3 files changed, 9637 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/old/ant2w10.txt b/old/ant2w10.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..cde1cba
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/ant2w10.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,9637 @@
+The Project Gutenberg EBook The Antiquary, By Sir Walter Scott, V2
+[There are many other eBooks by Sir Walter Scott in the PG catalog]
+
+Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the
+copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing
+this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook.
+
+This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project
+Gutenberg file.  Please do not remove it.  Do not change or edit the
+header without written permission.
+                    
+Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the
+eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file.  Included is
+important information about your specific rights and restrictions in
+how the file may be used.  You can also find out about how to make a
+donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved.
+
+
+**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts**
+
+**EBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971**
+
+*****These EBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers*****
+
+
+Title: The Antiquary, Volume 2.
+
+Author: Sir Walter Scott
+
+Release Date: December 2004  [EBook #7004]
+[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule]
+[This file was first posted on February 21, 2003]
+
+Edition: 10
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+
+
+
+
+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ANTIQUARY, BY SCOTT, V2 ***
+
+
+
+This eBook was produced by David Widger  [widger@cecomet.net]
+
+
+
+
+
+                              THE ANTIQUARY
+
+                           By Sir Walter Scott
+
+
+
+                               VOLUME TWO.
+
+
+                              CHAPTER FIRST.
+
+
+                 Wiser Raymondus, in his closet pent,
+                 Laughs at such danger and adventurement
+              When half his lands are spent in golden smoke,
+              And now his second hopeful glasse is broke,
+                 But yet, if haply his third furnace hold,
+                Devoteth all his pots and pans to gold.*
+
+* The author cannot remember where these lines are to be found: perhaps
+in Bishop Hall's Satires. [They occur in Book iv. Satire iii.]
+
+
+About a week after the adventures commemorated in our last chapter, Mr.
+Oldbuck, descending to his breakfast-parlour, found that his womankind
+were not upon duty, his toast not made, and the silver jug, which was
+wont to receive his libations of mum, not duly aired for its reception.
+
+"This confounded hot-brained boy!" he said to himself; "now that he
+begins to get out of danger, I can tolerate this life no longer. All goes
+to sixes and sevens--an universal saturnalia seems to be proclaimed in my
+peaceful and orderly family. I ask for my sister--no answer. I call, I
+shout--I invoke my inmates by more names than the Romans gave to their
+deities--at length Jenny, whose shrill voice I have heard this half-hour
+lilting in the Tartarean regions of the kitchen, condescends to hear me
+and reply, but without coming up stairs, so the conversation must be
+continued at the top of my lungs. "--Here he again began to hollow aloud
+--"Jenny, where's Miss Oldbuck?"
+
+"Miss Grizzy's in the captain's room."
+
+"Umph!--I thought so--and where's my niece?"
+
+"Miss Mary's making the captain's tea."
+
+"Umph! I supposed as much again--and where's Caxon?"
+
+"Awa to the town about the captain's fowling-gun, and his setting-dog."
+
+"And who the devil's to dress my periwig, you silly jade?--when you knew
+that Miss Wardour and Sir Arthur were coming here early after breakfast,
+how could you let Caxon go on such a Tomfool's errand?"
+
+"Me! what could I hinder him?--your honour wadna hae us contradict the
+captain e'en now, and him maybe deeing?"
+
+"Dying!" said the alarmed Antiquary,--"eh! what? has he been worse?"
+
+"Na, he's no nae waur that I ken of."*
+
+* It is, I believe, a piece of free-masonry, or a point of conscience,
+among the Scottish lower orders, never to admit that a patient is doing
+better. The closest approach to recovery which they can be brought to
+allow, is, that the pairty inquired after is "Nae waur."
+
+"Then he must be better--and what good is a dog and a gun to do here, but
+the one to destroy all my furniture, steal from my larder, and perhaps
+worry the cat, and the other to shoot somebody through the head. He has
+had gunning and pistolling enough to serve him one while, I should
+think."
+
+Here Miss Oldbuck entered the parlour, at the door of which Oldbuck was
+carrying on this conversation, he bellowing downward to Jenny, and she
+again screaming upward in reply.
+
+"Dear brother," said the old lady, "ye'll cry yoursell as hoarse as a
+corbie--is that the way to skreigh when there's a sick person in the
+house?"
+
+"Upon my word, the sick person's like to have all the house to himself,--
+I have gone without my breakfast, and am like to go without my wig; and I
+must not, I suppose, presume to say I feel either hunger or cold, for
+fear of disturbing the sick gentleman who lies six rooms off, and who
+feels himself well enough to send for his dog and gun, though he knows I
+detest such implements ever since our elder brother, poor Williewald,
+marched out of the world on a pair of damp feet, caught in the
+Kittlefitting-moss. But that signifies nothing; I suppose I shall be
+expected by and by to lend a hand to carry Squire Hector out upon his
+litter, while he indulges his sportsmanlike propensities by shooting my
+pigeons, or my turkeys--I think any of the _ferae naturae_ are safe from
+him for one while."
+
+Miss M'Intyre now entered, and began to her usual morning's task of
+arranging her uncle's breakfast, with the alertness of one who is too
+late in setting about a task, and is anxious to make up for lost time.
+But this did not avail her. "Take care, you silly womankind--that mum's
+too near the fire--the bottle will burst; and I suppose you intend to
+reduce the toast to a cinder as a burnt-offering for Juno, or what do you
+call her--the female dog there, with some such Pantheon kind of a name,
+that your wise brother has, in his first moments of mature reflection,
+ordered up as a fitting inmate of my house (I thank him), and meet
+company to aid the rest of the womankind of my household in their daily
+conversation and intercourse with him."
+
+"Dear uncle, don't be angry about the poor spaniel; she's been tied up at
+my brother's lodgings at Fairport, and she's broke her chain twice, and
+came running down here to him; and you would not have us beat the
+faithful beast away from the door?--it moans as if it had some sense of
+poor Hector's misfortune, and will hardly stir from the door of his
+room."
+
+"Why," said his uncle, "they said Caxon had gone to Fairport after his
+dog and gun."
+
+"O dear sir, no," answered Miss M'Intyre, "it was to fetch some dressings
+that were wanted, and Hector only wished him to bring out his gun, as he
+was going to Fairport at any rate."
+
+"Well, then, it is not altogether so foolish a business, considering what
+a mess of womankind have been about it--Dressings, quotha?--and who is to
+dress my wig?--But I suppose Jenny will undertake"--continued the old
+bachelor, looking at himself in the glass--"to make it somewhat decent.
+And now let us set to breakfast--with what appetite we may. Well may I
+say to Hector, as Sir Isaac Newton did to his dog Diamond, when the
+animal (I detest dogs) flung down the taper among calculations which had
+occupied the philosopher for twenty years, and consumed the whole mass of
+materials--Diamond, Diamond, thou little knowest the mischief thou hast
+done!"
+
+"I assure you, sir," replied his niece, "my brother is quite sensible of
+the rashness of his own behaviour, and allows that Mr. Lovel behaved very
+handsomely."
+
+"And much good that will do, when he has frightened the lad out of the
+country! I tell thee, Mary, Hector's understanding, and far more that of
+feminity, is inadequate to comprehend the extent of the loss which he has
+occasioned to the present age and to posterity--_aureum quidem opus_--a
+poem on such a subject, with notes illustrative of all that is clear, and
+all that is dark, and all that is neither dark nor clear, but hovers in
+dusky twilight in the region of Caledonian antiquities. I would have made
+the Celtic panegyrists look about them. Fingal, as they conceitedly term
+Fin-Mac-Coul, should have disappeared before my search, rolling himself
+in his cloud like the spirit of Loda. Such an opportunity can hardly
+again occur to an ancient and grey-haired man; and to see it lost by the
+madcap spleen of a hot-headed boy! But I submit--Heaven's will be done!"
+
+Thus continued the Antiquary to _maunder,_ as his sister expressed it,
+during the whole time of breakfast, while, despite of sugar and honey,
+and all the comforts of a Scottish morning tea-table, his reflections
+rendered the meal bitter to all who heard them. But they knew the nature
+of the man. "Monkbarns's bark," said Miss Griselda Oldbuck, in
+confidential intercourse with Miss Rebecca Blattergowl, "is muckle waur
+than his bite."
+
+In fact, Mr. Oldbuck had suffered in mind extremely while his nephew was
+in actual danger, and now felt himself at liberty, upon his returning
+health, to indulge in complaints respecting the trouble he had been put
+to, and the interruption of his antiquarian labours. Listened to,
+therefore, in respectful silence, by his niece and sister, he unloaded
+his discontent in such grumblings as we have rehearsed, venting many a
+sarcasm against womankind, soldiers, dogs, and guns, all which implements
+of noise, discord, and tumult, as he called them, he professed to hold in
+utter abomination.
+
+This expectoration of spleen was suddenly interrupted by the noise of a
+carriage without, when, shaking off all sullenness at the sound, Oldbuck
+ran nimbly up stairs and down stairs, for both operations were necessary
+ere he could receive Miss Wardour and her father at the door of his
+mansion.
+
+A cordial greeting passed on both sides. And Sir Arthur, referring to his
+previous inquiries by letter and message, requested to be particularly
+informed of Captain M'Intyre's health.
+
+"Better than he deserves," was the answer--"better than he deserves, for
+disturbing us with his vixen brawls, and breaking God's peace and the
+King's."
+
+"The young gentleman," Sir Arthur said, "had been imprudent; but he
+understood they were indebted to him for the detection of a suspicious
+character in the young man Lovel."
+
+"No more suspicious than his own," answered the Antiquary, eager in his
+favourites defence;--"the young gentleman was a little foolish and
+headstrong, and refused to answer Hector's impertinent interrogatories--
+that is all. Lovel, Sir Arthur, knows how to choose his confidants
+better--Ay, Miss Wardour, you may look at me--but it is very true;--it
+was in my bosom that he deposited the secret cause of his residence at
+Fairport; and no stone should have been left unturned on my part to
+assist him in the pursuit to which he had dedicated himself."
+
+On hearing this magnanimous declaration on the part of the old Antiquary,
+Miss Wardour changed colour more than once, and could hardly trust her
+own ears. For of all confidants to be selected as the depositary of love
+affairs,--and such she naturally supposed must have been the subject of
+communication,--next to Edie Ochiltree, Oldbuck seemed the most uncouth
+and extraordinary; nor could she sufficiently admire or fret at the
+extraordinary combination of circumstances which thus threw a secret of
+such a delicate nature into the possession of persons so unfitted to be
+entrusted with it. She had next to fear the mode of Oldbuck's entering
+upon the affair with her father, for such, she doubted not, was his
+intention. She well knew that the honest gentleman, however vehement in
+his prejudices, had no great sympathy with those of others, and she had
+to fear a most unpleasant explosion upon an _e'claircissement_ taking
+place between them. It was therefore with great anxiety that she heard
+her father request a private interview, and observed Oldbuck readily
+arise and show the way to his library. She remained behind, attempting to
+converse with the ladies of Monkbarns, but with the distracted feelings
+of Macbeth, when compelled to disguise his evil conscience by listening
+and replying to the observations of the attendant thanes upon the storm
+of the preceding night, while his whole soul is upon the stretch to
+listen for the alarm of murder, which he knows must be instantly raised
+by those who have entered the sleeping apartment of Duncan. But the
+conversation of the two virtuosi turned on a subject very different from
+that which Miss Wardour apprehended.
+
+"Mr. Oldbuck," said Sir Arthur, when they had, after a due exchange of
+ceremonies, fairly seated themselves in the _sanctum sanctorum_ of the
+Antiquary,--"you, who know so much of my family matters, may probably be
+surprised at the question I am about to put to you."
+
+"Why, Sir Arthur, if it relates to money, I am very sorry, but"--
+
+"It does relate to money matters, Mr. Oldbuck."
+
+"Really, then, Sir Arthur," continued the Antiquary, "in the present
+state of the money-market--and stocks being so low"--
+
+"You mistake my meaning, Mr. Oldbuck," said the Baronet; "I wished to ask
+your advice about laying out a large sum of money to advantage."
+
+"The devil!" exclaimed the Antiquary; and, sensible that his involuntary
+ejaculation of wonder was not over and above civil, he proceeded to
+qualify it by expressing his joy that Sir Arthur should have a sum of
+money to lay out when the commodity was so scarce. "And as for the mode
+of employing it," said he, pausing, "the funds are low at present, as I
+said before, and there are good bargains of land to be had. But had you
+not better begin by clearing off encumbrances, Sir Arthur?--There is the
+sum in the personal bond--and the three notes of hand," continued he,
+taking out of the right-hand drawer of his cabinet a certain red
+memorandum-book, of which Sir Arthur, from the experience of former
+frequent appeals to it, abhorred the very sight--"with the interest
+thereon, amounting altogether to--let me see"--
+
+"To about a thousand pounds," said Sir Arthur, hastily; "you told me the
+amount the other day."
+
+"But there's another term's interest due since that, Sir Arthur, and it
+amounts (errors excepted) to eleven hundred and thirteen pounds, seven
+shillings, five pennies, and three-fourths of a penny sterling--But look
+over the summation yourself."
+
+"I daresay you are quite right, my dear sir," said the Baronet, putting
+away the book with his hand, as one rejects the old-fashioned civility
+that presses food upon you after you have eaten till you nauseate--
+"perfectly right, I dare say; and in the course of three days or less you
+shall have the full value--that is, if you choose to accept it in
+bullion."
+
+"Bullion! I suppose you mean lead. What the deuce! have we hit on the
+vein then at last? But what could I do with a thousand pounds' worth, and
+upwards, of lead? The former abbots of Trotcosey might have roofed their
+church and monastery with it indeed--but for me"--
+
+"By bullion," said the Baronet, "I mean the precious metals,--gold and
+silver."
+
+"Ay! indeed?--and from what Eldorado is this treasure to be imported?"
+
+"Not far from hence," said Sir Arthur, significantly. "And naow I think
+of it, you shall see the whole process, on one small condition."
+
+"And what is that?" craved the Antiquary.
+
+"Why, it will be necessary for you to give me your friendly assistance,
+by advancing one hundred pounds or thereabouts."
+
+Mr. Oldbuck, who had already been grasping in idea the sum, principal and
+interest, of a debt which he had long regarded as wellnigh desperate, was
+so much astounded at the tables being so unexpectedly turned upon him,
+that he could only re-echo, in an accent of wo and surprise, the words,
+"Advance one hundred pounds!"
+
+"Yes, my good sir," continued Sir Arthur; "but upon the best possible
+security of being repaid in the course of two or three days."
+
+There was a pause--either Oldbuck's nether jaw had not recovered its
+position, so as to enable him to utter a negative, or his curiosity kept
+him silent.
+
+"I would not propose to you," continued Sir Arthur, "to oblige me thus
+far, if I did not possess actual proofs of the reality of those
+expectations which I now hold out to you. And I assure you, Mr. Oldbuck,
+that in entering fully upon this topic, it is my purpose to show my
+confidence in you, and my sense of your kindness on many former
+occasions."
+
+Mr. Oldbuck professed his sense of obligation, but carefully avoided
+committing himself by any promise of farther assistance.
+
+"Mr. Dousterswivel," said Sir Arthur, "having discovered"--
+
+Here Oldbuck broke in, his eyes sparkling with indignation. "Sir Arthur,
+I have so often warned you of the knavery of that rascally quack, that I
+really wonder you should quote him to me."
+
+"But listen--listen," interrupted Sir Arthur in his turn, "it will do you
+no harm. In short, Dousterswivel persuaded me to witness an experiment
+which he had made in the ruins of St. Ruth--and what do you think we
+found?"
+
+"Another spring of water, I suppose, of which the rogue had beforehand
+taken care to ascertain the situation and source."
+
+"No, indeed--a casket of gold and silver coins--here they are."
+
+With that, Sir Arthur drew from his pocket a large ram's horn, with a
+copper cover, containing a considerable quantity of coins, chiefly
+silver, but with a few gold pieces intermixed. The Antiquary's eyes
+glistened as he eagerly spread them out on the table.
+
+"Upon my word--Scotch, English, and foreign coins, of the fifteenth and
+sixteenth centuries, and some of them _rari--et rariores--etiam
+rarissimi!_ Here is the bonnet-piece of James V., the unicorn of James
+II.,--ay, and the gold festoon of Queen Mary, with her head and the
+Dauphin's. And these were really found in the ruins of St. Ruth?"
+
+"Most assuredly--my own eyes witnessed it."
+
+"Well," replied Oldbuck; "but you must tell me the when--the where-the
+how."
+
+"The when," answered Sir Arthur, "was at midnight the last full moon--the
+where, as I have told you, in the ruins of St. Ruth's priory--the how,
+was by a nocturnal experiment of Dousterswivel, accompanied only by
+myself."
+
+"Indeed!" said Oldbuck; "and what means of discovery did you employ?"
+
+"Only a simple suffumigation," said the Baronet, "accompanied by availing
+ourselves of the suitable planetary hour."
+
+"Simple suffumigation? simple nonsensification--planetary hour? planetary
+fiddlestick! _Sapiens dominabitur astris._ My dear Sir Arthur, that
+fellow has made a gull of you above ground and under ground, and he would
+have made a gull of you in the air too, if he had been by when you was
+craned up the devil's turnpike yonder at Halket-head--to be sure the
+transformation would have been then peculiarly _apropos._"
+
+"Well, Mr. Oldbuck, I am obliged to you for your indifferent opinion of
+my discernment; but I think you will give me credit for having seen what
+I _say_ I saw."
+
+"Certainly, Sir Arthur," said the Antiquary,--"to this extent at least,
+that I know Sir Arthur Wardour will not say he saw anything but what he
+_thought_ he saw."
+
+"Well, then," replied the Baronet, "as there is a heaven above us, Mr.
+Oldbuck, I saw, with my own eyes, these coins dug out of the chancel of
+St. Ruth at midnight. And as to Dousterswivel, although the discovery be
+owing to his science, yet, to tell the truth, I do not think he would
+have had firmness of mind to have gone through with it if I had not been
+beside him."
+
+"Ay! indeed?" said Oldbuck, in the tone used when one wishes to hear the
+end of a story before making any comment.
+
+"Yes truly," continued Sir Arthur--"I assure you I was upon my guard--we
+did hear some very uncommon sounds, that is certain, proceeding from
+among the ruins."
+
+"Oh, you did?" said Oldbuck; "an accomplice hid among them, I suppose?"
+
+"Not a jot," said the Baronet;--"the sounds, though of a hideous and
+preternatural character, rather resembled those of a man who sneezes
+violently than any other--one deep groan I certainly heard besides; and
+Dousterswivel assures me that he beheld the spirit Peolphan, the Great
+Hunter of the North--(look for him in your Nicolaus Remigius, or Petrus
+Thyracus, Mr. Oldbuck)--who mimicked the motion of snuff-taking and its
+effects."
+
+"These indications, however singular as proceeding from such a personage,
+seem to have been _apropos_ to the matter," said the Antiquary; "for you
+see the case, which includes these coins, has all the appearance of being
+an old-fashioned Scottish snuff-mill. But you persevered, in spite of the
+terrors of this sneezing goblin?"
+
+"Why, I think it probable that a man of inferior sense or consequence
+might have given way; but I was jealous of an imposture, conscious of the
+duty I owed to my family in maintaining my courage under every
+contingency, and therefore I compelled Dousterswivel, by actual and
+violent threats, to proceed with what he was about to do;--and, sir, the
+proof of his skill and honesty is this parcel of gold and silver pieces,
+out of which I beg you to select such coins or medals as will best suit
+your collection."
