - LIX. A Gleam of other Days - LX. Farewell - - - - -THE HIGHLANDERS OF GLEN ORA. - - - -CHAPTER I. - -THE FOSTER-BROTHERS. - -It was after sunset in the month of April three years ago. - -The hills of the Western Highlands were still tipped with a golden -gleam, but the deep and savage hollows of Glen Ora were gloomy and -full of dark shadows. Still crowned with the snow of last winter, -above it towered Ben Ora, beneath whose mighty scalp the giant peaks -of the north and west were dwindled down to little hills; for among -those stupendous mountains the eye becomes so accustomed to their -colossal proportions, that all just ideas of size and distance are -lost. At its base spread one of those vast tracts of brown or purple -heath so common in the Scottish Highlands, overspread by a wilderness -of stones, and torn by ghastly ravines from which the mist of -downward torrents rose. The sides of these were tufted by those -black whin bushes, the introduction of which tradition ascribes to -the hunting Stuarts, as a cover for their game. - -On the western shoulder of Ben Ora, a ridge of riven and naked rocks, -resembling the skeleton of a mountain range, stood a herd of deer, -with all their proud antlers visible against the clear bright flush -of the sunset sky. - -Two men were observing them from the rugged bank of one of the -watercourses, in which they were half hidden. One carried a -fishing-rod, and the other a gun. - -He with the rod was a tall, stout, and well-made lad of some twenty -years, with dark-blue eyes, curly brown hair, and a sunburnt visage; -he wore a grey shooting-jacket and kilt, a sporran, of badger-skin, -and a heather-coloured bonnet. His companion was a few years older, -larger in form, brawny, thickset, and strong as a Highland bull, and -his knees, where shown by his tattered kilt and well-worn hose, of no -colour known in nature, were almost as hairy as those of the same -animal. He wore the usual coarse blue jacket and bonnet of a -Highland peasant. - -His hair, beard, and whiskers, which grew all matted in a curly mass, -were black, almost to that deep tint which seems blue when touched by -the light; his eyes were dark, restless, keen, and sparkling; his -nose somewhat short and saucy, but his face, which was browned to the -hue of mahogany by exposure to the weather, was thoughtful, stern, -anxious, and at times even haggard in expression. Save his gun and -skene-dhu, he had no weapon, though his aspect and bearing were rough -and wild as those of any Celtic bandit we have read of in romance; -but then his figure was a model of manly beauty, symmetry, and grace. - -The first personage with the red was Allan Mac Innon, MYSELF, and the -dark and handsome man was my foster-brother---my _co-dhalta_--Black -Mac Ian--usually named by us Callum Dhu, and on this eventful evening -we were observing a party of five English tourists or visitors, who -were somewhat rashly (as they were without a guide) urging their -shaggy shelties up the side of Ben Ora, to obtain a view of the -scenery by moonlight. - -This party consisted of two fair and laughing English girls, wearing -broad brown straw hats; and three gentlemen clad in those peculiar -coats and tartan caps, without which no Sassenach deems himself -eligible to pass the Highland frontier. - -'Callum,' said I, 'shall I net warn them to beware?' - -'It would ill become your father's son to run after _their_ tails, -like a keeper or gilly,' said he, grasping my arm angrily, as we -spoke in Gaelic, to give the original of which would fidget my friend -the printer. - -'Callum, they are not more than half-a-mile off now.' - -'Oh, what a pity it is, that the half-mile was not a thousand, ay, or -ten thousand! The fires that may be extinguished this summer on many -a hearth in Glen Ora would burn all the brighter perhaps in winter.' - -'Not in the least, Callum; for if we had not one truculent tyrant -over us,' said I, 'we would be certain to have another.' - -'Aich ay; for the Mac Innons of Glen Ora are doomed men! and--' - -'See, see,' I exclaimed, 'they have almost reached the -Craig-na-tuirc, and if they attempt to descend after nightfall, -something terrible will happen.' - -'Let it happen: if it is their fate, can we avert it?' said Callum, -with a dark scowl in his eyes which sparkled in the last flush of the -west; 'what matter is it to you, Allan Mac Innon? Has not this -man--this Horace Everingham, Baronet, and so forth, who bought the -fair patrimony your father's brother wasted in all manner of riotous -living--told you coldly, when begging a six months' mercy for your -sick mother, and for the two-and-thirty poor families in the glen, -that he intrusted all such petty affairs to his factor, (that mangy -Lowland cur, Ephraim Snaggs, with his Bible phrases and pious -quotations,) and what said _he_? That the new proprietor had -resolved to turn the glen into a deer forest---a hunting field--and -that whether the rents were forthcoming or not, the people must go! -That Canada was a fine place for such as they, and that hampers of -foreign game would soon replace them. The curse of heaven be on his -foreign game, say I! When the Queen wants men to recruit the ranks -of the Black Watch, of the Gordon Highlanders, and the Ross-shire -Buffs, will she borrow the contents of the Lowlander's hamper? Let -these moonlight visitors go over the rocks if they will--let Loch Ora -receive their bodies and the devil their souls, for what matters it -to you, Mac Innon, or to me?' - -'True, true,' said I, bitterly, 'but there are two ladies with -them--Laura, the daughter of Sir Horace, and her friend.' - -'They, at least, are kind to the poor people, and gave many a pound -to the women of Glentuirc, when they were expatriated last year; yet -evil comes over every stranger who crosses Ben Ora.' - -'A spirit is said to haunt it,' said I. - -'Would to heaven a spirit haunted the glen, and kept out all but -those whose right comes not from paper or from parchment--but from -the hand of God!' - -'But the women, Callum?' - -'_Co-dhalta_, be not a soft-hearted fool,' was the pettish response; -'who cared for _our_ women, when the sheriff, Mac Fee, with his -police and soldiers, came here and tore down the huts, and fired -through the thatch to force the people out? Who cared for old -bedridden Aileen Mac Donuil, whose four sons died with eight hundred -of our Cameronians in India, and who was shot through the body, and -died miserably on the wet hill side three days after? And so, forth -were they all driven to the shore by the baton and bayonet--the old -and the young, the strong man and the infant, the aged, the frail, -and the women almost in labour--to be crammed on board the great -ship, the _Duchess_, and taken to America, like slaves from Africa, -and why? Because the land that gave corn and potatoes to the people -was wanted to fatten the grouse and red deer, and thus were they -driven forth from their fathers' holdings, their fathers' homes and -graves; so Allan, believe me, your sympathy for the strangers who are -now on the hill, is all moonshine in the water. Ha! ha! something -always happens to those who go up Ben Ora after nightfall. You -remember the story of Alaster Grant, the Captain Dhu, or Black -Alexander from Urquhart? He was a frightfully immoral character, -savage and fierce, and was said to have done dreadful things in the -Indian wars, fighting, plundering, and sparing neither man, woman, -nor child. Well, this dissolute soldier was shooting with some of -his wild companions from Fort William, about a year after Waterloo. -They spent a night on Ben Ora, and all that night the lightning -played about its scalp. Next morning a shepherd--old Alisdair Mac -Gouran--found their hut torn to pieces; the whole party, to all -appearance, strangled, their gun-barrels twisted like corkscrews, and -the Black Captain's body torn limb from limb, and strewed all around; -but whether by a thunderbolt or the devil, no man knew, though many -averred it must have been the latter. Six months ago, I watched an -Englishman or a Lowlander, (which, I neither know nor care,) go up -the Craig-na-tuirc, and he never more came down; but three months -after, his bones, or little more, were found at the mouth of the Uisc -Dhu, with his travelling knapsack and sketch-book close by; for six -long miles the Lammas floods had swept them from the spot where he -must have perished. Two others went up in October, and in ascending -the mountain were singing merrily; but the snow came down that night, -and hid the path; the cold was bitter, and the deer were driven down -to the clachan in the glen. Next day we found the strangers stiff -enough, and piled a cairn to mark the spot. I warned another -traveller, a Scotsman too, from the Braes of Angus, against ascending -the Ben alone! He, too, went up laughing, and came down no more. A -week or two after I was standing on the brow of the Craig-na-tuirc, -and saw a gathering of the ravens in the corrie below. I heard their -exulting croak, and the flap of their dusky wings; and there, in the -moss of the wet ravine, we found the traveller's body wedged up to -the neck, and his bare skull divested of eyes, nose, and hair, picked -white and clean by these birds of evil omen. Then we all know the -story of the keeper that was gored by the white stag, on the night -your father died.' - -'All this I know well enough,' said I, 'and hence my anxiety for the -two ladies, who are now in the dusk, ascending that dangerous -precipice.' - -'Who pities our women--yet they are starving?' - -'God pities them.' - -'He alone!' responded Callum, lifting his tattered bonnet at the -name; 'yet my poor mother died in my arms of sheer hunger, and -Snaggs, the factor, mocked me at her funeral, because I had a piper -who played the march of Gil Chriosd before her coffin; but I heard -him with scorn, for I knew that my mother--she who nursed you, Allan -Mac Innon, had now that inheritance of which not even her Grace of -Sutherland, or the great Lord of Breadalbane, can deprive the poor -Highlander--a grave on the mountain side, and a home among the angels -in heaven.' - -The words of my foster-brother raised a momentary glow of indignation -in my breast; and turning away from the mountain, we began to descend -into the glen in the twilight, and I strove to think no more about -the strangers or their fate, but in vain, for Laura Everingham, with -all her pretty winning ways, was still before me, and her voice was -in my ear. - -We had met repeatedly in our mutual rides, rambles, and wanderings, -and the impression she made upon me, when acting as her guide to the -old ruined chapels, towers, and burial-places, the high cascades, and -deep corries of the Ora, and other solemn scenes of nature, with -which our district abounded, was lasting, pure, and deep. I was -learning to love her, more dearly than I dared to tell, for -poverty--crushing, grinding poverty--like a mountain weighed upon my -heart and tongue; yet Laura knew my secret--at least I hoped so; pure -devotion and true tenderness cannot remain long concealed; a woman -soon discovers them by a mysterious intuition, and as Laura (knowing -this) neither repulsed nor shunned me, was I not justified in -believing myself not altogether indifferent to her? - -Time will tell. 'Happy age,' says some Italian writer, 'when a look, -the rustle of a garment--a flower--a mere nothing, suffice to make -the youthful heart overflow with torrents of joy!' - -The severity of Sir Horace, and the pride, petulance, and hostility -of my mother, of whom more in good time, had partly estranged us of -late; but Laura had repeatedly said, - -'If I knew your mother, Allan, I am sure she would learn to love me.' - -'I know not, Miss Everingham, how any one could help loving you!' was -my reply, and I trembled at my own temerity. - -One word more for Callum Dhu, and he and my reader must be acquainted -for life. - -His grandfather was that noble and heroic Mac Ian, who, after the -defeat of Prince Charles, watched over him with matchless fidelity -for weeks, concealing him in the mountains at the risk of his life, -and robbing for his support while his own children were starving, and -though he knew that 30,000_l._ were set upon the head of the royal -fugitive. This poor man was afterwards, when in extreme old age, -hanged at Inverness, for 'lifting' a sheep; but, though impelled by -hunger to borrow subsistence from the folds of the wealthy, he had -scrupulously avoided the possessions of the poor; and before death, -took off his bonnet, to 'thank the blessed God that he had never -betrayed his trust, never injured the poor, nor refused to share his -crust with the stranger, the needy, or the fatherless.' - -This poor sheepstealer died like a Christian and a hero, and had in -youth been one of those Highland warriors whose more than Spartan -faith and truth a late pitiful historian has dared to stigmatize as -mere ignorance of the value of gold. Under the same circumstances, -we presume, this Scottish writer would have known to a penny the -value set upon the head of his fugitive guest. - -With his blood and spirit, Callum Dhu had inherited many of the wild -ideas and primitive Celtic virtues of his ancestor, as the reader -will see when they become better acquainted. - - - - -CHAPTER II. - -THE FEUDAL LORDS OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. - -Turning our steps homeward, after a day of wandering and fishing, we -traversed the Braes of Glen Ora, a wild and desolate scene, such as -Horatio Mac Culloch would love to paint, tufted by broom and whin; -torn by savage watercourses, all yellow marl and gravel, swept by the -foaming torrent, or jagged by ghastly rocks, silence on every hand, -and a deep shadow over all, save where a golden gleam of light that -shot between the black and distant peaks of the west, tipped the -points of the purple heather with fire, and edged the scattered rocks -with the last glow of the sun that had set. - -Here and there, throughout this desolate tract, on which the shadows -of night were descending, were blacker spots, that marked where, in -the preceding year, the houses of nearly fifty crofters had been -levelled or burned. No tongue was required to tell us the terrible -story of legal wrong, and worse than feudal tyranny inflicted on the -unresisting poor. The blackened rafters were lying on every hand -among the long grass, and thrown far asunder; the humble walls were -half levelled and overgrown by weeds, like the hearths around which -generations had sat, and told or sung of the past memories of the -Gael and the kindly chiefs of other times, in the long nights of -winter, when Ben Ora was mantled by snow, and the frozen cascade hung -over the rocks, white as the beard of Ossian. Here a currant-bush, -or there an apple-tree, still marked amid the weeds and heather where -the garden of the peasant had been. Elsewhere the glen was yet -dotted by little patches of corn and potatoes, all growing wild; but -where were those who had sown and planted them? - -Driven from their native land to make way for sheep, or grouse, or -deer, and packed in ships, like slaves for the Cuban market, the old -people of the glen, the women and children, were pining on the banks -of the Susquehanna; while the young and able were forced by -starvation, or lured by false promises, into the ranks of the -Sutherland Highlanders, and were now away to fight the Russians in -the East. Thus it is that the game-laws, centralization, wilful -neglect, and maladministration, reduce the people of the glens to -misery, starvation, and inability to pay the exorbitant rents -demanded for their little farms; then their dwellings are demolished, -and themselves expelled, that one vast game preserve may be made of -the land which has given to the British service nearly ninety of its -finest battalions of infantry. - - "Clanchattan is broken, the Seaforth bends low, - The sun of Clan Ronald is sinking in labour, - Glencoe and Clan Donoquhy, what are they now? - And where is bold Keppoch, the Lord of Lochaber? - All gone with the House they supported, laid low! - While the Dogs of the South their bold life-blood were lapping, - Trod down by a fierce and a merciless foe; - The brave are all gone, with the Stuarts of Appin!" - - -'My God!' exclaimed Callum, with deep emotion, as he looked around -him, with a fierce and saddened eye, 'who now could think this place -had given three hundred swordsmen to Glenfinnon?' - -'And sent two hundred with my father to Egypt?' added I. - -'Better had he and they stayed at home; for the Mac Innons might yet -have brooked the land their fathers sprang from.' - -Callum Dhu felt, as he spoke, like a true Celt--believing that our -ancestors sprang from the soil; _i.e._ were the old and original -race, without predecessors. - -My father, the youngest of the two sons of Alaster Mac Innon, of Glen -Ora, was an officer of the 42nd Highlanders, who served under -Abercromby in Egypt and Wellington in Spain. His elder brother -belonged, unfortunately, to the Scots Fusilier Guards, and amid the -dissipation of a London life, 'in rivalling the follies of his equals -in birth and superiors in fortune,' soon wasted his small but ancient -patrimony, which, though it could once bring 600 swordsmen to the -king's host, in more modern times did not produce more than 600_l._ -yearly rent. - -Glen Ora was not entailed, thus its broad acres of heather and -whinstone-rock, mountain and torrent, slipped from under the hands of -my gay uncle like a moving panorama; he died early, and the estate -passed away to strangers. The old tower was demolished, and a -hunting-seat built on its site, by a noble duke, whose family had -enriched their pockets, if not their blood, by intermarriage with the -tribe of Levi. Then began the war of extermination and expatriation -in the north; and while the authoress of "Uncle Tom" was feasted and -slavery reviled in the coteries of the Duchess in London, fire, -sword, and eviction were enforced by Mr. Snaggs, her factor, in Glen -Ora. Thus had things continued until the preceding year, when the -estate was purchased by Sir Horace Everingham, of Elton Hall, -Yorkshire. - -My father had died on service with his regiment in Jamaica, when the -yellow flag waved on Up-park Camp, and the Highland bonnets lay as -thick in the yard of the pest-stricken barracks as ever they have -been on the battle-field; and my mother, a Stuart, of Appin, brought -me home to Glen Ora, where, with the pension of a captain's widow, -she endeavoured to eke out a subsistence among our own people, and -occupied as a farm, at a small rental, the thatched mansion, which in -better times was the jointure-house of our family. - -But a ukase had gone forth! The whole country was doomed to become a -deer-forest, desolate and wild as when the first Fergus and his -bare-kneed Scots landed on its shores, which perhaps no foot had trod -since the waters of the Flood had left them. - -The men of Glentuirc, a sept of our race, had already been swept -away, and now those of Glen Ora were to follow. - -As a necessary preliminary the rents had been doubled and trebled, -until we were incapable of satisfying the rapacity of this alien -lord, whose feudal charters gave him a more than imperial power over -us. A blight had fallen on our little corn-patches; several of our -sheep had been smothered in the snow, and other troubles and -difficulties fell thick and fast upon us. In vain Ephraim Snaggs, -the factor, was prayed for mercy; but to seek it from that astute -writer to the signet and grim elder of the kirk, was 'to take a bone -from a tiger.' - -The olden times were gone! For ages unnumbered the Highland landlord -deemed that wealth consisted in the number of families, and troops of -chubby children who lived upon his lands; farms were divided and -subdivided in the fertile glens, until 'every rood of land maintained -its man;' and on every lot and rood was a tenant--a hardy soldier, a -tiller of the soil, and the father of a sturdy and a faithful race. -The laird valued his property not by the rent-roll, but by the number -of brave and leal-hearted swordsmen whose homes were made thereon. -This was the patriarchal system, old as the world before the Flood; -for feudality, with its barbarism, its imaginary rights and slavish -tenures, its monkish parchments and legal villany, was unknown in the -Highlands until a comparatively recent period; and then, noble was -the struggle made against it by the Wallace of the Celtic tribes, -John of Moidart, who expelled and slew his nephew Ronald Galda, for -accepting from James V. a feudal charter of the lands which belonged -to the tribe of which he, Ronald, was the chief. In this spirit, the -Highland peasant has a hereditary right to his hut--a right derived -from God--but kings have given our feudal lords, even in the -nineteenth century, a power over the land on which the hut is built; -and at their behest whole villages are demolished, and the people -swept away with a heartless barbarity sufficient to call down the -lasting vengeance of heaven on the ignoble dukes and canting -marquises of the northern and western Highlands! - -But to resume:-- - -After traversing this Serbonian waste for a mile or two, we reached a -little cot built under the brow of a rock; large blocks of whinstone, -with a few courses of turf above them, bedded in clay, formed the -walls; the roof, which was composed of divot, fern, and straw, all -firmly tied by ropes of heather, was covered by moss of the richest -emerald green. It was a humble dwelling, with a little window of one -pane, on each side of a rude door composed of three planks nailed on -bars; yet Callum Dhu, who had lived here alone since his mother's -death, never closed it at meal-time, without coming forth to the -road, in the hospitable old Celtic spirit, to see if a stranger or -wayfarer were in sight. - -Here we parted, as I resisted all his kind invitations to enter, -though the poor fellow had but little to offer me; nor would I permit -him to escort me home, as he was weary after a long day of wandering. -Callum Mac Ian, the descendant of our hereditary henchman, now -supported himself by killing foxes, weasels, and wild cats; for -which, as these vermin were very destructive, (especially the former -among the sheep,) he received a small sum from each cot-farmer in -Glen Ora. This contribution, with a little patch of potatoes, -cultivated by himself, enabled him to live; but as Callum -occasionally took a shot at other quadrupeds which were not -considered vermin, he was continually in scrapes and broils with the -keepers of the duke, the marquis, the laird, and other adjoining -potentates, whose ancestors, by force or fraud, had partitioned the -land of the Mac Innons, as the powers of Europe did Poland. - -'My love to dear Minnie,' said he, touching his bonnet in the dark, -as I left him; 'I would she were here with me, for the cottage is -dreary since my poor mother went to the place of sleep on the hill; -but _achial_, Mac Innon! this is not a time in Glen Ora for marrying -or giving in marriage.' - -Minnie was my mother's maid, and the object of my foster-brother's -boyish attachment. They had long loved each other, and had solemnly -plighted their troth by joining hands through the hole of the -Clach-na-Greiné; but Snaggs was their evil genius; for with the daily -dread of eviction and proscription hanging over him, how could Callum -pay the illegally-levied marriage-tax of forty shillings, or bring a -wife under the caber of his hut, or ask leave to add one foot in -breadth to his little patch of potatoes and kail? - -In a few minutes after, I stood at my mother's door. - - - - -CHAPTER III. - -MR. EPHRAIM SNAGGS. - -Our residence, the old jointure-house, now shorn of its fair -proportions, and diminished in aspect, since it was built for the -widow of Lachlan Mohr Mac Innon, who led his clan to Worcester, was -small, low in the roof, and heavily thatched with warm heather. The -two principal rooms were wainscoted; the entrance was floored with -hard-beaten clay, and above the door was a rudely-carved -representation of the arms of Mac Innon, a boar's head erased, -holding in its mouth the legbone of a deer, supported by a lion and, -a leopard. This uncouth piece of heraldry, the pride of my mother's -heart, was the _chef d'oeuvre_ of some local sculptor. The aspect of -the house was cheerless and indicative of the decay that had fallen -upon us; the carpets were faded and worn; the furniture antique and -rickety; there were corner cupboards, where old china, worm-eaten -books, bottles of whisky, powder-flasks, bullet-moulds, deer-horns, -fishing-gear, teapots, and coffee-cups, dogs' collars, an old dirk -and skene, mingled pell-mell with innumerable other etcetera. - -Far off on the mountain slope, the strong square tower of Lachlan -Mohr (who was besieged therein by the Campbells after Inverlochy) was -a landmark for two hundred years; but now it was removed to make way -for a modern mansion, the windows of which, on this evening, were -brilliantly lighted up; and then, I doubted not, Sir Horace -Everingham was sitting down to a sumptuous entertainment after his -visit to Ben Ora, while I, the heir of all these hills and glens, had -scarcely a crust to place before me. - -I thought of all these things--the present and the past--with a -bitterness renewed by the recent conversation with my foster-brother. -I tossed aside my fishing-gear, basket, and bonnet, and with a sigh -of weariness and dejection, entered the half-dilapidated mansion. As -I had been abroad the whole day, I sought, with some anxiety, the -apartment of my sick and aged mother. I heard the sound of voices -proceeding from it; she was expostulating, and a stranger was -threatening! I made a forward stride, when a hand was timidly laid -on my arm; I turned, and met the anxious face of pretty Minnie Mac -Omish. - -'A chial! a chial!' she whispered, with tears in her soft hazel eyes; -'Snaggs, the factor, is with your mother, Allan, and I fear he brings -bad news.' - -'Can other come to us now, Minnie?' said I; 'but take my -fish-basket--I have brought a good stipper from the Uisc Dhu and Loch -Ora.' - -I then entered the little dining-room where we usually had all our -meals served up. - -I see it yet in memory. - -Like many apartments in old Highland houses, its ceiling was low, -pannelled with fir, and painted in a dull white colour; the stone -fireplace, heavily moulded, bore the motto of the Mac Innons, -_Cuimhuich bas Alpin_, in raised letters, and the grate, a little -brass-knobbed basket, at which, as my nurse affirmed, Prince Charles -had once warmed his royal feet, stood upon two blocks of stone. A -few old prints of battles in black frames, an oil-portrait or two, an -old ebony table, with a huge family-bible, an inverted punch-bowl -cracked and riveted, chairs of a fashion that has long since -disappeared from the Lowlands, made up the plenishing of this little -chamber, which was alike my mother's dining-room and peculiar sanctum -sanctorum--and the palladium of which, were the old gilt gorget and -regimental claymore of my father, suspended above the chimney-piece. -He had worn these during the campaigns with the Black Watch in Egypt -and in Spain. - -With gold spectacles on nose, my mother, a thin, pale woman of a -dignified aspect, in an old-fashioned costume, with black silk -_mittens_ on her hands, was seated in her cushioned chair, affecting -to work at some ornament or article of attire, which lay on a little -tripod table. She seemed nervous and agitated; how could she be -otherwise, when opposite sat he, who was the horror of the glens from -Lochness to Loch Ora--Ephraim Snaggs, with his malevolent visage, -perched on the top of a bamboo-cane, over the silver knob of which -his hands were crossed. - -Bald-headed, hollow in the temples, with a prominent chin, and more -of the serpent than the dove in his sinister grey eye, there sat Mr. -Snaggs with his truculent smile, and an affectation of sympathy on -his tongue. - -'Beware, sir, of what you say,' my mother was exclaiming, 'for ours -is an honoured line--an ancient house.' - -'So I perceive,' said Snaggs, impertinently, as he fixed his eyes on -a very palpable hole in the ceiling; 'ah, the old story--the old -story, Mrs. Mac Innon! Bad times and no price for sheep, eh? I -would beg to remind you, my dear madam, that a certain pious writer -says, "However unfortunate we may deem ourselves, yet let us remember -there is an eye watching over us; it is a heavenly will, not a blind -fate, that guides the world;" ah me--ah me!' - -Fire and pride were flashing in my mother's dark grey eyes as I -entered; then she burst into tears, and throwing down her work, -exclaimed to me in Gaelic, and with all the spirit of the olden time-- - -'My son, God has sent you here in a lucky hour! I have come of a -race that have smiled often in the face of death--why then, do I weep -before this wretched worm?' - -'What have you dared to say, Mr. Snaggs?' I asked, turning sharply to -that personage; 'why do I find my mother in tears?' - -'Because she is out of cash,' was the cool reply; 'a simple reason, -my dear sir, and a plain one; but it is very little that _you_ do to -furnish her with any. I have called for the last time anent the -arrears of rent due to Sir Horace Everingham--the new proprietor of -this estate--arrears due before he acquired the lands, and I receive -still the same unvaried excuses, about sheep with the rot, cattle -with the murrain, or scraps of traditions and antediluvian nonsense, -about the time when Loch Ora belonged to the Mac Innons--and about -your great-grandfather who fought at Culloden, and was nearly hanged -at Carlisle, as, I think, he deserved to be, for opposing the House -of Hanover, and the Kirk as established by law. Now the law, of -which I am an unworthy representative--_the law says_, young man, -that when a tenant--but I need not quote the cases before the Lords -of Council and Session in 1792 or 1756 on this point, to _you_. If -an instalment at least, of the aforesaid arrears--say about fifty -pounds--is not paid to me--to _me_, sir,' he continued, laying a fat -finger impressively into the palm of his left hand, 'then a notice of -eviction shall be duly served upon you, with the rest of the lazy -wretches in Glen Ora, who must all sail for Canada this summer, sure -as my name is Ephraim Snaggs. Moreover, sir, I may inform you, that -Sir Horace, by my recommendation--mine, sir--has some intentions of -pulling down this absurd-looking old house, and erecting here a box -for his friend, Captain Clavering, or for Mr. Snobleigh, of Snobleigh -Park, I know not which; and if so, the law must be put in force -against you, sir--the law of expulsion--you hear me!' - -The reader may imagine the pride, wrath, and bitterness that swelled -up within me, at this insolent speech, which had gradually approached -the bullying point. I made a stride towards Snaggs, and my fingers -twitched with an irresistible desire to grasp his throat. - -My mother (poor old woman!) had long been in ill health. Mhari Mac -Innon the 'wise woman' of our locality, and other aged people of the -glen, alleged her illness was caused by her declining to drink of St. -Colme's well, a famous medicinal spring in Glen Ora, where, for ages, -the Mac Innons and adjacent tribes had been wont to quaff the water -at midnight, as a sovereign remedy for all diseases; and thereafter -drop in a coin, or tie a rag to the alders which overshadowed it, as -an offering to the guardian spirit of the fountain. Pale, sad, and -sickly, my mother sat in her high-backed chair, motionless and silent -as if overwhelmed by the approaching tide of ruin, in the form of -debt which we had not a shilling to meet--and of avarice which we -could not satisfy. - -'Mr. Snaggs,' said I, 'you should have reserved your detestable -communications for my ears alone, and thus spared my poor mother the -humiliation of a moment so bitter as this. She is old, and her -thoughts and ideas have come down to her from other times. She -cannot see, nor believe, that any man has authority to turn her off -the land of the Mac Innons--' - -'Pooh, my dear sir,' said Snaggs, waving his hand, and rising; 'if -you are about to begin your old-world nonsense and twaddle about -Celtic right in the soil, I must leave you. The sheriff's warrants -will tell another story next week, if fifty pounds at least--' - -'Listen to me, Ephraim Snaggs,' said I, forcing him into a seat, and -grasping his shoulder like a vice. 'I am here on the land that -belonged to my forefathers--to Angus Mac Innon, who fought for King -James at Culloden--' - -'Ha-ha--stuff--there you go again!' - -'There was a time,' I continued, fiercely, 'when had you, or such as -you, spoken above your breath in Glen Ora, you had been flung into -the loch with a hundred weight of stone at your neck. There was a -time when the Mac Innons owned all the land we may see from Ben Ora; -when we had Griban in Mull, the Isles of Tiree, of Pabay, and Scalpa, -with Strathardle in Skye. Poor as we are now, we owned all that, but -only in common--mark me, sir, _in common_, with the people of our -name. Listen to me, Mr. Snaggs,' I continued, as the fierce sob of -pride, so difficult to repress, rose to my throat; 'I am the last of -a long line, whose misfortune it has been to fight for the losing -side. Our people marched to Worcester under Lachlan M'hor, and -perished there in heaps; we were at Sheriffmuir, under the banner of -the Marquis of Seaforth, for a marquis he was, by order of the king; -we were "out" in the '45, under Angus Mac Innon, and of all the -swordsmen he marched from yonder glen, which you are about to -depopulate, not a man came back from Culloden--as God hears me--not -one. Since then our people have gone forth in the Highland regiments -to every part of the world. Some have left their bones on the -heights of Abraham and in the isles of the Western Indies; some sleep -under the shadow of the Pyramids and on the plains of the Peninsula. -In India, Egypt, Africa, and Spain, wherever Britain wanted men to -fight her battles, there have they been faithful and true, loyal and -brave, standing foremost in the ranks of war, and giving place to -none! All my own family have perished in the service of their -country since this century began--I am the last of them, and as their -reward, our roof is to be torn from us, and we are to be expelled -from the home and the graves of our kindred--we, the descendants of -the old aboriginal race, who first trod the land after God separated -it from the waters, and why? because a miserable fifty pounds may not -be forthcoming by a certain day! There was a time, Mr. Ephraim -Snaggs, when the cry of _Bas Alpin_ from yonder rock would easily -have brought six hundred swordsmen to guard the roof you threaten; -and he whom you beard--he, who from the first Mac Innon, has come -through twenty generations in the right line.' - -'Had you come through twenty generations in the _wrong_ line I would -have respected you quite as much, sir,' said Mr. Snaggs, with his -bland professional sneer, as he rose again, and smoothed the nap of -his hat, preparatory to retiring, as if wearied by the torrent of -Gaelic I had poured upon him. 'All these fine arguments about -broadswords and barbarism won't pay the rent or satisfy the just -claims of Sir Horace, thus the law of landlord and tenant must take -its course. You have no means of raising money, I suppose?' - -'None!' - -'No friends--eh?' - -'None.' - -'Nothing you can sell?' - -'Nothing!' - -'Then, take my advice, and quietly quit the glen altogether; there -are plenty of counting-rooms, offices, and shops in the Lowlands, -where such great sturdy fellows as you may easily make yearly, triple -the rent of this old tumble-down place, with its patch of potatoes -and corn. Quit your gun and fishing-rod--betake yourself to some -honest and industrious occupation, instead of indulging in the very -sophistry of vanity, and in wandering about these hills the livelong -day, sighing over an imaginary past and an impossible future. No man -has any right in the soil but such as the law gives him. Why, Mr. -Allan, before I was half your age, I was one of the smartest writer's -clerks in Glasgow, earning my threepence a page of a hundred and -twenty-five words; but perhaps you would prefer a shopman's place--' - -The shout with which Rob Roy greeted honest Bailie Jarvie's proposal -to take his two sons as apprentices, was nothing to the shrill cry of -anger with which my mother interrupted the sneer I was too poor to -resent with pride--besides in its soundness, the advice of Snaggs -humbled, while it exasperated me. - -'I would rather see my boy Allan buried in his grave at the Stones of -St. Colme than truckling to a Lowland dog like you, Ephraim Snaggs! -Begone, lest I smite you on the face, weak though my hand, for -recommending a calling so vile to Mac Innon of Glen Ora!' - -'Mother, mother!' I exclaimed, 'what can I do?' - -'Shoulder a musket and march to fight the Russians, if God opens up -no brighter or better path to the son of a line that led their -hundreds to battle in the times of old!' was the fierce and Spartan -response. - -'Very well, ma'am--very well,' continued the matter-of-fact Snaggs, -smoothing the nap of his beaver, and smiling with his ticket-of-leave -look. '"The gentle mind," saith the divine Blair, "is like the -smooth stream, which reflects every object in its just proportion and -in its fairest colours;" but these outbursts of anger, in the style -of Helen Mac Gregor or Lady Macbeth, won't satisfy Sir Horace -Everingham; and if the sum of fifty pounds, at least, be not -forthcoming----' - -A tremendous knocking at the outer door, and the sound of voices in -great agitation, arrested the factor's angry farewell. Minnie grew -pale, and hurried to open, and hastening into the passage, I met two -of the Englishmen and the ladies, with disorder apparent in their -attire and alarm in their faces. The oldest of their party, Sir -Horace, was absent; and now the danger of the mountain, and the -warnings withheld by Callum Dhu, rushed reproachfully on my memory. - -'My father, Mr. Mac Innon--my father, Mr. Snaggs!' exclaimed Miss -Everingham, rushing towards us, with clasped hands. 'I seek succour -for my father!' she continued, trembling, agitated, pale, and in -tears, and with hair and dress disordered. - -'How--your father--Sir Horace?' - -'We missed him at the rock, Mr. Snaggs, on Ben Ora--the steep rock, I -know not how you name it!' - -'The Craig-na-tuirc,' said I. - -'Yes--thank you--yes; and he did not come back to us.' - -'Some dreadful event must have occurred,' added her dark-eyed -companion, Miss Clavering, whose usual bloom was blanched and gone; -'so many accidents--' - -'Get us some aid, my good man,' said her brother, a tall and -soldier-like fellow, with a heavy black moustache and a dragoon air; -'ropes, poles, and a couple of stable-lanterns, if you have such -things. We must make a search after the old gentleman--come -Snobleigh, my boy, look sharp!' - -'Oh-aw-yaas,' drawled his companion, who had a very used-up air, and -wore a short-tailed tartan shooting-jacket, an eye-glass, a cigar in -his mouth, and a faint moustache under his snub nose; 'young fellow, -eh-aw-aw, what is your name?' - -'Glen Ora,' said my mother, interrupting me, and half springing from -her chair, irate at his nonchalance. - -'Aw--odd--very, Mr. Glen Ora; you'll look aftaw the ladies, whom we -shall leave here in your chawge.' - -'I am master here, at least,' said I, haughtily; 'Snaggs, hand -chairs--see to the ladies, while I go to the Craig-na-tuirc, to -search for Sir Horace.' - -'Oh thank you--bless you!' exclaimed Miss Everingham, grasping my -arm; 'all my trust is in you, Allan.' - -'Lanterns--eh, aw-aw, you'll require--' - -'The moon is up, and we require no other light,' said I, cutting -short this mouthing drawler; 'come, Callum Mac Ian,' I added, as that -personage, whose solitary hut the alarm had reached, appeared among -us; 'old Sir Horace has fallen over the Craig-na-tuirc, or lost his -way on the hills--let us seek him.' - -Though weak and tottering, my mother had propped herself upon her -cane, and risen to her full height, which was tall and commanding, to -welcome those agitated and unceremonious visitors. - -'Mr. Snaggs,' said she, pointing to the door, with the air of a -Siddons, 'you may retire.' - -Snaggs bowed with a malevolent smile, and withdrew. - -'Ladies, be seated--gentlemen, assist the ladies to seats--thank you; -be composed, Miss Everingham, and be assured that we will leave -nothing undone to discover your father, who must have lost his way on -the mountains. They were not made for Lowland legs to climb,' she -added, with a cold smile. - -Her stature, her lofty air, and calm decisive manner, awed the two -English girls, and calmed their excessive agitation, while it dashed -the somewhat brusque air of the gentlemen; and, reseating herself in -her wide, old-fashioned chair, she spread her skirt all over it, in a -way peculiar to ladies of 'the old school,' and then fixed her keen -grey Highland eyes upon her unexpected and not over-welcome visitors, -to learn the cause of all this commotion and alarm for one towards -whom it may easily be supposed she felt but little love, as she -deemed poor Sir Horace little better than a usurper, and was wont to -stigmatize him roughly in Gaelic as 'a Hanoverian rat.' - -I snatched a hunting-horn, Callum threw off his plaid, and leaving -the two perfumed gentlemen to follow us as they best could in their -well-glazed boots and tightly-strapped pantaloons, we took our way -with all speed towards the rocky summit of Ben Ora. - - - - -CHAPTER IV - -THE BOOK OF THE BOAR. - -The sudden presence of Laura Everingham under my mother's roof had, -for a moment, confused and astonished me, filling me with tremulous -anxiety for the issue of their interview. - -Laura was a lady-like girl, pretty rather than beautiful, and -graceful rather than dignified, with a bright sunny English eye, a -pale but interesting face, matchless hands and ankles, and a -profusion of chestnut hair. She had trembled excessively when I -presented her to my mother, whom she informed, as rapidly and -coherently as her excessive agitation would permit, that Sir Horace, -'her dear, good, kind papa, would go to the summit of the mountain in -the moonlight, in spite of all advice and the warnings of various -shepherds.' - -'The old gentlemen is, aw--aw, rather nocturnal in his tastes, -madam,' yawned Mr. Snobleigh, who had been surveying the dining-room -through his glass, with great apparent curiosity and much -unmistakable depreciation; 'town habits, madam, won't suit this -parallel--aw, of north latitude.' - -'And he would visit the Craig-na-tuirc,' continued Laura; 'for dear -papa is such an obstinate old thing, and we are always so afraid of -the gout flying to his head, that we never dare to cross him. Well, -we ascended that horrid mountain, and after great danger and labour -reached the shoulder or cliff, Craig-na-tuirc, I think, you name it, -just in time to see the moon rise above the hills, and a lovely moon -it was--' - -'Aw--for Scotland--very!' said Mr. Snobleigh. - -'We were at the very verge of the precipice, with our little ponies, -from which we had all dismounted, but dear old obstinate papa, who -would keep his saddle, when suddenly an eagle soared up, with its -huge flapping wings, from amid our feet--our wild ponies took to -flight--scampered down the mountain, and vanished; that which bore -papa accompanied them; we heard him crying piteously for help--oh, -heaven, how piteously! And then, a white stag shot past--' - -'God and Mary!--a white stag?' exclaimed my mother. - -'Then all became still, so frightfully still, that I heard only my -own heart beating. Oh, dear madam,' added Laura Everingham, clasping -my mother's hand, emotion lending new charms to her winning face and -manner, 'do you think there is danger?' - -'Heaven alone knows; if indeed the sheltie galloped towards the Uisc -Dhu--' my mother paused, for even her strong antagonism to this fair -daughter of a man she hated, and against whom all her fierce and -antiquated Celtic prejudices were enlisted, could not withstand the -charm of Laura's winning eye; thus she left nothing unsaid to comfort -her and to soothe her terror. In this she was joined by Miss -Clavering, a fine, handsome, and showy English girl, whose beautiful -and sparkling eyes, dark hair, and nose _retroussé_, piquant manner, -and graceful _tournure_, made her, as her brother Tom Clavering, of -the Grenadier Guards, constantly affirmed, 'one of the finest girls -about town,' meaning London, of course. - -'And you saw a white stag?' - -'Yes--white as snow,' answered the girls, together. - -'Dhia!' exclaimed my mother; 'if it should be the white stag of Loch -Ora!' - -'Why--what then?' - -'It is said to be enchanted--it never dies, and never appears but as -a harbinger of evil!' - -'Heavens, dear madam, don't say so, pray!' urged Laura, weeping -bitterly, and here Callum Dhu and I left them. - -Followed by Captain Tom Clavering and his friend, Mr. Adolphus -Frederick Snobleigh, who, with their glazed boots, scarlet shirts, -and blue neckties, tight pantaloons, pomaded locks, and bandolined -moustaches, were scarcely accoutred for ascending the sides of Ben -Ora at midnight, over heather ankle-deep, and drenched in dew, or -over-- - - 'Crags, knolls and mounds, confusedly hurled, - The fragments of an earlier world.' - -Callum Dhu and I hastened round the base of the mountain, and sought -the Craig-na-tuirc for traces of the missing stranger. The moon was -clear and bright, though obscured at times by fleecy cloudlets, and -we soon reached the summit of the steep craig, or _Rock of the Boar_, -and saw the wild glens and savage peaks of the western Highlands -bounding the view on every side, while at our feet lay Loch nan -Spiordan, or the Lake of Spirits, which was haunted by the -water-horse and bull, and from which the Uisc Dhu, or _black stream_, -brawled through a hundred rough ravines and stony chasms, into the -deep dark basin of Loch Ora. Here we paused for a few minutes. - -The voice and image of Laura Everingham were still before me; for one -more fair or polished had never been beneath the roof-tree of our -mountain dwelling, and on regaining my breath, I said, with some -emotion, to Callum, - -'If he has fallen into the Black Water!'-- - -'Well--he may turn up about Christmas-time--a bag of bones, stranded -on the margin of the loch,' was the grim response. - -'And we allowed him to ascend--what will people say?' - -'There will be none here to say anything,' was the sharp response; -'by that time Glen Ora will be desolate--its people gone to the -shores of the Far West, and the warm hearths where they sit now, will -be silent, cold, and grassy.' - -'But the Englishman's daughter, Callum?' - -'Let her weep to the night wind, and it will hear her, as it has -often heard our women weep, when the roofs were torn down and the -fires extinguished; when the cabers were tossed upon the heath, and -the cottagers were driven in fetters to the shore, like slaves for -market.' - -'But his daughter is beautiful.' - -'Dioul! do _you_ begin to think so?' - -'Fair, delicate, and gentle, too, Callum,' I urged, warming a little. - -'But what of that? she is a stranger, and not one of us! It was not -at such dainty breasts as hers that Lachlan Mohr, who could twist a -horse-shoe, or Angus your ancestor, or Alisdair Mac Coll Keitach, who -could cleave men from beard to breeks, were suckled.' - -'What the deuce does all this matter? I would rather have a silver -pound in my pocket than a pedigree an ell long; but wind your horn, -and then let us shout.' - -Callum blew his horn, but the echoes of the rocks alone replied in -prolonged reverberations to the sound. Then we shouted together, and -again the echoes were our sole reply. The more I thought of the fair -and timid girl now at my mother's house, the more anxious I felt for -her father's fate. - -Myriads of stars were mirrored in the lone and deep blue Loch of the -Spirits, a thousand feet below us, and as we traversed the beetling -cliff, the stones we disengaged, rolled over and plashed into the -water, with a dull faint sound that was long in ascending to the ear. - -'By the Black Stone of Scone,' said Callum, with a Highland grin, 'if -the stranger _has_ gone over here on the sheltie, he will have a -skinful of cold water by this time.' - -'For heaven's sake, don't say so, Callum!' - -'Why not?' returned my companion, tartly; 'his first threat, on -coming among us, was to put me in prison, because a deer-hide was -found in my hut; if he has gone over the Craig-na-tuirc it was his -own fate, and you know our proverb--Ni droch dhuine dan na fein! -_Me_ in prison, indeed! I swore that I found the deer drowned in the -moss, though I shot him at the waterfall, and a brave animal he -was--thirty-four stone weight--devil an ounce less, after the -gralloch was out of him; so every man in the glen had a savoury -supper that night. Must _we_ starve, while the Englishman and the -Lowlander have sport enough and to spare, and when the poor are -driven mad by the depredations of the game on the crops?' - -'Hark! I hear voices!' - -Turning in the direction from whence they proceeded, we met Captain -Clavering and his companion, the exquisite Mr. Snobleigh, who had -just succeeded in overtaking us, breathless, and in great anxiety for -Sir Horace. - -'It was in _that_ direction Sir Horace was carried by his pony,' said -the captain, pointing westward down the rocks. - -'Dioul! that is straight for the linn of Glen-dhu-uisc (the glen of -the black water), and if so, God save him!' added Callum, touching -his bonnet, 'for his bones--before _we_ find them--will have been -picked white as china by the gled and iolar. However, let us do what -we can, Mac Innon,' he added, hastening onward, his natural kindness -of heart penetrating the crust of prejudice and animosity with which -he had resolved to protect it from any emotion of sympathy for the -new possessor of our lands. - -'The mountain sheltie went like lightning,' said Captain Clavering; -'its hoofs struck fire from the rocks at every bound.' - -'Aw--yes,' added his companion, the great head of the dynasty of -Snobleigh; 'I daresay the poor baronet thought himself astride one of -Scott's demmed water kelpies.' - -The roar of the cataract, formed by the Uisc Dhu forcing its way -through a chasm, and rolling over a ledge of rocks into Loch Ora, now -broke the solemn stillness of the midnight hills. We reached a -plateau of rock, which overhung the fall, and we felt it trembling -and vibrating in the concussion of the waters, which roared and -rushed in one broad, ceaseless, and snow-white torrent, into a deep -dark pool below. Its height was startling; its sides bristled with -ghastly rocks, and these were fringed by tangled masses of green -shrubbery and wild plants. Glittering in the moonlight like dew, or -a continual shower of revolving diamonds, the transparent foam arose -from the profundity into which the descending waters bellowed, and -beyond which they swept away round the mountain in placid silence, -forming Loch Ora, where the black ouzel and the wild swan floated in -the radiance of the summer moon. - -Captain Clavering appeared to be impressed by this majestic scene, -but his companion, a restless Londoner, prattled and talked, and ever -and anon shouted 'Sir Horace!' in the voice of a peacock proclaiming -rain. - -'Stay; I hear something,' said I; 'it comes from yonder rock.' - -'No, no,' replied Callum, hastily; 'do not say so--that is Sien Sluai -(the dwelling of a multitude). Often when my father was benighted, -he has seen lights glitter there, and heard the sound of music, -dancing feet, and merry little voices.' - -A moment after, we heard a lamentable cry, that was quite different -from the echoes. - -'Good heaven!' exclaimed Captain Clavering, 'there is some one over -the fall--or _in it_. Did you not hear a voice? There it is again!' - -'Dioul! I have heard it twice already, but thought it was a hart -roaring in the forest,' said Callum; 'and here are the hoofmarks of a -pony, fresh in the turf, at the very edge of the Fall.' - -'Help!' cried a piteous voice, which ascended from the abyss beneath -us, and sounded above the hiss and roar of the hurrying waters; -'help, in the name of the blessed God!' - -'Merciful heaven, it is Sir Horace!' exclaimed Captain Clavering, -peering over. - -'Aw--aw, good gwacious--gwacious goodness! aw-aw, what a dreadful -situation!' added Snobleigh, aghast. - -Upon a ledge of rock that jutted over the fall about twenty feet -below the plateau on which we stood, lay the unfortunate baronet, -crouching in a place where the beetling rocks rose above him, and -where they descended sheer below to a depth which the eye and mind -shrank from contemplating. His pony had become unmanageable, or -disliked the severity with which it was whipped and spurred; thus on -getting the bit between its teeth, it scoured along the terrible -ridge of the Craig-na-tuirc like the wind, and rushed headlong -towards the cascade. In deadly terror, the portly baronet had thrown -himself off this fierce and shaggy little charger, but too late; he -was just at the edge of the fall over which the pony went headlong -like a flying Pegasus. Desperately Sir Horace clung to the bracken -and heather on the verge of the chasm; but both gave way, and he -toppled over!--sight, sound, hearing, and sensation left him as he -fell into the abyss, believing all was over; but the sharp, cool, -smoky spray revived him, and on recovering, he found himself safely -and softly shelved on a turf-covered ledge of rock, from which an -ascent unaided was totally impracticable, as the cliff above him was -a sheer wall of twenty feet high; and a safe descent was equally -impossible, for below, two hundred feet and more, pouring like -ceaseless thunder, the cascade roared, boomed, boiled, and whirled; -he shut his eyes, and for the first time since childhood, perhaps, -endeavoured to arrange his thoughts in prayer. - -Imagine the sensations of this right honourable baronet, and M.P. for -'the gentlemanly interest'--this old Regent-street lounger and -man-about-town, accustomed to all the butterfly enjoyment, the ease, -elegance, and luxury wealth can procure, and London furnish, on -finding himself at midnight in the region of old romance and much -imaginary barbarism---in the land of caterans, brownies, and bogles, -cowering like a water-rat on a narrow ledge of rock, and on the verge -of that tremendous cascade! - -Prayer was difficult, new, and unnatural to him; he closed his eyes, -and after shouting hopelessly and vainly, he endeavoured not to think -at all; terror absorbed all his faculties, and now were he to live -for a thousand years he could never forget the miseries and horrors -he endured. - -His senses wandered, and while the endless linn, stunning and -dashing, poured in full flood and mighty volume over the trembling -rocks, at one time he imagined himself addressing the House on the -Abjuration Oath, the Scottish Appellate Jurisdiction, or some other -equally sane and useful institution; or at the opera listening to -Mario, Alboni, or Piccolomini; now it was the voice of his daughter, -and then the laugh of his ward, Fanny Clavering. The quaint wild -stories of the Highland foresters flitted before him, and while -strange voices seemed to mingle with the ceaseless roar of that -eternal cataract; damp kelpies sprawled their long and clammy fingers -over him; paunchy imps and bearded brownies swarmed about his ears -like gnats in the moonshine; while grey spectres seemed to peer and -jabber at him, from amid the pouring foam and impending rocks. - -He grew sick and faint with fear and hopelessness, for he was a cold, -proud, and narrow-hearted man; hence the agony of his mind was the -greater when he found himself face to face, and front to front, with -Death! - -Hours passed away; they seemed months, years, ages, still he remained -there in a state of torpor and coma. He might fall into the stream; -then all would be over; he might linger on for days, his cries -unheard, for the country was desolate and depopulated--for days until -he perished of slow starvation, and his bones would be left to whiten -on that shelf of rock after his flesh had been carried away by the -hawks and eagles! - -'Horror! horror!' he exclaimed, and shut his eyes. - -Suddenly, voices that seemed human met his ear! - -He uttered a wild cry for mercy and for succour and the loud Highland -_haloo_ of Callum Mac Ian responded. By a lucky chance we had -discovered the lost man, when every hope was dying in his arid heart. - -A mountain-ash, the sinewy roots of which grasped the fissures of the -rocks, and were knotted round them, overhung the chasm, and from this -Callum, supported by Clavering and me--the captain was a brave, -active, and athletic fellow--lowered down a stout rope, which we -desired Sir Horace to tie securely round him; but he was so paralyzed -by fear, or so benumbed by cold, that though we reiterated the -request again and again, with all the energy his urgent danger could -inspire, we were unheeded. - -'Dioul! 'smeas so na'n t-alam!' (the devil! this is worse than alum!) -grumbled Callum in Gaelic; this old fellow will have the cat's -departure in the cascade if he closes his ears thus!' - -'What in heaven's name shall we do?' asked Captain Clavering; 'good -fellows, can't you advise?' - -'Go down into the cascade,' said I. - -'Eh--aw--the deuce! good gwacious, you cawnt mean that,' said -Snobleigh, with a chill shudder; 'deaw me--what a boaw!' - -'He does mean it,' replied Callum, coldly; 'but that shall be my -task, for though his spirit is brave, his arm is less strong than -mine, and I shall meet the danger first. It was our task of old--I -am his co-dhalta, and come of race that were the leine chrios of his -father's on many a bloody field--but I forget that you are -Englishmen, and know not what I speak of.' - -Even while he said this, Callum had flung aside his bonnet and plaid; -tied one end of the rope round the ash, and knotted the other round -his waist, and begun to descend into the chasm, finding grasps for -his hands and rests for his feet where other men would have felt for -them in vain; and scaring the polecat from its lair, and the -chattering night-hawk from its perch, by his hearty shout of triumph, -as he reached Sir Horace, and transferred the rope round his inert -and passive form. - -'Air Dhia! the old man is like a bundle of dry bracken,' said the -bold Highland forester with some contempt; 'hoist away sirs, and be -sure that you have a tight hold of _your_ end of the rope!' - -Assisted by Mr. Snobleigh, who was in a high state of excitement, the -Captain and I drew up the poor baronet, who was almost dead with -renewed terror on finding himself suspended like the golden fleece -over that roaring gulf; however, we landed him safely, and laid him -at length on the thick soft heather to recover his breath and -animation, while we lowered the rope to Callum, who with our -assistance scrambled up the wall of rock like a squirrel, and stood -beside us again. - -'Mona mon dioul!' said he, with a hearty laugh, such as can only come -from a throat and lungs braced by the keen mountain air; 'this will -be a night for the new laird to remember!' - - - - -CHAPTER V. - -CALLUM DHU. - -Morning was beginning to brighten the sky behind the sharp peaks of -the eastern hills as we slowly descended from the lofty summit of the -Craig-na-tuirc. We had got our English visitors up to that altitude -very well; but getting them _down_ from it proved a very different -and more arduous affair: Callum at last lost all patience, and saying -that he wished he 'had a keallach to carry the dainty bodach in,' -hoisted Mr. Snobleigh, _bongré malgré_, on his shoulders, and -sturdily carried him to the foot of the mountain leaving to Captain -Clavering and me the task of laughing, and supporting the -crest-fallen baronet. - -The sun had risen above the mountains when we reached the narrow path -that traversed my native and old hereditary glen; the morning wind -was lifting the light leaves of the silver birches, and rustling the -wiry foliage of the Scottish pines that clothed the steep sides of -the lovely valley. At times a roebuck started up from among the -green and waving bracken, to vanish with a wild bound into the gloomy -thickets; and the pale mist was wreathing the dun summit of Ben Ora. - -A flood of amber glory rolled along the hills, lighting up in quick -succession each rocky peak and heath-clad cone, and filling all the -glens with warmth as the sun arose; and Callum Dhu, whose mind was -full of the ancient usages and superstitions of the Gael, raised his -bonnet with reverence to the god of day. - -''Pon my soul, you are a rum one!' exclaimed Mr. Snobleigh, as he was -set on the ground again; 'but--aw--aw--fine fellow after all; we owe -you I don't know how much for your bravery, and I for this canter -down hill,' he added, unclasping his porte-monnaie. - -'I am neither a horse nor a servant,' said Callum, with a dark -expression in his eye. - -Now that Sir Horace was free from danger, and felt somewhat mollified -towards mankind in the Highlands generally, every bitter thought -which the teachings of my Celtic mother, the precepts of my nurse, -and the example of Callum could inspire, returned with renewed vigour -to my breast; and on reaching the rugged bridle-road, with a haughty, -hostile, and distant aspect, I touched my bonnet, and on seeing the -baronet's carriage approaching (together with Mr. Snaggs on a -trotting mountain garron), was about to withdraw, when Clavering -politely requested me to stay. - -On the patrimonial estate of my forefathers, I found myself regarded -as little better than a shepherd, and treated by these pampered -strangers as a mere gilly, trapper, or bush-beater; and my fiery -spirit revolted within me, on reflecting that the poor attire Callum -and myself wore, declared us to be little better. But find, if you -may, a Birmingham baronet, or a cotton lord, whose titles came with -the Reform Bill, who will acknowledge that a Scottish chief whose -name and lineage may be coeval with Old King Cole, or the Wars of -Fingal, can be equal to his own. - -The carriage halted; a liveried lacquey sprang from the rumble, -banged down the steps, and opened the door, on which Laura Everingham -and Fanny Clavering alighted to welcome and embrace Sir Horace, who -received this demonstration with the proper and well-bred frigidity -of one who abhorred 'a scene;' but his daughter hung upon his neck, -calling him her 'dear papa--her own papa,' while observing with alarm -that he trembled excessively, his whole nervous system being -seriously shaken, as well it might. - -'You are ill, dear papa!' said Laura, regarding him anxiously. - -'A draught from St. Colme's well might do him good,' said Callum Dhu; -'but perhaps he has water enough in him already--and so, a good sup -of whisky--' - -'Right,' said Captain Clavering, searching in the pocket of the -carriage, and producing a flask of brandy, a 'nip' from which greatly -revived the old gentleman, who, in a few words, made his daughter and -her friend acquainted with the danger he had run, and the courage by -which he had been rescued. - -'So you see, Mr. Snaggs,' said the baronet, 'our Celt here, with the -beard like a French sapeur, has been to me a real friend.' - -'Glad to hear it, Sir Horace,' mumbled Snaggs with one of his -detestable smiles; 'but how seldom do we find one--what is it the -divine Blair saith, Mr. Snobleigh?' - -'Eh--aw--don't know, really.' - -'It is _this_, my dear sir; "there is a friend that loveth at all -times and a brother that is born for adversity. Thine own friend, -and thy father's friend, forsake not."' - -'Aw--vewy good--devilish good, indeed!' - -Miss Everingham, while her pale cheek glowed, and then grew pale -again, fixed her bright eyes, full of tears, and gratitude upon -Callum and me, and while touching our hands, timidly, exclaimed, - -'Oh, how shall we ever thank you--how repay this!' - -'Aw--aw--'pon my soul, that is just what I have been thinking of,' -said Snobleigh, who 'mouthed' his words as if he had been reared in -the Scottish law courts, where we may daily hear the most astounding -and miraculous English that tongue can utter. - -My heart throbbed; a new and undefinable emotion thrilled through me, -at the touch of Laura's soft and pretty hands, and the truthful, -thankful, and earnest glance of her soft blue English eyes. - -'Ah, that devil of a pony!' sighed Sir Horace; 'I hope its neck was -broken at the cascade. Egad! it started off with me as if it had -been running for the Ascot Cup!' - -'So did all our cattle. How lucky that we were dismounted!' observed -Miss Clavering. - -'It was like the Start for the Derby,' laughed her brother. - -'Or the Doncaster Cup and Saucer,' added Snobleigh, 'Sir Horace -leading the way.' - -'But it is time we were moving,' said that personage. 'Come--you, -sir, to whom I owe so much--what is your name?' - -'Callum Dhu Mac Ian.' - -'Ah, well; get into the rumble, and come with us to Glen Ora House, -and you shall have lunch and a good bottle of wine with the butler.' - -'I do not lunch, neither do I dine with lacqueys,' replied Callum, -proudly. - -'Whew! aw--I see--these Highland fellows are all alike. Clavering, -have you any money about you?' - -The captain handed his purse to the baronet, who took from it, and -from his own, the gold they contained, and turning to Callum, said-- - -'My good fellow, here are fifteen sovereigns; but you will call on me -at Glen Ora House, and bring your friend with you; new coats and -shoes, &c., are at your service; but what the devil is the matter -with you?' - -'Monna, mon dioul! is it money you would offer me?' asked Callum, as -he drew himself up with the air of an Indian king; 'so you value your -life at fifteen dirty guineas?' - -'How, fellow; do you really wish more?' - -'_More!_' reiterated Callum, fiercely; 'I am a poor man, who, when I -lie down at night, thank God that one other day is passed, though I -know not where the food of to-morrow may come from. The hills teem -with game, and the rivers are alive with fish; yet I dare neither -shoot one nor net the other. But keep your gold, Sir Horace. Every -coin of it is accursed, for it has come to you through the filthy -hands of your factor, and every groat of it is stained by the -sweat--the tears--the blood of the Highlanders of Glen Ora, from whom -it has been extorted and torn by Ephraim Snaggs, that merciless and -rapacious oppressor of the poor!' - -Sir Horace stared at this outburst, which Callum Mac Ian, -notwithstanding his sharp Celtic accent, and Gaelic being his native -language, spoke in good English, and with all the purity and fluency -of an educated Highlander. The factor, who was close by muttered -something about 'an insolent idle poacher;' but Captain Clavering -patted Callum on the shoulder, and exclaimed, in his jolly off-hand -way, - -'You are a trump! ha, ha, ha--'pon my soul, I like this!' - -'You are the most puzzling fellow imaginable!' said Sir Horace, who -had now recovered his self-possession, and with it his usual bearing, -which was cold, pompous, selfish, and aristocratic (I am sorry to -add, ungrateful); he added, 'would your friend take the money?' - -The expression of my eye, I presume, startled him, for he asked, - -'Who are you, sir, may I ask?' - -'Alan Mac Innon,' I replied briefly. - -'The idle, roving son of a poor widow,' suggested the amiable Mr. -Snaggs, with a dark look. - -'Widow of the last Glen Ora, Captain of Grenadiers in the Black -Watch,' said Callum, sharply; 'Co-dhalta,' he added to me, in -Gaelic--'be not offended--they are strangers, and know no better.' - -'Well, well, I must leave to our sermon-quoting friend, Mr. Snaggs, -the task of rewarding you, for, egad, I know not how to treat you,' -said Sir Horace, turning towards the carriage and handing in Miss -Clavering and his daughter Laura; 'but give them a dram, -Clavering--it will be acceptable all round, I have no doubt.' - -Callum Dhu produced from his jacket pocket a silver-rimmed quaigh, -which had belonged to the ill-fated Mac Ian of the '45, and from -which it was averred _Prionse Tearlach_ himself had drunk. The -captain filled it with brandy for me, and I drank and bowed to all. -It was refilled for my foster-brother, who, while lifting his bonnet, -bowed politely to the strangers, and then turning to me, added, - -'Mo Cheann Chinnidh-sa! Beannachd Dhe' oirbh!' (_i.e._, My own -chief--God bless you!') - -My heart swelled; _his chief!_ and I had no right to the soil, beyond -the dust that adhered to my shoes; yet Callum's respect for me was as -great as if I possessed all the lands of the Siol nan Alpin. - -'Egad, this is like some of the things I have read of in the Scotch -novels,' said Sir Horace, with a supercilious smile; 'is it not, -Laura?' - -'Exactly, papa.' - -'If I had only my sketch-book here,' added her friend. - -'Aw--yaas--vewy good,' drawled Mr. Snobleigh, as he applied a vesta -to his meerschaum; 'here we have a couple of bare-legged Sawney -Beans, and all we want is a witch with a caldron-- - - "Fillet of a fenny snake, - In the caldron boil and bake: - Eye of newt and toe of frawg, - Wool of bat and tongue of dawg," - -and all that sort of thing--a brownie--aw-aw--a black dwarf, and so -forth; eh, Miss Everingham?' - -'Anything you please, Mr. Snobleigh, now that dear papa is safe.' - -'Safe,' added the frank Tom Clavering; 'but for our brave and sturdy -friends, he had now perhaps been at the bottom of yonder lock--or -_loch_, as they call it.' - -'It is a bit of romance, Laura, love,' said Miss Clavering, with one -of her brightest smiles; 'do not the place, the costume, and the -whole affair, remind you of--what is it--you remember the book, Mr. -Snobleigh?' - -'Eh--aw, yaas,' was the languid reply; 'but do you admire the -costume, eh? I was once nearly dispensing with the superfluous -luxury of pantaloons myself, and, aw-aw, exchanging from the -Grenadier Gawds into an 'Ighland corps, which threw us into the shade -in the Phoenix Pawk.' - -'The deuce you were,' said Clavering; 'that would be to commence the -sliding-scale, Snob, my boy; from the Guards to the line, and from -thence'-- - -'Eh--aw--to the dawgs.' - -'You are a noble fellow,' said Laura Everingham to Callum; 'and I -shall never, never forget you!' - -Callum bowed. - -'Give my dearest love to Mrs. Mac Innon--the kind old lady your -mother,' she added to me; 'and say that I shall ever remember her -kindness--poor dear old thing--and she so ill too!' - -'Aw--Snaggs, old fellow--do you think she has any knowledge of the -aw--aw--second sight?' - -'Why?' inquired Snaggs, with a furtive glance at me. - -'I have made up a devilish heavy book on the Derby, and wondaw rathaw -which horse will win,' said Snobleigh. - -Snaggs smiled faintly, and reined back his pony. - -Although at that time only the half of what this fine gentleman said -was understood by me, I gave him a glance so furious, that after -attempting to survey me coolly through his glass for a second, he -grew pale, smiled, and looked another way. - -At last, the baronet grew weary of all this; he pocketed his purse, -and stepped into the carriage; his friends found seats also--the -steps were shut up--the door closed, and with its varnished wheels -flashing in the morning sun, away it bowled, the horses, two fine -bays, at a rapid trot, and Snaggs spurring furiously behind. Callum -and I were left on the narrow mountain-path with saddened, humbled, -and irritated hearts, that smarted and rebelled under the loftiness -of tone which the possession of 'a little filthy lucre,' enabled -these _blasé_ voluptuaries to assume towards us, who were the old -hereditary sons of the soil. - -'I would ask you to my hut,' said Callum, 'but for three days no food -has been there.' - -'Come, Callum--come with me, and though I have but little to offer, -that little shall be shared with you and a thousand welcomes to it,' -said I, and we turned our steps together homeward. - - - - -CHAPTER VI. - -WHICH TREATS OF MANY THINGS. - -I have said that Laura Everingham was pretty rather than beautiful, -and graceful rather than dignified. I may add, that she was winning -rather than witty; but her friend Miss Clavering was both beautiful -and brilliant; and frequently as I had seen both these attractive -English girls, it was Laura, whose gentleness, voice, and face, made -the most vivid impression on me; and thus, with my mind full of her -image, I returned slowly and thoughtfully towards the old -jointure-house of Glen Ora. - -Three weeks passed away. - -The great service we, or Callum, rather, had rendered to Sir Horace, -was forgotten, for the adventures of that night had given the baronet -a violent and all-absorbing fit of the gout, and a fever which -confined him to bed; and amid his friends, the luxuries which -surrounded him, and the frivolities of fashionable life, he forgot -that save for the fearless heart and strong arm of Mac Ian he must -have perished by the waters of the Uisc Dhu, without leaving, -perhaps, a trace of his fate behind. And poor Callum--he whose -Spartan virtue had declined the proffered reward--was often almost -starving; for his little crop had failed; his patches of wheat and -potatoes were blighted, though carefully reared on the sunny side of -Ben Ora; and, like others in the glen, he anticipated with sorrow and -anxiety the usual visit of the pious and uncompromising Snaggs when -the term-time arrived. - -My poor mother's health was failing fast, and as it failed, her -spirit sank. She lacked many comforts which I was without the means -of procuring; and though old Mhari and her niece Minnie were -unwearying and unremitting in their kindness and ministry, she seemed -to be dying literally by inches, yet without any visible ailment--a -painful and a terrible contemplation for me, who, except the people -in the glen, and the ties of blood old Highland custom and tradition -gave between us, had not another relative in the world; for all my -kindred--ay more than thirty of them--had died, as I have said, in -the service of their country. - -She was passing away from among us, and now, for her sake, I -regretted that my foster-brother had not stooped to avail himself of -the reward proffered by Sir Horace; for even that small sum would -have been at her service, as honest Callum Mac Ian loved and revered -her as if she had been his own mother. - -With such sad, bitter, and humiliating reflections, the memory of the -winning smile, the thankful glance, and soft pretty manner of Laura -Everingham, struggled hard for mastery; but as weeks rolled on, these -pleasing recollections gave place to a just emotion of anger, at what -I deemed her cold and haughty neglect of my mother, whom she had -neither visited nor invited to the new house of Glen Ora. Vague -suspicions floated in my mind that Snaggs the factor was in some -degree to blame for this apparent discourtesy, and these surmises -afterwards proved to be correct. Moreover, the moustached Captain -Clavering, and his perfumed friend, Mr. Adolphus Frederick Snobleigh, -whom we saw shooting and deer-stalking on the hill sides, usually -passed me with a nod or glance of recognition, because I was coarsely -clad, and to them seemed but a mountain gilly, though every bonnet in -Glen Ora was veiled at my approach in reverence to the name I -inherited. But this was the result of old Celtic sympathies--the -ties of clanship and kindred, the historical, traditionary, and -poetic veneration of the Highland peasant for the head of his house, -humbled and poor though that house may be; sympathies deep, bitter, -fiery and enthusiastic, and beyond the comprehension of a -devil-may-care guardsman like Clavering, or an effeminate _blasé -parvenu_, and man-about-town, like Snobleigh. - -Once a liveried lacquey with a well-powdered head brought a beautiful -bouquet of flowers 'with Miss Everingham's love to Mrs. Captain Mac -Innon;' but as this knock-knee'd gentleman in the red plush -inexpressibles was over-attentive to our pretty Minnie, her lover -Callum flung him out of the front door, and tore his livery; and such -was the report made by Mr. Jeames Toodles of his reception at the old -jointure-house, that no more messages came from the family of Sir -Horace. - -Now came the crisis in the fortunes of the cottars of Glen Ora. The -postman who travelled once weekly over the mountains, and bore the -letters for the district, in a leathern bag strapped across his back, -brought for each resident, myself included, a notice that Mr. Ephraim -Snaggs would be in the glen on a certain day, to hold a rent-court, -and collect the arrears; with a brief intimation, that if all demands -were not satisfied in full, the houses would be destroyed, and the -people driven off. That night, there went a wail of lamentation -through the glen; the women wept, and the men gazed about them with -the sullen apathy in which a despairing mariner may see his ship -going down into the ocean, for there were neither remedy nor mercy to -be expected. Our people were able to live comfortably in the glen, -as for ages their forefathers had done, marrying and giving in -marriage--increasing and multiplying, till their corn patches and -little green cottages dotted all the mountain slopes; but curbed by -the game-laws, and thence deprived of those substitutes by which -nature replaced the sterility of the soil--ruined by the wanton -destruction of the kelp manufacture, and by having their rents -doubled, tripled, and quadrupled with the deliberate intention that -they should be unable to pay them, and hence afford to the feudal -lord of the land a LEGAL EXCUSE for sweeping them to the sea-shore, -that the glens may be made a wilderness for game, and their hearths a -lair for the deer, the fox, and the wild cat--the peasantry found -themselves helpless! And thus it is, that in virtue of a fragment of -sheepskin, we find men in Scotland, exerting over their fellow-men a -murderous and inhuman tyranny; such as was never wielded by the worst -feudal despots in the middle ages of Germany, or in the present days -of Russia. But to resume my story: - -In addition to our little household, we had now to support Callum -Dhu, who had been afflicted by a sickness--I verily believe, the -result of mere want and privation, for he was too proud to -acknowledge, that occasionally days elapsed without his fast being -broken. He was entitled to four hundred merks Scots, and a good dram -for every fox's head; but as he was weak and ailing, the foxes got -into places beyond his reach, and rabbits became scarce. We could -not see Callum starve; for never did brother love brother more -sincerely than my fosterer loved me; and but for this sentiment, and -his ardent regard for Minnie and his native glen, the poor fellow had -long since abandoned his hut, and joined one of our eight Highland -regiments. - -Now came 'the day--the great, the eventful day,' when Snaggs the -factor, accompanied by his clerk (the latter custodier of a wooden -box and a green-baize bag), both on trotting Highland garrons, -appeared at the lower entrance of the glen, their advance into which -was witnessed by the cottars with greater excitement, and certainly -far more terror than their forefathers, when beholding the _Sliochd -Dhiarmed an Tuirc_, numbering a thousand swordsmen under Black Colin -of Rhodez, march through the same pass against the Mac Innons of Glen -Ora, and the Mac Intyres of Glen O. - -And now, with the reader's permission, I will devote a short -paragraph to Mr. Snaggs. - -He was externally a very religious man, and grave in his deportment, -being an elder of a dissenting kirk. Having been bred to the law in -Edinburgh, he spoke with an extremely English accent, as nothing -Scottish is much in vogue about 'the Parliament House;' for -unfortunately, the language which our Lowlanders received from their -brave ancestors who came from the Cimbric Chersonese--a language in -which the sweetest of our poets have sung--the language spoken by -Mary Queen of Scots, in which Knox preached, and all our laws are -written, is voted vulgar by the growing 'snobbishness' of the -Scottish people themselves--excuse the term pray, but I know of none -more suitable--hence Mr. Snaggs spoke with a marvellous accent, and -it would have been quite in vain to quote to such as he the words of -honest Ninian Wingate, when he warned John Knox--'Gif ye throw -curiositie of novationis hes forgot our auld plane Scottis qwhilk -your mither lernit you, in tymes coming I sall wryt to yow my mynd in -Latin, for I am nocht acquynt with your Southeron.' Mr. Snaggs went -to kirk thrice on Sunday; he was a member of various -tract-distributing societies, and always wore a white neckcloth, and -scrupulously accurate suit of black; he was a great believer in -whisky-toddy and the patriotism of the Lord Advocate. Honesty and -charity were ever in his mouth, but never in his heart or hand; he -never swore by aught save his honour, which was a somewhat tattered -article. He never was known to do good by stealth 'and blush to find -it fame;' but he subscribed largely to all _printed_ lists, -especially such as were headed by philanthropic and noble -depopulators. His keen grey eyes were expressive alternately of -cunning and malevolence, while his mouth wore a perpetual smile or -grin. Cringing and mean to the rich, Snaggs was a tyrant and -oppressor of the poor, and led the van of that all-but-organized -system of extermination pursued by certain infamous dukes, marquises, -and lairds towards the poor Highland peasantry; and he was a vehement -advocate for the substitution of bare sheep-walks and useless -game-preserves, instead of glens studded by little cottages, and -teeming with life and rural health, and peopled by a brave and hardy -race, who in the ranks of war gave place to none, and who, although -they have no feudal charters, are by right of inheritance the true -lords of the soil. - -Such was the smooth, pious, fawning but terrible Ephraim Snaggs, who -made his appearance in Glen Ora punctually at eleven o'clock on the -appointed day. Now we had no longer any hope of remaining in the old -jointure-house, for I do not believe that anything save a miracle -would have raised fifty pounds among us, and the age of miracles is -past. - - - - -CHAPTER VII. - -THE RENT COURT. - -I shall never forget the emotion of shame that glowed within me on -finding myself compelled to avoid this miserable worm. - -'He is coming! he is coming!' exclaimed Minnie, wringing her hands, -as we perceived from the dining-room window two mounted figures -appear in the gorge of the glen. - -'Oclion! ochon! ochon!' chorused old Mhari, lifting up her hands, -'the sorrows that have fallen upon us would sink the blessed ship of -Clanronald.' - -Callum uttered a hearty oath in Gaelic, and pulled his bonnet over -his knitted brow. - -Mr. Snaggs dismounted at the door and gave his green bag to Minnie, -on whom he smiled familiarly, and then perceiving that she was -pretty, he pinched her rosy cheek, and eyed her with a glance that -had more of a leer than benignity in it; but he was always singularly -_suave_ to Minnie. Being too indisposed to receive him, my mother -remained in her own room, and I--knowing that we had not the cash to -meet his demands, took my rod and went to the Loch nan Spiordan for -our supper; as there the _tarr-dhiargan_, or red-bellied char, were -in great plenty, and the banks were a favourite ride of Laura -Everingham. For Snaggs I left a note, filled with the old excuses, -of wet weather, bad crops, corn destroyed by the south-west wind, -sheep with the rot, cattle with the murrain, hard times, and so -forth. He read it over--smiled faintly, and after carefully folding -and docketing it, he seated himself at a table which was placed in -front of the house under an ancient lime, on the branches of which -many a cateran from the isles had swung in the wind. There his clerk -arranged his papers, and while the poor dejected defaulters came -slowly down the glen communing sorrowfully together, Mr. Snaggs -regaled himself on bread, cheese, and a dram which Callum Dhu placed -before him, with more of old Highland hospitality than the factor -merited. - -The excitement was general; thirty-two families the remnant of our -once powerful tribe, all linked and connected together by ties of -blood, descent, and misfortune, hovered on the brink of ruin. - -One by one, the tenants approached bonnet in hand, and before this -man of power and parchment bent their heads that under braver -auspices would not have stooped to the whistle of a cannon-ball. -Poor people! their tremulous but earnest excuses for the lack of -money, though their small rents varied only from fifteen to twenty -pounds or so, and the half-uttered prayers for mercy, from those who -could no more pay this, than liquidate the National Debt, were all -the same. - -One named Ian Mac Raonuil had been ten years a soldier, and though -thrice wounded, was unpensioned, as there was a break in his service, -having enlisted twice. Latterly he had earned a scanty subsistence -by fishing in the salt lochs beyond Ben Ora; he was now sixty years -of age, and had seven children. He could pay the old rent, but was -totally unable to pay the new, which was exactly triple what had ever -been paid for his poor cottage within the memory of man. The factor -shook his legal head---made an entry in his black-book--handed to the -haggard-eyed Mac Raonuil (as he did to all) a pious tract, and -summoned the next on his fatal roll. - -'Alisdair Mac Gouran.' - -A fine-looking old Highlander, upwards of seventy years of age -stepped forward. His tall and erect figure was clad in coarse blue -cloth, and his long locks, which were white as snow, glittered in the -sun, when he politely removed his bonnet before the grand vizier of -the new proprietor, with the usual greeting, as he knew no language -but Gaelic, - -'Failte na maiduin duibh'--(Hail--good morning to you). - -'_You_ have your rent at least, I hope, Alisdair?' said Snaggs, with -a grin on his thin lips. - -'I have the old rent,' replied the cotter with a sickly smile. - -'But the _new_?' - -'A chial! what would you be asking of me? I have the old rent, and -by the sweat of my brow and the toil of my children's tender hands -have I earned it. It is here. Have mercy on us, Ephraim Snaggs, and -do not double the rent. You stand between us and Sir Horace--between -us and starvation. He will be advised by you for good or for -evil--he is an Englishman, and like a Lowlander, can know no better. -You are aware that my croft is small, and that my eight children have -to support themselves by fishing; but the famine was sore three years -ago; our potatoes failed, and as you know well our little crop of -wheat was literally thrashed on the mountain by the wind. All that -remained was devoured by the game of the Duchess. I then fell into -arrears. I, like my fathers before me, for more generations than I -can number, have regularly paid rent and kain to the uttermost -farthing--for God and Mary's sake, take pity on us now, Mr. Snaggs. -Accept the old rental, but spare us the new--for a little time at -least, or eleven human beings, including my old and bedridden mother, -now past her ninetieth year, will be homeless and houseless!' - -'Mac Gouran,' said Mr. Snaggs, with mock impressiveness, while his -malevolent eye belied his bland voice; 'the divine Walton says, "can -_you_ or any man charge God that he hath not given enough to make -life happy?"' - -'God gave, but the duke, the lord, and the earl, have taken away,' -answered the Highlander, sharply. - -Snaggs grinned again--took the money, gave a receipt, and with it a -printed tract. Then he made another entry in his fatal book, and a -groan escaped the breast of Mac Gouran, for too well did he know what -that entry meant. His cot was in a picturesque place where Sir -Horace wished to plant some coppice; so the humble roof, where twenty -generations of brave and hardy peasants had reared their sturdy -broods, was doomed to be swept away. - -All who came forward had the same, or nearly the same, excuses to -make. - -Gillespie Ruadh--or Red Archibald--Minnie's uncle, was also in -default; but Snaggs, who had cast favourable eyes on his pretty -niece, spoke to him with such excessive suavity that old Archy was -quite puzzled. - -Many professed their readiness and ability to pay the old rent, but -their total incapacity to meet the new and exorbitant one, which they -knew too well was but the plea, the pretence, on which they were to -be driven from the glen, that it might be well stocked with deer and -black cock. The last summoned by the factor was Callum Dhu Mac Ian. - -My fosterer, who was viewed as a kind of champion by the people, -pressed the hand of Minnie to reassure her, and with one stride -appeared before Snaggs in his tattered Highland dress. He carried a -gun in his hand, and had a couple of red foxes, hanging dead over his -left shoulder. A dark cloud was hovering on Callum's brow and a -lurid spark was gleaming in his eye, both indicative of the fire he -was smothering in his heart--a fire fanned by the lamentations of the -people, who were now collected in little family groups and communing -together. - -'How are you, Callum?' asked Snaggs, with a sardonic grin, holding -out his left hand, as his right held a pen: but Callum drew back, -saying proudly, - -'Thank you--but I would not take the _left_ hand of a king.' - -'Well then, neer-do-weel,' said Snaggs, surveying the tall and -handsome hunter with an eye of ill-disguised antipathy, 'what have -you to say?' - -'I am no neer-do-weel, Mr. Snaggs,' replied Callum loftily, and -disdaining to touch his bonnet or bend his head. - -'Pay up then,' was the pithy rejoinder. - -'I never was asked for rent before. I and mine have dwelt rent-free -under the Mac Innons of Glen Ora since these hills had a name. We -were hunters, father and son in succession, as you know well, and -paid neither rent nor kain; we owed nothing to the chief but an armed -man's service in time of war and feud; so I see no reason why it -should be otherwise now.' - -'I am afraid, my fine fellow, that the sheriff and the law will tell -you another story.' - -'D--n both, with all my heart!' - -'What--dare you say so of the law?' - -'Yes--and it must learn, that instead of me paying to Sir Horace, he -must, as his betters did of old, pay to me a sum for every fox's head -I bring to his hall.' - -'You are three years in arrear, Callum.' - -'Three hundred and more, perhaps, by your way of reckoning; but the -last proprietor is dead--our debts died with him.' - -'Your idea is a very common one among these ignorant people,' -rejoined Snaggs, with a smile on his mouth and a glare in his wolfish -eye; 'but I must condescend to inform you, that the law of Scotland -says, when a landlord or overlord dies, the rents past due belong to -his executors. Sir Horace took the estate with all its debts, and -the half-year's rent then current, with all arrears, are his due; and -this rule applies especially to grass-farms, as you will find in the -case of Elliot _versus_ Elliot, before the Lords of Council and -Session in 1792; and the landlord has a hypothec for his rent over -the crop and stocking; hence your furniture and plenishing are the -property of Sir Horace Everingham.' - -'Ha-ha-ha! A broken table, two creepies, a kail-pot and crocan; an -old cashcroim, some mouldy potatoes, and a milk bowie!' - -'And remember,' added Snaggs, impressively, 'when a tenant who is -bankrupt, remains, notwithstanding a notice to remove, the landlord -may forcibly eject him in six days, as you will find in a case before -the Lords of Council and Session in 1756. This is the wisdom, not -the cunning of the law, my dear friend, for, as the learned Johnson -says, "cunning differs from wisdom as much as twilight from open -day."' - -'A nis! a nis!' cried Callum, in fierce irony, as he stamped his -right foot passionately on the ground, and struck the butt of his gun -on the turf; 'Snake! by the Black Stone of Scone you come to it now!' - -Minnie clung in terror to her fiery lover. - -'Laoighe mo chri,' she whispered, 'be calm and tempt him not!' - -'Mr. Snaggs, I am but a half-lettered Highlandman, and know not what -you mean; but this I know--and here I speak for my chief Glen Ora, as -well as for his people--the sun shines as bright, and the woods are -as green, as ever they were twenty centuries ago, and yet we starve -where our fathers lived in plenty! Why is this?' - -'Because you are a pack of lazy and idle fellows.' - -'We are not,' retorted Callum, fiercely; 'the dun hills swarm with -fatted deer; the green woods are alive with game, and the blue rivers -teem with fish; but who among us dares to use a net or gun? For now -the land, with all that is in its waters, its woods, and in the air, -belong to the stranger. God was kind to the poor Celts, Mr. Snaggs, -in the days before you were born,' he continued, with unintentional -irony. 'He gave us all those things, because He saw that the land, -though beautiful, was very barren; but you, and such as you, have -robbed us of them, and one day God will call you to an account for -this. Listen: in the days of the kelp manufacture, we made twenty -thousand tons of it annually, here on the western coast alone--ay, we -_lazy Highlandmen_, raising _two hundred thousand pounds sterling -every year_. This work, with a cow's milk, butter, and cheese, a few -potatoes, and a few sheep, for food and clothes, kept many a large -family in happiness, in health, and comfort; rents were paid strictly -and regularly in rent and kain, and arrears were never heard of. But -the Parliament, influenced by the English manufacturers, DESTROYED us -by taking the duty off barilla; and when Lord Binning said, that a -hundred thousand clansmen in the West would starve, the English -Chancellor of the Exchequer replied--"Let them starve--I care not!" -may God and St. Colme forgive his soul the sin. There were only -forty-five Scotsmen--time-serving and tongue-tied Scotsmen--in that -House, opposed to six hundred wordy Englishmen, so how could our case -be otherwise? Now, this was only thirty years ago, and since then -arrears, ruin, misery, and famine have fallen upon the people of the -glens; the castles of their chiefs have become English grouse-lodges, -and the West Highlands are well nigh a voiceless wilderness, from the -Mull of Cantyre to the Kyle of Duirness--two hundred and fifty good -miles, Mr. Snaggs.' - -'Where the deuce did _you_ pick up all this stuff--this Lay of the -Last Outlaw?' sneered Snaggs, with unfeigned surprise, while a murmur -of assent from the poor tenantry followed Callum's words. - -'I could tell you more, Snaggs, esquire and factor,' replied Callum, -still maintaining his fire; 'esquire means nothing now in this world, -though _factor_ may have a terrible signification in the next; I can -tell you, that these poor people whom you are about to evict--for I -know their doom is sealed--have a right in the soil superior to that -claimed by any landlord or overlord either. The Lowlanders, like the -English, were feudal serfs, while we--the Celts--were freemen, and -our land belonged not to the chiefs, but to _the people_; it was -ours; but lawyers came with their feu-charters and damnable -legalities, and then the patriarchal clansman became what you find -him now, something between a slave and an outcast--a wretch to be -retained or expelled at the will of his landlord. The chief was a -thing of our breath, whom we could make or unmake; but the land, with -its mountains, woods, and waters, was the unalienable birthright of -the people; it was their home--their dwelling-place--their grave! -The King of Scotland could neither give it nor take it away, for it -was the patrimony of the tribes of the Gael; and it was for this -patriarchal right in the land that John of Moidart and Ranald Galda -died at the battle of Blairleine!' - -'And so the land belonged to the Gael,' continued Snaggs, with his -calm sneer; 'but who gave it to them?' - -'God!' replied Callum, lifting his bonnet with reverence; 'but no -doubt, Mr. Snaggs, a lawyer like you will have more faith in -feu-charters, and bonds, and bank-notes, than in Him; it is only to -be expected of one of your dirty trade; and now I have only a few -words more.' - -'I am glad to hear it.' - -'It would be a blessing for Scotland if you, and every man such as -you, were groping among the weeds at the bottom of Loch Ora, each -with a good-sized stone at his neck; and it would be a greater -blessing if the unwieldy estates of her absentee proprietors were -held by residents who would spend their rents--not in London and in -Paris--but among the people from whom they are drawn, and on the soil -from whence they are raised; and for this reason, Mr. Snaggs, and -many others, the sooner Scotland is rid of her fustian chiefs and -so-called nobility the better for herself. So much, Mr. Snaggs, for -the Lay of the Last Outlaw!' - -With these words Callum gave the table a kick, that sent it flying -right over the head of Snaggs, whose religious tracts, rent-books, -papers, and luncheon, were scattered in every direction by this -champion of Celtic rights, who shouldered his fowling-piece, and -hastened up the glen to meet me; and relate all that had passed. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII. - -MINNIE. - -Though few men in their senses ever think of consulting Hansard, I -may mention, that the debates in 1823 will be found to corroborate -much of what Callum advanced in his own peculiar way. - -Minnie, who was an amiable and good-natured girl, became alarmed by -the sudden violence of her lover, and its probable effect upon the -temper of Mr. Snaggs; she busied herself in collecting all that -worthy's papers, dockets, and religious tracts, which had been -spilled and scattered abroad by the unexpected capsize of the table, -at which he had been seated with much legal dignity and assumed -benignity of aspect. - -'Thank you, my good girl,' said Snaggs, on recovering his breath and -lawyer-like composure; 'thank you--I shall not forget this.' - -'Thank you, sir, a thousand times,' replied Minnie, curtsying very -low, as she thought of her old uncle's unpaid arrears. - -Minnie Mac Omish was a very pretty girl; under a little lace cap, her -silky brown hair was braided in two thick masses over her temples and -little ears, and enough remained to form a heavy knot behind, where -two very bewildering little curls, that were the joy of Callum's -heart, played upon her plump white neck. Her eyes were large, blue, -and expressive; her bust full and perfect; her figure firm and -graceful, and a healthy bloom, that came with the free mountain air, -tinged her rounded cheeks with red. - -'You are a good girl,' continued the factor, slipping a half-crown -into her hand, 'and this will buy a ribbon for your pretty neck,' he -added, kissing her cheek, much to Minnie's surprise. - -'Oh, Mr. Snaggs,' said she, anxiously, and with tears, as the worthy -elder still lingered near her, after mounting his pony, 'I hope you -will forget Callum's fury, and show some mercy to my poor old uncle, -Gillespie Ruadh--he is old--his wife is sick, and they have seven -children.' - -'The mystical number seems to be the established one in Glen Ora, my -dear,' said Snaggs, retaining the girl's hand in his, despite her -timid efforts to withdraw it; 'by-the-by, lass, can you tell me how -many cattle are in the glen?' - -'No.' - -'You do not know?' - -'We never count them, sir.' - -'Why?' - -'It is so unlucky.' - -'Whew!--how?' - -'Some would be sure to die after we had reckoned them; and St. Colme -knows we have few enough for the poor people.' - -This was said, of course, in Gaelic, but Snaggs understood it, for, -pressing her hand, he added, more kindly,-- - -'My good girl, I wish I had you in my own house at Inverness (I am a -quiet old bachelor), that I might teach you the folly of believing in -such personages as St. Colme, and in these old remnants of popery and -superstition, which warp the ideas of the people, and prevent the -diffusion of a purer religion into these barbarous districts. Be -assured, my dear girl, "that when religion is neglected," as the -divine Blair says, "there can be no regular or steady practice of the -duties of morality."' - -'But how about my poor old uncle, sir?' she urged again, with tears -in her eyes. - -'Gillespie Ruadh is long--very long in arrear,' said Snaggs, -pretending to consult his note-book, while squinting over it, at the -pretty face that was so anxiously upturned to his; 'let me see--let -me see--' - -'In arrears?' - -'Ay, heavily--not a payment has he made since Whitsunday was two -years.' - -'Alas! I know that,' said Minnie, beginning to weep. - -'Now, don't spoil those pretty eyes of yours, Minnie--' - -'What shall I tell my uncle?' - -'Oho,' whispered Snaggs, over whose eyes there shot a strange and -baleful gleam; 'he asked you to intercede with me?' - -'Yes, sir,' replied Minnie, with hesitation. - -'Meet me to-night at dusk--' - -'Where?' - -'At the Clach-na-greiné,' said Snaggs, sinking his voice lower still. - -'But why at dusk, and why at such a lonely place?' - -'Is not one place the same as another--when the spirit of God is -everywhere? But tell no one of this; and when there, I will give you -a message--ay, it may be a receipt in full for Gillespie.' - -'Heaven will reward you, sir.' - -'It rewards all who have faith, even as a grain of mustard-seed, -Minnie,' said the factor, touching his garron with his riding-switch. -'Can you read English, Minnie?' - -'A little, sir.' - -'Then take these tracts, "The Sinner's Deathbed"--"The Pious -Policeman"--"The God-fearing Footman"--read them to your friends, and -say they were given by Snaggs the factor, whom they hate so much--and -see that you have all the contents by rote to-night, when we meet at -moonrise near the Clach-na-greiné. But say not a word to any human -being on the subject, or the sequel may prove the worse for your -uncle Gillespie Ruadh--do not forget Minnie--at moonrise;' and with -these words and an impressive gleam in his glassy deceitful eyes, Mr. -Snaggs trotted down the glen to join the minister in prayer at the -bedside of a dying cotter, and thereafter to dine with Sir Horace at -the new manor-house of Glen Ora. - - - - -CHAPTER IX. - -THE RED PRIEST OF APPLECROSS. - -I heard, with the utmost alarm, the relation of all that had passed, -and felt assured that my doom and the doom of our people were sealed. -To Mr. Snaggs, Callum had said nothing more than I would have said, -but the chances are that, had I encountered him, my bearing might -have been more violent. - -'The glen will be swept like Glentuirc,' said Callum, as we descended -the hill slowly and thoughtfully; 'swept bare as my hand, devil a -doubt of it.' - -'And the old jointure-house, Callum--our last home on earth--sick and -ailing as my poor mother is, how is she ever to be got out of it?' - -'Never alive, I fear me.' - -I shuddered at his answer, for he as well as I knew the strange old -tradition connected with it. - -Lachlan Mohr Mac Innon, about twenty years before his fall at -Worcester, had been seized by a covenanting and reformatory spirit, -and while the fervour lasted, had demolished an ancient chapel of St. -Colme, and with the stones thereof, built the said jointure-house. -This was considered an act of sacrilege so deep, that the Mac Donalds -of Keppoch, and other Catholic tribes, were on the point of marching -in hostile array to Glen Ora, when the influence of a wandering monk -of the Scottish mission restrained them. This personage, whose -adventures have been given to the world as the Capuchino Scozzese, -and who is still remembered in Ross-shire as the Red Priest of -Applecross, cursed the deed in Latin and Gaelic, and predicted, that -as Lachlan Mohr had built a house for the dowagers of his family to -live in, not one should ever _die_ there; and strange enough, though -it had been inhabited for about two hundred years, no member of our -family was ever known to pay the debt of nature within it; though -many who were sick, ailing, or longing for death, after dwelling long -there, perished by violent ends or sudden diseases elsewhere. - -Angus Mac Innon, who fought at Culloden, left a widow, a daughter of -Barcaldine, who attained a vast age, and lived beyond a century, -attenuated, bed-ridden, sickly, and querulous, in the last stages of -emaciation and second childhood. Longing for a crisis to her -sufferings, in the same year in which her present Majesty ascended -the throne, she insisted on being conveyed on a pallet into the open -air, and, like the Lady May, of Cadboll, to defy fate, and test the -truth of the terrible prediction. Four of our people, Alisdair Mac -Gouran, Ian Mac Raonuil, Red Gillespie, and Mac Ian, the father of my -fosterer, bore her slowly and carefully on a palliasse; and whether -it might be the result of fancy acting on a highly-nervous -temperament, or the weakness of a system worn away with age, I know -not; but to the no small horror of her bearers, the aged widow of -Angus expired at the instant she was passing the threshold. - -Now, my mother had long been sickly and almost bedridden, and thus -though I could scarcely put much faith in the prediction of the Red -Priest of Applecross, which had been impressed upon me in childhood -by my nurse, the mother of Callum Dhu, as something to be spoken of -in whispers, and thought of with awe, yet I looked forward with vague -apprehension to our expulsion from the house; as she was wont to -affirm that she was so feeble and worn by time, that the life in her -was not natural, and that if once she passed _the door_ of the fated -mansion, her doom would be similar to that of Angus' widow. A -strange terror seized me with this thought, for my mother was my only -tie to the glen, to my country--to existence itself! - -Weary of dark conjectures, and with a heart full of dim forebodings, -while Callum and Minnie were in another part of the house, I entered -my mother's little parlour. She was again seated at a little tripod -table, with her bible and her knitting before her. - -'You know all, Allan,' said she, anxiously. - -'Yes, mother,' said I, and flinging myself into a chair, I pressed my -hands upon my temples, and then we relapsed into moody silence. - -My mother sighed deeply. - -What need was there for words to express our anxious thoughts? From -time to time I gazed earnestly at my only parent--my only living -relative. Age had traced deep lines upon her pale sad face; but care -had planted furrows deeper still. We sat long silent; at last she -said in a trembling voice-- - -'The evil day is coming, Allan, when the fire on this hearth--so long -boasted as the highest in Scotland--will be quenched at last.' - -I bit my lips till the blood came. Poverty had made me as powerless -as if a wall of adamant enclosed me, and I could see no means of -extrication from our present difficulties. - -'Even money if we had it would not satisfy them, mother,' said I. - -'Why?' - -'Because Sir Horace is resolved on having this house pulled down, and -a new shooting-box built in its stead.' - -'A little time, Allan--dear Allan--would have made _me_ least -independent of this poor dwelling, unless indeed the curse that was -laid on Lachlan Mhor----' - -'Oh, mother, do not speak or think of that!' I exclaimed, hastily, -while half kneeling and half embracing her, 'there is to be a -gathering on the Braes, and a shooting-match. Miss Everingham gives -a hundred sovereigns--think of that, mother, a hundred sovereigns to -the best rifle-shot. I may win them, or Callum, and that prize would -pay a portion of our debts; hear me, mother, dear mother! and if I -lose, there is still hope for us in Callum. We have done this man, -Sir Horace, a service--Callum Dhu saved him from a dreadful death at -the Black Water--might we not ask a little time, a little mercy at -least, for your sake, mother?' - -'No! I would rather perish than stoop to sue from such as he, for -mercy or for grace. No, no; if it is written in the book of fate -that the stranger shall rule here, then let our glen be swept bare as -the Braes of Lochaber. But oh, _mo mhac! mo mhac!_ (my son! my son!) -your home and grave will lie in a land that is distant far from mine.' - -'Mo mhathair! mo mhathair!' I exclaimed in a wild burst of grief at -her words, which I vainly endeavour to give here literally in -English; 'even when you are gone, I cannot go to that distant land -beyond the Atlantic. There is no heather there, nor aught that -speaks of home; the broad salt sea shall never roll between your -resting-place and mine. I will trust to the honesty, the manliness, -and the sympathy of Sir Horace; he will never be so cruel as to -unhouse the widow of a brave Highland officer, who carried the -colours of the Black Watch at the Battle of the Pyramids, and led -three assaults at Burgos and Badajoz.' - -My mother was a Scottish matron of the old school--a genuine -Highlander, with all a Highlander's impulsive spirit, warmth of heart -and temper--their pride and their prejudices if you will; but honest -prejudices withal, of that bluff olden time which scorned and spurned -the cold-blooded conventionality of the new. My suggestions or hopes -of temporizing with Sir Horace, whom she could never be brought to -view otherwise than as a sorner in the land, and usurper of our -patrimony, though the poor man had bought it legally, honestly, and -fairly at its then market-price, brought on such a paroxysm of -irritation, sorrow, and weakness, that I became seriously alarmed for -her life, and committed her to the care of Minnie and old Mhari, -whose _fion-na-uisc a batha_, or wine distilled from the birch, was -considered in Glen Ora a sovereign remedy 'for all the ills that -flesh is heir to;' and was deemed moreover very conducive to strength -and longevity. - -I was now summoned by Callum, who earnestly begged my company, if I -could spare an hour with him. - - - - -CHAPTER X. - -THE STONE OF THE SUN. - -I have now arrived at a point in the history of that acute factor, -pious elder, and severe moralist, Mr. Snaggs, which I would -willingly, but cannot omit, without leaving in my narrative a hiatus -which every dramatist, novelist, historian, and biographer would -unanimously condemn. With the suspicion natural to a Celt, Minnie -mistrusted Ephraim Snaggs, and informed Callum of the proposed -meeting. - -Callum's eyes flashed fire! he grasped his skene, and bit his lips, -with a dark expression on his brow; for it was well known in the -district that two handsome girls had already been wiled by Snaggs to -distant towns, where, after a time, all trace of them was lost; and -when questioned by their friends (he had taken care to evict and -expatriate their relations), he had only groaned, turned up his eyes, -twiddled his thumbs, and quoted Blair. - -The peculiarity of his request, the solitude of the place, and its -traditionary character, excited the keenest suspicion in the mind of -Callum Dhu, and he begged of me to accompany him to the -trysting-place, to which we accordingly proceeded, and there -ensconced ourselves among the thick broom, juniper-bushes, and long -wavy bracken, about an hour or so after sunset. - -In a wild and solitary rift or ravine, that opened at the back of Ben -Ora, and the rugged sides of which were covered by the light feathery -mountain-ash, the silver birch, the hazel, and the alder, amid which -the roe and the fallow-deer made their lair, stood the -Clach-na-greiné, or _stone of the sun_. A huge misshapen block, on -which some quaint figures and runes or words in an ancient and -barbarous language were discernible; it was a relic of the Druids, -whose religion, a corruption of the older faith of the Magi, had -inspired them to worship the God of Day as the essence of fire. Here -had the spirit of Loda descended on their souls, and here in latter -times the posterity of Mac Ionhuin (or the Son of Love) were wont to -meet in arms, to hail and inaugurate their young chiefs; here justice -was administered, and the guilty were flung into the Poul-a-baidh, or -drowning-pool; here the Red Priest of Applecross anathematized the -sacrilege of Lachlan Mohr; and here in 'the glimpses of the moon,' -the famous white stag of Loch Ora, which was believed to be -bullet-proof, and to have a miraculous longevity, was seen at times. - -In the centre of this obelisk was a round hole, through which the -lovers of the district had been wont for ages to join hands in -testimony of their mutual betrothal: this formed a strong and sacred -tie of mutual fidelity, which none had been known to break without -suffering a violent death. - -It happened as old Mhari had told me a hundred times, and as Callum -Dhu was ready to affirm on oath, that among the men who followed my -father into the ranks of the Black Watch, there was one who had -betrothed himself solemnly to a girl of the glen, through the hole of -the Clach-na-greiné. Forgetting both him and her trothplight, this -girl fell in love with a handsome stranger whom she met at a -harvest-home in Glentuirc. He danced with her repeatedly, and -whispered of her beauty and of his passion until her head was turned, -and her heart so far won, that he persuaded her to cross the mountain -of Ben Ora with him; but her confidence being mingled with fear, she -begged of a companion to follow them a little way. The moon was -bright, and as they proceeded, she observed with growing alarm that -he carefully avoided every stream and rill of running water, and that -his face, though manly and beautiful, was deathly pale in the white -moonlight. They descended into the ravine, and anon were seen in the -full blaze of the moon, near the great rough column of the -Clach-na-greiné. A shadowy cloud obscured it for a time. When it -passed away, the maiden and her pale lover had disappeared. The -Druid obelisk stood on its grassy mound in silence and loneliness. -The damsel was never seen again. Her earthly lover also proved -false; he married a Spanish wife, and after escaping the whole -Peninsular war, was killed at the side of old Ian Mac Raonuil by the -_last_ shot that was fired from the hill of Toulouse. - -A hundred such traditions combined to make the place wild and -unearthly. The path to it from Glen Ora lay through a skeleton -forest of old fir-trees, which, being entirely denuded of bark and -foliage, were white, bleached, and ghastly in aspect; while the stone -was generally covered by numbers of the hideous reptile which is -known in some pails of the Highlands as the _bratag_, and is spotted -black and white, and when eaten by cattle, causes them to swell and -die. - -But enough of the Clach-na-greiné. - -Minnie had not been many minutes seated on a fragment of rock near -it, and had barely exchanged the appointed signal with Callum--a -verse of a song, to which he replied by a low whistle--when Mr. -Snaggs, who had left his pony among the blasted pines, was seen -hastening to the rendezvous with a cat-like step and stealthy eye. - -'I am punctual, you will perceive, my dear girl,' said he, taking her -hand kindly in his; 'the broad white moon seems just to touch the -huge black shoulder of Ben Ora, and throws the shadow of that grim -obelisk along this horrid ravine. If one were to shout here, would -the sound be heard in Glen Ora, think you?' - -'No, sir,' replied Minnie, with a shudder. - -'You are very confident or courageous, my dear Minnie, to venture so -far to meet _me_,' said he, in his most winning tone. We were close -by and heard everything. - -'Courage is nothing new in Glen Ora,' said Minnie. - -'But your people belonged to Glentuirc?' - -'Yes, of old,' answered Minnie, proudly; 'the Mac Omishes of Chaistal -Omish.' - -'A most euphonious name--are you sure?' - -'Do you doubt it?' - -'Yes--for so beautiful a face as yours, Minnie never came of the race -of Glentuirc.' - -'They were braver than they were bonnie, perhaps, Mr. Snaggs,' said -Minnie, with reserve. - -'But now about your uncle's farm, Minnie--it lies with yourself to -keep Gillespie Fatadh in the glen and it lies with you to level his -cottage to the earth and drive him into a Lowland workhouse, or to -the distant shores of America.' - -'With _me_?' was the breathless query. - -'Sit down on this green bank and listen to me. We must be wary, my -dear girl, in treating with the denizens of this glen, for they are -sinful ones--sloth is sin, and they are slothful,' said Mr. Snaggs, -drawing close to her side, and patting one of her pretty hands with -his right hand, while it was firmly clutched by his left; 'we must be -wary--religion is the life of the world, and wickedness is always its -own punishment.' - -'Sir?' was the perplexed interjection of Minnie. - -'I was about to remark, my dear,' resumed the moralist, putting an -arm round the waist of the girl, who became flushed, and who trembled -violently, 'that we should take care of the beginnings of sin; but as -the divine Wilson remarks, "nobody is exceedingly nicked all at -once;" thus I might kiss you, as I do now--so might a young man; but -I do so, with all the emotions of a father stirred within me--yes -Minnie, the emotions of a father, an elder, and a factor; yet were a -young man to do this, as the divine Blair remarks----' - -'But about my uncle's farm?' urged poor Minnie, in great perplexity; -'we have long expected a rich cousin from India, where, as his -letters said, his fortune and his liver were growing larger every -day; but he has never appeared--and then my uncle omitted to sow his -corn last year in such a way as to save it from the birds and -fairies.' - -It was now Mr. Snaggs' turn to look perplexed. - -'From the fairies?' said he. - -'Yes--for after a field is sown, our farmers mix some grain and sand -together, and scatter it broadcast, saying at every handful, "the -sand for the fairies, and the corn for the birds;" and those mixed -grains become all that the birds and fairies take. But the minister -told him that this was a sinful superstition--so the crop rotted in -the ground, or was destroyed between the Marquis's grouse and the -mildew.' - -'Hush--did you not hear something stir among these bushes?' said -Snaggs, with alarm, as Callum raised, and ducked down his head -suddenly; 'pooh! a polecat or a blackcock--listen to me, Minnie; I am -always kind to _you_, whatever the glensmen may say of me.' - -'Yes, sir.' - -'Seldom is there a time, that I come over the hills from Inverness, -without bringing something for you--a ribbon, a rosette, a gaud or a -gown-piece--eh.' - -'True, sir--and many, many thanks for your kindness to a poor girl -like me.' - -'Not at all--not at all, when she is so sweet and pretty, Minnie.' - -'Sir!' - -'Do you not understand me?' - -'No.' - -'Then give me another kiss to begin with.' - -Minnie innocently enough tendered her soft cheek, to which the -fatherly Snaggs applied his lips like a leech, and his eyes began to -sparkle, as he surveyed the fine slope of her shoulders and contour -of her bust. He became excited, and retaining one of her hands in -his, clasped her tightly by the waist. - -'I have ever been kind to your uncle, Minnie.' - -She was about to break away, but these words restrained her, and she -gazed anxiously into the eyes of Snaggs, who, therefore, kissed her -so tenderly, that I had much ado to retain Callum in his lair among -the long bracken. Poor Minnie, in her distress, looked -beautiful--her face was so full of expression. - -'I have kept Gillespie Ruadh in his farm without raising its rent, -which would have been rather futile, as he has not paid a sixpence to -me for these past two years.' - -'God will reward you, sir,' said Minnie, weeping. - -'Cannot you reward me too, Minnie?' - -'I, sir--a poor girl without a halfpenny in the world!' - -'You. Would you not like to leave the glen and enter into the -service of a lady in the Lowlands. I know one, a fine and motherly -old dame, whose strict, moral, and religious principles----' - -'No--no, I could not leave Glen Ora and the Mac Innons.' - -'The Mac Innons,' laughed Snaggs, 'will soon be but a memory here: -long ere this day twelve months, the grass will grow is green on -their hearths, as it waves on the hearths of Glentuirc.' - -'Then I will still have Callum Dhu,' murmured Minnie, in a voice that -trembled. - -'Callum Dhu,' reiterated Snaggs, with scornful impatience; 'what is -he that you should regret him?' - -'My betrothed husband,' said Minnie, with honest pride; 'and none can -reap in harvest or handle the cashcroimh like he; but he preferred to -be a hunter like his fathers before him; and at shinty, wrestling, -racing, tossing the stone, the hammer, or the caber, there is no one -on the Braes of Loch Ora like Callum Dhu Mac Ian.' - -'Stuff! These qualities, lassie, only fit him for the trade of a -housebreaker. Better would it be for him if he read his prayers; for -as the divine Blair sayeth, "every prayer sent up from a secret -retirement is listened to." See, here is money, dear Minnie,' -continued the wily Snaggs, holding before her a handful of -bank-notes; 'those wretched pieces of paper which cause so much -misery and crime, will be yours if----' - -'If--what?' - -The tempter whispered in her ear, and his eyes gleamed in the -moonlight. - -She uttered a half-stifled scream. - -'For Heaven's sake let me go, Mr. Snaggs, or I shall scream for -help,' said Minnie, as a rosy crimson replaced the paleness of her -cheek. - -'None can hear you.' - -'Be not so sure of that,' she retorted, with a scornful smile. - -'Remember your uncle, his sick wife and family! Why are you so -afraid?' he whispered; 'I will be your protector for life, Minnie, -and will open up a thousand new scenes and pleasures to you. Let me -teach you that you were not born to live always in this dull and -hideous glen. Oh, Minnie, have my eyes not told you the secret of my -heart?' - -'I am getting quite faint,' said Minnie, overcome by excitement and -alarm. - -'Apply my handkerchief to your nostrils--this strange perfume may -revive you.' - -He placed his voluminous silk handkerchief close to her face. In a -moment a tremor passed over the form of Minnie, and she sank -senseless on the grassy mound of the Clach-na-greiné. With a -triumphant chuckle the pious moralist knelt down and threw his arms -around her; but in the next moment a fierce shout rang in his -startled ears, and the strong hand of Callum Dhu was on his throat, -while the blade of a bare skene glittered before his eyes. - -For a moment these two men glared at each other like a snake and a -tiger. In the next, the frail moralist was dashed upon the turf, and -the iron fingers of Callum compressed his throat like a vice, until -his eyeballs were starting from their sockets. - -'Mac Innon,' cried my fosterer, 'what shall I do with him? we are -near the old Hill of Justice--his life in your hands--say but the -word, and the last breath is in the nostrils of our tormentor!' - -'Let us drag him to prison,' said I. - -'Prison--ha--but there is none nearer than the Castle of Inverness.' - -'Then let us fling him into the Poul-a-baidh, where the bones of many -a better man are whitening among the weeds.' - -'Right--mona mon dioul! but few stones will be on your cairn, dog!' - -And snatching by the throat and heels the terrified wretch, who could -scarcely gasp for mercy, we rushed to the edge of the pool, where -justice was executed of old, and flung him headlong in. - -'The curse of the Red Priest be on him!' cried Callum, as Snaggs -disappeared with a scream of terror. Anon, he rose to the surface, -floundering, dashing, and bellowing for aid, until he laid hold of -the long weeds and broad-bladed water-docks, that fringed the margin, -and after being nearly suffocated by the floating watercresses (of -which, I suppose, he would in future share the horror of the learned -Scaliger), he scrambled out in a woful plight, and ran towards his -pony, which was cropping the scanty herbage that grew among the -blasted pines. The moment he was mounted, he turned towards us a -face that was ghastly and white with fear and fury; he was minus a -hat, and his grizzled hair hung lank and dripping about his ears. - -'Scoundrels!' he cried, 'for this outrage you shall both rot in the -Castle of Inverness.' - -'I will not be the only one of my race who has been within its -towers,' said I; 'but they suffered for fighting brave battles on the -mountain side--not for ducking a yelping hound like you.' - -In token of vengeance, he shook his clenched hand at us, and galloped -away. Long before this, the situation of Minnie attracted all our -attention, and excited our wonder and alarm. - -'Laoighe mo chri--speak to me--hear me!' implored Callum, kneeling -beside her on the grass and taking her tenderly in his arms. But she -remained quite insensible and unconscious of all he said to her. - -'By what witchcraft did she faint thus?' said Callum--'she, a strong -and healthy girl--so full of life and spirit too!' - -'Snaggs spoke of a perfume in his handkerchief.' - -'A perfume,' responded the black-browed Celt, grinding his teeth; -'what could it be?' - -'Oh--this phial may tell,' said I, picking up a little bottle which -lay on the turf beside Minnie. It was labelled 'Chloroform.' - -'Dioul! what is that?' asked Callum. - -'An essence invented by a Lowland physician. It makes even the -strongest man so insensible for a time, that you might cut off his -leg and draw all his teeth without having the slightest resistance -offered.' - -'Insensible!' - -'Ay, as a stone; look at our poor Minnie.' - -'The unhanged villain!' exclaimed Callum, swelling with new wrath; -'dioul! why did I not gash his throat with my skene as I would have -scored a stag? He had some dark and sinister end in view; he deemed -Minnie but a poor, ignorant, and unprotected Highland girl, who knew -no language but her native Gaelic, and had no idea of aught beyond -the sides of the glen; but as far as grass grows and wind blows will -I follow and have vengeance on him!' - -Minnie recovered slowly and with difficulty: she was sick and had an -overwhelming headache, with such a weakness in all her limbs, that we -were compelled to support, and almost carry her between us to Glen -Ora. Callum mingled his endearments with muttered threats of -vengeance on Snaggs, and as I knew that he would keep them too, I was -not without anxiety as to the mode in which his wrath might develop -itself. - -Two days after this affair, on the application of Mr. Snaggs, the -sheriff of the county granted warrants of removal against every -family in the glen; and these long-dreaded notices of eviction were -duly served in form of law by a messenger-at-arms, in the name of -'Fungus Mac Fee, Esquire, Advocate and Sheriff,' a position that -worthy had gained, after the usual lapse of time spent in sweeping -the Scottish Parliament House with the tail of his gown. - -Six days now would seal our doom! - -Such was the result of poor Minnie's intercession for her old uncle, -with the admirer of the 'divine Blair.' - - - - -CHAPTER XI. - -MY MOTHER. - -My mother was now so frail, weakened by long illness and by being -almost constantly confined to bed, that I dared not communicate to -her the fatal 'notice,' which had been served on us, in common with -all the people in the glen; but I never hoped that she would remain -long ignorant of the ruin that hovered over all, while the garrulous -old Mhari was daily about her sick-bed. - -The moanings and mutterings of that aged crone, together with her -occasional remarks whispered in Gaelic, of course to Minnie, soon -acquainted the poor patient that every door in the glen, including -her own, had been chalked with a mark of terrible significance; and -that the crushed remnant of a brave old race which had dwelt by the -Ora for ages--yea, before the Roman eagles cowered upon the Scottish -frontier--was at last to be swept away. - -It gave her a dreadful shock--our fate she knew was fixed: and while -Mhari, Minnie, and the older people of the glen, croaked incessantly -among themselves of the old legend of the Red Priest and 'the curse -he had laid on the stones of the jointure-house,' my mind was a -chaos; for I knew not on what hand to turn, or where to seek a -shelter for my mother's head. She had her little pension as a -captain's widow--true; but we had so many dependants who clung to us -in the good old Celtic fashion, and for whom our little farm had -furnished subsistence, that to be driven from it was to tear asunder -a hundred tender and long-cherished ties, which few but a Highlander -can comprehend. - -A little hope was kindled in my breast, by my foster-brother -reminding me of that which (in the hurry of other thoughts I had -forgotten)--the great annual gathering on the Braes of Loch Ora being -now almost at hand; and that he or I--it mattered not which--might -win one of the handsome prizes which the generosity of Cluny Mac -Pherson, the Laird of Invercauld, and other true Highland gentlemen, -offered to the men of the mountains on such occasions, to foster -their ancient spirit, to develop their hardihood, and excite their -emulation in feats of strength and skill. - -'Mother,' I whispered, and stooped over her bed, 'the gathering takes -place in three days--the daughter of the Englishman----' - -'Sir Horace--well,' she muttered with a sigh of anger. - -'Yes, dear mother--Laura Everingham and her friend, Miss Clavering, -have made up a purse of guineas (some say fifty, others a hundred) -with a silver brooch, for the best rifle-shot, and Callum and I have -sworn to win it if we can.' - -'How many better marksmen than either of you have, ere this, sworn -the same thing?' - -'But God will aid me, mother. I will shoot neither with pride nor -with a desire to emulate any one; but to find bread for our starving -household--to satisfy the cravings of the villain Snaggs, and to keep -this roof a little--a very little--longer over your head.' - -'And this prize you say----' - -'Will, at least, be fifty guineas, mother--think of that.' - -'Scorn alike the prize and the donor.' - -'The prize I may--but the donor--ah, mother, you know her not; but -think of this money and all it may do, if fairly and honestly won; -how long is it since we saw fifty guineas at once, mother? It will -pay part of our arrears, and win us a little time, if it cannot win -us mercy from Snaggs and his master.' - -I dared not add that I had also in my breast a desire to appear to -advantage before the winning daughter of Sir Horace, and the -lingering hope of eclipsing the holiday Captain Clavering and that -mustachioed popinjay Mr. Snobleigh, who had been rifle-practising -incessantly to gain the ladies' prize. Yielding to the pressure of -our affairs, and, perhaps, to her inability to argue the point with -me, my mother gave her reluctant consent that I _might compete_. - -She was very weak and faint, and before I left her, beckoned me to -kiss her cheek. Then she burst into tears, and this sorely startled -me--for it was long since I had seen her weep. Her great lassitude -required composure, and more than all, it required many comforts, -which, in that sequestered district, and with straitened means, she -was compelled to relinquish: thus, when I addressed her now, a time -always elapsed before she could collect her scattered energies to -understand or reply to me. This prostration of a spirit once so -proud, so fiery and energetic--this emaciation of a form once so -stately and so beautiful, with those gentle hands now so -tremulous--those kind eyes now so sad and sunken, and those weak, -querulous whisperings of affection, with the pallor of that beloved -face, smote heavily on my heart, which was traversed by more than one -sharp pang, as the terrible conviction came upon me, that she could -not be long with us now. Yet Mhari, Minnie, and Callum Dhu, all -strong in the belief of the legend of the Red Priest of Applecross, -believed that she was perfectly safe while enclosed by the four -charmed walls of the old jointure-house. - -'The lamp may flicker,' said Mhari, with a solemn shake of her old -grey head; 'but, please God, it can never go out while we keep it -here.' - -Accompanied by Alisdair Mac Gouran, Ian Mac Raonuil, Gillespie Ruadh, -the three patriarchs of the glen, and all the other male inhabitants, -among whom were five-and-twenty sturdy fellows, a few being clad in -tartan, but by far the greater number wearing the coarse dark-blue -homespun coats, ungainly trousers, and broad bonnets of the -peasantry, with four pipers in front (in the Highlands everything -partakes of the warlike), we marched from Glen Ora, and crossing the -shoulder of the great Ben, descended towards the Braes, where the -gathering was to be held, about ten miles distant. Callum carried my -rifle as well as his own, and his confidence that we would win Laura -Everingham's prize was somewhat amusing; but it arose less from his -certainty of our skill than from the fact of our bullets being cast -in a famous mould or _calme_, of unknown metal, which had belonged to -the father of old Mhari, who was never known to miss his aim. In -short, it was universally believed in the glen to be enchanted. All -the glensmen had in their bonnets a tuft of heather and the badge of -Mac Innon, a twig of the mountain pine; and most of them wore the -clan tartan plaid, which is of bright red striped with green. We -brought with us our own provisions, cheese, bannocks, and whisky, -which last never paid duty to Her Majesty, as the reader may be -assured. - -Though my suit of tartans was far from rich or handsome--nay, I might -almost say that it was very plain--it was correct, and with three -feathers of the iolair in my bonnet, and my father's old 42nd's -claymore, having _Biodh treun_--be valiant--inscribed on its blade, -my pistols, horn, skene-dhu and biodag, I marched over the crest of -the hill which shaded our Highland glen with as much pride in my -heart as if all the well-armed Mac Innons that over followed my -fathers of old were behind me; for this native pride, and a glow of -old romance, as a poor Highland gentleman, were all that remained to -me now. - -The summer morning was bright and beautiful; the air was fresh and -keen, and we drank it in at every pore; the unclouded sun was in all -his brilliance; the pipes rang loud and clear; and Callum, with three -or four others, sang one of the warlike songs of Ian Lom. The -gallant coileach-dhu (or black cock) rose before us at times; the -useag sang merrily among the black whin-bushes, and the mountain-bee -and the butterfly skimmed over the purple heatherbells. My heart -grew light; I forgot for a time that my mother was sick and -dying--that ruin hovered over us; and, boylike, I thought only of the -sports of the day, and the glory of our people carrying off the -prizes on the same green braes where Lachlan Mohr had routed Clan -Dhiarmid an Tuirc in the days of the great Cavalier. - -The spirit of those who accompanied me rose also. Even Ephraim -Snaggs, his notices of eviction, and his legal terrors, were -forgotten. The veteran Mac Raonuil marched with his head up and his -war-medal glittering, as he told old yarns of the brave Black Watch, -and Callum urged that we, this day, should give place to none; but -remember, that the Mac Innons were the _head_ of the five tribes--the -Mac Gregors, Grants, Mac Nabs and Mac Alpines, who have ever been -linked together in Celtic tradition, as the descendants of five royal -brothers, and are hence known as the Siòl Alpin. The Highlander -broods over these old memories, and treasures them up as his only -inheritance, and they are his best and highest incentive to noble -daring in the hour of battle, and to kindly emotions of clanship in -the day of peace. - -'Blessed,' says Andrew Picken, 'be that spirit of nationality or -clanship, or by whatever name the principle may be called, which -opens up the heart of man to his brother man; and in spite of the -trained selfishness to which he is educated in artificial life, bids -the warm and glorious feeling of sympathy gush forth in circumstances -of sorrow and of trouble, to cheer the drooping heart of the -unfortunate, and prevent his swearing hatred to his own species.'[*] - - -[*] The Black Watch. - - - - -CHAPTER XII. - -THE GATHERING. - -The day was clear and beautiful; the unclouded sun, I have said, -shone in all his splendour through a summer sky. The vast -amphitheatre of hills which surround the braes of Loch Ora were -mellowed in the sunny haze, or the silver vapour exhaled from the -little pools of water that dotted all the heath-clad plain. At the -base of Ben Ora, which towered above the braes, the monarch of all -the adjacent mountains, the gathering took place. The lower part of -the hill was dotted by a line of snow-white tents and marquees, over -which waved various flags and streamers. Amid these tents were a -number of carriages; but the horses had been untraced, unbitted, and -were quietly cropping the herbage, or enjoying their feeds of corn in -the background. A great oval space was formed by the spectators who -had crowded hither from all quarters to witness the games; the tall -ruins of an ancient tower, once the stronghold of the Thanes of Loch -Ora, enclosed one end of this oval; the waters of the dark-blue loch, -rolling up to the base of the mighty mountain, enclosed the other; -and here the red-funnelled steamers from Glasgow, Oban, and -Inverness, were disgorging their passengers in hundreds at every -trip. The slope of Ben Ora resembled a parterre of flowers, so -varied were the dresses of the ladies. Fringed parasols of the most -brilliant colours were fluttering on the soft wind; and the blue -sunshades and broad bloomer-hats of the fairer portion of the -assembly, mingled with the wide-awakes, Glengarry bonnets, and those -peculiar tartan caps or crush-hats, which, with the checked coat and -'fast' waistcoat, generally indicate Messrs. Brown, Jones, and -Robinson--the thorough Cockney when touring in the Highlands. -Appetized by the long ride, drive, or march to the Braes, or by the -morning's sail up the sunlit loch, already the merrymakers had begun -to uncork their bottles and unpack their hampers, amid a fund of -laughter, frolics, and nonsense; and white cloths were spread on the -grass, on the roofs of carriages, or any other available place; while -champagne cooled in the mountain stream, and pale Bass, Guinness XX -Dublin stout, _uiskey_, cold grouse, veal and venison pies, tongue, -fowl, milk-punch, ices, hock, and seltzer-water, with all other -accessories for pic-nicking were in requisition. In other places -were knots or groups of Highlanders, talking in guttural Gaelic, -laughing or croaking over their ills, or drinking toasts--'up with -horn, and down with corn'--'the mountains and valleys,' &c., while -troops of children, bare-headed and bare-legged, swarmed and -gambolled about them, filling the air with shrill and strange cries -of delight. - -Among the _élite_ of the company was a stately duchess, whose family -have long been notorious in the annals of cruelty and eviction; and -whose glens have been swept of thousands of brave men, after the -artifices of an infamous factor, the oppression of the game-laws, the -destruction of the kelp manufacture, the slaughter of the flower of -the clans in the Peninsular war, and other Highland evils, had driven -the people to starvation and despair! There were present also a -couple of chattering countesses, and many old ladies, whose pedigrees -were considerably longer than their purses; but who, nevertheless, -deemed themselves the prime patronesses of the gathering, as they -usually were of the Northern Meeting. Flounced, feathered, and -jewelled, with clan tartan scarfs, they regarded with just and due -condescension the crowds of richly-dressed and handsome South-country -women, many of whom were attired _à outrance_, complete in elegance -and fashion from bonnet and bracelet to their kid shoes. These, our -decayed Highland tabbies regarded with the good-nature which -generally falls to the lot of such wallflowers, who may, as Swift has -it-- - - "Convey a libel in a frown, - Or wink a reputation down; - Or by the tossing of a fan, - Describe the lady and the man." - - -Among the _élite_ of the male sex were various holiday warriors -attired in gorgeous clan tartans. Some were distinguished by one -eagle's feather in the bonnet, marking the gentleman; others by two, -indicating the chieftain; but very few by _three_, the badge of a -_chief_. The principal of the latter, was the Most Noble the Marquis -of Drumalbane, Admiral of the Western Isles and Western Coast of -Scotland--one whose forefathers had led their thousands to the field, -and from whose glens our most splendid Highland regiments had marched -to many a torrid clime and bloody victory; but whose vast territories -were now a deathlike waste, where nothing was heard but the bleat of -the sheep and the whistle of the curlew. In Glenarchai alone, this -enterprising exterminator had converted thirty thousand acres into a -hunting-forest. He was attended--_not_ by a thousand brave men in -arms--but by a few puny footmen and Lowland gamekeepers attired as -Highlanders, and a few gentlemen who wore in their bonnets the -eagle's wing, and carried at their necks each a silver key, as -captains of certain ruined fortresses among the mountains of the West -Highlands. - -The varied tartans and magnificent appointments of these holiday -Highlanders had a barbaric and picturesque effect. Their belts and -buckles, jewelled daggers and pistols, snow-white sporrans, tasselled -with silver or gold, their brooches studded by Scottish topazes and -amethysts, and all their paraphernalia of mountain chivalry, flashed -and sparkled in the noonday sun; while long bright ribbons and little -banneroles of every colour streamed from the ebony drones of more -than a hundred war-pipes. - -Beside these gay duinewassals, the poor men of Glen Ora seemed but a -troop of reapers or fishermen; but we stepped not the less proudly, -because to the same march with which our pipers woke the echoes of -the hills, our fathers had thrice left Glentuirc to sweep the -Campbells of Breadalbane from Rannoch and Lochaber to the gates of -Kilchurn. - -In this epoch of civilization and ridicule, when even patriotism, -religion, and love are made a jest, the reader may smile at these -references to a past, and what we _conventionally_ deem a barbarous -age; but a mountaineer never forgets that the brave traditions of -other times are ever his best incentive to heroic enterprise and -purity of thought. - -In the centre of the vast oval formed by the spectators, tents, and -carriages, lay the sledge-hammers, the uprooted cabers, the -putting-stones, cannon-balls, broad-swords, targets, and other -appurtenances of the games. - -On halting and dispersing my followers, my first impulse was to scan -the crowd for Miss Everingham, now that I could appear before her in -my proper character, and to better advantage than I had hitherto -done; and just as the sports were beginning, I saw the baronet's -four-in-hand drag, the team of which, the showy Captain Clavering -handled in first-rate style, come sweeping round the base of the -hill, with its varnished wheels and embossed harness flashing in the -sun; the captain, whose costume was most accurate, from his -well-fitting white kid gloves to his glazed boots, adroitly halted it -in the most central and conspicuous place. I was standing close by -where he reined up, and then the _sense_ of Laura's presence made my -heart beat violently, while my colour came and went again. No notice -was taken of me for some time by the party of well-dressed -fashionables who crowded the drag, till the studied respect shown to -me by the peasantry, not one of whom passed or approached me without -vailing his bonnet, attracted the attention of Sir Horace, who was -quietly surveying the _canaille_ through a double-barrelled -lorgnette. He then gave me a formal bow and conventional smile, but -barely condescended to notice, even by a glance, my foster-brother -Callum Dhu; but for whom (as Callum himself said,) 'the red -tarr-dhiargan had been then perhaps nestling among his hair at the -bottom of Loch Ora.' - -Near the carriage-steps stood Mr. Jeames Toodles in all the splendour -of red plush investments for his nether-man, and spotless white -stockings on his curved but ample calves. He bore a gold-headed cane -and an enormous bouquet, and from time to time cast furtive glances -at Callum Dhu, who, being armed to the teeth, he deemed little better -than a cannibal or Tchernemoski Cossack. - -Snobleigh--we beg pardon--Mr. Adolphus Frederick Snobleigh--who -cantered up on a dashing bay mare, languidly gave me the tips of his -fingers, with a dreamy 'aw--how aw you--glad to see you old -fellow--any noos to-day?' But Clavering, who had more of the soldier -about him, shook me heartily by the hand, examined the lock and -barrel of my rifle, and praised the piece; then he turned to his -sister and Miss Everingham, both of whom greeted me in a manner so -winning and gay, that even the heart of my mother, encrusted as it -was by old Highland prejudices, would have been won. - -I still remember how my heart throbbed when Laura's soft and velvet -hand touched mine; for her glove was off, and then the little white -fingers on which the diamonds were flashing, rested on the window of -the carriage. - -'And _you_ mean to shoot for my prize to-day!' said she, while her -sunny eyes danced with youth and pleasure; 'how kind of you to honour -us so far as to compete for the purse which Fanny and I have made up. -We hope you will prove victorious--indeed, we are quite certain that -you will, Mr. Mac Innon.' - -'_Mr._ to the head of the Siol Alpine!' growled Callum, under his -thick black beard. - -I pardoned her that prefix, which always jars on a Celtic ear, for -her good wishes were so warmly and so prettily expressed. - -Alas! how little she knew the agony that was gnawing my heart, under -an exterior so calm. How little could she conceive the breathless -eagerness with which Callum and I longed to win this wretched -prize--an eagerness fired by no spirit of rivalry; but by an honest -desire to keep a crumbling roof above the head of my dying -mother--for a very little longer. And away over the dun mountains, -far from this gay scene of mirth and sunshine, my heart wandered to -that little darkened room where she was lying in a half-torpid state, -with pretty Minnie reading or knitting beside her, and old Mhari -creeping and creaking about her bed on tiptoe. - -Laura Everingham knew nothing of all this, and she looked so pretty -in her white crape bonnet, with her sunny English smile, her blooming -cheek reddened by our healthy Scottish breeze, that I deemed her all -the happier in her ignorance of the misery her presence--or, at -least, the presence and the projects of her father, were about to -work among the old race of Glen Ora. Young, ardent, and -enthusiastic, could I fail to be flattered by her notice, pleased by -the preference which her good wishes inferred, and dazzled by her -beauty?--for I will uphold that her mere prettiness became absolute -_beauty_, when one knew more of Laura, and learned to appreciate her -goodness and worth. - -'When will the games begin, Fanny? I am so impatient,' said Laura; -'look at that love of a horse--he eats corn from the groom's hand; -and see, Clavering, such a pet of a bonnet on that old thing's head. -Who is she--does anybody know? Of course they will, for every one in -the Highlands knows every one else. But who would expect to find -such bonnets in Scotland? Who is that handsome fellow in the green -uniform, with the enormous gold epaulettes--a Russian officer?' - -'No,' answered Fanny, with a droll smile, 'he is only an archer of -the Queen's Scotch body-guard, who is to shoot for a prize to-day. -From the care with which his whiskers are curled, I will take heavy -odds that _he_ don't win.' - -'And that tall handsome fellow with the black beard--oh such a love -of a beard it is! Heavens, it is the man who saved my dear papa's -life!' - -'He is my foster-brother, Miss Everingham; he, too, means to compete -for your prize.' - -'Aw--the fellow seems so strong that he might squeeze the wataw out -of a whinstone; and aw--aw, as for tossing that fwightful -cabaw--goodness gwacious!' yawned the languid A. F. Snobleigh, -surveying the six feet and odd inches of Callum through his eyeglass. - -'He is quite a model of a man, Laura,' said Fanny Clavering; 'I would -marry him in a moment if he would have me. He looks so like----' - -'What we read of in romances.' - -'A bandit--a wild mountain robber--and I have always thought it would -be so exciting, so delightful to marry a real robber, and be the -bride of a real bandit or corsair--oh, I should love a corsair of all -things, especially if his bark were a fine steam yacht, we should -have such delightful pic-nics among the Greek Isles, and trips to the -garrison balls at Corfu!' - -'You perceive, Miss Everingham,' said Captain Clavering, laughing, -while he smoothed his unparalleled white kid gloves, 'our noisy Fanny -has a strong love for the charms of nature in an unsophisticated -state. Hence her rapture at the long whiskers and bare legs of these -Highlandmen.' - -The cold, artificial, and aristocratic Sir Horace, whom the gold of -his father, who died a wealthy Manchester millionaire and docile -ministerialist, had made a baronet and king of our Highland glen, -received all who approached his carriage with the same bow, the same -smile, the same welcome, and nearly the same set of stereotyped -phrases, good wishes and warm inquiries; and thus he graciously -received his facile and obnoxious factor and factotum, Mr. Snaggs, -who had been delayed by the ceremony of founding a new dissenting -chapel, and who now galloped up on his barrel-bellied and knock-kneed -pony, which he rode with a huge crupper and creaking saddle. A dark, -almost savage scowl flitted for a moment across the usually placid -and affectedly benign visage of 'the moralist,' and admirer of Blair, -as our piper Ewen Oig passed and repassed him, playing the march of -Black Donald; and then he smiled with malicious triumph, as if -anticipating that day now so near at hand, when the war-pipe of Mac -Innon would be hushed for ever by the shores of the Western Sea. - -I exchanged a glance full of deep and bitter import, with the calm, -stern, and stately Callum Dhu; then we withdrew a little way, for the -vicinity of this man's presence was hateful to us, and now, amid a -buzz of tongues began the great business of the gathering--a -gathering summoned to foster the nationality of a people, whom the -grasping aristocracy are leaving nothing undone to exterminate and -destroy. - - - - -CHAPTER XIII. - -THE STONE OF STRENGTH. - -Having many of my own adventures to relate, I will confine my -narrative chiefly to the achievements of those in whom I am most -interested--the men of Glen Ora; and even in that I must be brief. -In all those athletic sports, which in time of peace were of old, and -are still the principal amusements of the Gael, there were many stout -and hardy competitors; but Callum's known fame for strength and -agility, together with his cool and confident air and graceful -bearing, made them all dubious of victory, yet there were on the -ground the flower of that poor remnant, who now represent the once -powerful clans of the West. - -Young Ewen Oig, the most handsome lad in our glen, elicited a burst -of applause, and won the first prize for the sword dance, a species -of Pyrrhic measure, performed over the crossed blades of two -claymores; and he was also the victor of the dangerous Geal-ruith or -race up hill, when nearly twenty strong and active Celts, hardy and -swift as mountain deer, flung their belts, bonnets, and plaids on the -ground, and with their kilts girdled tightly about them, started in a -line at full speed up the steep slope of the Craig-na-tuirc, for the -goal, a rough misshapen block that marked the scene of some forgotten -conflict. - -In the broadsword and target exercise the old men bore away the palm, -for these warlike accomplishments are disused by the young; but, for -the dangerous feat of swinging the sledge-hammer and tossing a long -iron bar fairly over-end-long, by one turn of the foot, the silver -medals were bestowed on Gillespie Ruadh; while the victor of the -Clach-neart, or _stone of strength_,--one of which in the days of old -usually lay at the door of every chief, that he might test the muscle -of his followers, was Callum Dhu, who flung it a full yard and more, -beyond the most powerful champions of the adjacent glens and clans. - -Then came the play with the Clach-cuid-fir, a more serious test of -strength. - -In the centre of that great arena, formed by the circle of wondering -and excited spectators, lay two stones, one of which was a square -block about four feet high; the other was smaller and weighed two -hundred and fifty pounds in weight. This was the _clach_. In the -Highlands, he who could lift the lesser and place it on the larger -block was esteemed _a man_, and entitled from thenceforward to wear a -bonnet. Though much disused in general, this severe Celtic feat had -still been remembered and practised by the men who dwelt in our -remote districts; but as most of those who came with me were youths -whose energies were scarcely developed, or old men whose strength was -beginning to fail, Callum Dhu alone advanced to the clach-cuid-fir, -and, taking off his bonnet, bowed to the people, in token that he -challenged all men present to the essay. - -His air, his garb, his bare muscular limbs, his stately port, erected -head and ample chest, gave him the aspect of one of the athletæ of -the Roman games. Thrice he waved his bonnet in token of challenge to -the people, and though a murmur of admiration greeted him, there was -no other response. At his neck hung a brass miraculous medal and -little crucifix, for Callum had been reared a Catholic, and these he -carefully adjusted before he began. Every eye and opera-glass were -fixed upon him, while grasping the ponderous clach, and with a -simple, but scarcely perceptible effort, he raised and placed it -gently on the summit of the greater block. - -For a moment the people paused as if they had each and all held in -their breath, and then a loud, long and hearty plaudit made the sunny -welkin ring: and my breast expanded with honest pride in Callum's -strength and prowess. - -'Heavens--such a love of a man!' exclaimed Fanny Clavering, with -astonishment and delight sparkling in her beautiful eyes. - -'Regulaw brick--aw!' added her cavalier, Mr. Snobleigh, whose glass -was wedged in his right eye. - -'Egad!' exclaimed Captain Clavering, with honest English warmth and -admiration; 'this is the mettle of which the Scots make their -Highland regiments.' - -'Such were our men, sir,' said I, bowing; 'but there are few now -between Lochness and Lochaber, who could perform a feat like this.' - -'The greater is the cause of regret.' - -'Now, Callum,' said I, 'let us have no more of this. You have tasked -your strength enough for one day--and remember you have long been -weak and ailing.' - -'I have been struggling to give pride and pleasure to Minnie, and if -I conquer, 'tis as much for her sake as for yours, Mac Innon. She -pinned this cockade on my bonnet when I left her, and reminding me of -the former prizes I had won, smiled on me, as she alone can smile; -for Minnie is the fairest flower on the banks of the Ora. But what -seeks this red-legged partridge here?' he continued, in Gaelic. - -This was applied to the valet of Sir Horace, Mr. Jeames Toodles, who, -notwithstanding the splendour of his livery, his red plush nether -habiliments, laced hat and heraldic buttons, approached timidly to -say, that 'Sir 'Orace vished that ere thingumbob lifted again, if the -gentlemen had no objections.' - -Callum gave the liveryman a withering glance, and touching his bonnet -to the ladies, pushed the clach off the lower block with one hand. - -'Oh, papa,' exclaimed Miss Everingham, 'how can you be so cruel as to -ask this? Don't you see that the poor man looks quite faint, after -all he has done already?' - -'Never mind,' said the baronet, from his well-stuffed carriage; 'up -with it again, my man, and here is a sovereign for you!' - -While something like an emotion of rage and humiliation made the eyes -of my fosterer flash fire, he snatched up the ponderous clach, and -after poising it aloft for a moment, while he trembled in every limb, -while every muscle and fibre strained and stood like cords and wires -of iron, and while the perspiration oozed from every opening pore, he -dashed it down upon the lower block, and shivered it into fifty -fragments. - -I saw that he was deathly pale, when Mr. Jeames Toodles approached -him with the sovereign, but whether in anger, or that his strength -had been wantonly overtasked, I know not--probably both. Disdaining -to touch the coin, the poor half-starved fox-hunter said to the -valet, with a glance of quiet contempt-- - -'Put that in your pocket, my friend, and thank your master for me. -Dioul!' he added, in Gaelic, 'does this man think to pay us like -English rope-dancers, or the fellow who squeaks in Punch's box at the -fair? Air Dhia! we have not yet come to that!' - -'You are a noble fellow,' exclaimed Fanny Clavering, patting his -brawny shoulder with her pretty hand, while her fine eyes sparkled; -'I shall never--never forget you.' - -'Miss Clavering,' said Sir Horace, coldly; 'you forget yourself.' - -Then came the tossing of the caber--a tree which is cut short off by -the roots, and must be balanced by a man in the palms of his hands, -and which he must toss completely round in the air, so that it may -fall endlong in a direct line from him. In this feat, none ever -excelled a little tribe named the Mac Ellars, who for more than a -thousand years had resided in Glen-tuirc; but about twelve months -before this time, they had been expelled with great cruelty by -Snaggs. Their huts were burned down, and several persons who were -old and bedridden, were wounded--three mortally--by the soldiers from -Fort Augustus. These had been ordered to fire through the thatched -roofs to force the people out, after which the whole were driven at -the bayonet's point to the sea-shore, where they were ironed and -embarked on board the famous evicting ship, the _Duchess_, which -awaited them at Isle Ornsay, to convey the whole tribe to the nearest -port of the American coast; so, when the caber was carried to-day, -the strong hands that were wont to toss it high aloft, amid the -honest shouts that woke the rocky echoes of Ben Ora, were now -assisting to clear the vast forests of that Far West, where the sun -of the clans is sinking. - - - - -CHAPTER XIV - -THE SEVEN BULLETS. - -Now came the rifle-shooting, which deserves an entire chapter to -itself. The first prize was no less than a hundred sovereigns; the -second was fifty. - -Laura Everingham and Fanny Clavering had constituted themselves the -patronesses of this feat of skill; but though the purses, on the -acquisition of which the whole energies of Callum and myself were -devoted--in no spirit of vain-glory, as I have said, but goaded on by -the spur of sheer adversity--was made up by them and their female -friends; yet Fanny by her air and bearing, her energy, in short by -the very noise she made, assumed the supreme direction of affairs; -thus the gentler Laura, in her little white crape bonnet and lace -shawl, seemed a mere appendage to her beautiful, brilliant, and 'Di -Vernon' looking friend. - -Fanny was a free and dashing girl, with whom _you_ must have fallen -in love, my bachelor friend, for she was one who made herself -everywhere as much at home as the fly in your sugar-basin. She wore -a broad hat and feather, which gave a piquancy to her fine eyes and -expressive features. She had on a dark green riding-habit, with -yellow gauntlets, and carried a gold-headed switch. She was a showy -girl--the pet of the Household Brigade, and the counterpart of her -brother the Guardsman, only a little more merry, and much more -wilful. She was a good horsewoman, and rode hurdle-races and -steeple-chases; a good hand at whist, rather a sharp stroke at -billiards, and would deliberately sweep up the pool with the -prettiest white hands in the world. She waltzed divinely, was -considered glorious in a two-handed flirtation, or private -theatricals, where she shone to admiration as 'Di Vernon,' or the -'Rough Diamond.' Fanny could make up a good book on the Oaks, and -had always a shrewd guess as to the winner of the Derby; she had the -Army List and the Peerage at her taper finger-ends, and knew all the -last novels and music as if they had been her own composition. Once -upon a time she was nearly riding herself for the Chester Cup; and -those who peddled and punted at mere county races, she despised as -heartily as if she belonged to the Hussars or the Oxford Blues. In -short, Fanny knew everything from the Deluge to the deux-temps, and -from the misfortunes in the Crimea to the mystery of -crochet--moreover, a word in your ear, my dear reader, our charming -friend had some thousand pounds per annum in her own right, and -'expectations' without end. - -She had urged the more timid and retiring Laura to club their prize -for the rifle-shooting; and now she appeared on the ground with a -smart grooved rifle in her hands, to compete with all comers, on the -part of herself and of the shrinking Laura, who had never laid her -little hand upon a fire-arm in her life, and begged to be excused -doing so now. - -About thirty Highlanders, armed with rifles, crowded near her, but -respectfully waited until Mr. Snaggs, whom she had requested to -assist her, called over their names as they stood on the list, and to -each as he stepped forward, the factor somewhat ostentatiously handed -a--religious tract. - -Meanwhile, Captain Clavering, Mr. Snobleigh (who wore a green -sporting-coat with bronze buttons, on each of which was a fox's -head), Callum Dhu, Ewen Oig, a few more privileged persons, and I, -remained by her side, and now all the spectators pressed forward with -interest to witness the shooting. - -Callum and I were wont to shoot deer running, at four hundred yards, -and to pierce a potato when tossed into the air, using spherical -rifle-balls; thus we had little doubt of our success; but we meant to -challenge the holiday huntsmen of the Lowlands to a trial of skill -they little thought of. - -The shooting proceeded with great spirit and rapidity, and it was -admirable, for all the competitors were expert sportsmen. The -targets were of iron, placed against the wall of the ruined tower, in -a place which was sheltered from the wind, and afforded a long and -level range. We shot at five hundred yards, and though the average -was six balls out of twelve, put into a six-foot target, Callum, -whose hands shook after tossing the caber, struck the nail on the -head at two hundred yards; and Ewen Oig, I, and other Highlanders, -easily put each, eight consecutive sphero-conical balls into the -target, at an average of four inches from the bull's-eye; and at one -hundred and eighty yards broke every quart-bottle that was placed -before us. - -There was a deliberation in the air of Callum Dhu that confounded the -competitors. After squibbing his rifle, he carefully measured the -charge of powder, poured it slowly down the barrel which he held -straight and upright; then he moistened the wadding, poised the -bullet thereon, setting it fairly in with his forefinger and thumb, -and then he drove it firmly home. Then he capped, cocked, and -placing the butt-plate square against the top-arm muscle, levelled -surely and firmly to prevent the rifle from 'kicking.' A moment his -keen bright hazel eye glanced along the sites, and while, impressed -by these grave preparations, all held their breath, he fired with a -deadly precision that none could surpass. - -Clavering struck the bull's-eye thrice in succession at two hundred -yards: but his shooting was not to be compared to ours; and we were -greeted by bursts of applause in which he joined loudly, for he was a -fine, frank and honest-hearted fellow. - -'This beats everything I have met with, Miss Everingham,' said he, -with great delight; 'I have seen the Cockneys shooting at Chalk -Farm--the Chasseurs at Vincennes and the Jagers at Frankfort, where -ten targets were shot as fast as the markers could work; but these -Highland marksmen beat them hollow, and this is in a land where the -game-laws say the tenant shall not have a gun. Old Leather-stocking, -with his boasted Killdeer, could do nothing like this.' - -'All skill and practice, my dear sir,' suggested Mr. Snaggs, who had -repeatedly been solacing himself by quiet sneers at Highlanders in -general, and myself in particular; 'to allow tenants the use of guns -would only lead to poaching and vice, "which," sayeth the trite -Quarles, "is its own punishment."' - -It was unanimously agreed that Callum and I were the victors of that -day's shooting. Elated by the prospect of winning the prize, and -feeling happy that I would thereby be honestly enabled to relieve, to -a certain extent, the troubles of a sick and aged parent, after a -moment's conference with Callum, I turned to Captain Clavering, -saying, - -'We have shot at your targets placed at five hundred yards, and were -ready to have done so, had they been placed at a thousand yards, if -our rifles had been furnished with telescope sights. We will now -challenge _you_ to a trial of skill, which may be new to you--with -seven solid sugar-loaf balls shot from thirty-six inch rifled -barrels.' - -'Agreed,' said the Captain: 'I have shot a deer running at nearly -five hundred yards, and have no fear.' - -'Ewen Oig, bring our targets and hang one over the battlement of the -tower,' said I to the young piper, who was the son of Gillespie -Ruadh, and was lithe, nimble, and active. He took one of the small -white targets we had brought with us from Glen Ora, and which -measured about three feet square, and bore, in black line upon it, -the figure of a cross. With this he scrambled to the summit of the -ruined tower, a daring feat, as it was more than seventy feet in -height, and there he fixed it firmly by means of a hammer, nails, and -holdfasts. We now approached within two hundred yards, and -challenged the competitors two and two, to put _seven_ bullets -successively into the lines of the cross which measured two feet one -way by one the other. - -The impatient Mr. Snobleigh fired and missed. 'You keep your head -too high, sir,' said Callum; 'thus, in firing, your line of vision -does not follow the line of the barrel, and yours is rather more than -thirty-six inches in length.' - -Clavering fired twice, and twice splintered the edge of the target. -All their other bullets were flattened like lichens on the castle -wall, and he and Snobleigh drew back, muttering something about the -unusual height and range. - -Fanny now came forward with her smart rifle, which was decorated by -ribbons, and which Snobleigh had loaded for her; she, and some one -else, fired seven bullets between them, and one only struck the lower -verge of the little target. - -'Now, sirs,' said she to Callum and me; 'it is your turn'--but Callum -lowered his rifle and drew back, 'What is the matter, sir?' - -'I cannot contend with a lady,' said he, doffing his bonnet, 'and -more than all, with one who is among the fairest in the land.' - -'Shoot, shoot, I command you!' said Fanny, while her dark eyes -flashed with girlish triumph at Callum's honest admiration of her -great beauty. - -'Your will is a law to me, madam. My chief and I will fire by -turn--he, four balls, and I, three; and here I must give place to -him. Had your hand been as powerful as your eye, Miss Clavering, we -had but little chance of victory to-day.' - -'I told you he was a love of a man, Laura,' whispered Fanny to her -friend, the charm of whose presence was for ever in my mind, and I -was fired by an ambition to outshine the perfumed Snobleigh--he who -owned a park and hall in Yorkshire, a house "in town," another in -Paris; a stud at Tattersall's, a yacht at Cowes, a shooting-box on -the Grampians, and a commission in the Foot Guards--while I--what did -I own? only my father's name, with the poor inheritance of Highland -pride, and the dreams of other days. - -'We shall see if these boasting Celts can perform this fine feat -themselves,' sneered Mr. Snaggs, as he adjusted his spectacles and -came fussily forward. - -'Factor,' whispered Callum in his deep voice, 'the breast of the -villain who thought to outrage my Minnie is smaller than that target, -yet my ball may reach it some day, _on the lone hillside, at a -thousand yards_!' - -Snaggs grew pale, as if the death-shot was ringing in his ears. As I -levelled my rifle, the betting began. I fired and placed the ball in -the black line at the very head of the cross. Then Callum stepped -forward. - -'Fifty to one, he hits the black line,' said Clavering. - -'Aw--done--I take you--cool hundred if you like,' drawled Snobleigh, -betting-book in hand! - -'It is done, by Jove; right through the target!' - -'Lend me the telescope.' - -'I could hit the medal on your breast at half the distance, Captain -Clavering,' said Callum, as he fired again. - -'Thank you, my fine fellow; I would rather you found another mark. -Bravo! in the very centre of the cross!' continued Clavering, who was -looking at the target through his telescope. - -Then I fired again, and lodged my bullet in the black line, a little -lower down, and so we discharged our seven bullets, planting them all -fairly until the cruciform arrangement was complete, thus-- - - * - * * * - * - * - * - -Then Ewen Oig, wild with excitement, sprang again to the summit of -the tower, wrenched away the target, and it was carried round the -field, with the pipes playing before it, while we, by three hearty -bursts of applause, were hailed the victors of the shooting-butts. - -'By Jove,' exclaimed Clavering, 'I wish I could do this!' - -'So you might, Captain, easily, if your bullets had been cast in the -same mould.' - -'How--what do you mean?' - -'In the mould of old Mhari's father, the forester of Coille-tor.' - -'The deuce! you don't mean to say they are charmed,' said the -Captain, laughing; 'enchanted--bewitched?' - -'Perhaps they are, and perhaps they are not. I say nothing; but I -wounded the white stag with one.' - -'Ha, ha, ha! capital--I like this!' exclaimed Clavering. - -'Der Freischutz in the North--a second Hans Rudner,' said Laura -Everingham; 'but the prizes are undoubtedly theirs.' - -'By Jove, how a few such fellows would have picked off the Russians -from the rifle-pits!' - -'And this victor is our quiet-looking Allan Mac Innon,' said Laura, -her eyes beaming with a pleasure that intoxicated me. - -'He is a regular trump!' added the Captain, with manly honesty, -although he had been beaten. - -'He looks so calm and demure,' continued Miss Everingham, 'no one -would have thought it was--it was----' - -'It was in him,' suggested Clavering, squibbing off his rifle; 'why -don't you become a soldier, Mac Innon--there is good stuff in -you--'pon my soul, I like you immensely! don't _you_, Miss -Everingham?' - -At this absurd question, Laura coloured to her temples, and grew pale -again. - -'Well--aw,' began Mr. Snobleigh, who looked irritated and -discomfited; 'I aw--nevaw saw such shooting certainly--beats -Jerningham of ours, and he as the world knows, was -matched--aw--aw--twenty-five pigeons--aw--against you, Clavering, for -fifty sovereigns a-side; but I'll back these 'Ighland fellows against -all England--aw.' - -Now came the most exciting and, to me, humiliating part of the -proceedings--the distribution of the first and second prizes for -shooting. - -Though poor, crushed and bruised by biting poverty, I could not, -without an emotion of shame, accept the hundred sovereigns from the -hand of Laura Everingham, and decline the more suitable gift of a -silver cup, which was the alternative, in the case of a gentleman -being the victorious competitor! Now in my inmost heart I felt that -a poor and proud gentleman was the most miserable of all God's -creatures. Clavering's words, 'why don't you become a soldier?' were -ever in my ears; but the thought of my old and dying parent, of whom -I was the only prop and stay, stifled the more fiery energy that rose -within me; and as we drew near the little covered platform, where the -_élite_ of the spectators were grouped around that beautiful but -stony-hearted Duchess, the canting Marquis, the two Countesses, Sir -Horace and others of their privileged order, I felt my spirit sink as -if I was a very slave. - -Here also stood Mr. Ephraim Snaggs, bearing on a silver salver two -purses beautifully embroidered. One was by the hands of Miss -Everingham, and contained the hundred sovereigns; the other was by -her friend, and contained the fifty. - -While crimsoned by mortification, I heard my name pronounced, and -found myself before Sir Horace, who, as the newspapers said, "in a -choice, neat, and appropriate speech," duly emphasised in the true -Oxford fashion, announced that I was _the_ victor of _the_ -shooting-match, and entitled to _the_ first prize--my companion to -_the_ second. - -To accept this money seemed to me, educated as I had been by my proud -and haughty mother, the very acme of shame and humiliation; but, at -that bitter moment, I saw her in fancy stretched on her bed of -sickness, wan with illness and with age, and about to be forcibly -evicted at the stern behest of the very donor of this wretched -coin--the curse of men, and cause of all their crime and misery. But -for her sake I would gladly have scattered the money among the poor -Celts who crowded round us, with exultation in their eyes, "that Mac -Innon himself and no Sassenagh," was the victor; but I mastered my -emotion; the Lowlander's proverb, _he yat tholis overcomes_, flashed -upon my memory, and while my cheek burned with a fever heat, I -received the purse from the hand of Laura Everingham, and again her -soft touch gave me a thrill that went straight to my swollen heart. - -With all a woman's quickness she divined the source of my emotion, -and said tremulously, - -'Mr. Mac Innon, you have, I think, some reluctance in accepting this -prize; if you would prefer the silver cup, I am sure that dear -papa----' - -'No, no, madam; a thousand thanks for your generous delicacy; -but--but the money----' - -'Will be more acceptable,' added Mr. Snaggs, spitefully. 'We have a -proverb among us in Scotland, my dear Miss Everingham, anent "leaving -a legacy to Mac Gregor." Mr. Mac Innon is a Highlander, and -possesses, I have no doubt, an accurate idea of the value of the -current coin of these kingdoms.' - -'Aw--aw,' drawled the vacant Snobleigh, taking his cue from the -factor, and whom I heard though he spoke in a whisper, for my sense -of hearing was painfully acute, 'I always thought this young fellow -wondawfully well behaved for a Scotsman, but aw--aw--with all his -cussed pwide and politeness he has taken your tin, Laura.' - -My breast heaved--I felt the fire flashing in my eyes, and I glared -at Snaggs with fury, while the impulse to dirk or shoot him rose -within me. - -'Ephraim Snaggs--liar, coward, and hypocrite, utter but another taunt -or jeer, and I will strangle you like the dog you are!' I exclaimed -in a voice so hoarse with passion, that Laura shrunk from me in -terror, while I emptied the hundred sovereigns from the purse into my -right hand, and flung them in a golden shower among the crowd, a -startling and unexpected manoeuvre, which was immediately imitated by -Callum, who tossed his fifty into the air; and thus in a moment we -were as poor and as desperate as when the shooting began. - -While the crowd scrambled for the money among the grass, a murmur--a -cry of astonishment had risen, on all sides, and then silence -succeeded. - -'What the devil do you mean, fellow, by refusing the money?' asked -Sir Horace, who seemed highly irritated that Callum should presume to -imitate his master. - -'Because I did not come here for money.' - -'For what then?' - -'Honour--like my chief and fosterer Mac Innon.' - -'Honour?' reiterated the incredulous baronet, coolly surveying -through his glass the erect figure of the tattered huntsman, from his -bonnet to his brogues. 