+
+"Why, Sir Arthur, since you are so good, and on condition you will permit
+me to mark the value according to Pinkerton's catalogue and appreciation,
+against your account in my red book, I will with pleasure select"--
+
+"Nay," said Sir Arthur Wardour, "I do not mean you should consider them
+as anything but a gift of friendship and least of all would I stand by
+the valuation of your friend Pinkerton, who has impugned the ancient and
+trustworthy authorities upon which, as upon venerable and moss-grown
+pillars, the credit of Scottish antiquities reposed."
+
+"Ay, ay," rejoined Oldbuck, "you mean, I suppose, Mair and Boece, the
+Jachin and Boaz, not of history but of falsification and forgery. And
+notwithstanding all you have told me, I look on your friend Dousterswivel
+to be as apocryphal as any of them."
+
+"Why then, Mr. Oldbuck," said Sir Arthur, "not to awaken old disputes, I
+suppose you think, that because I believe in the ancient history of my
+country, I have neither eyes nor ears to ascertain what modern events
+pass before me?"
+
+"Pardon me, Sir Arthur," rejoined the Antiquary; "but I consider all the
+affectation of terror which this worthy gentleman, your coadjutor, chose
+to play off, as being merely one part of his trick or mystery. And with
+respect to the gold or silver coins, they are so mixed and mingled in
+country and date, that I cannot suppose they could be any genuine hoard,
+and rather suppose them to be, like the purses upon the table of
+Hudibras's lawyer--
+
+                       --Money placed for show,
+                   Like nest-eggs, to make clients lay,
+                   And for his false opinions pay.--
+
+It is the trick of all professions, my dear Sir Arthur. Pray, may I ask
+you how much this discovery cost you?"
+
+"About ten guineas."
+
+"And you have gained what is equivalent to twenty in actual bullion, and
+what may be perhaps worth as much more to such fools as ourselves, who
+are willing to pay for curiosity. This was allowing you a tempting profit
+on the first hazard, I must needs admit. And what is the next venture he
+proposes?"
+
+"An hundred and fifty pounds;--I have given him one-third part of the
+money, and I thought it likely you might assist me with the balance."
+
+"I should think that this cannot be meant as a parting blow--is not of
+weight and importance sufficient; he will probably let us win this hand
+also, as sharpers manage a raw gamester.--Sir Arthur, I hope you believe
+I would serve you?"
+
+"Certainly, Mr. Oldbuck; I think my confidence in you on these occasions
+leaves no room to doubt that."
+
+"Well, then, allow me to speak to Dousterswivel. If the money can be
+advanced usefully and advantageously for you, why, for old
+neighbourhood's sake, you shall not want it but if, as I think, I can
+recover the treasure for you without making such an advance, you will,
+I presume, have no objection!"
+
+"Unquestionably, I can have none whatsoever."
+
+"Then where is Dousterswivel?" continued the Antiquary.
+
+"To tell you the truth, he is in my carriage below; but knowing your
+prejudice against him"--
+
+"I thank Heaven, I am not prejudiced against any man, Sir Arthur: it is
+systems, not individuals, that incur my reprobation." He rang the bell.
+"Jenny, Sir Arthur and I offer our compliments to Mr. Dousterswivel, the
+gentleman in Sir Arthur's carriage, and beg to have the pleasure of
+speaking with him here."
+
+Jenny departed and delivered her message. It had been by no means a part
+of the project of Dousterswivel to let Mr. Oldbuck into his supposed
+mystery. He had relied upon Sir Arthur's obtaining the necessary
+accommodation without any discussion as to the nature of the application,
+and only waited below for the purpose of possessing himself of the
+deposit as soon as possible, for he foresaw that his career was drawing
+to a close. But when summoned to the presence of Sir Arthur and Mr.
+Oldbuck, he resolved gallantly to put confidence in his powers of
+impudence, of which, the reader may have observed, his natural share was
+very liberal.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER SECOND.
+
+
+                          --And this Doctor,
+             Your sooty smoky-bearded compeer, he
+             Will close you so much gold in a bolt's head,
+             And, on a turn, convey in the stead another
+             With sublimed mercury, that shall burst i' the heat,
+                      And all fly out _in fumo._--
+                                        The Alchemist.
+
+"How do you do, goot Mr. Oldenbuck? and I do hope your young gentleman,
+Captain M'Intyre, is getting better again? Ach! it is a bat business when
+young gentlemens will put lead balls into each other's body."
+
+"Lead adventures of all kinds are very precarious, Mr. Dousterswivel; but
+I am happy to learn," continued the Antiquary, "from my friend Sir
+Arthur, that you have taken up a better trade, and become a discoverer of
+gold."
+
+"Ach, Mr. Oldenbuck, mine goot and honoured patron should not have told a
+word about dat little matter; for, though I have all reliance--yes,
+indeed, on goot Mr. Oldenbuck's prudence and discretion, and his great
+friendship for Sir Arthur Wardour--yet, my heavens! it is an great
+ponderous secret."
+
+"More ponderous than any of the metal we shall make by it, I fear,"
+answered Oldbuck.
+
+"Dat is just as you shall have de faith and de patience for de grand
+experiment--If you join wid Sir Arthur, as he is put one hundred and
+fifty--see, here is one fifty in your dirty Fairport bank-note--you put
+one other hundred and fifty in de dirty notes, and you shall have de pure
+gold and silver, I cannot tell how much."
+
+"Nor any one for you, I believe," said the Antiquary. "But, hark you, Mr.
+Dousterswivel: Suppose, without troubling this same sneezing spirit with
+any farther fumigations, we should go in a body, and having fair
+day-light and our good consciences to befriend us, using no other
+conjuring implements than good substantial pick-axes and shovels, fairly
+trench the area of the chancel in the ruins of St. Ruth, from one end to
+the other, and so ascertain the existence of this supposed treasure,
+without putting ourselves to any farther expense--the ruins belong to Sir
+Arthur himself, so there can be no objection--do you think we shall
+succeed in this way of managing the matter?"
+
+"Bah!--you will not find one copper thimble--But Sir Arthur will do his
+pleasure. I have showed him how it is possible--very possible--to have de
+great sum of money for his occasions--I have showed him de real
+experiment. If he likes not to believe, goot Mr. Oldenbuck, it is nothing
+to Herman Dousterswivel--he only loses de money and de gold and de
+silvers--dat is all."
+
+Sir Arthur Wardour cast an intimidated glance at Oldbuck who, especially
+when present, held, notwithstanding their frequent difference of opinion,
+no ordinary influence over his sentiments. In truth, the Baronet felt,
+what he would not willingly have acknowledged, that his genius stood
+rebuked before that of the Antiquary. He respected him as a shrewd,
+penetrating, sarcastic character--feared his satire, and had some
+confidence in the general soundness of his opinions. He therefore looked
+at him as if desiring his leave before indulging his credulity.
+Dousterswivel saw he was in danger of losing his dupe, unless he could
+make some favourable impression on the adviser.
+
+"I know, my goot Mr. Oldenbuck, it is one vanity to speak to you about de
+spirit and de goblin. But look at this curious horn;--I know, you know de
+curiosity of all de countries, and how de great Oldenburgh horn, as they
+keep still in the Museum at Copenhagen, was given to de Duke of
+Oldenburgh by one female spirit of de wood. Now I could not put one trick
+on you if I were willing--you who know all de curiosity so well--and dere
+it is de horn full of coins;--if it had been a box or case, I would have
+said nothing."
+
+"Being a horn," said Oldbuck, "does indeed strengthen your argument. It
+was an implement of nature's fashioning, and therefore much used among
+rude nations, although, it may be, the metaphorical horn is more frequent
+in proportion to the progress of civilisation. And this present horn," he
+continued, rubbing it upon his sleeve, "is a curious and venerable relic,
+and no doubt was intended to prove a _cornucopia,_ or horn of plenty, to
+some one or other; but whether to the adept or his patron, may be justly
+doubted."
+
+"Well, Mr. Oldenbuck, I find you still hard of belief--but let me assure
+you, de monksh understood de _magisterium._"
+
+"Let us leave talking of the _magisterium,_ Mr. Dousterswivel, and think
+a little about the magistrate. Are you aware that this occupation of
+yours is against the law of Scotland, and that both Sir Arthur and myself
+are in the commission of the peace?"
+
+"Mine heaven! and what is dat to de purpose when I am doing you all de
+goot I can?"
+
+"Why, you must know that when the legislature abolished the cruel laws
+against witchcraft, they had no hope of destroying the superstitious
+feelings of humanity on which such chimeras had been founded; and to
+prevent those feelings from being tampered with by artful and designing
+persons, it is enacted by the ninth of George the Second, chap. 5, that
+whosoever shall pretend, by his alleged skill in any occult or crafty
+science, to discover such goods as are lost, stolen or concealed, he
+shall suffer punishment by pillory and imprisonment, as a common cheat
+and impostor."
+
+"And is dat de laws?" asked Dousterswivel, with some agitation.
+
+"Thyself shall see the act," replied the Antiquary.
+
+"Den, gentlemens, I shall take my leave of you, dat is all; I do not like
+to stand on your what you call pillory--it is very bad way to take de
+air, I think; and I do not like your prisons no more, where one cannot
+take de air at all."
+
+"If such be your taste, Mr. Dousterswivel," said the Antiquary, "I advise
+you to stay where you are, for I cannot let you go, unless it be in the
+society of a constable; and, moreover, I expect you will attend us just
+now to the ruins of St. Ruth, and point out the place where you propose
+to find this treasure."
+
+"Mine heaven, Mr. Oldenbuck! what usage is this to your old friend, when
+I tell you so plain as I can speak, dat if you go now, you will not get
+so much treasure as one poor shabby sixpence?"
+
+"I will try the experiment, however, and you shall be dealt with
+according to its success,--always with Sir Arthur's permission."
+
+Sir Arthur, during this investigation, had looked extremely embarrassed,
+and, to use a vulgar but expressive phrase, chop-fallen. Oldbuck's
+obstinate disbelief led him strongly to suspect the imposture of
+Dousterswivel, and the adept's mode of keeping his ground was less
+resolute than he had expected. Yet he did not entirely give him up.
+
+ "Mr. Oldbuck," said the Baronet, "you do Mr. Dousterswivel less than
+justice. He has undertaken to make this discovery by the use of his art,
+and by applying characters descriptive of the Intelligences presiding
+over the planetary hour in which the experiment is to be made; and you
+require him to proceed, under pain of punishment, without allowing him
+the use of any of the preliminaries which he considers as the means of
+procuring success."
+
+"I did not say that exactly--I only required him to be present when we
+make the search, and not to leave us during the interval. I fear he may
+have some intelligence with the Intelligences you talk of, and that
+whatever may be now hidden at Saint Ruth may disappear before we get
+there."
+
+"Well, gentlemens," said Dousterswivel, sullenly, "I will make no
+objections to go along with you but I tell you beforehand, you shall not
+find so much of anything as shall be worth your going twenty yard from
+your own gate."
+
+"We will put that to a fair trial," said the Antiquary; and the Baronet's
+equipage being ordered, Miss Wardour received an intimation from her
+father, that she was to remain at Monkbarns until his return from an
+airing. The young lady was somewhat at a loss to reconcile this direction
+with the communication which she supposed must have passed between Sir
+Arthur and the Antiquary; but she was compelled, for the present, to
+remain in a most unpleasant state of suspense.
+
+The journey of the treasure-seekers was melancholy enough. Dousterswivel
+maintained a sulky silence, brooding at once over disappointed
+expectation and the risk of punishment; Sir Arthur, whose golden dreams
+had been gradually fading away, surveyed, in gloomy prospect, the
+impending difficulties of his situation; and Oldbuck, who perceived that
+his having so far interfered in his neighbours affairs gave the Baronet a
+right to expect some actual and efficient assistance, sadly pondered to
+what extent it would be necessary to draw open the strings of his purse.
+Thus each being wrapped in his own unpleasant ruminations, there was
+hardly a word said on either side, until they reached the Four
+Horse-shoes, by which sign the little inn was distinguished. They
+procured at this place the necessary assistance and implements for
+digging, and, while they were busy about these preparations, were
+suddenly joined by the old beggar, Edie Ochiltree.
+
+"The Lord bless your honour," began the Blue-Gown, with the genuine
+mendicant whine, "and long life to you!--weel pleased am I to hear that
+young Captain M'Intyre is like to be on his legs again sune--Think on
+your poor bedesman the day."
+
+"Aha, old true-penny!" replied the Antiquary. "Why, thou hast never come
+to Monkbarns since thy perils by rock and flood--here's something for
+thee to buy snuff,"--and, fumbling for his purse, he pulled out at the
+same time the horn which enclosed the coins.
+
+"Ay, and there's something to pit it in," said the mendicant, eyeing the
+ram's horn--"that loom's an auld acquaintance o' mine. I could take my
+aith to that sneeshing-mull amang a thousand--I carried it for mony a
+year, till I niffered it for this tin ane wi' auld George Glen, the
+dammer and sinker, when he took a fancy till't doun at Glen-Withershins
+yonder."
+
+"Ay! indeed?" said Oldbuck;--"so you exchanged it with a miner? but I
+presume you never saw it so well filled before"--and opening it, he
+showed the coins.
+
+"Troth, ye may swear that, Monkbarns: when it was mine it neer had abune
+the like o' saxpenny worth o' black rappee in't at ance. But I reckon
+ye'll be gaun to mak an antic o't, as ye hae dune wi' mony an orra thing
+besides. Od, I wish anybody wad mak an antic o' me; but mony ane will
+find worth in rousted bits o' capper and horn and airn, that care unco
+little about an auld carle o' their ain country and kind."
+
+"You may now guess," said Oldbuck, turning to Sir Arthur, "to whose good
+offices you were indebted the other night. To trace this cornucopia of
+yours to a miner, is bringing it pretty near a friend of ours--I hope we
+shall be as successful this morning, without paying for it."
+
+"And whare is your honours gaun the day," said the mendicant, "wi' a'
+your picks and shules?--Od, this will be some o' your tricks, Monkbarns:
+ye'll be for whirling some o' the auld monks down by yonder out o' their
+graves afore they hear the last call--but, wi' your leave, I'se follow ye
+at ony rate, and see what ye mak o't."
+
+The party soon arrived at the ruins of the priory, and, having gained the
+chancel, stood still to consider what course they were to pursue next.
+The Antiquary, meantime, addressed the adept.
+
+"Pray, Mr. Dousterswivel, what is your advice in this matter? Shall we
+have most likelihood of success if we dig from east to west, or from west
+to east?--or will you assist us with your triangular vial of May-dew, or
+with your divining-rod of witches-hazel?--or will you have the goodness
+to supply us with a few thumping blustering terms of art, which, if they
+fail in our present service, may at least be useful to those who have not
+the happiness to be bachelors, to still their brawling children withal?"
+
+"Mr. Oldenbuck," said Dousterswivel, doggedly, "I have told you already
+that you will make no good work at all, and I will find some way of mine
+own to thank you for your civilities to me--yes, indeed."
+
+"If your honours are thinking of tirling the floor," said old Edie, "and
+wad but take a puir body's advice, I would begin below that muckle stane
+that has the man there streekit out upon his back in the midst o't."
+
+"I have some reason for thinking favourably of that plan myself," said
+the Baronet.
+
+"And I have nothing to say against it," said Oldbuck: "it was not unusual
+to hide treasure in the tombs of the deceased--many instances might be
+quoted of that from Bartholinus and others."
+
+The tombstone, the same beneath which the coins had been found by Sir
+Arthur and the German, was once more forced aside, and the earth gave
+easy way to the spade.
+
+"It's travell'd earth that," said Edie, "it howks gae eithly--I ken it
+weel, for ance I wrought a simmer wi' auld Will Winnet, the bedral, and
+howkit mair graves than ane in my day; but I left him in winter, for it
+was unco cald wark; and then it cam a green Yule, and the folk died thick
+and fast--for ye ken a green Yule makes a fat kirkyard; and I never dowed
+to bide a hard turn o' wark in my life--sae aff I gaed, and left Will to
+delve his last dwellings by himsell for Edie."
+
+The diggers were now so far advanced in their labours as to discover that
+the sides of the grave which they were clearing out had been originally
+secured by four walls of freestone, forming a parallelogram, for the
+reception, probably, of the coffin.
+
+"It is worth while proceeding in our labours," said the Antiquary to Sir
+Arthur, "were it but for curiosity's sake. I wonder on whose sepulchre
+they have bestowed such uncommon pains."
+
+"The arms on the shield," said Sir Arthur, and sighed as he spoke it,
+"are the same with those on Misticot's tower, supposed to have been built
+by Malcolm the usurper. No man knew where he was buried, and there is an
+old prophecy in our family, that bodes us no good when his grave shall be
+discovered."
+
+"I wot," said the beggar, "I have often heard that when I was a bairn--
+
+              If Malcolm the Misticot's grave were fun',
+              The lands of Knockwinnock were lost and won."
+
+Oldbuck, with his spectacles on his nose, had already knelt down on the
+monument, and was tracing, partly with his eye, partly with his finger,
+the mouldered devices upon the effigy of the deceased warrior. "It is the
+Knockwinnock arms, sure enough," he exclaimed, "quarterly with the coat
+of Wardour."
+
+"Richard, called the red-handed Wardour, married Sybil Knockwinnock, the
+heiress of the Saxon family, and by that alliance," said Sir Arthur,
+"brought the castle and estate into the name of Wardour, in the year of
+God 1150."
+
+"Very true, Sir Arthur; and here is the baton-sinister, the mark of
+illegitimacy, extended diagonally through both coats upon the shield.
+Where can our eyes have been, that they did not see this curious monument
+before?"
+
+"Na, whare was the through-stane, that it didna come before our een till
+e'enow?" said Ochiltree; "for I hae ken'd this auld kirk, man and bairn,
+for saxty lang years, and I neer noticed it afore; and it's nae sic mote
+neither, but what ane might see it in their parritch."
+
+All were now induced to tax their memory as to the former state of the
+ruins in that corner of the chancel, and all agreed in recollecting a
+considerable pile of rubbish which must have been removed and spread
+abroad in order to malke the tomb visible. Sir Arthur might, indeed, have
+remembered seeing the monument on the former occasion, but his mind was
+too much agitated to attend to the circumstance as a novelty.
+
+While the assistants were engaged in these recollections and discussions,
+the workmen proceeded with their labour. They had already dug to the
+depth of nearly five feet, and as the flinging out the soil became more
+and more difficult, they began at length to tire of the job.
+
+"We're down to the till now," said one of them, "and the neer a coffin or
+onything else is here--some cunninger chiel's been afore us, I reckon;"--
+and the labourer scrambled out of the grave.
+
+"Hout, lad," said Edie, getting down in his room--"let me try my hand for
+an auld bedral;--ye're gude seekers, but ill finders."
+
+So soon as he got into the grave, he struck his pike-staff forcibly down;
+it encountered resistance in its descent, and the beggar exclaimed, like
+a Scotch schoolboy when he finds anything, "Nae halvers and quarters--
+hale o' mine ain and 'nane o' my neighbour's."