'Oho, of course you have a pedigree like a -Welshman, beginning with Adam and ending with yourself.' - -'In that case it might be no better than your own; but I am come of a -long line of brave men, whose shoes, the son of a Manchester baronet, -rich though he be, is not worthy to tie.' - -The claret-reddened cheeks of Sir Horace grew pale at this fierce -hit, while the stately duchess, the two _passé_ countesses, and all -the Highland tabbies of 'good family,' exchanged significant and -self-satisfied smiles. The baronet was about to make an impetuous -rejoinder, when Clavering said,-- - -'Sir Horace do, I beg of you, respect the feelings of these people, -whose peculiar temper and ideas you cannot understand.' - -'Papa, papa!' urged his startled daughter. - -'You speak English well--devilish well, indeed, for a Highlander,' -said Sir Horace loftily, gulping down his anger; 'how is this?' - -'I am all unused to answer questions that are asked in such tones, -yet I will satisfy you.' - -'Do, for never did I meet an ignorant gilly who spoke so proudly to -me.' - -'A gilly I am, but _not_ an ignorant one, Sir Horace. Thanks be to -God, and to good Father Hamish Cameron, who now sleeps in his grave -in the Scottish church at Valladolid, I can read and write, and do a -little more. I am thus unlike the poor people round me, who are -oppressed and destroyed, without knowing why and wherefore the land -of their fathers, so dear to their hearts, is made a hunting-field -for the dissipated and the idle of the south country, while they are -driven from starvation to exile--we, the Gael, who since the Union -have led the van of Britain's bloodiest battles. But I know that our -enthusiasm, our traditions, and our ties of clanship seem mere trash -and absurdity to such as you, Sir Horace--a cold-blooded -conventionalist and man of the world. I have learned to be aware -that the game-laws, the loss of the kelp trade, misgovernment, and -centralization are the curses of the Highlands--all this I know, -though I am but a half-lettered gilly! I know a black-hearted -villain when I see one, Mr. Snaggs, and I know a pampered tyrant when -I speak to one, Sir Horace, and so _failte air an duinnewassal!_ let -us go Mac Innon.' - -Sir Horace gave us a glance full of spite and anger; he felt that a -peasant had dared to lecture him before a multitude; but now we -marched off with our pipes playing, leaving the crowd of fashionables -staring after us in astonishment, while the more ignoble mob still -hunted for the scattered gold among the grass. - -'We have done right and well, Callum Dhu,' said I; 'but think of my -poor mother and of the eviction notices?' - -'Your mother--ay, poor lady--there the dirk enters my heart.' - -'If moved, she dies.' - -'Nothing but the prediction of the Red Priest can save her now,' said -Callum, lowering his voice, 'unless we defend the house by -musket-shot, for if she passes its walls, she will die like the wife -of Angus and your great-grandmother, the wife of Lachlan Mohr.' - - - - -CHAPTER XV. - -THE SIXTH DAY. - -We marched bravely and with pipes playing, while we were within sight -of the crowds assembled on the green braes at the foot of the -stupendous Ben; but as soon as we had crossed the shoulder of the -mountain, and begun to descend into that beautiful valley from which -we were all about to be expelled, our spirit sank and the wild notes -of Ewen's _Piob Mohr_ died away, while dejected and silent, or -communing only in low and foreboding whispers, the men of our fated -tribe approached their humble homes. - -The aged, the women, and the little ones came forth to meet and to -welcome with acclamations, and outstretched arms the victors of the -different games. The crest-fallen bearing of Black Callum and myself -led them at first to suppose what they had hitherto believed to be -impossible and incredible, that we hail been beaten at rifle-shooting -'by the strangers.' - -When I left the glen that morning, all my thoughts were bent on -victory, and I saw only one thing in the world--a black spot on a -white target; but _now_ the blue eyes of Laura Everingham were ever -before me, in all their variety and beauty of expression. - -My mother's feeble voice fell sadly and reproachfully on my ear as I -entered her chamber, and Minnie, drawing back the curtains, revealed -the thin and aged form that seemed to be passing like a shadow from -among us. - -'You have won the prize, my dear boy, Allan?' - -'Yes, mother.' - -Her eyes were bent in love and sorrow on me. Oh, how full my heart -was at that moment! - -'A hundred guineas, Allan--think of that!' - -'And Callum won the second prize,' said Minnie, with a timid blush of -pleasure. - -'Fifty more--one hundred and fifty! Oh, Allan, my poor boy. God's -blessed hand was in this, to save us from the grasp of ruin!' - -I wrung my hands, and throwing the empty purses before my mother, -covered my face and sat down. - -'What means this, Allan?' asked the poor woman, in a voice of -tenderness and alarm; but I made no reply. 'An empty purse, you have -not--oh, you cannot have spent or lost the money?' - -'Neither, dear mother--but pity me and bear with the weakness you -have taught me?' - -'What have you done?' - -'Listen and you shall hear.' - -I detailed to her the shooting, and told how Callum and I were the -victors at any distance from one to five hundred yards, and how we -showered our bullets into the bull's-eye, as fast as the markers -could count them; how we challenged all to shoot seven consecutive -balls into the black cross on the tower of the Thanes; how none save -Callum and I could touch it at two hundred yards--a feat such as the -Highlands had seldom seen before, and how we won the prizes. - -I related how the hateful Snaggs had been there with musty morality -on his oily tongue, and a hateful smile in his deep grey eye; how he -had uttered sneers to which (without seeming to commit an outrage) I -could not reply. I told her of the shame I endured when competing -with shepherds and foresters for a prize, even from a lady's hand. I -the heir of an old and respected line, and with all the pride in -which _she_ had reared me, swelling in my heart; I told her of the -wily factor's taunts, and how Callum and I had flung the gold with -scorn among the people, and departed from that great and long -wished-for gathering on the Braes as poor as when this morning, so -full of hope and spirit, we had marched over the mountains to attend -it. - -My mother heard me quietly to the end, and then applauded me as -warmly as her feeble strength would permit. But I failed to feel -this approval in my own heart, when beholding the emptiness of our -household--the lack of comforts--yea almost of common food; and I -cursed the pride that made me scorn a prize, which though less than a -bagatelle to some--to you, my good reader, I hope--would have been a -Godsend to our half-famished family at Glen Ora. - -Then Laura's face and eyes, her voice and accents came before me, and -I fell, I knew not why, into a dreamy reverie over all I did. - -My mother's illness and our penury pressed heavily on my soul. A -lofty barrier seemed to surround me; a girdle of evils--a boundary -beyond which I saw no outlet, from which there was no escape, and -which I dared not and knew not how to surmount. Too proud to beg, -and ashamed to dig, I became bewildered as the evil hour approached, -when the authorities would arrive to evict the people of the glen. -For the whole of the previous day no food passed my lips; I found -eating impossible, I felt as one over whom hung a sentence of death; -a dark, inevitable, and unavertible fate; and with the apathy of -despair I saw the morning of the sixth day dawn, when the messengers -and constables, or perhaps the soldiery from Fort William, would -arrive to extinguish the fires, unroof the houses, and drive the -people away. - -Thoughts of armed, manly, and determined resistance floated darkly -and fiercely through my mind; and I am certain that the same ideas -were hovering before Callum, as he sat by his humble but untasted -breakfast, sharpening his skene dhu, cleaning, oiling and examining -his favourite rifle, the crack of which might never more wake the -echoes of the mountains; and our pretty Minnie watched him the while -with loving and anxious eyes. There were weapons enough in the -cottages to arm the men of the glen, and their number was sufficient -to have held against three thousand red coats, the gorge that led to -the valley, for there our grandfathers had made a long and desperate -defence against the ruffianly Huskes Brigade in 1746, and _we_ were -able to do as much again; but the steamers had opened up the lochs in -our rear; and though we might have repelled the authorities for a few -days, we were sure of being overcome and severely chastised in the -end; thus the rash and dangerous idea to taking arms to defend our -old hereditary hearths and homes was no sooner formed than it was -dismissed. - -At night I could scarcely sleep, and if for a moment my eyes closed, -distressing visions of flaming houses, and of women and children -dragged forth by rural police and soldiers, came before me. I heard -my mother crying for succour--but invisible powers seemed to chain my -feet to the earth, and breathlessly I writhed and strove to aid her. -Perspiration bedewed my forehead, when hands were roughly laid upon -her bed to bear her forth, for the hour of eviction had come, and I -remembered the widow of Lachlan Mohr. Then I was free--I sprang to -my father's sword; but our tormentors flung themselves upon me! My -mother was borne forth--now--_now_, she was at the threshold. I -heard a faint cry, and all was over--she had expired! Then I would -start up, with my heart full of horror, grief, and vengeance, to find -that it was all a dream; but, alas, a dark and foreboding one! - -The sixth day dawned. It drew slowly and heavily on--it passed away, -and night darkened without Ewen Oig, who was posted as a scout on the -lofty brow of the Craig-na-tuirc, seeing any sign of the dreaded -authorities approaching by the road which, like a slender thread -between the giant hills, wound away in the distance towards the -capital of the Highlands. - -A little hope began to gather in my heart. - -But they might come on the morrow. - -My mother had caught the feverish excitement that reigned in our -little household, and from the crooning and croaking of old Mhari, -soon learned the doom that hung over us, and it had a most fatal -effect upon her frail and delicate constitution. She became -dangerously ill; in her face I read that sad and terrible expression -which comes but once, and my soul sickened with alarm! - -After a late and hasty meal of broiled venison (poached by Callum), -and shared with a staghound and the sheep collies, I despatched my -fosterer with all speed for the doctor of the district, while I -buckled on my dirk, and departed for the new manor-house of Glen Ora, -to seek an interview with Sir Horace, and crave for my mother a -little delay--that mercy which I disdained to seek for myself. - -'The moon _is full_,' said Callum, as we separated; 'it is a lucky -time to undertake anything.' - - - - -CHAPTER XVI. - -SIR HORACE. - -I soon reached the large and handsome modern villa, which crowned the -plateau, where the square tower of the Mac Innons had been, for seven -hundred years, the landmark of the glens. The hour was eight; but -the baronet and his friends were still at the dinner-table, and the -brilliance of the wax-lights in the four tall windows of the -magnificent dining-room, seemed to straggle with the bright flush of -evening that reddened the sky above the darkening mountains of the -west. - -Through a spacious marble vestibule, adorned by gilded cornices, -marble statues, and deer's horns, I was ushered by the plushed and -powdered Mr. Jeames Toodles, into an illuminated billiard-room, and -here he asked me for my card. - -'Card!' reiterated I, reddening, for I had never discovered a use for -such a thing before; 'no card is required; say that Allan Mac Innon -wishes to speak with Sir Horace, without a moment's delay.' - -The valet gave a supercilious smile; but, on perceiving me throw a -hasty glance towards a rack of billiard-cues, he made a hasty -retreat. After remaining for some time alone, and with no other -company than my own bitter and galling reflections, I found the valet -before me again; Sir Horace was just finishing dinner, and afterwards -had to confer with a gentleman on business. - -'And cannot see me?' I exclaimed, making a stride towards the -speaker--a gesture which caused him to shuffle backward in terror; my -heather-coloured kilt and fierce free mountaineer bearing had in them -something new and appalling to him. - -Mr. Toodles did not mean to say that exactly; Sir Horace would see me -in the course of a few minutes; meantime, would I join Captain -Clavering and Mr. Snobleigh, who were lingering over their wine, -before ascending to the drawing-room? I bowed, and followed the -valet mechanically, with a breast that swelled with many strange -emotions. If I committed, in thought, the double sin of covetousness -and envy on that occasion, when contrasting the humility, plainness, -and penury of my dilapidated home with the splendour and luxury I -beheld, it was not for myself, but for the sake of one whom I felt -assured would not be long spared to me now; and whom not even the -prediction of the Red Priest could protect from the hand of the -Spoiler. - -From the walnut sideboard the liveried servants were removing the -dinner, the rich and overpowering odour of which filled that loftily -ceiled, heavily curtained and gorgeous dining-room. To me it seemed -a scene from a romance. The vases were richly gilt and mounted with -precious stones; the dessert, _entree_ dishes, the soup-tureens, -ashets, &c., with which the powdered lacqueys were trotting to and -fro, were all of silver exquisitely chased; so were the classic -wine-coolers, with the champagne in ice, and the ponderous branches -of six wax-lights each. The wassail-bowl of silver had already made -its tour; and at a side-table was the coffee simmering, and served in -antique china and silver. - -But the coffee was neglected, for Clavering, Snobleigh, and two or -three other sporting visitors, with Sheriff Mac Fee, were loitering -over their wine, fruit, and nuts; and the long polished table was -resplendent with tall crystal decanters of the baronet's rare old -port, vintage '34, sherry pure as amber, amontillado, first-growth -claret, and straw-coloured champagne, foaming in goblet-shaped -glasses, while old Hock, Stienberger, Malaga, and Moselle, stood in -battalion under the sideboard, or in a cluster under the gigantic -epergne. - -'Welcome Mac Innon--delighted to see you, old fellow!' exclaimed -Clavering, assuming the part of host. - -'Aw--aw--how aw you?' added Snobleigh. - -'Toodles, a chair for Mr. Mac Innon--wish you had come sooner--Sir -Horace would have been happy to have seen you at dinner I am -assured--hope you have dined, though? Ah--well, fill your -glass--Toodles, champagne here, and pass the claret-jug.' - -Sad, anxious, and most unhappy, I was silent, and drained the crystal -goblet of champagne. Then my spirit warmed a little, and I joined in -the conversation which naturally rose on local subjects, such as -deer-stalking, grouse-shooting, and the famous white stag of Loch -Ora, which many persons believed to be a myth, as no one could wound -or kill it. - -Even Mr. Fungus Mac Fee, the sheriff, could speak on these matters; -but to me, always rather superciliously, because he knew but too well -that my family was fallen and poor; while he always deferred to Mr. -Snobleigh, who knew as much about deer-stalking as of squaring the -circle, or adjusting the longitude. This sheriff knew intuitively -that I hated him. - -After toadying to his party, spinning out a subsistence by scribbling -in magazines and papers in defence of it; after writing, with the -same laudable view, a history of Scotland, in which the clans were -handled with such severity, and one might suppose the soul of -Cumberland had been in his ink-bottle, Mr. Mac Fee found himself -sheriff of a county; and after denouncing on the hustings, and -through the medium of a journal (long notorious in Scotland for its -anti-nationality, its hatred of the Celtic race, and for being the -special utensil of the Government,) the waste of one administration, -he had no objection to accept of numerous sinecures for himself and -his connections, under their successors; hence, he scraped a -sufficient sum to purchase the small estate of Druckendubh. He was -naturally coarse, argumentative, and full of vapour and authority; -but here, among men of undisputed wealth and position--at least, the -position which wealth insures to every blockhead in this conventional -age--Fungus Mac Fee was the most bland and suave of mankind. - -'Any news to-day, Mr. Mac Innon?' asked the sheriff, raising his -impudent eyebrows. - -'None, sir,' said I, sharply, for our Scottish placeman knew enough -of Highland courtesy to be aware that the prefix was offensive to me. - -'Have you not heard that the Russians have crossed the Pruth in two -places, and mean to occupy Wallachia and Moldavia?' - -'Yes; but I have other things to think of, Mr. Mac Fee, and I wish, -in my soul, that they were crossing the Braes of Loch Ora.' - -'A deuced odd wish that!' said Captain Clavering, 'but perhaps you -don't like that straw-coloured champagne--try the pink.' - -'Aw--try the claret-jug--you'll aw--find it rathaw the thing, said -the languid Snobleigh, smoothing his bandolined moustache; 'Sir -Horace is engaged in the library--aw--just now, with Mr. Snaggs--such -a howibble name!--on business. Dem business--wish there was no such -thing in the world; Snaggs is always annoying Sir Horace about -something or other.' - -My heart sank lower on hearing this; for even in this visit to the -baronet, fate seemed to have conspired against me; but I should have -remembered that naturally Sir Horace was frequently engaged in -consultations with Snaggs, for being of a proud and tyrannical -disposition, he was ever squabbling about rights and points of -etiquette; taking offence where none was intended, and waging a -legal--and to Snaggs most profitable--war, with the neighbouring -proprietors, farmers, shepherds, and poachers. - -'Fine girl that was, whom we met at the gathering the other day,' -said the captain. - -'Aw--vewy, for a Scots girl--but, aw--a little metaphysical,' -responded Snobleigh, sleepily cracking a nut. - -'Magnificent hand and arm, though!' - -'Aw--rathaw--but she was so dooced pwoud.' - -'She will have something handsome, gentlemen,' said Mac Fee, draining -a glass of champagne at one vulgar gulp; 'when the people give place -to fine fat sheep on her land. She is an heiress, and when six or -eight of the small farms are formed into _one_--and you are pleased -with her, captain?' - -'f thought her the prettiest of all pretty girls--but flirting with -her--pass the claret, thanks--would be mere waste of powder. I must -keep my ammunition for better game.' - -'Aw--Laura Everingham, I presume,' said Snobleigh, with a little -spite in his eye and tone. - -The Captain coloured slightly; a shade of annoyance crossed his brow, -and regardless that I and others were present, Snobleigh continued to -chatter away; and even this exasperated me, for misfortune had -rendered me unduly sensitive. - -'I assure you, Clavering, that girl Everingham will come in for a -jolly good thing or two, when Sir Horace departs to a better world. -I--aw--fished it all out of old Snaggs the other night by quoting -Blair, and passing the bottle, so I'm a devilish good mind to--' - -'What--pop the question, eh?' - -'Aw--yes.' - -'Then you may save yourself trouble, Snob, my boy, for she has -refused me already, and other two of the Household Brigade: but I -don't despair yet--for I have the governor's interest.' - -'And you proposed--aw--the devil! this was rathaw an extensive -proceeding. I thought that I knew how to manage horses and women -too. For that, one requires considerable--aw--.' - -'What?' - -'Study--aw perseverance and care.' - -'The ladies are infinitely obliged to you,' said Mac Fee. - -'The future Mrs. Snobleigh particularly so,' laughed Clavering; -'Toodles, fill that devil of a claret jug--what the deuce is Sir -Horace about?' - -'Snaggs and he must have arranged some pretty extensive clearances by -this time,' suggested the sheriff, with a furtive glance at me. - -'In truth, Clavering,' said Snobleigh, who had been pondering a -little; 'I aw--would feel restless with a wife so simple and handsome -among the gay fellows of the Household Brigade.' - -'Yes--you would be like the husband some one writes about, who, - - "While Suspicion robs him of his ease, - Peculiar danger in a _red coat_ sees; - Envies each handsome fellow whom he spies. - And feels his _horns_ at every _cornet_ rise." - -Eh--ha ha, ha!' - -'Dem husbands--I hate them all.' - -'Talking of the Brigade, have you heard of Jernyngham of your -battalion lately?' - -'He was well cleaned out before he--aw--disappeared from London; but -don't know him now, poor devil.' - -'It was at this "poor devil's" table you spent some of your happiest -hours,' said Clavering, reproachfully. There was a pause, during -which I turned towards the door, sick of this empty conversation, and -impatient to see the baronet. After the learned Mac Fee had -delivered himself for the tenth time of some stereotyped remarks on -the heat of the weather, and the excellence of the wine, Mr. -Snobleigh observed with his most languid air. - -'I am tired of this kind of thing, and must go back to town. Horrid -slow here in the 'Ighlands--and--aw--slow fellows all round about. -Laura Everingham is chawming, no doubt; and--aw--your sister, -Clavering, imparts quite a London air to the whole place; but -I--aw--still long for Town. One always saves something, however, in -this bawbawous wegion--beg pardon, Mr. Mac Fee, but--aw--aw--'tis so. -Had Jernyngham been here, his stud had never been pounded at -Tattersall's--his commission at Greenwood's, or his plate by -aw--aw--the Lord's chosen people. Now, for instance, in the matter -of gloves; in Town, I--aw--I take a walk--and spoil a pair; I take a -canter along Rotten Row, or in Hyde Pawk, another pair; dinner, -another pair, and for the opera or a ball, another pair, -and--aw--aw--so on. And then when one is in debt, as of course -everybody is but low scoundrels, the--aw--the saving in many things -here is enormous; besides, one aw--acquires the habit of early -rising.' - -'So the Highlands are not without their advantages?' said I. - -'Aw--yes. In London, if not for duty at Kensington or the Tower, I -breakfast at one, on coffee and a cigaw; but here I rise at ten -appetised like an 'Ighland 'awk--a glass of liqueur--tea, coffee, -ham, tongue, game, fowl--aw, aw--dinner ditto; and after knocking -about the balls a little, and having a _deux temps_ with Laura, or a -game at guinea points, then a devilled bone and champagne--then to -bed at two in the morning--at _two!_ aw--think of that Clavering--how -Gothic--oh--aw--infernally!' - -'Now,' said the sheriff, 'what say you to our proposed little game at -écarté?' - -'Bravo I--aw must have my revenge on Clavering; he walked into me for -aw--one thousand two hundred.' - -'So much?' exclaimed Mac Fee, aghast. - -'Aw yes.' - -'I have his little bill for it, at three months, with a promise to -renew,' said Clavering, laughing. - -'Then what shall we have to-night?' - -'Whist--at crown points.' - -'No higher?' - -'No--I have a thousand pounds on that devilish horse at the Oaks, and -must trot easily.' - -'Whist be it, then;' and here they rose to adjourn, leaving me -confounded by the ease with which they spoke of sums that to my -simple Highland comprehension seemed enormous. - -'Toodles--aw order some pink champagne and cigars to the card-room.' - -'Cigars if you will,' said Clavering; 'but no champagne; dem it, -no--I shall drink no more to-night of anything stronger than Father -Adam's pale ale, while playing with _you_,' and just as they all left -the dining-room by one door, I heard the voice of Sir Horace in -communication with Snaggs, approaching it by another. - -'To-morrow will decide the affair,' said Sir Horace, pausing with his -fingers on the crystal door-handle. - -'To-morrow or the day after, at latest, my dear sir,' responded the -bland voice of Snaggs. - -'Of course I am deuced sorry for the old woman, and all that sort of -thing--for she must be very unhappy; but we have a great duty to -perform--a great duty to society, Mr. Snaggs, and old women must not -stand in the way of improvement.' - -'To be sure, my dear Sir Horace; "every age," says the divine Blair, -will prove burdensome to those who have no fund of happiness in their -breast--and as for the young desperado her son, nothing whatever can -be made of him.' - -'Of course not; his head is filled with such quaint ideas and old -Highland stuff, unsuited to modern times, habits, and usages, that he -is a mere wild colt, and twice I have been told, pulled out of his -stocking,--what do you call it?' - -'Skene Dhu, or Black Knife, my dear sir,' suggested Mr. Snaggs. - -'Ah yea--a skin doo, upon you, sir. I know not why these Highland -fellows are allowed to bristle about with their daggers and skenes, -when there are laws passed against the wearing of arms. But the -truth is, the sooner that this young fellow and his people are sent -off to America by the _Sutherland_, under Captain Sellars, the -better. There are some fine swamps to drain, moors to cultivate, and -woods to cut down in the Cunadas; and as for that great ruffian -Cullum Dhu, who nearly murdered poor Toodles the other day--dem the -fellow, I'll have him transported! Adversity teaches these fierce -spirits no lesson.' - -'True, my dear Sir Horace,' chimed in the moralist; '"adversity," -exclaims the divine Blair, "how blunt are all the arrows of thy -quiver, compared with those of guilt!"' - -'Dem Blair--I am quite sick of him, too; but let us have a glass of -Moselle, and then we'll join the ladies in the drawing-room. _You_ -here, Mr. Mac Innon!' he exclaimed, with angry surprise on seeing me; -'how do ye do, sir,' he added, with a dark countenance; 'my friend -Mr. Snaggs and I have just closed a long conversation about you.' - -'I am sorry to hear it, Sir Horace, for now I fear my visit here is -bootless.' - -'You judge most correctly, if you have come to ask delay about my -projected clearances.' - -There was a glare in the sharp eye, and a smile on the thin lips of -Snaggs, as Sir Horace said this. I felt my eyes flash fire as anger -gathered in my heart; for heaven never intended me either for a -temporiser or a diplomatist. - -'I was about to speak to you, Sir Horace, not of myself, but of my -mother, who is aged, sickly, infirm, and unable to comprehend how any -power on earth possesses a law to expel her from Glen Ora.' - -'Now, young man, you irritate me! This is the rock upon which all -you Celts split your very obtuse heads. The good lady, your mother, -with the rest of the people on that portion of my estate, must learn -that the tenant has no right in the soil.' - -'None whatever, legally or morally,' added Snaggs. - -'_Your_ property!' I replied, trembling with passion; 'it would have -been as much as your head is worth to have said this to a Mac Innon -on the spot where you stand, a hundred years--ay fifty years ago. -But it is of my mother I would speak--' - -'Nay, sir--excuse me--I will hear nothing; moreover, your presence -here is an unwarrantable intrusion; the ladies, Mr. Snaggs, await us -at coffee.' - -CHAPTER XVII. - -MR. SNOBLEIGH. - -From the illuminated marble vestibule, I plunged out into the -darkness of the night, and goaded by my fierce and terrible thoughts, -was rushing down the avenue, when in my confusion I stumbled against -a marble Psyche, that stood in the centre of the carriage-way, about -a pistol-shot from the door, and fell, stunned and almost breathless -beside the pedestal. - -I thought of my feeble mother about to be torn from the roof that had -sheltered her so long; I thought of my brave father now beneath the -sod, and of his fathers in that old ancestral burial-place, where -'shaded by sepulchral yew,' lay the warriors and the patriarchs of -our tribe, and where I would never lie; I thought of all that had -been, but could never be again; the stirring past, with all its -shadowy glory; the humiliating present with all its bitterness; the -dark and dubious future with all its doubts and fears; and a storm--a -devouring fever--raged within me! - -Placing my hands upon my temples, I pressed my hot and throbbing brow -upon the cold marble pedestal, and endeavoured to reflect and to -breathe. - -The three windows of the drawing-room, which in the French fashion, -were constructed to open down to the Portsoy marble steps that -descended to the lawn, were all unclosed, as the heat of the -atmosphere was great, and the luxury, lights, and music within made -me scan for a moment this magnificent apartment from the place where -I lingered. It was crowded by objects of _virtû_, and the subdued -lights of the crystal chandeliers, and chaste girondoles, fell on -antique Sevrès and China vases; on oriental jars and Dresden china -plateaux; on the Warwick vase in verde antique; on velvet hangings -draperied up with gold; on Dianas and Apollos, &c.; on Rosso de -Lavanti marble pillars; on bronzes and Medician vases, glittering -antique buhl and or-molu tables, and all that might please the eye, -or gratify the whim of a moment. - -The notes of a piano--one of Errard's best--and the voice of a female -singing, came towards me, and I raised myself from the ground on my -elbow to listen. My heart beat wildly. The air was soft and sad and -touching; and--though then unknown to me--it was the divine _Spirito -Gentil_ from the opera of Donizetti. She who sang was Laura, and my -ears drank in every gentle note; the fierce conflict of pride and -passion died away within me; my heart was melted by the gentler -emotions that Laura's influence roused, and I could have wept--but -not a tear would come. - -I could see her figure, with Clavering standing beside her, patting -time with his gloved hand, and turning over the leaves of the address -to Leonora. I wished him any place but there. - -Laura looked charming! - -From the crystal girandoles that stood on the little carved brackets -of the piano, the light fell in bright rays over her black silk -dress, which, in its darkness, contrasted strongly with the pure -whiteness of her beautiful neck and delicate hands. Her face was -full of sweetness and animation, and her soft voice so delightfully -modulated, was full of an enthusiasm that lent her usually pale cheek -a flush, as she sang that winning Italian air with all its requisite -pathos. - -'Aw--vewy well--she does sing diwinely!' said a voice near me. -'Alboni--even little Piccolomini herself, could not surpass her.' - -'Hush--pray,' said another. - -'Aw--now it is ended--bravo!' - -Close by me were Mr. Mac Fee the sheriff, and Mr. Snobleigh, smoking -each a choice cuba, and hovering so near the marble Psyche, that I -dared not move, lest I should be observed and suspected of -eaves-dropping. - -'A dooced bad cigaw,' said Snobleigh, endeavouring to light a -refractory cabana, and swaying about in a manner that sufficiently -indicated how the fumes of the champagne had mounted into that vacuum -where his brains should have been; 'dem--I think your 'Ighland air -spoils them; and aw--aw--you admire Laura--eh; aw--now it draws; a -fine girl--say yes--why the devil don't you say yes?' - -'Beautiful--and you are tender in that quarter?' simpered the servile -Mac Fee. - -'Aw--yes, and have some devilish serious thoughts of matrimony, too.' - -'Marriage is a serious thing, Mr. Snobleigh.' - -'Aw--yes--demmed serious when one marries age, ugliness, or -aw--poverty; but with, with a charming young person like Miss -Everingham--it alters the case entirely. But don't you observe, old -fellow, that Laura talks too much of that aw--aw--peculiar -individual--that species of outlaw, as Mr. Snaggs names him--' - -'Young Mac Innon?' - -'Dem! yes--but to teaze me of course. What is that now? Fanny -Clavering at her aw--aw--everlasting song-- - - "I dare not seek to offer thee - A timid love like mine--" - -'Like hers indeed--aw--aw--ha! ha! it has been offered to half the -fellows in the Household Brigade. Curse that pink champagne--it -makes one so devilish shaky in the aw--legs. Yes--Laura has talked -so much about this 'Ighland colt, Mac Innon, ever since the -shooting-match, that I--aw don't half like it. In fact, Clavering--a -good judge of both horses and aw--women--swears that she loves him.' - -'You cannot be serious?' - -'Aw--yes, frightfully serious. But only think of a girl like Laura -troubling her--aw head about such a wild Highland Sawney Bean? I -should like to see him handling my yacht, the _Bruiser_, in a stiff -nor'-easter off Cowes; taking the mettle out of a four-in-hand team; -aw--making up his book on the Derby; widing the winnaw at the Oaks; -knocking the balls about at billiards, or aw--aw--getting a child of -Judah to fork out the tip, or achieving anything else that savours of -town life, or of civilization. The chawming Laura in love with him -indeed; 'pon my soul the idea is--aw too absawd!' - -'Absurd, indeed,' chorused Mr. Mac Fee. - -'Absawd--my dear fellow, absawd!' added Snobleigh, as he staggered -away, followed by the obsequious Mac Fee. - -Laura spoke of me frequently, and Clavering thought she loved me! - -Loved me--could it be credible, or was it the mere jest of a heedless -heart, that linked our names together--a linking that, in love, has a -nameless charm to the young, the timid, the tender, and the true. -What a tumult was raised in my breast by this casual revelation! I -scarcely dared to breathe. If aught was wanting to increase the -bitterness of the struggle waged by pride and love within me, it was -the words of the thoughtless Snobleigh. - -But these bright hopes of a vague and joyous future--and all their -train of burning thoughts and ardent aspirations, were doomed to be -crushed and forgotten for a time, by the terrible tidings awaiting me -at my desolate home. - -Midnight was close at hand, when, turning away from this abode of -luxury and splendour, where every comfort that wealth can procure -surrounded the cold and selfish Sir Horace and his pampered -household, I bent my steps towards the mountains, and by a narrow -path through a dark and moonless copsewood--or rather, an old -primeval forest of the Middle Ages, I hastened towards Glen Ora. - -I had much to reflect on, and above all the flood of bitter and -anxious thoughts that rolled like a dark and tempestuous sea around -me, I saw the image of Laura Everingham; for, boy like, and full of -mountain poetry, legendary lore, and old enthusiasm, to me she -naturally became a goddess, and the guiding-star of all my hopes and -aspirations; while serving to temper with something of reason the -fiery anger with which I was tempted to regard the cruelty and -harshness of her father; who, like too many of our new Highland -proprietors, was but the slave of mammon and the tool of a cunning -factor. - -While threading my way--somewhat hastily I confess--through a deep -and savage cairn, which was terrible of old as the shade of a -mysterious spirit--a rushing sound, a crashing of branches struck my -ear, and something white passed near me, like a sunbeam, or a flash -of fire. - -'The white stag!' I exclaimed, in a breathless voice, and -involuntarily grasped my dirk, while the perspiration started to my -brow; for by an old tradition in the glen, it was affirmed, that -whenever danger was near the race of Mac Innon, a _white stag_ -crossed the Braes of Loch Ora. - -'My mother! my mother!' was my next thought, and like a mountain -deer, I sprang away to reach the old jointure-house of our family. - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII. - -DEATH. - -Dawn was stealing across the dun slopes of Ben Ora and the grey rocky -scalps of the Craig-na-tuirc, when I reached the crest of a hill -which overhung my mother's residence; and there I paused to draw -breath, and to survey a scene which, though familiar to me as the -features of my own face, never lost the charm of its lonely beauty. - -Diminished by distance, the little thatched cottages in the glen -seemed less than molehills, but green and silent, dotting the slope -far down below, while above them rose the stupendous mountains piled -up, crest on crest, to heaven. From the humble roofs, the smoke was -beginning to ascend in long spiral columns into the clear and ambient -air, as the poor, but thrifty housewives of the glen prepared their -fires of guisse-monaye--the bogwood and black peat. - -In this vast Highland solitude where I paused the breeze bore to the -ear no sound of domestic life; no sheep bleated, as of old, on the -green hill side; no horse neighed or cow lowed in the ample glen -beneath, for the poor cottagers had long since parted with all for -sustenance; but there rang the ceaseless rush of the torrent, which -plashed and glittered as it tore through the corrie; the whirr of the -plover, the hum of the heather-bee, or the distant roar of the -rutting hind, as he rose from his dewy lair among the feathery -bracken beside yonder old grey battle-cairn. Even these sounds were -faint or undefined, and all nature seemed as motionless and still, as -the stately stag with giant horns, that stood on a pinnacle of rock, -against the rosy flush of the eastern sky. He seemed to be surveying -the scene; then he moved his lofty antlers, and lo! between me and -the gorgeous blaze of light that overspread the east, and threw out -in black relief the sharp jagged outline of the rocky hill, there -rose a forest of branching antlers, as, in obedience to their king, a -noble herd of deer, calves, hinds, and harts, three thousand head and -more, stood for a minute as if to show their whole array, and then -with slow and measured steps, descended and wound down the mountain -side, until they disappeared among the sandy ravines and bushy -corries which the streams and storms of ages have torn and riven in -the bosom of Ben Ora. - -There had been a great stalking expedition in the forests of the -West, and the gillies of the Marquis of Drumalbane had been driving -the deer for many miles along the shore; hence the collection of this -vast herd, but amidst its masses I could discern no trace of a -_white_ stag. Then, whence the vision of last night? Was this -animal indeed supernatural, and the harbinger of evil, as tradition -affirmed it to be? - -My gloomy forebodings increased as the brilliance of morning -descended from the mountain slopes into the deep and dreamy glens, -and as I hastened down the narrow path which led to my mother's -house. No smoke was wreathing upward from its chimneys, and there -was an aspect of still life about it which surprised and alarmed me. -The door was wide open--an unusual circumstance. Anon, I saw a -number of persons hastening to and fro between the cottages of the -glen, and a little crowd of men and women gradually collected round -the house. A deadly terror smote my heart, and every pulse stood -still. Then my ears tingled, as a cry of lamentation woke the silent -echoes of the valley. I sprang down the mountain side, rushed -through the startled clachan, and at the door of the house met old -Mhari, her eyes red with weeping. She threw her arms round me. - -'My mother?' I exclaimed. - -'She is dying!' replied the sobbing woman, in her own figurative -language; 'she must soon be laid in the Place of Sleep, with her feet -to the rising sun.' - -'Dying!' I ejaculated. - -'Why protract the poor lad's misery?' said a gentleman, who wore a -suit of accurate black, with a white neckcloth, and silver -spectacles, and whom I knew to be the doctor of the district, and a -great enemy of old Mhari, for whose universal specific for all -complaints (wild garlic boiled with May butter) he had a great -contempt; 'why add to what he must suffer?--tell him at once, that he -may bear his loss like a Christian and a man. Mac Innon, your mother -is dead--God help you, my poor fellow!' - -It was so--dead--and now I had not a relation, not a friend in the -world, but the poor people of the glen, to whom I was bound by the -common ties of clanship and descent. On learning that I had gone to -visit Sir Horace, and knowing well my fiery temper and proud -disposition, my mother's gentle breast had been filled by a hundred -tender anxieties and thoughts of danger. Finding herself alone for a -little space, animated by what purpose heaven only knows--perhaps by -a restless desire to breathe the fresh air of the glen for the last -time; perhaps to look for me, or perhaps to test the worth of the old -tradition, and so rid herself of a life that had become a burden; -inspired by some mysterious impulse, and endued thereby with more -than her wonted strength of thought and purpose, she had robed -herself in a plaid and wrapper, and left her bed unseen, for she was -found dead--dead on the rustic seat beside the porch, and -consequently _beyond_ the walls of the jointure-house. Here she was -found by Callum Dhu, on his returning with our doctor, a dapper -little country practitioner, whose attempts to restore animation -proved utterly unavailing. - -'Dhia! Dhia!' was the exclamation of Callum; 'assuredly the curse of -the Red Priest is here!' - -'Curse of--what do you say, my good man?' asked the doctor, with a -cross air of perplexity; 'it is the result of an inward complaint -under which she long laboured. She was highly -susceptible--nervous--sickly and sensitive--I was always quite -prepared for this fatal termination.' - -'But you never said so till now,' retorted Callum; 'so what avails -your skill. Had she only kept _within_ the door she might have lived -long enough.' - -I now felt myself above the reach of further misfortune. I had been -the mark of Fate's sharpest arrows, and a proud but fierce emotion of -defiance swelled within me for a time. Even Snaggs and the coming -terrors of the eviction were forgotten now. Thus I felt buoyed up, -as it were, by a courage gathered from the very depth of my despair; -but anon, the sense of loneliness that fell upon me was crushing and -profound. - -She who for years had watched over me, as only a mother watches over -the last of her little brood; she who in age I had tended, nursed, -and consoled, with a love, like her own, the most unselfish and -unwearied, had died at last, when I was absent, and when none was -near to close her eyes--to kiss her pallid lip. - -'It is a warning!' exclaimed her old nurse Mhari. 'The men of -Glentuirc are gone--those of Glen Ora must soon follow. Surd air -Suinard! chaidh Ardnamorchuan a doluidh!'[*] - - -[*] "Prepare Sainard, for Ardnamorchuan is gone to wreck!" a proverb. - - -Then came the funeral--all, all a dream to me. - -The night had been dark and stormy, and in Glen Ora the keening of -the women, and the howling of the dogs, 'who knew that death was -nigh,' mingled with the wail of the bagpipe and the soughing of the -wind; and, like a dream, I see before me still the apartment hung -with white, and all its furniture shrouded in the same cold, dreary, -livery; the coffin lid bearing a vessel which contained a little -salt, and all the doors left wide open, to give free passage to the -departing spirit, which old superstition still averred was hovering -near its earthly tenement; the low-moaned songs, or the deep and -earnest lamentations of Mhari, Minnie, and other women of the glen; -the cold, stiff, and conventional prayer by the parish minister; the -wine and whisky, cake and cheese served round before 'the lifting,' -and the slow, solemn march of _Gil Chroisd_ (the servant of Christ), -which Ewen Oig and Gillespie Ruadh wailed forth on their great -mountain-pipes, as they headed the funeral procession, which departed -about sunrise for the burial-place of our tribe. - -The morning dawned on murky clouds of red and amber hue, piled in -masses above Ben Ora, around whose rocky crest the ascending mist was -wreathed like a mighty cymar. The sun arose, but gloomy, pale, and -watery; and, to me, all nature seemed to wear the livery of gloom and -woe. - -The day was as dreary as our errand was mournful, and slowly the -procession, which was formed by the whole male population of the -glen, in number about a hundred men and boys, the aged supporting -themselves on their staffs, and leading their grandchildren by the -hand, wound over the hills, communing together on the virtues of the -deceased, and of that olden time, to which a falling people ever look -fondly back, as a faded woman to the days of her beauty--as the aged -to the days of their youth. - -All the funeral arrangements were conducted in the modern, rather -than the ancient, Highland fashion. Old Sergeant Ian Mac Raonuil, -who had served with my father in the Black Watch, had the charge of -marshalling the procession, and at certain distances on the road he -regularly cried 'halt-relief,' when four fresh men hastened forward -to bear the coffin, which was carried for four miles on the shoulders -of our people, until we reached the place of interment, on the shore -of a great salt loch, or arm of the sea. - -The day was still lowering; the sounding sea of the stormy Hebrides -dashed its waves on the echoing beach; the eternal mist, like a -mighty shroud, rolled along the drenched hills and dripping heather; -and through it, as through a veil, the joyless sun, shorn of his -rays, seemed at times to hang in mid air, like an obscured lamp. Our -hearts were heavy indeed. Even the Lowland Scots are peculiarly -liable to be impressed by the appearance of nature at all times; -then, at such a time of sorrow and foreboding, how much more so were -we, who were bred among the stupendous scenery of the North, and by -our race and habits were the creatures of strong and gloomy -imaginations! And then the slow, sad, and wailing march of _Gil -Chroisd_; how mournfully it rang between the silent mountains, and -woke the echoes of that lonely shore, where the long-legged heron, or -the gigantic sea-horse, were brooding on the slippery rocks, and -where the wiry Scottish pines cast their shadow on the breakers! - -At a place named Coil-chro, or the Wood-of-hazel-nuts, a turn of the -path, as it wound over the headland, brought us in view of a -gentleman and two ladies on horseback, attended by a smart mounted -servant, clad in a grey surtout, and accoutred with a leather girdle, -laced hat, and black cockade. The gentleman dismounted, and with -much politeness and good feeling, in imitation of the local custom, -remained on foot with head uncovered while the procession passed by. -At a glance I recognized Captain Clavering in this polite stranger, -and under the broad hats of the ladies the soft features of his -bright-eyed sister and the gentle Miss Everingham. It was at this -moment that old Mac Raonuil cried 'halt-relief!' and while a change -took place in the bearers, Laura, whose eyes were full of tears, -brought her horse close to me, and holding out her gloved hand, -pressed and patted mine with great frankness and kindly sympathy. - -'Heaven help you, poor Mr. Mac Innon,' she said; 'we all deplore your -bereavement, and feel only remorse and shame for the severity with -which my angry papa----but what can _I_ do?' - -I kissed her hand, and she did not withdraw it; while the beautiful -expression that filled her eyes, to which her half-drooping lids lent -a wonderful sweetness, made my heart swell with tenderness and -gratitude; for human sympathy was doubly valuable, and hers was -doubly dear to me at a time so terrible; but again the shrill notes -of the wild pipe struck up--again the solemn procession went forward, -and a turn of the road hid Laura from my view--yet her eyes seemed -before me still, and her voice was lingering in my car. - -A half mile further on brought us to the ancient burial-ground; it -was circular and surrounded by a low ruined wall of rough dry stones, -as it had once been a Druidical circle. Here the grass grew with -peculiar richness and rankness, for the dead of more than two -thousand years lay there. Old stones, graven with quaint runes, lay -half sunk, amid the moss and nettles, like the Celtic cross that -marked where the Christianized Scot had laid his dust in the same -grave with his pagan fathers, who had worshipped the God of Day and -the Spirit of Loda. Close by stood an old chapel of the Kuldei, -dedicated to St. Colme, the Abbot of Iona. It had been a ruin since -the Spaniards, under the loyal and noble Marquis of Tullibardine, had -landed in Glensheil, and fought the Government troops early in the -last century; but a vaulted corner of this venerable fane was still -used as a chapel by the poor Catholic Gael of the district. Here a -rough deal table served them for an altar; a rough crucifix, and six -candles, in clay holders, stood thereon, with a few garlands of -freshly-gathered wild flowers, while heather was spread before it for -those who chose to kneel. Near it was a miserable hut, or wigwam, -where Father Raoul Beg Mac Donuil (_i.e._, Little Father Ronald, the -son of Donald), a priest from the Scottish College at Valladolid, -dwelt in prayer, penury, and misery; for among the poor clansmen of -the impoverished and almost desolate West, the labours of the -Catholic clergy are indeed the labour of love and self-denial. - -Three Mac Innons had been Abbots of Iona, and one of them built this -chapel. In ancient times, when one of the house of Glen Ora died, a -grave was found in the morning ready dug; but by whose hands no -mortal knew--for none had ever dared to watch so said old tradition; -but even this mysterious sexton had left the country, unable perhaps, -as Callum Dhu affirmed, to breathe the air that was infected by -factors, gangers, and rural police. - -Before entering the burying-ground we performed the deasuil, and went -round it _with the sun_. The people insisted on this, and I had no -wish or will but theirs; besides, the Celt is a great stickler for -ancient customs. The parish minister permitted Father Raoul to say a -prayer at the grave, for she who was gone had ever been kind to him, -as a priest of that faith in which her forefathers had lived and -died; and it is a noble feature in the Highland character, that -neither priestcraft, rancour, nor bigotry could ever warp or sever -the kindly ties of blood and clanship. - -The Place of Sleep, or, as some still named it as in the Druid days, -The Place of the Stones, was one of those old yew-shaded graveyards -which still remain in many a desolate glen, to mark where our -expatriated people were wont to lay their dead. Here we lowered her -into the narrow house. - -A little shovelling, a little batting of sods, every stroke on which -went home to my aching heart, an uncovering of heads--a little time, -and all was over. I felt more than ever alone in the world--for a -recollection was all that remained to me of my mother--my last -relative on this side of that remorseless grave. - -The minister patted me on the shoulder--the old priest shook me -kindly by the hand, and led me away. In vain did they tell me, in -hackneyed phrase, that those whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth; my -rebellious spirit spurned the stereotyped idea. I felt myself a -beggar and a lonely outcast--that all was over now, that every human -tie which bound me to my home (but had I now a home?) was torn -asunder for ever! - -Omens of evil, such as serve to feed the superstitious mind, and to -make a deep impression on a people so filled with poetry and wild -fancies as our unlettered Gael, had not been wanting, as forerunners -of these calamities; and these omens had been duly remarked by the -aged dwellers in our glen, as the sure forerunners of direful events. - -In the preceding winter, when the country was covered by snow, -Gillespie Ruadh and others averred, that early one morning they -discovered marks of the feet or talons of a gigantic bird, each -impression being at least twenty yards apart. These tremendous -footmarks were traced across the glen, and over Ben Ora, from the -loch to the sea shore, where all trace of them was lost in the -flowing tide. On hearing of this marvel, I hurried to the spot, but -a fresh fall of snow had obliterated these strange marks, which were -declared to indicate a departure of our people towards the western -sea. - -Moreover of late, the white stag had been frequently seen, and had -even ventured to approach the lights in our cottage windows. - -This animal, which the most expert of our foresters had failed to -slay, was a tall, powerful, and gigantic stag, with antlers of -remarkable size and beauty--royal antlers--_i.e._ having three points -on each horn. These proud appendages it _never_ cast; at least none -had ever been found. According to the unvarying story of the -hunters, stalkers, and keepers, it was known to have been in -existence for more than two hundred and fifty years; for Lachlan -Mohr's father, Torquil Mac Innon, who was slain by an arrow at the -battle of Benrinnes (excuse this antiquarianism, good reader, but -your Welshmen, Celts and Irishmen, are full of such old memories), -wounded it in the right ear, the half of which he shot away. -Thereafter a fleet and fierce, but stately white stag, minus an ear, -had roved, and was now affirmed to be roving, in the woods of Glen -Ora. - -If this was indeed the same that Torquil covered with his long -Spanish arquebus, it must have rivalled those of Juvenal, or the -hawks of Ælian, which lived for seven hundred years. Be this as it -may, if on the shores of Lochtreig there was a white stag which never -died, why should there not be another on the shores of Loch Ora? this -was deemed unanswerable. - -The swift white stag which now haunted the woods of the Mac Innons -was certainly (as I had often seen by my telescope) minus the ear -which tradition alleged old Torquil shot away; and this miraculous -animal was affirmed to be the same which had passed the tent of -Lachlan in the night before he was slain at Worcester, and which -appeared before the calamities of Culloden. It had been visible -often of late, and the poor unlettered Gael of the glen spoke of it -in whispers one to another as a certain warning of the total ruin -about to overtake them. - - - - -CHAPTER XIX. - -THE EVICTION. - -Whispering of these things, the men of the glen recrossed the -mountains, but slowly and silently, for the voice of the pipe was -heard no more on the gloomy heath; the boom of the climbing waves had -died away on the distant beach, and evening was reddening the dun -heathy slopes of the Ben when we drew near our home, and a cry of -alarm burst from those who were in front of our funeral party. Large -columns of smoke were seen to ascend from the hollow, and to curl in -the clear air between us and the sky. - -A chill came over the hearts of those who accompanied me. As for -myself, I deemed, as I have said, that misfortune had shot the -sharpest shafts at me, and now that I had nothing more in this world -to care for, or to fear; but yet I felt a sore pang, when, on -arriving at a gorge of the hills, rightly named Gar-choine, or The -Place of Lamentation, for there the Campbells had once defeated the -Mac Innons, we came in sight of the beautiful natural amphitheatre of -Glen Ora, and saw thirty columns of smoke ascending from as many -cottages, and uniting in one broad and heavy cloud of vapour, that -rolled like mist along the mountain sides. On the slope of the hill -were clustered a crowd of women and children, screaming and -lamenting, while at the far extremity of the glen, where the narrow -and winding road that led to Inverness dipped down towards the -Caledonian Canal, we perceived a train of carts laden with -furniture--the miserable household gear of our poor cotters; while -the bayonets of a party of soldiers who escorted it--like a Spanish -treasure or a Roman triumph--flashed a farewell ray in the setting -sun, for resistance had been anticipated by Mr. Ephraim Snaggs; and -thus he had borrowed an unwilling party from the detachment which -usually garrisons the secluded barrack at Fort William. - -The glensmen paused on the brow of the hill which overlooked their -desecrated homes, and their voices rose with their clenched hands in -one heavy and terrible imprecation; then with a shout they rushed -down towards their wives and little ones, where a fresh scene of -grief and sorrow awaited them; for now we were homeless, and -'landless, landless,' as ever were the race of Alpine in the last -century. - -Snaggs and the Sheriff had taken their measures well to evict the -people, destroy their dwellings, and seize the furniture when no -resistance could be offered; by choosing a time when all the men of -the glen were absent at my mother's interment. Yet they took nearly -as many precautions before venturing up the side of the Loch Ora, as -if the clans were still in their most palmy days, when Lachlan Mohr -feasted his brave men on the best beeves of the Campbells, and had -five hundred targets, and as many claymores, hung in his hall. - -The barbarous cruelties exercised by a neighbouring Duchess and a -canting Marquis upon the poor, had so greatly exasperated the Mac -Innons, that at fairs and elsewhere, they had been in the habit of -openly threatening an armed resistance to any attempt to evict them -from the glen, where they--the aboriginal race--had dwelt for ages -before Laird or Peer or feudal parchments had a name in the land. -Callum's character and mine were well known to be reckless, bold, and -even desperate; thus Messieurs Snaggs and Mac Fee took their measures -wisely, and accordingly selected the time for attack, when the whole -of the male population were at the grave of the Mac Innons. - -The rural police of the adjacent districts were secretly ordered to -hold tryst in a wood about six miles distant. There they arrived -about midnight, and received a harangue from Sheriff Mac Fee on the -majesty of the law; there an oath was administered to them, and there -Mr. Snaggs quoted Blair, and gave them that which proved much more -acceptable--a jorum of whisky and ale. On mustering their forces, -these worthy officials found that, including themselves, the -Procurator Fiscal and a couple of clerks, with the police, they had -only thirty men, but as well armed with hatchets, crow-bars, levers -and pickaxes, as if they were about to invest the Redan. Doubtful -still of success, application had been made to the Commandant at Fort -William for a Serjeant's party of twelve men from the Irish -Fusileers, with twenty rounds of ball-cartridge each, as there was a -fear that the same rifles which had done such wonders at the recent -Gathering, might cover the legal person of the great moralist. Thus -the whole _possé_ marched in array of battle into the glen, where, to -the terror and dismay of the women, they appeared about half an hour -after the last of the funeral procession had disappeared over the -summit of the hill. - -An immediate and indiscriminate attack was made upon the cottages and -on the old jointure-house; and amid the shrieks, outcries, tears and -lamentations of the women, the usual work of eviction and destruction -progressed with as much spirit as if Huske, Hawley, Cumberland and -Co., had left the infernal shades to visit upper air. Delay and -mercy were craved alike in vain by these poor people. In vain did -more than one young mother hold her new-born babe aloft; in vain did -the daughters of those who fought with Moore and Wellington, implore -pity, on bended knees, with clasped hands and streaming eyes, as they -clung about the knees of Snaggs and Mac Fee; but each was "sullen as -Ajax," and bent on upholding the dignity of the law and of wealth. -The inmates were summoned to come forth, and if they refused, were -roughly dragged out, some with babes at their breasts, and batoned -with such brutality, that the Irish Fusileers, whose hearts revolted -at the police, and who in their own land had seen too much of similar -work, used the butts of their muskets against the limbs of the law, -and thus offered some protection to our women. - -Every article of furniture was flung out; box-beds were torn down; -chairs, tables, kail-pots, and kettles, spinning-wheels, caups, -quaighs and luggies, clothing and delft, were thrown on the sward, -and in many instances destroyed in a spirit of sheer recklessness. -Every little object which time, tenderness, or association made -valuable in the humble eyes of the cottagers was demolished or -carried off. The domestic shrine was rifled; its _lares_ -desecrated--its household gods destroyed. Everything eatable or -drinkable was at once appropriated by the plunderers. The thatch was -torn down; crow-bars and levers were applied to the huge -boulder-stones, which in many instances formed the corners of the -poor huts, and by one or two wrenches, the whole fabric was tumbled -in a heap of ruin. The cabers and couples were cut through by saws -or axes; and thus every hut, house, barn, stable, and hen-roost were -destroyed. The old jointure-house was gutted of its furniture, every -vestige of which was piled on carts with the miserable chattels of -the people, and driven off towards the nearest market-town; not an -article of my property escaped, save a few old seals and rings, -which, with my father's sword, old Mhari and Minnie concealed about -their persons. Then the mansion was unroofed; the doors hewn down; -the windows dashed out; and the floors torn up and burned, to render -it totally uninhabitable. Thus from house to house, from cot to cot, -and from barn to byre, went these ministers of destruction; the sick -were dragged from their beds; the aged mother of Alisdair Mac Gouran, -a woman in her ninetieth year, and whose grey head had not left her -pillow for three years, was borne out and flung on the damp hill -side. Women scarcely recovered from the pains of maternity--and -others on the point of becoming mothers, were alike brought forth, -and those who resisted, or vainly attempted to save some prized -article, though of little value, were beaten with batons until forced -to relinquish their hold. - -Seated by her fire, Widow Gillian (the relict of a soldier whose -patronymic was Ca-Dearg), and who was the mother of three sons in our -Highland Division, boldly refused to come forth, or to yield up her -husband's silver medals, of which they endeavoured to deprive her. -Rendered desperate and frantic, this woman, though aged, seemed stout -and active; she clung, shrieking, to the posts of her bed; but the -police tore her away. Then she caught wildly at the jambs of a door; -but her fingers were soon bruised or broken by batons, and one -constable tired of her screaming, dealt her a blow which fractured -her skull, and covered her long grey hair with blood. Then she -became insensible. Flora, her daughter, one of the prettiest girls -in the glen, when seeking to defend her, received a kick in the -breast, from which she never recovered. - -Fire was now applied to all the remaining cottages, and their roofs -of thatch, turf, and heather, with their old dry rafters of resinous -mountain pine, burned bravely. The work of destruction was nearly -complete. - -Then the sheriff mounted his horse; Snaggs bestrode his trotting -garron; the carts laden with such furniture as had not been burned, -broken, or deemed worthless, were put in motion; the few sheep and -cattle of the people were collected, and accompanied by the -constables who were laden with everything they could lay hands upon, -and surrounded by the pitying soldiers with their bayonets fixed, -Messrs. Fungus Mac Fee, Ephraim Snaggs, and the Fiscal, headed the -plunder of the glen, and departed, leaving that once beautiful little -mountain-village a heap of smoking ruins--every hut levelled flat, or -sinking amid smoke, flame, and dust--the jointure-house reduced to -four bare walls; while the women and their little ones, bathed in -tears, or covered with cuts, blood, and bruises, remained in a stupor -of silent astonishment and horror at this irreparable destruction, -which divested them of shelter, of food, furniture, clothing, and -everything, and just when the rain-charged clouds of night were -descending on the hills. - -Let not the English reader deem this atrocious scene overdrawn. In -Sutherland, Inverness, and Ross, in Moidart and the Isles, such have -been enacted with even greater brutality since the beginning of this -century. Yet the brave, hardy, frugal and patient Highlanders have -endured it without complaint. In form of law, murders have been -committed in open day--but then it was merely the manslaughter of a -few Highland paupers, to enforce the dignity of ducal wealth and the -majesty of feudal law. - -'Thus it is,' says the brave old General Stewart, 'that the love of -speculating in the brute creation, has invaded these mountains, into -which no foreign enemy could ever penetrate, and has expelled a brave -people whom no invader could ever subdue. It has converted whole -glens and districts, once the abode of a bold, vigorous, and -independent race of men, into scenes of desolation.' - - - - -CHAPTER XX. - -DESOLATION. - -Night came down on that scene of lamentation and woe--on more than -eighty human beings who were fashioned in the image of God, and were -yet denied such shelter as He accords to the fox and eagle; but -though their hearths were desolate, and their old hereditary but -humble homes demolished, the clearance could not be deemed complete, -until the people were entirely swept away from the country. - -Callum and I obtained shelter with the old priest Father Raoul, who -afforded us a corner of his little hut; the poor man had but one -pallet--and there we remained for a day or two, considering what -steps should be taken to find food for those who were starving in the -now desolate glen, and moreover to provide for ourselves. - -Thus I found a temporary home, within a few feet of the spot, where -she, to whom I had ever turned for consolation and comfort, advice -and sympathy, was taking her eternal rest. - -Meanwhile fresh cruelties and scenes of horror took place in that -ill-fated glen, where the people were completely given up to the -malevolent fury of Snaggs, who, as a man of the law, had a truly -legal aversion to Highlanders. - -The evicted formed a little bivouac on the heather. In one place lay -a sick mother, stretched on a pallet, covered by her husband's plaid; -around her nestled her little ones, gazing with awe and terror at -this unusual scene; on the deathlike visage of one parent and the -stern despair that lurked in the eyes of the other. Fires of turf -and rafters were kindled, and round these, in little booths of rugs -and plaids, nestled the younger children, and infants in cradles. -Amid these the elder children sported and played, ignorant of the -ruin that had come upon them, and in their heedless glee forming a -strong contrast to their grief-stricken parents, whose once high -spirit was crushed and broken now. Such is the effect of tyranny, -starvation, and misrule! - -The old soldier, Ian Mac Raonuil, burrowed a hole on the brow of a -hill under a rock, and spread his plaid over it. Herein lay his -wife, nursing a sickly and delicate child, while he with his stouter -sons slept on the sward. The air became chilly, and the cloudy sky -was overcharged with dew; thus many who were sick and ailing, -wandered about like ghosts on the midnight hill, unable to find -either shelter or repose. Premature labour came on the wife of -Gillespie Ruadh; and there, on the bleak side of Ben Ora, the -wretched Highland mother brought her child into the world. Before -morning she expired, and the aged widow Mac Gouran lay also a corpse, -not far from her; for before dawn, there came on a tempest of -lightning, wind, and rain, as if the very elements had conspired with -the petty tyrants of the glen, to destroy the homeless Mac Innons. -And while the blue lightning gleamed between the bare scalp of Ben -Ora and the rifted brow of the Craig-na-tuirc; while the rain like a -ceaseless torrent smoked along the soaking heather, and flooded every -rocky chasm and sandy runnel; while the wind swept over the hills as -if it would have torn up the heath by the roots, our poor people all -nestled together, and, lifting up their voices, sang a psalm with -touching piety. Amid this tempest the mother and her youngling died; -and the beautiful Celtic superstition--that a woman who dies in -childbed, whatever her offences in life--is borne by angels straight -to heaven, was remembered now, as the people whispered it to one -another, and drew comfort from it. - -The sufferings of the night left them more wretched than ever. - -To shelter the women, and to veil the dead bodies from the view of -the children, a few cabers were propped together, and above these the -men spread their plaids and grey frieze coats; but ere long there was -a cry of alarm, and the infamous Snaggs, with a party of his -levellers and armed constables, came upon them again. Then the -coverings were torn off; the cabers flung aside, and the sick and the -dead were remorselessly exposed to the blaze of the hot morning sun. -The booth which sheltered the children was demolished, and the wife -of Mac Raonuil was dragged from her hole on the hill-side. - -In vain did she weep and hold up her babe; in vain did the sick -veteran, her husband, point to his wounded arm, his silver hairs, and -three war-medals; the only reply was fierce abuse for daring to seek -shelter, or to burrow, after a notice of removal had been duly served -upon them. - -A few ducks and hens, which had been wandering and scraping among the -ruins of the cottages, were now collected and carried off by the -constables, lest they might afford a day's food to the homeless, who -were threatened with fresh vengeance by those jacks-in-office, if -found in the glen to-morrow. Mr. Snaggs, who always spoke blandly, -quoted Scripture and Blair on the folly of resistance; the beauty of -submission to the will of God, and more especially of the new -proprietor, for 'go they must--a ship was coming round to Loch Ora -with sheep; and on the morrow there would arrive several hampers of a -new species of game with which Sir Horace meant to stock the glen. -Go then, my dear friends,' continued Mr. Snaggs, with a gloating eye -at Minnie, who was kneeling over some sick children; 'go, and the -Lord will provide for you in Canada--"for," as the divine Blair says, -"neither obscurity of station, nor imperfection of knowledge sink -below his regard those who obey and worship him."' - -With this trite quotation, the elder and the factor whipped up his -pony, and departed with a couple of fat ducks dangling at its -saddle-bow. - -Next morning, the keepers arrived with their hampers of game on a -cart, and as they entered the glen by the lower pass, the original -inhabitants retired by the upper, (bearing their dead, their dying, -the sick, aged, and little ones, slung in plaids over the shoulders -of the stoutest men,) towards the only shelter that remained to -them--and assuredly the last which the Gael would think of -adopting--the old ruined chapel of St. Colme upon the sea-beaten -rocks of the western coast, for, as no Highland landlord will allow -the evicted tenants of another to tarry within his bounds, the -graveyards alone are now the neutral ground. There among the tombs -they formed a new bivouac above the long rank grass that wrapped -their fathers' dust. Close by were the moss-covered and -lichen-spotted ruins of the old chapel, where the owl and the bat had -their nests, and where the sombre ivy grew in luxuriance--a place of -many solemn memories and many legendary terrors. - -Location of every kind was refused by the adjacent proprietors; so -with a vast tract of wild and rugged mountains and pathless hunting -forests around them, our people were compelled to herd like cattle -within the circular wall of the burying-ground; for most of the -modern tyrants of the North share alike the love of game, the lust of -gold, and a horror of the Celtic race. - -It was on the fourth day that the widow of the Ca-Dearg (whose head -had been fractured by the blow of a baton) died; and a cry for -vengeance against her murderers went up to heaven from the denizens -of that uncouth bivouac, as they committed her body to the earth; and -it was fortunate that all the rifles and weapons of the people had -been seized; for in Callum's breast and mine, there swelled up such a -glow of fury, that we would assuredly have committed some fierce and -retributive act, at which all Britain would have been startled. - -'Are we slaves?' exclaimed Callum, furiously; 'I speak in English, -Mac Innon; for, thank heaven, the Gaelic is the _only_ language in -the world that has no word expressive of slavery.' - -'A bootless boast,' said I, gloomily; 'and what matters it, when we -may be murdered with impunity?' - -'Evil has come upon us like snow upon the mountains, unsought and -unsent for,' said he, as we closed the grave of the soldier's widow; -'poor old woman! Her blood has been shed by a staff that bore the -royal crown and cypher--and for that crown her three brave sons are -fighting in the East. A chial! a Highland soldier, or a Highland -soldier's mother, are of less value than a grouse or plover--a sheep -or a cow; for they cannot be shot for pleasure like the former, nor -fattened to feed the southern market like the latter; and it is for a -Government that treats us thus our soldiers fight and die! _Is -samhach an obair dol a dholaidh!_' - -'Alas, yes--silent is the progress of ruin!' I replied, repeating the -proverb; 'but had our glen been in Tipperary, at what premium would -the lives of Snaggs and Sir Horace been insured?' - -'Sir Horace has driven us forth, that our glen may be peopled by wild -animals; _but if fire will burn_, by the five wounds of God, and by -the Black Stone of Scone, he will make little of that!' swore Callum, -in a hoarse Gaelic whisper. - -There was a dark and savage gleam in his hazel eyes as he spoke; and -though aware that he referred to a project of vengeance, I cared not -then to ask what it was. - -Old Mhari was the wise woman and chief adviser and mediciner of the -glen; she placed implicit belief in a hundred charms, spells, -traditions, and absurdities that have come down to us through long -and misty ages--yea, since the days of Fingal; for the supernatural -is full of charms to the mind of a mountaineer. Thus Mhari was the -custodier of one of those sanctified girdles which were usually kept -in many Highland families, and which were bound about women in -childbed. They were impressed with strange and mystic figures; and -the ceremony of binding was accompanied by words of Druidical origin; -but Mhari was sorely perplexed and bewildered when the wife of -Gillespie Ruadh expired amid the tempest, with this ancient girdle of -maternity around her. - -In a revengeful spirit, that bordered on the necromantic malevolence -of the olden time, she fashioned an image of clay, which she named -'Ephraim Snaggs,' and selecting a time when the moon was full, placed -it in a runnel which distilled between the rocks from a lonely tarn, -among the sedges of which the dusky water-ouzel laid its eggs, and -where the lazy bittern, whose croak forebodes a storm, made its home; -and she believed that as the stream washed away the clay, and reduced -it to a shapeless mass, and from thence to mere mud, so would the -ungainly person of Mr. Ephraim Snaggs waste, pine, and decay: but -most unfortunately, and greatly to the injury of Mhari's local -reputation, this incantation of the nineteenth century turned out a -complete failure; for though the runnel washed away the image in less -than three days, Snaggs remained unharmed and well as ever; for we -frequently saw him trotting his pony along the mountain path which -led to the house of Sir Horace Everingham. - -Though supported by the secret charity of the neighbouring clachans, -our poor people were meanwhile enduring great misery. Their nights -were passed shelterless among the dreary shades of the dead--each -mother with her children clinging round her in terror and hunger; for -their principal sustenance had been herbs, mountain-berries, and cold -water. - -Each morning they thanked God that another night was past; and each -night they thanked Him for the sorrowful day that was gone. The wind -whistled drearily from the ocean round the open ruins, and over the -long grassy graves, and bare, bleak headland of St. Colme. It seemed -to bear on its breath a wailing sound, like a dirge of the dying, as -it swept through the old yew-trees--but this, of course, was fancy. - -With a heart that vibrated between love and hatred, anger and sorrow, -I thought of Laura Everingham. - -If the regret she expressed so prettily and so pithily for her -father's previous severity and his Victor's cruelty was sincere, what -would her emotions be now? - -But days passed away, and no message from her ever reached me at that -wretched hut, which the poor but hospitable priest had invited me to -share. This neglect stung me to the soul, and caused an anger that -not even the memory of Laura's winning kindness, the strange -admissions of Snobleigh in the avenue, and the memory of her soft -smile or the beauty of her person could subdue; but I knew not that -during this, our time of calamity, she and Fanny Clavering were -paying a visit to a noble marquis, whose exterminating propensities -have made him famous as one of the chief '_Barriers_ to the -prosperity of Scotland.' - -Meanwhile Sir Horace, Sheriff Mac Fee, and Mr. Snaggs, after a -voluminous correspondence with the Board of Supervision, had a -steamer despatched to Loch Ora, to convey our people to Glasgow, -where (without being landed) they were to be thrust like slaves on -board of a vessel bound for America. Their final expatriation was -fully resolved on by the trio; and none of the evicted were consulted -either as to their wishes or destination, as they were alleged to be -poor and ignorant Celts, who knew no language but their native -Gaelic, and were helpless and stricken alike by poverty, sickness, -and a wholesome terror of the powers that be. - -The night was pitchy dark and somewhat stormy, when our poor outcasts -saw the steamer that was to convey them for ever from their loved -Highland home, ploughing the lonely waters of the deep salt loch that -opened into the mountains; and a wail of despair ascended from the -bleak burial promontory, as they heard the roar of the escaping -steam, and the plunge of the descending anchor, when the vessel came -to her moorings. Then the red light at her mast-head was watched for -hours by the doomed and expatriated clansmen with emotions which no -pen can describe, or pencil portray. - -On this night it was averred that the _white stag_ had been seen to -hover near us in the gloom. - -Low down along the base of Ben Ora, round the shore of the mirrored -loch, and in the dark glen they had left, our people saw a wondrous -blaze of light that illuminated the sky--that tinged the clouds with -wavering fire, and lit the cold grey rocks and hills--the waving -woods, and ghastly corries. It widened and grew on every hand, that -marvellous sheet of flame, seeming to embrace the whole country in -its fiery grasp; and with shouts of fear and wonder, the poor people, -while gazing on this phenomenon, forgot for a time their own sorrows, -and the approaching hour of their final expatriation. - - - - -CHAPTER XXI. - -THE HEATHER ON FIRE! - -On this night Callum and I were loitering in the glen, among the -ruins of our once-peaceful and contented mountain hamlet; but -oppressed by sadness, on witnessing the new desolation of the place, -we wandered three or four miles away, and there older scenes of -barbarity awaited us. - -We sat down on some piles of stones that were half shrouded by the -rising dog-grass, the moss, and the long feathery bracken. These -marked the site of a few huts. Here once dwelt a brave little -community named the Mac Ellars, one of whom had been my tutor, and -here I had attended his little school, bringing each day with me, -like other boys, a peat, as a contribution to his fire; for this is -the old Highland custom, and the urchin who failed to do so was -denied the privilege of warming his kilted legs for that day. Here -often had I played the truant, and been threatened by my mother with -_the Druid_--that venerable bugbear of the Highland urchin. - -The Mac Ellars were all brave and hardy men, whose progenitors had -occupied their 'holdings' since the days of Lachlan Mohr; and it was -with them that Callum made the famous riot in Glen Ora, when burning -the effigies of a certain English historian, and his miserable -Scottish imitator, for their falsehoods and absurd antipathy to the -clansmen and their national characteristics. But the youth of the -clachan, twelve sturdy young lads, had been cajoled by a noble -marquis and the duchess, his mother, into the ranks of the Sutherland -Highlanders, and had marched to fight the Russians: _then_ their -cottages were levelled, and their aged parents were driven forth to -beg, to starve, or die--tidings, no doubt, but ill-calculated to -rouse the patriotism or fan the _amor patriæ_ of the poor Celtic -soldier, when chewing his green coffee in the frozen trenches of -Sebastopol, or sinking under disease, with other victims of treachery -and mismanagement, in the frightful hospital at Scutari; but -fortunately for our Government, the poor clansman is animated by a -love of home, which neither time can efface nor tyranny destroy. -Thus were the Mac Ellars rooted out--the young sent to storm -Sebastopol--the old to starve in the Lowlands, while the marquis and -his _passé_ mother were in a state of fervid Uncle Tommery, and, -inspired by Mrs. Stowe's romance, were the leaders and patrons of -anti-slavery meetings in the South, and fustian addresses to the -women of America. - -The ruined cottages which are met with at every few miles, amid the -depopulated portions of our Highlands, dotting those vast glens which -are silent and voiceless now as the most savage wilds of Hudson's -Bay, or the great desert of Zahara, are well calculated to excite -emotions of melancholy, as being the last relics of an old and -departed race. - -The wild gooseberry-bushes straggling among the stones; the old well, -half choked by sand or weeds; the half-flattened fences; the -garden-flowers growing rank among the encroaching heather, all told -us the visual melancholy tale; and Callum and I sat in silence on the -mossy stones, watching the daylight dying away beyond the distant -sea, and full of our own sad and bitter thoughts. - -He seemed wholly intent on polishing the butt of a steel Highland -pistol, and while he did so, there hovered a dark and sombre aspect -of ferocity on his brow. - -We were silent, I have said, for both were too much oppressed to -speak. Suddenly a black cock appeared on a fragment of rock near us, -and clapped his wings as if in defiance. Quick as lightning Callum -levelled the pistol and shot him dead; a moment the outstpread -pinions beat the heather, and then lay still, while the pistol-shot -was pealing among the echoes of the wilderness. My fosterer -leisurely reloaded and brought the bird to me; it was large, weighing -more than five pounds, its sable plumage glazed all over with a -shining blue, and its stomach gorged with bilberries. - -'I hope the report may not reach the ear of some rascally keeper,' -said I, throwing a hasty glance about me; 'if so, we shall be accused -of poaching. It was a risk, Callum, to shoot that bird just now.' - -'It is the last shot I may ever have on a Highland mountain,' said -Callum Dhu, with a fierce sigh; 'and with little regret would I have -put the same ball into the fat brisket of Sir Horace himself, if he -stood within twelve paces of me, on this red heather to-night.' - -'For heaven's sake, Callum, do not speak thus,' said I; 'Sir Horace -is less to blame than his evil mentor, Snaggs--I believe that in -heart he is rather amiable.' - -'Listen, Co-dhalta!' retorted Callum, turning upon me, and gazing -with a full and angry frown. 