+
+Everybody, from the dejected Baronet to the sullen adept, now caught the
+spirit of curiosity, crowded round the grave, and would have jumped into
+it, could its space have contained them. The labourers, who had begun to
+flag in their monotonous and apparently hopeless task, now resumed their
+tools, and plied them with all the ardour of expectation. Their shovels
+soon grated upon a hard wooden surface, which, as the earth was cleared
+away, assumed the distinct form of a chest, but greatly smaller than that
+of a coffin. Now all hands were at work to heave it out of the grave, and
+all voices, as it was raised, proclaimed its weight and augured its
+value. They were not mistaken.
+
+When the chest or box was placed on the surface, and the lid forced up by
+a pickaxe, there was displayed first a coarse canvas cover, then a
+quantity of oakum, and beneath that a number of ingots of silver. A
+general exclamation hailed a discovery so surprising and unexpected. The
+Baronet threw his hands and eyes up to heaven, with the silent rapture of
+one who is delivered from inexpressible distress of mind. Oldbuck, almost
+unable to credit his eyes, lifted one piece of silver after another.
+There was neither inscription nor stamp upon them, excepting one, which
+seemed to be Spanish. He could have no doubt of the purity and great
+value of the treasure before him. Still, however, removing piece by
+piece, he examined row by row, expecting to discover that the lower
+layers were of inferior value; but he could perceive no difference in
+this respect, and found himself compelled to admit, that Sir Arthur had
+possessed himself of bullion to the value, perhaps of a thousand pounds
+sterling. Sir Arthur now promised the assistants a handsome recompense
+for their trouble, and began to busy himself about the mode of conveying
+this rich windfall to the Castle of Knockwinnock, when the adept,
+recovering from his surprise, which had squalled that exhibited by any
+other individual of the party, twitched his sleeve, and having offered
+his humble congratulations, turned next to Oldbuck with an air of
+triumph.
+
+"I did tell you, my goot friend, Mr. Oldenbuck, dat I was to seek
+opportunity to thank you for your civility; now do you not think I have
+found out vary goot way to return thank?"
+
+"Why, Mr. Dousterswivel, do you pretend to have had any hand in our good
+success?--you forget you refused us all aid of your science, man; and you
+are here without your weapons that should have fought the battle which
+you pretend to have gained in our behalf: you have used neither charm,
+lamen, sigil, talisman, spell, crystal, pentacle, magic mirror, nor
+geomantic figure. Where be your periapts, and your abracadabras man? your
+Mayfern, your vervain,
+
+           Your toad, your crow, your dragon, and your panther,
+           Your sun, your moon, your firmament, your adrop,
+                Your Lato, Azoch, Zernich, Chibrit, Heautarit,
+           With all your broths, your menstrues, your materials,
+                      Would burst a man to name?--
+
+Ah! rare Ben Jonson! long peace to thy ashes for a scourge of the quacks
+of thy day!--who expected to see them revive in our own?"
+
+The answer of the adept to the Antiquary's tirade we must defer to our
+next chapter.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER THIRD.
+
+   _Clause._--You now shall know the king o' the beggars' treasure:--
+            Yes--ere to-morrow you shall find your harbour
+            Here,--fail me not, for if I live I'll fit you.
+                                       The Beggar's Bush.
+
+The German, determined, it would seem, to assert the vantage-ground on
+which the discovery had placed him, replied with great pomp and
+stateliness to the attack of the Antiquary.
+
+"Maister Oldenbuck, all dis may be very witty and comedy, but I have
+nothing to say--nothing at all--to people dat will not believe deir own
+eye-sights. It is vary true dat I ave not any of de things of de art, and
+it makes de more wonder what I has done dis day. But I would ask of you,
+mine honoured and goot and generous patron, to put your hand into your
+right-hand waistcoat pocket, and show me what you shall find dere."
+
+Sir Arthur obeyed his direction, and pulled out the small plate of silver
+which he had used under the adept's auspices upon the former occasion.
+"It is very true," said Sir Arthur, looking gravely at the Antiquary;
+"this is the graduated and calculated sigil by which Mr. Dousterswivel
+and I regulated our first discovery."
+
+"Pshaw! pshaw! my dear friend," said Oldbuck, "you are too wise to
+believe in the influence of a trumpery crown-piece, beat out thin, and a
+parcel of scratches upon it. I tell thee, Sir Arthur, that if
+Dousterswivel had known where to get this treasure himself, you would not
+have been lord of the least share of it."
+
+"In troth, please your honour," said Edie, who put in his word on all
+occasions, "I think, since Mr. Dunkerswivel has had sae muckle merit in
+discovering a' the gear, the least ye can do is to gie him that o't
+that's left behind for his labour; for doubtless he that kend where to
+find sae muckle will hae nae difficulty to find mair."
+
+Dousterswivel's brow grew very dark at this proposal of leaving him to
+his "ain purchase," as Ochiltree expressed it; but the beggar, drawing
+him aside, whispered a word or two in his ear, to which he seemed to give
+serious attention,
+
+Meanwhile Sir Arthur, his heart warm with his good fortune, said aloud,
+"Never mind our friend Monkbarns, Mr. Dousterswivel, but come to the
+Castle to-morrow, and I'll convince you that I am not ungrateful for the
+hints you have given me about this matter--and the fifty Fairport dirty
+notes, as you call them, are heartily at your service. Come, my lads, get
+the cover of this precious chest fastened up again."
+
+But the cover had in the confusion fallen aside among the rubbish, or the
+loose earth which had been removed from the grave--in short, it was not
+to be seen.
+
+"Never mind, my good lads, tie the tarpaulin over it, and get it away to
+the carriage.--Monkbarns, will you walk? I must go back your way to take
+up Miss Wardour."
+
+"And, I hope, to take up your dinner also, Sir Arthur, and drink a glass
+of wine for joy of our happy adventure. Besides, you should write about
+the business to the Exchequer, in case of any interference on the part of
+the Crown. As you are lord of the manor, it will be easy to get a deed of
+gift, should they make any claim. We must talk about it, though."
+
+"And I particularly recommend silence to all who are present," said Sir
+Arthur, looking round. All bowed and professed themselves dumb.
+
+"Why, as to that," said Monkbarns, "recommending secrecy where a dozen of
+people are acquainted with the circumstance to be concealed, is only
+putting the truth in masquerade, for the story will be circulated under
+twenty different shapes. But never mind--we will state the true one to
+the Barons, and that is all that is necessary."
+
+"I incline to send off an express to-night," said the Baronet.
+
+"I can recommend your honour to a sure hand," said Ochiltree; "little
+Davie Mailsetter, and the butcher's reisting powny."
+
+"We will talk over the matter as we go to Monkbarns," said Sir Arthur.
+"My lads" (to the work-people), "come with me to the Four Horse-shoes,
+that I may take down all your names.--Dousterswivel, I won't ask you to
+go down to Monkbarns, as the laird and you differ so widely in opinion;
+but do not fail to come to see me to-morrow."
+
+Dousterswivel growled out an answer, in which the words, "duty,"--"mine
+honoured patron,"--and "wait upon Sir Arthurs,"--were alone
+distinguishable; and after the Baronet and his friend had left the ruins,
+followed by the servants and workmen, who, in hope of reward and whisky,
+joyfully attended their leader, the adept remained in a brown study by
+the side of the open grave.
+
+"Who was it as could have thought this?" he ejaculated unconsciously.
+"Mine heiligkeit! I have heard of such things, and often spoken of such
+things--but, sapperment! I never, thought to see them! And if I had gone
+but two or dree feet deeper down in the earth--mein himmel! it had been
+all mine own--so much more as I have been muddling about to get from this
+fool's man."
+
+Here the German ceased his soliloquy, for, raising his eyes, he
+encountered those of Edie Ochiltree, who had not followed the rest of the
+company, but, resting as usual on his pike-staff, had planted himself on
+the other side of the grave. The features of the old man, naturally
+shrewd and expressive almost to an appearance of knavery, seemed in this
+instance so keenly knowing, that even the assurance of Dousterswivel,
+though a professed adventurer, sunk beneath their glances. But he saw the
+necessity of an e'claircissement, and, rallying his spirits, instantly
+began to sound the mendicant on the occurrences of the day. "Goot Maister
+Edies Ochiltrees"--
+
+"Edie Ochiltree, nae maister--your puir bedesman and the king's,"
+answered the Blue-Gown.
+
+"Awell den, goot Edie, what do you think of all dis?"
+
+"I was just thinking it was very kind (for I darena say very simple) o'
+your honour to gie thae twa rich gentles, wha hae lands and lairdships,
+and siller without end, this grand pose o' silver and treasure (three
+times tried in the fire, as the Scripture expresses it), that might hae
+made yoursell and ony twa or three honest bodies beside, as happy and
+content as the day was lang."
+
+"Indeed, Edie, mine honest friends, dat is very true; only I did not
+know, dat is, I was not sure, where to find the gelt myself."
+
+"What! was it not by your honours advice and counsel that Monkbarns and
+the Knight of Knockwinnock came here then?"
+
+"Aha--yes; but it was by another circumstance. I did not know dat dey
+would have found de treasure, mine friend; though I did guess, by such a
+tintamarre, and cough, and sneeze, and groan, among de spirit one other
+night here, dat there might be treasure and bullion hereabout. Ach, mein
+himmel! the spirit will hone and groan over his gelt, as if he were a
+Dutch Burgomaster counting his dollars after a great dinner at the
+Stadthaus."
+
+"And do you really believe the like o' that, Mr. Dusterdeevil !--a
+skeelfu' man like you--hout fie!"
+
+"Mein friend," answered the adept, foreed by circumstances to speak
+something nearer the truth than he generally used to do, "I believed it
+no more than you and no man at all, till I did hear them hone and moan
+and groan myself on de oder night, and till I did this day see de cause,
+which was an great chest all full of de pure silver from Mexico--and what
+would you ave nae think den?"
+
+"And what wad ye gie to ony ane," said Edie, "that wad help ye to sic
+another kistfu' o' silver!"
+
+"Give?--mein himmel!--one great big quarter of it."
+
+"Now if the secret were mine," said the mendicant, "I wad stand out for a
+half; for you see, though I am but a puir ragged body, and couldna carry
+silver or gowd to sell for fear o' being taen up, yet I could find mony
+folk would pass it awa for me at unco muckle easier profit than ye're
+thinking on."
+
+"Ach, himmel!--Mein goot friend, what was it I said?--I did mean to say
+you should have de tree quarter for your half, and de one quarter to be
+my fair half."
+
+"No, no, Mr. Dusterdeevil, we will divide equally what we find, like
+brother and brother. Now, look at this board that I just flung into the
+dark aisle out o' the way, while Monkbarns was glowering ower a' the
+silver yonder. He's a sharp chiel Monkbarns--I was glad to keep the like
+o' this out o' his sight. Ye'll maybe can read the character better than
+me--I am nae that book learned, at least I'm no that muckle in practice."
+
+With this modest declaration of ignorance, Ochiltree brought forth from
+behind a pillar the cover of the box or chest of treasure, which, when
+forced from its hinges, had been carelessly flung aside during the ardour
+of curiosity to ascertain the contents which it concealed, and had been
+afterwards, as it seems, secreted by the mendicant. There was a word and
+a number upon the plank, and the beggar made them more distinct by
+spitting upon his ragged blue handkerchief, and rubbing off the clay by
+which the inscription was obscured. It was in the ordinary black letter.
+
+"Can ye mak ought o't?" said Edie to the adept.
+
+"S," said the philosopher, like a child getting his lesson in the primer
+--"S, T, A, R, C, H,--_Starch!_--dat is what de woman-washers put into de
+neckerchers, and de shirt collar."
+
+"Search!" echoed Ochiltree; "na, na, Mr. Dusterdeevil, ye are mair of a
+conjuror than a clerk--it's _search,_ man, _search_--See, there's the
+_Ye_ clear and distinct."
+
+"Aha! I see it now--it is _search--number one._ Mein himmel! then there
+must be a _number two,_ mein goot friend: for _search_ is what you call
+to seek and dig, and this is but _number one!_ Mine wort, there is one
+great big prize in de wheel for us, goot Maister Ochiltree."
+
+"Aweel, it may be sae; but we canna howk fort enow--we hae nae shules,
+for they hae taen them a' awa--and it's like some o' them will be sent
+back to fling the earth into the hole, and mak a' things trig again. But
+an ye'll sit down wi' me a while in the wood, I'se satisfy your honour
+that ye hae just lighted on the only man in the country that could hae
+tauld about Malcolm Misticot and his hidden treasure--But first we'll rub
+out the letters on this board, for fear it tell tales."
+
+And, by the assistance of his knife, the beggar erased and defaced the
+characters so as to make them quite unintelligible, and then daubed the
+board with clay so as to obliterate all traces of the erasure.
+
+Dousterswivel stared at him in ambiguous silence. There was an
+intelligence and alacrity about all the old man's movements, which
+indicated a person that could not be easily overreached, and yet (for
+even rogues acknowledge in some degree the spirit of precedence) our
+adept felt the disgrace of playing a secondary part, and dividing
+winnings with so mean an associate. His appetite for gain, however, was
+sufficiently sharp to overpower his offended pride, and though far more
+an impostor than a dupe, he was not without a certain degree of personal
+faith even in the gross superstitions by means of which he imposed upon
+others. Still, being accustomed to act as a leader on such occasions, he
+felt humiliated at feeling himself in the situation of a vulture
+marshalled to his prey by a carrion-crow.--"Let me, however, hear this
+story to an end," thought Dousterswivel, "and it will be hard if I do not
+make mine account in it better as Maister Edie Ochiltrees makes
+proposes."
+
+The adept, thus transformed into a pupil from a teacher of the mystic
+art, followed Ochiltree in passive acquiescence to the Prior's Oak--a
+spot, as the reader may remember, at a short distance from the ruins,
+where the German sat down, and silence waited the old man's
+communication.
+
+"Maister Dustandsnivel," said the narrator, "it's an unco while since I
+heard this business treated anent;--for the lairds of Knockwinnock,
+neither Sir Arthur, nor his father, nor his grandfather--and I mind a wee
+bit about them a'--liked to hear it spoken about; nor they dinna like it
+yet--But nae matter; ye may be sure it was clattered about in the
+kitchen, like onything else in a great house, though it were forbidden in
+the ha'--and sae I hae heard the circumstance rehearsed by auld servants
+in the family; and in thir present days, when things o' that auld-warld
+sort arena keepit in mind round winter fire-sides as they used to be, I
+question if there's onybody in the country can tell the tale but mysell--
+aye out-taken the laird though, for there's a parchment book about it, as
+I have heard, in the charter-room at Knockwinnock Castle."
+
+"Well, all dat is vary well--but get you on with your stories, mine goot
+friend," said Dousterswivel.
+
+"Aweel, ye see," continued the mendicant, "this was a job in the auld
+times o' rugging and riving through the hale country, when it was ilka
+ane for himsell, and God for us a'--when nae man wanted property if he
+had strength to take it, or had it langer than he had power to keep it.
+It was just he ower her, and she ower him, whichever could win upmost, a'
+through the east country here, and nae doubt through the rest o' Scotland
+in the self and same manner.
+
+"Sae in these days Sir Richard Wardour came into the land, and that was
+the first o' the name ever was in this country. There's been mony o' them
+sin' syne; and the maist, like him they ca'd Hell-in-Harness, and the
+rest o' them, are sleeping down in yon ruins. They were a proud dour set
+o' men, but unco brave, and aye stood up for the weel o' the country, God
+sain them a'--there's no muckle popery in that wish. They ca'd them the
+Norman Wardours, though they cam frae the south to this country. So this
+Sir Richard, that they ca'd Red-hand, drew up wi' the auld Knockwinnock
+o' that day--for then they were Knockwinnocks of that Ilk--and wad fain
+marry his only daughter, that was to have the castle and the land. Laith,
+laith was the lass--(Sybil Knockwinnock they ca'd her that tauld me the
+tale)--laith, laith was she to gie into the match, for she had fa'en a
+wee ower thick wi' a cousin o' her ain that her father had some ill-will
+to; and sae it was, that after she had been married to Sir Richard jimp
+four months--for marry him she maun, it's like--ye'll no hinder her
+gieing them a present o' a bonny knave bairn. Then there was siccan a
+ca'-thro', as the like was never seen; and she's be burnt, and he's be
+slain, was the best words o' their mouths. But it was a' sowdered up
+again some gait, and the bairn was sent awa, and bred up near the
+Highlands, and grew up to be a fine wanle fallow, like mony ane that
+comes o' the wrang side o' the blanket; and Sir Richard wi' the Red-hand,
+he had a fair offspring o'his ain, and a was lound and quiet till his
+head was laid in the ground. But then down came Malcolm Misticot--(Sir
+Arthur says it should be _Misbegot,_ but they aye ca'd him Misticot that
+spoke o't lang syne)--down cam this Malcolm, the love-begot, frae
+Glen-isla, wi' a string o' lang-legged Highlanders at his heels, that's
+aye ready for onybody's mischief, and he threeps the castle and lands are
+his ain as his mother's eldest son, and turns a' the Wardours out to the
+hill. There was a sort of fighting and blude-spilling about it, for the
+gentles took different sides; but Malcolm had the uppermost for a lang
+time, and keepit the Castle of Knockwinnock, and strengthened it, and
+built that muckle tower that they ca' Misticot's tower to this day."
+
+"Mine goot friend, old Mr. Edie Ochiltree." interrupted the German, "this
+is all as one like de long histories of a baron of sixteen quarters in
+mine countries; but I would as rather hear of de silver and gold."
+
+"Why, ye see," continued the mendicant, "this Malcolm was weel helped by
+an uncle, a brother o' his father's, that was Prior o' St. Ruth here; and
+muckle treasure they gathered between them, to secure the succession of
+their house in the lands of Knockwinnock. Folk said that the monks in
+thae days had the art of multiplying metals--at ony rate, they were very
+rich. At last it came to this, that the young Wardour, that was
+Red-hand's son, challenged Misticot to fight with him in the lists as
+they ca'd them--that's no lists or tailor's runds and selvedges o'
+claith, but a palin'-thing they set up for them to fight in like
+game-cocks. Aweel, Misticot was beaten, and at his brother's mercy--but
+he wadna touch his life, for the blood of Knockwinnock that was in baith
+their veins: so Malcolm was compelled to turn a monk, and he died soon
+after in the priory, of pure despite and vexation. Naebody ever kenn'd
+whare his uncle the prior earded him, or what he did wi' his gowd and
+silver, for he stood on the right o' halie kirk, and wad gie nae account
+to onybody. But the prophecy gat abroad in the country, that whenever
+Misticot's grave was fund out, the estate of Knockwinnock should be lost
+and won."
+
+"Ach! mine goot old friend, Maister Edie, and dat is not so very
+unlikely, if Sir Arthurs will quarrel wit his goot friends to please Mr.
+Oldenbuck.--And so you do tink dat dis golds and silvers belonged to goot
+Mr. Malcolm Mishdigoat?"
+
+"Troth do I, Mr. Dousterdeevil."
+
+"And you do believe dat dere is more of dat sorts behind?"
+
+"By my certie do I--How can it be otherwise?--_Search--No. I_--that is as
+muckle as to say, search and ye'll find number twa. Besides, yon kist is
+only silver, and I aye heard that' Misticot's pose had muckle yellow gowd
+in't."
+
+"Den, mine goot friends," said the adept, jumping up hastily, "why do we
+not set about our little job directly?"
+
+"For twa gude reasons," answered the beggar, who quietly kept his sitting
+posture;--"first, because, as I said before, we have naething to dig wi',
+for they hae taen awa the picks and shules; and, secondly, because there
+will be a wheen idle gowks coming to glower at the hole as lang as it is
+daylight, and maybe the laird may send somebody to fill it up--and ony
+way we wad be catched. But if you will meet me on this place at twal
+o'clock wi' a dark lantern, I'll hae tools ready, and we'll gang quietly
+about our job our twa sells, and naebody the wiser for't."
+
+"Be--be--but, mine goot friend," said Dousterswivel, from whose
+recollection his former nocturnal adventure was not to be altogether
+erased, even by the splendid hopes which Edie's narrative held forth, "it
+is not so goot or so safe, to be about goot Maister Mishdigoat's grabe at
+dat time of night--you have forgot how I told you de spirits did hone and
+mone dere. I do assure you, dere is disturbance dere."
+
+"If ye're afraid of ghaists," answered the mendicant, coolly, "I'll do
+the job mysell, and bring your share o' the siller to ony place you like
+to appoint."
+
+"No--no--mine excellent old Mr. Edie,--too much trouble for you--I will
+not have dat--I will come myself--and it will be bettermost; for, mine
+old friend, it was I, Herman Dousterswivel, discovered Maister
+Mishdigoat's grave when I was looking for a place as to put away some
+little trumpery coins, just to play one little trick on my dear friend
+Sir Arthur, for a little sport and pleasures. Yes, I did take some what
+you call rubbish, and did discover Maister Mishdigoat's own monumentsh--
+It's like dat he meant I should be his heirs--so it would not be civility
+in me not to come mineself for mine inheritance."
+
+"At twal o'clock, then," said the mendicant, "we meet under this tree.
+I'll watch for a while, and see that naebody meddles wi' the grave--it's
+only saying the laird's forbade it--then get my bit supper frae Ringan
+the poinder up by, and leave to sleep in his barn; and I'll slip out at
+night, and neer be mist."
+
+"Do so, mine goot Maister Edie, and I will meet you here on this very
+place, though all de spirits should moan and sneeze deir very brains
+out."
+
+So saying he shook hands with the old man, and with this mutual pledge of
+fidelity to their appointment, they separated for the present.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER FOURTH.
+
+                          --See thou shake the bags
+                 Of hoarding abbots; angels imprisoned
+                         Set thou at liberty--
+                Bell, book, and candle, shall not drive me back,
+                        If gold and silver beckon to come on.
+                                              King John.
+
+The night set in stormy, with wind and occasional showers of rain. "Eh,
+sirs," said the old mendicant, as he took his place on the sheltered side
+of the large oak-tree to wait for his associate--"Eh, sirs, but human
+nature's a wilful and wilyard thing!--Is it not an unco lucre o' gain wad
+bring this Dousterdivel out in a blast o' wind like this, at twal o'clock
+at night, to thir wild gousty wa's?--and amna I a bigger fule than
+himsell to bide here waiting for him?"
+
+Having made these sage reflections, he wrapped himself close in his
+cloak, and fixed his eye on the moon as she waded amid the stormy and
+dusky clouds, which the wind from time to time drove across her surface.
+The melancholy and uncertain gleams that she shot from between the
+passing shadows fell full upon the rifted arches and shafted windows of
+the old building, which were thus for an instant made distinctly visible
+in their ruinous state, and anon became again a dark, undistinguished,
+and shadowy mass. The little lake had its share of these transient beams
+of light, and showed its waters broken, whitened, and agitated under the
+passing storm, which, when the clouds swept over the moon, were only
+distinguished by their sullen and murmuring plash against the beach. The
+wooded glen repeated, to every successive gust that hurried through its
+narrow trough, the deep and various groan with which the trees replied to
+the whirlwind, and the sound sunk again, as the blast passed away, into a
+faint and passing murmur, resembling the sighs of an exhausted criminal
+after the first pangs of his torture are over. In these sounds,
+superstition might have found ample gratification for that State of
+excited terror which she fears and yet loves. But such feeling is made no
+part of Ochiltree's composition. His mind wandered back to the scenes of
+his youth.
+
+"I have kept guard on the outposts baith in Germany and America," he said
+to himself, "in mony a waur night than this, and when I ken'd there was
+maybe a dozen o' their riflemen in the thicket before me. But I was aye
+gleg at my duty--naebody ever catched Edie sleeping."
+
+As he muttered thus to himself, he instinctively shouldered his trusty
+pike-staff, assumed the port of a sentinel on duty, and, as a step
+advanced towards the tree, called, with a tone assorting better with his
+military reminiscences than his present state--"Stand! who goes there?"
+
+"De devil, goot Edie," answered Dousterswivel, "why does you speak so
+loud as a baarenhauter, or what you call a factionary--I mean a
+sentinel?"
+
+"Just because I thought I was a sentinel at that moment," answered the
+mendicant. "Here's an awsome night! Hae ye brought the lantern and a pock
+for the siller?"
+
+"Ay-ay, mine goot friend," said the German, "here it is--my pair of what
+you call saddlebag; one side will be for you, one side for me;--I will
+put dem on my horse to save you de trouble, as you are old man."
+
+"Have you a horse here, then?" asked Edie Ochiltree.
+
+"O yes, mine friend--tied yonder by de stile," responded the adept.
+
+"Weel, I hae just ae word to the bargain--there sall nane o' my gear gang
+on your beast's back."
+
+"What was it as you would be afraid of?" said the foreigner.
+
+"Only of losing sight of horse, man, and money," again replied the
+gaberlunzie.
+
+"Does you know dat you make one gentlemans out to be one great rogue?"
+
+"Mony gentlemen," replied Ochiltree, "can make that out for themselves--
+But what's the sense of quarrelling?--If ye want to gang on, gang on--if
+no--I'll gae back to the gude ait-straw in Ringan Aikwood's barn that I
+left wi' right ill-will e'now, and I'll pit back the pick and shule whar
+I got them."
+
+Dousterswivel deliberated a moment, whether, by suffering Edie to depart,
+he might not secure the whole of the expected wealth for his own
+exclusive use. But the want of digging implements, the uncertainty
+whether, if he had them, he could clear out the grave to a sufficient
+depth without assistance, and, above all, the reluctance which he felt,
+owing to the experience of the former night, to venture alone on the
+terrors of Misticot's grave, satisfied him the attempt would be
+hazardous. Endeavouring, therefore, to assume his usual cajoling tone,
+though internally incensed, he begged "his goot friend Maister Edie
+Ochiltrees would lead the way, and assured him of his acquiescence in all
+such an excellent friend could propose."
+
+"Aweel, aweel, then," said Edie, "tak gude care o' your feet amang the
+lang grass and the loose stones. I wish we may get the light keepit in
+neist, wi' this fearsome wind--but there's a blink o' moonlight at
+times."
+
+Thus saying, old Edie, closely accompanied by the adept, led the way
+towards the ruins, but presently made a full halt in front of them.
+
+"Ye're a learned man, Mr. Dousterdeevil, and ken muckle o' the marvellous
+works o' nature--Now, will ye tell me ae thing?--D'ye believe in ghaists
+and spirits that walk the earth?--d'ye believe in them, ay or no?"
+
+"Now, goot Mr. Edie," whispered Dousterswivel, in an expostulatory tone
+of voice, "is this a times or a places for such a questions?"
+
+"Indeed is it, baith the tane and the t'other, Mr. Dustanshovel; for I
+maun fairly tell ye, there's reports that auld Misticot walks. Now this
+wad be an uncanny night to meet him in, and wha kens if he wad be ower
+weel pleased wi' our purpose of visiting his pose?"
+
+"_Alle guten Geister_"--muttered the adept, the rest of the conjuration
+being lost in a tremulous warble of his voice,--"I do desires you not to
+speak so, Mr. Edie; for, from all I heard dat one other night, I do much
+believes"--
+
+"Now I," said Ochiltree, entering the chancel, and flinging abroad his
+arm with an air of defiance, "I wadna gie the crack o' my thumb for him
+were he to appear at this moment: he's but a disembodied spirit, as we
+are embodied anes."
+
+"For the lofe of heavens," said Dousterswivel, "say nothing at all
+neither about somebodies or nobodies!"
+
+"Aweel," said the beggar (expanding the shade of the lantern), "here's
+the stane, and, spirit or no spirit, I'se be a wee bit deeper in the
+grave;" and he jumped into the place from which the precious chest had
+that morning been removed. After striking a few strokes, he tired, or
+affected to tire, and said to his companion, "I'm auld and failed now,
+and canna keep at it--time about's fair play, neighbour; ye maun get in
+and tak the shule a bit, and shule out the loose earth, and then I'll tak
+turn about wi' you."
+
+Dousterswivel accordingly took the place which the beggar had evacuated,
+and toiled with all the zeal that awakened avarice, mingled with the
+anxious wish to finish the undertaking and leave the place as soon as
+possible, could inspire in a mind at once greedy, suspicious, and
+timorous.
+
+Edie, standing much at his ease by the side of the hole, contented
+himself with exhorting his associate to labour hard. "My certie! few ever
+wrought for siccan a day's wage; an it be but--say the tenth part o' the
+size o' the kist, No. I., it will double its value, being filled wi' gowd
+instead of silver. Od, ye work as if ye had been bred to pick and shule--
+ye could win your round half-crown ilka day. Tak care o' your taes wi'
+that stane!" giving a kick to a large one which the adept had heaved out
+with difficulty, and which Edie pushed back again to the great annoyance
+of his associate's shins.
+
+Thus exhorted by the mendicant, Dousterswivel struggled and laboured
+among the stones and stiff clay, toiling like a horse, and internally
+blaspheming in German. When such an unhallowed syllable escaped his lips,
+Edie changed his battery upon him.
+
+"O dinna swear! dinna swear! Wha kens whals listening!--Eh! gude guide
+us, what's you!--Hout, it's just a branch of ivy flightering awa frae the
+wa'; when the moon was in, it lookit unco like a dead man's arm wi' a
+taper in't--I thought it was Misticot himsell. But never mind, work you
+away--fling the earth weel up by out o' the gate--Od, if ye're no as
+clean a worker at a grave as Win Winnet himsell! What gars ye stop now?--
+ye're just at the very bit for a chance."
+
+"Stop!" said the German, in a tone of anger and disappointment, "why, I
+am down at de rocks dat de cursed ruins (God forgife me!) is founded
+upon."
+
+"Weel," said the beggar, "that's the likeliest bit of ony. It will be but
+a muckle through-stane laid doun to kiver the gowd--tak the pick till't,
+and pit mair strength, man--ae gude down-right devvel will split it, I'se
+warrant ye--Ay, that will do Od, he comes on wi' Wallace's straiks!"
+
+In fact, the adept, moved by Edie's exhortations, fetched two or three
+desperate blows, and succeeded in breaking, not indeed that against which
+he struck, which, as he had already conjectured, was the solid rock, but
+the implement which he wielded, jarring at the same time his arms up to
+the shoulder-blades.
+
+"Hurra, boys!--there goes Ringan's pick-axe!" cried Edie "it's a shame o'
+the Fairport folk to sell siccan frail gear. Try the shule--at it again,
+Mr. Dusterdeevil."
+
+The adept, without reply, scrambled out of the pit, which was now about
+six feet deep, and addressed his associate in a voice that trembled with
+anger. "Does you know, Mr. Edies Ochiltrees, who it is you put off your
+gibes and your jests upon?"
+
+"Brawly, Mr. Dusterdeevil--brawly do I ken ye, and has done mony a day;
+but there's nae jesting in the case, for I am wearying to see ae our
+treasures; we should hae had baith ends o' the pockmanky filled by this
+time--I hope it's bowk eneugh to haud a' the gear?"
+
+"Look you, you base old person," said the incensed philosopher, "if you
+do put another jest upon me, I will cleave your skull-piece with this
+shovels!"
+
+"And whare wad my hands and my pike-staff be a' the time?" replied Edie,
+in a tone that indicated no apprehension. "Hout, tout, Maister
+Dusterdeevil, I haena lived sae lang in the warld neither, to be shuled
+out o't that gate. What ails ye to be cankered, man, wi' your friends?
+I'll wager I'll find out the treasure in a minute;" and he jumped into
+the pit, and took up the spade.
+
+"I do swear to you," said the adept, whose suspicions were now fully
+awake, "that if you have played me one big trick, I will give you one big
+beating, Mr. Edies."
+
+"Hear till him now!" said Ochiltree, "he kens how to gar folk find out
+the gear--Od, I'm thinking he's been drilled that way himsell some day."
+
+At this insinuation, which alluded obviously to the former scene betwixt
+himself and Sir Arthur, the philosopher lost the slender remnant of
+patience he had left, and being of violent passions, heaved up the
+truncheon of the broken mattock to discharge it upon the old man's head.
+The blow would in all probability have been fatal, had not he at whom it
+was aimed exclaimed in a stern and firm voice, "Shame to ye, man!--do ye
+think Heaven or earth will suffer ye to murder an auld man that might be
+your father?--Look behind ye, man!"
+
+Dousterswivel turned instinctively, and beheld, to his utter
+astonishment, a tall dark figure standing close behind him. The
+apparition gave him no time to proceed by exorcism or otherwise, but
+having instantly recourse to the _voie de fait,_ took measure of the
+adept's shoulders three or four times with blows so substantial, that he
+fell under the weight of them, and remained senseless for some minutes
+between fear and stupefaction. When he came to himself, he was alone in
+the ruined chancel, lying upon the soft and damp earth which had been
+thrown out of Misticot's grave. He raised himself with a confused
+sensation of anger, pain, and terror, and it was not until he had sat
+upright for some minutes, that he could arrange his ideas sufficiently to
+recollect how he came there, or with what purpose. As his recollection
+returned, he could have little doubt that the bait held out to him by
+Ochiltree, to bring him to that solitary spot, the sarcasms by which he
+had provoked him into a quarrel, and the ready assistance which he had at
+hand for terminating it in the manner in which it had ended, were all
+parts of a concerted plan to bring disgrace and damage on Herman
+Dousterswivel. He could hardly suppose that he was indebted for the
+fatigue, anxiety, and beating which he had undergone, purely to the
+malice of Edie Ochiltree singly, but concluded that the mendicant had
+acted a part assigned to him by some person of greater importance. His
+suspicions hesitated between Oldbuck and Sir Arthur Wardour. The former
+had been at no pains to conceal a marked dislike of him--but the latter
+he had deeply injured; and although he judged that Sir Arthur did not
+know the extent of his wrongs towards him, yet it was easy to suppose he
+had gathered enough of the truth to make him desirous of revenge.
+Ochiltree had alluded to at least one circumstance which the adept had
+every reason to suppose was private between Sir Arthur and himself, and
+therefore must have been learned from the former. The language of Oldbuck
+also intimated a conviction of his knavery, which Sir Arthur heard
+without making any animated defence. Lastly, the way in which
+Dousterswivel supposed the Baronet to have exercised his revenge, was not
+inconsistent with the practice of other countries with which the adept
+was better acquainted than with those of North Britain. With him, as with
+many bad men, to suspect an injury, and to nourish the purpose of
+revenge, was one and the same movement. And before Dousterswivel had
+fairly recovered his legs, he had mentally sworn the ruin of his
+benefactor, which, unfortunately, he possessed too much the power of
+accelerating.
+
+But although a purpose of revenge floated through his brain, it was no
+time to indulge such speculations. The hour, the place, his own
+situation, and perhaps the presence or near neighbourhood of his
+assailants, made self-preservation the adept's first object. The lantern
+had been thrown down and extinguished in the scuffle. The wind, which
+formerly howled so loudly through the aisles of the ruin, had now greatly
+fallen, lulled by the rain, which was descending very fast. The moon,
+from the same cause, was totally obscured, and though Dousterswivel had
+some experience of the ruins, and knew that he must endeavour to regain
+the eastern door of the chancel, yet the confusion of his ideas was such,
+that he hesitated for some time ere he could ascertain in what direction
+he was to seek it. In this perplexity, the suggestions of superstition,
+taking the advantage of darkness and his evil conscience, began again to
+present themselves to his disturbed imagination. "But bah!" quoth he
+valiantly to himself, "it is all nonsense all one part of de damn big
+trick and imposture. Devil! that one thick-skulled Scotch Baronet, as I
+have led by the nose for five year, should cheat Herman Dousterswivel!"
+
+As he had come to this conclusion, an incident occurred which tended
+greatly to shake the grounds on which he had adopted it. Amid the
+melancholy _sough_ of the dying wind, and the plash of the rain-drops on
+leaves and stones, arose, and apparently at no great distance from the
+listener, a strain of vocal music so sad and solemn, as if the departed
+spirits of the churchmen who had once inhabited these deserted rains were
+mourning the solitude and desolation to which their hallowed precincts
+had been abandoned. Dousterswivel, who had now got upon his feet, and was
+groping around the wall of the chancel, stood rooted to the ground on the
+occurrence of this new phenomenon. Each faculty of his soul seemed for
+the moment concentred in the sense of hearing, and all rushed back with
+the unanimous information, that the deep, wild, and prolonged chant which
+he now heard, was the appropriate music of one of the most solemn dirges
+of the Church of Rome. Why performed in such a solitude, and by what
+class of choristers, were questions which the terrified imagination of
+the adept, stirred with all the German superstitions of nixies,
+oak-kings, wer-wolves, hobgoblins, black spirits and white, blue spirits
+and grey, durst not even attempt to solve.
+
+Another of his senses was soon engaged in the investigation. At the
+extremity of one of the transepts of the church, at the bottom of a few
+descending steps, was a small iron-grated door, opening, as far as he
+recollected, to a sort of low vault or sacristy. As he cast his eye in
+the direction of the sound, he observed a strong reflection of red light
+glimmering through these bars, and against the steps which descended to
+them. Dousterswivel stood a moment uncertain what to do; then, suddenly
+forming a desperate resolution, he moved down the aisle to the place from
+which the light proceeded.
+
+Fortified with the sign of the cross, and as many exorcisms as his memory
+could recover, he advanced to the grate, from which, unseen, he could see
+what passed in the interior of the vault. As he approached with timid and
+uncertain steps, the chant, after one or two wild and prolonged cadences,
+died away into profound silence. The grate, when he reached it, presented
+a singular spectacle in the interior of the sacristy. An open grave, with
+four tall flambeaus, each about six feet high, placed at the four
+corners--a bier, having a corpse in its shroud, the arms folded upon the
+breast, rested upon tressels at one side of the grave, as if ready to be
+interred--a priest, dressed in his cope and stole, held open the service
+book--another churchman in his vestments bore a holy-water sprinkler, and
+two boys in white surplices held censers with incense--a man, of a figure
+once tall and commanding, but now bent with age or infirmity, stood alone
+and nearest to the coffin, attired in deep mourning--such were the most
+prominent figures of the group. At a little distance were two or three
+persons of both sexes, attired in long mourning hoods and cloaks; and
+five or six others in the same lugubrious dress, still farther removed
+from the body, around the walls of the vault, stood ranged in motionless
+order, each bearing in his hand a huge torch of black wax. The smoky
+light from so many flambeaus, by the red and indistinct atmosphere which
+it spread around, gave a hazy, dubious, and as it were phantom-like
+appearance to the outlines of this singular apparition, The voice of the
+priest--loud, clear, and sonorous--now recited, from the breviary which
+he held in his hand, those solemn words which the ritual of the Catholic
+church has consecrated to the rendering of dust to dust. Meanwhile,
+Dousterswivel, the place, the hour, and the surprise considered, still
+remained uncertain whether what he saw was substantial, or an unearthly
+representation of the rites to which in former times these walls were
+familiar, but which are now rarely practised in Protestant countries, and
+almost never in Scotland. He was uncertain whether to abide the
+conclusion of the ceremony, or to endeavour to regain the chancel, when a
+change in his position made him visible through the grate to one of the
+attendant mourners. The person who first espied him indicated his
+discovery to the individual who stood apart and nearest the coffin, by a
+sign, and upon his making a sign in reply, two of the group detached
+themselves, and, gliding along with noiseless steps, as if fearing to
+disturb the service, unlocked and opened the grate which separated them
+from the adept. Each took him by an arm, and exerting a degree of force,
+which he would have been incapable of resisting had his fear permitted
+him to attempt opposition, they placed him on the ground in the chancel,
+and sat down, one on each side of him, as if to detain him. Satisfied he
+was in the power of mortals like himself, the adept would have put some
+questions to them; but while one pointed to the vault, from which the
+sound of the priest's voice was distinctly heard, the other placed his
+finger upon his lips in token of silence, a hint which the German thought
+it most prudent to obey. And thus they detained him until a loud
+Alleluia, pealing through the deserted arches of St. Ruth, closed the
+singular ceremony which it had been his fortune to witness.