'You love this man's daughter, and I -like it as little as the good lady your mother (now, God rest her, in -her grave) would have done. You love one who despises you--and yet -your blood is as red as any in Scotland!' - -'She does not despise me!' I responded, almost fiercely. - -'Yet loving her is folly.' - -'A folly that makes me happy.' - -'A folly that makes you miserable! Will you remember her only as the -daughter of one who has the lives of Gillespie's wife and child, and -of the widow of the Oa-Dearg to answer for?' - -'Sir Horace is no worse than the canting Marquis, or a hundred other -proprietors in the North.' - -'That is saying but little--there are many great men in Scotland -still, deserving the dagger of Kirkpatrick and the bullet of -Bothwellhaugh--and great is the pity that such pretty things have -gone out of fashion. The best tune Rory Dall ever played men will -tire of; and so I am tired of this Lowlander's tyranny.' - -'He is no Lowlander, Callum,' said I, anxiously observing the fierce -expression of my companion. - -'He is an Englishman, which is almost as bad.' - -I burst into a fit of laughter at this remark. - -'Ah--you laugh,' said Callum, grimly; 'let us see whose laugh will be -loudest to-morrow. He has cleared the glen of men to make way for -game--let us see what he will gain by that--the club-footed ouzel.' - -'How?' I asked, glancing in alarm at the pistol on which he was -carefully placing a percussion cap. - -'This very night I shall fire the heather.' - -'For heaven's sake, Callum,' said I, 'beware what you do; for the -consequent destruction of life and property may be terrible.' - -'I care not--these lords and holiday-chiefs are destroying the -people--_let the people destroy the game that brings them gold_. I -will fire the heather, I tell you!' he added, in a fierce Gaelic -whisper; 'by that blessed star which led the wise men to the cradle -of God, I have sworn to do so, and it shall be done, come of it what -may!' - -I was about to speak again, when the clatter of hoofs rang on the -mountain-path, and Mr. Snaggs passed us on his shaggy-coated cob. -Anger swelled my breast on seeing him; but he bowed to us with an -ironical smile, and we saw--or thought we saw--that his eyes were -brilliant with malice at the success of that "ingenious ferocity" -with which he had extirpated the peasantry of the district. He rode -slowly up the slope of the great Ben, and the outlines of his -ungainly figure and barrel-bellied charger appeared in dark relief -between us and the yellow flush that bathed the western sky. - -'What errand takes him to the Craig-na-tuirc to-night?' I remarked. - -'The devil only knows: perhaps to see the desolation he has made, and -whether any of our people have lit a fire in the glens below. There -he goes--may evil follow, and destruction dog him close! may the -curse of the poor on whom he tramples, and the scorn of the rich whom -he worships, be his lot! I'll show them a flame on Ben Ora to-night -that will startle all the Western Highlands!' - -Callum drew forth his powder-horn, and after casting a keen but -furtive glance around him in the dusk, and after seeing Mr. Snaggs -fairly disappear in a hollow of the hills, he shook out the contents, -laying across the narrow mouth of the glen a train on the soft dry -heather and its bed of turf and decayed moss below. Careless of the -event, and now resigned to whatever might follow, I observed him in -moody silence, and not without feeling within me that longing for -revenge which is so curiously mingled in the Celtic nature, with a -wild sense of justice and of injury. - -'This is a crime against the law,' said I, in a low voice, -remembering that _muirburning_ is a serious offence in Scotland, and -that the Acts passed by the Parliaments of the first, third, fourth, -and fifth Jameses concerning it, are alike stringent and severe. - -'Curse upon the laws,' grumbled Callum; 'if none were made, they -would never be violated,' and with these words he emptied the last -contents of his horn. Again he looked round him. - -The sun had set long since; the tints of the vast mountain had turned -from purple to black, and no living thing seemed to be stirring in -that intense solitude. Callum stooped, and fired his pistol at the -train. The powder flashed, and rose like a fiery serpent along the -grass; the dry summer-moss, the decayed leaves and dead ferns ignited -like tinder, and in a moment the thick heath and its bed of turf and -peat below were wrapped in smoke and flame--a flame that spread on -every hand, deepening and extending, as it rolled, like a devouring -and encroaching tide, mounting up the sides of the glen before the -soft west wind that blew from the dark waves of the salt lake. - -Fiercely it crackled, smouldered, and burned, in those places where -the bracken or whins, the burr-docks, brambles, rank weeds, and gorse -grew thick; but in others it rolled steadily on with great rapidity, -spreading and widening in the form of a vast semi-circle, as if it -would embrace the whole country in its grasp. As it mounted into the -higher portions of the landscape, and seized on the thickets of -silver birch and the resinous mountain-pine, the conflagration began -to crackle, roar, and hiss, and its flames to shoot aloft and -brighten against the sky like the wavering beams of the Northern -Lights, tinging the clouds with pink and purple hues. - -Now sheep and cattle, horses, rabbits, foxes, and fuimarts, with -herds of frantic deer, fled before the flames; and screaming in their -terror and confusion, the muirfowl flew hither and thither, or hung -overhead among the vapour that shrouded the starry sky. The scene -was strange, wild, and terrible; the more so that amid all this -general alarm of nature there was not heard the voice of man in -wonder or in fear; but the glens had been swept of their people, and -the beasts of the field and the birds of the air alone remained. - -With astonishment and somewhat of awe, I gazed on this strange and -striking scene, while Callum Dhu surveyed it with a grim smile of -triumph and derision on his weather-beaten face, which was reddened -by the distant glow. - -This was one of the most dreadful instances of muirburning that ever -occurred in Scotland: the flames travelled at the rate of one hundred -and fifty yards a minute, and soon embraced a front of nearly sixteen -miles in length, being four miles more than that tide of fire which -lately devoured the moors of Strathaven. - -The whole of the muirlands--covered with short dry summer heather, -the thickets of fir and the game preserves round the base of Ben Ora, -from the mouth of the glen where we sat to the deep dark gorge of -Garchoine, from the shore of the loch on the east to the hazel wood -of Coilchro on the west, where the narrow path to St. Colme's chapel -overhangs the foaming sea--a semicircle, as I have said, of sixteen -miles--were sheeted in red and yellow flame. Above the mighty -wreaths of smoke which rose from the blazing and falling plantations, -and from the remains of old primeval forests, towered the huge -mountain--the monarch of the western hills--like a dark and wonderous -dome. At its base lay the loch gleaming in light, and seeming, in -this nocturnal blaze, like a mighty mirror zoned by the smoke and -fire, which gradually crept from the low districts upward to the -summit of the craigs and hills, where it played in streaks of deep -and fiery red, or flashed upward in forky and lambent flames before -it died away in vapour. - -In the deep and naked ravines, and those places over which the fire -had passed, sweeping like a burning tide, the nests and lairs of the -game, with every trace of animal and vegetable life, passed away, -leaving only the bare black roots of the turf and heather, while vast -columns of smoke hung motionless, like giants in mid-air as if the -fires of the Day of Doom had sent them forth; and through these murky -masses the broad round moon at times peered dimly and darkly out, -like Fingal's shield, half hidden and half seen. - -'Down, Mac Innon, down!' cried Callum, as a herd of terrified deer -came rushing like a living torrent down a narrow ravine, which was -threaded by a mountain stream, up the margin of which we were now -ascending, as being the safest pathway through this land of fire: -'Hoigh! look at Mac Gilonie's dun cattle, how they come thundering -down with the sparks at their heels!' - -These words were barely uttered, when the frantic herd--three hundred -and more--were upon us, with all their branching antlers lashing the -air; but as we threw ourselves flat on our faces among the long -bracken and dog-grass, this four-footed tempest swept lightly over -us, and disappeared towards the seashore. - -'There they go towards the Atlantic--dun deer and red foxes, fat -hares and long-eared rabbits, fuimarts, otters, and everything! By -the blood that is in us, Sir Horace, but it is mighty little shooting -you or yours will have hereabout for these some years to come! The -people have gone towards the sea, and your devilish game have -followed them. But see,' added Callum; 'what is that--a man mounted -on a deer?' - -'No, no--a pony.' - -'How he gallops! Dioul! my fine fellow, take care of your neck.' - -'It is Snaggs!' said I. - -'Snaggs--and he rides like fury--up hill too! now the pony falls--' - -'He is down!' - -'Up again--on foot, and he runs like a sow possessed by a devil -towards the Craig-na-tuirc, with the fire rolling at his heels,' said -Callum, rubbing his hands in fierce glee. - -'Fire behind and a precipice in front.' - -'Dioul--we are giving him claw for claw at last!' - -'But we must save him, Callum--he will be scorched to death or dashed -to pieces.' - -A fierce laugh was his only reply. While all this passed in less -time than I have taken to record it, we dashed along the stony -ravine, guided by the rivulet, and though half-blinded by smoke, -reached the Ora, which was there overhung by the Craig-na-tuirc. At -that moment a wild and despairing cry for succour rang in the air -above us. - -'Ay, bay to the moon, false wolf--but there are few ears now in Glen -Ora to hear you!' growled Callum through his thick, rough beard, as -we began rapidly to clamber up the brow of the precipice, the summit -of which was shrouded by smoke, and streaked with fire like the -crater of a volcano. - - - - -CHAPTER XXII. - -THE UISC DHU. - -Hawks, gleds, and eagles, with a hundred birds of other kinds, whose -nests had been destroyed, were screaming, as if in anger or surprise, -and flapping their wings about us, in the mid and murky air, as we -clambered up, and thrice the wild cry of the despairing wretch -tingled in my ears, before we reached the summit, after a half-hour -of arduous exertion. - -There, on the giddy verge, a strange sight awaited us. - -Not far from the spot where Callum had rescued Sir Horace Everingham, -and at a place where the steep rocky brow of the cliffs overhung the -dark chasm through which the foaming waters of the black river -bellowed, roared, and forced a passage towards the sea, we saw the -miserable factor Snaggs dangling in mid-air like a crow, and clinging -to the branches of a tough but withered mountain-ash, and to its -stem, which--terrible to conceive!--projected over this dark -Cimmerian gulf. Hemmed in on every side by the encroaching fire, -which ran at his heels, he had been forced to retreat upward to the -edge of the rock, and though all unused to feats of strength or -agility, excess of terror had supplied him with both; for when the -flames assailed the thick coating of turf, soft heather, and -crackling whins which covered the summit of the Craig, he was -compelled to take refuge in the branches of the mountain-ash, and to -these he clung, swinging above the dark vacuity below, with a -tenacity of clutch and a horror impossible to portray. - -But now the same fire which had consumed the tufted whins, the turf -and heath, assailed the dry roots of the ash which twined among them, -and soon the whole fabric of the tree was in a blaze; and as its -fibres crackled and relaxed their tough grasp of the rocks and -smouldering turf, the stem began to sink and yield with its own -weight, and the weight of the fainting sinner who clung to it. - -Such was the terrible tableau that awaited us on reaching a ledge of -rock close by it. - -As seen by the fitful glimpses of the moon through gauzy clouds and -rolling smoke, the pale, white, ghastly visage of Snaggs was -appalling. He still shrieked for succour and for mercy, and his -entreaties were but a succession of shrill screams like those of a -girl. His eyes glared; foam hung upon his lips, and his tongue was -parched and swollen. I would have hastened to proffer him -assistance, but the strong hands of Callum held me back by main force. - -'Mercy to the merciless?' said he; 'nay--he shall have such mercy as -he gave the people of our glens--such mercy as he would have given my -poor Minnie at the Clach-na-greiné. He is a fiend--so let him die a -fiend's death! Ha--ha! Mr. Snaggs--the tree is bending now; once it -rose at the angle of forty-five, now it is quite horizontal. I wish -every factor hung on its branches like fruit for the devil. Think of -the old widow of the Ca-Dearg, and her silver hair all clotted in her -blood; think of the cold, grey morning that dawned on the wet -mountain-side, when the dying wife of the Red Gillespie lay with her -new-born babe, and expired without a shelter from the blast! Her -babe is now where you can never be--for it is among the flowers that -are gathered in heaven! Think of the cruel advice you have given -this jolter-headed stranger--this Horace Everingham--whose presence -has been a curse to us. Think of my Minnie and the evil you intended -for her. Think of all your hypocrisy, your legal quirks and -quibbles, and of all the villanies of your past life, for the root of -the tree burns bravely, and will not last a minute more. Ha! ha! ha!' - -The love of life, the lust of gold, and the dread of death and hell -grew strong within the wretched soul of Snaggs, and his aspect became -frightful. Matted by perspiration, his hair clung about his temples, -and his eyes were starting from their sockets. With all the tenacity -that love of existence, conflicting with an awful fate, can impart to -the sinews of a coward, he clung to that withered ash, and swung -wildly over the hideous abyss, where the black water foamed two -hundred feet below. - -Now his toes touched the brow of the rock, and anon his feet would -beat the empty air in vain! The flames played about the roots; the -smoke almost choked him, and slowly, gradually, fearfully the stem -continued to sink and to yield, as the knotty fibres which so long -had grasped the rocks were relinquishing their hold at last. - -'Mercy--mercy--mercy!' he shrieked. - -'Such mercy as you gave the people in Glen Ora and Glentuirc--such -mercy as you have ever given the poor and the trusting, I give you -now--a tiger's mercy!' replied Callum, still holding me back, though -it was physically impossible for me to have afforded the least -assistance to Snaggs, circumstanced as he was then, and cut off from -us by the flaming tree. - -'God--God!' gasped the miserable wretch. - -'Call not on Him, hypocrite, for even He may fail one so steeped in -wickedness as you. Hear me--I am Callum Dhu Mac Ian, on whom you -have never ceased to heap up insult, contumely, and contempt. I am -well and young, and strong, having, with God's blessing, many years -of life before me, while you are now in the jaws of death. You will -go down into the depth of that dark linn like a stone, Mr. Snaggs; a -splash, a bubble, and all will be over! One sinner more will have -gone to his awful account--' - -'Mercy!' he croaked. - -The tree was still burning and bending! - -'A time will come, a week, a month, a season perhaps, and the deep -waters of Loch Ora will give up the ghastly dead. A corpse, swollen, -hideous and frightful beyond all humanity, will be cast upon the -pebbled beach, and it may lie there long undiscovered, amid gnats -that swarm in the sunshine of noon, and birds that scream in the -night--ay, very long, for our glens are desolate now, and for months -a human foot may never press the heather there. That corpse will be -_yours_, Mr. Snaggs! When found, it will excite awe and wonder, for -the foolish mother that bore you would not know her sinful son; but -anon horror and disgust will force the finders to cover it hastily up -with earth and stones; and there you will rot, Mr. Snaggs, while your -ill-gotten gear will be spent and enjoyed by others.' - -'Oh, have mercy upon me!' howled Snaggs, who now ceased to make the -smallest exertion, as every movement served more and more to dislodge -the consuming root. 'Mercy--I tell you--mercy; my dear, good man, -have mercy!' - -'Dioul! how long that tree holds on!' cried Callum, stamping his -foot; 'but now it bends! now it breaks! Hoigh--one moment more and -all will be over, Mr. Snaggs!' - -The white lips of the victim quivered; he was uttering a voiceless -prayer--or perhaps it was the more contortion and convulsing of his -features. The fitful light of the moon, and occasionally the gleams -of the blazing heather and distant thickets, played on the rocks and -wild plants of the chasm, imparting a satanic effect to the episode. - -Suddenly the tree snapped with a crash that made my heart leap, and -with a cry, amid a shower of sparks that flew upward, Snaggs vanished -with the half-burned stem into the black gulf below, where the fierce -and foaming mountain-torrent swept them away like autumn leaves, -towards the deeper waters of the Loch, and the more distant waves of -the Atlantic. - -I never heard that his corpse was found. - -'It is God's judgment,' said Callum, who had gazed frigidly at this -terrible sight, the realities of which I could not reconcile for a -time, or believe to be palpable and true. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIII. - -THE RUINED COTTAGE. - -'Those who do injuries to others,' says the delightful author of _I -promessè Sposi_, 'are not only accountable for the evil they inflict, -but also for the perversion of sentiment which they cause in their -victims.' I am happy that this trite sentence occurred to me, for by -this mode of reasoning we shall find Mr. Snaggs alone guilty of -Callum's unusual hardness of heart, and, in short, the author of his -own untimely demise. - -Chilled and almost terrified by the new and awful events of the -night, I hastened away by the route we had come, descending the face -of the rocks towards that part of the stream which lay below the -cascade, and proceeding along its banks among the wet water-docks and -green leaves which the fire, that was still raging in many parts of -the muirland district. had failed to consume. Midnight was past -now. The moon was waning behind the summit of the scorched and -burning hills. We were weary and looked about us for a shelter; but -in every direction the country seemed dotted by the fires which yet -smouldered in the thickets and morasses, reddening and flashing in -every puff of wind. - -'Free--but homeless, houseless, penniless, and desperate!' said I. - -'A chial!' responded my fosterer; 'how many brethren we have in this -wide world, which is all before us now!' - -A ruined cottage afforded us a resting-place, and there we threw -ourselves down upon the thick soft grass that was springing up within -its four bare walls of turf and boulder-stones. I was so overcome by -lassitude, that even the supernatural terrors of this place failed to -scare me from it, and Callum, who would rather have passed the night -in any other part of the mountains, could not leave me. A mouthful -of whisky from his hunting-flask revived us, and to change the -current of my thoughts, which were incessantly and upbraidingly -reverting to the terrible scenes we had just witnessed, he told me -several wild and quaint stories of Dougald-with-the-Keys, the former -occupant of the ruined cottage, and in whose service Callum had been -when a boy. - -Dougald was a smuggler and distiller of illicit spirits. He had his -manufactory in a hollow of the adjacent morass, a high rock -overlooking which was the post of his scout. Malie, his lynx-eyed -wife, generally watched for the hated exciseman, who might be -wandering along the road from Inverness or Tain. He was named -Dougald-with-the-Keys, from a bunch of mysterious keys which he bore -at his sporran-belt. These rattled when he walked, and gave him, it -was averred, a mysterious power; for once, when conveying to -Inverness two casks of the mountain-dew, slung across a stout pony, -two excisemen gave him chase, and being well mounted, were about to -make a capture of Dougald's distillation; but near the source of the -Ora he shook his keys at them, and plucking a sprig of rowan, planted -it by the wayside, uttering certain strange and terrible words. On -approaching the sprig, the pursuers felt themselves constrained to -alight from their saddles, and to dance round it furiously, -hand-in-hand, while Dougald laughed and proceeded safely on his -journey towards the Highland capital. The frantic and involuntary -gyrations of the unfortunate excisemen were continued for more than -two hours, until a passing shepherd pulled up the rowan-sprig, -dissolved the spell, and permitted them to fall prostrate on the -road, breathless, powerless, terrified, and resolved never more to -meddle with Dougald, who continued to smuggle and distil in success -and security, and had large sums to his credit, standing in the books -of various discreet retailers in the vicinity of the Clachnacudden. - -Once upon a time Callum had been despatched thither for payment, and -was returning to the glen with a purse well filled with silver -'Georges,' and mounted on the active shelty which usually carried the -casks. Pleased with the large sum he had to pay over to the gloomy, -fierce, and avaricious Dougald, he switched up the nag as he entered -the glen, and hastened on, for the double purpose of ridding himself -of this important cash, and obtaining his supper. - -The cottage and its little outhouses were buried in obscurity when he -approached them; all was dark, yet the hour was not late, and, save a -real or fancied sound of lamentation, all was still. According to -his usual custom, Callum rode straight to the stable door, slipped -from the bare-backed pony, which he had ridden in the Highland -fashion, in his kilt, sans bridle and crupper. On opening the door, -for the purpose of bedding and foddering the little nag, he heard a -well-known rattling of keys. The sound seemed to be in the air! The -pony started--snorted--perspired and trembled; its eyes shot fire; -its fore-feet were firmly planted on the ground, and remained -immovable. Again the keys were heard rattling, and between him and -the moon, Callum saw the figure of Dougald pass like a shadow along -the summit of the little garden wall. The pony then sprang into the -stable with a convulsive bound. An indescribable emotion--a horror -filled the heart of my fosterer; and closing his eyes, lest he might -see something still more appalling, he flung down a few armfuls of -hay and straw to the pony, locked the stable door, and sprang into -the cottage, to find Dougald stretched on the floor, a corpse, and -his wife, Malie, lamenting over him; for at the instant Callum had -seen his figure passing, as it were, through the air, he had sunk -down and expired of some disease unknown. - -Such stories as these, and others, Callum related in low and -impressive whispers, and his powerful and poetical Gaelic, which -invested every trifle with pathos or with terror, were but ill -calculated to soothe a mind which ever and anon in fancy saw the pale -visage and glaring eyes of Snaggs; thus I was glad when the breaking -day began to brighten in the east, and we left the ruined hut of -Dougald the Smuggler to survey the country, which was all black, -burned, and desolate. Its aspect was strange and terrible; a sea of -flame seemed to have rolled over it, sweeping every trace of life and -verdure from its surface. The origin of that nocturnal fire was then -involved in mystery; but the game over eighteen square miles was -irretrievably destroyed, and Callum laughed in scorn. - -'_Let this be a hint_ for our Highlanders!' said he. - -The desolation of the scene was now complete, as that which Abraham -saw of old, when looking towards the cities of the Doomed, he beheld -the smoke of The Land of the Plain, ascending as the smoke of a -furnace. A stripe of green was lingering on the lofty places, but -all was scorched below; thus - - "In mountain or in glen, - Nor tree, nor plant, nor shrub, nor flower, - Nor aught of vegetative power, - The wearied eye may ken; - But all its rocks at random thrown, - Black waves, bare crags, and banks of stone." - -All this occurred only three years ago, but subsequent events have -rendered the concealment of poor Callum's name unnecessary now. - -Three days elapsed before the fire exhausted itself, or was -extinguished, on the thickets being cut down in some places by the -axe, and the heather torn up in others, to bar their progress. - -Meanwhile the sufferings of the poor evicted people, who were -bivouacked in the burial-ground of St. Colme, had been terrible. In -their hunger and despair, some of them had made a species of meal or -flour from the leaves and seed of the wild mustard, and bruising them -together, had kneaded a kind of cake, which, when eaten with mountain -herbs, brought on deadly inflammations and fluxes, of which they died -so fast, that the frightful condition of the survivors reached the -ears of the humane in the Lowlands. But why dwell on a subject that -is of daily occurrence in the Scottish Highlands, and with the hourly -horrors of which the columns of the northern press are constantly -filled? - -A subscription was prepared for them, in common with the miserable -Rosses, who were then being driven out of Sutherland, and the starved -Mac Donnels, who were then hunted down like wild beasts in Glenelg; -but this relief was soon abandoned, through the malevolence of the -usual enemy of the Celtic population--a scurrilous Edinburgh print, -of which Mac Fee, in common with other small wits of the Scottish -Parliament House, was of course a supporter. Charity thus arrested -and withheld, the result proved most fatal to the poor people of Glen -Ora, who died daily--the strong man and the tender child together. - -At last, as I have stated, the authorities, who had been packing our -peasantry in ships like negroes from Africa, and despatching them in -naked hordes from Isle Ornsay and elsewhere to America and Australia, -proposed to the miserable remnant of the Mac Innons that they too -should sail for that far-off land of the West, where the sun of the -Celtic tribes is setting, and with something of despair they -consented, for the most cruel and terrible ultimatum--death by -starvation and exposure menaced them all. - -I will pass over the touching scenes that ensued when the last of our -people were torn from their native district, every feature and memory -of which were entwined around their hearts--torn from their ruined -homes--their father's lonely graves--from all they had loved since -childhood, and when they were thrust, without regard to sex or age, -on board of a small steamer in Loch Ora, for conveyance to Glasgow, -where the great emigrant--or Celtic slave-ship, the _Duchess_, -awaited them. - -Many of these poor people, after the usual custom of the evicted -Highlanders, made up little packages of earth--their native soil---to -bear it with them to the wilds of America, as a relic or memento of -their country; and in the hope that, in this little handful might be -the seeds of the heather-bell and other native plants and flowers. -Strong, deep, and undying is this pure and noble--this holy love of -home, in the Highland heart. The unavailing sorrow, the unheeded -agony, the mental and bodily misery of our evicted emigrants is a -theme so constantly before the public, that we now regard the -depopulation of a valley as quite a usual occurrence, like the fall -of the leaf or the coming of summer; hence I will pass over this part -of iny narrative as briefly as possible. - -The people sailed for Glasgow, and Callum and I, who were to follow -and join them in a day or two, stood on the shore of the loch, and -saw the steamer ploughing through its still blue waters, as it bore -away the sad and wailing freight. - -Near us, on the beach, knelt a man in prayer; his white hairs were -glistening in the setting sun; his eyes were bent upon the lessening -steamer, and his hands were stretched towards her. This was old -Father Raouil, who was sending his last blessing after those on whose -faces he would never look again. - -Near him knelt Callum Dhu, with his bare knees in the sand, and his -rough sunburned face covered by his bonnet--for the strong man had -now given way, and was weeping like a child. - -We are literally _the last of the clan_. - -We watched the steamer till she diminished to a speck, and vanished -round a promontory; then we turned away, and, mechanically and in -silence, ascended the desolate mountains, a community of thought--a -unity of sentiment--leading us instinctively towards the deserted -glen, although neither home nor tie remained unto us there. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIV - -THE WHITE STAG. - -The excitement of this temporary separation over, my thoughts now -reverted to Laura Everingham, whom I had not seen since the day of my -mother's funeral, and from whom I was now on the verge of being -separated for ever--separated so hopelessly, that my heart sickened -at the contemplation. - -Oh how different were my fate, my fortune and position from those of -that bright and happy girl, whose sunny English face and beaming eyes -spoke only of a heart that had never known care or thought or -bitterness. Now budding from the spring of youth into the summer of -womanhood, her figure, though rather undersized, was beautiful and -graceful, lithe and faultless, as all her pretty little ways were -amiable and winning. There was a romance in loving her--a -desperation in it that excited all my ardour; and (as Washington -Irving says) 'do not let us consider whatever is romantic as -incompatible with real life.' - -My hitherto isolated existence had given me few opportunities of -seeing much of the world; hence, unhackneyed in its ways, I loved -Laura more deeply and devotedly than I was quite aware of until this -time of separation came. - -Rambling erratically and in silence, Callum and I reached a -sequestered part of the banks of the Ora, which had escaped the fires -of the late conflagration. - -The sun was setting now, and its golden rays played upon the water, -above the surface of which the salmon rose at times, while the heron -stalked among the sedges. A few corn-patches, sown by those whose -hands would _never reap them_, were turning from pale green to warm -yellow on the southern slope of the hills; the heather about us was -in bloom; the wild flowers spread their fragrant garlands over the -volcanic rocks, and the honey-bee hummed drowsily in the summer -sunshine. - -The scarlet berries of the mountain-ash kissed the sparkling current -of this beautiful river, which teemed with spotted salmon; but these -were all bought up for the southern markets, and it was as much as a -man's life was worth to drop a line into its waters. All was solemn -silence round us now. An occasional deer scrambling along a ridge of -rocks, and rolling the loose stones down the slope, where they -continued to rebound until the sound died in the hollow below; or the -splash of a large salmon, attempting to leap _up_ the falls of the -Ora, alone woke the echoes of the solitude. - -A huge grey polecat, about three feet long, gazed at us from a -fragment of rock without moving, and with an expression of wonder in -its savage eyes; for by the result of the game-restrictions and other -Draconian laws of our Highland feudatories, God's image was becoming -somewhat as scarce in these districts as in Breadalbane, Sutherland, -or on the Braes of Lochaber. - -As the sunset lingered on our magnificent native mountains, Callum -and I gazed about in silence. Every spot had its old and quaint--its -terrible or beautiful--associations and traditions. On one side lay -an inlet of the sea, blue, deep and overshadowed by the impending -rocks, which were alleged in the days of our fathers to have been the -haunt of the _Mhaidan Mhare_, or Water Virgin, a being with -snow-white skin and flowing golden hair, and having a melodious -voice, which mingled with the ripple of the waves, and foretold the -coming rain. On the other side, deeper and darker still, lay a -lonely mountain pool, from the oozy depth of which the _Taru Uisc_, -or Water Bull, was wont to rise at midnight, to bellow horribly at -the waning moon, and to scare the little fairies who danced among the -velvet grass and blue bells, which covered the Sioth Dhunan, or Hills -of Peace, which Druid hands had formed perhaps three thousand years -ago, by the margin of their holy lake. Between us and the flush of -the western sky rose the stupendous circle of their temple, the -blocks of which were said to be enchanted, so that one might count -them a hundred times, and never find the same number twice. Farther -off rose a ridge named Druim-na-dears, or the Hill of Tears; for -there two hundred of our men, who joined the 42nd Highlanders, had -waved their bonnets in farewell for the last time, and of that two -hundred only _one_ came back to tell how his comrades had all -perished with Brigadier Howe, before the ramparts of Ticonderoga. - -Thus every stone, and rock and linn around us, had their memories, -their poetry, their imaginary tenants or their terrors--their tales -of the times of old--and all these we were leaving for ever! - -Our occasional communings and regrets, with many a long pause -between, were suddenly arrested by a shrill cry of terror. We -started from the grassy bank on which we had been seated, and saw a -lady, wearing a broad hat and feather, and mounted on a little -mountain pony, coming at full speed down a narrow path towards the -deep and rapid stream, pursued by a furious stag--the far-famed -_white stag_ of Loch Ora! - -With something of fear I gazed upon this gigantic animal, which, -since my infancy, I had been taught to believe had a supernatural -existence, and to be the forerunner of evil to the race of Mac Innon; -but the reiterated cry of the fair fugitive filled my heart with -other thoughts, on recognizing Laura Everingham, when wild with -terror, and pale, as the fear of a dreadful death could make her, she -rushed past me on her fierce little Highland garron. My resolution -was formed in a moment; and before the stronger and perhaps braver -Callum Dhu, had arranged his thoughts on the subject, I had sprung -forward and unsheathed the skene which I always wore in my right -garter. Rising superior to the flood of gloomy and despairing -thoughts which had made me their victim, and heedless whether the -terrible and traditionary stag slew me and ended all my sorrows at -the feet of Laura, I rushed upon it with my skene-dhu--a weapon only -four inches long. - -The fury of my thoughts gave me treble strength, and insured me -victory. - -The aspect of this animal was appalling; its red eyes shot fire; a -moment it paused, bellowing, roaring, and raking and stabbing, as it -tore up the purple heather with its giant antlers; but with a cry of -triumph I rushed full at him, and escaping by a blessed mercy his -terrible array of points, buried my sharp skene-dhu in his broad -chest. - -Back went the noble head with its lofty antlers, the fore-legs were -extended, and the knees bent as the red life-blood gushed out in -torrents; but again and again my black knife was buried to its hilt -in the snow-white chest of the stag--the wondrous stag of the Mac -Innons! - -His head rose and fell; his whole frame vibrated; he lolled out a hot -steaming tongue, and sank at my feet, dead--this strange creature of -a hundred gloomy legends--leaving me covered with gore--panting with -excitement, and with the hilt of my skene-dhu glued to my right hand -by the hideous puddle that had gushed upon it at each successive -death-blow. - -Laura was saved, and by _me_! - - - - -CHAPTER XXV. - -THE GAEL AND THE SAXON. - -'Hoigh, Mac Innon!' exclaimed Callum Dhu, with a shout of triumph; -'such a feat has not been done since old Glengarry slew the wild stag -in the pass of Glendulochan!' - -I lifted Laura (who was faint and almost sick with terror) from her -pony, and placed her on the soft grassy bank, where I besought her to -be calm, as all danger was now past; but, on perceiving that my right -hand and arm were drenched in blood, she uttered a cry, and clasping -my left hand in hers, asked me in the most moving terms whether 'I -was hurt--if I was safe--uninjured--to speak to her, to say whether I -was wounded or not?' - -I forget alike her exact words and my answer; for we were both -trembling and confused; but in that moment of excitement each had -revealed to the other, more of mutual regard than any circumstance, -save danger, could have drawn forth. On recovering a little, I -said,-- - -'For the act of to-day, I trust, Miss Everingham, that you will think -of me kindly when I am gone.' - -'_Kindly!_' she exclaimed, while her blooming prettiness became -absolute beauty, as her fine eyes beamed, and her face filled with -ardour, and with an expression of gratitude and joy; 'ah how can you -speak so coldly--kindly?--say gratefully, lovingly, prayerfully. You -will ever have all the gratitude--the esteem, my heart can feel!' - -'Thanks, dear Miss Everingham,' I replied, kissing her hand, while my -voice and lips trembled; '_esteem_ is the first element of love. -Without it no passion can endure.' - -She grew pale--looked down, and trembled. - -'And you go?--' - -'Yes.' - -'But, when?' she asked, lifting her eyes sadly to mine. - -'To-morrow.' - -'And you return!--' - -'Never.' - -'Never?' she reiterated. - -'Never--oh never! I go to return no more. It is the doom of our -race, my dear Miss Everingham.' - -'Oh say not so--but here comes dearest papa to thank you in better -words than I can command.' - -As she spoke, Sir Horace, accompanied by Miss Clavering, the Captain -and Mr. Snobleigh, came down the mountain-path at a furious gallop, -and with high alarm depicted in all their faces; however, a glance at -the dead stag, at Laura seated, smiling on the bank, and her pony -quietly cropping the grass beside her, explained in a moment that she -was in perfect safety. Moreover, from the top of the hill, they had -seen me rush upon the stag, and lay it dead at my feet. My -skene-dhu, dripping with blood, explained all the rest. - -'Dearest Laura--and you are safe!' exclaimed Fanny Clavering, -flinging off her broad hat as she sprang from her pony, and hurried -to embrace her friend; 'oh heaven, my dear girl, I wish we were all -safe again in London, or at Elton Hall! We have been little more -than six months in these atrocious Highlands, and yet we have first -had your papa--dear old stupid thing! nearly drowned; then we were -all but burned alive in the shrubbery the other night; and to-day you -on the verge of being torn to pieces by a wild animal!' - -'Aw--aw--Miss Everingham--you would be wilful,' yawned Snobleigh, -'and would go--aw into that fwightful jungle, where we lost you--the -wood of--of--' - -'Coil-chro.' - -'Aw--yes--those devilish 'Ighland names!' - -'I know of no better fun than to have a fine man of the Guards -essaying to get his lazy tongue round an Argyleshire, or a Galway -name. And so it was you, my brave fellow, who slew this noble stag?' -asked the impulsive Fanny, blushing, as she laid her hand on the -shoulder of Callum, who was kneeling on the grass, and feeling the -dead animal with his hands. - -'I--madam?--No; it was slain by the chief--my master; and it is a -deed that would long be remembered in Glen Ora, were there other -inhabitants now than the red-roes and the moor-fowl.' - -'Aw--my dear fellow, get your hands washed, for weally that wed blood -is atwocious, 'pon my soul it is.' - -'Stuff, Snobleigh,' said Captain Clavering; 'what the deuce does a -little blood matter? You have done well and nobly, Mac Innon; but -you look a little pale--you are not hurt, I hope?' - -'Not in the least.' - -'Why don't you speak, Sir Horace?' said Miss Clavering, impetuously; -'have you not a tongue to thank him who saved your daughter's life?' - -'I have a tongue, but not words, my dear Miss Clavering,' said the -cold and pompous baronet. 'You have saved my Laura from a terrible -death, sir,' he continued, addressing me with a warmth of manner -somewhat unusual in him; 'stay among us, Mr. Mac Innon, and I shall -leave nothing undone for your welfare--that is, if it is in my power, -of course.' - -'Aw--of course,' chorused the languid Snobleigh. - -'Do, Mr. Mac Innon,' added Fanny Clavering, bending her bright and -beautiful eyes upon me, while she laid her pretty hand upon my arm; -'do, and all the past shall be forgotten.' - -'Your offer comes too late, Sir Horace,' said I, in a broken voice, -'though my heart is rent in two by this separation from my native -country--with that separation every tie is broken. Restore the -people--restore that now ruined hamlet and desolate glen to what it -was a month ago; give me back my poor old mother from her cold grave -on yonder promontory, that grave to which your severity or the -cruelty of your underlings drove her, and _then_ speak of remaining -here; but not till then.' - -'Arms are the natural profession of a Highlander,' said Captain -Clavering, putting a hand on my shoulder in his frank English way; -'could you, Sir Horace, not do something for him at the Horse -Guards?--Devilish sorry that I have no interest in that quarter -myself.' - -'It would afford me the utmost gratification to do so,' replied the -stiff and pompous baronet, in his coldest manner; '_but_ really, the -fact is, I do not feel myself at liberty to ask a favour from any of -the present administration.' - -'The deuce you don't?' - -'Aw--of course,' hummed Snobleigh. - -And there was an end of it; though I would have died rather than -accepted the smallest favour at his hands. To be patronized by -_him_! The idea was enough to call my mother's fiery spirit back to -earth. - -As a huntsman, Callum was now, by mere force of habit, proceeding to -gralloch the stag with his sharpened skene; and as this work -progressed, unfortunately for the legends of our glensmen, he found -it to be--not two hundred years old--but a fine _warrantable stag_ of -at least six summers. - -'Well, my friend, the fox-hunter,' said Clavering; 'could you not -stay among us--I'll take the odds on it, Sir Horace could do -something for you.' - -'Likely enough,' said the baronet, mounting; 'you would make a -first-rate gamekeeper.' - -'Many thanks, sir,' replied Callum, touching his bonnet with a fierce -and covert irony gleaming in his dark eyes; 'but the time has gone -past, Englishman, for that too; we go, we go to return no more! You -purchased this land, true; any other depopulating game speculator -might have done so; but he who sold it to you--was it _his_ to sell? -It belonged to the people and not to him. The land was God's gift to -the Gael; it is theirs, and all the produce thereof is theirs.' - -'This is a thief's maxim,' said Sir Horace, sharply. - -'To you it may seem so; but we have a saying among us--_Breac na -linne, slàt na coille, s'fiadh na fireach meirladh nach do gabh duine -riamh nair as_. - -'What the devil is all that in English? it sounds like the croaking -of frogs in a Dutch canal.' - -'It means, that a fish from the stream, a stag from the mountain, or -a tree from the forest are no thefts, but the right of he who wants -them.' - -'Why sirrah, this is poaching or trespassing, as Snaggs would tell -you, had he not disappeared so unaccountably. I must teach these -Highland fellows, Clavering, to respect the sacred laws of property! -I have as much right to the wood and water, and game, as to anything -else. "If the sun goes down on my property," says the _Man made of -Money_, "I have a clear title to that sunset; if the clouds, over my -land, are remarkably fine, they are my clouds." A noble maxim! Then -does not the same rule apply to the pheasants, plover, curlew, deer, -and foxes--eh?' - -'You are a stranger here,' retorted Callum, 'and consequently know no -better. God--blessed be his name!--never sent a little mouth into -the world without providing food for it. There was a time when, in -these glens, we had food enough to spare; but, a chial! for the devil -came in breeks and took it away from us.' - -'This bores me,' said Sir Horace: 'Clavering, assist Laura and your -sister to mount; we'll send some one for the stag. Many thanks, good -fellow, for your cutting and carving it thus--but please to let it -alone. Ah--a good evening and a safe voyage to you, Mr. Mac Innon,' -and with a brief nod, Sir Horace walked his shooting pony leisurely -up the slope. - -Laura and Miss Clavering reluctantly followed him; but both bade me -kindly--the former silently--adieu. I knew that in the twilight she -was weeping behind her veil, and my heart was deeply moved, for I -might never behold her again. Snobleigh--the empty, vacant and -insipid Snobleigh--bowed and cantered after them; but Clavering -lingered still, and said, - -'I feel sincere regret, Mac Innon, to see a bold young fellow like -you, flung upon this cold and faithless world--can I do anything for -you?' - -'I thank you, sir--but know of nothing.' - -'We are now at war with Russia--you have thus before you a noble -field for action.' - -'And after the treatment I have experienced in my own country, I -should justly seek it in the Russian ranks. You are right, Captain -Clavering--I thank you; war is the natural resource of the desperate -and poor; but alas! I have neither interest nor money to enter the -service.' - -'Deuced awkward--and we have no volunteering in this war. But think -over all I have said, for it is a devil of a thing to take to felling -of trees and draining swamps in the Far West, leaving civilization -far behind you, and having the Pacific and the Red men in your front, -while your nearest chum dwells three hundred miles off--and there you -will fight with the Indians, the earth and the elements, to feed a -little herd of snivelling Yankees, who will grow up in hatred of the -land their fathers came from. It won't do, my dear fellow--think -over it, and if I can do anything for you, drop me a line at Glen Ora -House, or at the Western Club, Glasgow, where I shall be in a day or -so, about the happiest piece of business in the world. Adieu!' - -With these words we separated, and Callum and I were left on the dark -hill-side; the last glow of sunset had faded away, and the mysterious -white stag of Loch Ora was lying at our feet dead, motionless, and -still as a drift of snow. - - - - -CHAPTER XXVI. - -A LAST INTERVIEW. - -To-morrow evening, the steamer from Loch Linnhe for Oban and Glasgow, -would touch at Loch Ora, and with it, Callum and I were to leave our -native district for ever. The bitter, crushing, and painful sinking -of the heart that accompanied this conviction was increased by the -knowledge that never again would I see the face or hear the voice of -Laura. Grinding poverty on one hand, and wealth on the other, had -reared a solid rampart between us; yet I still loved Laura, despite -the hopelessness of that love, which made me feel more bitterly than -ever that a poor gentleman is the most miserable of all God's -creatures. - -Callum, my fosterer, though to me, ever gentle as a woman and -faithful as a dog, was alternately morose or silent, and appalled by -our approaching departure; and as he lay that night on some -freshly-pulled heather, in a corner of poor Father Raoul's humble -hut, I heard him sobbing under the tattered plaid which enveloped his -head and shoulders; for his gallant heart and strong resolution were -failing him at last. - -My whole thoughts were of Laura now, for my hopeless separation from -her, conflicted with my regret on leaving my desolated home. The -craving desire to see her once again became uncontrollable, and -desiring Callum to wait for me, by a near and familiar path--never -again to be trod by me--I hastened up the glen, which led directly to -the new manor-house of Glen Ora. - -It was a narrow road which led of old to the stronghold of our tribe, -and there had been a time when none could have thought that a Mac -Innon would ever ascend it in such bitterness of soul as I then -endured. The tower--the home of a race whose source even tradition -failed to trace--was demolished now, and the huge square modern villa -of the baronet crowned its site; but all unchanged with its shade of -silver birch was the bramble-covered path by which for ages - - 'The hunter of deer and the warrior trod - To his hills that encircle the sea.' - -Everything spoke to me of home and farewell. The murmur of the dark -pines that shaded the hills; the hiss of a little cascade, falling in -foam down the old grey rocks, like the end of a silvery scarf; the -sun lingering like a globe of fire above the dark shoulder of Ben -Ora. The little cascade seemed to have its source in the clouds, -and, like a silver shower, the light wind flung its spray abroad upon -the turf and flowers. - -A moment I lingered there, and thought it would be a boon to be dead -and buried in peace on that green mountain slope, where the heather -might wave and the deer bound over me; for the dread of dying in a -far distant land is strong in the heart of every mountaineer. - -But enough of such thoughts and themes. - -Full of them, however, I reached the new birchen avenue which led to -the elegant manor-house of Sir Horace Everingham, and without having -conceived how I should achieve the desired interview with Laura, or -what means to pursue. - -I lurked among the trees and shrubbery, watching the windows for -nearly half an hour, fearing to be seen, hopeless of seeing her alone -if I saw her at all, and trembling with anxiety, for every moment was -of priceless value to me. I saw the falling shadows lengthening to -the eastward, and knew that when the sun sank below the shoulder of -the Ben, the Highland steamer would be at the pier of the loch. - -An exclamation of joy escaped me, as a drawing-room window which -unfolded to the floor was opened, and she--Laura herself--stepped out -into the gravel-walk of the garden, not a pistol-shot distant from -where I was concealed. - -She was attired in a very becoming evening costume; she had her broad -hat slung by its ribbons over her left arm, and had an open volume in -her right hand. She looked pale and thoughtful, but was neither sad, -nor bearing a trace of tears. This disappointed me, as she must have -known that this was the eve of my final departure; but the claim I -had on her regard and memory was too slight--and among so many gay -friends and accomplished admirers, and amid so much luxury, it might -easily be effaced and forgotten. - -My heart beat like lightning, as she approached and entered a -summer-seat, which was shrouded by a little dome, and four sides of -iron wire, in the fashion of a Turkish kiosk, and was covered -completely with roses and honeysuckle. I quickly crept towards it, -and---as my evil fortune would have it--had only time to ensconce and -conceal myself among the ample laurel-bushes close by, when the voice -of the gay and laughing Fanny Clavering, who had been asleep, I -presume, in the arbour, fell suddenly on my ear, as she at once -resumed what appeared to be a former conversation. To all this I was -compelled to listen. It may be the reverse of etiquette to repeat -what passes in private, and still more so, aught we may chance to -overhear; but there would be a fearful hiatus in many a veracious -history, in mine in particular, without those opportune -eaves-droppings; besides, I believe that no man in this world could -resist the desire to listen, 'with all the ears in his head,' if he -deemed himself the subject of conversation between two pretty women. -Thus, as much that passed between these fair friends concerned -myself, I hearkened with an anxiety that was the more painful, as I -dared not, for very shame, avow or discover myself. - -The two girls were seated near each other. Laura had resigned her -book, and was twirling the ribbons of her broad summer hat round her -slender fingers. Fanny had her white hands thrust into the pockets -of a very bewitching little black silk apron, and her beautiful -features, her fine eyes, and nose _retroussé_, wore the most droll -and arch expression in the world. - -'Come now, Fanny, don't be silly,' said Laura. - -'Is it possible that you have lived to the age of twenty without -having one dear little affair of the heart?' - -'Not one, Fanny--and _you_?--' - -'Oh, don't speak of my heart, pray--it has been broken twenty times. -But, don't you know, love, that an engagement of the heart is a most -delightful thing?' - -'Perhaps so--but mine is only formed for friendship.' - -'Fiddlestick! one lover is worth a hundred friends.' - -'Nay, Fanny; I think _one_ friend worth a thousand lovers; and I -never met with a man capable of inspiring in me more than the merest -friendship.' - -'And how about my brother Tom?' - -'Nay, nay, Fanny; now don't look so archly.' - -'Well, then--our young Highland friend?' - -Laura was silent, and became very pale. - -'Speak?' - -'You are a dear droll!' said Laura, making an effort to laugh, after -a pause; 'well--_he_ is both handsome and winning.' - -'But so innocent--so particularly verdant.' - -'Yet that innocence of dissipated life charms me.' - -'I am excessively amused! But you cannot--dare not, encourage this -idea. Love _him_--oh, Laura, such a _mésalliance_! the imaginary -chief of a beggarly burned up tract in the West Highlands. The last -of the Mohicans!' - -'_Mésalliance!_' reiterated Laura, with an air of pique; 'what is our -family, which dates from the Restoration, when compared to his, -which, for aught that I know, dates from the days of Ossian.' - -'Immensely superior, I should say--for the gentlemen of Ossian's time -knew deuced little about making up a book on the Oaks, or knowing the -points of the winner of the Derby, as _I_ do--or of Bank-stock, or -shares or railway scrip, and so forth, as Sir Horace does.' - -'But then, Fanny dear, think of what I owe him--that dreadful rescue -of yesterday? Oh, there is nothing I admire so much as bravery in a -man!' - -'But this is a boy.' - -'Well--a brave boy--and are we much more than girls?' - -'Such a little sophist it is! If you run on thus I shall end by -loving that tall fellow who hunts the foxes. I own to be immensely -delighted with him. Is he not a love of a man, with his magnificent -black beard?' - -'You have spoken more of _him_ than I have done of his master.' - -'Perhaps I am in love with him,' said Fanny, with a roguish -expression in her beautiful eyes. - -'Scarcely,' replied Laura, with a little reserve; 'for it is your -style to yawn and fret to-day over all that enchanted you yesterday. -You tire of everything.' - -'And thus would very soon tire, I fear, of such a lover as your Allan -Mac Innon. He is but a wild Highland boy--I should like a man with a -lofty presence--a man of whom I should feel proud, even when I had -tired of him, and ceased to love him.' - -'Oh, Fanny! I _am_ proud of him, in my own quiet and unobtrusive -little way. He is so bold, so hardy, so active, and so manly!' said -poor Laura, blushing deeply at her own energy, while my heart beat -with tumultuous joy; 'his eyes, too--do they not tell the history of -a sad and thoughtful life? He is like the Mac Ivor of Waverley.' - -'There it is! you have caught the tartan fever, which is nearly as -bad as the scarlet one, and may be worse now, since the Line have -lost their epaulettes. Well, I should like a lover of whom one would -not be ashamed to make one's husband.' - -'Husband--' - -Laura was silent; and, trembling with joy, I forgot all about poor -Callum Dhu, who was seated patiently with my baggage on the pier, -awaiting the steamer which was now coming down the loch. - -'Young Mac Innon is so poor, so wild, so strange!' resumed the -painfully plain-spoken Fanny. - -'These only make me the more his friend.' - -'And we all know that "friendship in woman is kindred to love." He -is quite like a young robber.' - -'Well,' replied Laura, taking up her lively friend's rattling manner, -'I always thought it would be divine to marry a bandit! When we -travelled from Rome to Naples, I looked daily for a handsome young -brigand in a sugar-loaf hat, velvet jacket, and those red bandages -which no outlaw is ever without--a Masseroni--a Fra Diavalo--but, -alas! none ever came, and we jogged as quietly along the Appian Way -as if it had been Rotten Row or the Canterbury-road.' - -'But as we have had enough about Allan Mac Innon, now let us recur to -our constant theme--my brother Tom and his old suit--or his friend, -Snobleigh.' - -_Recur_, thought I. - -'I could _learn_ to love your brother, perhaps, Fanny, because he is -gentlemanly, kind, and lovable; but, as for Snobleigh--the fop, the -mouthing idler--who would propose just as coolly as he would light a -cigar, button his glove, or stroke a horse's knee, do not speak of -such an atrocity as marriage with him--and yet he has proposed to me -twice.' - -'And been rejected?' asked Fanny, her dark eyes flashing with a -mixture of fun and pique. - -'Yes--rejected, yet still he loiters here, devoid alike of spirit and -delicacy.' - -'How did he receive your refusal?' - -'Such was his provoking coolness, that I could have boxed his ears. -Stroking his buff-coloured moustache, which, as you know, finds him a -vast fund of employment, he adjusted his round collar and -long-skirted surtout, and yawned out, "Vewy well, Miss Lawa--it don't -mattaw--aw-aw--but, wemembaw that, the--aw--choicest gifts of God and -of the Gwenadiaw Gawds, are--aw-aw--at your feet."' - -Fanny's loud and ringing laugh at her friend's description was -interrupted by the bell to dress for dinner; on which she murmured -something about her attire, and in her usual volatile manner, sprang -away, leaving Laura to follow her as she chose. - -All that I had overheard proved unmistakably the interest I had in -Laura's heart--a discovery that proved the foundation of much joy and -pride and future misery to me. - -All that followed is dim and wavering now, as a dream of years long -past. - -She was about to leave the saloon, when I stood before her, trembling -in heart and in every limb. She grew very pale on seeing me, and I -pressed her white passive hands to my lips and to my breast, and in -such language as the agony of the moment supplied, I thanked her for -the interest she took in one so miserable as I--and I prayed her to -remember me when gone, for never more would my voice fall on her ear; -I prayed, too, that God might bless her, and while thus pouring out -the long-treasured secret of my heart, without daring once to touch -her lips, though she stood beside me, pale and passive as a marble -statue, I sprang away, as the voice of Clavering was heard in the -shrubbery close by. I reached the avenue, and leaving the park and -plantations far behind me, rushed like a deer down the glen to reach -the steamer. - -There was yet time to pause a moment! - -I looked back to the old primeval woods which shaded the -mansion-house of Glen Ora, and to the fire-scathed mountains that -overhung it. Strange to say, I had now no bitterness in my heart, -for Laura was their heiress, and I loved her more than all the world. -I gave a parting glance at that beloved scenery now deepening in the -summer gloaming. Glen Ora was dark and silent now--dark as if the -shadow of death lay on it--and silent and voiceless as the grave, the -last home of our people. - -Sorrow and love were struggling in my heart, and sad, solemn, and -terrible thoughts rose within me. - -As each familiar object faded away and melted into night, then came -to my heart the bitter conviction that I was a houseless wanderer, -with the wide world all before me--that I was without country, -friends, or home--but of the right mettle to become a brave and -reckless soldier. - -My country indeed! - -I would have cursed her! What did I owe her? nothing. But she owed -me a debt of blood--the blood of more than thirty of my own name and -kindred, who had perished in her reckless wars--dying bravely sword -in hand, and in the king's service--for in legions have the men of -the clans gone forth to battle for Britain, and now ruin, treachery, -extirpation and obloquy, with the garbage of the public press, are -heaped upon the remnant who remain. - - - - -CHAPTER XXVII. - -DUMBARTON. - -Callum Dhu, with my little baggage, had awaited me with some anxiety; -but I joined him at the pier in time to reach the steamer which was -to take us to the Clyde. - -When I told him of all that had passed, his dark eyes flashed, and -his swarthy cheek glowed, and slapping his bare knee, he exclaimed:-- - -'Dioul! now or never is the time to make your fortune, like Donald -Gair or Robin Oig. Marry the Englishman's daughter, and Glen -Ora--hill, wood, and water--shall all be ours again!' - -But the monotonous flap-flap-flapping of the steamer's screw was the -only reply he heard, as she bore us away for ever. - -We reached the noble Clyde in due time, and landed at Dumbarton, for -there we ascertained the _Duchess_ was to take on board our emigrants. - -I have often thought of the truth of the poet's maxim, that there is -a culminating point in the life of every man, and woman too--a turn -of 'the tide,' which decides their destiny, and by which their future -is irrevocably fixed; and, as this chapter will show, the whole -current of my after-life has been changed by the simple circumstance -of this emigrant ship being at Dumbarton instead of Glasgow. She was -not quite ready for sea--thus three weeks slipped away, during which -I lived at a hotel, frittering away the little funds I possessed, -while my poor emigrants (who were daily receiving fresh accessions -from the expatriated Rosses and Mac Donels) occupied certain old -storehouses and sheds upon the quays. - -One day Callum and I were sitting at a sequestered part of the river, -surveying the stupendous rock of Dumbarton, which is cleft in two, -and rises like a mighty mitre of basalt from the channel of the -Clyde, strong and formidable in aspect, defended by cannon and by -venerable ramparts, from which the beautiful vale of the Leven, the -dark mountains of Arrochar, and the vast expanse of the azure river -are visible. The shadow of many ages lay upon its hoary walls, for -it is the Balclutha of Ossian and of the Romans--the Dun Britton, -whence came 'the tall Galbraiths of the Red Tower,' so famed in -Celtic story. Now its summits were wreathed in mist; the shades of -evening were closing on it, and the red gleam of bayonets appeared -upon its walls, as the sentinels of a Highland regiment trod to and -fro upon the same ramparts from which the soldiers of the Cæsars, in -nearly the same costume, had, eighteen hundred years ago, kept this -key of the Western Highlands and of the navigation of the Clyde. - -As I gazed at the bayonets glittering ever and anon above the old -grey bastions, the words of Clavering came again and again to my -memory, and the longing to become a soldier, with a horror of -hopeless banishment as an emigrant, grew strong within me. My father -had once belonged to this very regiment--the famous fighting --th -Highlanders. My resolution was taken in a moment. I would see their -colonel--I would speak with him--tell my wishes and depressing -circumstances, and frankly ask his advice. Callum loudly applauded -this idea! - -'He'll make a captain of you,' said he, with a confidence that was -certainly not based on a knowledge of the service. 'Who can say -nay?' he continued, with kindling eyes; 'a Mac Innon of Glen Ora -could never be less than a captain--Mona, Mon Dioul--no! and I shall -become a soldier too, and, with five and twenty more of our lads, -will follow you to the end of the world, and further!' - -In ten minutes after this resolution was formed we were ascending the -steep pathway of the castle rock, while Callum whistled lustily an -interminable but most warlike pibroch. Entering by the gate which is -at the foot of the fortress, and faces the south-east, we passed -several strong ramparts, and ascended an abrupt flight of steps into -the heart of the place, where the magazine stands, and the sword of -Sir William Wallace is preserved. Here a few Highland soldiers who -were on guard, and who sat smoking and lounging on a deal form in -front of the guard-house, pointed out the quarters of their colonel, -in search of whom I immediately repaired; but was informed by an -orderly that he was in the mess-room, into which he at once ushered -me without much ceremony. - -The apartment was large and plain; the windows afforded a view of the -mighty valley of the Clyde; the furniture consisted of thirty -hard-seated Windsor chairs, a long mahogany table, and side tables -strewed with newspapers and dog-eared army-lists. Over the -mantelpiece hung an engraved portrait of Sir Colin Campbell, General -of the Highland Division, and a row of enormous stags' antlers and -skulls. - -A handsome, but elderly man, with grizzled hair, becoming slightly -bald, and having an obstinate moustache that despised bandoline and -defied all trimming, and having a face browned by every climate under -heaven, was seated on one chair, while his spurred heels rested on -another. He was immersed in the pages of the 'U.S. Gazette.' He -wore green tartan trews and a red shell-jacket, with a sash over his -left shoulder; a plain Highland bonnet and a splendidly jewelled dirk -lay beside him; and close by was a decanter of peculiar mess port, a -glass of which he set down with a glance of surprise as Callum and I, -after the preliminary _single knock_ on the door, were ushered in by -the mess-waiter. - -This officer was Colonel Ronald Crawford, who distinguished himself -so much in India, and of whom it was often said, that he was so brave -and cool, that he would not have winked even if a cannon ball had -shaved his whiskers. He bowed politely to me--looked inquisitively -at Callum, who he no doubt supposed to be a recruit, and whose -tattered mountain garb was somewhat remarkable. He stood dutifully, -bonnet in hand, about a yard behind me, eying the colonel dubiously, -as he might have eyed an ogre. - -'I believe I have the honour to address Colonel Crawford of the --th -Highlanders,' said I. - -'The same at your service,' said the colonel, rising, planting his -feet astride, and placing his back to the fire--a favourite -professional attitude. - -'Mr. Allan Mac Innon,' said I, introducing myself with timid anxiety. - -The colonel bowed again, and said, blandly,-- - -'In what can I serve you, Mr. Mac Innon?' - -My story was briefly told, and he listened with considerable -interest, for he was too brave in heart to hear it without emotion. - -'Your name is Mac Innon, and your father was, you mention, in the ---th Highlanders. Did he serve once with the 1st Royal Scots?' - -'Yes, in the war against the Pindarees, and fought at the battle of -Nagpore and the storming of Gawelghur.' - -'I knew him, my lad, I knew him well,' said the old Colonel, pressing -both my hands in his; 'God bless me, but this is strange! And you -are the son of old Allan Mac Innon of the Royals!--He saved my life -at Nagpore--.' - -'Then _you_ are the officer, to save whom he made such a desperate -effort at the head of thirty men of the Royals, and whom he found -tied to the muzzle of a brass gun, which was loaded--' - -'With round shot and grape, my boy! but he saved me, by cleaving with -one blow of his sword the rascally Arab who was about to apply the -match that would have blown me to shreds! This was just within the -Durawazza gate, when poor Jack Bell of ours, with a company of the -Royal Scots and a party of Sappers, stormed it. Bless my soul! and -you are really the son of my old chum and comrade, Allan Mac Innon? -Drink your wine, my lad, and tell me all this once again.' - -In ten minutes we were quite old friends; another decanter of port -was ordered up, Callum was consigned to the care of the mess-waiter, -and then I made known my wishes to the colonel, who began alternately -to smile and look a little perplexed. - -'You wish a commission--we are now at war to be sure; but there are -many difficulties. Have you any interest?' - -'None--all who might have served me have died in the army.' - -'You cannot purchase?' - -'I have not quite twenty guineas in the world.' - -'Bless my soul! Then there are the necessary studies--a curriculum -in fact--an examination and cramming at Sandhurst. What languages do -you know?' - -'English, a little French, and Gaelic.' - -The old colonel burst into a fit of laughter. - -'Come--I like this! Did your father purchase?' - -'No.' - -'Then how did he join the Black Watch?' - -'By bringing two hundred men to its ranks.' - -'We are making the regiment up to two battalions--the full war -establishment; if, among your emigrants you could procure as many -volunteers as would entitle you to an ensigncy--' - -'How many are required?' - -'Five and twenty,' - -'I can bring you that very number!' said I, rising and seizing my -bonnet. - -'Nay, not so fast,' said the colonel, laughing, and filling my glass -again. 'Will they all pass the doctor's examination?' - -'They are the flower of the district--strong, hardy, and athletic -men,' I replied, as the wine mounted into my head; 'men inured to a -life of poverty and toil; men who with no other covering than their -kilt and plaid have remained upon the frozen heather and in the open -air for weeks together, to stalk the wild red deer; men who with a -single bullet will kill a hawk or eagle in full flight, or bring the -most furious stag to bay--ay and slay it too, by one stroke of a -skene-dhu or a clubbed rifle!' - -'Bravo! this is the stuff to make soldiers of! Instead of five and -twenty, I wish you had five hundred such, _cho laidir Re -Cuchullin_--as strong as the Fingalian. You see, my lad, I don't -forget my Gaelic.' - -'The day will never come again, when five hundred such men will march -from the Braes of Loch Ora, colonel.' - -He invited me to dine that day at the mess, where the splendor of the -plate, the richness of the Highland uniforms, the various wines, the -number and delicacy of the dishes, with the kindness and frank -good-fellowship of the officers, charmed and dazzled me; and as they -were all passionately fond of sporting, shooting, and deer-stalking, -topics in which I was quite at home, I conversed about them with an -ease, energy, and confidence which--when I forgot the pink -champagne--certainly surprised myself. - -Anxious to have his battalion made up without delay, the colonel had -already written to the Horse Guards about me: bounties were high, and -men were scarce; my twenty-five volunteers were ready and willing, -and an answer was expected from the General Commanding-in-Chief -within eight days. - -The night was far advanced before I left the castle. - -Full of new thoughts, new hopes, and new life, my whole horizon -seemed to have become suddenly cloudless, bright, and sunny; Laura's -beautiful eyes were before me, and amid the mellowing influences of -the moonlight and the mess champagne, nothing seemed impossible for -me to achieve, and I felt happy, confident, and glorious. - -The moon shone with silver splendor on the broad expanse of the -Clyde, and far across its bosom threw the shadow of Dumbarton's -double peak. To me there seemed but one dark spot in the -landscape--the large emigrant ship, which lay at anchor in the -stream--the _Duchess_, which was to convey our poor and expatriated -people to their new homes in the Land of the West. - -I will hasten over _their_ departure to America; the sailing of the -vessel was hurried next day, and they were thrust on board pell-mell, -like sheep. I will not attempt to describe the parting between them -and the twenty-five who volunteered to share my fortune in the old -world, rather than become the pioneers of civilization and the -patriarchs of another race in the western hemisphere. Callum and -Minnie parted for the time, with the usual promises of constancy, of -remembrance, and of writing until they met again, for she would not -leave her relations to become the wife of a soldier--and so we all -separated. - -Alisdair Mac Gouran and the older of the expatriated, were full of -many misgivings; but aged people always are so; and the shrill cry of -sorrow and farewell which ascended from that crowded deck as the -fore-yard was filled, and when the anchor was apeak, went to my heart -like a dagger. The elders of the tribe, whose tastes, habits, and -thoughts were bounded by the narrow horizon of their native glen, -were naturally filled with consternation by the idea of the new and -far-off land of their labours and eternal rest; but I now felt a -fresh hope--a new joy springing up within me, as the love of -adventure and the consciousness of freedom, so dear to a young and -buoyant heart, roused my energies and my enthusiasm, and I now longed -for the hour when I should belt on my sword, with the world for my -home, and the colours for my household gods. - -I will refrain from detailing the cruelties and barbarities to which, -in their outward voyage, the last of the clan were subjected; how -they were decimated by starvation and fever; how the old perished -daily and the young lost health and heart together; and how the aged -Mhari and the young and blooming Minnie died off the foggy Bank of -Newfoundland. On board the _Duchess_ a small allowance of meal with -a liberal quantity of brackish water was their daily food; but than -they were amply furnished with anti-slavery tracts, Addresses to the -Women of America, and shilling copies of Uncle Tom's Cabin. - -Whether or not it is owing to the apathy or incapacity of the -man--the solitary man--the supposed legal and diplomatic Briareus, to -whom the government of Scotland is intrusted, or to the utter -ignorance of that country betrayed by British legislators, that the -sufferings of our Celts arise, I pretend not to say. The fault lies -somewhere. - -Ignorance of Scottish affairs and of Scottish wants and wishes, -together with the criminal apathy of Scottish representatives and the -overwhelming influence of centralization, are doubtless the cause of -much of the misery and ruin of the Highland population; and the day -may come when Britain will find the breasts and bayonets of her -foreign legionaries, or the effeminate rabble of her manufacturing -cities, but a poor substitute for the stubborn clansmen of -Sutherland, Ross-shire, and Breadalbane. - - - - -CHAPTER XXVIII. - -MY REGIMENT. - -'To be Ensigns in the 2nd battalion of the -- Highlanders, Allan Mac -Innon, Gent., and John Belton, Gent., vice Dowb, promoted to the -Turkish Contingent.' - -Such was the announcement which I read in a Gazette sent to my -lodgings one morning, about a fortnight after my first interview with -Colonel Crawford. I now ceased to be 'gent.' in any sense of the -word, and found myself in one day a full-blown ensign, with a fortune -of 5_s._ 3_d._ per diem, and a passport to go where glory invited me, -in the shape of whistling-dicks and Minie-rifles. - -Thus, thanks to the faith and love borne me by twenty-five peasant -lads of Glen Ora, now all duly attested and accepted soldiers, I had -surmounted the barriers of interest at the Horse Guards; the -necessity of pounding 500_1._ with Cox and Co., the puzzling, -cramming, and quizzing at Sandhurst, with a hundred minor annoyances. - -Let the reader suppose my subscription to band-fund, mess-plate, and -commission fees all paid--three trifles amounting to twenty-one -guineas, by which one's first three months' pay is legally borrowed -under the Royal authority; let the reader imagine my outfit -procured--my uniform, camp-equipage, canteen, iron-bedstead, et -cetera, provided--and all to be paid for by Providence, or the -plunder of Sebastopol, if the aforesaid 5_s._ 3_d._ failed to do -so--and behold me, then, an ensign in a 'crack regiment,' and like -Don Juan-- - - 'Made up by youth, by love, and by an army tailor.' - - -In less than a month I was reported fit for duty, and joined my -company, into which the colonel had kindly enrolled my twenty-five -Mac Innons. I had applied myself with such assiduity to the -mysteries of the goose-step, the right half-face, the left half-face, -and the right-about three-quarters-face, &c., that I gained the -respect of that dread man the adjutant, and the profound esteem of -the various sergeants to whom I was handed over in succession to -acquire the manual and platoon exercises, the use of the club and -broadsword, and to each of whom, at parting, the 'tip' of two days' -pay was necessary. I soon won, too, the entire confidence of our -brave old colonel, who, in kindness and advice, acted to me more as a -father than a friend. - -Great was the change this month had achieved in my fortunes! In that -brief time I had seen our dwellings levelled to the earth! the glen, -which had been peopled for ages, laid desolate and bare; the muirs -consumed by fire, and all the land reduced to a voiceless solitude. -My mother was lying far away in her quiet grave--her old familiar -face was gone for ever: I was separated from Laura, and was now a -soldier, like my forefathers, with the wide world all before me. - -Of John Belton, who was gazetted at the same time with myself, and -who became one of my chief friends, I shall speak frequently anon. -He was a handsome, lively, and light-hearted fellow, and we were a -pair of inseparables; but with all the charms of the new life that -had so suddenly opened before me, I was far from happy still. - -After long thought, anxiety, and careful consideration, with a heart -inspired by love and hope, I ventured to write a timid letter to -Laura, expressing my admiration, my esteem, and undying regard for -her, all of which were strengthened by the knowledge that an early -and greater separation was at hand, as the regiment to which I had -been appointed was warring in the East, and I added, that in leaving -her, more than probably for ever, all my hopes and prayers were for -her happiness. - -Cæsar, on the night before the great battle of Pharsalia, was not -more full of thought than I, while penning this letter to little -Laura Everingham. - -I dared not ask her to write to me, yet I hoped she might do so; -indeed, for some days, I was certain she would reply. I knew that -she would write politely, kindly, timidly, and perhaps with some -formality; but I longed to gaze upon the lines her pretty hand had -traced. It would be a relic of her--a souvenir of buried hopes and -futile aspirations, when other days would come. - -But day after day passed--a week elapsed--then, a fortnight, and yet -no letter came; and daily, while every pulse quickened with anxiety, -I watched the pipe-major (who acted as our regimental postman) -distributing his letters on parade; but, alas! none ever came for me. - -My courage fell--day succeeded day, and still no letter. Then hope -began to die; my nights were dreamy or sleepless, and my days full of -gnawing suspense. Could Laura be ill?--then Fanny would write. Had -she dismissed me from her mind? or had Sir Horace intercepted the -letter? Thus I wearied myself with conjectures. Should I write to -her again? Pride said 'no;' yet that very pride which sprang from -wounded self-esteem was rendered the more bitter by its struggle with -much of honest tenderness, pure regard, and sincere regret that one I -loved so well should treat me with such cutting coldness and neglect. - -I endured six weeks of much chagrin and suspense after writing that -unlucky letter from Dumbarton; but at last a crisis was put to my -artificial affliction. - -One day Captain Clavering made his appearance at mess, in mufti; he -was the guest of Colonel Crawford, and expressed so much real -pleasure and satisfaction at meeting me again, that he quite won me -by his frankness. He even went the length of offering me the use of -his purse, saying that I might repay him at any time--whenever it -suited me to do so. - -'I know deuced well, my dear fellow, what it is to be under orders -for foreign service, having once had the misfortune to be in the -Line,' said he, 'and to have only five shillings and threepence per -diem, to find myself in messing, clothing, servant and servant's -livery, camp-equipage, and everything. Snobleigh of ours--languid as -ever--has lost a devil of a bet on the Oaks, and has rejoined the -Guards at Windsor. Fanny, my sister, is as Lola Montes--looking as -ever. Sir Horace--you asked for Sir Horace--he is quite well and -hearty; busy about his new shooting-box in Glen Ora; and Laura--oh -Laura is more charming than ever, and full of anticipated happiness.' - -As he said this, he stroked his black moustache, and gave me one of -the most knowing little winks; and it scorned to convey so much, -though I knew not what, that pique fettered my tongue, and a vague -sentiment of jealousy filled my heart. - -'He is a fine fellow Clavering,' said the colonel, in a low voice, to -me;--'glad to see you know him.' - -'Ah--yes--he is quite an old friend,' I replied, while fixing my gaze -on a diamond-and-pearl ring he wore on the engaged finger, and which -I recognized to have been worn by Laura. - -'I knew his brother well--poor Bob Clavering, of the 5th--the -Northumberland Fusileers,' said Brevet-Major Duncan Catanagh, the -captain of our Grenadiers, a dark-visaged, rough, and black-bearded -soldier; 'and I had the narrowest escape in the world on the day he -was killed.' - -'How?' asked several. - -'We were both wounded in the action of Maheidpoor, in the Mahratta -war, and, with six others, were being conveyed from the field next -day in a waggon: the sun was blazing hot--ay, hot as fire! Our -wounds were undressed; we were half dead of thirst, and the jolting -of the vehicle increased our sufferings to such a degree that I left -it, resolving to die quietly by the road side rather than endure such -misery longer. The waggon was then being drawn along a road which -wound close to the abrupt brow of a tremendous precipice, and in one -minute after I stepped out, the horses became restive, plunged and -reared--the waggon went backward, and toppled over the rocks into the -valley, three hundred feet below, where the horses, wheels, and -framework, with my five miserable companions, were dashed to pieces! -I thought little of my escape then--but it has often come painfully -before me since. Tom Clavering came into a handsome fortune by that -little _malheur_, and at once exchanged from the 5th to the Grenadier -Guards.' - -'And the Mahrattas?' said Belton. - -'Oh, they would soon have finished me,' said Catanagh, 'but for the -exertions of a cunning old Brahmin, who saved my life, and smuggled -me to Murray Mac Gregor's head-quarters, when he held Poonah with -only the Scots Royals against all the thousands of Ras Holkar.' - -'Poonah,' said the old colonel, laughing, 'that was where you had -such a long flirtation with a pretty widow, whose husband, a -lieutenant of the 5th, had been blown from the mouth of a mortar by -the Mahrattas--eh?' - -'Not at all--but pass the wine,' replied Catanagh, laughing and -reddening a little; 'besides, we speak of flirtation with an -unmarried female--one's cousin, for instance--but with a widow, it -assumes a--a--' - -'A deeper character,' suggested the colonel. - -'Yes--we then call it a _liaison_,' said Clavering, who had retired -to an open window and lighted a cigar. - -'Clavering is in high spirits--'gad, the fellow's like champagne!' -said Catanagh. - -'For the best of reasons,' whispered the colonel, whose voice went -through me like a galvanic shock; 'he is about to be _married_.' - -'Indeed,' I rejoined, a desperate air of coolness struggling with the -painful interest this communication excited within me; 'to whom may I -ask?' - -'A charming young girl--Miss Everingham--daughter and heiress of Sir -Horace Everingham, the Conservative M.P., who bought an estate in the -Highlands lately.' - -The poor colonel smiled pleasantly and confidentially as he said -this, all unconscious that he was planting a dagger in his listener's -heart. - -'By Jove, he will have something handsome with her,' said Ewan Mac -Pherson, the captain of our Light Company; 'Elton Hall is a -magnificent place, and then the Highland property--but when does the -little affair come off?' - -'When he returns from the Crimea,' said Belton. - -'The deuce--from the Crimea!' - -'Nay, pardon me,' said the colonel; 'he is to be married almost -immediately, and is now _en route_ to Edinburgh after some of the -little necessary arrangements.' - -'Of course--there will be the bride's _trousseau_ to order at a -fashionable _magazin des modes_--the usual case of jewels--the twelve -morning and evening dresses--the four dozen of everything necessary -for ladies fair. Thank heaven, my marching luggage never consisted -of more than a portmanteau, an epaulette-box, and a boot-jack.' - -'Perhaps so, Catanagh,' replied the bantering colonel; 'but little -Laura Everingham, with her English acres and funded property, is a -better prize than our Poonah widow, with all her rupees and indigo; -and drinking iced champagne at Elton Hall will be better than eating -chutney and pickled monkey, with the thermometer at 104° in the -shade--the punkah out of order, and not a breath of air to be had for -love or for money. Pass the claret: gentlemen, fill your glasses--we -will drink to my friend Captain Clavering, of the Grenadier -Guards--happiness to him!' - -The wine almost choked me; but mastering my emotion, I left the -mess-room, and sought my quarters. There I tore off my red coat, for -it seemed to stifle me. I threw myself upon my bed in an agony of -mind difficult to portray--an agony such as we feel but once in a -life-time; and I strove to be calm--to think--to reflect, and to -realize all that the colonel had said so heedlessly, but yet so -innocently, to torture me. - -One fact stood palpably and painfully before me: Laura Everingham was -lost to me for ever! It was, perhaps, a just punishment for the -vanity and presumption--or the folly--with which I had permitted a -fervent and enthusiastic heart to give full scope to a love which it -fostered in defiance of reason and of hope. The tenor of the -conversation I had overheard in the arbour occurred to me again and -again. I endeavoured to analyze it. To me, there now seemed too -much lightness of heart and of expression in Laura, when on the eve -of a hopeless separation from one whom she knew to love her so -well--one then so humbled, so crushed and ruined as I--but perhaps -she could not have acted otherwise without exciting still more the -suspicion and the ridicule of Fanny Clavering. Were her words to be -considered as really indicative of her secret thoughts? Moreover, -what claim had I, so poor in all this world's gifts and gear, on one -so rich in all the gifts of heaven and earth? None. Nor was she to -blame for the secret love I had nourished and fostered in my heart -since the first moment of our acquaintance. Yet her silence, her -pallor, her deep unspoken emotion when I left her, would seem to say -that I was not without an interest in her heart. May she not, -thought I, have wept for me, and prayed for me, on the midnight -pillow, even as I, all lonely and unseen, had sighed and prayed for -her? - -No--no; the light had vanished at last, and Laura was for ever lost -to me--a just punishment to one of the wildest fancies that ever -warmed a romantic heart. The pearl ring, with a thousand 'trifles -light as air,' came in all their bitter, blighting strength, to -confirm the news of Clavering's marriage, and, covering my face with -my hands, I wept like a child. Until that burning hour I knew not -the depth of my hopeless passion, or how much I had really loved Miss -Everingham. - -The night was a miserable one to me, but it passed away like others; -and the sharp brass drum, and then the yelling war-pipe, as they rang -in the early morning air, waking the deep echoes of 'Balclutha's -walls of rock,' announced that 'to march' was now the order; and -first Jack Belton, and then Callum Dhu, burst breathlessly into my -room. - -'What the deuce--why the champagne must have been strong last night,' -exclaimed Jack, on seeing me lying on my bed, and not in it; 'come, -my boy--bustle up--turn out--the route has come!' - -'_The route_--for where?' - -'The East,' cried he, flinging his cap up to the ceiling. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIX. - -THE ROUTE--WE SAIL. - -'The _route_--the _route_ has come!' What a commotion that momentous -announcement makes in the little world of a barrack, as it passes -from mouth to mouth--from the commanding officer to the adjutant, and -from that indefatigable vizier to the sergeant-major--from mouth to -mouth, and room to room! - -This important document, fresh under the seal of the -Adjutant-General's office at Edinburgh, stated in usual form, that -'it was Her Majesty's pleasure that one field officer, two captains, -four subalterns, six sergeants, three pipers, and two hundred rank -and file of the --th regiment of Highlanders be held in readiness to -march at such a time, as may be judged expedient, from the castle of -Dumbarton, and to embark on board such tonnage as may be provided for -their reception, and conveyance _to Constantinople_.' - -The field-officer was our rough and bearded Major Duncan Catanagh, -K.H.; the captains were Mac Pherson and Logan; the subalterns, -Lieutenants Rigg and Johnstone, with two ensigns--viz., Jack Belton -and myself. - -The _Vestal_, formerly a donkey-frigate of twenty-six guns, but now, -cut, lengthened, and fitted with a screw-propeller, and -transmogrified into a troop-ship, lay off Dumbarton, with her -top-sails loose and blue-peter at the fore-mast head. - -We embarked next day. I remember how much I was impressed by the -service-like aspect of our chosen two hundred, who were to join our -first battalion--all with their bonnets cased in oil-skins; their -white gaiters on; their great-coats rolled on the top of their packs; -their haversacks and wooden canteens slung above their accoutrements, -as they paraded in the grey light of the early morning, when the sun -was yet below the hills, and when the shrill 'gathering,' woke the -echoes of dark and shadowy Dumbarton. - -On the roll being called, one of our men, Lance-corporal Donald Roy, -was reported to be absent. - -'Absent,' reiterated the adjutant; 'devilish odd--were not all the -men of this detachment confined to barracks immediately on the route -arriving? - -'Yes, sir--but Donald is not here.' - -Under his moustache, the adjutant muttered something that sounded -very much like an oath. - -'This looks ill,' said he, reddening with anger; 'a fellow bolts on -the eve of embarking for foreign service! The sergeant of the main -guard and the sentries at the gate must be accountable for this.' - -'Nay, I alone am answerable,' said Major Catanagh; 'Donald comes from -my native glen on the west bank of Loch Lomond; and late on the night -the route arrived, he came to me and said, "Major, _you_ know me -well--you have known me since we were boys, and can trust me. My -mother died when we were fighting on the banks of the Indus, and she -is buried in the auld kirkyard of Luss; get me leave for a night, -that I may cross the hills to say one prayer at her grave before we -go, and I swear by the God that hears me to be at Dumbarton gate -before you march--ay before the pipes play reveille."' - -'And you obtained leave for him from the colonel?' - -'Yes.' - -'Reveille was blown long since,' said the adjutant, with an -incredulous smile, 'and Donald has not yet appeared. Sergeant Mac -Ildhui, mark him _absent_ in the Report.' - -The kind major reddened in turn, for our adjutant was a Lowlander, -and did not believe in Highlanders; but Catanagh was a Celt, and -better knew the missing man. - -'I will answer for him,' said he; 'Donald will be back in time, I -warrant him--where are his musket, pack, and accoutrements.' - -'They are carried by his comrades.' - -The hour for marching drew near; already the boats of the _Vestal_ -awaited us; but there was no appearance of Donald Roy, so the 'next -man for duty,' was ordered to prepare to take his place. - -The women had been balloted for at the drum-head; the two fortunate -wives who were to accompany us were clinging in joy to their -husbands' necks. The unfortunates who had drawn _blanks_ were -filling the barrack square with noisy lamentations. Adieux had been -said, and hands shaken. Then the little column broke into sections -of threes, and with the whole band of the battalion in our front, -playing 'Lochaber no more,' and accompanied by our comrades' -cheering, we left the ancient castle of Dumbarton just as the sun -rose, and marched towards the landing-place. - -As we proceeded to the bank of the river, a soldier, pale and -breathless, dashed into our ranks, raised his hand to his bonnet, and -cried aloud,-- - -'Major Catanagh--I am here!' - -'Donald Roy!' exclaimed the soldiers with satisfaction, for this man -was a favourite with all, and moreover was a famous sword-player and -tosser of the caber. - -'I knew that you would return, Donald,' said the major, with an -approving smile. - -'I have travelled day and night, running like a deer, Major -Catanagh,' replied the soldier in a rapid whisper; 'I have had twelve -miles to go, and as many to return; but I am young and active, and -the ardour of grief bore me up, for I was determined to see the grave -of my mother before I left my native place, perhaps for ever; and may -heaven bless you, major, for the trust you have put in me. I am -poor--but I never deceived any one. Oh, major, I have seen the woods -of Cameron, the rocks of Ross-dhu, and the wilds of Rowardennan, -places that you and I know well--but may never look upon again.' - -'We shall, Donald--please God, we shall both see them again,' said -Catanagh, with kindling eyes. - -With kindly interest I looked on this pale and weary soldier, who -spoke in my native Gaelic; but I had soon other thoughts in my heart, -and in the ardour and excitement of embarking for foreign service and -the seat of war, with the brattle of the drum and the blare of the -brass band playing a stirring Scottish quick-step; the tread of -marching feet, and the gleam of fixed bayonets round me, I was soon -beyond the reach of tender or soft impressions. - -The steam continued to roar at times through the safety-valve; the -band continued to play, and our comrades to cheer, as our detachment -went off in boat-loads to the _Vestal_, which was rapidly getting up -all her horse-power. Her white canvas hung loose aloft, and her -decks were crowded by groups of the sombre rifles below; but until I -stood upon her poop and looked round me, I could scarcely realise the -truth of my position, or that all this new phase of life, so strange -to me, was not a dream. - -The sun came up in his glory from the morning sea; the blue waters -rolled around us in light, and curled their crested waves before the -soft west wind. The huge dark shadows of Balclutha's double Dun fell -far along the azure bosom of the Clyde, when the steamer's anchor was -apeak, and the propeller began to dash the water into foam astern, -making a sweep of nearly twenty feet at each impetuous turn, and -objects on the beach began to lessen, change or pass each other, and -we stood in groups looking at the fading mountains few of us might -ever see again. - -Summer had passed away with all its bloom and verdure; no longer -laden with rosy blossoms, - - 'Fruitful Clydesdale's apple bowers - Were mellowing in the moon;' - -the peach and the nectarine had glowed there in clusters and been -gathered, and now the woods of leafy green were being tinged by -russet brown and golden yellow. - -On leaving the mouth of the Clyde, we found the water rough; the wind -blew keenly and chopped about; thus the _Vestal_ pitched and lurched -heavily off Ailsa Craig, amid the mist and spray. This somewhat -damped the military pride of the youngsters, and as the motion -increased when we entered the North Channel, the very idea of -breakfast or dinner excited a qualmy horror within me; and the jokes -of Catanagh, Mac Pherson, and other older soldiers, failed to rouse -my spirit either to fun or anger--in short I was sick, miserably -sick, and would gladly have exchanged my hopes of a marshal's baton -and a tomb in Westminster for a safe footing on the nearest point of -land. - -On, on we sped, and ere long a faint white line at the horizon marked -where the chalky brows of the Land's-end faded into the evening sea, -and we bade 'a long good night to old England.' - -We had on board six companies of the Rifle Brigade--all jolly -fellows; and on recovering our 'sea legs,' we found the hours pass -delightfully. - -The _Vestal_ was commanded by John Crank, an old, fiery, passionate -and red-faced naval lieutenant, who had served under Nelson as a -middy, and lost his 'starboard toplight, when boarding the _Holy -Joe_,' as he irreverently named the _San Josef_. - -The proportion of tonnage for troops in a transport is two tons per -soldier; but on board our old donkey _Vestal_, the Highlanders were -stowed away with only eighteen inches per man for sleeping-room; and -as the weather grew warm on our approaching the Mediterranean, they -suffered great discomfort--and the poor women were crammed away among -the rank and file, unheeded and uncared for by all but their husbands. - -I was subaltern of the watch, on the morning we anchored off -Gibraltar, where we remained for four and twenty hours, waiting for -despatches direct from London. As soon as they arrived, the mail was -transferred on board the _Vestal_; the steam was again got up, and -long before evening, the giant peak, the tremendous rock-built -batteries of Gibel-al-taric--the rock of the old Moorish wars--faded -into the blue waters as we bore on towards that land of death and -battle, suffering and disaster, where Britannia was exchanging her -ancient oak leaves and laurels for the funeral cypress and the -baleful yew. - - - - -CHAPTER XXX. - -THE TROOP-SHIP. - -Among the letters and papers which reached our detachment at -Gibraltar, was a copy of the 'Morning Post,' which went 'the round' -of the officers--_i.e._--was perused by all in turn. - -We were all seated jovially at the table, in the harbour of -Gibraltar; the bright sun was glistening on the waves which ran in -long and glassy ripples through the straits; the cabin-windows were -open; the cloth had been removed, and the decanters of sherry and -full-bodied old port were travelling round the well-polished mahogany -on their patent silver waggons. We were idling over nuts and -peaches, talking, laughing and making merry on the prospects of the -war, when, judge of my emotions, on Major Catanagh, who had -entrenched himself behind the open pages of the 'Morning Post,' -suddenly raising his head and his voice together-- - -'Poor Tom Clavering!' he exclaimed; 'he has come to an untimely end -at last.' - -'How?' asked several, pausing in their conversation; 'Clavering of -the Guards--who dined with us at Dumbarton?' - -'Brother of Bob Clavering of the 5th? Well?' - -'He has come to an untimely end,' continued the major, and my heart -felt a pang as the captain's frank and handsome face came before me; -but I could neither analyse the major's expression of eye, or my own -emotions, as he added,-- - -'He has gone the way we must all go.' - -'Dead!' I exclaimed, as hope mingled with my regret. - -'No--married.' - -'Married!' echoed several voices. - -'As you will hear by this most magniloquent paragraph.' - -'Read it, major--all news from home are welcome,' said Jack Belton. - -'Married yesterday by the Lord Bishop of Edinburgh.--' - -'Who the deuce is he?' asked some one; 'we don't know such -dignitaries in Scotland.' - -'Never mind, my boy--the "Morning Post" does--Married yesterday, by -the Lord Bishop of Edinburgh, Captain Thomas Clavering, second son of -the late Sir Anthony Clavering, of Clavering-corbet and -Belgrave-square, to Laura, the only and accomplished daughter of Sir -Horace Everingham, Bart, and M.P., of Elton Hall, Yorkshire and Glen -Ora. The bride was most elegantly attired in white glacé silk, -covered with Brussels lace flounces, flowers and a magnificent -Brussels lace veil entwined with white roses and orange blossom. She -was attended by twelve charming bridesmaids richly arrayed--six in -pink and six in white, who unbound their bouquets and strewed the way -with flowers before the wedded pair, from the porch of St. John's -church to the steps of the carriage.' - -'By Jove! there's a peal of bells for you!' said Belton.' - -'Think of Tom Clavering having the way before him strewed with -flowers.' - -'After the ceremony, Sir Horace gave a splendid _déjeuner_ at his -residence in Edinburgh, and at four o'clock the beautiful bride and -gallant bridegroom left town, _en route_ for London, from whence it -is said they will follow the Guards to the Crimea in the elegant -yacht of Augustus Frederick Snobleigh, Esq., or in the _Fairy Bell_, -the well-known yacht of Sir Horace.' - -This pompous and inflated notice, which excited much merriment at the -mess-table, fell heavily and sorely on me. Every word of it was like -a death-knell--yet I loitered calmly and placidly, as old Duncan -Catanagh read it with a comical smile in his grey Highland eye, and -with a quizzical emphasis on certain portions of it. No one who saw -me sitting there, so quietly and so pale (I could perceive my face in -an opposite mirror), would have dreamed there was such a hell raging -in my heart. - -But alas! this world is full of strange fancies and misplaced -affections. - -Though I was fully prepared or this marriage, the notice of it, so -plainly and palpably _in print_, was a source of great agony to me; -but amid the noise and bustle of the transport, the constant change -of scene in the Mediterranean, and the reckless gaiety of those -around me--those brave and light hearts, who amid the mud and gore of -the rifle-pits were to find 'glory or the grave,' I had fortunately -little time left for reflection. Knowing my secret, and sympathising -with me, honest Jack Belton, left nothing unsaid or undone to draw me -from myself; to wean me as it were from my own thoughts, and to fix -my attention more on the events that lay before us than those which -were past and irremediable for Jack's maxim, like his favourite song, -was ever,-- - - 'To be sad about trifles is trifling and folly, - For the true end of life is to live and be jolly.' - - -All day long, with our revolver pistols, we practised at bottles or -old hats slung from the mainyard arm; and in this feat none but -Callum Dhu could beat Jack Belton, who had been one of the most -successful pupils in our new school of musketry at Hythe. In the -evening we had the fine brass band of the Rifles, who gave us the -best airs from _Il Travatore_ and _La Traviata_; then we sang glees -on the poop, or danced to the bagpipes on the main-deck, leaving -nothing undone to beguile the tedium of a sea-voyage; for there _is_ -a tedium even in the beautiful Mediterranean; and daily we exchanged -salutes and cheers with troop-ships and war-steamers, French, -British, and Sardinian, returning with sick and wounded men from the -land towards which we were hastening. - -Many of these vessels were imperial transports, on their way to -Marseilles; and they had generally in tow a sailing-vessel, also -crowded by the miserable convalescents of Scutari and Sebastopol; and -hourly, while they were within sight, we saw the ensign half hoisted, -and the dead launched off to leeward--sans shroud or coffin or other -covering than their blood-stained uniform, their Zouave cloak, or -grey greatcoat, all tattered and torn by the mud of the rifle-pits -and toil of the trenches. - -After bidding adieu to the Cape de Gata, that long ridge of rocks -which lie on the eastern limits of Almeria, and form the last point -of Spain, we sighted Tavolaro, a promontory at the southern extremity -of Sardinia. On that evening I had some trouble in saving my -irritable follower Callum Dhu from being put in irons, for beating a -rifleman who had been making fun of his Celtic peculiarities. On, -on, we sped, with the smoke from our funnel pouring a long and vapory -pennant astern. - -We landed the Rifles at Malta, and took on board ten pieces of -battering-guns--forty-eight pounders--for the Crimea, and ere long -saw a gorgeous sunset deepening on the green Sicilian hills. In due -time we were among the countless isles of the Greek archipelago--the -Andælat Denhisa (or sea of islands, as it is named by the Turks), -with the stern and rocky shore of the Morca frowning on our lee from -the deep azure sky of the Levant. - -The Ægean was covered with foam, and as we ran through the narrow -strait that divides the charming isle of Scio from the vast continent -of Asia, the sides of our steamer, the shrouds, our rough coats--even -our hair and moustaches, were encrusted with salt from the flying -spray, as we sped on past Milo, Hydra, and other isles of a thousand -old classic memories; and after passing and saluting the castles of -the Dardanelles, bore up for Gallipoli, at thirteen knots an hour, -with full steam, and every sail set that would draw fore and aft. - -Let not my readers fear that I am about to afflict them with a -history either of the war or the siege of Sebastopol, or even with -the now-hackneyed description of Constantinople. Fortunately for -myself, I never saw either the Malakoff or the Redan, though my -regiment did, to its cost; and though quartered in its vicinity, duty -or destiny prevented me from seeing much of the far-famed city of -Stamboul. We have had enough and to spare of the East and Eastern -War of late; thus I mean to confine myself entirely to my own -adventures, which will prove more than enough to fill my volume, -without the introduction of any extraneous matter. - - - - -CHAPTER XXXI. - -THE REEFS OF PALEGROSSA. - -No French girl, waiting for her lover, was ever more impatient than I -to see the enemy, yet it was my fate never to plough the waters of -the Euxine. - -In company with the _Mahmoudieh_, a small Osmanli steam-brig of ten -guns, we had left astern the narrow channel of the Hellespont, and -the lights of Gallipoli had sunk into haze and darkness on our -larboard quarter, as we steamed, but slowly, into the sea of Marmora. - -The night, at first, was calm, but intensely dark, yet on we -glided--on, on--over the waste of waters, our almost noiseless speed -forming a strange contrast to the silence and sleep of the hundreds -on board, who were borne forward through the seething foam and -whirling water, as the revolving screw urged on the sharp-prowed -frigate--an even course before us, a long white wake of froth astern; -no light visible, save a faint ray near the binnacle, or that red and -dusky gleam which shoots at times upward from the engine-room, when -the iron jaws of the hot furnace are unclosed for a moment, and a -flash of fiery radiance falls on the mysterious intricacies of the -clanking machinery, and on the dark and swarthy visages of the -engineer and his mates. - -So thought Belton and I, as we trod the deck together, cigar in -mouth, while gliding over the darkened waters of the Propontis. - -Our coal was becoming scarce, for after an hour the engines almost -ceased, and every stitch of canvas she could carry was set upon the -vessel; but this was continued only for a time, as before midnight a -gale came on, and the sails were rapidly reduced, and we lost sight -of the _Mahmoudieh_, with her crescent and lantern glittering at her -foremast-head. - -Jack Belton was officer of the watch, and about fifty of our men were -on deck in their forage-caps and greatcoats, ready to bear a hand -whenever they were required, in working the ship and general deck -duty. As he scanned the horizon of the dark sea of Marmora, and saw -a peculiar white streak at its utmost verge, Captain Crank swore a -few nautical oaths, and bent his piercing solitary eye aloft on every -yard and rope and sail, to see, as he said, 'if she drawed properly.' - -'What headland is that, now rising like a dark cloud upon our -larboard bow?' I inquired, with great suavity, as our skipper was not -in a mood to be trifled with. - -'Cape St. George--and a d--ned unpleasant place it may prove to _us_, -if the wind shifts, and we find it on our lee,' he answered, in a -voice not unlike a growl, as he turned his red and weather-beaten -visage to windward. 'How's her head?' he snappishly asked the -midshipman of the watch. - -'East and by north, sir.' - -'Keep her so, and if the wind veers round, call me;' and, with a -general scowl round about him, he entered the poop. - -As the night waxed older, the seamen, who generally have peculiar and -intuitive instincts about the weather--mysterious forebodings which -they cannot account for or explain, looked anxiously ahead, as the -dark clouds deepened on our ocean path, and the hurrying scud tore -the foam from the tops of the lifted billows. The crew seemed -restless, and gathered together in whispering groups about the -forecastle and lee side of the main deck. - -'I think we will have a rough night, sir,' said the middy of the -watch, in a low voice, to old Crank, who had come again upon deck. - -'And a dangerous one, too,' he answered, adding, to the chief mate, -'let both watches be kept on deck, for I don't think it worth their -while to turn in now; double reef the foresail and -main-top-sail--quick, Mr. Gasket! Send all the topgallant-yards on -deck--handsomely a bit--bravo! Now make all fast, and keep a sharp -look out there forward.' - -With these words, and a last glance at the compass, in the light of -which his red face glowed like a stormy moon, our gallant skipper -again descended from the poop and entered his cabin, to consult the -chart through the mellowing influence of a glass of stiff brandy grog. - -At nine o'clock an order had been given to batten all the port-lids, -and ship the dead-lights. - -These warnings and precautions detained me long, and somewhat -anxiously, on deck, till the bellowing wind and the bitter spray, -which showered over the ship like rain, fairly drove me below; but -knowing less, or caring less, about the actual risk we ran, after -playing chess for an hour or two with Major Catanagh, and hearing -some prosy old stories about the Mahrattah war and Bob Clavering of -the 5th, I 'turned in,' and wearied by a long day spent in the keen -sea-breeze, after a prayer that Laura might be happy though she had -deserted me for ever, I was soon fast asleep and dreaming of -Sebastopol. - -From this comfortable state I was suddenly awakened by a frightful -uproar on deck, the bellowing of the wind through the rigging; the -creaking of the timbers; the grating and straining of the guns in -their lashings; the jarring, swaying, and pitching of the ship, as -she rose on one billow, and plunged surging deeply into the dark -watery trough of another. The lamp in my cabin swung madly about in -its brass slings; at last the crystal globe was clashed to pieces; -the light went out, and I was in darkness. - -I thought of that dreadful storm in the Euxine, which in the -preceding November had nearly destroyed an entire fleet of transports -and store-ships, strewing the shores of the Crimea with shattered -wrecks and unburied bodies; and with a new sensation of alarm in my -heart, I sprang from bed and proceeded to dress; at that moment I -heard the excited voice of Jack Belton in the great cabin. - -'Gentlemen! gentlemen!' cried he, 'turn out--breakers are ahead! Mac -Innon---Mac Pherson--Major, on deck--on deck, for heaven's sake; the -ship will strike in ten minutes!' - -The appalling announcement brought every officer from his cabin in -such garments as he could grasp and don on the instant; and we -hurried to the poop. It was only by clinging to the rail and -stanchions that we could retain our footing on the lofty poop, over -which the white foam was sweeping. The waist seemed full of water; -the strong cordage bent or snapped, and streamed about like whipcord; -the foresail, main-topsail, and gib strained and flapped like -thunder, for the ship would not obey her helm; four men stood by the -wheel, and a chaos of darkness, water, foam, noise, and uproar, were -around me; and I had no distinct impression of anything, but that our -large ship, borne by the stormy wind and furious current, with all -her deck crowded by human beings, was drifting, at the rate of nine -knots an hour, towards a line of foam ahead, that marked where the -breakers curled on the beach. But what beach--whether it was the -classic shore of Roumelia, of Asia Minor, the Isle of Marmora, or the -rocks of Coudouri, we knew not, for the binnacle, with its compasses, -had been swept away by a wave which made a clean breach over the ship -about midnight, sweeping three men away, with the poor middy of the -watch. - -The black sky was moonless and starless. - -I looked upon Major Catanagh, who stood near me shivering, half clad -and clinging to a timber-head, his grey hair matted to his face by -the drifting spray. Old Duncan was brave as a lion; but he was a -husband--he was a father, and from the wild black tumult of the waves -that boiled around us-- - - 'His eyes - Were with his heart, and that was far away,' - -in a little cottage half buried among roses and woodbine, on the -western bank of Loch Lomond, where, at that hour so terrible to him, -his poor wife lay perhaps sleepless on her pillow, listening to the -wind that soughed round the craigs of Ross Dhu, and thinking of him, -with their little ones hushed in dreamless slumber around her. Poor -Duncan's softer soul was stirred within him. His face was pale; his -eyes were stern and sad; and if his spirit quailed in that awful -hour, it was not with fear, for he had faced death on many a field. - -Those and those only who have been in such a place, where every wave -swept some brave soul into eternity, and where every gust of wind -bore the cry of despair and the knell of death, can tell what -Catanagh felt; and I read his thoughts rightly, for he turned to me -abruptly, and warmly pressing my hand, said,-- - -'Thank heaven, Allan, that you have none left behind you to love or -to regret--none to weep for you! no wife to leave to the starvation -of a widow's pension--no puir wee ones to cast upon a cold and -faithless world!' - -I thought more of Laura than of this thankfulness; and as my heart -swelled with the bitter knowledge that my fate might never be -regretted, all fear and anxiety died away within it. I became -totally indifferent, and felt myself really the only unconcerned -spectator present. - -Callum Dhu having sprung to my side, threw his strong arm round me, -as if to break the force of the waves which every instant flooded the -deck; several soldiers followed him, and came crowding on the poop, -for as death seemed before us, discipline and etiquette seemed alike -to be forgotten. - -The rudder chains had given way, and the ship was driving alternately -broadside and stern on, towards the line of breakers, above which we -could discern the outline of a dark and rocky shore. - -'She will strike in ten minutes!' cried one of the mates. - -The men became excited, and tumultuous cries ascended from the waist. - -'Clew up--cut away the masts--lower the boats!' - -Then followed shouts, disputes and struggles for spars, booms, and -hen-coops. - -'Silence fore and aft--silence!' cried old Crank, through his -trumpet; 'boatswain, pipe away the barge and cutter--be ready to -lower away the boats, man the pumps, and stand by to cut away the -masts the moment she strikes!' - -'Be cool, Highlanders--be cool, and fall into your ranks, my lads!' -cried Major Catanagh, perceiving that the crowding of the soldiers -upon the deck impeded the movements of the seamen; 'fall in here -across the main-deck: bugler sound the assembly--sound, my boy.' - -Long and loudly blew the little bugle-boy the familiar barrack-yard -call, and strangely and wildly, at that terrible moment, it rang upon -the roaring wind, which seemed to tear the very notes off at the -bugle mouth, and sweep them to leeward with the hissing foam. - -'Fall in, my lads--fall in, and keep in order. If the boats can save -us, we shall be saved the more readily by being in order to leave the -ship. If she splits below us, then we shall die in our ranks like -British soldiers, and like our father's sons--hoping everything from -a gracious God and fearing nothing. Remember your discipline, my -lads, and keep up your hearts--mine has not sunk yet, though like -many among you, I have a dear wife and bairns at home in Scotland. -Close in, shoulder to shoulder, and remember the glorious example of -Seton and his Highlanders in the _Birkenhead_.' - -A faint hurrah responded to this brief speech, and like a dark mass -in their soaked great coats, the poor fellows immediately formed in -their ranks, four deep across the deck in front of the poop, where -they stood in silence and in order awaiting either death or -deliverance with that calmness and fortitude for which no soldiers in -Europe can surpass our own braves. - -I took my place on the left flank, and Callum Dhu was close beside -me, with a coil of rope in his hand, and a small hen-coop which he -had torn from a part of the ship, and which he defended from all by -his drawn bayonet; but not for his own use or safety. Amid all the -terrors of that awful night, Callum's whole anxiety was for me. The -crews of the boats stood by the davits and hoisting-tackles, ready to -lower away on the order being given, though there was little hope of -either cutter, dingy, or whale-boat living in such a sea. The well -was sounded; and now we began to hear the clank of the pumps, while a -group of men stood by the masts ready to cut away everything fore and -aft; but the carpenter and his mates were saved that trouble, for -just as the huge ship surged broadside on among the white breakers, -she gave two fearful lurches--there was a shock that made her vibrate -from her trucks to her keel, and snapping like a hazel twig, the -strong mainmast, though built of Meniel fir, and cramped with forty -iron rings, went by the board with a crash like thunder. - -The main-topmast of course, and the fore and mizen-topmasts, with all -their debris of yards, ropes, blocks and chain-sheets, came -clattering down in ruin and confusion among us, killing two men and -wounding others. The shrouds snapped like threads, and then all this -wilderness of top-hamper was swept away to leeward, and dashed to -shreds upon the rocky shore. - -Father Neptune and old Æolus had proved alike inimical to us, and -thus in a moment did our once-gallant old frigate become a hideous -and hopeless wreck, dismasted, defaced, and bulged upon a coast -unknown. - -The night was as dark as if we were in the bowels of the earth; yet -from the whiteness of the foam that covered all the waves which -boiled over the ghastly reef, there came a species of reflected light -that revealed the horrors of our situation. The wind still blew -furiously in fierce and heavy gusts; drenching us with spray; yet -there stood our little band in their ranks, orderly and calm, as if -upon parade--brave, firm, and God-fearing men--expecting every -instant that the ship would go to pieces! - -The fall of the masts and top-hamper greatly eased the _Vestal_, and -she gave no immediate indications of that general breaking up which -we had all so much reason to dread. - -'Where are we--on what coast?' was the question we asked of each -other a hundred times. - -'Daylight will show,' was the invariable answer, and watches were -impatiently consulted, and the horizon scanned for the first -indication of dawn. Some brandy was hoisted up from below; an -allowance per man was served round, and, as old Crank said, 'Never -was a raw nip more welcome.' - -As the wind lulled on the approach of morning, the sea went down; the -spray ceased to deluge the deck, and we all sought our cabins to -procure such warm and dry clothing as might have escaped the -invasions made by the waves into our premises. - -A faint streak that glittered along the far verge of the horizon, -marked the quarter of the sky where the sun would appear, and never -was its gleam more welcome, for now the storm had completely lulled, -and as the ship remained firmly bulged upon the rock, with her lower -hold half filled with water, we felt ourselves comparatively safe. -An order was given to lower away the boats; and having now fairly -escaped the horrors of the shipwreck, we began to look calmly about -us. - -A flood of saffron light spread over the eastern quarter of the sky; -then, radiating like the points of a mighty star, the sun's rays shot -upward and played upon the dispersing clouds which turned to deep -crimson, and then the sea beneath them seemed to roll in alternate -waves of sapphires and rubies, till he rose in all his splendour, and -then one long and mighty blaze of dazzling light flashed steadily -from the horizon to the shore, filling with a sunny glory all the sea -of Marmora. - -Now we could perceive the land distant about a mile; the shore was -green and fertile; to the eastward rose the towers of an old -fortified town, the domes and tall slender minarets of which were -glittering in the sun. A little lower down lay a promontory covered -with ruins. To the westward was a cape, under the lee of which were -a number of Levantine craft with long lateen-yards that tapered away -aloft, and their striped or brown shoulder-of-mutton sails, creeping -out from the creeks and inlets where they had found shelter during -the squall of the past night. - -The carpenter reported, that without powerful assistance, there was -no possibility of getting the ship off, and as no British, French, or -Sardinian steamer was in sight, Crank stamped about the deck in a -high state of mental excitement and irritation, while fear of Greek -pirates and Natolian robbers, whose armed boats are ever on the prowl -in these seas, made Catanagh, at his suggestion, order our men to -accoutre and parade with their arms and ammunition on deck, where an -inspection was made, and our two hundred Highlanders were found to be -in complete fighting order. - -'What say you now, Captain?' asked Catanagh; 'do you know the coast?' - -'Only too well, Major--it is Roumelia, and we are in the gulf of -Salonica.' - -'That town on the promontory--' - -'Is Heraclea, with the ruins of some old devilish Greek place close -by.' - -'Then we are on classic ground?' - -'Damned deal too classic for my taste!' grumbled Crank; 'we are -ashore, sir, on the Palegrossa rocks.' - -'Is there a Turkish garrison in Heraclea?' - -'Undoubtedly, for there is a population of about seven -thousand--principally fishermen--and the town is fortified.' - -'All right--let me get my men ashore, and we shall march in. The -officer commanding must find us quarters. I long to stretch my legs -on dry land again.' - -Old Crank proved right; we were really wrecked upon those dangerous -rocks which lie about the two little isles of Venetica, in the Bay of -Salonica, about ninety miles from the mouth of the Dardanelles, and -fifty from Constantinople, by the coast road. - -A careful inspection of the _Vestal_ proved that our carpenter's idea -of getting her safely off, under any circumstances, was quite -impracticable. She was firmly wedged and bulged between two masses -of rock, and was so seriously injured that even were steam power -procured sufficient to drag her into deep water, she would instantly -sink. Thus all hope of preserving the shattered hull of our old -donkey-frigate was abandoned; and as the sea was now calm, and she -might be some weeks of going to pieces, we prepared to hoist up the -battery guns, the ship's carronades, the stores, &c., and make other -arrangements for disembarking by the boats with all due order and -regularity. - -Our men were paraded on deck, accoutred in heavy marching order, with -their knapsacks, wooden canteens, greatcoats, and haversacks. The -luggage, spare arm-chests, and squad-bags, were all brought up from -below, and everything in the form of stores, clothing, and articles -of value, were prepared for landing. Captain Crank, with Major -Catanagh and an interpreter, were pulled ashore in the pinnace, with -a well-armed crew, to make arrangements with the Turkish authorities -for our reception and transmission to Constantinople. - -With considerable interest--if not with some anxiety--we watched them -and the pinnace disappear round a wooded promontory; and evening had -almost deepened on the land and sea before they returned with -intelligence that they had despatched tidings of our situation to the -officer commanding at Scutari, and had made arrangements with Mir -Alai Said, a Turkish colonel, who commanded in Heraclea, to afford us -quarters in the barrack of that town. - -We passed that night in the wreck. She was firm and motionless as -the rocks on which she lay; but the occasional surging of the sea -against her shattered sides, and the gurgling of the water, as it -ebbed and flowed in the lower hold, together with the natural fear -that some portion of her might give way in the night, kept us all -anxious and wakeful; though Jack Belton was the life of our little -party, and favoured us with his usual ditty-- - - 'To be sad about trifles is trifling and folly, - Since the chief end of life is to live and be jolly.' - -Though, like myself, he had only his pay, Jack was the most heedless -of all heedless fellows. His father had been ruined, or nearly so, -by a plea which had been before the Scottish Lords of Council and -Session for the last fifty years; and which, in the hands of an able -advocate and sharp-practising agent, like our friend the -late-lamented Snaggs, bade fair to go on for another half century. - -We idled away the chilly hours, muffled in our cloaks, regimental -plaids, and paletots or bernous, à la Bedouin, over cigars, wine, and -brandy-and-water, singing songs, telling stories, and practising the -Highland feat of sheathing and unsheathing the claymore with both -hands turned outwards, and playing other pranks, till again the -bright sun of Asia shone upon the sea of Marmora, and after tiffin of -biscuit, brandy, and junk, we paraded, to disembark upon the old -historic shore of Roumelia. - -I went off in the first boat with Mac Pherson (the captain of our -Light Company), Jack Belton, Callum Dhu, and about thirty privates. -We pulled away clear of the wreck into blue water, and then steered -towards the shore, where three Turkish officers, on horseback, were -waiting to receive us. After pulling for more than a mile through a -sea which shone like burnished gold, and the transparent waves of -which enabled us to perceive, at a vast depth below, the rank -luxuriance of its dark green weeds, spreading their broad and -tremulous leaves over a bed of snow-white sand, we reached the point -indicated by Captain Crank as our landing-place. It was a rough and -barren part of the coast, where the rocks were piled over each other -in confusion, with a coarse bulbous plant, like a crocus, which -spread its crooked leaves between the gaping interstices of the -stones. No bushes or trees were there; but there were vultures, -storks, and cranes, that hovered over the ruins of an old Roman wall, -and flapped their wings upon the prostrate columns of a Corinthian -temple, that lay half-merged among the waters of the encroaching sea. - -As our boat grounded, the three Turkish officers--each of whom wore -the scarlet _fez_ (which is named from the city of Fez), with its -gold military button, the tight blue surtout, and crooked sabre, -which make up the invariable costume of all in the service of the -Sultan--brought their horses near, and as we sprang ashore, accorded -to us the usual military salute; and one--a lieutenant--in very -tolerable French, bade us welcome to the land of the Osmanli. - -Mir Alai Said and the Mulazim (_i.e._, lieutenant) Ahmed were both -handsome men, with keen Asiatic features, and dark eyes that -glittered with somewhat of the cunning expression peculiar to all of -Oriental blood; but the third, of whom the reader will hear more in -future chapters, the Hadjee Hussein Ebn al Ajuz, was a Yuze Bashi, or -captain of artillery, and wore the blue uniform, gold epaulettes, and -laced belt and trousers of the corps of Bombardiers. He was a -punchy, shaggy-browed, solemn, stately, and sulky-looking old Turk, -with a heavy grizzled moustache; a skin of the hue of mahogany, and -an eye that seemed to be for ever watching you, and you only. -Besides, he spoke a little absurd broken English, which he picked up -at Acre, during the war against Mehemet Ali. - -While our men were scrambling ashore from the boats, as each in -succession came in and grounded, we asked the Mir Alai what were the -news from the seat of war? - -'We have fought a brave battle on the Ingour,' replied the colonel, -rather haughtily, as it is not the etiquette of the Turkish service -for juniors to question a senior. 'Omar Pasha, with 20,000 Osmanlis, -crossed the river in Mingrelia, in the face of a desperate fire of -cannon and musketry; and fighting, with the water up to their -armpits, stormed the position from 16,000 Russians, whom they forced -to retreat.' - -'And the Czar, whom God confound, has left the Crimea,' added the fat -Captain Hussein Ebn al Ajuz; 'may the Prophet burn the Russian liars, -who eat blood and swine's-flesh, and take usury! May he transform -their young men into apes, and their old ones into swine, as he did -those who, of old, offered incense to idols!' - -'Amaum! Amaum!' muttered the other two, under their thick moustaches. - -Mac Pherson, who had served long in India, retained his gravity; but -Belton, on catching a twinkle of my eye, laughed aloud at these -quaint expressions of hatred, which were uttered in a strong jargon -of Turkish and queer French. - -'And Kars--does it still hold out?' - -'Mashallah! have you not heard?' they exclaimed. - -'No--we have been at sea.' - -'Kars is valueless as the cleft of a date-stone!' said the Mir Alai. - -'Then it has fallen!' we exclaimed together. - -'It capitulated through famine to that dog and son of a dog, -Mouravieff. The garrison of the brave Ingleez Pasha marched out with -the honours of war, and delivered themselves up to the Russians as -prisoners; thus 8,000 true Believers are detained; but a number of -militia-men have been liberated by Mouravieff, who found in the city -one hundred and thirty pieces of cannon.' - -'And Sebastopol?' - -'Still holds out manfully and desperately,' said the Mir Alai; 'but -what do I see?--women coming ashore--and, oh, Mohammed! without the -vestige of a yashmack to cover their faces.' - -'Your soldiers,' said the Yuze Bashi, 'are kilted like Arnaouts, and -all giant in stature as Og the son of Anak. Your Mir Alai says he -has two hundred of them--how many wives have they?' - -'Four,' said I. - -'Four!' reiterated the Mir Alai; 'O, Mohammed! what do we hear?' - -'Our government permitted only two women per company in the -transport.' - -'Four wives for two hundred men!' exclaimed the punchy old Yuze Bashi -of the Bombardiers, turning up his round black eyes in wonderment, -and gathering the most peculiar ideas from my words; 'one wife for -fifty men! It is enough to make every hair in the beards of the -seventy imaums stand on end with astonishment!' - -'Hush,' whispered the Mir Alai, in a tone of rebuke; 'beware what you -say, Hussein; they have come to fight with us against the Muscovites, -and may the Prophet--he who knoweth all things--shed a ray of light -upon the darkness of their souls!' - -'Amaum!' mumbled the lieutenant, who, as in duty bound, applauded all -that the Mir Alai said; 'but oh, Allah! only _two_ wives per company!' - - - - -CHAPTER XXXII. - -THE YUZE BASHI. - -Leaving a small party under Lieutenant Logan, of ours, to protect the -landing of the baggage and stores, accompanied by our three Turkish -acquaintances, we forded a stream, with pipes playing and bayonets -fixed, and crossing the promontory, marched towards Heraclea, which -lies at the bottom of a little bay, and on the land side is defended -by walls, though somewhat old and rent; and in a short time we -marched in, making its streets of old dilapidated and worm-eaten -timber houses; its domed mosques, and tall white-painted minars; its -ruined palace of Vespasian; its Greek café; its Jewish bazaar; its -whirling windmills; its stony and slippery thoroughfares and old -ruins of the Grecian days, ring to the sharp rat-tat of the British -brass drum and to the skirl of three great Scottish war-pipes, from -the chanters and nine deep drones of which our pipers poured the -stirring 'Haughs of Cromdale,' with such effect, that the -big-breeched, long-bearded, stupid-looking old Turks, who sat smoking -on carpets and platforms at the doors and in the street, with -yataghans and pistols in their red-shawl girdles; the lively Greeks, -in tarboosh, short jacket, and blue inexpressibles; the sharp-visaged -Jews and solemn Armenians, all opened their round black eyes, and -threw up their hands in wonder, as we wheeled up towards the fortress -in sections of threes, with arms sloped, our tartans waving, and -black feathers flaunting in the wind. - -A fry of little Osmanli gamins, barelegged, though wearing short wide -breeches and the red fez with its long tassel, scampered about us, -gamboling, uttering shrill cries of wonder, and styling us -Janissaries, Arnaouts, Albanians, Giaours, and anything but Britons; -and thus escorted, we reached the spacious Coumbazadjilar-Kislaci, or -barrack of the Bombardiers, where a battalion of Turkish infantry was -under arms to receive us; and with ranks open, presented arms in a -manner which would have done no discredit to any other European -troops, their drums beating, and the officers saluting with the edge -of their Damascus sabres outwards--as it is turned inward to none but -the Sultan himself. - -The officers of this battalion had done their best to provide us with -a handsome collation--so handsome and luxurious indeed that, after -our recent hardship, the very memory of it is enough to make one -whistle; and apart from certain peculiarities, we found them very -pleasant, quaint, and conversible fellows, though very few of them -could boast of education sufficient to entitle them to add the envied -appendage of _effendi_ to their names. Their language, like that of -the better class of Osmanli, was a mixture of Persian and Turkish, -while that of their soldiers, like the jargon of the peasantry and -boatmen of the Bosphorus, was Turkish alone: but in this these -Orientals resemble ourselves; for in Britain the language of the -educated people is alike distinct from the Scottish tongue and the -dialects of the old Saxon. - -'Mac Innon, here is to our noble selves!' said Catanagh, in Gaelic. -'How do you like the Roumelian wine?' - -'It seems thin and poor.' - -'Dioul! but it is more pleasant for you to be drinking it here, than -be imbibing sherry-cobblers and cocktail among the Yankees.' - -'True,' said I with a sigh, as I thought of the evicted men of Glen -Ora. - -At this entertainment, the sulky old Yuze Bashi, warmed by the -forbidden juice of the grape (of which being animated by our example -he partook rather freely, notwithstanding the anathemas of him whose -sabre cleft the moon in twain--Mohammed 'the Holy Camel Driver'), -seemed to conceive a sudden favour for me, and in his strange jargon -of French and Arabic, with a few hiccups between, gave me an account -of himself and of the Sultan's service. - -He was named, it would appear, Hadjee Hussein Ebn al Ajuz (or the son -of the old woman), as his mother had been a cast-off slave of Mehemet -Ali, the Viceroy of Egypt; and his paternal parent was supposed to be -a certain enterprising corporal of Mamelukes, who died with a -bowstring about his neck for borrowing the silver lamps of a mosque -at Suez. Little Hussein became a soldier, and fought at the battles -of Koniah and Homs, in the war against Mehemet Ali; and in these -affairs had cut off various heads, and stowed away innumerable -Egyptian ears in the mysterious depths of his red Oriental breeches, -all to his own great satisfaction and contentment--as a head was -worth a piastre, and a pair of ears sold before Reschid Pasha's tent -for ten paras. - -At the rout of Koniah he had saved the _only_ pair of Turkish colours -which escaped the furious advance of the Egyptian infantry--viz., -those of Scherif Bey's regiment--by stuffing them into his voluminous -regimental breeches, wherein various bullets lodged harmlessly -thereafter during the retreat; for this and other acts of devotion, -he was rewarded by the government of Rodosdchig, a little fortress a -few miles from Heraclea; and after making the pilgrimage, partly by -steamer, to Mecca; after drinking of the Zemzem well, and of that -which flows at Midian where Moussa watered the flocks at Jethro, and -rolled from its mouth a stone which the united strength of Jethro's -seven shepherds failed to move; after kissing the holy Kaaba, and -flinging a few stones at an imaginary devil, he returned in a mingled -state of beer and beatitude to his fortress. There, since 1842, he -had spread his carpet, reposed in the lap of a charming odalisque, -and smoked his chibouque in contentment and peace; and -there--nathless his being a Hadjeè, and the builder of a little gilt -mosque--he drank and swore like any enlightened Christian of the -western world. - -Fat, cunning as Lucifer, sensual as a sybarite, and intensely -illiberal, he was a fair specimen of the old Turk of the worst kind; -and if the curve be the line of beauty, then the shins of Hussein, -like those of most Osmanlies, were perfection. His ears were set -high on his head; his forehead was low and narrow; his eyebrows -nearly met, and thus betokened a cruel and revengeful nature. He -gave me, however, a little insight into the economy of military life -in the sultan's service. - -'Our regiments,' said he, 'all consist of four battalions, and each -battalion is commanded by a cole agassi (major), and has one -standard. A colonel or lieutenant-colonel commands the whole, with -one great standard--the banner of the prophet--upon whose name be -glory! Each battalion has its squad of slaves, who carry water on -the march and bear the wounded from the field of battle. So strict -is the etiquette maintained in our service by officers, that they -never dine with subordinates in rank; hence the jovial messes of -Frangistan excite only our wonder; and to see a great Mir Alai, who -commands four thousand bayonets, drinking wine with a poor little -devil of an ensign, would astound the whole Turkish army. Even in -the street a superior officer always walks half a pace before an -inferior; thus I have seen five officers all walking along a street -at once in _echelon_, and maintaining a conversation at the same -time. None among us wear beards under the rank of general--with a -few exceptions. A junior officer always rises and salutes a senior -on the latter entering a room, and cannot seat himself again without -his permission, or appear before him without his fez, belt, and -sabre. Our Turkish privates receive about four shillings _Ingleez_ -per month; but our lord the Sultan provides for their food and -clothing over and above their pay.' - -I thanked the old fellow for this information, which did not impress -me highly with the position of an officer under his Majesty -Abdul-Medjid; and after a time Jack Belton and I, tired of the -entertainment, and of hearing lamentations for the fall of Kars, and -description of a palace of silver--solid silver--which the Sultan was -to build in London when he visited the Queen of the Ingleez; so, -carefully loading our revolvers, and placing them in our belts, we -took our regimental swords and dirks, and set forth for a ramble in -the dusk, regardless of the warnings of Catanagh and the Mir Alai -Saïd, who told us that strangers were never safe from assassination -and robbery after sunset. However, we took with us Callum Dhu, who, -in addition to his bayonet, carried a heavy cudgel cut in the wood of -_Coilchro_; and a regular adventure of some kind--no matter what--was -the very thing we required to enliven us a little, after our long -sea-voyage, and our recent bibulous _déjeûné_ with the Turkish -officers. - -When off duty, honest Callum was seldom a moment from my side. The -Gael have a proverb, which says, 'affectionate to a man is his -friend, but a foster-brother is the life-blood of his heart;' and -faithful as one of my own blood could have been, was the gallant Mac -Ian to me! - -As we stumbled along the narrow and muddy streets, we soon remarked -the total absence of everything that resembled a petticoat, for the -Turkish females in their hideous wide pantaloons and ghostly -yashmacks were unlike aught that was human, as they flitted among the -few shops which the town contained. The sun had long since set, and -the night was dark. There is no twilight in Turkey, where the -sunshine and darkness succeed each other suddenly at certain seasons. - -'I miss nothing so much here as the petticoat, God bless it!' said -Belton, 'for you must allow, Allan, that it is a very interesting and -somewhat mysterious garment.' - -'Charmingly so! and the more its amplitude, the more its mystery,' -said I. - -'I don't half like those abominable Turkish trousers on the women; -but it is the very devil never to see their faces! We will get over -that difficulty somehow--for to be sad about trifles----' - -'Hush, for heaven's sake, don't sing here like a wandering Arab,' -said I, interrupting the invariable song (that Jack gave us nightly -with the third allowance of wine) as we found ourselves before an -illuminated Khan. - - - - -CHAPTER XXXII. - -THE KHAN. - -Before the façade of this edifice, a row of illuminated lanterns of -various gaudy colours hung on orange-trees, while through its open -door and arches of trellis-work came the hum of voices, a warm glow -of light that gushed into the pitchy obscurity without, and the -perfume of roasting coffee, with the fragrant odour of stewing -kabobs. The building was spacious, and contained every requisite -comfort as some one says somewhere, 'but clean sheets and a Christian -bed.' - -Entering, we found a number of Turks, all well armed of course, -seated on mats round a species of raised divan; they were smoking and -were attended by long-haired Greek girls, who were tripping about -with their beautiful feet bare and stockingless, supplying these -heavy-brained but true Believers with coffee in diminutive cups, or -tobacco bruised with apples for their long chibouques, paper for -cigarettes, and kabobs on wooden skewers, with caviar, olives, and -cheese. - -As we entered, all raised their dark and glittering eyes to scan us, -by the light of a huge gilt lantern that hung from a dome in the -centre of the Khan. - -'Salaam aleikum,' said we, touching our caps. - -'With you be Allah,' muttered all present; and the keeper of the -Khan, a lively Greek in wide blue breeches, a tight brown jacket, a -white apron and glittering skull cap, hurried forward to attend us. - -As an excuse to remain and to observe the company, rather than from -any necessity for refreshment, we asked for coffee and a slight -supper. In a few minutes we had the first, black and fragrant, with -milk, hot cake, and a preserve of grapes boiled with walnuts, all -placed before us upon two little trays in a corner of the apartment, -where a charming young Greek girl, with her black hair plaited over -her delicate white ears, arrayed the mats and cushions for us; then -cigars were brought, and seating ourselves, we proceeded to refresh -and inspect the goodly company. - -Little or no notice was taken of us by these lumbering and ponderous -Orientals, for whom even the emotion of curiosity would be too -exciting. Yet the large and crowded hall of this Roumelian khan -presented one of the most striking scenes I have witnessed. - -Therein seemed all the races of the Turkish empire at coffee and -chibouques. - -The old Effendi, grave, solemn, pretentious, and stupid; his turban -white as snow, or green, to mark his descent from the Holy Prophet; -his beard black as night; his nose fierce and aquiline; his eyes -sparkling, and his heavy moustache curling over the amber mouth of -his long chibouque; his scarlet nether garments and buff boots; his -ample shawl, long caftan, and gilded dagger completing the picture. -The noble Albanian, in his red jacket embroidered with blue cord; his -ample white kilt (like ours, above the knee); his red-bandaged hose; -his yataghan, musket, and brass-butted pistols. The sombre Armenian, -with his long beard and flowing robes, his grave and respectful -visage surmounted by an enormous kalpec of black felt. The handsome -and lively Greek, unabashed by the presence of his Turkish tyrants, -and all chatter, fun, and gaiety; closely shaved and bare-legged; -with a blue turban, short trousers, and black shoes. The hardy -Islesman in his shaggy capote; the modern Turkish artillery officer, -in his tight surtout with gold fringe epaulettes; his little fez, -with its brass plate; his red trousers strapped tightly under French -glazed boots; his gold belt and keen Damascus sabre--oriental in -face, but decidedly occidental in dress, and almost in idea; for the -corps of _Topchis_ were all organised _à la Franque_ by the Sultan -Selim. There, too, was a fierce and scowling Tartar--dropped Heaven -knows from where--but armed to the teeth, with dagger, pistols, bow -and arrows, toasting dough-balls in the brazier. A moolah and a -dervish in their grey felt caps that taper like an extinguisher: and -lastly, there was a disgusting Stamboul Jew, crushed in aspect, -cunning in eye, with contracted brow and blubber lip; avaricious in -soul and unyielding in purpose. A few black slaves, hideous in face -and scanty in attire, but very intent on _backsish_, may complete -this sketch of a picturesque group--or if aught be wanting, let me -mention the powerful form of Callum Dhu, in his belted plaid, green -kilt, and white sporran, as he sat hobbing and nobbing with a dervish -over a dish of mutton ham; though honest Callum knew as much of the -language and ideas of the dervish as he did about the nature and -habits of 'the Dodo and its kindred.' - -The conversation generally consisted of occasional and disjointed -remarks, with long pauses between. - -The war was less spoken of than the prices of tobacco, maize, rice, -silk, cotton, and wheat, and other products of the land; but Jack and -I could glean that they were not a little proud of the circumstance, -that the little Turkish war-steamer, the _Mahmoudieh_, and a Hadriote -brig, by steering in another direction, had escaped the storm which -threw our vessel on the reefs of Palegrossa. - -'Each of these fellows is quite a bijou,' said Jack Belton; 'I would -give the world to have them all at home and comfortably ensconced in -a handsome caravan, and to become their Barnum throughout Britain.' - -'What are the news from Europe?' asked the Turkish officer of -Topchis, in French. - -'Very unimportant,' replied Belton; 'in the west, the eyes of all men -are turned to the east, and nothing is heard of, thought of, or -spoken of, but this protracted siege of Sevastopol--while -diplomatists seem to be splitting straws at Paris and Vienna.' - -'Splitting straws?' pondered the literal Turk, 'Glory be to Allah! A -strong employment for generals and viziers--have they no grooms to -chop their straw?' - -A sudden commotion in the street without, and the irregular tramp of -men marching, attracted the attention of all the loiterers in the -khan; and as several Turks left their pipes and mats, and with their -hands on their weapons, hurried to the door, Belton and I sprang up -to see what was the matter. - -The gleam of arms and the blaze of torches lightened in the dark and -muddy street, as a party of six Turkish marines, in their blue -uniforms and red fez caps, with crossed belts and fixed bayonets, -escorted a Greek prisoner towards the barrack of the Bombardiers. -After saying a few words to his guard, the prisoner paused at the -open window of the khan, which faced the street, and begged 'a -draught of cold water in the name of God.' - -The keeper was about to give it, but paused; for the delinquent was -his countryman, and the eyes of many armed Turks were fixed with a -lowering expression on both. - -During this brief pause, I scrutinized the prisoner. - -He was a young man, as nearly as I could judge, about -five-and-twenty: his features were no less remarkable for their manly -beauty than singular in their character. His long hair, which hung -in heavy locks from under his little blue Greek cap, were black as -night; his eyes and his smart moustache were jet; but his features -were wan, sickly, and as ghastly as those of a corpse. His attire -was the splendidly-embroidered blue jacket, white kilt, and bandaged -hose of an Albanian officer--but all frayed, torn, and disfigured. -His appearance was singularly striking, and that nothing might be -wanting to complete it, and excite our sympathy, on his wrists were -two massive steel fetters, which were joined by a heavy iron chain. - -Again he pointed to his parched lips, and hoarsely begged a cup of -water. - -From the hand of a Turk who stood near us I snatched a cup of -wine--that Thracian wine which Pliny commended in the happier days of -Greece--and handed it to the poor Albanian. A glance of deep -gratitude flashed from his dark expressive eyes, as, thirstily and -joyfully, he drained the cup and returned it to me with a graceful -bow. With a few words of apology, I handed it to the Turk, but that -personage drew back with a scowl on his brow, and, with a hand on his -poniard, tossed the cup away. - -The Greek kissed both his fettered hands to me, and retired: the -fixed bayonets flashed again around him, and the dark group -disappeared; but his glance of thankfulness was still before me, and -it sunk deep into my heart. - -'Bono!' said an old Moolah, who was named Moustapha, in approval of -what I had done; ''twas a good action, Frank, and thy better angel -will write it ten times down in Heaven.' - -'Who is this Greek?' I inquired, of the fat old Yuze Bashi Hussein, -who at that moment entered the khan, shouting imperiously, 'Hola, -Boba!--Here woman, coffee!'--and the speed with which his wants were -supplied, almost before he had seated his amplitude upon a carpet, -showed that our captain of Bombardiers was not a person to be trifled -with. He hated Greeks, but his animosity was confined only to the -males of that race. Though he scowled at the keeper of the khan, he -leered at his wife who attended us. She was a pretty woman of Scio, -who wore the grotesque costume of that island--a braided red jacket, -with a short padded green skirt. On her head was a small cap, from -which hung a veil on the sides of her face and gracefully down her -back; a circlet of Paphian diamonds, or rock crystals, from Baffo, -glittered round her pretty neck, on which the huge eyes of the Yuze -Bashi gloated from time to time. But to resume--'Who is this Greek?' -I asked. - -'The worst of traitors: 'grumbled Hussein. 'Every one who comes into -this world is touched by the devil, who attends at his birth -_unseen_; but Inshallah! Shaitaun must have taken a rough hold of -our Greek! He was an officer--a mulazim in the regiment of Albanians -who garrisoned this place before we came here.' - -'An officer!' I reiterated, in astonishment. - -'And chained thus!' added Belton, in the same tone. - -'Now, by the seventh paradise, but you astonish me!' said the Captain -Hussein, opening his great oriental eyes. 'Do you forget that the -man is only a Greek, and that the Greeks, like the Russian, are all -beasts--as Zerdusht the Prophet was, who married his grandmother, and -who will have a bridle of fire in his jaws at the last day.' - -'His crime--' - -'Was desertion. He was stationed at the battery near the mouth of -the harbour, and fled one night in an open boat, taking with him four -Albanian soldiers. They rowed across the Sea of Marmora to the isle -of that name; and after lurking for a time among its marble quarries, -feeding on nuts like so many squirrels, they sailed over to Natolia, -where they were taken in the Sangiac of Bigah, and made prisoners. -The four Albanian soldiers were shot on the instant; but he has been -sent here, on board the _Mahmoudieh_--yonder war-steamer now at -anchor in the bay--and to-morrow, before the sun is at its height, he -shall be shot to death in the Valley of the Little Mosque.' - -'After all he has endured?' - -'Poor fellow!' - -'Mashallah! Human life is only a deceitful enjoyment,' replied -Hussein, who was an inveterate quoter of the Koran; 'but may I never -see Paradise if his story is not a strange one; I shall tell it to -you--'tis a tale, like any other, and I heard it all, being one of -the court-martial at Bigah which sentenced him to die.' - -After draining his little coffee-cup, refilling the capacious bowl of -his pipe, and taking a few prodigious whiffs, the Yuze Bashi related -the following story, which--with the reader's permission--I will -rehearse in my own words; and while he spoke, the noble figure, -stately presence, pale beauty, and splendid eyes of the manly -Albanian Greek, seemed ever and painfully to be before me. - - - - -CHAPTER XXXIV. - -STORY OF THE GREEK LIEUTENANT. - -Sixteen years ago, when the Allied Powers united to assist the Sultan -in his conflict with old Mehemet Ali, then pasha of Egypt, and -nominally his vassal, the insurgent garrison of Acre was successfully -bombarded, as all the world knows, by the British fleet, under the -flag of Commodore Sir Charles Napier, who on that occasion -distinguished himself with his usual skill, bravery, and intrepidity. -The fortress was taken in a few hours; but the destruction and -slaughter were fearfully augmented by the explosion of a magazine of -powder and live bombs, by which the venerable ramparts of St. John -were reduced to a pile of blackened ruins. The roar of the exploding -powder was appalling; from the low headland of Acre there ascended -into the pure blue Syrian sky a mighty column of smoke and dust. The -lonely Kishon was startled in its stony bed; every mosque, khan, and -bazaar in the city rocked to its foundation, while the whole waters -of the bay were agitated by the concussion and rolled in foamy -ripples on the rocks of Cape Carmel. - -In that explosion one thousand five hundred brave soldiers who had -escaped the dangers and withstood the horrors of the bombardment were -in a moment swept into eternity. - -Of the many who perished, none was more universally regretted by the -Egyptian garrison, and even by the British commander, than Demetrius -Vidimo, a Greek captain, who served the Pasha, in mere hatred of the -Sultan and of the Turks, who were the tyrants of his people--a hatred -in which he was sustained by his wife, who was the daughter of a -Sciote patriot of high rank. Demetrius had participated in all the -horrors of the Greek struggle for independence, when the men of -Missolonghi, after a year's siege of hardship unparalleled, and after -defying all the united power of Turkey and of Egypt--after having a -hundred thousand bombs and balls shot among them, buried themselves -in the ruins of the city. He had seen the pyramid of Grecian skulls -that rose near the grave of Bozzaris; he had seen the horrors of the -massacre of Scio, when fifty thousand frantic Turks drenched the -loveliest of the Ægean Isles in blood, slaying sixty thousand Sciotes -in its streets, and carrying thirty thousand into hopeless slavery. -He had seen the manly boys and beautiful girls of Greece sold at a -dollar a-head in the streets of Smyrna. He had seen their mothers -ripped open by the Turkish sabre and the handjiar, and the children -torn reeking from the womb and dashed against the walls of Athens, -for the wildest beasts of Africa or India were mild as tender lambs -when compared to the merciless, brutal, and unglutted soldiery of -Mahmoud the Second. He had seen the slave-market of Stamboul crowded -with Grecian captives--brave men struggling and raving in their -futile vengeance against the Osmanlies; and women--the pale virgin -and the weeping mother--shrinking in the agonies of separation from -all they loved, and in horror of their lewd and sensual purchasers, -who bought them from the troops for the value of twelve cartridges, a -pipe-stick, or a piastre, and dragged them away to slavery, and worse -than slavery, in their harems, dens, and anderuns at Stamboul. - -He had seen all these things, and the soul of Demetrius was fired by -a thirst for undying vengeance upon the oppressors of his people. - -He was an Albanian, and chief of one of the eight tribes of the -Scutari mountains. Hardy, brave, reckless to a fault, and fired -alike by enthusiasm and revenge, he had distinguished himself on a -thousand occasions against the Turks; and at the previous storming of -Acre--eight years before--when Ibrahim Pasha, at the head of forty -thousand Egyptians and Arabs, besieged it for six months, the Grecian -Captain Vidimo in every assault was conspicuous, both by his bravery -and his picturesque Albanian costume; for wherever death was to be -found or danger sought and glory won, there towered the figure of -Vidimo, in his skull-cap, with his long hair flowing under it; his -fleecy capote flung loosely over his shoulder; his white kilt and -scarlet buskins, leading on the van of battle, and handling in rapid -succession the long musket, the crooked sabre, deadly yataghan and -pistols, which are the native weapons of the Albanian mountaineer. - -But he perished in the explosion at Acre, and so there was an end of -him, greatly to the regret of his comrades, and very much to the -grief of the Yuze Bashi Hussein, who had set his whole heart upon -taking the valiant Greek dead or alive, and laying his head at the -feet of Mahmoud the Second, to claim the promised reward. - -The Turks were furious! not even his body was to be found, though the -Sultan had offered a princely sum for it; and amid all the heads hewn -off after the bombardment, there was not one found that would pass -muster as having belonged to Vidimo, whose face was well known by a -peculiar sabre cut which he received at the defence of Missolonghi in -1826. - -After the capture, Ali Pasha, and Hussein Ebn al Ajuz, with other -officers of the corps of Bombardiers, enjoyed to their hearts' -content the pleasure of slicing off the head of the dark Egyptians, -or stuffing their pockets with tawny ears, and with something better -still the various good things to be picked up in the bazaars, the -great khan, the Franciscan monastery, the Greek church, the Armenian -synagogue, and other places where the unbelieving dogs of Jews and -Christians presumed to worship in any other fashion than that -proscribed by the holy camel-driver. - -During his minute researches in a certain flat-roofed mansion near -the Castle of Iron, the enterprising Hussein and several of his -soldiers discovered a female, of great beauty, with two children, a -boy and a girl, concealed in an alcove; and while the poor little -ones with terror in their wild black eyes, screamed and clung to the -skirt of their pale mother, the soldiers of Hussein, with brandished -weapons, and fierce Turkish imprecations, dragged them forth. The -woman was too handsome to be sacrificed: so Hussein, who had a -special eye to female loveliness, saved her at once, by sabring one -of his Majesty's soldiers and pistolling another, to cool the ardour -of the rest; but now, a dozen or more of Turkish officers, flushed -alike by blood, which is enjoined by the Koran, and by wine, which is -forbidden by it, crowded into the apartment. - -The beauty of the captive inflamed them all, and a furious contention -ensued, as to who should possess her. - -She offered a thousand Xeriffs as the ransom of her honour and her -children's lives; but the princely guerdon was received and rent from -her, with shouts of derision. - -Then Ali Pasha asserting his senior rank, seized her rudely. - -'Hold!' she exclaimed, in a piercing voice and with a nobility of -gesture which made even _him_ draw back; 'I am a Christian woman--the -daughter of a Sciote noble, and the widow of him who died to-day, -Demetrius Vidimo, and these are his children, Constantine and -Iola--we shall die together!' and with these words, she took from her -bosom a coral cross and tied it round the neck of her little boy, -believing him to be in more imminent danger than her daughter. - -Again the Turks uttered a fierce derisive shout; but stood -irresolute, when confronted by this Greek woman, whose aspect awed -them. - -She was clad in black, as being indicative of her fallen fortune; a -snow-white kerchief covered her head, and gave a Madonna-like -expression to her deep, black, thoughtful eyes, and soft but marble -features; for she possessed, in its greatest purity, all the classic -beauty of the ancient Greek women--a clear complexion, and long thick -tresses, dark as the northern night. She was lovely, feminine, and -sad in her expression, for in her time she had seen those things -which were more than enough to banish smiles for ever from her face; -yet, unblanched by past sorrow or by present danger, her lips -were--strange to say--alluringly rosy, as her teeth were dazzingly -white. - -Her form was tall and full, and maternity had given a charming -roundness to the slenderness of figure which usually falls to the lot -of Greek women. - -Inflamed by the desire of possessing a captive so fair, every Turk -stood by with pistol and sabre in hand, resolved to die rather than -yield her to another. The stern altercation was fierce and noisy; -and there amid that terrible group, pale, and, like Niobe, all in -tears, with her younglings clinging to her skirts, the widowed mother -stood, trembling in her soul, for she knew that such mercy as tigers -accord would be the mercy given to her. - -'Since all cannot possess--by everything that is holy! let us all -destroy her!' cried Hussein, levelling a pistol. - -'Allah--Allah! Amaum! Amaum!' cried Ali Pasha, and the crowd of -Turks. A confused discharge of pistols took place, and pierced by -more than twenty balls, the mother fell dead with her blood spouting -over her children, and so ended the dispute; for the sun set at that -moment, and they all hastened out, to kneel and say the _Salât al -Moghreb_, or evening prayer, so Hussein was left in possession alike -of the dead body, of the children, and the premises. - -After rifling the corpse of its rings and jewels, he took away the -orphans to make slaves of them. - -Perceiving that the girl, Iola, then in her sixth year, promised to -be beautiful, he kept her; the boy, Constantine, he gave to Ali -Pasha, colonel of the Bombardiers, who made a soldier of him, and in -time he became a lieutenant of Albanians in the service of the -Sultan--but he never forgot the cause for which his father -fought--vengeance for Greece, or the death which his mother died; and -thus, seeking the first opportunity of leaving a service so hateful -as that of Abdul Medjid, he had deserted from Heraclea; but was -retaken, tried and sent back by the _Mahmoudieh_ steam-ship, and on -the morrow was to die. The cry of the exterminating angel would be -heard, and an Unbeliever would perish like a withered bud, or like a -palm-tree struck by lightning. - -I cannot express the aversion we felt for the old Yuze Bashi, who -with singular coolness related the part he had borne in this -barbarous episode of the Egyptian revolt; and which, with occasional -whiffs of his chibouque, he related as quietly as one might do the -account of a little shooting excursion, or the result of a pic-nic -party, and nothing more. - -'And Iola--the daughter,' I asked; 'what became of her?' - -'That I cannot tell you,' said he; 'she is never named to me now.' - -'Does she know of the fate that hangs over her brother?' - -'No!' - -'She is dead, then?' - -'To him--and to the world, at least.' - -'Which means that she is--' - -'Married--exactly.' - -'So inquiries might only be unpleasant, if not dangerous?' - -'Yes.' - -'But when her brother is to die?'--began Belton. - -'She shall never know of it,' replied Hussein. 'What useful end -would be served by conveying the information to her. She would weep, -and the tears of women are a great annoyance now, since we cannot -apply the bastinado without permission from a Kadi or Moolah. Bah! -this Constantine Vidimo is only a Greek, and one ball will kill him: -in a moment all will be over.' - -'Only a Greek!' reiterated Belton, who had been poring over the -_Corsair_ on our outward voyage; 'are not the Greeks human beings?' - -'Scarcely--know you not, O Frank! that the Lord of the world hath -sealed up their hearts and their hearing, and veiled their sight by a -dimness.' - -Tired of the Yuze Bashi and his barbarous ideas, we rose to bid him -farewell and leave the khan; but he, having a wholesome terror of -Ghoules, Guebres, and Genii in the dark, resolved on accompanying us -to our quarters; for he too had rooms in the Coumbazadjilar-Kislaci. -Thus we found the impossibility of shaking him off, and as we -stumbled on, arm-in-arm with this epauletted assassin, followed step -for step by Callum Dhu, through the dark, muddy, and unpaved streets -of Heraclea, he told us various other pretty little episodes of -himself and Ali Pasha. - -The name of the latter must be familiar to the reader, as being the -Turkish General of Brigade whose infamous abduction and murder of a -young and beautiful Greek girl in the suburbs of Varna lately roused -the indignation of the French commandant, by whose humane exertions, -for the FIRST time in Oriental history, an Osmanli was tried for the -murder of a Christian; and consequently Ali Pasha, the Brigadier; -Lieutenant Mohammed Aga, his aide-de-camp; Hussein Aga, his steward; -and Corporal Moustapha, appeared before a tribunal, which, of course, -acquitted them; for every hair in the beard of a true Believer is -worth all the benighted souls in Christendom. - - - - -CHAPTER XXXV. - -THE EXECUTION. - -With the melancholy story of Constantine Vidimo in my mind, the -reader may imagine with what emotion I heard the Turkish drums -beating in the barrack-yard for the punishment parade next morning, -and our three pipers playing the _gathering_, for our little -detachment, as a portion of the Allied troops, had to attend the -painful scene. - -Callum Dhu, now a smart and active soldier, appeared punctually to -accoutre me with my pipe-clayed belt, sword, &c., and while the sun -was yet below the sea, I issued into the shady square of the -Coumbazadjilar-Kislaci, where our sergeants were calling the roll, -and where the battalion of the Mir Alai Saïd, with short blue tunics, -scarlet trousers, and tarbooshes, were falling in by companies, while -a few _topchis_, or gunners, were being slowly and laboriously -paraded and mustered by the ponderous Yuze Bashi Hussein. - -The parade was soon formed, and the two commanding officers, Mir Alai -Saïd and Major Catanagh, mutually complimented each other on the -appearance of their men; and, in truth, this Turkish battalion, in -efficiency, order, and discipline, would have done no discredit to -any army in Europe. Their faces were dark and fierce, keen and -Asiatic; their words of command, like their names, sounded wild and -barbaric, as _ours_ must have been to them; but, with a few -exceptions, every manoeuvre and tactic were modelled after our own. - -While expressing astonishment and even merriment at the large plumed -bonnets, hairy sporrans, and bare knees of our men, the Mir Alai was -delighted by their athletic figures. The jewelled dirks, -claw-pistols, and basket-hilted claymores of the officers excited his -interest, and he vowed by the beard of the Prophet that he had never -before seen weapons of such a fashion or of finer workmanship. - -'Stout fellows all,' said he, in strange English, as he patted the -shoulder of Callum, who was a flank file; 'their hands will soon be -hardened by carrying the brass-butted musket.' - -'If they do not become food for powder and the Russian worms, -colonel,' replied Catanagh. - -The sun rose above the sea of Marmora, and at that instant the shrill -wild voice of the muezzin from the lofty minaret of an adjacent -mosque pierced the silence and purity of the morning with the summons -to early prayer. - -Then the Turkish battalion, which had been standing at ease, with -ordered arms, and formed in open columns of companies at quarter -distance, bent their heads in prayer, and many produced their beads -of cedar-wood, and commenced their orisons with a fervour that -impressed us with no small respect for these poor Moslem soldiers; -but after a time the sharp drum beat a roll, the whole battalion -started to 'attention'--the bayonets were fixed--the arms -'shouldered,' and as the _right_ was assigned to us, the whole -presented arms, with drums beating, and their single colour flying, -as we marched out to the place of execution, with our pipes playing. -The Osmanlies followed, with their brass band, cymbals, bells, -tambourines, and triangles, performing something that was meant for a -march; but its measure was more wild and barbaric than pleasing. - -The morning was brilliant; on our left the sea of Marmora shone like -an ocean of glass, and the rakish little Greek caiques were shooting -out upon its bosom from the shady creeks and sunny inlets, where they -had been anchored overnight. - -Marching out by an ancient gate, which was encrusted by carving and -old inscriptions, and covered by ivy and acanthus-leaves, we -traversed a causeway coeval perhaps with the days of Zeuxis and the -palace of Vespasian, and reached a little hollow, which was -surrounded by groves of the olive, the emblem of peace--the tree -which Minerva gave to Greece, and which, as the poets say, was -grasped by Latona in her maternal throes. - -It was a lonely place, and no sound was heard there but the coo of -the wild pigeon or the flapping of a stork's wing, as he sat on a -prostrate column, the rich Corinthian capital of which was almost -buried among luxuriant creepers, weeds, and wild flowers. In this -valley stood a little gilded mosque, having a shining dome, and two -taper minarets, like gigantic candlesticks, the tops of which, to -complete the resemblance, seemed to be lighted; but this was merely -the sun's rays tipping with fire their bulbous-shaped roofs of -polished brass. Around towered a group of solemn cypresses, which -cast their shadows on the marble slabs, the green mounds, the -turbaned headstones, and gilded sarcophagi that marked where many a -true Believer lay. - -A little apart from these, a new grave freshly dug was yawning darkly -among the green grass and dewy morning flowers. - -Beside it knelt the Greek officer, and near him were twelve Turkish -soldiers, with their bayonets fixed. - -As we halted in the valley, and formed three sides of a hollow -square, a bell jangled in the mosque, and the Hafiz Moustapha, and -moolah or priest, wearing long robes and a turban of green cloth, -came slowly forth, bearing the Koran in his hand; and now a chill -fell on all our hearts, for to us this scene and all these -preparations were solemn, strange, and new. - -I gazed with deep interest at the poor young Greek, who was still -upon his knees, and who seemed to have given up all his soul to God -in prayer and outpouring of the heart--and as I surveyed his face, so -pure and cold, so noble and severe in its classic beauty, all the -episodes of his dark and terrible story came before me; and at that -time I felt an abhorrence of all Osmanli in general, and our -bulbous-shaped Yuze Bashi in particular. Of all who were present his -visage expressed the least concern, for to him the shooting of a -Greek was infinitely of less moment than the shooting of a crow. - -The poor Albanian! - -On rising from his orisons, he looked calmly about him; but nowhere -save in our own ranks did he meet with eyes of sympathy. Perhaps we -had somewhat of a fellow-feeling for a bare-kneed soldier whose garb -so nearly resembled our own, for the white camise of the mountaineer -of _Albania_ and the tartan kilt of the mountaineer of _Albany_ are -as nearly identical as the old tradition of that mutual descent from -one stock would make us, a tradition strangely corroborated by the -old classic names of Hector, Æneas, Helen, and Constantine being -still preserved among the Highland clans. But enough of this -legendary fustian. - -Constantine Vidimo was drawing nearer our ranks, when again the bell -rang in the mosque; and shrinking back to the side of the newly-dug -grave, he folded his arms and gazed fiercely at the Turks. - -The spiritual consolation of a Greek priest of his own religion was -denied him in this terrible hour, the bitterness of which the old -wretch named Moolah Moustapha left nothing unsaid to enhance, for he -was an ancient Mohammedan, who could remember the 'good old times' -when the true Believer had the power of forcing every Christian dog, -however high in rank, to sweep the muddy streets of Stamboul before -him at his caprice and whim. - -With his hands crossed on the Koran, which he pressed to his breast; -with his long white beard spreading over it, and his long green robe -falling in heavy folds from his shoulders to the grass, he faced the -Turkish troops, and strung together a number of disjointed quotations -from the Koran, which, as Belton whispered, were mere incentives to -bloodshed and bigotry. - -'Oh, true Believers! wage war against such of the Infidels as are -near you--let them find no security in you, and know that God is only -with those who fear him. Should the divine vengeance fall upon you -either by day or by night, believe that the wicked have hastened it -upon you. The Believer dieth happy, a possessor of Eden, through -which flows rivers of wine and sherbet; he is adorned with bracelets -of fine gold, and he is clothed in silken garments of fine green -cloth; glory surrounds him; he sleeps in a couch of pearl, with his -head pillowed on the soft bosom of a black-eyed girl, and his reward -is to dwell for ever in the abode of delight; but _thou_, oh Greek! -after appearing at the last day, chained to the geni who seduced -thee, shall broil for ever in the dark caves of everlasting fire--a -poor bubble, swept down the burning torrents of the river of Woe!' - -To all this I could perceive that the Turkish soldiers listened with -considerable impatience; for there is, I believe, a natural antipathy -springing up between the military and the religious of the Ottoman -empire. Being rough, and not ungenerous, the Turkish soldier -despises the moolahs, muftis, imaums, dervishes, calanders, and -fakirs, for their cunning, avarice, hypocrisy, and secret immorality; -while they, in turn, rail at and preach against the soldiers for -wearing tight pantaloons, relinquishing the turban for the fez, -learning to drink raki, and generally for following a little too -closely the customs of Europe. - -'Have a righteous fear of Mohammed, oh, Believers!' resumed the Hafiz -Moustapha, 'and you will die in the faith, and find the Koran the -only sure cord to heaven; but,' he added, turning his face to us, for -this moolah had been a soldier--_a corporal of Grenadiers_--in his -youth, as the reader shall learn more at length; 'but may the holy -Prophet, who sees all that night veils and day enlightens--who -knoweth and heareth all things, bless these infidels, who have come -to fight for the land of Islam!' - -'Amaum! amaum!' muttered the Mir Alai Saïd, as he waved his sabre -impatiently to the mulazim commanding the party of twelve soldiers, -whose muskets were to despatch the prisoner, and a chaoush (sergeant) -who stood on their flank, armed with a pistol, carefully examining -its lock and priming. - -An onboshi (corporal) approached with a handkerchief to bind up the -eyes of the Greek lieutenant; but scorning alike to kneel or be -blindfolded, he stood boldly confronting the firing party at the -distance of thirty yards, fearlessly and firm. He drew a cross from -his breast--the coral cross of Hussein's savage story--the cross his -mother had tied around his neck at Acre, and after kissing it, he -held it up in our view, and said in somewhat broken English-- - -'It is the emblem of your faith--the religion in which I die. Let -not these Turkish swine defile it when I am gone. Who among you -Christian men will take it from my hand, and keep it as the last gift -of a wretch who never knew what it was to be happy?' - -'I will!' exclaimed I, starting forward. - -He grasped my hand, and his beautiful dark eyes flashed with dusky -fire, as he waved his right arm with pride, and exclaimed-- - -'Now, dogs--I am ready for you!' - -His aspect and bearing were splendid. - -Stern and unyielding as the Prometheus of Æschylus, braving the fury -of his tyrants, and scorning to sue for mercy or stoop his haughty -head, the noble Greek stood before the levelled muskets that were to -destroy him. - -'_Nishan ale!_' (ready--present) cried the Turkish commander of the -platoon. - -'_Atesh!