+
+When the hymn had died away with all its echoes, the voice of one of the
+sable personages under whose guard the adept had remained, said, in a
+familiar tone and dialect, "Dear sirs, Mr. Dousterswivel, is this you?
+could not ye have let us ken an ye had wussed till hae been present at
+the ceremony?--My lord couldna tak it weel your coming blinking and
+jinking in, in that fashion."
+
+"In de name of all dat is gootness, tell me what you are?" interrupted
+the German in his turn.
+
+"What I am? why, wha should I be but Ringan Aikwood, the Knockwinnock
+poinder?--and what are ye doing here at this time o' night, unless ye
+were come to attend the leddy's burial?"
+
+"I do declare to you, mine goot Poinder Aikwood," said the German,
+raising himself up, "that I have been this vary nights murdered, robbed,
+and put in fears of my life."
+
+"Robbed! wha wad do sic a deed here?--Murdered! od ye speak pretty blithe
+for a murdered man--Put in fear! what put you in fear, Mr.
+Dousterswivel?"
+
+"I will tell you, Maister Poinder Aikwood Ringan, just dat old miscreant
+dog villain blue-gown, as you call Edie Ochiltrees."
+
+"I'll neer believe that," answered Ringan;--"Edie was ken'd to me, and my
+father before me, for a true, loyal, and sooth-fast man; and, mair by
+token, he's sleeping up yonder in our barn, and has been since ten at
+e'en--Sae touch ye wha liket, Mr. Dousterswivel, and whether onybody
+touched ye or no, I'm sure Edie's sackless."
+
+"Maister Ringan Aikwood Poinders, I do not know what you call sackless,--
+but let alone all de oils and de soot dat you say he has, and I will tell
+you I was dis night robbed of fifty pounds by your oil and sooty friend,
+Edies Ochiltree; and he is no more in your barn even now dan I ever shall
+be in de kingdom of heafen."
+
+"Weel, sir, if ye will gae up wi' me, as the burial company has
+dispersed, we'se mak ye down a bed at the lodge, and we'se see if Edie's
+at the barn. There was twa wild-looking chaps left the auld kirk when we
+were coming up wi' the corpse, that's certain; and the priest, wha likes
+ill that ony heretics should look on at our church ceremonies, sent twa
+o' the riding saulies after them; sae we'll hear a' about it frae them."
+
+Thus speaking, the kindly apparition, with the assistance of the mute
+personage, who was his son, disencumbered himself of his cloak, and
+prepared to escort Dousterswivel to the place of that rest which the
+adept so much needed.
+
+"I will apply to the magistrates to-morrow," said the adept; "oder, I
+will have de law put in force against all the peoples."
+
+While he thus muttered vengeance against the cause of his injury, he
+tottered from among the ruins, supporting himself on Ringan and his son,
+whose assistance his state of weakness rendered very necessary.
+
+When they were clear of the priory, and had gained the little meadow in
+which it stands, Dousterswivel could perceive the torches which had
+caused him so much alarm issuing in irregular procession from the ruins,
+and glancing their light, like that of the _ignis fatuus,_ on the banks
+of the lake. After moving along the path for some short space with a
+fluctuating and irregular motion, the lights were at once extinguished.
+
+"We aye put out the torches at the Halie-cross Well on sic occasions,"
+said the forester to his guest. And accordingly no farther visible sign
+of the procession offered itself to Dousterswivel, although his ear could
+catch the distant and decreasing echo of horses' hoofs in the direction
+towards which the mourners had bent their course.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER FIFTH.
+
+                       O weel may the boatie row
+                       And better may she speed,
+                      And weel may the boatie row
+                    That earns the bairnies' bread!
+                   The boatie rows, the boatie rows,
+                       The boatie rows fu' weel,
+                 And lightsome be their life that bear
+                       The merlin and the creel!
+                                        Old Ballad.
+
+We must now introduce our reader to the interior of the fisher's cottage
+mentioned in chapter eleventh of this edifying history. I wish I could
+say that its inside was well arranged, decently furnished, or tolerably
+clean. On the contrary, I am compelled to admit, there was confusion,--
+there was dilapidation,--there was dirt good store. Yet, with all this,
+there was about the inmates, Luckie Mucklebackit and her family, an
+appearance of ease, plenty, and comfort, that seemed to warrant their old
+sluttish proverb, "The clartier the cosier." A huge fire, though the
+season was summer, occupied the hearth, and served at once for affording
+light, heat, and the means of preparing food. The fishing had been
+successful, and the family, with customary improvidence, had, since
+unlading the cargo, continued an unremitting operation of broiling and
+frying that part of the produce reserved for home consumption, and the
+bones and fragments lay on the wooden trenchers, mingled with morsels of
+broken bannocks and shattered mugs of half-drunk beer. The stout and
+athletic form of Maggie herself, bustling here and there among a pack of
+half-grown girls and younger children, of whom she chucked one now here
+and another now there, with an exclamation of "Get out o' the gate, ye
+little sorrow!" was strongly contrasted with the passive and
+half-stupified look and manner of her husband's mother, a woman advanced
+to the last stage of human life, who was seated in her wonted chair close
+by the fire, the warmth of which she coveted, yet hardly seemed to be
+sensible of--now muttering to herself, now smiling vacantly to the
+children as they pulled the strings of her _toy_ or close cap, or
+twitched her blue checked apron. With her distaff in her bosom, and her
+spindle in her hand, she plied lazily and mechanically the old-fashioned
+Scottish thrift, according to the old-fashioned Scottish manner. The
+younger children, crawling among the feet of the elder, watched the
+progress of grannies spindle as it twisted, and now and then ventured to
+interrupt its progress as it danced upon the floor in those vagaries
+which the more regulated spinning-wheel has now so universally
+superseded, that even the fated Princess in the fairy tale might roam
+through all Scotland without the risk of piercing her hand with a
+spindle, and dying of the wound. Late as the hour was (and it was long
+past midnight), the whole family were still on foot, and far from
+proposing to go to bed; the dame was still busy broiling car-cakes on the
+girdle, and the elder girl, the half-naked mermaid elsewhere
+commemorated, was preparing a pile of Findhorn haddocks (that is,
+haddocks smoked with green wood), to be eaten along with these relishing
+provisions.
+
+While they were thus employed, a slight tap at the door, accompanied with
+the question, "Are ye up yet, sirs?" announced a visitor. The answer,
+"Ay, ay,--come your ways ben, hinny," occasioned the lifting of the
+latch, and Jenny Rintherout, the female domestic of our Antiquary, made
+her appearance.
+
+"Ay, ay," exclaimed the mistress of the family--"Hegh, sirs! can this be
+you, Jenny?--a sight o' you's gude for sair een, lass."
+
+"O woman, we've been sae ta'en up wi' Captain Hector's wound up by, that
+I havena had my fit out ower the door this fortnight; but he's better
+now, and auld Caxon sleeps in his room in case he wanted onything. Sae,
+as soon as our auld folk gaed to bed, I e'en snodded my head up a bit,
+and left the house-door on the latch, in case onybody should be wanting
+in or out while I was awa, and just cam down the gate to see an there was
+ony cracks amang ye."
+
+"Ay, ay," answered Luckie Mucklebackit, "I see you hae gotten a' your
+braws on; ye're looking about for Steenie now--but he's no at hame the
+night; and ye'll no do for Steenie, lass--a feckless thing like you's no
+fit to mainteen a man."
+
+"Steenie will no do for me," retorted Jenny, with a toss of her head that
+might have become a higher-born damsel; "I maun hae a man that can
+mainteen his wife."
+
+"Ou ay, hinny--thae's your landward and burrows-town notions. My certie!
+--fisherwives ken better--they keep the man, and keep the house, and keep
+the siller too, lass."
+
+"A wheen poor drudges ye are," answered the nymph of the land to the
+nymph of the sea. "As sune as the keel o' the coble touches the sand,
+deil a bit mair will the lazy fisher loons work, but the wives maun kilt
+their coats, and wade into the surf to tak the fish ashore. And then the
+man casts aff the wat and puts on the dry, and sits down wi' his pipe and
+his gill-stoup ahint the ingle, like ony auld houdie, and neer a turn
+will he do till the coble's afloat again! And the wife she maun get the
+scull on her back, and awa wi' the fish to the next burrows-town, and
+scauld and ban wi'ilka wife that will scauld and ban wi'her till it's
+sauld--and that's the gait fisher-wives live, puir slaving bodies."
+
+"Slaves?--gae wa', lass!--ca' the head o' the house slaves? little ye ken
+about it, lass. Show me a word my Saunders daur speak, or a turn he daur
+do about the house, without it be just to tak his meat, and his drink,
+and his diversion, like ony o' the weans. He has mair sense than to ca'
+anything about the bigging his ain, frae the rooftree down to a crackit
+trencher on the bink. He kens weel eneugh wha feeds him, and cleeds him,
+and keeps a' tight, thack and rape, when his coble is jowing awa in the
+Firth, puir fallow. Na, na, lass!--them that sell the goods guide the
+purse--them that guide the purse rule the house. Show me ane o' yer bits
+o' farmer-bodies that wad let their wife drive the stock to the market,
+and ca' in the debts. Na, na."
+
+"Aweel, aweel, Maggie, ilka land has its ain lauch--But where's Steenie
+the night, when a's come and gane? And where's the gudeman?"*
+
+* Note G. Gyneocracy.
+
+"I hae putten the gudeman to his bed, for he was e'en sair forfain; and
+Steenie's awa out about some barns-breaking wi' the auld gaberlunzie,
+Edie Ochiltree: they'll be in sune, and ye can sit doun."
+
+"Troth, gudewife" (taking a seat), "I haena that muckle time to stop--but
+I maun tell ye about the news. Yell hae heard o' the muckle kist o' gowd
+that Sir Arthur has fund down by at St. Ruth?--He'll be grander than ever
+now--he'll no can haud down his head to sneeze, for fear o' seeing his
+shoon."
+
+"Ou ay--a' the country's heard o' that; but auld Edie says that they ca'
+it ten times mair than ever was o't, and he saw them howk it up. Od, it
+would be lang or a puir body that needed it got sic a windfa'."
+
+"Na, that's sure eneugh.--And yell hae heard o' the Countess o' Glenallan
+being dead and lying in state, and how she's to be buried at St. Ruth's
+as this night fa's, wi' torch-light; and a' the popist servants, and
+Ringan Aikwood, that's a papist too, are to be there, and it will be the
+grandest show ever was seen."
+
+"Troth, hinny," answered the Nereid, "if they let naebody but papists
+come there, it'll no be muckle o' a show in this country, for the auld
+harlot, as honest Mr. Blattergowl ca's her, has few that drink o' her cup
+o' enchantments in this corner o' our chosen lands.--But what can ail
+them to bury the auld carlin (a rudas wife she was) in the night-time?--I
+dare say our gudemither will ken."
+
+Here she exalted her voice, and exclaimed twice or thrice, "Gudemither!
+gudemither!" but, lost in the apathy of age and deafness, the aged sibyl
+she addressed continued plying her spindle without understanding the
+appeal made to her.
+
+"Speak to your grandmither, Jenny--Od, I wad rather hail the coble half a
+mile aff, and the nor-wast wind whistling again in my teeth."
+
+"Grannie," said the little mermaid, in a voice to which the old woman was
+better accustomed, "minnie wants to ken what for the Glenallan folk aye
+bury by candle-light in the ruing of St. Ruth!"
+
+The old woman paused in the act of twirling the spindle, turned round to
+the rest of the party, lifted her withered, trembling, and clay-coloured
+band, raised up her ashen-hued and wrinkled face, which the quick motion
+of two light-blue eyes chiefly distinguished from the visage of a corpse,
+and, as if catching at any touch of association with the living world,
+answered, "What gars the Glenallan family inter their dead by torchlight,
+said the lassie?--Is there a Glenallan dead e'en now?"
+
+"We might be a' dead and buried too," said Maggie, "for onything ye wad
+ken about it;"--and then, raising her voice to the stretch of her
+mother-in-law's comprehension, she added,
+
+"It's the auld Countess, gudemither."
+
+"And is she ca'd hame then at last?" said the old woman, in a voice that
+seemed to be agitated with much more feeling than belonged to her extreme
+old age, and the general indifference and apathy of her manner--"is she
+then called to her last account after her lang race o' pride and power?--
+O God, forgie her!"
+
+"But minnie was asking ye," resumed the lesser querist, "what for the
+Glenallan family aye bury their dead by torch-light?"
+
+"They hae aye dune sae," said the grandmother, "since the time the Great
+Earl fell in the sair battle o' the Harlaw, when they say the coronach
+was cried in ae day from the mouth of the Tay to the Buck of the Cabrach,
+that ye wad hae heard nae other sound but that of lamentation for the
+great folks that had fa'en fighting against Donald of the Isles. But the
+Great Earl's mither was living--they were a doughty and a dour race, the
+women o' the house o' Glenallan--and she wad hae nae coronach cried for
+her son, but had him laid in the silence o' midnight in his place o'
+rest, without either drinking the dirge, or crying the lament. She said
+he had killed enow that day he died, for the widows and daughters o' the
+Highlanders he had slain to cry the coronach for them they had lost, and
+for her son too; and sae she laid him in his gave wi' dry eyes, and
+without a groan or a wail. And it was thought a proud word o' the family,
+and they aye stickit by it--and the mair in the latter times, because in
+the night-time they had mair freedom to perform their popish ceremonies
+by darkness and in secrecy than in the daylight--at least that was the
+case in my time; they wad hae been disturbed in the day-time baith by the
+law and the commons of Fairport--they may be owerlooked now, as I have
+heard: the warlds changed--I whiles hardly ken whether I am standing or
+sitting, or dead or living."
+
+And looking round the fire, as if in a state of unconscious uncertainty
+of which she complained, old Elspeth relapsed into her habitual and
+mechanical occupation of twirling the spindle.
+
+"Eh, sirs!" said Jenny Rintherout, under her breath to her gossip, "it's
+awsome to hear your gudemither break out in that gait--it's like the dead
+speaking to the living."
+
+"Ye're no that far wrang, lass; she minds naething o' what passes the
+day--but set her on auld tales, and she can speak like a prent buke. She
+kens mair about the Glenallan family than maist folk--the gudeman's
+father was their fisher mony a day. Ye maun ken the papists make a great
+point o' eating fish--it's nae bad part o' their religion that, whatever
+the rest is--I could aye sell the best o' fish at the best o' prices for
+the Countess's ain table, grace be wi' her! especially on a Friday--But
+see as our gudemither's hands and lips are ganging--now it's working in
+her head like barm--she'll speak eneugh the night. Whiles she'll no speak
+a word in a week, unless it be to the bits o' bairns."
+
+"Hegh, Mrs. Mucklebackit, she's an awsome wife!" said Jenny in reply.
+"D'ye think she's a'thegither right? Folk say she downa gang to the kirk,
+or speak to the minister, and that she was ance a papist but since her
+gudeman's been dead, naebody kens what she is. D'ye think yoursell that
+she's no uncanny?"
+
+"Canny, ye silly tawpie! think ye ae auld wife's less canny than anither?
+unless it be Alison Breck--I really couldna in conscience swear for her;
+I have kent the boxes she set fill'd wi' partans, when"--
+
+"Whisht, whisht, Maggie," whispered Jenny--"your gudemither's gaun to
+speak again."
+
+"Wasna there some ane o' ye said," asked the old sibyl, "or did I dream,
+or was it revealed to me, that Joscelind, Lady Glenallan, is dead, an'
+buried this night?"
+
+"Yes, gudemither," screamed the daughter-in-law, "it's e'en sae."
+
+"And e'en sae let it be," said old Elspeth; "she's made mony a sair heart
+in her day--ay, e'en her ain son's--is he living yet?"
+
+"Ay, he's living yet; but how lang he'll live--however, dinna ye mind his
+coming and asking after you in the spring, and leaving siller?"
+
+"It may be sae, Magge--I dinna mind it--but a handsome gentleman he was,
+and his father before him. Eh! if his father had lived, they might hae
+been happy folk! But he was gane, and the lady carried it in--ower and
+out-ower wi' her son, and garr'd him trow the thing he never suld hae
+trowed, and do the thing he has repented a' his life, and will repent
+still, were his life as lang as this lang and wearisome ane o' mine."
+
+"O what was it, grannie?"--and "What was it, gudemither?"--and "What was
+it, Luckie Elspeth?" asked the children, the mother, and the visitor, in
+one breath.
+
+"Never ask what it was," answered the old sibyl, "but pray to God that ye
+arena left to the pride and wilfu'ness o' your ain hearts: they may be as
+powerful in a cabin as in a castle--I can bear a sad witness to that. O
+that weary and fearfu' night! will it never gang out o' my auld head!--
+Eh! to see her lying on the floor wi' her lang hair dreeping wi' the salt
+water!--Heaven will avenge on a' that had to do wi't. Sirs! is my son out
+wi' the coble this windy e'en?"
+
+"Na, na, mither--nae coble can keep the sea this wind; he's sleeping in
+his bed out-ower yonder ahint the hallan."
+
+"Is Steenie out at sea then?"
+
+"Na, grannie--Steenie's awa out wi' auld Edie Ochiltree, the gaberlunzie;
+maybe they'll be gaun to see the burial."
+
+"That canna be," said the mother of the family; "we kent naething o't
+till Jock Rand cam in, and tauld us the Aikwoods had warning to attend--
+they keep thae things unco private--and they were to bring the corpse a'
+the way frae the Castle, ten miles off, under cloud o' night. She has
+lain in state this ten days at Glenallan House, in a grand chamber a'
+hung wi' black, and lighted wi' wax cannle."
+
+"God assoilzie her!" ejaculated old Elspeth, her head apparently still
+occupied by the event of the Countess's death; "she was a hard-hearted
+woman, but she's gaen to account for it a', and His mercy is infinite--
+God grant she may find it sae!" And she relapsed into silence, which she
+did not break again during the rest of the evening.
+
+"I wonder what that auld daft beggar carle and our son Steenie can be
+doing out in sic a nicht as this," said Maggie Mucklebackit; and her
+expression of surprise was echoed by her visitor. "Gang awa, ane o' ye,
+hinnies, up to the heugh head, and gie them a cry in case they're within
+hearing; the car-cakes will be burnt to a cinder."
+
+The little emissary departed, but in a few minutes came running back with
+the loud exclamation, "Eh, Minnie! eh, grannie! there's a white bogle
+chasing twa black anes down the heugh."
+
+A noise of footsteps followed this singular annunciation, and young
+Steenie Mucklebackit, closely followed by Edie Ochiltree, bounced into
+the hut. They were panting and out of breath. The first thing Steenie did
+was to look for the bar of the door, which his mother reminded him had
+been broken up for fire-wood in the hard winter three years ago; "for
+what use," she said, "had the like o' them for bars?"
+
+"There's naebody chasing us," said the beggar, after he had taken his
+breath: "we're e'en like the wicked, that flee when no one pursueth."
+
+"Troth, but we were chased," said Steenie, "by a spirit or something
+little better."
+
+"It was a man in white on horseback," said Edie, "for the soft grund that
+wadna bear the beast, flung him about, I wot that weel; but I didna think
+my auld legs could have brought me aff as fast; I ran amaist as fast as
+if I had been at Prestonpans."*
+
+* [This refers to the flight of the government forces at the battle of
+Prestonpans, 1745.]
+
+"Hout, ye daft gowks!" said Luckie Mucklebackit, "it will hae been some
+o' the riders at the Countess's burial."
+
+"What!" said Edie, "is the auld Countess buried the night at St. Ruth's?
+Ou, that wad be the lights and the noise that scarr'd us awa; I wish I
+had ken'd--I wad hae stude them, and no left the man yonder--but they'll
+take care o' him. Ye strike ower hard, Steenie I doubt ye foundered the
+chield."
+
+"Neer a bit," said Steenie, laughing; "he has braw broad shouthers, and I
+just took measure o' them wi' the stang. Od, if I hadna been something
+short wi' him, he wad hae knockit your auld hams out, lad."
+
+"Weel, an I win clear o' this scrape," said Edie, "I'se tempt Providence
+nae mair. But I canna think it an unlawfu' thing to pit a bit trick on
+sic a landlouping scoundrel, that just lives by tricking honester folk."
+
+"But what are we to do with this?" said Steenie, producing a pocket-book.
+
+"Od guide us, man," said Edie in great alarm, "what garr'd ye touch the
+gear? a very leaf o' that pocket-book wad be eneugh to hang us baith."
+
+"I dinna ken," said Steenie; "the book had fa'en out o' his pocket, I
+fancy, for I fand it amang my feet when I was graping about to set him on
+his logs again, and I just pat it in my pouch to keep it safe; and then
+came the tramp of horse, and you cried, Rin, rin,' and I had nae mair
+thought o' the book."
+
+"We maun get it back to the loon some gait or other; ye had better take
+it yoursell, I think, wi' peep o' light, up to Ringan Aikwood's. I wadna
+for a hundred pounds it was fund in our hands."
+
+Steenie undertook to do as he was directed.
+
+"A bonny night ye hae made o't, Mr. Steenie," said Jenny Rintherout, who,
+impatient of remaining so long unnoticed, now presented herself to the
+young fisherman--"A bonny night ye hae made o't, tramping about wi'
+gaberlunzies, and getting yoursell hunted wi' worricows, when ye suld be
+sleeping in your bed, like your father, honest man."
+
+This attack called forth a suitable response of rustic raillery from the
+young fisherman. An attack was now commenced upon the car-cakes and
+smoked fish, and sustained with great perseverance by assistance of a
+bicker or two of twopenny ale and a bottle of gin. The mendicant then
+retired to the straw of an out-house adjoining,--the children had one by
+one crept into their nests,--the old grandmother was deposited in her
+flock-bed,--Steenie, notwithstanding his preceding fatigue, had the
+gallantry to accompany Miss Rintherout to her own mansion, and at what
+hour he returned the story saith not,--and the matron of the family,
+having laid the gathering-coal upon the fire, and put things in some sort
+of order, retired to rest the last of the family.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER SIXTH.
+
+                           --Many great ones
+          Would part with half their states, to have the plan
+                 And credit to beg in the first style.
+                                            Beggar's Bush.
+
+Old Edie was stirring with the lark, and his first inquiry was after
+Steenie and the pocket-book. The young fisherman had been under the
+necessity of attending his father before daybreak, to avail themselves of
+the tide, but he had promised that, immediately on his return, the
+pocket-book, with all its contents, carefully wrapped up in a piece of
+sail-cloth, should be delivered by him to Ringan Aikwood, for
+Dousterswivel, the owner.
+
+The matron had prepared the morning meal for the family, and, shouldering
+her basket of fish, tramped sturdily away towards Fairport. The children
+were idling round the door, for the day was fair and sun-shiney. The
+ancient grandame, again seated on her wicker-chair by the fire, had
+resumed her eternal spindle, wholly unmoved by the yelling and screaming
+of the children, and the scolding of the mother, which had preceded the
+dispersion of the family. Edie had arranged his various bags, and was
+bound for the renewal of his wandering life, but first advanced with due
+courtesy to take his leave of the ancient crone.
+
+"Gude day to ye, cummer, and mony ane o' them. I will be back about the
+fore-end o'har'st, and I trust to find ye baith haill and fere."
+
+"Pray that ye may find me in my quiet grave," said the old woman, in a
+hollow and sepulchral voice, but without the agitation of a single
+feature.
+
+"Ye're auld, cummer, and sae am I mysell; but we maun abide His will--
+we'll no be forgotten in His good time."
+
+"Nor our deeds neither," said the crone: "what's dune in the body maun be
+answered in the spirit."
+
+"I wot that's true; and I may weel tak the tale hame to mysell, that hae
+led a misruled and roving life. But ye were aye a canny wife. We're a'
+frail--but ye canna hae sae muckle to bow ye down."
+
+"Less than I might have had--but mair, O far mair, than wad sink the
+stoutest brig e'er sailed out o' Fairport harbour!--Didna somebody say
+yestreen--at least sae it is borne in on my mind, but auld folk hae weak
+fancies--did not somebody say that Joscelind, Countess of Glenallan, was
+departed frae life?"
+
+"They said the truth whaever said it," answered old Edie; "she was buried
+yestreen by torch-light at St. Ruth's, and I, like a fule, gat a gliff
+wi' seeing the lights and the riders."
+
+"It was their fashion since the days of the Great Earl that was killed at
+Harlaw;--they did it to show scorn that they should die and be buried
+like other mortals; the wives o' the house of Glenallan wailed nae wail
+for the husband, nor the sister for the brother.--But is she e'en ca'd to
+the lang account?"
+
+"As sure," answered Edie, "as we maun a' abide it."
+
+"Then I'll unlade my mind, come o't what will."
+
+This she spoke with more alacrity than usually attended her expressions,
+and accompanied her words with an attitude of the hand, as if throwing
+something from her. She then raised up her form, once tall, and still
+retaining the appearance of having been so, though bent with age and
+rheumatism, and stood before the beggar like a mummy animated by some
+wandering spirit into a temporary resurrection. Her light-blue eyes
+wandered to and fro, as if she occasionally forgot and again remembered
+the purpose for which her long and withered hand was searching among the
+miscellaneous contents of an ample old-fashioned pocket. At length she
+pulled out a small chip-box, and opening it, took out a handsome ring, in
+which was set a braid of hair, composed of two different colours, black
+and light brown, twined together, encircled with brilliants of
+considerable value.
+
+"Gudeman," she said to Ochiltree, "as ye wad e'er deserve mercy, ye maun
+gang my errand to the house of Glenallan, and ask for the Earl."
+
+"The Earl of Glenallan, cummer! ou, he winna see ony o' the gentles o'
+the country, and what likelihood is there that he wad see the like o' an
+auld gaberlunzie?"
+
+"Gang your ways and try;--and tell him that Elspeth o' the Craigburnfoot
+--he'll mind me best by that name--maun see him or she be relieved frae
+her lang pilgrimage, and that she sends him that ring in token of the
+business she wad speak o'."
+
+Ochiltree looked on the ring with some admiration of its apparent value,
+and then carefully replacing it in the box, and wrapping it in an old
+ragged handkerchief, he deposited the token in his bosom.
+
+"Weel, gudewife," he said, "I'se do your bidding, or it's no be my fault.
+But surely there was never sic a braw propine as this sent to a yerl by
+an auld fishwife, and through the hands of a gaberlunzie beggar."
+
+With this reflection, Edie took up his pike-staff, put on his
+broad-brimmed bonnet, and set forth upon his pilgrimage. The old woman
+remained for some time standing in a fixed posture, her eyes directed to
+the door through which her ambassador had departed. The appearance of
+excitation, which the conversation had occasioned, gradually left her
+features; she sank down upon her accustomed seat, and resumed her
+mechanical labour of the distaff and spindle, with her wonted air of
+apathy.
+
+Edie Ochiltree meanwhile advanced on his journey. The distance to
+Glenallan was ten miles, a march which the old soldier accomplished in
+about four hours. With the curiosity belonging to his idle trade and
+animated character, he tortured himself the whole way to consider what
+could be the meaning of this mysterious errand with which he was
+entrusted, or what connection the proud, wealthy, and powerful Earl of
+Glenallan could have with the crimes or penitence of an old doting woman,
+whose rank in life did not greatly exceed that of her messenger. He
+endeavoured to call to memory all that he had ever known or heard of the
+Glenallan family, yet, having done so, remained altogether unable to form
+a conjecture on the subject. He knew that the whole extensive estate of
+this ancient and powerful family had descended to the Countess, lately
+deceased, who inherited, in a most remarkable degree, the stern, fierce,
+and unbending character which had distinguished the house of Glenallan
+since they first figured in Scottish annals. Like the rest of her
+ancestors, she adhered zealously to the Roman Catholic faith, and was
+married to an English gentleman of the same communion, and of large
+fortune, who did not survive their union two years. The Countess was,
+therefore, left all early widow, with the uncontrolled management of the
+large estates of her two sons. The elder, Lord Geraldin, who was to
+succeed to the title and fortune of Glenallan, was totally dependent on
+his mother during her life. The second, when he came of age, assumed the
+name and arms of his father, and took possession of his estate, according
+to the provisions of the Countess's marriage-settlement. After this
+period, he chiefly resided in England, and paid very few and brief visits
+to his mother and brother; and these at length were altogether dispensed
+with, in consequence of his becoming a convert to the reformed religion.
+
+But even before this mortal offence was given to its mistress, his
+residence at Glenallan offered few inducements to a gay young man like
+Edward Geraldin Neville, though its gloom and seclusion seemed to suit
+the retired and melancholy habits of his elder brother. Lord Geraldin, in
+the outset of life, had been a young man of accomplishment and hopes.
+Those who knew him upon his travels entertained the highest expectations
+of his future career. But such fair dawns are often strangely overcast.
+The young nobleman returned to Scotland, and after living about a year in
+his mother's society at Glenallan House, he seemed to have adopted all
+the stern gloom and melancholy of her character. Excluded from politics
+by the incapacities attached to those of his religion, and from all
+lighter avocationas by choice, Lord Geraldin led a life of the strictest
+retirement. His ordinary society was composed of the clergyman of his
+communion, who occasionally visited his mansion; and very rarely, upon
+stated occasions of high festival, one or two families who still
+professed the Catholic religion were formally entertained at Glenallan
+House. But this was all; their heretic neighbours knew nothing of the
+family whatever; and even the Catholics saw little more than the
+sumptuous entertainment and solemn parade which was exhibited on those
+formal occasions, from which all returned without knowing whether most to
+wonder at the stern and stately demeanour of the Countess, or the deep
+and gloomy dejection which never ceased for a moment to cloud the
+features of her son. The late event had put him in possession of his
+fortune and title, and the neighbourhood had already begun to conjecture
+whether gaiety would revive with independence, when those who had some
+occasional acquaintance with the interior of the family spread abroad a
+report, that the Earl's constitution was undermined by religious
+austerities, and that in all probability he would soon follow his mother
+to the grave. This event was the more probable, as his brother had died
+of a lingering complaint, which, in the latter years of his life, had
+affected at once his frame and his spirits; so that heralds and
+genealogists were already looking back into their records to discover the
+heir of this ill-fated family, and lawyers were talking with gleesome
+anticipation, of the probability of a "great Glenallan cause."
+
+As Edie Ochiltree approached the front of Glenallan House,* an ancient
+building of great extent, the most modern part of which had been designed
+by the celebrated Inigo Jones, he began to consider in what way he should
+be most likely to gain access for delivery of his message; and, after
+much consideration, resolved to send the token to the Earl by one of the
+domestics.
+
+* [Supposed to represent Glammis Castle, in Forfarshire, with which the
+Author was well acquainted.]
+
+With this purpose he stopped at a cottage, where he obtained the means of
+making up the ring in a sealed packet like a petition, addressed, _Forr
+his hounor the Yerl of Glenllan--These._ But being aware that missives
+delivered at the doors of great houses by such persons as himself, do not
+always make their way according to address, Edie determined, like an old
+soldier, to reconnoitre the ground before he made his final attack. As he
+approached the porter's lodge, he discovered, by the number of poor
+ranked before it, some of them being indigent persons in the vicinity,
+and others itinerants of his own begging profession,--that there was
+about to be a general dole or distribution of charity.
+
+"A good turn," said Edie to himself, "never goes unrewarded--I'll maybe
+get a good awmous that I wad hae missed but for trotting on this auld
+wife's errand."
+
+Accordingly, he ranked up with the rest of this ragged regiment, assuming
+a station as near the front as possible,--a distinction due, as he
+conceived, to his blue gown and badge, no less than to his years and
+experience; but he soon found there was another principle of precedence
+in this assembly, to which he had not adverted.
+
+"Are ye a triple man, friend, that ye press forward sae bauldly?--I'm
+thinking no, for there's nae Catholics wear that badge."
+
+"Na, na, I am no a Roman," said Edie.
+
+"Then shank yoursell awa to the double folk, or single folk, that's the
+Episcopals or Presbyterians yonder: it's a shame to see a heretic hae sic
+a lang white beard, that would do credit to a hermit."
+
+Ochiltree, thus rejected from the society of the Catholic mendicants, or
+those who called themselves such, went to station himself with the
+paupers of the communion of the church of England, to whom the noble
+donor allotted a double portion of his charity. But never was a poor
+occasional conformist more roughly rejected by a High-church
+congregation, even when that matter was furiously agitated in the days of
+good Queen Anne.
+
+"See to him wi' his badge!" they said;--"he hears ane o' the king's
+Presbyterian chaplains sough out a sermon on the morning of every
+birth-day, and now he would pass himsell for ane o' the Episcopal church!
+Na, na!--we'll take care o' that."
+
+Edie, thus rejected by Rome and Prelacy, was fain to shelter himself from
+the laughter of his brethren among the thin group of Presbyterians, who
+had either disdained to disguise their religious opinions for the sake of
+an augmented dole, or perhaps knew they could not attempt the imposition
+without a certainty of detection.
+
+The same degree of precedence was observed in the mode of distributing
+the charity, which consisted in bread, beef, and a piece of money, to
+each individual of all the three classes. The almoner, an ecclesiastic of
+grave appearance and demeanour, superintended in person the accommodation
+of the Catholic mendicants, asking a question or two of each as he
+delivered the charity, and recommending to their prayers the soul of
+Joscelind, late Countess of Glenallan, mother of their benefactor. The
+porter, distinguished by his long staff headed with silver, and by the
+black gown tufted with lace of the same colour, which he had assumed upon
+the general mourning in the family, overlooked the distribution of the
+dole among the prelatists. The less-favoured kirk-folk were committed to
+the charge of an aged domestic.
+
+As this last discussed some disputed point with the porter, his name, as
+it chanced to be occasionally mentioned, and then his features, struck
+Ochiltree, and awakened recollections of former times. The rest of the
+assembly were now retiring, when the domestic, again approaching the
+place where Edie still lingered, said, in a strong Aberdeenshire accent,
+"Fat is the auld feel-body deeing, that he canna gang avay, now that he's
+gotten baith meat and siller?"
+
+"Francis Macraw," answered Edie Ochiltree, "d'ye no mind Fontenoy, and
+keep thegither front and rear?'"
+
+"Ohon! ohon!" cried Francie, with a true north-country yell of
+recognition, "naebody could hae said that word but my auld front-rank
+man, Edie Ochiltree! But I'm sorry to see ye in sic a peer state, man."
+
+"No sae ill aff as ye may think, Francis. But I'm laith to leave this
+place without a crack wi' you, and I kenna when I may see you again, for
+your folk dinna mak Protestants welcome, and that's ae reason that I hae
+never been here before."
+
+"Fusht, fusht," said Francie, "let that flee stick i' the wa'--when the
+dirt's dry it will rub out;--and come you awa wi' me, and I'll gie ye
+something better thau that beef bane, man."
+
+Having then spoke a confidential word with the porter (probably to
+request his connivance), and having waited until the almoner had returned
+into the house with slow and solemn steps, Francie Macraw introduced his
+old comrade into the court of Glenallan House, the gloomy gateway of
+which was surmounted by a huge scutcheon, in which the herald and
+undertaker had mingled, as usual, the emblems of human pride and of human
+nothingness,--the Countess's hereditary coat-of-arms, with all its
+numerous quarterings, disposed in a lozenge, and surrounded by the
+separate shields of her paternal and maternal ancestry, intermingled with
+scythes, hour glasses, skulls, and other symbols of that mortality which
+levels all distinctions. Conducting his friend as speedily as possible
+along the large paved court, Macraw led the way through a side-door to a
+small apartment near the servants' hall, which, in virtue of his personal
+attendance upon the Earl of Glenallan, he was entitled to call his own.
+To produce cold meat of various kinds, strong beer, and even a glass of
+spirits, was no difficulty to a person of Francis's importance, who had
+not lost, in his sense of conscious dignity, the keen northern prudence
+which recommended a good understanding with the butler. Our mendicant
+envoy drank ale, and talked over old stories with his comrade, until, no
+other topic of conversation occurring, he resolved to take up the theme
+of his embassy, which had for some time escaped his memory.
+
+"He had a petition to present to the Earl," he said;--for he judged it
+prudent to say nothing of the ring, not knowing, as he afterwards
+observed, how far the manners of a single soldier* might have been
+corrupted by service in a great house.
+
+* A single soldier means, in Scotch, a private soldier.
+
+"Hout, tout, man," said Francie, "the Earl will look at nae petitions--
+but I can gie't to the almoner."
+
+"But it relates to some secret, that maybe my lord wad like best to see't
+himsell."
+
+"I'm jeedging that's the very reason that the almoner will be for seeing
+it the first and foremost."
+
+"But I hae come a' this way on purpose to deliver it, Francis, and ye
+really maun help me at a pinch."
+
+"Neer speed then if I dinna," answered the Aberdeenshire man: "let them
+be as cankered as they like, they can but turn me awa, and I was just
+thinking to ask my discharge, and gang down to end my days at Inverurie."
+
+With this doughty resolution of serving his friend at all ventures, since
+none was to be encountered which could much inconvenience himself,
+Francie Macraw left the apartment. It was long before he returned, and
+when he did, his manner indicated wonder and agitation.
+
+"I am nae seer gin ye be Edie Ochiltree o' Carrick's company in the
+Forty-twa, or gin ye be the deil in his likeness!"
+
+"And what makes ye speak in that gait?" demanded the astonished
+mendicant.
+
+"Because my lord has been in sic a distress and surpreese as I neer saw a
+man in my life. But he'll see you--I got that job cookit. He was like a
+man awa frae himsell for mony minutes, and I thought he wad hae swarv't
+a'thegither,--and fan he cam to himsell, he asked fae brought the packet
+--and fat trow ye I said?"