_' (fire) - -Flame flashed from the twelve iron tubes; twelve bullets whistled -shrilly past us, and the reports rang like thunder in the narrow -valley, scaring the stork from the ruined column, and the wild -pigeons from the olive-grove. The smoke curled upward in the pure -atmosphere, and the poor Greek officer lay prone on the grass, -breathing heavily, with blood pouring in streams from his throat and -bosom. Three balls had pierced him, yet he was not dead. - -Now something like a groan ran along our ranks, for at that moment -the chaoush with the pistol approached the dying man, placed the -muzzle to his ear, and coolly and deliberately blew out his brains! - -So ended this scene of blood. - -* * * * - -Our bagpipes yelled again, and the Turkish drums and flutes rang -merrily in that valley of olives, as we wheeled from hollow square -into open column, and breaking into sections, marched back to the -barracks; but my heart felt sick and sore, and oblivious of the -martial display, I thought only of the coral cross which I had taken -from the dead man's hand, and of the barbarous mode in which I had -seen his mutilated and coffinless remains thrust into the grave, and -hastily earthed up, by the water-carriers, or Nubian slaves, of the -Mir Alai Saïd's regiment. - - - - -CHAPTER XXXVI. - -IN 'ORDERS,' FOR DUTY. - -After this event, for some days I avoided the Yuze Bashi Hussein, for -whom I had conceived a horror in consequence of the tragic story of -Constantine Vidimo, whose fate made a deep impression on the whole of -our little mess, but on none more than myself--for I had, as related, -addressed him twice, and it was to me that his relaxing hand had -slowly yielded up the coral cross, which I resolved to preserve as a -souvenir of our service in the East. We ceased to invite the Yuze -Bashi to mess, where his bulbous figure, preposterous and goat-like -beard, diminutive scarlet fez, frogged surtout, long crooked sabre, -and comically ferocious visage, were an endless source of amusement, -wit, and caricature; but judge of my annoyance when I found that, in -consequence of this modern Bashaw having conceived a vehement fancy -or friendship for me, I was to be separated from the jovial society -of my brother-officers, and to be detached--on his especial -application--with one sergeant, one piper, and thirty rank and file, -to the castle of Rodosdchig, his military government or commandery, -which lay about thirty miles distant. - -'For what purpose is this detachment detailed?' I asked rather -angrily at mess, on the day I read the announcement in orders, as -being the will and pleasure of our Brevet-Major commanding. - -'To strengthen the stout captain's little garrison of Topchis.' - -'But why?' - -'They are in danger of an attack from certain armed and -insurrectionary Greeks, whom the secret agency of some Russian -priests are omitting no means of inflaming and exciting to discontent -against the authority of the Sultan and his Pashas.' - -'Why are Turks not sent--the Mir Alai has eight hundred of them here -in garrison?' - -'He does us the honour to believe that red-coats will more completely -awe the malcontent Greeks.' - -'In this service I may get a slash from a yataghan, or a ball from a -brass-barrelled pistol sans credit and honour.' - -'Not at all,' said Belton; 'either will be quite as honourable as a -shot from the Rifle Pits, or a splinter from a Whistling Dick out of -the Redan.' - -'Which, by-the-by, none of us are likely to see,' grumbled Catanagh, -draining a long glass of Kirklissa wine, with an angry sigh. - -By this time our Major had communicated with the British military -authorities at Constantinople, detailing the loss of the _Vestal_, -and that he had obtained quarters for his men in the Bombardiers' -Barracks at Heraclea, or _Erekli_, as the Turks name it; and, by a -messenger, he was instructed to remain in his present cantonment -until further orders, as there was every prospect now of hostilities -ceasing, and our presence would not be required with Sir Colin -Campbell and the Highland Brigade. - -At this time, January 3rd, 1856, we had fifty-eight thousand British -soldiers in the Crimea; a Council of War, composed of British and -French general officers, had assembled in Paris, and Russia had -accepted the Austrian propositions as a basis for the negotiation of -a peace. The despatch to the Major concluded by stating, that the -French had blown up Fort St. Nicolas at Sebastopol, where our miners -were busy destroying the magnificent docks. With this long document -going the round of the mess-table, we gulped down our disappointment -and the Roumelian wine together, on the evening before I marched with -this devil of a Yuze Bashi to his castle of Rodosdchig; and our -enthusiastic hopes of a protracted war--a war that from the mouth of -the Danube would roll like a flame over Hungary, Poland, and -Italy--our hopes of rapid promotion, of French medals and crosses of -the Legion of Honour, dwindled down into tame and vapid surmises as -to the disbanding of second battalions, and the parsimonious -reduction of additional captains, lieutenants, and ensigns. - -'So we shall be here till further orders,' observed the Major, in -conclusion. - -'Abominable ill luck!' said Jack Belton. - -'Instead of being at Sebastopol, in at the death. and the glory of -the affair,' chimed the captain of our Light Bobs, 'we shall be -learning to smoke opium and sit crosslegged, to relish pillau, eat -hash, and pepperpot with our fingers.' - -'And to rub up our _Alpha_, _Beta_, _Gamma_, _Delta_, and so forth, -to make love to the charming Haidees of Roumelia--but, waiter, see -who knocks at the door!' added the Major, as a rat-tat rang on the -painted door of the long room which was fitted up for our temporary -mess, and the walls of which were painted in arabesques with pious -quotations from the Koran. - -The Highlander in his kilt, who acted as one of our mess-waiters, -opened the door and ushered in our acquaintance, the fat Yuze Bashi, -who, having a lively recollection of the bright, amber-coloured -sherry, and full-bodied old port, which we had saved from the bulged -hull of Her Majesty's steam-transport _Vestal_, visited us as often -as propriety would allow; for he was a cunning old dog, who willingly -gave up his chance of the slender houris in Heaven for a cup of good -wine and the plump and substantial houris of earth. - -Carrying his pipe and, of course, his paunch before him, he entered -with a prodigious salaam and bowed to us all; then he ogled the -decanter, and sat down near Catanagh, who was too polite and too much -of a soldier not to accord him a welcome. - -We spoke of European politics, of which the obtuse brain of the Yuze -Bashi, Hadjee Hussein Ebn al Ojuz, knew as much as he did about -electricity, the longitude, the 'philosoplry of the infinite,' a good -pun, or anything else, which is incomprehensible to an Oriental mind. - -Belton spoke of the Greek girls, and then the old fellow became -lively, and looked roguishly out at the corners of his sly black eyes. - -'Inshallah!' said he; 'I do love pretty girls with all the zeal of a -true Believer. Mohammed! yes--I have played some strange pranks in -my time among the fair-haired Tcherkesses, and the black-eyed -Cockonas of Bucharest--the City of Delights--as its name imports. -Yes, and there are some pretty ones in Egypt too, who have good -reason to remember the Hadjee Hussein. But my heart has long been -fixed upon obtaining a Russian. They are large, those Muscovites, -and plump and fair-skinned, round and white as eggs; and, please God, -I shall perhaps have a couple of them yet.' - -'Scarcely,' said Belton, 'for we are on the eve of a peace; so, -Captain, your chances are small.' - -His eyes flashed fire at the idea of a peace. - -'Good can never come of it!' said he; 'we shall have all these -battles to fight over again; all these fortresses to take and to -defend; and the Muscovite swine may yet wallow upon the shores of the -Golden Horn, if Britain and France are false to us, and we are false -to ourselves! Yet Heaven, they say, was with us in this war.' - -'They--who?' - -'Mashallah! by "they," one means that mysterious personage on whom -one fathers everything that lacks a better authority.' - -'Bono!' said the major; 'well, captain--they say--' - -'That at Silistria ten thousand angels, in green dresses, were -visible to all the Faithful, fighting against the God-abandoned -Russians. The Hafiz Moustapha counted their ten green banners with a -thousand under each. Even the English newspapers repeated that.' - -'I remember to have read it,' said I. - -'Yes,' resumed Hussein, gathering confidence on my corroboration; -'ten thousand, like those who fought for Islamism, in the war of the -Ditch, and at the battle of Bedr, against the Koreish; but instead of -iron maces, which shot forth fire at every stroke, our Silistrian -angels appeared as well-appointed infantry.' - -'By the breeches of the Prophet!' muttered the Major, in an under -tone; 'only think of ten thousand well-appointed angels, in heavy -marching order--all with sixty rounds of ball-cartridge at their -blessed backs!' - -'But if it pleases our lord the Sultan, who is God's shadow upon -earth, to make peace with these grovelling Russian curs--if he thinks -that hell is sufficiently full of them--why should I, who am unworthy -to kiss his slippers, dare to advise?' - -'Of course--so fill your glass, Captain Hussein, and pass the -bottles.' - -'Abdul Medjid,' continued our fat guest, who began to wax guttural, -slow, and prosy, as the fumes of the wine mounted into his oriental -cranium--'Abdul Medjid, though he rejoiceth in the titles of Lord of -the Black and White Seas; Master of Europe, Asia, and Africa; Lord of -Bagdad, Damascus, Belgrade, and Agra; the Odour of Paradise--the -Ke-ke-keeper of the Holy Cities of Jerusalem, Mecca, and -Medina--is--is--' - -'Is devilishly in want of the "ready," I believe,' said Belton, -rather abruptly, closing a sentence the end of which Hussein had lost. - -After making various ineffectual efforts to resume where he hud left -off so suddenly, and to regain the thread of his subject, which -Jack's abrupt interruption had somewhat entangled, Hussein dropped -his bearded chin upon his breast, and after a snort or two, let his -chibouque fall, as he dropped into a deep sleep, overcome by the -wine, of which he had partaken too freely, and the strength of which -was too potent for him. - -'Now,' said Catanagh, 'here is a good specimen of the modern Turk, -who has retained all the vices, and none of the virtues, of his -ancestors. Selfish, sensual, ignorant, and brutal, he is a -Mohammedan only in those things which minister to his luxury. But -the old world is changing fast, and here the new has not much to -recommend it. Ancient things are passing away, and in the slaves who -crouch beneath the Turkish yoke we look in vain for the sons of those -who fought at Marathon, and who died at Thermopylæ. Green be the -grass and bright the flowers that there grow, say I! Omnibuses have -rattled through the gate of the Ilissus; a matter-of-fact Scotsman -has ploughed up the plains of Marathon, and gas-lamps have shed their -light upon the Acropolis. The 'Maid of Athens' (as Stephen tells us -in his book) has become plain Mrs. George Black, the wife of King -Otho's Scotch superintendent of police, and the buxom mother of -various little Blacks--so much for romance and for the land of Homer -in the age of steam! Turks are practising the polka and, -_deux-temps!_ coals have been found in Mount Calvary, and Albert -Smith has stuck 'Punch's' posters on the Pyramid; the Highland -bagpipe, that fifty years ago rang in the streets of Bagdad and Grand -Cairo, has now sent up its yell at the Golden Horn, and the mosque of -St. Sophia has echoed to the rattle of the _British Grenadiers_. We -have come to the end of all things, and may light our pipes with -Æschyrus and Herodotus. - - 'Xerxes the great did die, - And so must you and I.' - -Try these cheroots, Mac Innon, and please pass the wine, Jack; we -must drink to Allan--a pleasant march to Rodosdchig, and may we soon -have him safe back again, to be under my illustrious command, if not -quite under this auspicious mahogany!' - - - - -CHAPTER XXXVII. - -I MARCH TO RODOSDCHIG. - -With a sergeant and thirty rank and file--one of whom was Callum Dhu, -and with a piper playing at their head, I marched out of Heraclea, -and by an old paved path of the Sultan Solyman, took the coast road -to Rodosdchig. My men were in heavy marching order; their -feather-bonnets cased in oilskins; their great-coats rolled; their -wooden canteens, haversacks, and white gaiters on. We were -accompanied by the portly Yuze Bashi; but as the day proved to be -Friday, which is set apart by the Mohammedans for prayer and worship, -he made it an excuse for being lazy, and instead of riding beside me -on horseback, which, as a soldier, he ought to have done, he marched -like a prince of Bourbon, _i.e._, travelled in his snug araba or -Turkish carriage, where he sat, trussed up among soft cushions, and -given up to dozing over his pipe and the Prophet. - -Jack Belton accompanied me for three or four miles westward of the -town, as far as an old Roman bridge, which crosses a river with a -name that no jaws save those of a Believer were ever meant to -compass; and there bidding me warmly adieu, he galloped back to -breakfast and to morning parade. - -We passed the head of the olive valley, where the poor Greek officer -had been so barbarously executed; and all the terrible scene of that -morning came fresh upon my memory. In the distance lay the sea and -the grey rocks of Palegrossa, whereon was the rent and gaping hull of -the _Vestal_. - -The atmosphere soon became oppressively hot--singularly so for that -season of the year, and consequently I seldom saw the round visage, -or heard the guttural voice of the Yuze Bashi, save when he stormed -at a passing carrier, whose string of laden mules raised a dust on -the highway; or when he swore at the terrified Boba of some wayside -khan, who was long in supplying him with sherbet or iced water, for -which supplies, by the way, he seldom seemed to pay, save in threats -and maledictions. - -At one of these temporary halts near a khan, a poor old Jew, wearing -the blue turban and blue boots enforced on those of his religion, -approached with great timidity, and with a humility which to me--the -son of a free soil--was painful and oppressive, offered some cigars -and tobacco for sale. - -'Do not buy of him,' said Hussein, pulling sharply back the curtains -of his araba; 'he is a Jew, and will cheat you--they are all cheats, -believing that, at most, they shall only endure for eleven months the -fires of hell--for such is their accursed creed. Oho! is this you, -Isaac Ebn Abraha, who keeps the little booth in the new Frank street -of Stamboul?' - -'The same, at the service of my lord,' replied the old Israelite, -bending his white head. - -'The gold of the English and French has been rattling into your -coffers like hailstones, I have been told, Isaac?' - -The Jew shook his head in dissent, and bent it lower, to conceal his -cunning eyes. - -'Oho! I lie, then, do I?' exclaimed this Turkish bully; 'had other -than you done this, I had smote him on the mouth with the heel of my -slipper! Begone,' he added, spitting full in the cigar vender's face. - -I remonstrated, as a fierce gleam shot from the hollow eyes of the -old Jew, and he slunk away. - -'Bah!' said the Yuze Bashi; 'we tolerate the existence of Jews, -Armenians, and Greeks, because, if we destroyed them, what would the -true Believers do for slaves?' - -'We meet few of them hereabout, at all events,' said I; 'the whole -country seems to become more waste and barren as we advance.' - -'True,' replied the puffing Osmanli, with a fierce flashing in his -dark eye, and a sardonic grin under his grey moustache; '_where the -Sultan's horse has trod there grows no grass_.' - -And, with this fatally true Turkish proverb, he sank back among his -downy cushions, and left me to march on in silence or commune with -Callum Dhu. - -After passing Carga on our left, and Turcmeli on our right, after -crossing one or two streams, and pursuing a road from which, upon our -right flank, we had bright glimpses of the blue sea of Marmora; after -passing many of those green tumuli, or old warrior-graves, which stud -all the land of Roumelia; after seeing only flights of vultures, -cranes, and storks, or an occasional string of laden mules, -progressing towards Stamboul, a march of twenty miles found us in a -beautiful little valley, watered by a stream which flowed from a -fountain in the basement of a gilded mosque, and surrounded by -beautiful groves of pale green olive-trees, the orange, and the -mimosa, with the crisped foliage of the dwarf oak, the broad and -luxuriant leaves of the wild vine, and the graceful acacia, which -Mohammed--in his 56th chapter--promises shall bloom again in Paradise. - -This was not far from Karacalderin, a small town on the right flank -of the coast road. - -The grass was green and soft as velvet; a thousand wild flowers -studded its verdure, and loaded with perfume the southern breeze that -breathed up the valley from the sea of Marmora, and proved to us all -delightful as a cold bath after our hot day's march. - -Evening was approaching now; the giant poplars and cypresses that -surrounded the little mosque, which marked where some dead Santon -lay, were throwing their lengthening shadows far across the valley; -and on my announcing that I would halt here for the night, my -soldiers gladly threw off their knapsacks and piled their arms; -Callum lighted a large fire, with all the adroitness of a Highland -huntsman, and with some jest about there 'being little chance of -firing the heather _here_,' heaped on the branches of the dwarf oaks, -which we hewed remorselessly down by our bill-hooks. - -The Yuze Bashi, though he grumbled savagely under his beard at the -annoyance of having to halt (as he feared to proceed alone through a -district full of armed and unscrupulous Greek peasantry), was -compelled to make the best of our delightful little bivouac, and -while my men made a meal of the cold meat which had been brought in -their haversacks, he shared with me a cold pillaff of fowl and rice, -and a jolly magnum bonum of Kirklissa wine. - -Discovering another in the recesses of the araba, I abstracted it -_sans ceremonie_, and despite all Hussein's angry remonstrances, -handed it to my soldiers, and as it proved to be well dashed with -brandy, they passed it from man to man until each had his share, and -then they all began to talk, sing, and be merry. - -'Bless their hearts!' says Charles Lever, 'a little fun goes a long -way in the army;' and any man who has ever spent an hour in the -company of soldiers will find it so. - -They were all happy as crickets round that bivouac fire, for actual -service softens cold etiquette, and relaxes the iron band of -discipline without impairing it, especially among Scots and Irishmen; -and while the blaze of the ruddy flame shot upward, and tipped the -olive-trees with light as fresh fuel was heaped upon it, while the -orient sunset died away and deepened into azure night, on the calm -Grecian sea and lovely classic shore, we sat in that romantic valley -clad in the same martial garb our hardy sires had worn in the days of -Remus and Romulus, telling old stories of our native land, or singing -those songs, which, when we were so far away from it, made the hearts -within us melt to tenderness, or swell with pride and fire. - -While the old, gross, and sensual Yuze Bashi lay half hidden among -the down cushions of his araba and dozed away over his narguillah of -rose-water, I sang a mess-room stave or two to amuse my men; and by -doing so won their hearts still more, I am assured, than even my -previous and studied kindness to them had done. Then I called on -Callum Dhu for his quota of amusement, and at once his fine bold -manly voice made the valley ring, as he gave us that fiery song in -which his warlike ancestor, Ian Lom Mac Donel, the Bard of Keppoch, -has embalmed the victory of the great Montrose at Inverlochy. - -He sang it in his native Gaelic, and as he poured it forth his -swarthy cheek was seen to glow and his eyes to flash--ay, even the -muscles of his bare legs, on which fell the glow of the wavering -watch-fire, seemed to quiver and be strung anew with energy as all -the fire of Ian Lom filled the heart of his descendant--for through -(my nurse) his mother, Callum came of Ian's race. - -The song cannot be known to my English readers; but as it is in that -bold ballad style they love so well, I may be pardoned in quoting two -verses of it from a little historical work that may never cross the -Tweed;[*] and as he sang, the voices of his thirty comrades united -with singular force and harmony in the chorus:-- - - 'Heard ye not! heard ye not! - How that whirlwind the Gael,-- - Through Lochaber swept down - From Lochness to Loch Eil?-- - And the Campbells to meet them - In battle array, - Came on like the billow-- - And broke like its spray! - _Long, long shall our war song exult in that day!_ - - 'Through the Braes of Lochaber - A desert were made, - And Glen Roy should be lost - To the plough and the spade; - Though the bones of my kindred, - Unhonoured, unurned, - Marked the desolate path - Where the Campbells have burned.-- - _Be it so! from that foray they never returned!_' &c. - - -[*] See Turner's Collection. - - -So intent were we on the song--so much had it absorbed our faculties -and fixed our hearts and eyes, that we had not heard the challenge of -Donald Roy, who was stationed as a sentinel near the road; nor until -its conclusion did we perceive that a stranger had joined us, and was -standing propped upon a long and knotty staff, surveying us with eyes -of wonder, and with an interest that was not unfriendly, for a smile -lighted all his features as I rose to greet him. on recognising the -wandering Moolah Moustapha, whom I had met at the Khan in Heraclea, -and who had officiated on the morning when the Greek Lieutenant, -Constantine Vidimo, was shot. - - - - -CHAPTER XXXVIII. - -THE VISION OF CORPORAL MOUSTAPHA. - -He accorded to us the usual greeting, and contrary to the use and -wont of ignorant Dervishes and Moolahs, who dislike soldiers in -general and infidels in particular, he seated himself by our fire and -partook at once of some bread and meat which were offered him by -Callum, but shook his averted head when the leathern flasks of wine -and potent raki were held towards him by Sergeant Mac Ildhui. - -'Nay, nay,' said he, 'wine and gaming are alike forbidden by the -Koran--yet there was a time when I was daily and nightly addicted to -both.' - -'And when did you reform, reverend Moolah?' I asked. - -'When I ceased to be a soldier,' he answered with a quiet smile. - -'A soldier!' I reiterated; 'have _you_ then been one of ourselves?' - -'Yes, Aga, and one who could handle _this_ with the best man among -you,' he replied, snatching up a musket and fixing and unfixing the -bayonet with an adroitness that none but a practised soldier can -achieve. This old man was spare and brawny, quick of speech and -sharp in eye. 'Yes--I was a soldier of Scherif Bey's regiment, and -fought at the battles of Ilonis, of Athens, and of Koniah.' - -'Yes, by the beard of the Prophet,' exclaimed the Yuze Bashi, waking -up suddenly; 'and you it was, O most worthy Moustapha! who assisted -me to save the colours of the Scherif, by stuffing them into my -regimental breeches. Mashallah! 'twas well, it was not the standard -of Islam, for where were the mortal breeches which would have held -_that_?' - -'True, O gallant Yuze Bashi; and the same battle of Koniah which made -thy fortune on earth, while it marred mine here, made it, I trust, in -Paradise.' - -'You were left on the field?' said Hussein. - -'Pierced by a ball.' - -'May dogs defile the grave of him who shot it!' - -'Nay, nay, Hadjee Hussein, that bullet brought light and repentance -to me; for until that day so fatal to the fortune of our lord the -Sultan in Egypt, I was a very wretch--an apostate--a scoffer--an -unbeliever in the prophet--yea, a veritable Janissary!' - -'But a brave soldier, Hafiz Moustapha.' - -'My lord is pleased to be merry.' - -'By the night and all that it enfolds in its shades, I am _not_, -Moustapha! I speak but the truth of you, Hafiz. You were ever a -brave soldier as any in the ranks of Islam--as any in the army of -Mahmoud II., though somewhat of a visionary.' - -The old Moolah crossed his hands upon his breast, and bowed down his -bearded face in reply. - -'And did you see much of war and battles in those days, reverend -Moolah?' I asked. - -'Enough and to spare.' - -'Mashallah!' exclaimed Hussein, 'I have seen him carrying six -Egyptian heads at once by the top knot, a handful of them all grasped -like a cluster of gourds, and I have seen him with four-and-twenty -ears all strung like herrings on his ramrod, when Egyptian ears sold -as high as ten paras each. Beard of Khalid! I have sent a bushel of -them more than once to the tent of Reschid Pasha. Moustapha went -hand in hand with the wild Koords in roasting and impaling our -prisoners--for what are Egyptians but curs like the Greeks?' - -'Curs of a darker hue.' - -'True, oh reverend Moolah--though it is said, if thou wishest to -please the eye, take a Circassian maid; but if for pleasure and -voluptuousness, try an Egyptian one.' - -'And did you tire of slaughter or of soldiering?' I asked, not being -naturalist enough to ponder long over the last remark--a proverbial -one in the East. - -'Of neither, though I saw enough of both while under Scherif Bey; but -in my youth I was good and pious, and knowing all the Koran and Bible -by heart, was styled _Hafiz_, which meaneth _Bible-reader_. I became -a soldier, and fell into evil ways. I had a vision--a vision, O -Frank! such as seldom opens up to mortal eyes,' he continued, -pointing upward, while his eyes flashed with a red unearthly glare, -and his whole face flushed from his brow to his long white beard; -'and from that hour I was a changed man. I ceased to regard the -things of this life, or be solicitous of aught on earth--where I -should find food in the morning or rest at night--looking forward -only to death as the gate through which I should pass to Paradise. I -was once avaricious as a Jew, but now my heart is expanded; all that -the sun enlightens would I give in charity, had it been mine. I, who -had been often red to the elbows in the blood of slaughtered Greeks -and dark Egyptians, now shrank from blood as from a flaming fire; I -who had no more conscience than a Bedouin of the desert, and less -remorse than an African savage, now see my sins of omission and -commission--all my deeds of sorrow and cruelty, performed in the days -of my ignorance and trouble, rising like a stupendous column in the -very path that leads direct to the place of our abode--to the garden -of pleasure--the paradise of the blessed. After the battle of Koniah -I was a changed man, yea changed as if _the black drop of original -sin had been wrung out of my heart_.' - -'Tell the Frankish officer the story, O Hafiz--my old brother -soldier; for though you were but an onbashi and I a captain, I look -back with pride to the days when we unsheathed our swords in the same -field beneath the green banner of Beschid Pasha,' said Hussein. - -'The Frank may but mock me as the Ingleez do all strangers,' said the -old Moolah, with a species of growl in his tone, as he glanced -uneasily at my soldiers, most of whom had already dropped asleep. - -I laid a hand on my breast, and expressed a hope that he would not -think so meanly of me. - -'No, no, I shall answer for him,' said the Yuze Bashi; 'it ill -becometh a young soldier to mock the white beard of an old one. -Moreover, what sayeth the Koran? "O Unbelievers, I will not worship -that which ye worship, nor will ye worship that which I worship. Ye -have your religion, and I have my religion," and there is an end of -it, say I, Hadjee Hussein. 'Tis a story as well as another, and I -delight in stories--they always set me to sleep.' - -'I will tell you in a few words,' replied the old Moolah, adjusting -his high conical cap of grey felt, and disposing his mighty beard -over the breast of his robe; 'but I presume that you, O valiant Yuze -Bashi, have heard it before?' - -'By the spout of the holy Kaaba, most reverend Hafiz; and by the holy -camel's blessed hump I never did!' said the irritable Yuze Bashi, -giving the coils of his arguillah a kick, and smoking away at the -amber mouth-piece. - -'It made noise enough in the camp of the Sultan's troops.' - -'Then I hope it may make a noise here too, for the place is quiet -enough,' retorted Hussein, who was in a furious pet at all this -unnecessary delay. - -'You must know, O Frank!' began the Moolah, 'that I was a corporal in -the third Orta or battalion of Scherif Bey's regiment, in the army of -the Grand Vizier, Reschid Pasha, and warred against the revolted -Egyptians of Mehemet Ali; and was wounded by a bayonet at Homs in the -Pashalick of Damascus, where we fought a desperate battle on the -right bank of the Orontes; I lost the tip of my right ear at the -battle of Athens when fighting against the Greeks, and had a mouthful -of teeth driven down my throat by a half-spent Russian bullet at -Navarino; but all these wounds were as nothing when compared to one I -received at the fatal defeat of Koniah in Asia Minor, where in the -winter of 1247, by the reckoning of the Hejira, Ibrahim Pasha, -defeated Reschid and cast everlasting disgrace on the banners of the -Sultan. - -'All his reverses in the Russian wars had failed to teach generalship -to Reschid Pasha, who, with the fugitives of Homs, had halted at the -thrice-blessed city of Koniah, where a snow-covered plain of sixty -miles in extent gave ample room for the Osmanlies, forty-five -thousand in number, to fight the fifteen thousand Egyptian curs at -Ibrahim. Brave to a fault--for he was the son of a Koordish chief -and a Georgian slave--old Reschid led the charge of Horse, which, by -its failure, lost the battle. Vain was the fury of the Koordish -Cavalry, and vain the fiery valour of the bare-kneed Albanian Guard! -The battle was lost by us, and the banner of the Sultan was trod to -the dust by the steeds of the desert. All our cannon were taken. O -day of calamities!--and all our standards!' - -'Except _one_,' urged Hussein, parenthetically. - -'Yes, most valiant Yuze Bashi--except one, after assisting you to -save which, a musket-shot pierced my breast, and, half-choked in my -blood, I sank powerless on the field; and on becoming faint, remember -no more of that unfortunate battle, though its roar was so great that -one might have supposed all hell was being dragged by chains to -judgment, as the Prophet says, it shall be, on the great and -inevitable day. - -'When consciousness returned, the sun was setting beyond the -snow-covered mountains, and faint and blue their spotless cones rose -like the waves of a frozen sea around the distant walls of Koniah. -On the gilded domes of its twelve great mosques, and the hundred -minars of its lesser shrines, fell the last rays of that sinking sun; -and full of thoughts of awe and death, I turned me, in penitence and -grief, from the horrors of that lost battle-field, and bent my head -in prayer as the shrill cries of the muezzins reached me from the -tall steeples of the Sultan Selim and of Sheik Ibrahim; and as I -prayed, the dying sunset faded on the snow-capped hills and gilded -domes; the minarets grew dark and cold, and ghastly mountain-piles -turned to purple tints as the night set in, deep, calm, and -beautiful. The stars were sparkling above the silent city and that -dreadful battle-plain. A painful and burning thirst oppressed me; -and while crawling towards a spring that bubbled near me in the -moonlight, I again became unconscious. - -'Glory be to Allah and to his Prophet! Amid that unconsciousness or -stupor which oppressed me there came at times a sense of pain in my -smarting wound, and of thirst in my parched throat, while the gurgle -of the fresh, cool fountain sung drowsily in my ear, like the murmur -of a distant multitude. - -'Recollection came again, and I saw the fountain sparkling in the -moonlight, which tipped with silver the blue and white water-lilies, -and every floweret, leaf, and shrub, for all was bright and clear as -in the brightest and clearest noon. - -'While gazing at the glittering water with longing eyes, lo! I -suddenly beheld before me the beautiful figure of a woman--a nymph -lovely beyond all earthly loveliness. Dazzling as Ayesha, the -best-beloved wife of Mohammed, and fair as the rose of Cashmere, her -exquisite form, was discernible through the only garment she wore, a -slight cymar of green--the colour sacred to the Prophet--and her -smooth round limbs were white as the driven snow. Her slender neck, -her curved shoulders, and tapered arms, were modelled in the most -charming symmetry; a faint blush was on her soft cheek, and the -expression of her large dark eyes was such as I dare not trust myself -to describe, for they possessed a lustre and a winning sweetness -which confused, fascinated, and bewildered me. Long and black as -winter night, her glossy tresses fell upon her white shoulders, and -half shrouded her swelling bosom. - -'The air around her was filled with delicious perfume. She spoke to -me; but for a time I knew not what she said; for with her voice there -seemed to come a stream of gentle music from a distance; and by its -melody I was filled with a rapture such as never fired my soul, or -swept my nerves before. - -'Her sparkling eyes were full of conscious power; her radiant smile -was full of conscious loveliness, tempered by all the pride of purity -and innocence; for know, O Frank! that she who stood before me was -one of the Hûr al Oyn--the black-eyed girls of Paradise--the -ever-blooming brides of the faithful, though I knew it not then; but -imagined--sinner that I was!--that some Naide of old, or some -lascivious goddess of the lying Greeks had come to earth again. - -'"Moustapha," said the maiden, "thou shalt not be one of those who -will perish in this world and pass away with it on that day when the -mighty hills shall roll like smoke before the dreadful wind, that is -to blow from the east." - -'"How, O beautiful one?" I asked, while trembling with a more than -mortal joy. - -'"Because, know, Hafiz Moustapha, that the blessed finger of the -Prophet is on thee." - -'"Upon me--a mite--an atom!" - -'"He remembereth the leaves of the forest, O Hafiz! and the grains of -sand on the sea-shore. He is the father of all wisdom." - -'"I am but a poor corporal of foot," said I, remembering the rattan -of our adjutant, which I had felt more often than the finger of the -Prophet. - -'"A weak mortal, assuredly--but a true Believer." - -'"Bechesm! Upon thy beautiful eyes be it, that I am." - -'A fire seemed to rage within me, and I strove to reach and embrace -her; but in vain, for lo! there suddenly rose around her a hedge of -thorns and brambles--the fuel of hell--that pricked and tore my -heated flesh. - -'The maiden smiled with all her alluring sweetness of lips and eyes, -and almost laughed as she held up a beautiful hand to deprecate my -folly; while the wound in my breast caused me almost to swoon with a -sudden pang of agony. - -'"What is your name?" I asked. - -'"Noura." - -'"Which meaneth--" - -'"Light." - -'"And why without garments?" - -'"Because garments are a sign of the disobedience of our first -parents, and in our blessed abode that disobedience is forgotten. Al -Araf separates us from those by whom it is remembered with sorrow, -and wailing, and gnashing of teeth. Think, O Hafiz Maustapha, think -of what is before thee! Thou hast neglected alms, and scoffed at -prayer; blinded by vice, thou hast forgotten all about punishment -hereafter; and intoxicated by the grosser pleasures of earth, thou -hast dared to doubt those which were to come, yet vaunted thyself a -true Mussulman--being a liar and a hypocrite, even as Abdallah Elen -Obba was a liar and a hypocrite before thee." - -'At these words a deadly terror fell upon my soul, for the eyes of -the maiden gleamed with a lurid light as she spoke. I wept and said-- - -'"What shall I do, O lovely one, to merit Paradise?" - -'"Fear the Holy Prophet--keep his laws--and love me." - -'"Love _you_!" I said, and stretched my arms in ecstasy towards her; -but, with a cry of astonishment and despair, as her figure melted -away and I saw only the cold fountain plashing in the pale moonlight. -Then there descended upon me a darkness and a horror, amid which I -felt a soft hand grasping mine with a touch that thrilled me, and the -voice of Noura whispered in my ear-- - -'"Come, Moustapha, come! Ascend to Paradise, where two-and-seventy -such as I await thee with smiles and with impatience." - -'Now by all the devils that shaved the Queen of Saba!' shouted the -irreverend Yuze Bashi; 'think of that! two-and-seventy wives all to -be had for mere belief, which costs nothing, when I have paid a -thousand xerifs, and not an asper less, for one Circassian, in my -lifetime.' - -'Peace!' exclaimed the moolah, with a brow and tone of severity; -'peace, Hussein Ebn al Ajuz; or, by the souls of the seven lawgivers, -I shall cease. Allah is indeed most merciful that he does not smite -thee deaf, and dumb, and blind. - -'In a moment, grief, pain, and darkness passed away--and light, -music, and perfume, with a myriad brilliant figures and objects, all -beaming with a celestial glory, were around me. Then a holy joy -filled all my soul, for I knew that I had left the earth, with its -petty cares and wretched vanities, far, far away below the seven -heavens and the mansions of the moon; and that now the Garden of the -Blessed--the Eden of old--the Januat al Ferdaws of the Faithful--was -before me. - -'O Mahmoud resoul Allah! May the angels of victory sweep away the -dust from beneath thy feet, and may their wings shield all who -believe in thee! O strange it is that I should have seen these -things, and yet live to speak of them on earth! - -'I was in that wondrous Garden of Paradise from which our first -parents were expelled, when Adam, was hurled downward on the Isle of -Serendib,[*] where his footmark yet remains upon a mountain-top; and -when Eve fell near Mecca, where the marks of her two knees, as she -knelt, are yet to be seen, sixty musket-shot apart, for their stature -was gigantic. After that prodigious fall, they were separated two -hundred years, for the vast earth was all a silent desert then. But -to resume: - - -[*] Ceylon. - - -'Had it not been promised that he who looks on Paradise becomes -endued with the strength of a hundred of the strongest men, I must -have sunk under the scenes of more than mortal splendour, pleasure, -and delight that passed before my bewildered senses; for, as the -Koran sayeth, they were such things _as eye hath not seen, ear hath -not heard, nor the heart of man conceived_. - -'I was in an ecstasy! A blessed ardour--a glorious joy swelled all -my heart with love, religion, and purity. A brilliant halo was -around me--a light without cloud--as in Khorassan, the land of the -Sun, and nothing that is there has a shadow, for light is everywhere. - -'After passing a lake of brilliant water, that was whiter than milk, -a month's journey in compass, and surrounded by as many goblets as -there are stars in the firmament--each goblet formed of a single -emerald, and containing a liquid so precious that he who drinks -thereof shall never thirst more, I was ushered by two shining angels -through seven lofty gates, in seven walls that were built of -sparkling diamonds and gleaming rubies, into the Jannat al Ferdaws, -or abode of the blessed. At the seventh I was clothed in the richest -robes of silk and brocade, chiefly of a green colour; and these -robes, like the bracelets of gold and silver, and the crown of mighty -pearls with which they encompassed my brows, were taken from the -full-bursting flowers of Paradise that grew on each side of the way -by which we journeyed. Before me went a long train of shadowy -slaves, bearing silken carpets, litters, soft couches, downy pillows, -and other furniture--each article being embroidered with more -precious stones than all Asia could furnish in a thousand years. - -'After a feast such as Mohammed alone could conceive, for the _lobe_ -of a single fish on that wondrous table would dine seventy thousand -hungry Ingleez, I was conducted along garden-walks of musk and amber; -the earth of the parterre seemed like the finest wheaten flour, and -therein grew all the flowers of Paradise--each parterre being -lovelier than all Suristan, the Land of Roses; for the leaves were of -emeralds, the buds and petals of rubies, the stalks of burnished -gold, and the slender twigs of polished silver, all gleaming and -glittering under a stupendous blaze of sunlight. - -'Passing kiosks of golden wire entwined with roses, wherein were -youths and damsels in amorous dalliance; passing the mighty -Toaba--the tree of happiness, which bears all the fruits, and meats, -and food the world ever knew, with a myriad others all of tastes -unknown to mortals, and every leaf of which is a melodious tongue, -and the stem of which would take the swiftest Barbary steed a -thousand years to compass; passing fountains of water, milk, honey, -and wine, all flowing on pebbles of ruby and pearl, through beds of -camphire, saffron, and amber---I was led on--on--through shrubberies -of precious stones and golden-bodied trees, on every branch of which -hung a thousand little bells, and there sat a thousand singing-birds, -which united with the leaves of the Toaba in filling the air with -divine praises and bewildering harmony--on--on--until we reached a -pavilion hollowed and fashioned of a single pearl, no less than four -parasangs broad, and nearly sixty Turkish miles in length--every part -of it, without and within, gleaming with sentences from the Koran, -written in rubies and jacinths. - -'Here stood eighty thousand slaves, all clad in shining garments, and -three hundred beautiful damsels, each bearing three hundred golden -and porcelain dishes, each dish containing three hundred kinds of -food, awaited me on bended knees, with their charming faces bowed to -the silken carpets; three hundred others bore precious vessels filled -with fragrant wine; and in what language, O Frank, shall I refer to -the two-and-seventy wives, the Houris, who awaited me there, each -reclining in her couch, hollowed of a single pearl--the Hûr al Oyn, -the black-eyed, high-bosomed girls of Paradise, who are created not -of clay, like mortal women, but of the purest musk, and are without -blemish--maidens on whose faces of celestial beauty none may look and -live without a miracle; for I seemed to see all at a glance, though -the Prophet says, these things would take the most faithful of men a -thousand years' journey to behold.[*] - - -[*] See Sale's 'Koran.' - - -'Each coach whereon a maiden lay was a throne glorious as that of -Solomon, the Star of the Genii; and each Houri had no other veil to -her naked loveliness than the flowing tresses of her perfumed and -shining hair. - -'As my dazzled eyes swept round this vast apartment, they lighted on -a familiar form; it was that of Noura, the nymph of the fountain; and -as I recognised her, she stretched her snowy arms towards me, with -her soft alluring smile, as the fire of love and conscious beauty lit -up her large black eyes. Her light etherial blood coursed through -her veins; I hung in rapture over her, and half faint with joy and -agitation, clasped her to my breast. - -'Then the curtains of the pavilion fell around us, drawn by unseen -hands, and the voices of the singing-trees, the golden birds, and -fairy bells without, became hushed or died away, as I sank entranced -upon the tender bosom that panted under mine; and when impressing -upon her warm lip the first kiss that man had ever printed there, lo! -a sleep fell upon me--a deep and dreamless sleep--O Mahmoud resoul -Allah! that I should ever have awakened from it!' - -The moolah paused in great excitement; the perspiration stood upon -his wrinkled forehead, and rolled over the glistening hairs of his -snowy beard; his dark eyes glared with a hollow gleam, and his breath -came thick and fast. - -'Proceed, moolah,' said Hussein, quietly, amid a puff of smoke; 'and -you awakened, where?' - -'On the verge of the snow-covered battle-field of Koniah, and close -beside the fountain where I had fallen into a swoon; the chill dews -of night were upon me, the bright clear moon rode through its -loftiest mansions; the pale fountain was murmuring and plashing on -its pebbled bed beside me; the lotus was drooping on its stalk; I was -still accoutred as a soldier--a poor corporal of Scherif Bey, and my -hand rested on the cold, hard barrel of my musket. - -'Paradise and all its glories had vanished with the sleep that sealed -my eyes! - -'Again I was a poor soldier, lying bruised on that lost and moonlit -battle-field, with the dew and the cold hoar frost whitening upon me. - -'Bismillah! - -'Slowly I staggered up, and felt for the wound in my breast--and O, -wonder of wonders! Though my blue uniform was still perforated by -the passage of the ball, the blood had disappeared, and the wound had -closed; it was well and whole--and of all that bloody gash, a little -scar alone remained! - -'I threw myself upon the earth towards the Keblah--the Holy City of -Mecca; and I vowed seven times--by the seven gates of Paradise--by -the souls of the seven lawgivers--and by all the lights of the -faithful--to become a good, a pious, and a new man; and from that -hour I ceased to be a soldier, a reveller, a dicer, and a gamester; I -became a moolah, and went through all Greece and Asia Minor, -preaching the faith of the Koran and of the only Prophet--Mahmoud -resoul Allah--for there is no God but God, and the Camel Driver is -his Prophet!' - -Such was the vision of the old corporal Moustapha! - - - - -CHAPTER XXXIX. - -THE TURKISH VEIL. - -With this strange story hovering in my mind, and the Yuze Bashi -asleep in the cushioned recess of his araba, I paraded and marched -off my detachment from the valley at the first peep of early dawn -next day. I bade farewell to the old moolah Moustapha--the -ex-corporal of Scherif Bey--and gave him one of the small Turkish -notes (which are printed on thin yellow paper, and are worth about -ten shillings sterling) for the benefit of his mosque; and feared -that if he was not slightly defective in brain, he had at least but a -slight acquaintance with the goddess whose billet is popularly said -to be at the bottom of a well. - -Along a road bordered by rare plants and gorgeous flowers; between -groves of orange, lemon, and fig trees, all growing in wild -luxuriance, and among myrtle-scented fields, we continued our march -by the shore of the sea of Marmora, the voices of my thirty soldiers -all uniting at times in one merry chorus, as they trod the old paved -causeway of the great Sultan Solymon, many of whose works are, by the -ignorant, ascribed to the Genii--just as our Scottish peasantry aver -their old ruins to be the work of Picts or of the fairies--and before -mid-day, we saw the little town of Rodosdchig rise before us, with -the blue sea washing its old grey walls; with its dark cypresses and -white minarets; its harbour full of quaint caiques; and its old -castle of the Greeks, on which was the red Turkish standard, with an -oval centre, bearing the three crescents of the Prophet. - -As we marched in, the drum beat at the guard-house, and a guard of -lubberly Turkish militiamen scrambled from around a logwood fire, -where they had been toasting kabobs and dough-balls; they stood to -their arms, and gave us a military salute. The officer at their head -still retained at his neck the ancient gilt gorget, now long disused -in our service. - -We were immediately beset by Greek kabob-roasters, and -sherbet-venders, from the arched gates of the bazaars, and a crowd of -wondering Osmanlies, whom the strange sound of the Highland warpipe -brought forth from every door, where they had been squatted on -carpets, dozing over opium, coffee, and chibouques; yet though -louder, more martial, and more shrill, our pipe is almost similar to -the instrument now used by the kilted mountaineers of Albania. - -Not a woman was visible, though at times a veiled head and two -brilliant eyes appeared at the wire lattices which opened to the -unpaved and unlighted streets. - -We marched into the old castle, of which the Yuze Bashi was -commandant, governor, or suzerain, and as such was the terror of all -Rodosdchig. He was the only officer there at present, though the -quaint old Greek towers of the last emperor were garrisoned by his -company of Bombardiers, and were mounted by ten iron twenty-four -pounders and two ten-inch mortars. On the walls towards the sea were -several old and useless, but enormous, brass guns, covered with -Turkish letters and pious sentences, with piles of moss-grown marble -shot between them. The stockades in many places had disappeared, for -our thrifty commandant had sold them when his piastres became scarce, -to the kabob-roasters, for firewood. - -On resuming his command, the first act of Hussein was to -cudgel--almost to death--the chaoush of the main-guard, for some real -or imaginary fault; an act which gave us an odd idea of Turkish -discipline. - -'What think you of this, Callum?' said I, with smile; 'suppose an -officer were to cudgel you?' - -'I would drive my skene into his heart with as little remorse as I -would gralloch a dead deer,' was the reply of my henchman, frowning -at the idea. - -My men occupied a portion of the miserable Turkish barrack, and I had -rooms assigned to me in a tower, the windows of which faced the sea; -and as the furniture was furnished by the government of His Majesty -the Sultan, it could scarcely be expected to be much more luxurious -than the birch-table, two Windsor-chairs, the iron coal-box and -elegant pair of bellows usually issued from the stores of Her -Brittanic Majesty to an officer in garrison. - -That evening I dined--or supped--which you please (for the hour -rendered the meal dubious)--with the Yuze Bashi, whose portion of the -castle was magnificently fitted up. His servants were black slave -girls. We had neither forks, chairs, nor a table. We sat on -cushions, and ate pillaff and paties of Gallipoli oysters with our -fingers, from platters placed on little stools; we tore the fragrant -kabobs from their wooden skewers with our teeth--rent the fowls -asunder by the simple process of inserting the finger and thumb; -drank sherbet of sugar and musk dashed with French brandy; then came -iced Grecian wine, and, lighting our pipes, we gave thanks to the -Prophet for the good things of this land, and subsided among the -silken cushions with a sigh of satisfaction. - -By the inquiring Callum Dhu I was given to understand that my friend -the Yuze Bashi had a wife; but, as it would have been discourteous to -have asked for her, as he studiously avoided ever recurring to the -circumstance of her existence; and, moreover, as a Turk can never -introduce his wife to any man save a most intimate friend, and then -only on receiving his solemn word of honour never to mention so -singular a departure from the established Mohammedan custom, I had no -hope of being blessed by seeing even the slipper of the commandant's -earthly helpmate; and so I thought no more about it--besides, wives -are most brittle and perilous ware to meddle with in Turkey. - -Several weeks passed away monotonously at the castle of Rodosdchig. -I soon knew every street, bazaar, mosque, bezestien, coffee-house, -khan, and kabobki in the place as well as if they were my own -property; the old Greek ruins in the neighbourhood; the dumpy Doric -columns of what had been a temple, when beauty was worshipped in -Thessaly and Thrace, lying among a wilderness of luxurious weeds and -plants, with the snakes crawling over them, had all been, again and -again, delineated in my sketchbook; the round towers of the old -castle that overhung the sea; the sea itself, with its Greek caiques, -Turkish xebeques, and quaint fisherboats, soon became as familiar to -me as the murmur of its waves on the lucks below my barrack-room -window. - -To divert my ennui, fortunately for myself, as my after-adventures -proved, I applied all my energies to the study of the monotonous and -crack-jaw gibberish of the Turks; and, with the assistance of -'Madden's Grammar,' &c., was able to master the sonnets of the old -Pasha, or General, Sermet Effendi; and of Partiff, whose rhymes in -honour of the Sultan and of Omar Pasha are to be seen gilded above -the gates of all the edifices erected by the Government; Jachiened, -the _Gulistan_, or 'Rose Garden of Sadi of Shiraz,' and the 'Pleasing -Tales of Khoja (Master) Nazir-il-adeen Efendi;' and I still remember -one charming old Persian story of the Garden of Paradise, which was -described as being _still extant_ in Asia, but concealed among remote -and inaccessible mountains, and to be reached only through long -caverns and by a subterranean river; and therein were ever summer -bloom and floral beauty, and all the animals were tame and loving, as -before the fall of our first parents--the lamb lying down beside the -lion, and the panther beside the goat, as some old dervish, who--like -my friend the corporal--had been there, called upon every hair in his -silver beard to testify. - -The morning and evening parades of my little party followed each -other in unvarying succession; but the riotous, bloodthirsty, and -insurrectionary Greeks, of whom the Yuze Bashi had spoken so much at -our mess in Heraclea, were as quiet as the plodding denizens of the -most rural district in England. - -The bluff Yuze Bashi Hussein (may his shadow never be less!) was now -my crowning bore, and I soon saw enough of him to make me avoid his -friendship, and to inspire me with a dislike for him, still stronger -than even the story of the Greek Lieutenant Vidimo had done. - -Though the rent of his government, exclusive of his pay, was one -hundred and twenty purses, or about 600_l._ per annum, Hussein had a -large garden, which he forced the soldiers of the Sultan to -cultivate, and the produce of which he sold to the inhabitants _at -his own prices_, which were always rising and never falling. By this -means he nearly doubled his pay; while, by selling the powder and -shot of the batteries to Levant coasters and Greek pirates, he nearly -trebled it; and then, to make up the deficiency at head quarters, the -returns of his garrison for 'ball-practice' were enormous. - -Then he had secured a handsome sum for the head of his younger -brother, which, like a good and loyal servant of the Prophet's -earthly shadow, he had transmitted to the Seraglio gate in a jar of -salt; for this unlucky brother, having fled from Stamboul, where he -had been engaged in an intrigue with a lady of the Household, and -having wounded the Kislar Aga with his handjiar, became well worth a -thousand piastres, dead or alive. - -Such was Hussein Ebn al Ajuz. He was a man utterly devoid of scruple -or principle. - -'A Greek,' said he, 'once dared to dispute with me on religion--but I -soon silenced him.' - -'How?' I asked. - -'By running my handjiar into his heart.' - -'The devil!--that was a convincing argument.' - -'A _sharp_ one, at all events,' was the cool reply. - -He made his hatred of the Greeks a never-failing source of revenue. -If a merchant of that humbled race gave an entertainment, and our -commandant was not invited, he would send an onbashi and three -soldiers, with fixed bayonets, to extinguish the lights, disperse the -guests, and bring before him the master of the house, who was -therefore ordered to pay down so many piastres, as a fine, for -disturbing the neighbourhood--for the ponderous Turk is lord of the -soil, while the lively and more intelligent Greek is but its serf and -villein--being what the Englishman was to the Norman knight eight -hundred years ago. - -I avoided the Yuze Bashi, no difficult matter, as he spent half the -day, seated on a carpet in a corner, smoking his bubbling narguillah -and drinking brandy-and-water; and now having no resource but my own -thoughts, or Callum Dhu, whose conversation was generally of old and -regretful memories, my spirits began to sink, for I had no longer the -daily good fellowship of our merry little mess, or the frank -joviality of Jack Belton to bear me up. Left thus entirely to myself -in that gloomy old castle of the Greeks, my mind reverted to other -days and other scenes, and the face of Laura--lost to me for -ever!--came frequently before me with a distinctness that made my -heart ache, though I sought--but in vain--to thrust the painful -thought and winning image from me. - -One evening, according to my usual wont since I had become wayward -and moody, alone (as Callum was on guard), but accoutred with my -claymore, dirk, and loaded revolver (for in this district nobody -ventures abroad unarmed), I wandered beyond the walls of Rodosdchig, -to a grove of cypresses, where the wild grapes grew in luxuriance, -and where I could pluck them with the dew of evening on their purple -clusters. A little farther on lay one of those quiet Mohammedan -cemeteries which are so poetically named by the Orientals the Cities -of the Silent. There the ghost of each true Believer is supposed by -the superstitious to sit invisibly at the head of its own grave. - -Near this burial-place were the ruins of what had been an old Greek -hermitage, in the days when poor anchorites 'sought to merit heaven' -by drinking cold water and chewing dry peas. - -On this evening the City of the Silent rang with the merry voices of -a group of Turkish ladies. Clad in bright-coloured dresses, they -were sitting on carpets, among the green resting places, drinking -sherbet, eating _bon-bons_, and smoking pretty little chibouques, -while a few slaves and sullen eunuchs hovered near them in -attendance. As I passed these veiled fair ones, I heard a few shrill -exclamations of wonder, while their dark rolling eyes seemed to -sparkle with peculiar lustre through the holes in their snow-white -yashmacks. - -On the verge of this cemetery, and apart from the group, I passed a -solitary lady, who was culling a bouquet of flowers from among the -turbanned headstones; and who, in pursuit of this innocent object, -had wandered to some distance from her companions. Attracted by the -singular grace which pervaded all her actions, I hovered near her, -and affected to read the epitaphs gilded on the marble tombs; but -perceiving that her bracelet--which was composed of those magnificent -opals which dart fire, and by the Orientals are believed to be found -only where thunder has fallen--was lying on the grass, I hastened to -restore it, and to clasp it on her wrist. With a hurried bow, and a -sweet smile sparkling in her eyes, she permitted me to perform this -little act; and while doing so, I was charmed by the delicate beauty -of her arm and gloveless hand. - -The bracelet was clasped, and I was on the point of touching my cap -and retiring, when, either by accident or design--from all I knew of -Turkish wives, I half suspected _the latter_--her bouquet fell from -her hand, and the flowers were scattered about her. - -'Mashallah!' she exclaimed, and laughed. - -Though I knew well that if seen near her, or with her, a dose of -bamboo-canes or a bullet, perhaps, might repay my temerity, I -deliberately gathered up the flowers, and tieing them with a ribbon, -presented them to her, with a few Turkish compliments, and begged -permission to retain a rose, as a gift from her. - -She at once accorded it, giving me, at the same time, a full, deep, -and piercing glance through the square opening of her yashmack. - -Oh, those speaking eyes! How well this woman knew their dangerous -power! - -I see them yet in imagination, for heaven never created aught more -beautiful than the eyes of this Turkish damsel. She touched my hand -slightly, and said, while casting a hurried glance about her, - -'Where shall we meet again?' - -The '_we_' made my heart leap! - -'Meet again?--at this hour to-morrow evening--among these ruins,' -said I, entering recklessly into what might prove a dangerous -rendezvous; and then, waving a kiss to me, my beautiful Unknown -hurried through the cypress-grove and rejoined her gay companions. - -It was all arranged and over in a moment! - - - - -CHAPTER XL. - -A LOVE ADVENTURE. - -The next day passed slowly, and I thought of my love affair--(for a -love affair I had determined to consider it)--with some anxiety: the -path to Cupid in the East being strewn with more daggers than roses; -for a panther in its hungry wrath is a lamb when contrasted to a Turk -animated by a fit of jealousy; and that my unknown was the -better-half of some dreamy Osmanli I had not the least doubt. I -carefully loaded my revolver--placed all my money in my purse, to be -ready for any emergency, and buckled on my dirk and claymore, as if I -had been about to escalade the Malakoff or make a dash at the Redan, -instead of merely meeting a pretty girl. I then set forth to keep my -appointment, just as the Yuze Bashi was dropping off into his usual -evening doze, and just as the long shadows of the towers and -cypresses were falling to the eastward; and the muezzins on the upper -galleries of the minarets were watching for the first dip of the -sun's flaming disc, to shout the shrill summons to evening prayer. - -Had I forgotten Laura? - -Alas for the weakness of the human heart! I fear that after I saw my -beautiful Oriental I had no memory for aught beyond that epoch in my -history--for a time at least. - -Though the evening was delightful, few persons were abroad; and after -leaving the town, an old, white-bearded Grecian monk, wending his way -staff in hand and wallet on back, was the only person I met; as with -a beating heart I sought the sequestered ruins of the ancient -Christian chapel and hermitage. - -Once or twice a fear that I might have been lured here for some -deadly purpose, and that her rendezvous was but a wicked snare, -flashed upon me. - -The scene was beautiful. On one hand lay the cemetery with its grove -of tall and solemn cypresses; on the other rose a marble rock -surrounded by an old rampart, having ruined towers, from which the -cannon of the Greeks had poured their stone-shot upon the fierce -Timariots of the Sultan Mohammed the Second, the founder of the new -Empire. Amid these old ramparts the antique outline of a gilt dome -and the white minar of a little mosque cut the evening sky. At the -base of the rock a stream flowed from a ruined arch into a marble -basin, over which flourished the beautiful leaves of the acanthus, -under the shade of the graceful and delicate olive-tree. - -The sun was setting with gorgeous brilliance; the western sky was all -a lurid red, as if the whole horizon was in flames, and the shadows -of three gigantic Grecian Doric columns of white marble--ascribed to -the Genii in the times of old--were thrown far across the landscape. -From the shattered cornice and four triglyphs which still surmounted -them, some long and pendant creeping plants swung like garlands on -the evening wind, that came from the deep and blue Propontis. - -The shadows began to deepen; the horizon paled. The birds had ceased -to sing; but the little snakes were hissing vigorously under the -broad leaves of the acanthus and the dewy lentisuculus--for in ten -minutes night would be on. - -There was a sound; and my unknown, in her white yashmack and flowing -robes, came before me like a graceful spirit, and quite as suddenly. -Her hands were placed joyously and confidingly in mine, and her -eyes--the loveliest of all those dark and soul-lit oriental eyes that -seem to swim in their own lustrous glory--were beaming upon me. I -was bewildered--confused--dazzled! - -I felt the impossibility of resisting the fascinations of two such -loving eyes. The inside of the delicate lids were blackened with -kohol, and the ends of her slender fingers were tinged with -rosyhenna--yet she spoke with somewhat of a Greek accent. - -'Tell me your name, my beautiful one?' I whispered, retaining her -soft hands in mine. - -'Iola,' was the half-breathed reply. - -'Iola--anything more?' - -'Mashallah! what more would you require me to say?' - -'Do you live in Rodosdchig?' - -'Yes--but why do you inquire?' - -'Because all that concerns you must be full of tender interest to me.' - -'So soon! You have not known me quite five minutes.' - -'I have known you four and twenty hours; yet when I gaze into your -beautiful eyes, Iola, I seem to have known you for a life-time.' - -'You love me then?' she exclaimed, as her large eyes filled with -light and merriment. - -'Oh, Iola! who could see you without loving you, tenderly and -passionately?' - -'Inshallah!' - -'You are not a Turk? - -'Turk--no! I am a Greek,' she answered, in a changed voice, and -drooping of the eyelid. - -I attempted to remove her yashmack; but she exclaimed,-- - -'In the name of Allah, not yet--not yet!' and shrinking laughingly -back, with pretty coquetry, prevented me from doing so. - -After a little flirtation, and permitting me to kiss her hands as -often as I pleased, from a few words she let fall, greatly to my -alarm, I suspected that she _was_ a married Moselema; but I was now -too much involved with her to 'hang fire,' as we say at mess; and too -much attracted by her beauty--though I had seen but little of it--to -relinquish the chance of enlivening my dull detachment duty by a -little love affair--though death, perhaps, should hover near it. The -imminent risk we ran enhanced the charm of this new acquaintance. -The darkness was deepening, for in these climates there is little -twilight; and alarmed by the sombre aspect of the ruins, which were -haunted, of course, by a Ghoule, Iola (a charming name!); started -from my side, and insisted on retiring. - -'Take these three rose-buds,' said I, for flowers are the language of -love among the Asiatics; 'three on one stem. Iola--they are -emblematic of the three qualities of love.' - -'Of love?' she reiterated, in a tremulous whisper. - -'Sprightly, secret, and sincere love, as ours shall be. Will you -accept of them from me?' - -She trembled like one about to do a guilty thing; but took them with -a blush and something like a sob of joy; yet this excitable little -one would not permit me to kiss her! - -'You will wear them for my sake, Iola?' - -'There is danger in doing so--yet I will treasure them even when -faded, like the jewel of Prince Giamschid; and what is my reward?' - -'Your reward?' I faltered, while reddening in turn. - -'Yes, for the danger.' - -'One dear little kiss--or a thousand if you will let me give them!' I -exclaimed, and threw my arm round her. - -She drew down the yashmack, and I pressed my lip to hers, again and -again. - -Until this moment my Oriental had never perhaps known what love was. -Risk, life, death, all were forgotten! I remembered only the charm -and the opportunity. - -'And so in Frankistan, the rose is also an emblem of love?' she -whispered, as we walked slowly hand in hand towards the town, the -lights of which were sparkling in the distance. - -'Yes, Iola.' - -'Alas!' - -'Why?' - -'Because the rose lives but for a day--and if it should be so with -love?' - -'Why that thought, and why these doubts--my love will live for ever, -Iola!' - -(_For ever_? Alas! where were a heedless passion and two bright eyes -hurrying me?) - -'It is indeed delightful to have one's life thus entwined with -another (and you will be always in Rodosdchig, I hope?); to have a -double existence and double joy, as if we lived in the Rose Garden of -Sadi.' - -'Ah--but I fear your existence is so entwined already: your husband, -Iola?' - -She uttered a faint cry of anger, and thus I found my conjectures -right. - -'My husband!' she exclaimed; 'talk not of him! He bought me as he -did his horse, in the common market-place. He never asked me to love -him. O that were a condescension too much for a proud Turk! I am a -Mohammedan now; but I was a Christian born, and am by blood a Greek, -and my dead ancestors, who lie at Smyrna and at Scio, would raise -their fleshless hands against me, could they know me as I know myself -to-day. My husband bought me from a ruffian, reckless as himself. I -was bathed, perfumed, and led to his arms. Bismillah! speak no more -of my husband!' - -These words removed every vestige of scruple in my heart. A -purchased slave! could I ever view her as a wedded wife? But now she -drew her feradjee close about her, and fled from my side without a -word of to-morrow, or of meeting again; for we had unconsciously -approached too near one of the town-gates, where, as she had -previously mentioned, a _dumb_ slave awaited her. Here I lost sight -of her, having pledged my word of honour neither to follow nor to -make inquiries after her. - -My heart sank as she left me; and the idea of this delicate and -beautiful woman being bought and sold in a market-place, and being -now the wedded slave of a sensual Moslem, made me writhe and ponder -deeply, as I walked along the dark and muddy streets of Rodosdchig. -The town was now sunk in silence, and not a sound was heard, save the -occasional howling of wild and wandering dogs--the faithful but -'unclean beasts,' of the ungrateful Koran. - -'Love begetteth love,' so my heart was sorely troubled. I could no -longer doubt that this beautiful Oriental loved me. Her dark but -brilliant eyes were full of it. - -Her sighs but half suppressed as she had hung upon my shoulder; her -cheek alternately pale and flushed, were also full of it. - -Her tremulous voice--her conversation and manner--her very silence -spoke of it--this deep fount of passion opened up within her ardent -heart for the _first_ time, and yet--pardon me for the chilling close -to my sentence--she had been some years _married_. - -For two evenings I went to the ruins, but she did not come again. I -was well nigh my wit's end, and more than once narrowly escaped a -stab from a handjiar, or a shot from a pistol, as I rambled about the -bazaars and bezestiens, running after every woman whose figure -resembled Iola's, and poking my nose closer to their yashmacks than -Oriental propriety permits; so close, indeed, that I was once nearly -having my heels turned up by the ferashes of a mufti, despite my red -coat and claymore. - -Restless, thoughtful, anxious and abstracted--haunted by a pair of -beautiful eyes that were the object of my waking thoughts in the -morning, the last at night, and the source of many a lonely hour of -reverie between, I was deeply in love with her before I knew the -whole truth, or saw the full danger of our position; and even when -cold reason displayed both, I was more charmed than startled by the -novelty of this new passion. - -And she loved me, the possessor of those beautiful eyes! - -Oh, there was something delicious in the thought that this attractive -woman, so bright, so brilliant, so happy in spirit--she who -unconsciously attracted me to her, as in a better sphere she would -have attracted all--even as the sun in his glory is said to absorb -the atoms in the air--should love me! - -Who was she? Where was she? - -Oh, for Aladdin's lamp, or the ring of the Genii! - -A thousand dazzling and daring schemes of elopement suggested -themselves to me, for Laura's loss and desertion had made me reckless -of consequences; but first I had to discover Iola among the -closely-veiled hundreds of Kodosdchig; a task about as vain as the -proverbial one, of attempting to find a needle in a haystack. - - - - -CHAPTER XLI. - -A STRANGE TASK. - -Returning one evening, dispirited and provoked after a second -unsuccessful visit to the Ruined Hermitage, on entering the castle of -Rodosdchig, I was informed by Callum that the Yuze Bashi had been -inquiring for me everywhere, urgently and angrily. Surprised to hear -this, I repaired at once to his quarters, and was introduced without -ceremony; for the unfortunate captain of Bombardiers was considerably -perturbed, and in great tribulation. - -I found him seated on a carpet, in a corner of an apartment, the -walls of which were, as usual, covered with pious sentences from the -Koran. He was smoking a narguillah, through a crystal vase of -rose-water, and the window, through which he usually watched the sun -dip behind the hills, was open, to admit the sea-breeze, for he was -flushed and feverish. An urgent despatch had come from the Seraskier -and Kiaja Kiatibi, summoning him to appear without a moment's delay -at Constantinople, on peril alike of his military button and his head. - -'Beard of Ali!' he exclaimed, 'is not this alarming?' - -'Rather,' said I, remembering that the first-named official was -generalissimo of the Sultan's forces, and that the second was -minister for the Home Department; and now the memory of a thousand -peculations, local oppressions, extortions, and tyrannies came -appallingly before Hussein, who, in his administration at Rodosdchig, -had been about as tenderhearted as a Madras collector. Besides, he -knew that he had ever been savagely severe with his men; for that -obedience which is simple subordination in the European soldier, -degenerates into mere slavery in the Turk. - -Poor Hadjee Hussein Ebn al Ajuz felt his respected head wag somewhat -loosely on his shoulders; but while he prepared to depart at once for -Stamboul, in his selfish alarm for himself, the actual interest of -his wife and household were nearly forgotten. - -His wife; here was a devil of a dilemma! What was to be done? The -question would have puzzled the seven wiseacres of the East, had they -been with us. - -'And now,' said Hussein, relinquishing his narguillah with a sigh, -and belting his sabre about his portly person; 'I look to _you_ for a -great service.' - -'If I can serve you in anything, command me.' - -'I shall not be gone many days.' - -'Take care, Hussein; I would bet a month's pay, or a quarter's field -allowance, against the chances of your ever coming back again.' - -'Bismillah! don't say so, pray--I _shall_ come back!' - -'And this service?' said I. - -'Is to take charge of my wife in my absence.' - -'I beg pardon--did I hear you aright? to take charge of----' - -'My wife,' continued Hussein, grinding his teeth; 'there is none -other here to whom I can apply. The Moolah Moustapha, curses on him! -is--I know not where; and there is no Turkish officer in the castle, -save myself. You are a beyzadeh (gentleman's son) as well as a -soldier. I can trust you.' - -'But your wife, Yuze Bashi--'tis a perilous trust, especially in -Turkey.' - -'I have no resource,' said he, stamping his feet with rage; 'none--I -must leave this in ten minutes, and cannot apply to my soldiers, and -still less to yours, to act for me in this delicate matter.' - -'Excuse my plainness--but I do not like the duty.' - -'I like you the better for this sincerity, and trust you the more.' - -'But----' - -'But me no buts! You are like Sadd Ebn Kais, who said to the Prophet -on his march to Tabuc, "Give me leave to stay behind, and expose me -not unto temptation;" because, as the Koran hints, he dared not trust -himself among the black-eyed girls of Greece. Your scruples are -just; but remember, they who do good shall obtain good, even in this -world.' - -'I have never seen the lady,' said I, doubtfully; 'is she beautiful?' - -The Yuze Bashi knit his brows, for this was approaching forbidden -ground; but he answered, - -'Beautiful as a Houri, and young--so young that I might be her -father; so you must watch over her and guard her as if she was -concealed by the seven blessed doors of the Prophet Zacharias.' - -'So I am to be the guardian of a Turkish harem--what next?' thought I. - -'You have still doubts,' said Hussein, with increasing irritation. -'Listen to me; when I was in the castle of Selyvria, my subaltern, -afterwards the Cole-agassi Mohammed Saïd, was suddenly ordered to -join the train of artillery then embarking for the Crimea, and it was -on peril of his head that he loitered for a moment, after receiving -the summons of the Seraskier. Here was just such a dilemma as mine; -but he came to me, saying, - -'Hussein, you must be unto me as _my brother_; my purse, my wife, and -my household, I leave in your safe keeping.' - -'You have my word of honour,' said I. - -'It is unnecessary,' said he, 'for I believe in you.' And so he -sailed for the Euxine. - -'For three months I had charge of his young and pretty wife. I never -saw her; but my servants by turns watched the house, allowing none to -enter--none at least but Ali Pasha, who paid me a hundred piastres -for every visit; so you see I was very strict, and daily sent my -grandfather, who was a decrepit old man, to ask if she required -anything.' - -'And the subaltern Mohammed Saïd?' - -'Came back no more.' - -'How?' - -'He died a major at the passage of the Alma.' - -'And his wife?' - -'When her jewels were sold, married Hussein Aga (the steward of Ali -Pasha), who paid me fifty piastres each time he left his slippers at -the door. But you are an Ingleez--I can trust you to guard my wife -better than I guarded the wife of Saïd--so watch her well, though she -is pure as the daughter of Imraun, and gentle as the west wind, or -the memory of a love we have lost when young.' - -In ten minutes afterwards this coolest, queerest, and most cunning of -all Yuze Bashis, had poised his huge bulk on the saddle of a fleet -horse. With many sore misgivings, and terrors of the Seraskier and -the Kiaja Kiatibi, he took his departure for Stamboul, leaving me in -full possession of the fortress, and, more than all, of his wife, -about whom, although I had not seen her, I felt some curiosity as he -had acknowledged her to be young and beautiful as a Houri. - -The plot of my Greek adventures was thickening! - -'In love with the wife of one Turk, and solemnly requested, in a -fatherly way of course, to look after the rib of _another_!' says -Jack Belton, in one of his letters, which I received about this time -by the hand of a mounted Koord. 'An arduous duty for a subaltern, -Allan, but beware of meddling with such matters in Turkey! If the -Horse Guards make light of dangers risked in the field of Mars, they -will make lighter still of those encountered in the field of Venus. -Allons, my boy! on the llth February, Fort Alexander at Sebastopol -was blown up and entirely destroyed. There is no word of our moving -in that direction yet, though it is said that a costermonger's ass -would not exchange duties with our poor fellows in the trenches. I -send you a box of prime cheroots; the last month's "Army List," the -last Scotch newspaper, "Punch," and the corkscrew you required so -much, and wishing you safe back again with your pins under the mess -mahogany, remain, ever yours, - -'J. BELTON - -'Heraclea, March 1856.' - - - - -CHAPTER XLII. - -TWO CHARMING EYES. - -If Hussein imagined that Callum Dhu and I were to watch his premises, -and to guard the bower of his lady-love, even in the slender way that -he watched those of the Cole-agassi Mohammed Saïd, he was very much -mistaken; for, beyond an extra injunction to the sentinel at the gate -to admit no man into the little fortress without my express -permission I troubled myself no more about the matter; but this order -would have proved no bar to an enterprising Turkish lover, or an -intriguing Turkish wife, as the apartments of the Yuze Bashi had -windows and a private door, which opened into a beautiful rose-garden -without the walls; and the stockades, which once formed a barrier in -that direction had all been sold long since by the avaricious Hussein -for firewood. - -The evening of the day after his departure was drawing near when I -bethought me of my Unknown Beauty at the Ruined Hermitage, and before -bending my steps in that direction, I lingered on the beach for a -time, below the castle-wall, in the hope that she might pass that way. - -The town was hidden by the weather-beaten masses of the old castle, -the round towers of which had for ages formed a landmark to the sea. -Reddened under the western sun, the ocean seemed on fire towards its -verge, and the clouds were piled over each other, like mountains of -burnished brass, or gold and flame, but ever crumbling, changing, and -forming anew, as they rolled along the horizon, in all the splendour -of an oriental sunset. A gorgeous orange tint was spreading over -everything; the distant capes and headlands, isles, and rocks, were -all tinged with amber and violet hue or fiery red; and mirrored in -that shining sea which blended into yellow and crimson as its waves -rolled away towards the marble island of Marmora. - -Among the rocks on which this strong old castle of the Grecians -stood, the dwarf oak, the flowering arbutus, the broad-leaved bay, -the fragrant myrtle, the _spini Christi_ of the gallant Crusaders, -the fig, the olive, the golden orange, and the luscious pomegranate, -with its brown and husky bulbs, were all growing in luxuriance; while -over all some giant plane-trees--which, by a marvel, had escaped the -cupidity of Hussein, though their stems were seven feet thick--spread -their shady branches. The castled promontory was a place of groves, -of flowers, and of perfume. - -Lingering there, and thinking, almost with a sigh, that such a land -was worthy of a better race, there fell something at my feet. - -It was three rose-buds--the faded three I had given to my veiled fair -one a few nights ago! I started and looked up, just as the white -hand that had dropped them was withdrawn from a casement in the old -castle-wall close by, and not ten feet from where I was sitting, and -where I had been musing for an hour past with Strabo and Herodotus -and their old memories, conflicting in my mind, with the recollection -of her magnificent eyes, when I found them beaming upon me! - -She was still muffled in her yashmack and feradjee, yet I knew her in -a moment. - -'Iola!' I exclaimed; 'you here?' - -'Here, where I first saw you,' said she, smiling, and waving a kiss -towards me in the prettiest little flirting way imaginable. - -'What--are you then--' - -'The lady of whom you have such solemn charge.' - -'The wife of the Yuze Bashi?' - -'The wife of Hussein Ebn al Ajuz,' she added, with a gleam in her -black eyes. - -'His prisoner, rather, poor Iola! what have you to live for?' - -'Those who love me--for them I live, and for them only. I am _your_ -prisoner at present, for Hussein has gone to Stamboul with terror in -every hair of his beard. - -'Ah, Iola, you are worthy of a brighter and a better sphere than your -husband can ever assign you. There are some things I wish you could -understand; but the Mohammedan can form no conception of the position -assigned to your sex among the Franks of the western world, where the -influence of Christianity and of chivalry have served to exalt and -purify the character of woman.' - -'I _do_ know all this,' she answered, impetuously, 'for I am come of -Albanian blood, and love the Christians, though they bow their heads -and bend their knees before gilded idols and painted pictures; for -among our mountains the Mussulmen cling to the memory of their -Christian fathers, and, on certain days, say a prayer at the old -stone crosses that mark where they lie. Moreover, I have been taught -that it was the place assigned to Mary, the first Christian woman, -that gave a nobility and purity to the women of Frangistan. I know -this, for I am a Greek by birth, though a Mohammedan by faith; and, -oh, blessed be the Moolah Moustapha, he who revealed unto me the -divine teachings of the Koran. Yet,' she added, with tears, and in a -tremulous voice, 'I can remember my dear, dear mother, teaching me to -kiss the little cross of the Christian's triple God!' - -I winced a little at this peculiar phrase. - -'Your mother--you remember her, then?' - -'Oh, yes--yes! tall, beautiful, pale, and sad!' she added, throwing -her white hands and dark eyes upwards; 'her blood--her hot -blood--came over me as she died!' - -'Iola! her blood--then she was killed?' - -'Murdered--she was barbarously murdered before my eyes--for she was a -Greek, and the wife of the gallant Demetrius Vidimo.' - -'Good heavens--what is this you tell me?' - -'The truth,' she added, weeping; 'the terrible truth--you have heard -of my father, then?' - -'And you are--' - -'Iola Vidimo.' - -'The sister of Constantine--' - -'Oh, Mohammed! how know you that? I had a brother--a dear little -brother, so named. Can you tell me aught of him? Speak--speak--have -you lost your tongue?' - -I had much to tell her, but how was I to fashion the tidings that her -brother had been shot in the presence of her husband; and that -he--Hussein--was one of those brutal soldiers who, after a vain -contention for the person of her mother, had so barbarously pistolled -her! - -'Do you know this coral cross, Iola?' - -She uttered a cry. - -'It was my beloved mother's, and on that awful day at Acre, sixteen -years ago, she tied it round the neck of my boy-brother, when we were -separated. Tell me about Constantine--does he live?' - -'It is a long story, Iola, and one that cannot be related here; but -you forget yourself--you are excited--your voice may be overheard, -and I may be seen. Where can we meet--at--the Hermitage?' - -'No.' - -'Where?' - -'Here.' - -'Here?' - -'In these apartments.' - -'If I am discovered?' I urged, with a heart that vibrated with -strange emotions. - -'Where so safe as within a pistol-shot of your own soldiers?' - -'True--but your honour, Iola?' - -'Is in my own keeping--do you hesitate?' she added, with a flash in -her magnificent eyes. - -'Dearest Iola, I will be here in an hour after sunset--but how to -reach the window?' - -'Leave that to me.' - -'Hush!' - -'Some one comes,' she exclaimed, and shut the latticed-window, as I -hurried away in a tumult of thought. - -The interruption proceeded only from a wandering Arab, who was drunk -with raki, and chaunted aloud the glories of the starlight, which, in -his hot and sultry clime, is loved better than the sunshine. - -'Leili--Leili! O night--night!' was the burden of his monotonous and -intrusive ditty, for which I felt a decided inclination to punch his -head. - -I was aware that in forming this appointment with Iola I was making a -sad breach in the trust Hussein had been compelled to repose in me; -but what the deuce was I to do? An oriental woman is not to be -trifled with; for love and hate are strong and sudden passions under -an eastern sun; and while heartily despising and wholly disliking -Hussein on one hand, I felt myself dazzled and fascinated by his -imprisoned odalisque on the other. Then I remembered his cool -admissions of the hundred piastres of Ali Pasha, and the fifty -piastres of Hussein Aga, the steward, and my scruples melted away. - -I lighted one of Jack Belton's 'prime cheroots,' and sat down to -think over the matter, and viewed it through the mellowing medium of -a glass of brandy-and-water. I resolved to finish my flirtation with -all propriety and speed; looked at my watch, and longed exceedingly -for the dark hour, which, in that climate, follows the sinking of the -sun. - -Alas! how weak are the best resolutions of the human heart, when -opposed to the magic influence of _two charming eyes_! - - - - -CHAPTER XLIII. - -I SCALE THE WINDOW. - -When remembering Laura Everingham and the pleasant days of other -times, I sighed with mingled regret and bitterness. Was it the old -love for her that could not be crushed, or the new love for my -beautiful Oriental that I could but imperfectly comprehend, and which -had so much of stirring novelty and imminent danger among its chief -allurements? - -Perhaps I found myself a little in that dilemma which---I trust all -fair ladies will pardon the avowal--is not uncommon among -men--_loving two women at once_--'a way we often have in the army,' -as Belton would say. - -The new passion which had seized me was certainly strengthened by a -sentiment of pique at Laura (oh, Laura, I could love you still!); yet -this passion, improper, unwarrantable, name it as you will, friend -reader, for this beautiful and too facile Moslem, filled all my heart -and fired my imagination with a thousand romantic fancies. I saw all -her danger and my own. One moment I lamented the evil chance which -had sent me on this solitary duty, and cast me in her path; and the -next, I looked at my watch, impatient of the lagging sunset. - -Thus did love fire, and reason cool me by turns. - -'I know,' says a recent writer, 'that five feet eight inches of -female flesh and blood, when accompanied by a pale complexion, black -eyes, and raven hair, is synonymous with strong passions and an -unfortunate destiny.' And most unfortunate was your destiny, poor -Iola! - -Ah, those beautiful eyes! How sadly they put all one's wits and -self-possession to flight--by their arrows routing horse, foot, and -artillery. - -I regarded her as a caged bird longing for freedom. I could not -conceive it possible that the wife of a Turk--especially such a -devilish and unmitigated Turk as the fat Yuze Bashi Hussein--should -be otherwise than most unhappy; for the Mohammedan deems women the -mere appendage of a household--a necessary comfort among others; a -handsome wife, a cup of coffee, and a well-filled chiboque, are the -mainsprings of life in the eyes of a true Believer--unless we add a -hot bath and a savoury kabob. - -With these reflections, an hour after sunset, I found myself in the -dewy twilight, under her window, and among those richly-wooded rocks -on which the sea of Marmora was rolling in ripples of violet, blue, -and gold. - -It was one of those brilliant nights when all the constellations are -visible, and the poor Mohammedan believes that all the imps of earth -are climbing to Heaven, to pry into the actions and overhear the -conversation of the blessed, who occasionally pelt and slay them with -the falling stars. - -I waited for a little time, and then her lattice slowly--I thought -reluctantly--unclosed; and two white hands were clapped gently -together. - -I replied to the signal; the stem of a date-tree and the tough -branches of a wild vine enabled me to reach the window with ease, and -in a moment I found myself within the sanctum sanctorum of a -Mohammedan house--the anderun, or female apartments of the Yuze Bashi -Hussein. - -Iola was trembling; she drew her yashmack closely about her face, and -hastened to shut the casement. Her eyes were full of tears, and that -she had been seized by some unusual qualm, or terror of these -proceedings, was but too apparent. This was unpleasant, as it gave -me the sensation of being somewhat of a conspirator, at least. - -The successful peculations of Hussein had enabled him to make the -apartments of his Greek wife magnificent. The roof was all of blue -velvet, painted with the figures of birds and flowers. The walls -were hung with silk, in alternate broad red and white stripes, on -which shone gilded sentences from the Koran. An exquisite Persian -carpet covered the floor, on which were a profusion of velvet and -embroidered cushions of the softest and lightest down arranged in the -form of couches; and there were two little stools bearing -coffee-trays and chiboques. The lower end of the apartment, which -was divided in two by festooned curtains of the finest muslin, was -hung with leopard-skins, and trophies of Turkish and Arabian arms of -the keenest steel--sabres, handjiars, carbines, pistols, lances, -matchlocks, and ancient horsetailed standards, arranged, in the form -of stars, round Tartar shields of brown bull-hide, all glittering -with knobs of burnished brass. The perfume of rich pastiles and wood -of aloes, burning in tripods of bronze, and the fragrance of six tall -candelabra full of fresh flowers, pervaded the apartment, which was -lit by two large lamps of fine oil, the smoke of which was consumed -by cream-coloured globes, that diffused a warm and voluptuous light. - -To complete the picture of this remarkable apartment, let me remind -the reader of Iola, who, shrinking a little from me, stood in the -centre of it, with irresolution and timidity in her air and eyes. - -She wore the hideous feradjee of the Turkish women, which enveloped -her whole form, permitting little of its oriental symmetry to be -seen; yet from amid its ample folds I could discern her hands, which -were gloveless, and her little feet, which had embroidered slippers, -and the faultless form and delicacy of which there were no stockings -to conceal. - -Her black and brilliant eyes, expressive, languishing, and inquiring, -arch and smiling by turns, were now bent on me, timidly and -imploringly, under their long lashes and dark eyebrows, which were -well arched, defined, and full of character--a charming thing in -every girl. Through the thin yashmack, or veil of fine muslin, which -concealed the lower part of her face, after that abominable fashion -which the restless jealousy of their male tyrants imposes on the -women of the East, I could discern that her features were beautiful. -Her turban was of muslin, sprigged with gold; she had an ivory -pomander ball of attar-gul in one hand; a finely-embroidered -handkerchief and a sandal-wood rosary from Mecca in the other. - -The respect with which she was treated was puzzling and confusing to -her, as a Turkish woman; for in her country the fair sex are kept in -a state of subjugation so strict, that a sister dare not sit in her -younger brother's presence without first obtaining permission. - -I attempted to take her hands, but she withdrew them, and crossed -them on her bosom. - -'Iola,' said I, tenderly; 'have you ceased to love me?' - -'I know not,' she replied, sadly; 'for, as the Koran says, it -belongeth to Allah alone to fathom the human heart--and I cannot -fathom mine.' - -'You are doubtful of your own emotions.' - -'I am sad--very sad--having much reason to be so.' - -'Allow me to remove this veil, for Heaven's sake, dear Iola!' I -continued, trembling with the earnestness of my own sentiments; 'do -not repel me.' - -She was passive, and I hastened to remove both the feradjee and the -horrid yashmack; and then her fine figure appeared in a close velvet -jacket, sleeved only to the elbow, cut low at the neck and open at -the bosom; and her hair was gathered about her beautiful head in -massive braids, like perfumed and sable silk. She trembled and -blushed excessively, for, by the Mohammedan law, aged women who are -past the time of marriage _alone_ may lay this veil aside. - -Her white neck and arms were encircled by strings of Turkish rose -pearls, made from the leaves of freshly-culled roses, bruised to a -paste, and dried and rolled in oil of roses and musk, and which, -being thus beautifully polished and pleasantly perfumed, are -favourite ornaments in the East. - -She had all that combination of spiritual and voluptuous loveliness -which her Grecian sires of old worshipped in the olive-groves of -Paphos, and in the temples of Cyprus and Cytheria, when the power of -Juno's rival was supreme. - -I drew her gently towards me, but still she averted her timid and -downcast face. - -'Iola--why this change?' I asked, in a pettish tone; 'have you ceased -to love me now?' - -'I have not ceased to love you,' she answered, while trembling -painfully; 'at first you merely struck my fancy, when passing daily -in the castle-yard, where you seemed so different in air, so free in -step and bearing, from the slow, heavy-headed, and crook-legged -soldiers of Hussein; but now you--you--' - -'What?' - -'Have keenly touched my heart. Alas!' she continued, weeping; '_now_ -I am more a slave than ever the piastres of Hussein, or the promise I -gave him, before the Kadi, made me!' - -'Be wary, Iola--remember that your servants may hear us, and our -position is full of danger.' - -'There is no danger,' she replied, bitterly; 'they are all -dumb--voiceless as marble statues.' - -'Dumb?' - -'Mutes--tongueless--and two are deaf, or rendered so.' - -'Horrible! For what reason?' - -'To prevent their being indiscreet.' - -'A wise precaution.' - -'So my husband thinks--but a cruel one.' - -After a pause, she added, 'Would to Allah that he had left me in the -care of his friend, the Moolah Moustapha!' - -'Why?' - -'Can you ask me? The Moolah is said to know--like Solymon Ebn -Daood--the language of the birds; and every kind of secret knowledge; -and thus he had watched over the wanderings of my heart.' - -'Nay, dearest Iola, these scruples and coquettish regrets come -somewhat late--and one kiss--' - -'Bismillah! In the name of the most Merciful, touch me not!' she -exclaimed, with a coy alarm that was rather chilling; but she was too -late: my kiss was on her pouting lip, and she did not repulse me--for -she felt assured, by the night and the silence around us, that no ear -was there to overhear us, and no mortal eye but mine to see her -unveiled beauty. - -Here endeth the first lesson. - - - - -CHAPTER XLIV. - -TEMPTATION AND FOLLY. - -Never while life remains shall I forget the hours of delight I passed -with Iola. - -I know that it was wrong--exceedingly wrong--and blamable in me to -have yielded to the tempting peril of engaging in this flirtation--to -give my regard for Iola its mildest term--but what could I do? And -having once yielded to the allurement, and encouraged her in it, how -could I fly or avoid her? - -I met her no more at the Ruined Hermitage, or at the green City of -the Silent, for such interviews were full of peril; but I met her -again and again, in the seclusion of her own apartments, into which -not even the tongueless and mutilated slaves of Hussein could -penetrate without a signal being given and permission accorded from -within. Thus we had an interview every evening, and had much -delightful conversation, and many an hour of mute reverie. - -How strange and alluring were those long, deep, and dangerous -reveries, which were full of beatings of the heart, and tender -meanings which the pen cannot depict, and no written language can -convey! - -My word plighted to the absent Hussein--my honour, and more than all, -her honour--yea, her very life, were in peril, yet I trifled with -both, like the heedless, reckless, and it may be, selfish boy I was! - -Poor Iola! - -I related the story of her brother's desertion, recapture, trial, and -the death he suffered so courageously in our presence at Heraclea. I -mentioned the two little incidents which brought me in personal -contact with him; first in the public khan, and secondly at the last -terrible scene in the valley of the mosque, where from his dead hand -I took the little coral cross, which by a strange course of events I -was now enabled to suspend upon the bosom of his sister; and as I did -so, I thought of all that high-spirited and noble Albanian soldier -would have felt had he seen that sister, now a Mahommedan, (the wife -of one of those barbarous Osmanli who pistolled his stately mother at -Acre,) and hanging in all her loveliness, dissolved in tears and -grief upon the bosom of a stranger--a soldier of Frangistan! - -I deemed it well for Hussein, well for Iola, and particularly -fortunate for myself, that the fiery young lieutenant of Albanians -was sleeping in his quiet grave, where the slaves of the Mir Alai -Saïd had laid him. - -Tempered by politeness, and by that respect and deference to a female -which have come down to us from the days of the Crusaders and the -Cavaliers, the manner of a European lover is so different from the -bearing of an Oriental one, that there can be little wonder if the -heart of a Mahommedan woman is easily won by the stiff-hatted, -tight-coated, and long-trousered denizen of that ample and mysterious -district known to her only as Frangistan. In the matter of love and -wedlock, the Turkish woman has as little idea of freedom as the Turk -has of the arguments advanced by S. Bufford, gent.