+
+"An auld soger," says Edie--"that does likeliest at a gentle's door; at a
+farmer's it's best to say ye're an auld tinkler, if ye need ony quarters,
+for maybe the gudewife will hae something to souther."
+
+"But I said neer ane o' the twa," answered Francis; "my lord cares as
+little about the tane as the tother--for he's best to them that can
+souther up our sins. Sae I e'en said the bit paper was brought by an auld
+man wi' a long fite beard--he might be a capeechin freer for fat I ken'd,
+for he was dressed like an auld palmer. Sae ye'll be sent up for fanever
+he can find mettle to face ye."
+
+"I wish I was weel through this business," thought Edie to himself; "mony
+folk surmise that the Earl's no very right in the judgment, and wha can
+say how far he may be offended wi' me for taking upon me sae muckle?"
+
+But there was now no room for retreat--a bell sounded from a distant part
+of the mansion, and Macraw said, with a smothered accent, as if already
+in his master's presence, "That's my lord's bell!--follow me, and step
+lightly and cannily, Edie."
+
+Edie followed his guide, who seemed to tread as if afraid of being
+overheard, through a long passage, and up a back stair, which admitted
+them into the family apartments. They were ample and extensive, furnished
+at such cost as showed the ancient importance and splendour of the
+family. But all the ornaments were in the taste of a former and distant
+period, and one would have almost supposed himself traversing the halls
+of a Scottish nobleman before the union of the crowns. The late Countess,
+partly from a haughty contempt of the times in which she lived, partly
+from her sense of family pride, had not permitted the furniture to be
+altered or modernized during her residence at Glenallan House. The most
+magnificent part of the decorations was a valuable collection of pictures
+by the best masters, whose massive frames were somewhat tarnished by
+time. In this particular also the gloomy taste of the family seemed to
+predominate. There were some fine family portraits by Vandyke and other
+masters of eminence; but the collection was richest in the Saints and
+Martyrdoms of Domenichino, Velasquez, and Murillo, and other subjects of
+the same kind, which had been selected in preference to landscapes or
+historical pieces. The manner in which these awful, and sometimes
+disgusting, subjects were represented, harmonized with the gloomy state
+of the apartments,--a circumstance which was not altogether lost on the
+old man, as he traversed them under the guidance of his quondam
+fellow-soldier. He was about to express some sentiment of this kind, but
+Francie imposed silence on him by signs, and opening a door at the end of
+the long picture-gallery, ushered him into a small antechamber hung with
+black. Here they found the almoner, with his ear turned to a door
+opposite that by which they entered, in the attitude of one who listens
+with attention, but is at the same time afraid of being detected in the
+act.
+
+The old domestic and churchman started when they perceived each other.
+But the almoner first recovered his recollection, and advancing towards
+Macraw, said, under his breath, but with an authoritative tone, "How dare
+you approach the Earl's apartment without knocking? and who is this
+stranger, or what has he to do here?--Retire to the gallery, and wait for
+me there."
+
+"It's impossible just now to attend your reverence," answered Macraw,
+raising his voice so as to be heard in the next room, being conscious
+that the priest would not maintain the altercation within hearing of his
+patron,--"the Earl's bell has rung."
+
+He had scarce uttered the words, when it was rung again with greater
+violence than before; and the ecclesiastic, perceiving further
+expostulation impossible, lifted his finger at Macraw, with a menacing
+attitude, as he left the apartment.
+
+"I tell'd ye sae," said the Aberdeen man in a whisper to Edie, and then
+proceeded to open the door near which they had observed the chaplain
+stationed.
+
+
+
+
+                            CHAPTER SEVENTH.
+
+
+                             --This ring.--
+               This little ring, with necromantic force,
+               Has raised the ghost of pleasure to my fears,
+               Conjured the sense of honour and of love
+               Into such shapes, they fright me from myself.
+                                     The Fatal Marriage.
+
+The ancient forms of mourning were observed in Glenallan House,
+notwithstanding the obduracy with which the members of the family were
+popularly supposed to refuse to the dead the usual tribute of
+lamentation. It was remarked, that when she received the fatal letter
+announcing the death of her second, and, as was once believed, her
+favourite son, the hand of the Countess did not shake, nor her eyelid
+twinkle, any more than upon perusal of a letter of ordinary business.
+Heaven only knows whether the suppression of maternal sorrow, which her
+pride commanded, might not have some effect in hastening her own death.
+It was at least generally supposed that the apoplectic stroke, which so
+soon afterwards terminated her existence, was, as it were, the vengeance
+of outraged Nature for the restraint to which her feelings had been
+subjected. But although Lady Glenallan forebore the usual external signs
+of grief, she had caused many of the apartments, amongst others her own
+and that of the Earl, to be hung with the exterior trappings of woe.
+
+The Earl of Glenallan was therefore seated in an apartment hung with
+black cloth, which waved in dusky folds along its lofty walls. A screen,
+also covered with black baize, placed towards the high and narrow window,
+intercepted much of the broken light which found its way through the
+stained glass, that represented, with such skill as the fourteenth
+century possessed, the life and sorrows of the prophet Jeremiah. The
+table at which the Earl was seated was lighted with two lamps wrought in
+silver, shedding that unpleasant and doubtful light which arises from the
+mingling of artificial lustre with that of general daylight. The same
+table displayed a silver crucifix, and one or two clasped parchment
+books. A large picture, exquisitely painted by Spagnoletto, represented
+the martyrdom of St. Stephen, and was the only ornament of the apartment.
+
+The inhabitant and lord of this disconsolate chamber was a man not past
+the prime of life, yet so broken down with disease and mental misery, so
+gaunt and ghastly, that he appeared but a wreck of manhood; and when he
+hastily arose and advanced towards his visitor, the exertion seemed
+almost to overpower his emaciated frame. As they met in the midst of the
+apartment, the contrast they exhibited was very striking. The hale cheek,
+firm step, erect stature, and undaunted presence and bearing of the old
+mendicant, indicated patience and content in the extremity of age, and in
+the lowest condition to which humanity can sink; while the sunken eye,
+pallid cheek, and tottering form of the nobleman with whom he was
+confronted, showed how little wealth, power, and even the advantages of
+youth, have to do with that which gives repose to the mind, and firmness
+to the frame.
+
+The Earl met the old man in the middle of the room, and having commanded
+his attendant to withdraw into the gallery, and suffer no one to enter
+the antechamber till he rung the bell, awaited, with hurried yet fearful
+impatience, until he heard first the door of his apartment, and then that
+of the antechamber, shut and fastened by the spring-bolt. When he was
+satisfied with this security against being overheard, Lord Glenallan came
+close up to the mendicant, whom he probably mistook for some person of a
+religious order in disguise, and said, in a hasty yet faltering tone, "In
+the name of all our religion holds most holy, tell me, reverend father,
+what am I to expect from a communication opened by a token connected with
+such horrible recollections?"
+
+The old man, appalled by a manner so different from what he had expected
+from the proud and powerful nobleman, was at a loss how to answer, and in
+what manner to undeceive him. "Tell me," continued the Earl, in a tone of
+increasing trepidation and agony--"tell me, do you come to say that all
+that has been done to expiate guilt so horrible, has been too little and
+too trivial for the offence, and to point out new and more efficacious
+modes of severe penance?--I will not blench from it, father--let me
+suffer the pains of my crime here in the body, rather than hereafter in
+the spirit!"
+
+Edie had now recollection enough to perceive, that if he did not
+interrapt the frankness of Lord Glenallan's admissions, he was likely to
+become the confidant of more than might be safe for him to know. He
+therefore uttered with a hasty and trembling voice--"Your lordship's
+honour is mistaken--I am not of your persuasion, nor a clergyman, but,
+with all reverence, only puir Edie Ochiltree, the king's bedesman and
+your honour's."
+
+This explanation be accompanied by a profound bow after his manner, and
+then, drawing himself up erect, rested his arm on his staff, threw back
+his long white hair, and fixed his eyes upon the Earl, as he waited for
+an answer.
+
+"And you are not then," said Lord Glenallan, after a pause of surprise--
+"You are not then a Catholic priest?"
+
+"God forbid!" said Edie, forgetting in his confusion to whom he was
+speaking; "I am only the king's bedesman and your honour's, as I said
+before."
+
+The Earl turned hastily away, and paced the room twice or thrice, as if
+to recover the effects of his mistake, and then, coming close up to the
+mendicant, he demanded, in a stern and commanding tone, what he meant by
+intruding himself on his privacy, and from whence he had got the ring
+which he had thought proper to send him. Edie, a man of much spirit, was
+less daunted at this mode of interrogation than he had been confused by
+the tone of confidence in which the Earl had opened their conversation.
+To the reiterated question from whom he had obtained the ring, he
+answered composedly, "From one who was better known to the Earl than to
+him."
+
+"Better known to me, fellow?" said Lord Glenallan: "what is your
+meaning?--explain yourself instantly, or you shall experience the
+consequence of breaking in upon the hours of family distress."
+
+"It was auld Elspeth Mucklebackit that sent me here," said the beggar,
+"in order to say"--
+
+"You dote, old man!" said the Earl; "I never heard the name--but this
+dreadful token reminds me"--
+
+"I mind now, my lord," said Ochiltree, "she tauld me your lordship would
+be mair familiar wi' her, if I ca'd her Elspeth o' the Craigburnfoot--she
+had that name when she lived on your honour's land, that is, your
+honour's worshipful mother's that was then--Grace be wi' her!"
+
+"Ay," said the appalled nobleman, as his countenance sunk, and his cheek
+assumed a hue yet more cadaverous; "that name is indeed written in the
+most tragic page of a deplorable history. But what can she desire of me?
+Is she dead or living?"
+
+"Living, my lord; and entreats to see your lordship before she dies, for
+she has something to communicate that hangs upon her very soul, and she
+says she canna flit in peace until she sees you."
+
+"Not until she sees me!--what can that mean? But she is doting with age
+and infirmity. I tell thee, friend, I called at her cottage myself, not a
+twelvemonth since, from a report that she was in distress, and she did
+not even know my face or voice."
+
+"If your honour wad permit me," said Edie, to whom the length of the
+conference restored a part of his professional audacity and native
+talkativeness--"if your honour wad but permit me, I wad say, under
+correction of your lordship's better judgment, that auld Elspeth's like
+some of the ancient ruined strengths and castles that ane sees amang the
+hills. There are mony parts of her mind that appear, as I may say, laid
+waste and decayed, but then there's parts that look the steever, and the
+stronger, and the grander, because they are rising just like to fragments
+amaong the ruins o' the rest. She's an awful woman."
+
+"She always was so," said the Earl, almost unconsciously echoing the
+observation of the mendicant; "she always was different from other women
+--likest perhaps to her who is now no more, in her temper and turn of
+mind.--She wishes to see me, then?"
+
+"Before she dies," said Edie, "she earnestly entreats that pleasure."
+
+"It will be a pleasure to neither of us," said the Earl, sternly, "yet
+she shall be gratified. She lives, I think, on the sea-shore to the
+southward of Fairport?"
+
+"Just between Monkbarns and Knockwinnock Castle, but nearer to Monkbarns.
+Your lordship's honour will ken the laird and Sir Arthur, doubtless?"
+
+A stare, as if he did not comprehend the question, was Lord Glenallan's
+answer. Edie saw his mind was elsewhere, and did not venture to repeat a
+query which was so little germain to the matter.
+
+"Are you a Catholic, old man?" demanded the Earl.
+
+"No, my lord," said Ochiltree stoutly; for the remembrance of the unequal
+division of the dole rose in his mind at the moment; "I thank Heaven I am
+a good Protestant."
+
+"He who can conscientiously call himself _good,_ has indeed reason to
+thank Heaven, be his form of Christianity what it will--But who is he
+that shall dare to do so!"
+
+"Not I," said Edie; "I trust to beware of the sin of presumption."
+
+"What was your trade in your youth?" continued the Earl.
+
+"A soldier, my lord; and mony a sair day's kemping I've seen. I was to
+have been made a sergeant, but"--
+
+"A soldier! then you have slain and burnt, and sacked and spoiled?"
+
+"I winna say," replied Edie, "that I have been better than my
+neighbours;--it's a rough trade--war's sweet to them that never tried
+it."
+
+"And you are now old and miserable, asking from precarious charity the
+food which in your youth you tore from the hand of the poor peasant?"
+
+"I am a beggar, it is true, my lord; but I am nae just sae miserable
+neither. For my sins, I hae had grace to repent of them, if I might say
+sae, and to lay them where they may be better borne than by me; and for
+my food, naebody grudges an auld man a bit and a drink--Sae I live as I
+can, and am contented to die when I am ca'd upon."
+
+"And thus, then, with little to look back upon that is pleasant or
+praiseworthy in your past life--with less to look forward to on this side
+of eternity, you are contented to drag out the rest of your existence?
+Go, begone! and in your age and poverty and weariness, never envy the
+lord of such a mansion as this, either in his sleeping or waking moments
+--Here is something for thee."
+
+The Earl put into the old man's hand five or six guineas. Edie would
+perhaps have stated his scruples, as upon other occasions, to the amount
+of the benefaction, but the tone of Lord Glenallan was too absolute to
+admit of either answer or dispute. The Earl then called his servant--"See
+this old man safe from the castle--let no one ask him any questions--and
+you, friend, begone, and forget the road that leads to my house."
+
+"That would be difficult for me," said Edie, looking at the gold which he
+still held in his hand, "that would be e'en difficult, since your honour
+has gien me such gade cause to remember it."
+
+Lord Glenallan stared, as hardly comprehending the old man's boldness in
+daring to bandy words with him, and, with his hand, made him another
+signal of departure, which the mendicant instantly obeyed.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER EIGHTH.
+
+                For he was one in all their idle sport,
+               And like a monarch, ruled their little court
+               The pliant bow he formed, the flying ball,
+               The bat, the wicket, were his labours all.
+                                         Crabbe's Village.
+
+Francis Macraw, agreeably to the commands of his master, attended the
+mendicant, in order to see him fairly out of the estate, without
+permitting him to have conversation, or intercourse, with any of the
+Earl's dependents or domestics. But, judiciously considering that the
+restriction did not extend to himself, who was the person entrusted with
+the convoy, he used every measure in his power to extort from Edie the
+nature of his confidential and secret interview with Lord Glenallan. But
+Edie had been in his time accustomed to cross-examination, and easily
+evaded those of his quondam comrade. "The secrets of grit folk," said
+Ochiltree within himself, "are just like the wild beasts that are shut up
+in cages. Keep them hard and fast sneaked up, and it's a' very weel or
+better--but ance let them out, they will turn and rend you. I mind how
+ill Dugald Gunn cam aff for letting loose his tongue about the Major's
+leddy and Captain Bandilier."
+
+Francis was therefore foiled in his assaults upon the fidelity of the
+mendicant, and, like an indifferent chess-player, became, at every
+unsuccessful movement, more liable to the counter-checks of his opponent.
+
+"Sae ye uphauld ye had nae particulars to say to my lord but about yer
+ain matters?"
+
+"Ay, and about the wee bits o' things I had brought frae abroad," said
+Edie. "I ken'd you popist folk are unco set on the relics that are
+fetched frae far-kirks and sae forth."
+
+"Troth, my Lord maun be turned feel outright," said the domestic, "an he
+puts himsell into sic a carfuffle, for onything ye could bring him,
+Edie."
+
+"I doubtna ye may say true in the main, neighbour," replied the beggar;
+"but maybe he's had some hard play in his younger days, Francis, and that
+whiles unsettles folk sair."
+
+"Troth, Edie, and ye may say that--and since it's like yell neer come
+back to the estate, or, if ye dee, that ye'll no find me there, I'se e'en
+tell you he had a heart in his young time sae wrecked and rent, that it's
+a wonder it hasna broken outright lang afore this day."
+
+"Ay, say ye sae?" said Ochiltree; "that maun hae been about a woman, I
+reckon?"
+
+"Troth, and ye hae guessed it," said Francie--"jeest a cusin o' his nain
+--Miss Eveline Neville, as they suld hae ca'd her;--there was a sough in
+the country about it, but it was hushed up, as the grandees were
+concerned;--it's mair than twenty years syne--ay, it will be
+three-and-twenty."
+
+"Ay, I was in America then," said the mendicant, "and no in the way to
+hear the country clashes."
+
+"There was little clash about it, man," replied Macraw; "he liked this
+young leddy, ana suld hae married her, but his mother fand it out, and
+then the deil gaed o'er Jock Webster. At last, the peer lass clodded
+hersell o'er the scaur at the Craigburnfoot into the sea, and there was
+an end o't."
+
+"An end ot wi' the puir leddy," said the mendicant, "but, as I reckon,
+nae end o't wi' the yerl."
+
+"Nae end o't till his life makes an end," answered the Aberdonian.
+
+"But what for did the auld Countess forbid the marriage?" continued the
+persevering querist.
+
+"Fat for!--she maybe didna weel ken for fat hersell, for she gar'd a' bow
+to her bidding, right or wrang--But it was ken'd the young leddy was
+inclined to some o' the heresies of the country--mair by token, she was
+sib to him nearer than our Church's rule admits of. Sae the leddy was
+driven to the desperate act, and the yerl has never since held his head
+up like a man."
+
+"Weel away!" replied Ochiltree:--"it's e'en queer I neer heard this tale
+afore."
+
+"It's e'en queer that ye heard it now, for deil ane o' the servants durst
+hae spoken o't had the auld Countess been living. Eh, man, Edie! but she
+was a trimmer--it wad hae taen a skeely man to hae squared wi' her!--But
+she's in her grave, and we may loose our tongues a bit fan we meet a
+friend.--But fare ye weel, Edie--I maun be back to the evening-service.
+An' ye come to Inverurie maybe sax months awa, dinna forget to ask after
+Francie Macraw."
+
+What one kindly pressed, the other as firmly promised; and the friends
+having thus parted, with every testimony of mutual regard, the domestic
+of Lord Glenallan took his road back to the seat of his master, leaving
+Ochiltree to trace onward his habitual pilgrimage.
+
+It was a fine summer evening, and the world--that is, the little circle
+which was all in all to the individual by whom it was trodden, lay before
+Edie Ochiltree, for the choosing of his night's quarters. When he had
+passed the less hospitable domains of Glenallan, he had in his option so
+many places of refuge for the evening, that he was nice, and even
+fastidious in the choice. Ailie Sim's public was on the road-side about a
+mile before him, but there would be a parcel of young fellows there on
+the Saturday night, and that was a bar to civil conversation. Other
+"gudemen and gudewives," as the farmers and their dames are termed in
+Scotland, successively presented themselves to his imagination. But one
+was deaf, and could not hear him; another toothless, and could not make
+him hear; a third had a cross temper; and a fourth an ill-natured
+house-dog. At Monkbarns or Knockwinnock he was sure of a favourable and
+hospitable reception; but they lay too distant to be conveniently reached
+that night.
+
+"I dinna ken how it is," said the old man, "but I am nicer about my
+quarters this night than ever I mind having been in my life. I think,
+having seen a' the braws yonder, and finding out ane may be happier
+without them, has made me proud o' my ain lot--But I wuss it bode me
+gude, for pride goeth before destruction. At ony rate, the warst barn
+e'er man lay in wad be a pleasanter abode than Glenallan House, wi' a'
+the pictures and black velvet, and silver bonny-wawlies belonging to it--
+Sae I'll e'en settle at ance, and put in for Ailie Sims."