--a certain learned -pundit, who, in the reign of King William III., wrote an Essay -'against persons marrying _without their own consent_.' - -'Oh, that I had the right to love you, as I have the right to hate -the Yuze Bashi Hussein!' said Iola, after one of her long silences. -'Oh the odious! May the heel of my slipper be ever on his mouth--and -yet--and yet he is my husband!' - -'I wince always at that word in your pretty mouth, Iola!' - -'In loving you, I cease to love him---if indeed I ever loved him. -Allah did not create woman with two hearts--with one under each -breast, as the Moolah Moustapha affirms.' - -'But our love is full of sadness as well as peril, Iola--for a day is -coming when I must leave you.' - -'Oh, leave me not!' she exclaimed, passionately. 'Must my love be -sacrificed to this coarse and untutored Osmanli? The day after you -leave me I shall have ceased to live.' - -'Leave you I must, Iola.' - -'Why?--when?' - -'When ordered--for I, too, have Yuze Bashis and Mir Alais and Pashas -who command me.' - -'By the love with which you have inspired me!' she said in a piercing -whisper, with her black eyes flashing in brilliance through their -tears; 'I conjure you to take me with you, for I cannot live without -you, and without you I must die!' - -With these words she threw herself upon my breast, heedless of -everything. - -'I will take you with me, Iola, if I can--' - -'Nay you must--you shall!' - -'Yes--yes, at all hazards.' - -'Why should I die so young?' - -'You will go with me--I promise you,' I replied, heedless of the -future; and then she gave me a smile of confiding fondness that would -have melted the heart of our old friend Bluebeard. - -'My husband will be here anon, and his jealousy--' - -'Well--fear him not, Iola; jealousy gives a relish to love--just as -musk does to sherbet, or pepper to a kabob,' said I, gaily. - -'But alas,' said she, with a shudder, 'the jealousy of a Turk is -terrible! Could I teach Hussein that love and respect--or love and -affection are two distinct sentiments?' - -'Give me but the love, Iola, and bestow the affection on whom you -please.' - -'Allah!' she exclaimed, with a shudder, and a gleam of terror in her -expressive eyes, as she shrunk from my arm; 'what if _you_ should be -Hussein?' - -'I Hussein--I the Yuze Bashi?' I asked, in astonishment. - -'Yes--O Mahmoud! there is a strange sparkle in your eye.' - -'How could such a thing be?' I asked, smiling at her simplicity. - -'Genii give men the power to assume the forms, faces, and voices of -others for a time,' she replied, a little reassured; 'have you never -heard so?' - -'Never.' - -'How strange! Have you not heard of the wise Sultan Solymon, and his -magic ring--of the evil Geni Sakhur, and how they changed forms and -faces for forty days?' - -'Never, on my honour.' - -'Listen, and I will tell you,' said she, clasping her white hands -upon my left shoulder, and reclining her brow upon my cheek, while -her speaking eyes were lifted up to mine, as we reclined among the -soft and silky cushions; 'listen, and I will tell you a story--oh, a -very wonderful story--of things that happened long long ago,' she -continued, while her fine eyes diluted and filled with light; 'long -before Othmon the Bonebreaker sat on the Sultan's throne, and long -before Palæologus perished beneath the cimitars of the -Janissaries--but kiss me once again before I begin.' - -The request was soon granted, and in her pretty little prattling way, -Lola told me the following tale of wonder and magic. - - - - -CHAPTER XLV - -STORY OF THE WISE KING AND THE WICKED GENI. - -'Once upon a time there was a king of Sidon, who had a daughter, and -in beauty she surpassed all the maids of Asia. You must know that -this was in the days when all the kingdom of Frangistan was hidden in -darkness, and when none dwelt there but little men who lived on human -flesh, whose faces were in their stomachs, who had but one leg, with -which they made prodigious leaps in the dark from the summit of one -hill to the summit of another, and when there dwelt in Assyria a -mighty Sultan, named Solymon Ebn Daood, who ruled all the land that -lies between the Euphrates on the east and the Mediterranean on the -west, and from Mount Taurus on the north to Arabia on the south. - -'He was a great and wondrous king; for after he slew--as an offering -unto heaven--those thousand winged horses which came to him out of -the sea near Damascus, Allah gave him power over the wind, by which -he could cause it to blow at his will, over the hot deserts of -Arabia, over Suristan, the Land of Roses, and over his own blessed -realm. The Koran tells us, that on this wind, he could transport his -mighty throne--the star and work of the Genii--from Damascus unto the -hot shores of the Indian sea, in a single day; and unto him were -subjected all the winged Genii; all the blue devils who dive for -pearls in the sea of Kolzom, and those who build cities of gold and -silver, and palaces of precious stones. - -'Having gone to war with the king of Sidon, whose territories he had -desolated by a cold north wind, he resolved to besiege the city, and -ordered his magic carpet to be spread without the gates of Mecca, and -it reached therefrom half-way to Jidda on the seashore. This carpet -was a mighty piece of green silk fabricated by the Genii, who did all -that he commanded them to do, as we are told in the 22nd Chapter of -the Holy Koran. On this carpet stood the throne whereon he was -seated, and around it were all his army, horse and foot, bowmen and -spearmen, slingers and swordsmen, marshalled by Asaf the vizier. - -'The moment they were all in order, he commanded them, to the number -of a hundred thousand, to keep steady in their ranks, and avoid the -_edge_ of the carpet; then he placed his magic signet ring to his -lips, and lo! There came a wind out of the eastern sky which lifted -up the carpet, with the throne, the troops, and all that were -thereon, and bore it through the air so swiftly that like the shadow -of a cloud, they traversed all the blue vault of heaven, above -Khaibar, where the well of bitter water flows; over the mountains -that look down on Tabuc; over Arabia the Rocky; over the domes of -Jerusalem, and the dark waves of the Dead Sea, and over Acre, until -they alighted on the sea shore of Phoenicia, near the city of Sidon, -which stands on a plain that extends two miles inward from the ocean; -and this was but the journey of half a day to Solymon and his -air-borne host. - -'In great terror, the king of Sidon, when he saw this vast cloud -darkening all the sky above the city, shut up his daughter Jerada, -who had black hair that hung down to her knees, and who had eyes that -were larger than her mouth; he placed her in a great round tower, -which stands upon a mountain near the sea, and was built for him by -the Geni Sakhur, who was his chief friend. But Solymon assaulted the -city, sacked and destroyed its manufactories of linen and fine purple -dyes, its schools of commerce and astronomy. He slew the king, while -Asaf stormed the tower upon the mountain, and capturing the beautiful -Jerada, brought her safely to Mecca before nightfall, and before the -cry for evening prayer had rung from the minarets of the temple; and -with her were his throne, his soldiers, and all the plunder of the -Phoenician capital covering the magic carpet--and all this was but -the task of one day. - -'But with all his power, this mighty Sultan now became the slave of -his slave, and the worshipper of his bondswoman; for Jerada was -beautiful as a houri of Paradise. Her figure was tall and full of -majesty and grace. Her beauty was like her bearing, noble as became -the daughter of a king. Her voice was sweetly modulated, and of all -his three hundred and ten wives, not one could wile or soothe the -soul of Solymon like Jerada, when her snowy arms were thrown around -the harp, and she sang the songs of Palestine. Veiled by long black -lashes, her eyes were violet coloured, and of a deep, strange, and -mournful tint and expression--as she never forgot that she was the -daughter of Sidon's fallen king. Her skin was white as the foam on -the sea; her hands and arms were exquisite; her manner soft and -polished; her spirit gentle; her intelligence quick; her wit -brilliant; and as his own unfathomable soul, the great lord of all -Assyria loved her. - -'But in her secret heart, Jerada never ceased to lament the fall of -Sidon and her father's fate; and a thousand times did Solymon -surprise her in her chamber, weeping bitterly. Then his heart smote -him for the wrong he had done to one so fair, and he desired the -Genii to fashion an image of the slaughtered king, and to mould it of -wax, painted like life; to clothe it in fine robes of Tyrian purple, -and to set upon its head the captured crown of Sidon. This image was -placed in the chamber of Jerada, where she and her maidens wept at -its feet and worshipped it morning and evening for the term of -_forty_ days; but, on Asaf the vizier discovering this wicked -practice, he hastened in terror to Solymon and said, - -'"Dost thou permit this foul idolatry? If so, the curse that fell on -Ad will fall on thee, and this worship of a waxen image must not be -permitted in the palace." - -'When Solymon heard these words, he drew his cimitar, and by one blow -destroyed the work of the Genii, and it vanished with a whistling -sound. He chastised the beautiful Jerada by shutting her up in a -tower, on the door of which he placed his magic seal; and then he -went out into a wild and desert place, where he wept over the evils -that had followed the fall of Sidon, and made supplications to Allah, -crying aloud, as the blessed Koran tells us, - -'"Oh forgive me, and accord unto me a kingdom which may not be -obtained by any one after me, for thou art the giver of thrones."[*] - - -[*] See "Koran," xxxviii. - - -'But Allah resolved to chastise his negligence, and it happened -thus:-- - -It was the custom of this great sultan, when he bathed or perfumed -himself, to intrust his magic ring or signet, on the possession of -which depended all his power and his kingdom, to one of his fairest -favourites; and one day, when retiring to the bath, he placed it on -the finger of Jerada, for with all his wisdom the wisest man--yea, -even Solymon--may be but a fool before a beautiful woman. Jerada, as -she gazed upon the ring, thought of her aged sire and fallen -Sidon--of his nameless grave and her fallen fortune, and uttered a -wish for "vengeance." - -At that moment there was a tremulous motion in the air, and the Geni -Sakhur, the friend of her father--the spirit who had built the great -tower which yet stands upon the mountain over against Sidon, appeared -before her _in the likeness of Solymon_, and received from her the -wonderful ring. Then the eyes of the Geni sparkled with triumph; he -breathed upon it, and lo! when the Sultan came from the bath, he was -an old and withered man, so changed in aspect that none knew him; and -then, mocked by the courtiers, threatened by Asaf the vizier, hooted -by the pages and beaten by the guards, he was driven from the palace -gates, and forced to wander in the desert, eating dates, berries, and -wild fruits for the space of _forty_ days, returning ever and anon to -beg alms at the gates of Mecca, and at the porticos of his own palace. - -'Here he saw the Geni Sakhur, on the terraces and in the gardens, -clad in his royal garments, wearing his likeness and having his -voice, toying with the lovely Jerada and the most beautiful of the -ladies, who crowded his magnificent household, and the pious soul of -this king--the mightiest that ever swayed the sceptre of -Assyria--swelled with futile rage, for his ring was on Sakhur's -finger, and he was powerless as the meanest slave. - -'Moreover, this evil Geni, by the power of which he became possessed, -governed the whole kingdom, and while seated on its throne, made such -startling alterations in the laws, that Solyman, when he heard them -proclaimed by sound of trumpet and timbrel at the brazen gates of -Mecca, rent his garments and wept, while the astonished Asaf threw -dust upon his head and beard in grief and wonder. - -'At length _the forty days_, the exact period during which the waxen -image had been worshipped under Solymon's roof, were expired; and -then the devil Sakhur, with a yell of laughter, sprang from the -throne on which he had been seated, with Jerada by his side, and to -the terror of the faithful Vizier Asaf, and of all the courtiers, -spread out his dusky wings, and ascending straight into the air, flew -away with a speed that made him cleave the sky like a bird; and as he -winged his way to the home of the Genii in the mountains of Kaf, he -flung the magic ring of Solymon into the sea of Galilee. - -'As it cleft the deep blue waters, its glittering stones and shining -gold caught the eye of a large and silvery fish, which immediately -swallowed it; but soon thereafter the fish began to writhe in great -agony, and was cast by the ebbing tide upon the yellow sands near the -then ruined and desolate city of Sidon. - -'It happened that the Sultan Solymon, in form and face an old man, -bent with years and clad in tattered garments, was wandering in -hunger and destitution, along the sands, eating shell-fish, when he -espied this large and silvery tenant of the deep, writhing on the -shore; he straightway killed it by a stone, and making a fire of the -wood called markh, which if rubbed together will burn, be it ever so -green, he prepared to cook it, and lo! from its belly there dropped -the golden ring--the magic signet by which the power of all Assyria -was held--and with a prayer of joy he placed it on his finger! - -'In a moment he recovered his stately stature, his manly beauty, his -youthful face and curling beard; and by uttering a wish, found -himself in the hall of his palace at Mecca, where he gave thanks unto -Allah, and proceeded at once to punish Jerada and the evil Geni -Sakhur. The beautiful daughter of Sidon he enclosed in a flinty rock -on Mount Horeb, and there, by a touch of his ring, sealed her up for -ever. The Geni, by a whispered wish, he dragged shrieking through -the air from the far and snowy recesses of Kaf. Then tying a huge -stone to his neck, he flung him headlong into the lake of Tiberias in -Galilee, near which stands a town built by Herod; but the Geni -instantly changed his form, and arose from the lake in the form of a -small worm, which crept towards Solymon, intent on revenge. - -'Now, as we all know, it would take a small worm a great many years -to creep from the Lake of Tiberias to Jerusalem, where the Sultan -Solymon was then finishing the great temple which was to stand there -for ever in lieu of the tabernacle of Moosa. He employed a million -of Genii to complete the work, and they toiled at it day and night, -and over every Genii was a warden, who made his secret mark upon -their work, and these spirits had secret signs and words by which -they knew each other--the signs and words that were written on the -seal of Solymon. But this mighty sultan perceiving that he was -becoming aged, and that his end was drawing nigh, prayed to Allah, -that, when he died, his death might be concealed from the Genii, who, -if they discovered it, would all fly back to Kaf, and leave -unfinished that gorgeous temple, which was yet to be the wonder of -the world. - -'And kind Allah ordained it should be thus. - -'When Solymon died--for who among us would live for ever?--his spirit -passed away as he stood at prayer, leaning on his long staff of -plane-tree--the wood of the ark--and this staff supported his dead -body erect and fresh, and comely as when in life, and as if he was -still overseeing the work, for a year and a day, until the Genii were -placing the last golden pomegranate on the shining summit of the -temple, in the centre of which shone _a vast eye_ that seemed to be -behold everything; and all this while, the impatient worm was still -creeping towards the dead Sultan. - -'The worm reached the staff and gnawed it through; then on the very -instant the temple was completed in all its parts, the body of the -Sultan fell heavily to the ground; his golden crown rang on the -marble pavement; and now, with a yell of rage, the overtasked Genii -found that they had been deluded, and that their master had been dead -for a year and a day! - -'Thus it is that the twenty-fourth chapter of the Koran saith these -words:-- - -'"When we decreed that Solymon should die, nothing revealed his death -unto them except the _creeping thing_ of the earth, which gnawed his -staff, and then his body fell down." - -'Such was the story of the Wise King and the Wicked Geni.' - ----------- - -'And Jerada,' said I, laughing, 'did she still remain sealed up in -the rock, or did the death of Solymon dissolve the spell?' - -'Jerada wept and prayed sorely, for she had not deceived Solymon; but -had been herself deceived by the wicked Geni Sakhur, who, as a -traitor and falsifier, was worthy of the most severe death, the just -could inflict--' - -'Right, O Allah!' exclaimed a hoarse fierce voice behind us; 'right, -wretch, and you have named your own sentence!' - -A low cry of terror left the white lips of Iola, and springing to my -feet, I found myself confronted by the two flaming eyes, the levelled -pistols, and the portly person of the furious Yuze Bashi, Hussein Ebn -al Ajuz! - - - - -CHAPTER XLVI. - -HUSSEIN'S WRATH. - -While listening to this old Arabian legend, which fell so prettily -from the lisping tongue of Iola, I never thought of Hussein, who, -having transacted with the Seraskier his business, which merely -concerned the shipment of certain guns and shot for Varna, was then -galloping along the paved road to Rodosdchig. - -Intent upon the dark and tender eyes, the white neck, and soft -tresses of Iola, I did not hear the ruffle beaten on the brass drum -of the Main-guard as he cantered into the court; nor did I hear the -tramp of his horse or his heavy foot-fall on the old Greek marble -stair, or in the anteroom; nor did I remember in any way that a being -so ungainly and so decidedly unwelcome existed in the world, until -the muslin hangings were fiercely rent asunder, and he stood before -us, his countenance livid with just rage, his dark eyes gleaming like -two live coals, and his long brass-barrelled Turkish pistols levelled -at us, one in each hand. - -I had no weapon but my sword, which I immediately unsheathed, while -instinctively placing myself between him and the mute and -terror-stricken Iola, who sank grovelling before him, bowing her -beautiful head to the carpet, and murmuring only-- - -'Mercy! mercy! vai! vai! woe--woe!' - -Alarm for her, and shame for myself, deprived me of utterance. I -could only interpose the long, glittering blade of the Highland -claymore between us, and gaze on Hussein's angry front, debating -whether or not I should slash him across the fingers, lest he might -shoot one or both of us; and I remembered poor Callum Dhu and his -thirty comrades, who would be at the mercy of Hussein's hundred -Bombardiers, and might, moreover, be exposed to the fury of the -populace, from whom not even the Greek Archbishop of Rodosdchig could -protect them. - -'Oh, face of brass and heart of steel! what do I see?' he exclaimed. -Then uttering that expression of grief which is so frequently in the -mouths of Mohammedans, he rent his white beard, and cried, 'We are -God's, and unto Him we shall return! You have darkened the light of -my eyes, oh Frank! but may the fiends have me if I take not a sure -and terrible vengeance for this!' - -'Hear me?' I implored, without knowing what to say. - -'Nay--stir not a step, or these balls shall whistle through your -brain!' - -'Yuze Bashi, hear me, I beg of you, and you shall know all.' - -'All!' he reiterated, stamping with rage; 'ye shall wish yourselves -like the brutal Greeks, from whom this woman sprang--deaf and dumb -and without understanding--before the measure of my vengeance is -full. Her fate she knows; but for _thee_, accursed Frank--thou who -hast reft me of her, who was to be unto me a garment and a comfort, -as the blessed Koran saith--by the seven heavens and the seven -earths, and by the hand that hung and cleft the moon in the -firmament, I will have your heart to tread beneath my heel; but first -the ferashes shall apply the bastinado until every toe you have has -dropped from your feet in blood! Hallo, Chaoush! Hallo, Onbashi!' - -'Do with me as you please, Effendi, but spare her.' - -'As for her, the hand of a profligate Christian has touched her--a -hand which defiles all it touches--yea, even the food of a dog; so, -from this hour, she is alike divorced--thrice, I say it, divorced, -divorced and accursed by Hussein!' - -With these words, he pulled both triggers at once; but the pistols, -having old flint locks, by the mercy of heaven, flashed in the pan -and hung fire. Then, finding the necessity of immediate action, just -as he was about to draw his sabre, I grasped him by the gilded -waist-belt, and hurling him, with all my force, back upon the -cushions which lay piled upon the floor behind him, I locked Iola -into an inner apartment--kissed her cold hands, and rushed by a back -door to the foot of the staircase. Then crossing the castle-yard, I -regained my quarters, where I was immediately joined by Callum Dhu, -who, ever kind and watchful, had been awaiting my return. - -Alarmed, on seeing me spring in with my sword drawn, and excitement -in my eye, - -'In the name of the devil, co-dhalta,' said he, 'what is the matter?' - -I told him that I had been visiting the wife of the commandant; that -he had returned suddenly, and finding us at coffee, had been seized -by a fit of jealousy, and nearly pistolled me; but that I had knocked -him down, and made my escape. - -This explanation was all truth, and yet was but a compromise between -it and falsehood; and so I thought Callum suspected, for his keen -dark Highland eye loured; his face flushed for a moment, and he gave -me a glance of scrutiny such as he had never ventured to do as my -fosterer in Glen Ora, and still less since we had joined the -regiment. Beside all this, Callum Dhu was sufficiently well read in -the writings of Morier, Frazer, Slade, and Franklin to know that the -domestic privacy of an oriental household cannot be trifled with, -and, after a moment's reflection-- - -'Glen Ora,' said he--for he never forgot my old Highland -patronymic--'evil will come of all this, for you have been unwary; -and there will be the life of one--it may be three--lost. Have you -thought of that?' - -'I _have_ thought of it,' said I, irritated on finding a Mentor in -him; 'and I tell you, Callum, that I care not whose life is lost, if -the poor innocent Greek girl I have compromised is saved from the -ferocity of this Turkish officer.' - -'True--but how?' was the calm query. - -'How--I care not how; but saved she must be, Callum. As for that -true type of an Eastern tyrant--the ignorant, sensual, and avaricious -Hussein--what care I for him?' - -'Yet he trusted to your honour, Allan Mac Innon!' - -I felt the quiet reproach, and dared not follow up my own thoughts, -for I felt how weak is the human heart, and vain the resolves of -human reason, when opposed to the wiles of beauty. Lest some outrage -should be attempted upon me, as we knew not what lengths the Yuze -Bashi's wrath might carry him, Callum suggested that one of our men -should be posted, with his bayonet fixed and musket loaded, at the -foot of the stair which ascended to the tower wherein we had our -quarters; and, to watch over the safety of Iola, my faithful fellow -proposed that he and Donald Roy, who was a sharp-witted, active, and -hardy West-Highlander, should guard by turns the residence of the -exasperated governor of Rodosdchig; and after these arrangements, I -sat down to write to Jack Belton for his advice, and composed the -letter, and my own mind, over a devilled bone, a bottle of Kirkissa -wine, and cigar. - -During my conference with Callum we heard various noises and cries of -alarm proceeding from the quarters of the Yuze Bashi; and each of -these sounds had a terrible echo in my heart, for, when believing -that they proceeded from the apartment of Iola, the main strength of -my fosterer scarcely sufficed to restrain me from rushing out, sword -in hand, to her assistance. - -All became quiet after a time. Then we heard the clatter of horse's -hoofs, as a mounted messenger galloped from the fort, which made me -suspect that our Yuze Bashi had sent some awkward instructions to the -Bostandgi Bashi of the police; or worse still, to some of the lawless -Bashi-Bozouks, an orta or regiment of whom, were cantoned at Carga, -not far from us; but ere long, we learned that it was only a slave, -dispatched by Iola for a certain learned Jewish Hakim, who arrived in -due time, and reported, that after imprecating a torrent of -maledictions on 'the chief of the bare-legged _Yenitcheries_,' as he -termed the brave steady lads of her Britannic Majesty's -- -Highlanders, the Yuze Bashi had suddenly become speechless and black -in the face; that his eyes had started in their sockets, and he -became senseless, as if ghoules or ghinns were strangling him; that -he was recovered only by bleeding and having his temples bound with a -fillet, on which were traced the signs of the Zodiac. After this, he -was able to make known that he wished to see the Moolah Mustapha, who -had accordingly been sent for. - -The plain English of all this I supposed to be, simply, that Hussein, -being very short in stature, stout, pursy, and thick-necked, in his -phrenzy had brought on a fit of apoplexy, the effects of which--if -they had no better cure than the signs of the Zodiac--I believed -would at least keep him quiet until I was recalled to Heraclea by -Major Catanagh, an event for which I now devoutly prayed. - - - - -CHAPTER XLVII. - -SEQUEL TO CHAPTER FORTY-THREE. - -A morning or two after this, there was no small consternation -existing among the soldiers of my little band at Rodosdchig, when -Dugald Mac Ildhui, my sergeant, paraded them as usual, and neither -Callum Dhu nor his master were forthcoming. Corporal Donald Roy was -despatched to make inquiries, but returned to the parade with tidings -that he had knocked repeatedly at Mr. Mac Innon's door without -receiving any answer; and as it was open, he had ventured to peep in, -and saw but too plainly that his camp-bed had not been slept in -over-night; that the last fragment of an unextinguished candle was -still burning, but streaming and guttering on the table; that his -sword and belt and some of his uniform lay strewed about; but that -neither he nor Callum Dhu had been seen since last night, when the -Turkish sentinel at the barrier-gate thought he perceived them both -pass hurriedly out, and take the path which led towards the sea. - -The faithful sergeant and his corporal spent that day, all the next, -and all the succeeding in vain surmises and in futile inquiries; no -trace of their officer and missing comrade was to be found; and as -the story of Hussein's rage and imprecations against me, for causes -unknown, had by some means--perhaps through the chaoush or onbashi of -the Bombardiers--reached the little band of Celts, they began to look -darkly and inquiringly in each other's faces, while vague whispers of -assassination gained strength and corroboration among them. The -sergeant and his corporal had been among the wandering Highland -dancers who went to Paris in 1848, and were so near being shot by the -Republican troops for appearing kilted and plaided, with dirk and -claymore, in the Place de Carrousel; and having imbibed thereafter a -great doubt of, and detestation for, all foreigners whatsoever, they -came to the conclusion that we had met with an untimely end. - -The circumstance of a boat being found by a Galiondgi adrift near the -castle, containing an officer's regimental sash, spotted with blood, -and a Highland private's Glengarry bonnet, increased this terrible -mystery, and led the soldiers to believe that, beyond a doubt, the -unfortunate Ensign Mac Innon and his _fidus Achates_ had become food -for the fishes of the Propontis, and the whole beach around the bay -was searched in vain for their bodies. - -The sergeant--a sober, steady, and brave soldier, one of the many who -were daily forced from their homes into our ranks, for he was an -evicted Sutherland Highlander (evicted because he was unable to pay -the marriage-tax of forty shillings now daily and illegally exacted -by the grasping factors of the north and west Highlands from the -people, to keep the number of the population down)--procured a thin -yellow sheet of Turkish paper, and after holding a solemn council of -war, in which a vote of vengeance was unanimously passed on the Yuze -Bashi, who was still under the Jewish Hakim and the signs of the -Zodiac, he squared his elbows, made a broad margin, carefully nibbed -his pen, and proceeded to prepare an official report to Major -Catanagh, recounting the strange disappearance of the officer -commanding the detachment; and this report caused no small excitement -at the mess-table when it reached Heraclea. - -Some weeks elapsed before this mystery was cleared up; and the origin -of it all was as follows:-- - -One evening, after the arrival of the Moolah Moustapha, of whose -presence at the fortress I had an intuitive dread, an unusual bustle, -and then a dead silence were remarked in the apartments of the Yuze -Bashi; and in half an hour after sunset, Callum Dhu, with his dark -face flushed and excited, came in haste to inform me, that a -boat--one of those straight prowed and heavily-built craft, called by -the Turks a kochamba--with several men in it, had come from the -harbour round the promontory of the castle, and was now close to the -sea staircase, a flight of steps hewn in the rocks near the lower -gun-battery. He added more startling intelligence. - -A loud whistle, as a signal, had been given by someone in this boat, -and thereafter two men, one of whom he suspected to be the Moolah -Moustapha, had left the postern gate, half leading and half dragging -a veiled woman, 'who sobbed heavily,' concluded. Callum, 'but who -made not the least resistance, as if all hope in her heart was dead, -poor thing!' - -I cannot express the horror with which I heard this information. -Innumerable stories of Turkish cruelty, of the burial of living -women, sacked and drowned in the Bosphorus; of the gashed and mangled -bodies of others that have been found across the cables of our own -ships, or were raked up by them, as they swung at their anchors by -the Golden Horn; of bodies stranded and torn by jackals on the shore -at Pera, with a thousand real and imaginary instances of the terrible -result of oriental jealousy and domestic cruelty, flashed upon my -memory, and I determined to save Iola from the dreadful fate -impending over her, or to die in the attempt. - -In the beginning of Islamism--women who were supposed to have broken -their vows were stoned to death, or immured in a stone wall; for the -fourth chapter of the Koran commands that they shall be "imprisoned -in separate apartments until death release them." - -'You are my foster brother, and will stand by me, Callum?' said I, -grasping his hand. - -'To the death will I stand by you; but on what errand go you now?' - -'To save this woman.' - -'The wife of the Yuze Bashi.' - -'Yes--the Greek girl, Iola.' - -'From what?' - -'Death!' - -'Death?' - -'Yes--yes! hand me my dirk and the shot-belt for the revolver; get -your bayonet. The Yuze Bashi means to drown his wife in a sack--' - -'Dhia! it is horrible!--like a puppy-dog.' - -'Or, it may be, to behead her by a slash of a yataghan. If either -takes place, her blood will be on our heads, Callum--on mine, at -least.' - -'I don't understand all this; but, dioul! I will follow YOU -anywhere, Mac Innon--so lead on.' - -I slung my dirk and revolver-pistol to my belt; Callum buckled on his -bayonet; we hurried from the castle, and soon reached the -landing-place, where a few boats were usually moored. - -The night was dark and cloudy; no moon was visible, and the sea of -Marmora lay between its headlands like an ocean of ink; yet, by -stooping low, I could perceive between me and the white streak that -lingered at the horizon a large boat, containing several dark -figures, being pulled like a great funeral barge, silently and -rapidly to seaward. - -''Tis those we are in search of,' said Callum, as we leaped on board -of a little Greek caique, slashed through the painter, shipped the -oars, and pulled sturdily and breathlessly after them. - -In such a land as Turkey, where, in 1808, the Sultan Mahmoud II. -could quietly, and quite as a matter of course, or as a piece of -state policy, strangle his deposed brother Mustapha IV., together -with his infant son; and also command four of his female slaves to be -sacked and drowned, because they were likely to increase the royal -family by presenting him with four little Harem-zadehs; where even -his son, the present Sultan Abdul Medjid, with all his vaunted -civilization, has committed more than one act of domestic barbarity, -more especially the assassination of the two little princes, his -nephews; and where too many of the atrocities recorded by travellers -in all ages are _still_ perpetrated, I knew all that hung over the -doomed wife of Hussein; all I had to repent of, and all I had to fear! - -Ill-fated Iola! - -While all the rest of the world has been pushing on the rapid march -of _progression_, Turkey like Spain, has stood still. The Turkish -woman, says the Baron de Tott, when inspired by an irresistible love -and desire of freedom, overcomes every obstacle, and at times escapes -from the harem, her domestic prison. 'These unfortunate creatures,' -he continues, always carry off their jewels with them, and consider -nothing too good for their lover. Blinded by their unhappy passion, -they do not perceive that this wealth often becomes the cause of -their destruction. The villains to whom they fly never fail at the -end of a few days to punish their temerity, and ensure the possession -of their effects by a crime which, however monstrous, the government -is least in haste to punish. The bodies of these miserable women, -stripped and mangled, are frequently seen floating in the Port (of -Constantinople) under the very windows of their murderers; and these -dreadful examples, so likely to intimidate the rest, and prevent such -madness, neither terrify nor amend.' - -But to resume: surely, steadily, and lustily, with all our strength, -Callum and I shot the light caique after the great dark barge of -these voyagers in the dusk, at every stroke causing her to fly -through the seething water as with each effort of the bending oars we -almost lifted her into the air, and made the black waves boil in her -white wake astern. The clatter and straining of our oars between the -tholing pins, and the noise made by the caique as it surged through -the water, soon gained the attention of the rowers in the large boat, -which was now about half a mile from the shore, and they paused for a -minute to observe us. Then one black figure stood erect, and peered -into the gloom of the darkened sea. - -He was the Moolah Moustapha. - -The voice of one in authority now warned us to keep off, for the -large boat contained two topchis, of Hussein's company, and four -armed policemen of the Bostandgi Bashi, with one or two galiondgis. - -'Dioul!' exclaimed Callum; 'what is he saying?' - -'That they will fire, if we do not keep off.' - -'How many of them are there?' - -'One--two--six--seven, if not more.' - -'Including the Moolah?' - -'Who is almost nobody.' - -'Two to six, at least,' pondered Callum. - -'But I have six shots in my revolver.' - -'If I had only my old rifle here,' sighed Callum, 'I could pick them -all off like black-cocks!' - -Two pistols flashed from the kochamba, and threw a sudden gleam -across the water; but their bullets whistled harmlessly over us. -Exasperated by this, my foster-brother cried, - -'Kill every mother's son of them, Mac Innon--quick--before they -reload again!' - -But I dared not fire, lest one of those dark figures should be Iola. - -'Pull hard,' said I; 'we are not twenty yards apart now; board and -attack them with your bayonet--I'll make good use of my dirk, believe -me!' - -'Fire--fire! are they not three to one?' - -'One Highlandman is equal to three Turks any day.' - -'True, Mac Innon,' exclaimed Callum, entering at once into the spirit -of the attack; 'hoigh--hurrah!' - -But never was assault more fatally devised, or more signally -unsuccessful. - -In a moment the prow of the caique came with a frightful crash -against the quarter of the lumbering kochamba; the shock threw me -forward upon the thwarts, by one of which I was severely cut and -bruised about the face, while I narrowly escaped three pistol shots, -one of which grazed and slightly wounded Callum's left hand; but our -misfortunes were only beginning; for in the concussion I lost my -revolver-pistol. On relinquishing the oar, and springing up, I -instinctively grasped for it at my waist-belt--but alas! the pistol -was gone. For a moment I groped wildly and fruitlessly about the -bottom of the caique, without finding it; and then, as no time could -be lost, with my naked dirk, I sprang madly on board the kochamba, -followed by Callum, who made free use of his bayonet, and now a -deadly struggle took place; the Turks assailing us with batons, drawn -sabres, and the brass knobs of their long-barrelled pistols, amid a -storm of yells and barbarous maledictions. - -Grasping one powerful galiondgi by the waist, Callum flung him fairly -overboard, tossing him into the air like an India-rubber ball; and he -was left by his fatalist friends to sputter and sink, or scramble on -board as best he could. - -The huge boat swayed from side to side, plashing and surging heavily, -while we fought and grappled like wild animals; but though -individually more than a match for any of the Osmanlies present, -Callum and I were overborne by their number, and must inevitably have -been shot, stabbed and tossed overboard, but for the exertions and -authority of the Moolah Moustapha, who would not allow them to slay -us; but under pain of his everlasting curse and displeasure, -commanded them to spare our lives, "as he had eaten bread and salt -with us." Though four of the fellows whom we encountered, and with -whom we had exchanged several buffets, blows, and stabs in the dark, -belonged to the unscrupulous force of the Bostandgi Bashi, or Police -Inspector on the banks of the Bosphorus and its adjacent villages, -the voice of the Moolah, who ordered us to be taken alive, proved all -powerful. We were soon beaten down, and severely, roughly, even -brutally, tied like sheep with a wet rope which lay steeping in the -bilge at the bottom of the boat; and while we were lying helplessly -there, the revengeful Osmanlies trampled and spat upon us, reviling -us at the same time with such epithets as can only come from a -vituperative Turkish tongue. - -'Allah burn you, you dog's sons--you imps of Shaitaun!' said one whom -they frequently named Zahroun, and who seemed to be half Bostandgi -and half seaman. - -'The drunken Inglees--whose dogs are they?' asked another, mockingly. - -'They worship the devil, like the wild Yezidies of Iraun--the -children of hell, and are false as the falsest Yahoudi. Dirt be upon -their beards!' said the ferocious Zahroun. - -'Son of Shaitaun,' said another, kicking me so severely that I -thought my right arm was broken, 'it is your khismet (destiny) to die -here, and I know not why the simple Moolah spares you.' - -'Infidel that you are,' said a fourth, 'your khismet is written on -your forehead by the finger of the prophet--and it is a skinful of -the cold Bosphorus.' - -To all this, the others added coarse and vulgar ribaldry, such as one -might expect from the boatmen and Bostandgi of the Bosphorus, a -depraved and murderous class at all times; and my heart swelled with -honest rage when I thought of the futile war we had waged for those -insensate Turks, whose name had not been heard in battle since our -army landed in the Crimea, and who, with all their boasted valour, -had fled at Balaclava, and left a single Highland regiment--"_the -thin red streak_" of Sir Colin Campbell--to receive in line the -charge of all the Russian cavalry! - -But now the Moolah raised his voice. - -'Bismillah--peace, I command you, peace! Allah permits them yet to -live, and dare such as ye to repine? We come not here to brawl or to -revile, but to fulfil the decrees of Allah as spoken by his prophet, -upon whose memory, name, and grave be all the blessings of the -faithful. The home of a true Believer--the anderun of a true -Mussulman--one fearing God, obeying his Koran, and walking in the -shadow of the prophet, has been violated, and the Koran and the law -say, that a terrible punishment must follow!' - -'Amaun! amaun!' muttered Zahroun and all the others present, while a -moan from the stern of the boat drew my eyes towards Iola. - -* * * * * - -Would that I could blot from my memory the dreadful scene that -followed! - -Worn by nights and days of weeping--exhausted by unavailing prayers -for pity, and paralyzed by terror, there seemed to be no life left in -her slender and delicate form, save what a short, quick, and heavy -sob indicated, as her small and tremulous hands were tied by a cord -behind her back; and, calm and pale as death itself, she submitted to -her fate without a murmur. - -'Moustapha--insensate Moolah!' I exclaimed, in an agony of mind, -'hear me--hear me! Have you no pity?--no mercy?--no compassion for -those who have been cruelly tempted?' - -'Peace, accursed,' replied the Moolah, in a stern whisper, '_we tempt -ourselves_.' - -As a degradation, the executioners had torn away the yashmack of -muslin from her face, and its pale beauty and divine resignation were -sad, sublime, and maddening to me; but a large, coarse sack was -hastily drawn over her by Zahroim, who seemed an adept in the work; -he tied it securely to her slender ankles, and saw her form no more. - -A cry escaped me, and a half-suppressed groan from Callum Dhu, as -these inhuman wretches launched her headlong into the deep. - -She sunk like a stone! * * * * * * - -On the black waves of that midnight sea there rose a few bubbles, and -a ripple or two, that widened round us, and then all was over! A -voice broke the stillness; it was that of the Moolah praying. He was -repeating the first chapter of the Koran; a short chapter held in -great veneration by the Mohammedans, who use it us a prayer, and deem -it the quintessence of the whole writings of the Prophet. - -'Allah latif magid!' (Allah is gracious!) he exclaimed, with a loud -voice: 'the Lord of all creatures--the most merciful the King of the -day of judgment! Thee do we worship, and of Thee do we beg -assistance. Direct us in the right way--in the way of those to whom -Thou hast been gracious--not of those against whom Thou art incensed -and who go astray.' - -'Amaun! amaun!' muttered all the ruffians, bowing their heads, as -they shipped their oars again, and now the huge and lumbering -koehamba was slowly pulled away from the place; from that hideous -grave--the inky wafers that had swallowed up Iola Vidimo. - -In the morning I was beloved by a beautiful woman--at night by an -immortal but scarcely purer spirit; and with eyes full of tears for -her who had passed away, I gazed upward on the starlit sky of Greece. - -The passages of that night seemed all a hideous and incredible dream. - -Iola was the most artless of all earthly beings, for in many things -she was a mere child, and can aught be nearer angels, or more akin to -heaven, than a child? But so perished this unhappy one; so pure, so -unstained and beautiful--the victim of a pitiless destiny! - - - - -CHAPTER XLVIII. - -THE TURKISH BOAT. - -Our craft had been for some time in motion before I became aware that -a large lateen sail was hoisted on it, and was filled to the -extremity of its long and tapering yard; and that our course was -directed, not to Rodosdchig, but up the sea of Marmora, towards the -north-east. - -I demanded of the Moolah Moustapha whither he was conveying us, but -received no answer. Again and again I made the same request, each -time with growing anger and vehemence, and each time adding threats -of what our Government would say, or do, or require, curiously -oblivious that I had, in my own person, outraged the civil and -religious laws of Turkey, such as they are; but still the Moolah -disdained to accord me the slightest answer or recognition, and sat, -with his hands folded in his green robe and crossed upon his breast; -his high felt cap pulled over his beetling brows; his keen and -glittering eyes fixed upon the eastern quarter of the sky, where the -dawn was shedding a rosy tinge over all the land and sea; and the -rough galiondgis or boatmen, and the pistolled, sabred, tarbooshed, -and bearded policemen of the Bostandgi Bashi were equally taciturn, -though Zahroun scowled and swore at us from time to time. - -Now I conceived that they might be conveying us to one of the old -castles at the mouth of the Bosphorus, or perhaps to Constantinople, -but the distance was rather too great to be traversed in an open boat -at the season of the year. - -Day dawned at last; morning brightened on the Grecian hills, and the -outline of many a grim old tower and ruined temple, crowning the grey -rocks and storm-beaten headlands, stood in dark relief against the -blushing east. - -Upon that sea, which mirrored all the morning sky, I gazed with a -shudder of horror, for it was the grave of my poor Albanian girl, and -her pale, wan face, her beautiful eyes, and angelic smile, came -before me with painful distinctness; while, with a morbid grief, I -endeavoured to imagine on what coral bed, in what deep and -unfathomable rift or abyss of that huge watery tomb, on which the -waves were shining in the orient sun, her charming form had found a -last resting place. - -Poor Iola! I could not yet realize her death, or the conviction that -if I was to go back to Rodosdchig I would not meet her at the Ruined -Hermitage, in the express cemetery, or in the silken-hung apartments -of Hussein, where I had last spent an evening with her. The events -of the last night still seemed all a hideous nightmare, or the memory -of some terrible phantasmagoria. - -'It is long before we become assured of the loss of those we value,' -says a charming female writer; so her dying glance was still -lingering before me, and shall be so, in years to come, when other -memories may have been swept away and effaced, like footprints on the -shore of an ebbing sea. - -With emotions of rage and hatred, difficult alike to express and to -control, I turned from her destroyers, and hid my face in my hands, -as this bitterness was replaced by anguish and remorse. - -The kochamba continued to run at great speed before a sharp breeze -which blew direct from the narrow Dardanelles, and the rocky capes, -the sandy bays, and wooded inlets opened and closed again in rapid -succession, as we passed them with a flowing sheet, and ere long -Callum and I recognised the flat-roofed town and barracks of -Heraclea, with the old ruins of the age of Vespasian, and the white -foam curling on the rocks of Palegrossa, where the timbers of the -_Vestal_ lay--a rent and weedy hull. - -I now hoped that the Moolah and his ruffians meant to land us there, -and deliver us up to our own commanding officer, and with this idea -my spirit rose a little. The familiar faces of our mess came -before me; rough Duncan Catanagh, with his old legends about Loch -Lomond and stories of the Mahrattah war: frank Jack Belton, and -others among whom I had felt happier than ever I hoped to be after -the time I had laid my mother in her lonely Highland grave, and since -I had been driven from Glen Ora into the wide and selfish world; but -this gleam of liberty faded away, for the kochamba still bore on; her -head was kept to the seaward, and in another hour Heraclea was left -astern. - -What could be the Moolah's object, and whither was he going? - -Ere long a British screw-steamer-of-war--a frigate under easy sail, -and with her steam up--passed us to leeward, on her way apparently -for the Bosphorus, and Callum and I gathered new hope as she came -close to us, with her scarlet ensign swelling proudly on the morning -breeze, and with the sun shining through her open gun-ports. I arose -in the boat, believing that my scarlet uniform might arrest the -attention or excite the suspicion of those on board; but I was -instantly thrust down below the thwarts; a pistol was held to my head -by Zahroun; then a tarpaulin, was thrown over Callum and me, to -conceal us more completely from any prying eye that might be aloft in -the steamer's rigging, and steadily, swiftly, and monotonously the -kochamba continued to cleave the glittering waves and run along the -coast of Roumelia. - -Our Turkish captors were all smoking opium and coarse Latakia in -taciturn composure; some had small chibouques, and others cigarettes -made up of paper and tobacco, from those little embroidered bags -which an Osmanli is seldom without. - -Several hours had now elapsed since Callum and I had been tied so -roughly by ropes, and these being wetted by the salt spray, had -shrunk to a degree that caused us intense and acute pain. My hands -became red, swollen, stiff, and benumbed; and with something of -satisfaction I saw the lateen-sail trimmed anew, the helm put up, and -the prow of the kochamba turned inwards a town which we were nearing. -But, still my mind was painfully full of Iola--my poor victim--for -conscience made her seem as much the victim of my folly or -recklessness--term it as you will--as of the cruelty of that Osmanli -dog her husband, whom I had registered a hundred vows to pistol on -the first opportunity. - -Could I have recalled the events of the last few weeks Iola had still -been spared, for my rashness would now have been tempered by reason -and the ties of honour; and she had still been a thing of life and of -this earth, enjoying the monotonous and secluded existence accorded -to a Turkish wife--varied only by an evening ramble in the City of -the Silent with the gossips of adjacent harems and anderuns. - -The kochamba bore straight and steadily on, and as we neared the -harbour, every object increased along the shore, and soon we were in -smooth water and between the piers. - -This, then, was the place of our destination, and here it was that -probably poor Callum and I were to figure before one of those -absurdly solemn courts of muftis and kadis who sit in every Turkish -town to play the farce of Justice, and whose code of law is the -verbose and obscure Koran of Mohammed, and the Koran alone. - -Again I ventured to question the Moolah. - -'What place is this?' - -'Selyvria, in the Sandjiack of Gallipoli,' was the brief reply, as -the boat came sheering alongside the low and slimy mole. Then the -yard was lowered, and the flapping sail stowed away; the long oars -were unshipped, and the painter run through one of the enormous iron -rings on the quay. - -We were ordered to land, and lost no time in doing so; then the -policemen of the Bostandgi drew their sabres and conducted us into -the town, where an increasing crowd of chattering Greeks and -gambolling young Turkish _gamins_, with brown, bare legs and red -tarbooshes, followed us through the muddy and unpaved thoroughfares -with shrill cries of astonishment, amid which the incessant -'Mashallah,' 'Inshallah,' and 'Allah Ackbar,' were the most prominent. - -The sun had set now and the aspect of the sea and land was -magnificent. - -Throned in the eastern heavens, the soft and silver moon was in all -her clearest splendour. The studded belt of Orion and the -constellation of the Scorpion united with her in filling the wide -blue vault of night with lustre, and all the waves of Marmora seemed -to be tipped with blue fire and to be rolling in liquid light. - -Built on the slope of a hill, the terraced houses of Selyvria were -irregular, quaint, and queer, like those of all Turkish towns, and -they rose above each other like the seats of an amphitheatre. The -hill was green, and on its summit rose a fortress of the Greek -Empire--old, say some, as the days of Selys, who founded the city. -The lower, or Turkish town, is without enclosure, though an embattled -wall connects the outer row of houses, above which rise the domes of -its khan and several mosques. - -On leaving the town we were conducted along an ancient bridge of -about forty arches, the shadows of which were thrown by the moonlight -far across the salt sea-marsh, over which it is built. Thence -proceeding by a part of the paved road that leads to Stamboul, and is -formed of blocks of basalt, we found ourselves beneath the walls of a -grim and dilapidated castle, which stands close to the sea-shore. On -one hand the waves of the Propontis lay rolling in shining ripples on -the yellow beach, and inland, on the other, spread a wilderness of -wild vines and cherry-trees, with massive Grecian columns, tottering -or prostrate among them, and beyond these a spacious burial-place, -with all its shadowy, huge, and solemn cypresses, standing like a -rank of giant spectres in the brilliant moonlight. - -Above our heads towered the black parapets, the peering cannon, and -the red-capped sentinels of the Turkish castle. Then the wild and -strange voices of the Osmanli soldiers were heard, as the Onbashi of -the Bostandgis conferred with the Mulazim who commanded the guard; -the heavy doors were opened, and as we entered a cold and dark -archway, we heard the chink of bolt and bar and swinging-chain, as -the barrier was secured behind us; and then the ropes were untied -from our almost powerless hands--an inexpressible relief! - -'Dioul!' muttered Callum, with a shrug of his shoulders, 'we were -better at home in desolate Glen Ora, even under Snaggs the factor, -than here.' - -Before I could reply, we were pushed through a side door, and thrust -down a flight of steep and slimy steps, into a hot, close, and -noisome place, where the sights, sounds, odours, and horrors that -awaited us, require an entire chapter to themselves. - - - - -CHAPTER XLIX. - -THE BAGNIO. - -'Truth is strange--stranger than fiction.' - -Never were words more expressive of what is passing around us daily -in the world, even in its most matter-of-fact scenes and phases of -life. Many a deep and bitter romance is occurring beside us, amid -the bustle of the railway train; on the deck of the departing -steamer; with the regiment embarking for foreign service, or with the -disbanded soldier returning to search for his parent's cottage, and -finding perhaps a manufacturing town, where he had left a rural -village; amid the hum of the streets, in the brilliance of the -crowded ball-room--in all these are thoughts and wishes, fears and -aspirations, known only to Him who reads the hearts of all. Hence -though my autography may seem a romance to the reader, it is a true -and painful history to me. - -Thus, as I have related, on the very day the late treaty of Peace was -signed at Paris--to wit, the 30th March, 1856, or according to the -Mohammedan Hejira, 1271--Callum Dhu and I found ourselves inmates of -a Turkish Bagnio, an event of much more importance to us than the -definement of the Bessarabian frontier, the fall of Sebastopol, or -the acceptance of the "five points" by Russia. - -We were thrust into a large, vaulted apartment, in the sunk or -ground-floor of the fortress. It was damp, and pervaded by an -atmosphere so fœtid, hot, and humid, that for a time it was all -but overpowering, and denied us free respiration. A dim iron lantern -hung from a pillar on one side, and shed a cold and wavering light -into the misty dungeon, which was half seen and half sunk in shadow. - -This darkness seemed dotted at certain distances by swarthy visages, -fiercely browed and blackly bearded, with wild gleaming eyes; and on -our British uniforms being seen, the clanking of chains rang on all -sides, with incessant yells of - -'Bono Johny!' - -'No Bono!' - -'Barek-allah--no Bono!' - -And after a time, Callum and I could perceive that we were surrounded -by about fifty prisoners, all of whom were chained to the four walls, -and almost within arms length of each other. - -'Ingleez! Ingleez!' shouted one. - -'Giaours of Frangistan!' - -'May they all go to Jehannum!' - -''Tis their kismet.' - -'And who can avert it?' - -'Bono--bono!' - -'No bono--wallah!' - -'Hah-ha! Hah--ha!' - -Such were the cries and yells we heard on all sides, mingled with -groans, idiot or ferocious laughter, brutal jests and scurrility, in -all the dialects of the Bosphorus and the Levant. Many of these -prisoners were nude, or nearly so, and their muscular limbs and olive -skins were fretted by the massive and rusty fetters which confined -them to the walls on each side. Others were clad in every diversity -of oriental costume, fashion, and colour. We could perceive the blue -gown of the Jew; the torn but ample white robes of the Armenian; the -gay cap of the short-trousered Greek; the fur pelisse of the -hawk-eyed Tartar; and the red tarboosh that covered the woolly head -of the Egyptian; but all these men were squalid, tattered, and beyond -description, filthy. Assassination, robbery, and a thousand crimes -of the deepest die, were legibly stamped on the hideous fronts of -this crew of hardened desperadoes; and we shrank from their touch, on -each side, as we hovered in the middle, and kept carefully beyond -their reach, for I had once heard of a prisoner who was placed in a -Turkish bagnio unchained, a privilege which so greatly exasperated -his fettered companions, that they flung, beat, kicked, and tore him -from man to man, until his mangled corpse defied their further -efforts at insult or torture. - -Most of these prisoners, as I afterwards ascertained, were men who -had committed those foul murders and robberies, such as, since the -war, are nightly occurring in the dark, unlighted, unpaved, and -narrow streets of Stamboul--that Stamboul, boasted by the Turks as -'the refuge of the world--the city full of faith;' and these fierce -denizens of the prophet's patrimony, would all, ere long, receive the -reward of their crimes in some form of law; for though the land is -almost lawless, its punishments, like its people, are barbarous and -severe. - -For several days and nights Callum and I remained together in this -hideous place, ignorant of what fate had in store for us; whether we -were to be detained there in hopeless captivity; whether we were to -be brought before a court of malevolent muftis and ignorant kadis; or -whether we were to be delivered to our own military authorities; to -the Turkish, or to that enterprising ambassador who has immortalised -himself by the _anxiety_ and diplomatic _energy_ he evinced during -the defence of Kars; and from whom, by his conduct on that occasion, -we had so much to expect in the form of protection and aid! - -By day, Callum and I paced to and fro in the centre of this dreadful -place, keeping apart from all our companions, and we soon became -almost as oblivious of _their_ presence, as they were of ours; and -during this monotonous time our sole employment was watching the long -flakes of misty light which streamed through four iron-grated -apertures or narrow slits down to the Bagnio; and which, like four -palpable objects, passed slowly round from one side of the dungeon to -another, as the sun declined and day faded away. At these holes the -Turkish sentinel, with his scarlet fez, dark moustachioed face, and -cunning eye, was seen at times peering into the place to see if "all -was right;" and through these apertures, I was told, they had been -wont to fire ball-cartridge, when any unusual commotion took place -among the prisoners. - -At night we crouched together in a corner, somewhat apart from the -rest, and weary of communing, surmising, and conjecturing, slept the -sleep of the anxious and worn--that waking and painful doze, which is -but a succession of nightmares and visions, till dawn again struggled -through the misty atmosphere, to light up the quaint forms and -ferocious faces of these fettered wretches, and to bring the Turkish -guard, with their daily allowance of black bread and fresh water, -when again would begin the usual chorus of laughter, groans, and -curses, mingled with the swinging and clashing of fetters and chains, -bolts and padlocks of rusty iron. - -Among the unfortunates confined in this place I discovered two who -were treated by our guards with more kindness and respect than the -other prisoners, and whose stories somewhat interested me. - -One was hopelessly insane; and the other, who was indeed sunk to the -lowest depth of misery and dejection, informed me that they had been -lieutenants (Mulazims) in the Turkish military service. - - - - -CHAPTER L. - -THE TWO TURKISH LIEUTENANTS. - -'I am Achmet Effendi,' said the latter, a handsome but pale, sad, and -emaciated young man; 'I was a lieutenant in the old regiment of -Scherif Bey, and, as a mere boy, served in the campaign of Egypt. My -younger friend whom you see here so heavily visited by heaven and the -prophet, that his mind is gone or possessed by a devil, so that he -requires chains and bars three times heavier than the most powerful -villain here, is Ali Effendi, a Mulazim of artillery, and there is -none better or braver in the army of his Imperial Majesty the Sultan. - -'He was with that Turkish army which on the 28th October, 1853, -crossed the Danube, and on the 4th of the following month won the -victorious battle of Oltenitza, where he slew the aide-de-camp of the -Russian General, and found those important despatches which informed -us, but alas! too late, of the intended attack upon Sinope, where -four thousand five hundred of the Faithful were slaughtered by the -dogs of the Czar. - -'Ali Effendi was next engaged and severely wounded at the battle of -Kalaphat on the 8th of January, 1854--you may still see the scar of -the Russian bullet on his bare right arm, above the iron fetter. Ali -is tall--he was then handsome and winning; a clever poet and maker of -verses; an expert player on the guitar, but poor; for, like myself, -he had only one hundred and twenty piastres per month, as a -lieutenant en seconde, of Topchis. - -'For five years he had loved and been beloved by the daughter of a -wealthy Stambouli merchant, and he had received her plighted troth. -You may know all the danger, the difficulties, and the deadly snares -that hover round a Turkish love; yet the skilful Ali had surmounted -and escaped them all, and won the love of Saïda. But her father -discovered them, and he was inexorable, of course--fathers always are -so, for they are the evil Genii of all love stories, and so he -proposed to barter or sell her to Ali Pasha himself! - -'Poor Ali, my friend, was marched off with his brigade of artillery -to fight the Russians under Mouravieff at Kars, and the unhappy Saïda -was in despair when the Pasha sent the dressmakers from the bazaar to -measure her for the bridal attire and pearl slippers. Then her grief -and fury could no longer be controlled; and bruising the crystal -pendant of a lamp to powder, she drank it in a cup of sherbet and -expired, with the name of Ali on her lips, and a copy of his last -farewell verses, written on fine silk, pressed to her heart. - -'Kars fell! Its garrison was captured, but Ali escaped the Cossacks -of Mouravieff, and hastened home to find Saïda, not as of old, at her -chamber window to answer the tinkling of his lute at night, when the -quiet stars looked down on the blue Bosphorus, and the thousand -lights of Stamboul were shining on its waters; but to seek her green -grave among the silent ones at Pera, and he was almost beside himself -with grief. Three days he remained on his knees at her -resting-place, until he had read over all the hundred and fourteen -chapters of the Koran, and covered the grass with flowers. Then he -placed above her a gilded tomb, on which he wrote in charming verses -the whole history of their hopeless love; and this tomb cost the poor -lieutenant nine hundred piastres. Beside that tomb he swore a -dreadful vow to slay both Ali Pasha and her father. - -'While this rash vow was trembling on his lips, that father of -cruelty and avarice, the old merchant, tottering on his staff, and -with tears rolling down his white beard, appeared under the tall and -sombre cypresses of the cemetery; and then the frantic Ali, -transported with rage, sprang up from amid the flowers of Saïda's -grave, and drawing a pistol from his girdle, shot him dead! - -'From that moment Ali became a maniac, and the sultan sent him here. -Allah has dried up his brains; but He is ever merciful and just; so -whether my poor comrade shall recover, and be as he was in other -times, a merry companion, a true friend, and gallant soldier, I know -not; our kismet is in the hands of God and the Prophet, whose holy -finger traced it, at the moment of our birth, upon our infant -brows.'[*] - - -[*] Ali _did_ recover, and is now a _cole agassi_ (major) of the -Turkish artillery at Hunkiar Skellessi: but being, as Jack Belton -says, in full possession of his senses, vows he will never think of -marriage more. - - -'A mournful story, Achmet Effendi,' said I, gazing with deep interest -on the hollow cheek, lack-lustre eyes, and wasted form of this brave -young officer, who had seen as much service, and fought with the -gallant Williams at Kars; 'but, if I may inquire, what brought _you_ -here?' - -'Love, also,' he answered, with a smile, and then a frown of anger on -his olive brow. 'A few words will tell you all. My father is the -Bashi-katib or military secretary of the Egyptian Contingent. The -orta or battalion to which I belonged, and still belong--' - -'Still belong?' I reiterated, glancing at his fetters, - -'Yes,' said he, colouring, 'you shall hear.' - -'I was in cantonments at Pera, when I became acquainted with a lady -who was wont to walk, unattended either by slaves or -carpet-spreaders, in the great cemetery there--' - -'Ah!' said I, with mournful interest. - -'Her figure was graceful; her brow like alabaster; her eyes--strange -in our sunny land--were a deep and bewitching blue, for her mother -had been a Russian lady, stolen from the shores of the sea of Azof. -Her eye-brows were brown, and arched, like the moon of the Prophet, -and never did the divine Hafiz of Iraun pen a sonnet on a face more -beautiful than hers; and as Jammee the Iraunee sings in his ode, I -was miserable when absent from her. - - 'Oh! in what place soe'er I stray, - By midnight, morning, or by day, - Thou art the inmate of my breast; - I cannot linger, cannot stay, - But thy sweet image with me aye - Abides my bosom's dearest guest!' - -Yet she was _another's_, and by one of the contrarieties of our -nature for that reason, more perhaps than for her loveliness, did I -love her! she was--' - -'A wife?' - -'No.' - -'What then?' - -'A slave.' - -'Well?' said I, thinking it was only a distinction without a -difference among 'the Faithful.' - -'Her master was in the service of the Kislar Aga, so you will -perceive at once that she was a dangerous person to meddle with. The -arrival of the allied troops in the Bosphorus had attracted the -attention of all in Stamboul, so Pera was almost deserted. Zarifa, -by a prettily-arranged bouquet of flowers, asked me to visit her, and -I did so, taking care, however, to arm me well. I had my sabre and a -pair of pistols, which I loaded carefully, in case of being surprised -by the Kislar Aga or any of the black guardians of the Royal -Seraglio. I had with me a fleet horse, one of those -carefully-trained barbs which are used by our Turkish cavalry, and -are drilled to close to the right and close to the left; to dress -back, or forward, at a single word of command; to remain beside the -rider if he falls, or to drag him out of the press by their teeth. -Leaving my horse concealed in an olive-thicket, without perceiving -that I was watched and followed by a Moolah, named Moustapha, who had -been a corporal in my regiment, I entered the garden of the Kislar -Aga's country-house, and there Zarifa received me in a -beautifully-gilded kiosk, covered with tendrils of the myrtle, the -passion-flower, the gorgeous azalea, and the Damascus rose. There -soft carpets were spread; hot coffee, sherbet, wine, and a chibouque -awaited me--and more than all, Zarifa, in all her beauty, with her -yashmack thrown aside! - -'Reclining on that soft carpet, with my arm around the yielding waist -of my love--a pipe on one hand, a cup of Greek wine on the other, I -was in the seventh heaven! - -'The roses were sparkling in the new-fallen rain, which had just -refreshed the earth with a shower, and the sun was exhaling it, as he -came up in his splendour; the breeze was laden with the melody of the -joyous birds, and the large drops hung like diamonds on every flower -and tree, while the perfume of the orange-groves, of the violet-beds, -and of the china jars of heliotrope, loaded the air with delicious -fragrance; everything spoke to my heart of love, delight, and -silence, as I pressed my lips to those of Zarifa! - -'At that moment the gleam of three or four bayonets appeared above -the garden wall; the door of the kiosk was dashed in; I sprang to my -feet, with a hand on my sabre, to be confronted by the scowling -Moolah, who, I found, to my rage, had surrounded me by a guard from -the nearest police-station. In short, the ruffians of the Bostandgi -Bashi were upon me! - -'Zarifa uttered a shriek, as I rushed from her, to find my horse -captured, and bayonets opposed to me, breast-high. I was obliged to -surrender at discretion, and on being deprived of my arms, was thrust -into an araba, and, with the terrified and weeping girl, was taken -before a corrupt and cunning kadi. - -'"Remember," said I, "that I am the son of tho Bashi-katib, and the -grandson of the Seraskier."' - -'"You are wise to boast of your ancestry since you cannot boast of -yourself," sneered the Moolah. - -'"Did not the Prophet cast eyes of evil on Zeinab, the wife of Zeid, -his adopted son, from whom he cajoled her away and then married her; -and Zeinab, thereafter, vaunted that she was above all the other -wives of Mohammed, since their marriage was made in heaven?" - -'"Peace, blasphemous kite!" exclaimed the kadi. - -'He then asked me, according to our law, when a man is discovered in -the society of an unmarried woman, if I would wed Zarifa? - -'But I remained silent. - -'Zarifa was beautiful, and I loved her--true; but to marry the slave -of a servant of the Kislar Aga, the Chief Eunuch to that son of a -slave, the Sultan; I--a Mulazim--on one hundred and twenty piastres -per month. Wallah! the thing was not to be thought of! I refused, -and was sentenced to pass two years in chains. Zarifa was given to a -deserving chaoush of cavalry as a wife, and I was sent here as a -prisoner, and as such must remain a few months longer." - -'And you were sentenced to pass two years in chains?' - -'Two years, Effendi.' - -'Heavens,' thought I, 'should such be my sentence, what will become -of Callum Dhu, and what will be the fate of my commission, which I -value as my own life!' - - - - -CHAPTER LI. - -DREAMS AND LONGINGS. - -'If I were cast into a deep pit,' saith the quaint Hobbes, 'and the -devil put down his cloven-foot, I would take hold thereof, to be -drawn out by it.' - -This is an apt, but somewhat fallacious application of the mode of -working ascribed, with what truth I say not, to the Jesuits, viz., -that we may do evil if good should come of it; and of the system -upheld by the philosopher of Malmesbury, 'that it is lawful to make -use of an ill instrument to do ourselves good.' - -Callum and I, though sunk in dejection, dispirited, and exasperated, -and feeling ourselves fitted to attempt or encounter anything -desperate to achieve our liberty, had scarcely reached the climax -referred to by the learned Hobbes. I thought of bribery; but my -foster-brother, though poor as a cadger, was proud as a king, and -with some scorn rejected my proposal to tamper with our not -over-scrupulous Turkish guards and turnkeys. - -These officials (as Achmet Effendi informed me), by the connivance of -the governor and his subalterns, could favour or permit the escape of -the worst malefactor committed to their care, if there were friends -without, who were ready to pay down the requisite number of piastres, -on receipt of which their names would at once be struck off the books -of the Bagnio as dead. - -'Suppose cholera should break out here?' said I, one day, when almost -suffocated by the overpowering malaria of the prison. - -'In the name of mercy do not think of it!' replied the Turkish -lieutenant; 'I have seen that dreadful pest more than once within -these walls, and all the Koran says of hell cannot equal the horrors -of the scene. The dead, collapsed, pale, and frightful, have lain -among us in their chains for days, until the governor, by offers of -liberty, bribed some of the prisoners, and by threats of death forced -others, to convey them from this vault, into which the vilest of his -slaves refused to enter.' - -These brief conversations increased my desire to leave the place. My -horror of it; my anger at being detained; my anxiety for the issue, -and for the construction which the regiment might put upon my -unaccountable disappearance, with a thousand other exciting -reflections, rendered me at times only fit company for a maniac. -Often my spirit sank to the lowest ebb; and, crouched at the foot of -a pillar, with my head resting on kind Callum's brawny shoulder, I -have slept, or striven to sleep, through the long and dreary hours of -a monotonous night, after the equally long and dreary hours of a -horrible day. And even these snatches of uneasy slumber were filled -by countless dreams, visions, and thoughts of incidents long past, -and places, faces, and voices far, far away. - -Amid all this misery I thought much of Iola, who was now where her -errors would be more lightly judged than by the sons of men. - -Strange it was that when I dreamt of her--her death, that scene of -horror, seemed all _a dream_, that had passed away with night and -sleep. She was again alive and beside me, as of old, with her soft -angelic smile! Again her lips were warm and breathing; and her -breath came hot and fragrant, as her white bosom palpitated against -mine. Dear Iola! Then the atmosphere seemed dense and full of -languor; again I was trembling, dazzled, and confused with delight, -as she lay within my arms in all her Oriental beauty, waking in my -heart a thousand thoughts and aspirations hitherto unknown to me. - -Then her face would fade like the dissolving views of a -magic-lantern; melting half away, it changed and brightened into -another that resembled Laura Everingham; then I would start with a -convulsive shudder and awake, to find around me the grizzly, -unshaven, and dreadful visages of my Asiatic and Turkish companions, -with all the horrors of that earthly hell, the Mohammedan Bagnio. - -Many a time the scenery of my native land came before me. Again, in -fancy, I trod the purple heath, and heard the roar of the Uisc-dhu, -as it thundered over its steep precipice into the black linn below; -again I saw my mother's grave, and the old jointure-house shining in -the sunlight; the lofty scalp of Ben Ora capped with the snows of the -past winter, and its sides clothed with bronze-like thickets of larch -and pine; again I saw the azure loch on which the wild swans floated, -bordered by its groves of silver birch, of wavy ash, and the rowan -with its scarlet berries; and out of that deep, dark, and -pestilential vault, the desolate glen of the Ora passed thus before -me like a panorama, with all its moss-grown hearths and roofless -homes; the waving woods, the rocks, and mountains, shining under a -glorious sun. - -On waking from dreams like these my spirit sank lower, but sturdy -Callum never quailed, for he cuffed and kicked the Turkish prisoners, -and sang 'The Brown-eyed Maid,' or whistled endless and interminable -pibrochs, as he said, 'just to relieve his mind and let off the steam -a little.' - -Anon I was with the regiment again--'roughing it,' among rough and -gallant spirits, who hovered round me in all the glittering -appurtenances of Highland chivalry. I heard the comic song, the -glee, the laughter of the mess; or I was again at sea on board the -_Vestal_, passing over the waste of water like a floating spirit, and -gliding along the dim and distant coasts of France and Spain--that -seemed pale and blue by sunny day, and dark by starry night--or lit -only by the solitary light-houses that burned like ocean-stars upon -the horizon's tremulous verge; on--on--on the wings of steam, -swiftly, silently, and mysteriously. - -Iola still! - -It would come before me again and again, that face of tender beauty -and reproachful sadness. Her eyes were ever on me, by night, when -all was darkness and profundity; and in the day-time, when the misty -flakes of sunshine fell through the prison-bars, in waking or in -sleeping, they were ever gazing on me--those dark and sad, but sweet -imploring eyes. - -Eve fell even in Paradise--why not Iola? - -With such thoughts for my companions, how heavy was my sorrow, how -dull and monotonous my captivity! - -At last, even Callum, who could boldly face all those disagreeables -which usually rise like dust along the roadway of life, began to sink -under the weariness of our existence in this hideous place; and once, -to my surprise, I discovered tears hovering in his eyes. - -'Co-dhalta,' said I, kindly, placing a hand on his shoulder; 'what -are you thinking of?' - -'I am thinking, Mac Innon, of that green place where God gives rest -to the weary--the old kirkyard at home, where your mother and mine, -too, are sleeping under the shadow of the old stone cross; and I was -pondering on----' - -'What?' - -'_Our_ chances of ever being laid beside them.' - -'Let us rather think of escape.' - -'To work, then,' said Callum, briskly; 'let us not continue to waste -what little Father Raoul was wont to term the poor man's best -inheritance?' - -'What may that be, Callum?' - -'_Time_,' was the pithy reply. - -This brief conversation was interrupted by the arrival of two more -prisoners, who were immediately greeted by the usual appalling chorus -of yells, cries, curses, and laughter, together with that clattering -accompaniment of chains, bolts and fetters, which had so strangely -startled Callum and me on our first entrance to this Cimmerian and -infernal abode. - - - - -CHAPTER LII. - -THE GALIONDOI. - -Escorted by a party of Turkish police, or personages armed with -similar authority, and accoutred with yataghan and pistols, of -course, for these are as indispensable to an Osmanli as his nose and -eyes, our new companions who entered were two hideous and ferocious -Asiatic Turks, with receding foreheads, sharp temples, ana shaggy -eyebrows--black and sinister eyes--hooked noses and long moustaches, -having a savage curl, round almost to their ears. While they were -being secured by the legs to the wall, a gleam of sunlight from one -of the grated slits fell upon them, and I recognised Zahroun and -another of the Turks who had assisted the Moolah Moustapha in -committing Iola to her dreadful tomb amid the waters. - -I stepped towards them, with a dark frown on my face and a twitching -in my hands, as if I could have sprung upon their throats; and Callum -followed me close, with a gleam in his dark eye that betokened -mischief. - -Zahroun recognised us, and pointed his dirty brown fingers at me with -mockery, while his companion gave us but a scowl and a sullen stare. - -'Chaoush,' said I, to the sergeant of the guard, 'of what have these -men been guilty?' - -'Murder and piracy,' replied the soldier, briefly, as he drew a key -from the fetter-lock of Zahroun. - -'Murder!--where?--near Rodosdchig?' - -'No--for murdering a Frankish officer off the coast of Natolia a -night or two ago, in a solitary caique; but they are safe enough till -the ferashes of the Bostandgi Bashi lead them out to take their last -view of the setting sun.' - -Yells, hoots, and groans, whistling and laughter, greeted the chaoush -as he retired, and I turned away with aversion from the two wretched -assassins who had been added to the number already round us. But -their arrival excited a little curiosity in this strange community, -and by those who were chained on each side of them, and opposite, -they were loudly and vociferously pressed to relate the story of -their crime and the cause of their incarceration there. - -It was briefly told, for the Turk is neither verbose nor -circumlocutory. - -They, and a few others, all well armed in a fleet caique, were -hovering about the coast of Natolia, on the look-out for any smaller -craft they might be able to overpower or pick up, when they -discovered, in a creek of the opposite Isle of Marmora, an English -pleasure-yacht ashore, wedged upon the sand, and left almost dry, as -her crew, without the assistance of a large steamer, were totally -unable to get her off. Barek Allah! here was a prize! A well-found, -taut-rigged, sharp-prowed, and strong English yacht, of some three -hundred tons, pierced for twelve eight-pounder carronades, and -handsomely fitted up. - -In those disorderly times, when the shores of Asia Minor were -swarming with lawless bands, and Greece was vibrating with incipient -insurrection, what havoc could be made in the Archipelago with such a -craft as this English yacht! But then her owner was a sturdy, burly -old infidel, who, since she had gone ashore, had stuck a huge cutlass -and four pistols in his girdle. He had a well-picked crew of forty -men, all well armed, and who loved fighting better than idleness, for -these Ingleez galiondgis were the very devil! He had on board, also, -a British officer from Sebastopol, and two Ingleez ladies, beautiful -as the houris of Paradise, moon-faced and cushion-hipped (and here -the hideous Asiatic rolled his black goggle eyes, and licked his -blubber lips), and so the yacht with her twelve brass guns, plunder, -et cetera, was deemed well worth venturing one's hide under pewter -and steel for. - -While Zahroun and his companion Abdul Basig watched her in a little -caique, pretending to fish by day and to sleep in an adjoining creek -by night; others, their comrades in many a crime, were scouring all -the sea-port towns about Rodosdchig and the Natolian coast, to muster -enough of lads on whom, by old experience, they could depend--choice -and sturdy sons of the handjiar and pistol, to assist in surprising -the grounded yacht some cloudy night when the moon was below the -horizon, and no help was nigh; for with enough of hands she could -easily be boarded in the dark--the throats of the Ingleez cut from -clew to earring, and then the whole craft, with all her plunder, -provisions, women, wine, plate, and everything, would belong to the -captors. Inshallah! was it not a notable speculation? - -'One evening,' continued this exulting ruffian, 'Abdul and I were -hovering near the creek in our caique, looking at the stranded yacht, -and admiring her beautiful mould, and clean run under the counter, as -she lay with a heel over to her port side, when suddenly, while we -were speaking, her colours were run up to the foremast-head to gain -our attention, and a giaour on deck waved his hat to us. Then we -pulled alongside, but cautiously and slowly. - -'The Effendi to whom she belonged had grown weary of lying in a few -feet of water among the woods of that secluded creek, and impatiently -proposed that, for so many piastres, we should convey the bearer of a -message towards the mouth of the Dardanelles, where he would be sure -of falling in with one of the many British cruisers, whose captain -would at once lend him all the assistance necessary, on merely -mentioning his name; for this stout old infidel in the square-tailed -coat, white trousers, and straw hat, evidently deemed himself a great -man in his own country; and so perhaps he may be, for Abdul tells me -that it is an island of white chalk, where the sun never shines, and -whose shores are surrounded by a thousand leagues of mud; and that -its mountains are peopled by Arnaouts, who wear a striped camise -round their middle like yonder giaour (pointing to Callum Dhu), and -that they have tails--Allah Ackbar!--of which, however, they are -deprived by the Moolahs at their birth. - -'Be that as it may, we agreed with the Frankish Effendi to take his -messenger to a castle of the Dardanelles, and for three hundred -piastres, which were at once paid over the capstan-head, to set off -that very night. Before he left the yacht, his messenger, a handsome -Ingleez captain--a Yuze Bashi in the Guards, and bearded like a -Janissary, or like all those infidels who come from the war, kissed -the unbelieving women before descending to our boat--kissed them -before us all, without their yashmacks; and then we put off, set our -sail, shipped the sweeps, and pulled away to sea. - -'The night was beautiful, and muffled in a coat which had a hooded -cape like that of a Bashi Bozook, the Ingleez captain lolled in the -stern-sheets of the caique, smoking cigars, speaking, as all these -Ingleez do, about the weather, and looking upward at the stars, or -back to the Isle of Marmora, where he had left his two wives, for -such I took the women to be; but now the Isle was diminished to a dim -blue speck upon the waters, and we could no longer see the creek -where the yacht lay. - -'He had a fine ring on the fourth finger of his left hand; it flashed -as he gave us each a few cigars, and lit a fresh one for himself. He -had a noble gold watch (all these infidels have such), and he looked -at it from time to time, as he hummed a song, and after telling us to -"pull like devils, as we should be well paid," fell fast asleep, for -he feared nothing. - -'Abdul and I continued to pull, but less vigorously than before. We -looked slyly at each other, and thought of the watch and the ring. -The sea was very quiet and smooth; there was not a ripple on it, and -no eye beheld us, but the winking stars. The infidel-dog slept -soundly, and he was smiling in his sleep, as he dreamt perhaps of his -two Ingleez wives, or his island of mud and fog, for we could see his -white teeth shining under his dark moustache in the starlight. We -were some miles off Cape Karaburun, for we could see its lighthouse -glimmering on our lee. Everything was quiet and lonely as it may -well be upon the midnight ocean. We exchanged another glance, and in -a moment more, the throat of the infidel was gaping with a red slash -of my handjiar, which nearly cut his head off! - -'Abdul Rasig made a snatch at the gold watch, and just as we tossed -him overboard, I tore off the diamond ring with my teeth, and, Allah -Kebir! a mouthful of his unclean flesh came off with it; but here it -is--the ring, not the flesh!' - -In the excitement of his narrative the wretch forgot himself so much -as to exhibit the ring. It was a chaste little jewel--a pure -diamond, set round with pearls; and on beholding it, I started back -as if a thunderbolt had burst at my ear. - -That identical ring I had seen a hundred times on the finger of Laura -Everingham; and I had last observed it, to my pique and grief, on the -hand of her lover--her husband Clavering--when he dined at our mess -in the Castle of Dumbarton! - -Astonishment and horror chained all my faculties, and meanwhile the -exulting Zahroun continued his revolting narrative. - -'We flung him over, and he sunk like a stone; then we put the helm -up, and bore away for the river Ustuola, our point of rendezvous on -the coast of Natolia--a lonely place, where all our armed caiques -were to meet for attacking and taking the yacht. But a storm came -on; wallah! a storm of wind and lightning, a flash of which shaved my -left whisker clean off, as you may see; we were driven up the Sea of -Marmora, and after losing both sweeps and sail, were drifting at the -mercy of the wind and tide, when an armed boat of the Bostandgi -Bashi--may dogs defile his beard!--overhauled us, just when we were -quarrelling and mauling each other about the respective merits of the -watch and ring, for Abdul Rasig was wrathful at the splendour of my -diamond, vowing, that for every para the watch was worth I had got a -piastre, and a para being worth only the thirtieth part of a piastre, -four of which now go to make a shilling Ingleez, we loudly accused -each other of murder and robbery, like the fathers of fools. - -'The Kadi before whom we were brought carefully wound up the watch, -applied it to his ear, and as it ticked to his satisfaction, he -solved the matter by depositing it in his judicial pocket. He would -also have quieted me, by slipping my ring on his finger, but I placed -it in my mouth, and swore, by every hair in the boards of the two -hundred and twenty-seven thousand prophets of Islam, that I had -swallowed it; then we were marched off to the Bagnio, and so are -here.' - -'Ay, here we are, a thousand burning curses on your folly!' growled -Abdul; 'for the four caiques will leave the mouth of the Ustuola on -the fourth night from this; the yacht will be boarded and taken, and -neither of us will be there to share the plunder or the pleasure; and -wallah! I had set my whole soul on having one of those white-skinned -Ingleez women!' - - - - -CHAPTER LIII. - -A ROW IN THE BAGNIO. - -It is impossible for me to analyze my thoughts or reflections, on -hearing this terrible relation of Clavering's lonely and helpless -butchery in his sleep, by the hands of villains such as these Turkish -galiondgis. - -Poor Tom Clavering! his well-whiskered face and manly figure came -vividly before me, as I had last seen them in Dumbarton Castle, when -he seemed the jolliest of our merry mess; and when full of joy at his -approaching marriage, and all thoughtless that I was his rival, he -spoke to me of his love for Laura; of her beauty, and that which was -better than beauty, her worth; and when, in the fulness of his heart, -he generously placed his purse at my service with all the frankness -of a soldier and of an English gentleman. - -But he was gone, and Laura was a widow now. - -A widow at two-and-twenty, or thereabout! - -Here was food for thoughts of hope and ardour, for now she would be -free to choose another; and though the pale image of Iola still -hovered painfully and oppressively before me at times, I felt that I -loved Laura still. Then came the crushing and startling thought of -the dangers which menaced her, and the words of the villain Abdul -were yet tingling in my ears. - -'_The caiques will leave the Ustuola on the fourth night from this, -and the yacht will be boarded and taken!_' - -Taken by those Greek pirates and Turkish outlaws whose savage -barbarity have long made terrible the shores and isles of the Ægean -sea! - -So Laura was with me in this land so distant from our home; she was -within a few miles of me, and a great longing seized my soul--a -longing to look once more upon her face--to hear her voice again; the -voice that in other times had thrilled through my inmost heart, which -now began to 'ache with the thought of all that might have been;' but -it stood still, forgetting almost to beat, while my blood ran cold at -the reflection that I was a prisoner, and totally incapable of -assisting, warning, or protecting her or her friends. - -All my soul seemed now to be with that stranded yacht on the Isle of -Marmora, which was more than forty miles distant, as a bird would fly. - -Oh, to be free! my longing and my horror were fast becoming -insupportable. - -How often had the same unavailing exclamation left my lips, as with -clenched hands, and teeth that gnawed my nether lip, I trod to and -fro in wretchedness, despondency, and bitterness of heart, in the -narrow passage or aisle formed by the double line of captives chained -on each side of the Bagnio. - -I had long since discovered the futility of attempting to soften, -bribe, or terrify the chaoush who commanded the guard, for he feared -us, as prisoners of the Moolah Moustapha; thus the rascal seemed -incorruptible. - -The story of Clavering's fate, and the adventure of the diamond-ring, -haunted me as much as the doom that overhung the yacht of Sir Horace -and her crew. Could I rest while, almost within arm's length of me, -there was this jewel which had been on the white hand of a pure and -innocent English girl like Laura Everingham (and which, moreover, had -been her gift to a brave and honest hearted fellow like Clavering) -remaining in possession of a vile and polluted assassin like Zahroun? - -Twenty times I stepped towards him, with the intention of clutching -his throat, though he seemed to possess thrice my strength; and I as -often drew back on reflecting that, in case of a brawl, I might be -torn to pieces by the prisoners if I came within arm's length of -them, or perhaps I might be shot by the guards from without, as -Achmet Effendi informed me that, on scuffles ensuing, they frequently -fired through the gratings, without the least remorse or ceremony; -and he added, that if we escaped a round of ball-cartridge we would -assuredly be chained, like the rest, to the walls. - -To Callum Dhu I translated the horrible story of Zahroun, and the -honest heart of my foster-brother was fired with rage and sorrow when -he heard the fate of Captain Clavering. The frank and manly bearing -of the English Guardsman, with his love of old Highland sports, had -made a most favourable impression on the mind of my follower, whose -heart was apt to become somewhat encrusted by jealousy and prejudice -on the approach of strangers; and now, whispering fiercely in my ear, -he swore by the stones of Iona to tear the head off the shoulders of -Zahroun. - -The sunset had faded away; the eight reflections of the eight narrow -slits which, from a shady verandah, admitted light into our vault, -had disappeared from the stained and dirty walls; the place was so -dark that we could not see each other's faces, as on this night the -chaoush of the Turkish guard had omitted to light the lantern which -usually swung from a pillar of our den; or perhaps the quartermaster -of the castle had no oil in store; but what ever the reason may have -been, we were left quite in the dark when I finished my translation -of the story, and then Callum Dhu, filled by a sudden tempest of -Highland fury, and regardless of all consequences, sprang upon -Zahroun, and seizing him by the throat, endeavoured to hurl him -beneath his feet; but the bare-legged and bare-armed galiondgi was -brawny, muscular, and strong as himself, so the struggle that ensued -between these two athletes was alike fierce and terrible! Their -hard, constrained breathing; their half-suffocated exclamations, -threats, and execrations in hoarse Gaelic on one hand, and guttural -Turkish on the other, were drowned amid the noise made by the -prisoners, who began their usual infernal chorus of shrieks, yells, -oaths, and laughter, with loud and impetuous inquiries on all hands -as to what was the matter, while the general row was increased by the -swinging and dashing of chains. - -'Callum! Callum!' I exclaimed, 'here are lights--the Turkish guards -may fire upon us.' - -'Let them blaze away!' was the answer of Callum, who, wholly intent -on battling with his ferocious antagonist (whom he had now beaten to -the ground, and on whose brawny chest he had planted his kilted -knees), heeded me not, for his Celtic blood was fairly up, and his -mouth, moreover, was full of it, as Zahroun, with one of his iron -fetters, had given him a blow on the jaws. While they continued to -fight thus, like two wild panthers, writhing, twisting, and -struggling, sundry pleasant adjectives in their different languages -were resorted to. - -'Dioul!' was freely invoked on one side, and all the genii of hell, -with the beards of the twelve imaums, and the same reverend -appendages of the two hundred and twenty-seven thousand prophets of -Islam wore summoned in vain on the other, while the storm of swinging -chains and clamorous voices rang in the arched vault like the -bellowing of a stormy sea. - -A red light flashed fitfully through one of the iron gratings, and -the swarthy visage, heavy moustache, and scarlet fez of the Turkish -sergeant appeared, as he held up a flaring torch and gazed in, with -something of wonder and alarm in his dark and dilating Asiatic eyes. -The iron door was hastily opened, and several soldiers, clad in short -blue jackets, and tight red trousers, ran down the steps, and -preceded by the chaoush with the torch, began to lay about them on -all sides with bamboo rods, caning all without discrimination. - -As the sergeant rushed forward, a prisoner, in sheer mischief, put -out a foot and tripped him up. With a malediction the -non-commissioned officer fell flat on his face, with the burning link -almost in his mouth, by which--Barek Allah!--his sacred moustaches -were scorched off in a moment; and as the light went out, two or -three of his comrades fell over him in the dark, increasing the -confusion. A hand now grasped mine with fierce energy. It was -Callum's. - -'Now,' said he, 'now or never! follow me!' - -And he dragged me up the steps and through the open door, which we -could easily distinguish by a faint light beyond it. As we issued -into the yard before the Turkish guard-house, Callum, with admirable -presence of mind, closed the barrier of the vault, turned the key, -and by an additional wrench broke it in the lock, leaving the chaoush -and his soldiers to fight or fraternise with the prisoners, as they -pleased. - -'Let us be but through the outer barrier, and we are free!' said I. - -The night was starry but dark, for the moon had not yet risen, and an -increasing wind rolled the waves of the Propontis on the rocky beach. - -There was no time for calm deliberation; no leasure to undo an error, -for we had nothing to guide our decision but the quickness of -instinct and the rapidity of desperation. Our lives would be lost or -won in less than five minutes--a dreadful reflection to me, even now, -when all the danger is over and I sit in my quiet quarters writing of -what is all happily past. - -The gate was closed and secured by a transverse wooden bar. Muffled -in his blue greatcoat, the Turkish sentinel stood near it, with his -musket on his shoulder, and the long bushy tassel of his scarlet cap -drooping down his back. I could mark his sharp Asiatic features -defined against the sky. He stood still and motionless as a bronze -statue, with his lacklustre eyes fixed on the stars, and absorbed -apparently in one of those waking dreams peculiar to those Osmanlies -who spend their spare paras in opium and raki. - -'Mac Innon,' whispered Callum, 'to you I leave the undoing of the -gate; give me the sentinel to manage--' - -'You will not kill him?' said I, hurriedly, seeing that there was a -wild gleam in Callum's eyes, and that he had, between his teeth, a -skene-dhu, which, by being concealed in his hose, had hitherto -escaped the search of our captors. - -'Kill him? not if I can help it; but I would rather be shot here, -sir, than go back to that infernal prison. Dioul! do you hear how -the old chaoush is bellowing at the door?' - -Roused by the unusual noise, the dreamy sentinel turned his head half -round to listen, and at that moment Callum sprang upon him, and -grasped his throat with a clutch into which he threw all the muscular -strength of his sinewy arms and fingers. The swarthy visage of the -poor Turk became distorted; his eyes almost started from their -sockets, and the musket fell from his shoulder. I snatched up the -weapon, and (while Callum hurled the soldier to the ground) -endeavoured to throw off its iron hooks a solid cross bar that -secured the wicket in the gate, which was composed of strong vertical -palisades. - -This bar was secured in its place by a chain and large brass padlock, -the key of which was probably at the belt of the chaoush, whose -outcries we dreaded would momently rouse the rest of his comrades in -the little fortress. - -Heavens, what a chaos were then my thoughts! All seemed a dream, and -we did everything as if in a dream; yet all we did was wisely and -correctly done. I unfixed the bayonet from the musket; inserted its -triangular blade into the loop of the padlock; grasped the socket -with my right hand, the point with my left, and using the weapon as a -lever, wrenched it fiercely round, and burst the impediment. Thus -the chain which secured the bar was loosened; the wicket stood open, -and the sentinel lay breathless on the ground. - -'I hope the poor fellow will soon recover--he was only doing his -duty,' said I. - -'He'll be able to bawl for help in three minutes; Dioul! if he does, -I'll go back with my skene and gralloch him like a dead deer; see he -is stirring already!' said Callum, as we leaped through the gate; and -intent only on placing the greatest possible distance between -ourselves and the Bagnio of Selyvria, hastened along the sea-shore, -avoiding the high road which traverses the rugged coast, and which we -naturally supposed would be the first line of search and of pursuit. - - - - -CHAPTER LIV. - -FLIGHT. - -The shore was sandy, broken here and there by masses of black rocks, -and fringed by groves and thickets, which afforded every means of -concealment, if we were pursued. Moreover, many little caiques and -fishing-craft were moored in the creeks and inlets for nearly three -miles beyond Selyvria: thus we had every means of escape to seaward, -if closely pressed by the soldiers from the castle. I had still the -sentinel's loaded musket; but was resolved to toss it into some pool -of water or olive-thicket when day dawned, lest the circumstance of -having it in my possession might excite remark or suspicion; and we -intended to pass ourselves off to the Osmanlies as shipwrecked -British prisoners, escaped from a Greek pirate--a story probable -enough, if told at a moderate distance from Selyvria. - -A hundred times we paused anxiously to listen, assured that we heard -the noise of pursuit, rising above the far-sounding murmur of the -eternal sea that rolled upon the sandy beach. Now it seemed the -baying of dogs; then the tramping of horses on the paved road that -led to the bridge of the Saltmarsh; next it was the tread of men's -feet and the clink of accoutrements; but these were all the effect of -an over-excited fancy; for after listening breathlessly, with heads -stooped low, we became assured that there was no sound in the night -air, but the sighing of the wind through the olive and orange groves, -and the murmur of the Propontis as it broke on the silent shore. - -We were progressing in the direction of Heraclea, where Major -Catanagh lay with the rest of our comrades and the regiment of the -Mir Alai Saïd. Callum urged that we should lose no time in repairing -there, and insuring our own safety; but I was more intent on reaching -Rodosdchig, where I could draw off my little party, embark them in -boats, and sail for the opposite Isle of Marmora, as I had now no -thought in this world but to save or rescue Sir Horace and his -friends from the danger that menaced them. - -'But if our detachment has been recalled from Rodosdchig?' said -Callum; 'what then?--we have been absent several weeks, I think, -though I forgot to reckon the time in yonder atrocious den.' - -I had not thought of this chance, and it puzzled me. - -Major Catanagh, may have been ordered to join at head-quarters, for -all that we know to the contrary, sir, and may have marched for -Constantinople, said he. - -Still my resolution was not altered. - -'Let us reach Rodosdchig,' said I, doggedly. - -The silent night wore away; pale Phosphorus, the morning star of the -old Greeks, melted into the rosy sky of sunrise, as the god of day -ascended from the distant Ægean sea, and tipped the hills and castles -of the Dardanelles with fire. The waves of the Propontis gleamed in -gold, and rolled like liquid light upon its fertile shores. We found -ourselves in a lonely place, where the sea broke in surf on one hand, -and on the other lay a marshy waste, where buzzards and vultures -seemed the only living things, with a few of those solemn-looking -storks, which are so often to be found perched on the roofs of -Turkish houses; or peeping out of nests of twigs and clay, made under -their eaves. - -Day had now fully broken. I concealed the bayonet in my sleeve as a -weapon of defence; but threw the musket into the sea. Then Callum -and I put our sorely-soiled uniforms into the best order, and though -the amount of hair which flourished around our visages gave us rather -a Crimean aspect, it mattered not in Turkey, and we stepped forward -with growing confidence, looking about for some one to direct us, as -the dome and minarets of a mosque (like a punch-bowl between two -champagne bottles) appeared at a distance, and indicated the vicinity -of a town. - -Near a well on the wayside, we found an old woman, of an aspect -rather Ghoulish, with her eyes shining through the holes in her -yashmack, which was carefully drawn over her head, though her poor -mammary region was bare and flat as a drumhead. She was filling a -vase of most classical aspect, with the pure water of the circular -well, over which drooped the long branches of a solitary date-palm. - -On my inquiring the name of the little town which was now visible -above the orange-groves, she hastily flung down her pitcher in great -alarm, and muttering something about 'Franks and Giaours,' fled from -us. - -'The devil's in the cailloch,' said Callum; 'does she take us for -ogres?' - -Rather discouraged by the impression our appearance seemed to make, -we pressed on towards the town, beyond which we saw a chain of -snow-capped hills, sparkling in the sunshine like cones of polished -silver. We studied our plans and distances over and over again; and -I shuddered as I thought of the hopeless captivity that might succeed -our recapture--the danger that hung over the Everinghams--the -dreadful Bagnio; and with that recollection there came before me in -fancy the careworn smile of poor Achmet Effendi, and his miserable -comrade the lieutenant of artillery, who were still lingering there. - -I knew well the danger and the difficulty attending two unarmed -strangers travelling on foot in such a country as Turkey; for at the -present hour I need scarcely remind the reader that even in the -streets of Stamboul, notwithstanding the presence of regular troops -and patrols of armed police, robberies and assassinations of every -description, by the handjiar, the pistol, the bludgeon, and -strangulation, are of constant occurrence in open day. If such is -the case in the capital of 'the Lord of the Black and White Seas, and -Keeper of the Holy Cities of Mecca, Medina, and Jerusalem,' our -prospects in his rural districts were not very encouraging. - -By the side of a rivulet we found a dreamy Osmanli reclining under an -orange-tree, regaling himself on dates and cold water, with a paper -cigar in his mouth. He was basking in the sunshine, and believing -himself, perhaps, in the Garden of Delights, though minus the river -of fragrant wine, the fruits of the giant Toaba, and the caresses of -the black-eyed girls, with their limbs of snow, and scanty cymars of -green. - -With the usual greeting, I inquired if he knew the town now before us. - -He replied in the affirmative; but the name I cannot now remember, -and no map that I have seen bears it. - -'Whence come you?' he inquired. - -'Frangistan.' - -'That I can perceive--but how?' - -'By a ship.' - -'Allah Kebir! I did not expect you to fly.' - -'Of course not--she was wrecked upon the coast.' - -'And you escaped?' - -'Narrowly, as you may see--all we possess is upon us, and we are -almost famished.' - -'Bismillah! now I remember having smoked pipe with you once.' - -'Where, Aga?' - -'In the khan at Heraclea.' - -'I think I remember you,' said I; though in truth I had no -recollection of the worthy man whatever. - -'I have some dates and the spring-water here; but you are welcome to -both. Eat with me, and we shall be friends. I am no Aga, but a -humble dealer in cherry-sticks, and having sold all my stock in -Selyvria, am now returning home.' - -'To yonder town?' - -'Exactly.' - -'Has it a Kadi? - -'Yes, and none in Roumelia knoweth better the hundred and fourteen -chapters of the Koran. Whenever his carpet is spread, heels are -turned up and heads sliced off in a twinkling! Wallah! he knows the -law well, Hadjee Sohail Ebn Amru; and more than all, he is my elder -brother, and has built for the public use a mosque and fountain, -surrounded by cypresses and mulberry-trees. I had the misfortune to -come into existence a little later than he, so our father left him -every asper he had in the world: thus the Kadi Sohail is a rich -dealer in shawls, silks, and carpets, while I am a poor vender of -cherry-sticks; but what seek you of the Kadi?' - -'Not money, my friend.' - -'You are wise--what then?' - -'Horses to take us to Stamboul.' - -'But who will pay for them?' - -'Our ambassador.' - -'Wallah!' replied the pipe-stick vender; 'all the world say he is -breaking his heart about the fall of Kara; but all the world are -liars, I think. However, as you came to fight for the Faithful, -horses you shall have, if my brother the Kadi can find them.' - -The acquaintance of this garrulous fellow was quite a boon to us; and -encouraged by his free and talkative manner, and not a little amused -by the airs of patronage and protection he assumed, we stepped boldly -into the town, giving out, on all hands, that we required horses for -Stamboul. - -I found that these Turks were fast making me as sly and reserved as -themselves. - - - - -CHAPTER LV. - -RESUME MY COMMAND. - -Assisted by our new friend, we reached the house and bazaar of the -Kadi Sohail Ebn Amru, who, on our uniforms, and hearing that we -required two horses for the Sultan's service, after wonderfully -little delay, ordered that they should be procured, _i.e._, taken, or -forcibly pressed, from the first or nearest persons who were not -included in the circle of his acquaintance. While the nags were -being brought, the seller of pipe-sticks bustled about, and set -before us a repast of mutton-ham, cheese, white bread, and Kirkissa -wine, and we seated ourselves on some of those soft carpets of Irann, -which are the pride of the Stambouli housewives. - -The Kadi was not present, being closeted in an inner apartment with a -stranger, a brother Hadjee, whom he appeared to treat with great -reverence. Ere long he came out, and invited us to enter and -'partake of coffee with his friend, who had travelled a long way on -foot and was weary.' - -'A friend?' said I, hesitating. - -'Yes, Aga.' - -'A soldier?' - -'No--a Moolah.' - -'But a Moolah may not like us.' - -'He is sure to do so.' - -'But then we are soldiers,' I continued, still hesitating; 'and -Moolahs hate all soldiers.' - -'Mashallah!' said the Kadi; ''tis the famous Hadjee Moustapha, who -has himself been a soldier, and a brave one too.' - -We were both confounded by lighting on this devil of a Moolah even -here! I scarcely dared now to whisper our danger to Callum, lest the -visitor might overhear, as a partition formed of striped cloth, -covered with sentences from the Koran alone separated us; and if -discovered by him, all the wealth of Karoon (Crœsus) could not -save us. While pondering what excuse to make, and finding that the -more I pondered the more obstinate my invention became, luckily the -horses--two fine Arabs--ready accoutred, with high demi-pique -saddles, and having bridles and cruppers covered with brass knobs and -long red tassels, were led up by grooms wearing each a red fez and -voluminous blue breeches; then bidding the Kadi and his brother -farewell, and hastily leaving a receipt and order on the regimental -paymaster for the alleged value of the horses, if not safely -returned, we trotted 'away,' as we said, 'for Stamboul;' and then, -from the street corner, started at full gallop for Bodosdchig. - -The town we left was garrisoned by two battalions of the Egyptian -contingent, consisting entirely of _one-eyed men_. So great is the -horror of military service in the land of Pharaoh in this age of -steam, that the people mutilate themselves in such numbers to avoid -soldiering, that the Pasha has been compelled to enrol those having -right eyes in one regiment, and those having left eyes in another. - -We rode at great speed, and when the sun was verging towards the long -chain of the Tekir mountains, we saw before us the crenelated walls, -the old castle, the flat roofs, the gilded mosques and white minars -of Bodosdchig, with the tall, solemn cypresses, and the green City of -the Silent, where I had first met Iola; and there lay the ruined -hermitage of St. Basil amid its beautiful groves, and the Holy Well -still sparkling in the setting sunshine. My heart filled with tender -memories, and I shuddered when I saw her dreadful grave--the waves of -the blue Propontis--gleaming far beyond the landscape; but I thrust -away such thoughts, and gnawing my nether lip, strove to think only -of Laura and the desperate task I had before me. - -Laura and Iola! - -The struggle is a sore one, when there is but _one_ heart for _two_ -loves! - -As we approached the castle, all heedless of the clamour excited -among the usually inert and sullen Turks by our appearance when -galloping through the muddy streets, Callum uttered a shout of -satisfaction on seeing the red coat, the green tartans, and -glittering bayonet of a Highland sentinel at the castle gate. - -'Now God and Mary be thanked, our men are here yet!' exclaimed he, in -Gaelic. - -As we rode in, our comrades hurried forth to meet us, and in a trice -we had Serjeant Mac Ildhui, Corporal Donald Roy, and every man of my -little detachment around us with clamorous tongues, and hands -outstretched in joyous congratulation, with many an inquiry, while -the Turkish guard of Topchis looked on with a sullen and dogged stare -from under their bushy eyebrows. - -Roused by their clamour, an officer in a scarlet jacket and tartan -trews, with a Turkish fez, a bearded chin, and a meerschaum in his -mouth, jumped over a window on the ground-floor, and joined the group -in the castle-yard. - -'Mac Innon--Allan Mac Innon!' he exclaimed. - -'Jack Belton!' - -We shook hands warmly as I dismounted. - -'By all the powers, where have you been? In the hands of the evil -genii?' - -'Where I cannot tell you, at present.' - -'We all feared you had bid farewell----' - -'To what?' - -'The great scuffle of life.' - -'Not at all--but how came you here?' - -'To take command of your detachment, when Serjeant Mac Ildhui -reported your lamentable demise, and we had the big drum covered -respectably up with crape, and funeral knots tied on our sword-hilts. -We are to march to-morrow, so had you been a few hours later, we had -been off for Stamboul.' - -'Fortunate!' said I, with a glance at Callum; 'but you must delay -your march a little time, Jack. I have a small expedition cut out -for you--' - -'Of a warlike nature?' - -'Yes.' - -'And I have some news for _you_.' - -'Indeed!' - -'We are both gazetted Lieutenants, _vice_ Cameron and Moray, -dead--one of wounds at Sebastopol, the other of cholera at -Scutari--poor fellows! So we have two commissions to wet--I, -yours--and you, mine. I have another box of cheroots and some prime -Cavendish, with a jar of Kirkissa wine. Come along--I'll hear all -your news in my room--' - -'And the Yuze Bashi--how is he?' - -'Oh, a most unamiable old fellow--in the sick-list still, having been -powdered and pilled by a Jew Hakim, till he cannot move.' - -'Long may he remain so!' said I, revengefully, as we entered Jack's -quarters. - -In a few minutes I had refreshed myself, changed my attire, anil sat -down to such a repast as Jack's servant could prepare in haste; we -lighted our cigars; Jack drank his wine out of a tumbler, and I mine -out of a cream-jug, as our utensils were meanly and in a dilapidated -condition. Jack smoked in silence and patience, waiting to hear a -story which I knew not how to begin, as I was loth--exceedingly -loth--to account for that remarkable cruise undertaken by Callum and -me at night; so there was a long silence, during which Jack whiffed -away, and then he stared inquiringly at me. - -'You sigh?' said he; 'what the deuce is the matter? Fill your cup -with wine again--and drink, my boy. Remember the mess-room song-- - - 'Since the chief end of life is to live and be jolly, - To be sad about trifles is trifling and folly.' - -_En avant_! What have you been about, Allan? We heard that you had -been making love to a Haidee--a flower of "the Isles of Greece," or -some Turkish odalisque--but you lost her? Never mind, my boy--she'll -soon prove, "though lost to sight, to memory _queer_," when we change -quarters.' - -I quieted Jack's raillery by a grave relation of my adventures; and -his wonder, anger, and resentment were excited alternately by the -horrors I had undergone, and by the heartless assassination of poor -Clavering; but the moment I mentioned the danger of the yacht, he -started to his feet, exclaiming-- - -'O hang it! this can never be permitted! We can't march for Heraclea -to-morrow.' - -'Of course not, with this devilish business on the tapis.' - -'It is our duty--our bounden duty--to march at once with every man we -have, and to save Sir Horace and his people from these butcherly -Mohammedans.' - -'March?--sail you mean!' said I. - -'And we must get a craft to-night--it is not yet too late,' he -exclaimed, looking at his watch. - -'Callum! call Serjeant Mac Ildhui--our lads must all be in marching -order, with haversacks and ammunition, an hour before daylight -to-morrow.' - -'Very well, sir.' - -'Bravo!' added Jack; 'we shall cut a dash, and have a little war on -our own account.' - -'An entire column in the "Times" to ourselves.' - -'And a sketch in the "Illustrated News," of course.' - -'There go the pipes for tattoo--fill your wine-horn again, Allan! -Here's success to our expedition in the morning!' - - - - -CHAPTER LVI. - -'BIODH TREUN!' - -The morning was cold and frosty, though in the last days of February. -The sun was yet below the horizon; but all the sea that stretched -away towards the mouth of the Bosphorus on one hand, and the -Dardanelles on the other, was covered by a golden brilliance; and a -rosy gleam in the east indicated the quarter from which, without any -lingering twilight, he would climb at once the azure sky. No cloud -shaded the surface of the latter, and scarcely a ripple seemed to -curl the still and beautiful bosom of the Propontis. - -Callum brought me my only heir-loom, the old claymore, on the blade -of which my father--in some old Flemish camp, when serving under -York--had written the two words, _Biodh Treun_ (be valiant). I stuck -my revolver and dirk in my belt, and descended to the parade-ground -full of enthusiasm and hope. - -My little band of Highlanders mustered in the chill morning with -alacrity. They were all in light marching order, and in addition to -their arms and accoutrements, carried only their greatcoats and -wooden canteens. I carefully inspected their ammunition, and then -marched them to the landing-place, where a large kochamba, which had -been procured overnight, and which was manned by eight stout -galiondgis, awaited us. Before marching out, I had no little -difficulty in explaining to the Yuze Bashi's second in command the -nature of the expedition on which we were departing, and that we must -necessarily return for our baggage, knapsacks, and squad-bags, before -marching to Heraclea. To the Major I despatched a mounted Topchi, -with a letter acquainting him with my return to my party, my late -adventures, and the nature of the service on which I had gone--a -service of which I was convinced he would approve, as the necessary -protection of British subjects had forced me upon it, and as there -was no vessel of war near with which I could communicate, and, save -my Highlanders, no other armed force on which I could rely. - -Of these Highlanders, whose task was now to save Sir Horace from the -pirates, _eight_ were evicted Mac Innons of Glen Ora; and in the -ranks I heard them recalling to each other the day 'when the glen was -desolated,' as we marched from the castle with our pipe playing, and -embarked in the kochamba; then we shipped eight long sweeps, with two -men to each, hoisted the long and tapering lateen sail, and stood out -of the harbour of Rodosdchig, with a fair wind that bore us away -southward for the Isle of Marmora. - -As we put to sea, Callum urged me in a whisper to have the boat's -head shot first to starboard--'_the deisuil_,' as he said, 'in honour -of the sun'--an old superstitious custom, for which, like many -others, he was a great stickler; and as I had the tiller-ropes, it -was at once complied with. - -My fellows were all lively and merry at the prospect of a brush with -any one; and this duty seemed a stirring change after the dull -monotony of mounting guard in that old castle, whose shadow fell far -across the shining water, and where their only companions were the -stolid, opium-drugged, big-breeched, raki-drinking, and -chibouque-smoking Topchis of the Yuze Bashi Hussein. - -With their broad chests heaving, and their bearded faces flushed by -exertion as they bent to their task, Callum Dhu, Donald Roy, and -Serjeant Mac Ildhui sang an old Highland boat-song, to which the -rowers kept time with their broad-bladed sweeps, that flashed like -fire as they threw the silver spray towards the rising sun--the -glorious sun of Asia, which filled all that morning sea with his -dazzling splendour--and while the piper played in the prow, all the -soldiers joined in parts, their thirty voices making the sky ring -when they united in one volume, to the astonishment of the immovable -Turks, and to the great amusement of Jack Belton, who enjoyed our -enthusiasm, but laughed like a Lowlander at the strange words of the -chorus, which suited the action of the oars, and were somewhat to the -following purpose:-- - - '_Horo, horo, horo elé, - Horo, horo, horo elé; - Hu ho i o 'sna ho elé,_' &c. - - -'Well, 'pon my soul,' said Jack, as he lolled in the stern-sheets of -the boat, polishing the barrel of a finished Colt with the ashes of -his cheroot, 'this is better fun than blowing on the flute, or -pumping on an accordion all day long in one's barrack-room for lack -of something to do.' - -'Wait,' said I, 'until you have seen Fanny Clavering; your mind will -then be fully occupied.' - -'By love for her?' - -'Of course.' - -'Query--is she beautiful?' - -'I don't think Heaven ever created another so brilliant and so -fascinating.' - -'Indeed! you quite interest me. The deuce! I shall be in danger of -losing both life and liberty; but I don't mean to wed in a hurry.' - -'Fanny has a handsome fortune--she is rich.' - -'Money is nothing to a sub of a year or two's standing.' - -'True--but we may remain jolly subs long enough now.' - -'Don't think of it, pray--but alas! peace will soon be proclaimed -now, as we have polished off the imperial boots of His Majesty of -Russia, and all the additional battalions must be reduced.' - -'Fanny's bright hazel eyes--' - -'Will not lure me into matrimony, pin-money, and baby-jumpers. I -mean not to think of such things until I require cotton caps, -water-gruel, and hot bottles at night; until I give up the polka, -relinquish my pipe, and vote the mistletoe a most improper appendage -to a Christmas chandelier; when I consider music a bore, and babies -_not_ a bother; when I deem flirtation disgraceful, and prefer a -quiet game at crown-points to whirling with Maria or Louisa in the -_deux temps_--I shall think of it seriously, and prepare to take upon -my knee a little Jack Belton, and sing "Ride a cock horse to Bambury -Cross," or of old "Humpty Dumpty who sat on a wall," and so forth.' - -While Jack ran on thus, Callum Dhu, who sat near me with his belt and -jacket off, pulling the stroke oar, was listening to him with a quiet -smile, for he liked his rattling, off-hand manner. - -'Callum,' said I, '_you_ remember Miss Clavering?' - -'Many a time, sir, I have led her pony up Ben Ora, and round the -Craig-na-tuirc! Who that ever saw her could forget her?' he replied, -as his eye sparkled and his cheek flushed, while he gave fresh energy -to tugging at the bending sweep; 'She was ever so gay, so beautiful, -so joyous and flattering!' - -'And Miss Everingham, too,' I added, in a low voice; 'Mrs. Clavering, -I should say.' - -Callum gave me a glance full of deep and sorrowful meaning; but he -only bit his proud nether lip, and bent more lustily to the oar. He -was as full of ardour at the prospect of risking his life in defence -of these two ladies as if he was the accepted lover of them both; for -poor Callum's heart was chivalrous as it was kind and true; and -though, like himself, more than one soldier in that huge lumbering -boat had good reason to curse the intrusive name of Everingham, and -that feudal law which enabled a landlord to evict the people, they -were all ready to face fire and water, shot and steel, to rescue him -and his friends from the perils that surrounded them. Fresh hands -were laid on the oars; the sun attained its meridian height; the -outlines of the Isle of Marmora began to rise higher to the -southward; sturdily pulled the Highland oarsmen, and still their -strange wild chorus was wafted to leeward on the Grecian sea-- - - '_Horo, horo, horo el, - Horo, horo, horo elé; - Hu ho i o 'sna ho elé._' - - - - -CHAPTER LVII. - -THE ISLE OF MARMORA. - -I gazed alternately on the distant island that was now rising faint -and blue from the shining sea, and on the huge lateen sail that -tapered far away aloft upon its slender yard, which resembled a -fishing-rod, while Belton still lounged in the stern-sheets, and -lunched on sliced Bologna sausages, biscuits, and sherry. - -'Yonder Isle of Marmora has some interest for me,' said he; 'I had an -uncle who got his wife out of that identical place.' - -'From the marble quarries, perhaps.' - -'Not at all--he was no Pygmalion. He was first-lieutenant in the -flagship here, about ten years ago, and being in hopeless ill health, -was landed, with six months' leave to remain at the house of an -Armenian merchant, who treated him with great kindness, and whose -daughter--young and lovely, of course--nursed him with the most -enchanting tenderness. So whether it was owing to the fresh breezes -from the Propontis, the cool wines of old Greece, or the charms of -the soft maid of Armenia, I know not; but before the six months were -up, mine uncle reported himself to the Admiral as "fit for duty," and -joined his ship. He thought very sadly about his Armenian for a -time, and felt very restless in his cot at night; but soon dismissed -her from his thoughts, as the ship had to be painted and overhauled, -and sent home to Portsmouth. A year after he was with our fleet at -Stamboul, and while rambling there with a brother captain--for he had -his own frigate then--they entered the slave-market in disguise. -There he saw--what?--his beautiful Armenian friend--his kind little -nurse--the daughter of his hospitable entertainer--offered for sale -as a slave! She knew him, and in tears and agony stretched her -pretty hands towards him; for she was a Christian woman, and felt -keenly all the horrors of her situation. Her story was soon told. -Her father's ships had perished at sea; his wealth had passed away; -he died, and his Turkish creditors had remorselessly seized -everything, even to the carpet his daughter sat on. Then they seized -her too, and offered her for sale--and there she stood, with a ticket -on her breast, and her price marked thereon. - -'For sale! My uncle was an honest fellow--he damned their eyes all -round, and swore he felt it in his heart to flog one-half Stamboul -and keelhaul the other. An Unbeliever cannot purchase women; but my -uncle knew a Turkish officer, who was an Irishman--Bim Bashi -O'Toole--who, for a dozen of wine, undertook to manage the affair; so -for four hundred guineas he bought the fair Armenian, and married her -at the ambassador's chapel. Then he brought her home in his own -frigate. He is now posted, a C.B., on half-pay, and resides with his -Armenian wife, and six little half-Scotch, half-Armenian imps, in one -of the prettiest villages in Strathearn; so you see, Mac Innon, this -classic island of Marmora has quite a family interest for me.' - -While Jack ran on in this fashion, I was wholly occupied in thinking -of two soft eyes, and a certain fair, pale, English face, with its -chestnut braids and rosy lips, and of a low sweet voice, that seemed -already whispering in my ear--the voice of Laura, whose tones had -come to me so often in the dreams of night. In imagination I again -beheld her, and that peculiar _individuality_ which indicates every -one by habit, gesture, form, and smile, came all before me in one -gush of memory. - -The nut-brown sail, with its broad, black stripes, bellied out in the -light wind that played over the ripples of the noonday sea, but ere -long the wind grew light, and as it died away, the sail flapped -heavily and the kochamba lurched and rolled upon the glassy swell. - -The day drew on, and soon the rosy tints of sunset lingered on the -shore, bathing with a ruby gleam each wooded bay and rocky cape that -stretched into the dim and azure haze, far, far away. The coast of -Roumelia seemed all of sapphire hue; the little Isle of Coudouri -beamed from the blue sea like a huge amethyst sparkling with -diamonds--these were the casements of its little town, that were -glittering in the western light. - -The Isle of Marmora now looked close and high, and I sighed for the -lagging wind, as we lay becalmed about four miles off its western -promontory, and one mile due east of Coudouri, with the sea darkening -fast around us, and the stars coming out one by one from the sky of -brilliant amber. - -While we continued to scan the coast with our telescopes, as it was -in this part of the Isle the yacht was ashore, Jack Belton discovered -the masts and hull of a smart schooner, which lay pretty high up in -one of the sandy bays that now opened upon our view; and this we had -no doubt was the craft we were in quest of, as the position in which -she lay, and her appearance, exactly corresponded to what we had -heard of the _Fairy Bell_, Sir Horace's vessel. Being somewhat tired -by the exertions of the past day, my soldiers and the galiondgis had -relinquished their oars, and sat gazing dreamily either at the glassy -water or the little black speck which indicated the hull of the yacht -ashore. - -'Suppose the islanders were to rise upon us, and assist these -Oriental ticket-of-leavers!' said Belton. - -'You are most unpleasantly suggestive,' said I; 'but let them rise, -they are welcome.' - -'Indeed!' - -'Yes. With thirty Highlandmen, I would not fear to face three -hundred Greeks.' - -'Even those of Leonidas?' - -'Yes, Jack--even those of Leonidas!' - -'Bravo!--but this may prove more than a mere melo-dramatic -performance.' - -'It may--but ha!--what is that?' I exclaimed. - -'A gun--a flash on the shore!' - -'Another!' - -'And another!' - -'Now, heavens above, what may this mean?' - -'The pirates.' - -'The pirates already!' - -'We have been anticipated by the four caiques!' cried several voices. - -'Out with the sweeps and oars!--down with the mast and yard!--in with -the sail!' I commanded, with excited energy, and the orders were -obeyed with alacrity. - -'Clap on to the sweeps now!' - -'Give way, my boys--give way with a will!' said Belton. - -Flash after flash came rapidly and redly from the dark and wooded -bay; the boom of carronades pealed over the water, and then came the -patter of small arms. - -My soul was full of anxiety; I panted rather than breathed, for I was -without a doubt that we had been anticipated--that those wretches had -commenced their attack, and that Sir Horace was fighting gallantly, -like a brave English gentleman. - -'But see,' said Callum, to whom I had freely communicated all my -fears, 'there are three or four vessels now rounding the promontory -and entering the bay, for good or for evil?' - -'The telescope, Jack--the telescope, for God's sake!--thank you,' -said I, adjusting it for a night observation, as the darkness had now -almost set in; but I could distinctly perceive four long, low, and -sharply-built caiques, full of men, many of whom appeared to be armed -with muskets, pulled swiftly round a black promontory of rock which -jutted into that sea of amber, and each in succession shot swiftly -into the wooded bay. - -Several brilliant rockets now hissed upward into the blue sky; and as -their sparkles descended in a shower among the woods, or on the -rippled water all became dark and still--so deathly still, that I -heard only the beating of my heart, and the half-suppressed breathing -of the rowers, three of whom were bending on every sweep, and the -splashing of the water, as we neared the eastern headland of the -little bay in which the yacht was beached, and into which these dark -and mysterious craft had glided so noiselessly. - - - - -CHAPTER LVIII. - -THE FAIRY BELL. - -The Island of Marmora--the Elephonesos of the ancients--is a -dependency of an Anatolian Sanjiack, and lies sixty miles south-west -of Stamboul. It is about ten miles long, and has a miserable little -town of romantic-looking wigwams on its southern coast, and a Turkish -pharos on a promontory towards the Bosphorus. Of old, it was famous -for its marble quarries, but now is noted only for sterility, and its -meagre population of bare-footed and blue-breeched Greek fishermen. - -The bay, however, which we were now stealthily entering, was richly -wooded; but many of the trees were bare, for the black gusts of the -last autumn had swept both sea and shore; but there the wild almond -was wont to shed its silver blossoms in spring, and even now, the -wild thyme, the caper-shrub, the rose-laurel, the woodbine, and the -china-rose, made all the inlet beautiful; nor were the scarlet lotus, -or the graceful date-palm, which an Oriental poet likens to a young -beauty bending her head; or the soft perfume of the sweet El-caya -tree of Yemen, wanting to complete the charm of this dark and shady -cove. Softly we stole in, with handkerchiefs tied round our sweeps -to muffle them; and while we pulled swiftly, keeping close in shore, -and under the deep shadow thrown by the woods upon the starlit water, -we carefully loaded and capped our fire-arms, all of which were -fortunately Minie rifles, as my detachment belonged to the Light -Company. - -Now at the end of the bay the moon rose broad and full, and as her -giant disc heaved up in all its bright effulgence from the shining -sea, a column of light flashed from the horizon into the wooded -creek, and displayed its sylvan scenery. - -We could see the yacht--the _Fairy Bell_--as she lay in the shallow -water careened to port; she was tautly rigged; her foremast was -strong; her mainmast tall, and tapering away aloft like the finest -willow wand. Her hull was long and low; her breadth of beam was -great, and the copper on her sharp bows shone like burnished gold in -the moonlight; her decks were flush, level, and had twelve -carronades--all of which, however, were quite useless, by the -elevation of their muzzles on one side, and the consequent depression -on the other; and I saw at a glance that, unless vigorously defended, -this smart little yacht, the flower of Cowes, the pink of the Channel -squadron, and the winner of five silver cups which adorned the -library at Elton Hall, would fall a prey to these piratical caiques. - -We were all nearing her rapidly; but fortunately the dark shadow of -the wooded shore completely veiled the kochamba, while the caiques -were fully visible in the blaze of a moonlight that filled the bay. -A half-shout, half-cheer, from the crew of the yacht--now distant -from us about five hundred yards--announced that her people were on -the alert. Then a garland of fire zoned her low black gunwale round, -as a volley of fire-arms was poured upon the approaching boats, and -crashed through their planking. - -'Hurrah!' cried Jack Belton; 'the old M.P. is quite up to the mark, I -think!' - -'Keep close in--keep in the shadow,' said I; 'or, by Jove! we may -come in for a dose of that, too, before they know who we are.' - -'That fire was well directed,' said Callum. - -'It has staggered those devils in the boats--I see them throwing -aside their oars,' added Jack. - -'Stretch out--stretch out!' I exclaimed, drawing my sword; 'and be -ready, every man of yous to fire the moment I give the word!' - -It was most unfortunate for the yacht that her guns were rendered -useless by her heel to port; but the fire of her small-arms was -brisk; and a yell replied, as the caiques, which had been warily -pulled in a line duly astern of her, now dashed upon her quarters, -and a vigorous attempt was made by the Turks to board. In the -moonlight we could see the momentary gleam of sabres as they were -brandished, and of bayonets as they were pointed; the flashing of -pistols, and the appearance of dark faces and darker figures, as they -strove to gain a footing on the side-chains, and to force a passage, -by fighting, to the schooner's deck, but were thrust over by the -bayonet or beaten down by the clubbed musket; and were dashed, -wounded and bleeding, into the sandy and blood-stained water, which -took them up to the girdle, or little above it. With all their -efforts, it was evident the yachts-men would have the worst of it ere -long, for some of the Greek villains had just forced a passage to the -deck, when one more stroke of the sweeps brought us within sure range. - -'Now, Highlanders,' cried I, 'ready!--present!--you can pick off -these fellows like a covey of partridges.' - -'Or sparrows on a midden,' added Callum, as thirty Minie rifles, -levelled low, were fired out of the gloomy shade, and thirty -spherical rifled bullets whistled among the dark crowd which filled -the caiques. - -'Keep up your fire, my lads,' cried I, 'and give way--stretch out!' I -added to the galiondgis; 'close up--let us only come hand to hand -with them; pull right across the stern of the yacht, and rake the -boats alongside.' - -This enabled us to sweep the caiques on both sides of her; and my men -kept up a brisk fire. As they had sixty rounds each, there was no -danger of their running short of ammunition. Yells of fear and rage -were now blended with those of pain, and the water was full of dead -and wounded wretches, from among whom some forty or fifty of the -survivors were frantically endeavouring to escape; and to the -astonishment of the yachts-men, who were totally unable to comprehend -from what quarter this unexpected succour had come, the attack was -abandoned with precipitation; and two of the caiques were pulled -rapidly away, while the others floated alongside, deserted by their -crews; for all who were not lying dead on the thwarts, or struggling -with wounds and broken limbs in the water, had scrambled ashore and -fled. - -The attack had been made by not less than sixty outlaws--all -savage-looking Suliotes, half-black Natolians, wild Arabs, and -Candiote mariners. Of these nearly twenty had been sent to their -last account; but the affair was not over yet. - -Four or five had fought their way on board the yacht; but when our -fire had swept the water alongside, they all sprang overboard, save -one, who concealed himself in one of the quarter-boats, at the moment -we boarded the schooner. - -As I ascended the side, a strange-looking personage, clad in a -light-blue uniform jacket minus tails, a pair of checked Tweed -trousers, and wearing a cavalry helmet of unique form, appeared to -welcome us. He was armed with a large sabre, and though his upper -lip had been put on the war establishment, and wore a grisly -moustache--and though the costume he had so hastily donned was partly -the uniform of the South Pedlington Yeomanry, of which he was -Lieutenant-Colonel, I had no difficulty in recognising the sleek -round visage and well-curved paunch of old Sir Horace Everingham, all -breathless and blown, and decidedly more 'out of sorts' than ever I -had seen him, when toiling up my Highland hills at home. - -'Never was aid more opportune, my dear sir,' said he; 'from whence -have you come with your soldiers--from the clouds? Awful business -this--but I expected it--I shall complain to our ambassador--those -d----d ungrateful Greeks! I shall address the House on the -subject--I will expose it in the "Times" newspaper--I will, sir, by -Heaven!' - -Close by the baronet stood his _fidus Achates_, the pale and -affrighted Mr. Jeames Toodles, whom he had barbarously forced to -remain on deck, and who, having no idea of how to handle any lethal -weapon, had spread before him an immense gig umbrella, which loomed -in his front like the shield of Achilles, and which he had -successfully held between him and 'the dark Suliotes,' whom he -believed to be nothing else than veritable Bashi Bozooks, of whom he -had seen some appalling sketches in the 'Illustrated London News.' - -Several of the fugitives, from among the dark foliage on shore, were -now firing with their muskets and pistols, and had wounded some of -us. We pulled vigorously towards the beach, and opened a random fire -of musketry upon those lurkers in the jungle; but now there came a -shrill cry from the deck of the yacht. I looked back, and for a -moment saw the light dress of a lady flutter in the moonlight--and -then there was a heavy splash in the water alongside, as she was -flung overboard. - -It was Fanny Clavering, who, impelled by an irresistible curiosity, -had peeped on deck, and had at that instant been seized and tossed -over the gunwale by the pirate who was concealed in the quarter-boat. - -This pirate was Zahroun, the galiondgi, the wretch whom I had left in -the Bagnio, but who had escaped from thence, heaven alone knows how -(unless aided by Clavering's ring), to share in the horrors of this -night attack, which he had so carefully and daringly projected. - -In another moment we saw this brawny villain standing on the beach, -with the light form of Fanny in his arms (but I knew not that the -girl was Fanny then); and a sickly terror that she might be Laura -palsied every thought and energy. At arms' length he held her up -triumphantly above him, and uttered a cry of derision and defiance: - -'Allah ho Ackbar!'--a cry, half-laugh, half-yell--as he opposed her -light and drooping figure to the levelled muskets which we dared not -discharge. I sprang into the water, with my claymore in one hand, -and a loaded revolver, with a single barrel but having six chambers, -in the other. Yet I could not fire a single shot for the same reason -that withheld the truer aims of Belton and our soldiers, lest the -ball might miss the vulture and hit the dove. Callum Dhu followed me -close, with his rifle cocked; but as we advanced from the water, up -the sandy and pebbled beach, Zahroun ran hurriedly inland, and while -we pursued, once, twice--ay thrice, the dark wood was streaked with -light, as pistols were fired from the jungle at us, but happily -missed. - -Now on a little plateau of rock, in the full blaze of the moonlight, -the brawny and bandy-legged figure of Zahroun appeared against the -sky in dark and strong outline. He grasped his captive by her hair -with his left hand; she was on her knees beside him, and with his -right arm held aloft, he flourished a long keen Turkish handjiar, -which flashed with a blue gleam, for it is a weapon deadly as the -creese of a Malay. - -'Now, now, foster-brother!' cried I, to Callum Dhu, in Gaelic, 'by -God's love and your mother's bones, fire true!' - -He knelt down on one knee, and quick as thought took aim; his keen -and hawk-like eye glanced along the smooth rifle-barrel--there was a -flash--a sharp report; the form of Zahroun wheeled frantically round -for a moment in the air, and then fell flat beside his rescued -prisoner. - -'Dioul!' said Callum, as he coolly reloaded, and cast about his -musket; 'tha chried mi gu'n d'thoir am fear ad tuille trioblaidh -dhuinn!' (The devil! I don't think yonder lout will trouble us -more.) - -But he was mistaken; for again the figure of Zahreun staggered wildly -up, and he fired a pistol at random, and, in revenge, full at us. I -felt a sharp twinge in my left side, as if a hot iron had seared me -suddenly. I became giddy, and as I tottered, the dread of leaving -life and all the world entered my soul, vividly and painfully. - -'O Callum!' I exclaimed, and fell backward into his arms; 'the -villain has shot me!' - -A volley rang in my ears as the Highlanders poured all their shot and -vengeance on Zahroun, who fell prone to the turf, literally riddled -by rifle-balls. - -Callum's deadly aim, by bringing this savage down and arresting his -upraised knife, had averted a great calamity, and saved the life of -Fanny Clavering. Another second had seen our terrified beauty laid -at the feet of the galiondgi a corpse. - -Fanny knew and felt all she owed to Callum, for she had seen him -kneel and aim when others shrank from the perilous task; and as he -sprang lightly up the rock, and tenderly raised her, she impulsively -threw herself with a burst of transport into his arms; for in a -moment she recognized her former acquaintance and guide over the -steep craigs and heath-clad mountains of Glen Ora. - -'Callum Dhu--Callum Mac Ian!' she exclaimed, 'and you it is who have -saved me--oh Callum, how I shall love you!' - -The features of Callum were strongly marked, and bore evidence of -deep and bitter thoughts, and of ready passions. His eyes were keen, -and, by turns, fierce and thoughtful, sad, and winning. His bearing -was soldier-like; his moustaches were smartly trimmed; his eyebrows -were thick and well defined. Fanny, a constitutional coquette, -brought all her batteries to bear upon the handsome Highlander; and -the moment that her native spirit of fun and flirtation replaced her -terror of death, she would have no other hand and no other arm than -those of her 'preserver, her dear, dear old friend Callum,' to -conduct her to the yacht, and assist her up the side on board. - -There, too, I was conveyed in an almost inanimate state; and the -alarm for my safety was greatly increased by the total absence of any -medical attendance. - -I shall not describe the grief of honest Callum, or the terror of -Laura Everingham, who during the past conflict had been seated, pale -and in tears, in the cabin of the yacht; nor her cry of anguish, on -seeing the poor young officer of the Highlanders, who had come so -miraculously to their aid, borne senseless and bleeding into her -father's cabin; nor shall I attempt to detail her wild glance and -speechless astonishment, when the blunt baronet returned to tell her -'that this unfortunate fellow was no other than Allan Mac Innon, the -son of old Glen Ora, the wild Highland boy she had known at home!' * -* * * * * - -It was long before poor Laura could realize the truth of this -information, or the terrible tidings of Clavering's death, which, -after the hurly-burly was over, she learned from Jack Belton and -Callum Dhu next morning. - - - - -CHAPTER LIX. - -A GLEAM OF OTHER DAYS. - -The firing which we had heard on coming in sight of the yacht was -caused by Sir Horace, who, to soothe his impatience, had been -discharging his carronades. Moreover, from an old Greek pilot, who -dwelt on the little isle of Coudouri, he had received some hints, -that unless the yacht was speedily got to sea, she might be attacked -some night and plundered. - -In this affair several of the yachts-men were killed, and several -severely wounded; but all the Highlanders escaped, save Donald Roy, -who had one of his bare legs slashed by a yataghan; the son of old -Ian Mac Raonuil, who received a pistol-shot through the left -shoulder, and another lad from my glen, a son of Alisdair Mac Gouran, -who was bruised by a musket-butt; but the surgeon of the -_Mahmoudieh_, the Turkish steamer, which came in a day or two after, -and who proved to be a clever Milanese, soon put all our cuts and -scars right, and pronounced me out of danger, though two of my ribs -were broken on the left side, and I was weak as a child from -over-excitement and loss of blood. His injunctions moreover were, -that I was not to be removed; but there was no chance of that, while -Laura and Fanny hovered like guardian angels near my cabin-door, and -while the burst of gratitude that swelled the heart of Sir Horace, on -finding himself rescued by Her Majesty's troops, and by my personal -exertions, remained in his bosom--all aristocratic, externally -frigid, and exclusive as it was. - -'Removed!' he reiterated, 'no, no--he shall make my yacht his -home--and every Highlander shall make it his home. They must remain -on board till the schooner returns to Constantinople (she had left it -three weeks ago, on her return to England), and I will be accountable -for them all to their commanding officer. I am an M.P., as well as a -Lieutenant-Colonel--yes, Lieutenant-Colonel of the gallant South -Peddlington Yeomanry, or Prince Alfred's Own Carbineers, the terror -of the mining districts.' - -Jack Belton and Sergeant Mac Ildhui with twenty men had a hunt--a -regular stalking-match--over the island for the fugitive pirates; but -not one was to be found; they had all vanished like the three hundred -and sixty idols of Mecca, when the prophet waved his enchanted lance. -Then Jack conceiving that it would be much more pleasant to proceed -to Stamboul in the yacht of Sir Horace, when there were two charming -young ladies on board, with the best of good living, prime port, and -'no end' of pink champagne and hermetically-sealed provisions, than -to march on foot from Rodosdchig to Heraclea, and from thence to the -Golden Horn, warmly seconded the baronet's grateful invitation, and -sent a despatch to Major Catanagh, detailing Sir Horace's wish, and -warmly commending his zeal for Her Majesty's service. He also sent -the pinnace of the Mahmoudieh for our men's knapsacks, squadbags, and -baggage; and while the lubberly Believers, who formed the crew of -that imperial steamer, were endeavouring, with all the force of their -paddles, engines, and hawser, to drag the yacht into deep water when -the tide flowed, Jack was quietly seated in the cabin--about a month -after all these troubles--beside Fanny at the piano, turning over the -leaves of her music, and gazing sentimentally on her glossy tresses -and white hands, while she warbled away, and in a low voice told him -how 'she dared not seek to offer him, a timid love like hers;' till -our matter-of-fact Jack was quite overcome, and the merry Fanny, -already recovering from the shock of late events, was filled with -laughter at the triumph of her own beauty, and the success of her -brilliant coquetry. - -She had already forgotten poor Snobleigh, who, after doing his duty -bravely in the trenches before the Sedan, was found one morning cold -and stiff, with his sword and a half-finished cigar beside him. He -had been slain in the night by the splinter of a 'whistling-dick,' -_i.e._, a ten-inch shell, and was now taking his eternal rest with -the gallant Blair, and eleven other officers of the Household -Brigade, on Cathcart's Hill. - -At last the yacht was got fairly afloat, and was anchored in the -stream. Her sails were bent anew, her running rigging rove, and the -testy old baronet longed for the time that should find him under -weigh to lay his grievances personally before our ambassador. - -Beating against a head-wind, that blew straight from the Bosphorus, -the _Fairy Bell_ was close-hauled on the starboard tack. It was -evening now; the wind was light; a warm glow bathed all the shore, -and tinted with amber and crimson the waves that rolled upon the -beach from Ogia to the Point of St. Stephen. - -I had been insensible, or weak and dozing, for many days and many -nights--in short, I must have been feverish and delirious for some -time previous; and on this evening, when the cool sea-breeze from the -open cabin-window fanned my cheek, and the bright waves ran merrily -past in the setting sunshine, I first became aware of existence; the -painful phantasmagoria of sickness passed away, and I felt conscious -of the rippling water, the warm sun, and the flowers that stood in -vases near me. I had dreams of Laura Everingham, and of her pretty -face prying into mine--that face, the soft features of which were -almost fading from my memory like a dream of other years. I -remembered sounds of music that had come to me in sleep; soft -perfumed hands that had touched me; subdued lights, and whispering -voices, and then long, dull, and monotonous silences. I started and -awoke to life! Laura's well-remembered voice was in my ear, and -speaking to me--every accent was painfully yet delightfully distinct. - -The voice of Laura--could it be? Was the tender memory of Iola--were -all the events of the past year--but a dream? Or was the hope that -had brightened other days coming back to me again? - -Who has not felt the nameless, the indescribable thrill, amounting -almost to a pang of joy, that shoots through the heart after a long, -and it might be, hopeless separation, when the old familiar voice of -one beloved--a friend, relation, or lover falls upon the ear? - -I drew back the curtain--there was a light step on the carpet; a -little hand was placed in mine, and two blue eyes looked kindly and -tenderly on my face with a sad smile, such as Laura alone could give. - -'Oh, Laura!' I whispered, in a breathless voice, 'I have suffered -much--very much since we last met.' - -'And I, too, have suffered,' said she, weeping. - -'You?--oh--I remember now.' I added, pressing a hand upon my brow, -and endeavouring to rally all my thoughts; 'did not some one die--and -then we had some fighting?' - -But my brain became giddy and I closed my eyes, yet I still felt the -pressure of Laura's little hand, as it lay trembling in mine. My -heart vibrated to its pulses, for in this there was a dangerous and -alluring novelty that bewildered me. Sleep seemed to come upon me -again, and of that interview I remember no more. - -Again it was evening, and the sun, as he set behind the faint blue -hills of Roumelia, shed a blaze of yellow glory over the vast extent -of Constantinople, gilding its embattled towers, its tall white -galleried minarets, topped with glittering crescents, its gilded -domes of dazzling brightness, and its dense masses of terraced roofs, -filling every casement apparently with lamps of burnished gold. The -green foliage of the Seraglio Garden and of the Prince's Island; the -white walls of Scutari, the strong tower of Galata, Pera, the -residence of the Franks, were all sparkling in light; and the forest -of masts and gay ensigns that crowded the Golden Horn seemed to be -countless as the light caiques that shot over the ripples of the -Bosphorus. - -Long and black rows of cypresses cast their shadows to the east, -lengthening, as the sun departs; then, hark! the red evening guns -peal from the strong tower of the Seraskier; the ships of war reply, -and the muezzins, from a thousand mosques, shout the shrill cry 'to -prayer!' while over tower and temple, cypress-grove and guarded ship, -over the Seven Towers, the giant façade of the Seraglio, and over all -the sparkling sea the sunlight dies away. - -We were at anchor off the city, and stretched upon a cushioned sofa, -I gazed languidly at all this from the stern windows, as the yacht -swung round with the stream. - -Laura was beside me; Sir Horace had gone ashore to confer with the -ambassador; Fanny was with Jack Belton in the outer cabin, as the -tinkling of a piano informed me--and, as Laura timidly seated herself -by my side, Callum Dhu, my constant, my kind and faithful attendant, -retired on deck. - -I felt happy; for after a separation so long and so hopeless, and -having the certainty of a separation before us again, to be with her -was to enjoy perfect happiness. - -'Laura,' said I, 'I feel as if in a dream--while addressing you, and -when uttering your name.' - -'A dream?' - -'From which I fear to waken.' - -'Dream on, then, dear Allan, if it delights you.' - -'My life at home was all an agony of suspense and continued -mortifications, even while hope, however faint and slender, lasted; -but how shall I describe the torture that life became, after hope -itself faded away, and I lost you--lost you for ever!' - -Laura answered only with her tears, and a long pause, filled up by -tender smiles and mute caressing glances or a pressure of the hand -ensued. All was forgiven and forgotten. - -My letter from Dumbarton she had _never received_. So this imaginary -neglect, which had stung me so deeply, was at once explained away. - -And what of poor Iola? Was my love for her forgotten quite? - -Here, in my own extenuation, I cannot do better than quote a -paragraph from one of the most pleasing of our female writers--one -alike charming for the brilliancy of her style and the beauty of her -person, when referring to a man's first and other loves:-- - -'He spoke no more than truth when he told you that you were his ideal -of love and loveliness. The woman who is so beloved may have -successors, as she may have had predecessors; but rivals--properly so -called--she can have none. Lone and different as the moon in a -heaven full of stars, she remains in the world of that man's heart. -He has known other women and he has known HER. It may be the love of -his youth, or the wife of his old age--first love, or last love--it -matters not. _The_ love--the one love that fulfils all the -exigencies of illusion, all the charms of sense, and all the -pleasures of companionship, comes but _once_ in a man's life-time. -The rest are substitutes, make-shifts for love. To them in vain he -shall affirm or deny that which they desire or dread to hear. In his -heart a shadow sits enthroned, who for ever bends down to listen--to -watch those who would approach him--and bar them out, with whispers -of sorrowful comparison, and the delight of remembered days.' - -During my passion for Iola I believed that Laura's marriage had freed -me from every tie to _her_--a bitter freedom certainly. - -The story of Clavering's horrid fate had been told to her long since -by Jack Belton, and on my recovery, her natural sorrow was one of the -first things that piqued and galled me, the more so as poor Tom's -miniature, done in Thorburn's best style, seemed to be constantly -winking at me out of a brooch on Laura's breast. I referred to this, -and she gave me a sad smile. - -'Poor Clavering was well worthy of all my esteem,' said she; '_that_ -sentiment he possessed to the full, Allan, but my love--never! Oh, -never! for it was yours, and yours only, dear Allan,' she added, -sobbing on my shoulder. 'He knew that he possessed my purest esteem -when he married me, and hoped that love would follow the marriage -into which papa's impetuosity hurried me--a vain and too often a -wicked hope. Advised by some, cajoled by others, quizzed by a few, -seriously urged by the many, and overawed by papa, I consented to -become his wife, and no time was given for reflecting or retracting. -You were lost to me, and other love I had none; so the day came at -last which was to make your Laura Everingham his Laura Clavering--the -fatal day came and the hour! The vows were said; the mute assent was -given; _this_ gold ring was placed upon my finger--there was a -kissing of friends to undergo--a murmur of voices, and a hum of -congratulation. I heard the marriage-bells jangling overhead and -felt myself lifted into a carriage. I had fainted, and remember no -more of that day--but that poor Clavering was all tenderness and -kindness.' - -I sighed bitterly at this description; and then felt something of joy -and triumph as Laura placed her cheek caressingly to mine, while with -her sweet eyes the very sunshine seemed to brighten as she smiled -with the same smile that first shed a light upon my path in life, and -taught me that I had a heart to lose. - -'Ah, Laura,' I exclaimed, 'I have but one request to make of heaven.' - -'And it is----' - -'That you will love me as of old.' - -'Dearest Allan, my heart never wavered in its love for you; though my -affections were forced upon another, my soul was ever with you. Take -courage, Allan, you will soon recover, and all will yet be well.' - -'I have no wish to recover!' I exclaimed, with a sudden burst of -renewed bitterness. - -'Allan!' - -'None. I wish that Zahroun's shot had pierced my heart; I can never -win you, for your father hates me, and will never consent to our -marriage!' - -'_He does not hate you_, my dear boy,' exclaimed the hearty voice of -old Sir Horace, as he started forward from a corner of the cabin, -where he had been for some time an unknown observer of this scene; -'he does not hate you--but he loves and regards you, as you deserve -to be loved and regarded, for he owes you a debt of eternal -gratitude; he owes you life and more than life--the safety and honour -of his dear little Laura. Take her, Allan Mac Innon, and with her -take your old ancestral glen, wood and water, rock and mountain--and -may God bless you both, and make you happy as you deserve to be!' - - - - -CHAPTER XL. - -FAREWELL. - -After the interesting tableau with which the last chapter concludes, -the reader may consider that to say more were a useless task; but -there are others in this narrative for whom I trust he--or she--may -have conceived a little affection as well as for myself. - -My friend, Jack Belton, was excellent at all manner of flirtation, -and had an inimitable way of hanging sentimentally over a believing -young lady's chair, and quoting Byron, or even Shelly, and giving her -to know with all point and tenderness how, if - - '----the sunbeams kiss the earth, - And the moonbeams kiss the sea, - What are all these kissings worth, - If _thou_ kiss not _me_?' - -And Jack was always sketching or copying music for the girls about -the garrison--_i.e._, making the band-master do so, and passing it -off--like a rogue as he was--for his own. He was dazzled by Fanny -Clavering; but his surprise and chagrin were great, to find that, -when promenading the deck, she was quite as much enchanted with her -old friend Callum Dhu as with himself. - -'A private!' muttered Jack, stroking his bandolined moustache; -'demme, the girl's mad!' - -After a time, he discovered that she was more than a match for him--a -perfect flirt, who knew the language of the _fan_, as well as any -girl of Cadiz or Almeria. - -In the evenings when they sat on the deck, viewing the scenery of the -Bosphorus, Jack was always by Fanny's side, watching her bright and -beautiful face, and her sparkling eyes, that glanced waggishly -upward, from under the prettiest of pink parasols with a long wavy -fringe. Here would this coquettish Fanny deal her battery of smiling -shots and wicked shells alternately at Jack Belton and my Highland -follower, whom on some cunning pretence or other she contrived to -keep pretty constantly about her; and on whom, to the unbounded wrath -of Jack, she gave the especial care of her little Maltese spaniel--a -silky-haired and Lillyputian cur, with a pug nose, a snappish eye, a -silver collar and bell, all being the parting gift of some forgotten -lover in the Rifles at Valetta. - -Seated thus, with Jack by her side, and the handsome 'Callum in -attendance,' as she phrased it, Fanny would speak to the latter of -his home, of the Highlands, of Glen Ora, and poor Callum's honest -heart was so completely won, that the memory of his dead Minnie was -forgotten. He could have worshipped this beautiful English lady who -knew so much about the clans and of other times, when that oppression -of the poor, which now crieth to God for vengeance, was unknown in -the land of the Gael; and who said so many kind and bewildering -things to him; and though his plainness, his honesty, and manliness -gained her respect--even as the heavy debt she owed him won her -gratitude--his handsome face and noble figure, with his sincere eye -and respectful manner, made so favourable an impression on the -brilliant Fanny, that though making in her little heart, a vow for -the thousandth time, not to coquette with the poor private soldier, -she could not resist it; and the end of it all was, that the biter -was bitten; for the dazzling Fanny fell in love with my henchman, -even as the friend of my "Lady Lee," the proud and imperious Orelia -Payne, did with her corporal of Dragoons. - -Though a coarse red coat covered the broad breast of Callum Dhu, -Fanny felt all his sterling worth, over the artificial flutterers who -had surrounded her so long; and his superior officer, the fashionable -Jack Belton, informed me with undisguised chagrin, 'that while my -demmed fellow was present on deck, Miss Clavering seemed to have eyes -for no one else.' - -The end of all this coquetting, promenading, piano-playing, and -music-turning, et cetera was, that our lively flirt consented one -evening to become the lawful spouse of John Belton, Esq., of Her -Majesty's --th Highlanders, but--after secretly pounding enough out -of her many thousands to buy her Celtic lover a commission in the -Turkish contingent--she levanted before daybreak, and was privately -married at the chapel of the British Embassy to--_Callum Dhu_! - -This little mésalliance rather soured Sir Horace, and intensely -disgusted Jack, who quite forgot the fag-end of his mess-room ditty, -_anent_ being 'sad about trifles,' and started in a rage to join our -first battalion at Balaclava. - -I have procured sick-leave, as the doctors aver that the devil of a -bullet made such a hole in my side that nothing will close or cure it -but my native Highland air. - -I am to return home--home to Glen Ora in the _Fairy Bell_, the yacht -of Sir Horace, and _we_ are to be married in due time after our -arrival; for the worthy baronet, after mature consideration, was -pleased to reiterate his consent, without apparently caring a jot -about what that bugbear 'the world,' would say. - -The old M.P. had met this personage--'the world,' in Parliament, and -in the borough for which he is Member; he had met him at Almack's; at -Crockford's; at Véry's; at the Opera; at Meurice's in Paris, and he -marvelled in secret what this awful inquisitor, whose whereabouts is -so dangerously vague, would say to the fact of his only daughter and -heiress not becoming the wife of any of the _blasé_ Honourables or -sporting Peers to whom gossip had alternately assigned her; but -simply plain Mrs. Allan Mac Innon, the wife of a hero, with only Her -Majesty's 6_s._ 6_d._ per diem. - -He took another glass of Moselle; pondered a little, and thought it -was all for the best. - -And so think I! With Laura for my bride, I would not envy Alexander -of all the Russias on his throne. - -The hearths of the people shall again be lit in Glen Ora; from the -wilds of the Far West I will call the survivors home; and there, at -least, the image of God shall no longer give place to grouse and -deer--to sheep and dogs! - -Reality never equalled anticipation, say casuists and moralists; but -those fellows seldom smell gunpowder, and moreover never saw, never -loved or were beloved by such a girl as Laura Everingham. - - - -THE END - - - -BRADBURY, EVANS, AND CO., PRINTERS, WHITEFRIARS. - - - - - - - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LAURA EVERINGHAM *** - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law 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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