+
+As the old man descended the hill above the little hamlet to which he was
+bending his course, the setting sun had relieved its inmates from their
+labour, and the young men, availing themselves of the fine evening, were
+engaged in the sport of long-bowls on a patch of common, while the women
+and elders looked on. The shout, the laugh, the exclamations of winners
+and losers, came in blended chorus up the path which Ochiltree was
+descending, and awakened in his recollection the days when he himself had
+been a keen competitor, and frequently victor, in games of strength and
+agility. These remembrances seldom fail to excite a sigh, even when the
+evening of life is cheered by brighter prospects than those of our poor
+mendicant. "At that time of day," was his natural reflection, "I would
+have thought as little about ony auld palmering body that was coming down
+the edge of Kinblythemont, as ony o' thae stalwart young chiels does
+e'enow about auld Edie Ochiltree."
+
+He was, however, presently cheered, by finding that more importance was
+attached to his arrival than his modesty had anticipated. A disputed cast
+had occurred between the bands of players, and as the gauger favoured the
+one party, and the schoolmaster the other, the matter might be said to be
+taken up by the higher powers. The miller and smith, also, had espoused
+different sides, and, considering the vivacity of two such disputants,
+there was reason to doubt whether the strife might be amicably
+terminated. But the first person who caught a sight of the mendicant
+exclaimed, "Ah! here comes auld Edie, that kens the rules of a' country
+games better than ony man that ever drave a bowl, or threw an axle-tree,
+or putted a stane either;--let's hae nae quarrelling, callants--we'll
+stand by auld Edie's judgment."
+
+Edie was accordingly welcomed, and installed as umpire, with a general
+shout of gratulation. With all the modesty of a Bishop to whom the mitre
+is proffered, or of a new Speaker called to the chair, the old man
+declined the high trust and responsibility with which it was proposed to
+invest him, and, in requital for his self-denial and humility, had the
+pleasure of receiving the reiterated assurances of young, old, and
+middle-aged, that he was simply the best qualified person for the office
+of arbiter "in the haill country-side." Thus encouraged, he proceeded
+gravely to the execution of his duty, and, strictly forbidding all
+aggravating expressions on either side, he heard the smith and gauger on
+one side, the miller and schoolmaster on the other, as junior and senior
+counsel. Edie's mind, however, was fully made up on the subject before
+the pleading began; like that of many a judge, who must nevertheless go
+through all the forms, and endure in its full extent the eloquence and
+argumentation of the Bar. For when all had been said on both sides, and
+much of it said over oftener than once, our senior, being well and ripely
+advised, pronounced the moderate and healing judgment, that the disputed
+cast was a drawn one, and should therefore count to neither party. This
+judicious decision restored concord to the field of players; they began
+anew to arrange their match and their bets, with the clamorous mirth
+usual on such occasions of village sport, and the more eager were already
+stripping their jackets, and committing them, with their coloured
+handkerchiefs, to the care of wives, sisters, and mistresses. But their
+mirth was singularly interrupted.
+
+On the outside of the group of players began to arise sounds of a
+description very different from those of sport--that sort of suppressed
+sigh and exclamation, with which the first news of calamity is received
+by the hearers, began to be heard indistinctly. A buzz went about among
+the women of "Eh, sirs! sae young and sae suddenly summoned!"--It then
+extended itself among the men, and silenced the sounds of sportive mirth.
+
+All understood at once that some disaster had happened in the country,
+and each inquired the cause at his neighbour, who knew as little as the
+querist. At length the rumour reached, in a distinct shape, the ears of
+Edie Ochiltree, who was in the very centre of the assembly. The boat of
+Mucklebackit, the fisherman whom we have so often mentioned, had been
+swamped at sea, and four men had perished, it was affirmed, including
+Mucklebackit and his son. Rumour had in this, however, as in other cases,
+gone beyond the truth. The boat had indeed been overset; but Stephen, or,
+as he was called, Steenie Mucklebackit, was the only man who had been
+drowned. Although the place of his residence and his mode of life removed
+the young man from the society of the country folks, yet they failed not
+to pause in their rustic mirth to pay that tribute to sudden calamity
+which it seldom fails to receive in cases of infrequent occurrence. To
+Ochiltree, in particular, the news came like a knell, the rather that he
+had so lately engaged this young man's assistance in an affair of
+sportive mischief; and though neither loss nor injury was designed to the
+German adept, yet the work was not precisely one in which the latter
+hours of life ought to be occupied.
+
+Misfortunes never come alone. While Ochiltree, pensively leaning upon his
+staff, added his regrets to those of the hamlet which bewailed the young
+man's sudden death, and internally blamed himself for the transaction in
+which he had so lately engaged him, the old man's collar was seized by a
+peace-officer, who displayed his baton in his right hand, and exclaimed,
+"In the king's name."
+
+The gauger and schoolmaster united their rhetoric, to prove to the
+constable and his assistant that he had no right to arrest the king's
+bedesman as a vagrant; and the mute eloquence of the miller and smith,
+which was vested in their clenched fists, was prepared to give Highland
+bail for their arbiter; his blue gown, they said, was his warrant for
+travelling the country.
+
+"But his blue gown," answered the officer, "is nae protection for
+assault, robbery, and murder; and my warrant is against him for these
+crimes."
+
+"Murder!" said Edie, "murder! wha did I e'er murder?"
+
+"Mr. German Doustercivil, the agent at Glen-Withershins mining-works."
+
+"Murder Doustersnivel?--hout, he's living, and life-like, man."
+
+"Nae thanks to you if he be; he had a sair struggle for his life, if a'
+be true he tells, and ye maun answer for't at the bidding of the law."
+
+The defenders of the mendicant shrunk back at hearing the atrocity of the
+charges against him, but more than one kind hand thrust meat and bread
+and pence upon Edie, to maintain him in the prison, to which the officers
+were about to conduct him.
+
+"Thanks to ye! God bless ye a', bairns!--I've gotten out o' mony a snare
+when I was waur deserving o' deliverance--I shall escape like a bird from
+the fowler. Play out your play, and never mind me--I am mair grieved for
+the puir lad that's gane, than for aught they can do to me."
+
+Accordingly, the unresisting prisoner was led off, while he mechanically
+accepted and stored in his wallets the alms which poured in on every
+hand, and ere he left the hamlet, was as deep-laden as a government
+victualler. The labour of bearing this accumulating burden was, however,
+abridged, by the officer procuring a cart and horse to convey the old man
+to a magistrate, in order to his examination and committal.
+
+The disaster of Steenie, and the arrest of Edie, put a stop to the sports
+of the village, the pensive inhabitants of which began to speculate upon
+the vicissitudes of human affairs, which had so suddenly consigned one of
+their comrades to the grave, and placed their master of the revels in
+some danger of being hanged. The character of Dousterswivel being pretty
+generally known, which was in his case equivalent to being pretty
+generally detested, there were many speculations upon the probability of
+the accusation being malicious. But all agreed, that if Edie Ochiltree
+behaved in all events to suffer upon this occasion, it was a great pity
+he had not better merited his fate by killing Dousterswivel outright.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER NINTH
+
+               Who is he?--One that for the lack of land
+              Shall fight upon the water--he hath challenged
+              Formerly the grand whale; and by his titles
+                 Of Leviathan, Behemoth, and so forth.
+                 He tilted with a sword-fish--Marry, sir,
+                 Th' aquatic had the best--the argument
+                      Still galls our champion's breech.
+                                               Old Play.
+
+"And the poor young fellow, Steenie Mucklebackit, is to be buried this
+morning," said our old friend the Antiquary, as he exchanged his quilted
+night-gown for an old-fashioned black coat in lieu of the snuff-coloured
+vestment which he ordinarily wore, "and, I presume, it is expected that I
+should attend the funeral?"
+
+"Ou, ay," answered the faithful Caxon, officiously brushing the white
+threads and specks from his patron's habit. "The body, God help us! was
+sae broken against the rocks that they're fain to hurry the burial. The
+sea's a kittle cast, as I tell my daughter, puir thing, when I want her
+to get up her spirits; the sea, says I, Jenny, is as uncertain a
+calling"--
+
+"As the calling of an old periwig-maker, that's robbed of his business by
+crops and the powder-tax. Caxon, thy topics of consolation are as ill
+chosen as they are foreign to the present purpose._Quid mihi cum
+faemina_? What have I to do with thy womankind, who have enough and to
+spare of mine own?--I pray of you again, am I expected by these poor
+people to attend the funeral of their son?"
+
+"Ou, doubtless, your honour is expected," answered Caxon; "weel I wot ye
+are expected. Ye ken, in this country ilka gentleman is wussed to be sae
+civil as to see the corpse aff his grounds; ye needna gang higher than
+the loan-head--it's no expected your honour suld leave the land; it's
+just a Kelso convoy, a step and a half ower the doorstane."
+
+"A Kelso convoy!" echoed the inquisitive Antiquary; "and why a Kelso
+convoy more than any other?"
+
+"Dear sir," answered Caxon, "how should I ken? it's just a by-word."
+
+"Caxon," answered Oldbuck, "thou art a mere periwig-maker--Had I asked
+Ochiltree the question, he would have had a legend ready made to my
+hand."
+
+"My business," replied Caxon, with more animation than he commonly
+displayed, "is with the outside of your honour's head, as ye are
+accustomed to say."
+
+"True, Caxon, true; and it is no reproach to a thatcher that he is not an
+upholsterer."
+
+He then took out his memorandum-book and wrote down "Kelso convoy--said
+to be a step and a half over the threshold. Authority--Caxon.--_Quaere_--
+Whence derived? _Mem._ To write to Dr. Graysteel upon the subject."
+
+Having made this entry, he resumed--"And truly, as to this custom of the
+landlord attending the body of the peasant, I approve it, Caxon. It comes
+from ancient times, and was founded deep in the notions of mutual aid and
+dependence between the lord and cultivator of the soil. And herein I must
+say, the feudal system--(as also in its courtesy towards womankind, in
+which it exceeded)--herein, I say, the feudal usages mitigated and
+softened the sternness of classical times. No man, Caxon, ever heard of a
+Spartan attending the funeral of a Helot--yet I dare be sworn that John
+of the Girnel--ye have heard of him, Caxon?"
+
+"Ay, ay, sir," answered Caxon; "naebody can hae been lang in your
+honour's company without hearing of that gentleman."
+
+"Well," continued the Antiquary, "I would bet a trifle there was not a
+_kolb kerl,_ or bondsman, or peasant, _ascriptus glebae,_ died upon the
+monks' territories down here, but John of the Girnel saw them fairly and
+decently interred."
+
+"Ay, but if it like your honour, they say he had mair to do wi' the
+births than the burials. Ha! ha! ha!" with a gleeful chuckle.
+
+"Good, Caxon, very good!--why, you shine this morning."
+
+"And besides," added Caxon, slyly, encouraged by his patron's
+approbation, "they say, too, that the Catholic priests in thae times gat
+something for ganging about to burials."
+
+"Right, Caxon! right as my glove! By the by, I fancy that phrase comes
+from the custom of pledging a glove as the signal of irrefragable faith--
+right, I say, as my glove, Caxon--but we of the Protestant ascendency
+have the more merit in doing that duty for nothing, which cost money in
+the reign of that empress of superstition, whom Spenser, Caxon, terms in
+his allegorical phrase,
+
+                  --The daughter of that woman blind,
+                    Abessa, daughter of Corecca slow--
+
+But why talk I of these things to thee?--my poor Lovel has spoiled me,
+and taught me to speak aloud when it is much the same as speaking to
+myself. Where's my nephew, Hector M'Intyre?"
+
+"He's in the parlour, sir, wi' the leddies."
+
+"Very well," said the Antiquary, "I will betake me thither."
+
+"Now, Monkbarns," said his sister, on his entering the parlour, "ye
+maunna be angry."
+
+"My dear uncle!" began Miss M'Intyre.
+
+"What's the meaning of all this?" said Oldbuck, in alarm of some
+impending bad news, and arguing upon the supplicating tone of the ladies,
+as a fortress apprehends an attack from the very first flourish of the
+trumpet which announces the summons--"what's all this?--what do you
+bespeak my patience for?"
+
+"No particular matter, I should hope, sir," said Hector, who, with his
+arm in a sling, was seated at the breakfast table;--"however, whatever it
+may amount to I am answerable for it, as I am for much more trouble that
+I have occasioned, and for which I have little more than thanks to
+offer."
+
+"No, no! heartily welcome, heartily welcome--only let it be a warning to
+you," said the Antiquary, "against your fits of anger, which is a short
+madness--_Ira furor brevis_--but what is this new disaster?"
+
+"My dog, sir, has unfortunately thrown down"--
+
+"If it please Heaven, not the lachrymatory from Clochnaben!" interjected
+Oldbuck.
+
+"Indeed, uncle," said the young lady, "I am afraid--it was that which
+stood upon the sideboard--the poor thing only meant to eat the pat of
+fresh butter."
+
+"In which she has fully succeeded, I presume, for I see that on the table
+is salted. But that is nothing--my lachrymatory, the main pillar of my
+theory on which I rested to show, in despite of the ignorant obstinacy of
+Mac-Cribb, that the Romans had passed the defiles of these mountains, and
+left behind them traces of their arts and arms, is gone--annihilated--
+reduced to such fragments as might be the shreds of a broken-flowerpot!
+
+                            --Hector, I love thee,
+                  But never more be officer of mine."
+
+"Why, really, sir, I am afraid I should make a bad figure in a regiment
+of your raising."
+
+"At least, Hector, I would have you despatch your camp train, and travel
+_expeditus,_ or _relictis impedimentis._ You cannot conceive how I am
+annoyed by this beast--she commits burglary, I believe, for I heard her
+charged with breaking into the kitchen after all the doors were locked,
+and eating up a shoulder of mutton. "--(Our readers, if they chance to
+remember Jenny Rintherout's precaution of leaving the door open when she
+went down to the fisher's cottage, will probably acquit poor Juno of that
+aggravation of guilt which the lawyers call a _claustrum fregit,_ and
+which makes the distinction between burglary and privately stealing. )
+
+"I am truly sorry, sir," said Hector, "that Juno has committed so much
+disorder; but Jack Muirhead, the breaker, was never able to bring her
+under command. She has more travel than any bitch I ever knew, but"--
+
+"Then, Hector, I wish the bitch would travel herself out of my grounds."
+
+"We will both of us retreat to-morrow, or to-day, but I would not
+willingly part from my mother's brother in unkindness about a paltry
+pipkin."
+
+"O brother! brother!" ejaculated Miss M'Intyre, in utter despair at this
+vituperative epithet.
+
+"Why, what would you have me call it?" continued Hector; "it was just
+such a thing as they use in Egypt to cool wine, or sherbet, or water;--I
+brought home a pair of them--I might have brought home twenty."
+
+"What!" said Oldbuck, "shaped such as that your dog threw down?"
+
+"Yes, sir, much such a sort of earthen jar as that which was on the
+sideboard. They are in my lodgings at Fairport; we brought a parcel of
+them to cool our wine on the passage--they answer wonderfully well. If I
+could think they would in any degree repay your loss, or rather that they
+could afford you pleasure, I am sure I should be much honoured by your
+accepting them."
+
+"Indeed, my dear boy, I should be highly gratified by possessing them. To
+trace the connection of nations by their usages, and the similarity of
+the implements which they employ, has been long my favourite study.
+Everything that can illustrate such connections is most valuable to me."
+
+"Well, sir, I shall be much gratified by your acceptance of them, and a
+few trifles of the same kind. And now, am I to hope you have forgiven
+me?"
+
+"O, my dear boy, you are only thoughtless and foolish."
+
+"But Juno--she is only thoughtless too, I assure you--the breaker tells
+me she has no vice or stubbornness."
+
+"Well, I grant Juno also a free pardon--conditioned, that you will
+imitate her in avoiding vice and stubbornness, and that henceforward she
+banish herself forth of Monkbarns parlour."
+
+"Then, uncle," said the soldier, "I should have been very sorry and
+ashamed to propose to you anything in the way of expiation of my own
+sins, or those of my follower, that I thought _worth_ your acceptance;
+but now, as all is forgiven, will you permit the orphan-nephew, to whom
+you have been a father, to offer you a trifle, which I have been assured
+is really curious, and which only the cross accident of my wound has
+prevented my delivering to you before? I got it from a French savant, to
+whom I rendered some service after the Alexandria affair."
+
+The captain put a small ring-case into the Antiquary's hands, which, when
+opened, was found to contain an antique ring of massive gold, with a
+cameo, most beautifully executed, bearing a head of Cleopatra. The
+Antiquary broke forth into unrepressed ecstasy, shook his nephew
+cordially by the hand, thanked him an hundred times, and showed the ring
+to his sister and niece, the latter of whom had the tact to give it
+sufficient admiration; but Miss Griselda (though she had the same
+affection for her nephew) had not address enough to follow the lead.
+
+"It's a bonny thing," she said, "Monkbarns, and, I dare say, a valuable;
+but it's out o'my way--ye ken I am nae judge o' sic matters."
+
+"There spoke all Fairport in one voice!" exclaimed Oldbuck "it is the
+very spirit of the borough has infected us all; I think I have smelled
+the smoke these two days, that the wind has stuck, like a _remora,_ in
+the north-east--and its prejudices fly farther than its vapours. Believe
+me, my dear Hector, were I to walk up the High Street of Fairport,
+displaying this inestimable gem in the eyes of each one I met, no human
+creature, from the provost to the town-crier, would stop to ask me its
+history. But if I carried a bale of linen cloth under my arm, I could not
+penetrate to the Horsemarket ere I should be overwhelmed with queries
+about its precise texture and price. Oh, one might parody their brutal
+ignorance in the words of Gray:
+
+                   Weave the warp and weave the woof,
+                   The winding-sheet of wit and sense,
+                   Dull garment of defensive proof,
+                  'Gainst all that doth not gather pence."
+
+The most remarkable proof of this peace-offering being quite acceptable
+was, that while the Antiquary was in full declamation, Juno, who held him
+in awe, according to the remarkable instinct by which dogs instantly
+discover those who like or dislike them, had peeped several times into
+the room, and encountering nothing very forbidding in his aspect, had at
+length presumed to introduce her full person; and finally, becoming bold
+by impunity, she actually ate up Mr. Oldbuck's toast, as, looking first
+at one then at another of his audience, he repeated, with
+self-complacency,
+
+                  "Weave the warp and weave the woof,--
+
+You remember the passage in the Fatal Sisters, which, by the way, is not
+so fine as in the original--But, hey-day! my toast has vanished!--I see
+which way--Ah, thou type of womankind! no wonder they take offence at thy
+generic appellation!"--(So saying, he shook his fist at Juno, who scoured
+out of the parlour.)--"However, as Jupiter, according to Homer, could not
+rule Juno in heaven, and as Jack Muirhead, according to Hector M'Intyre,
+has been equally unsuccessful on earth, I suppose she must have her own
+way." And this mild censure the brother and sister justly accounted a
+full pardon for Juno's offences, and sate down well pleased to the
+morning meal.
+
+When breakfast was over, the Antiquary proposed to his nephew to go down
+with him to attend the funeral. The soldier pleaded the want of a
+mourning habit.
+
+"O, that does not signify--your presence is all that is requisite. I
+assure you, you will see something that will entertain--no, that's an
+improper phrase--but that will interest you, from the resemblances which
+I will point out betwixt popular customs on such occasions and those of
+the ancients."
+
+"Heaven forgive me!" thought M'Intyre;--"I shall certainly misbehave, and
+lose all the credit I have so lately and accidentally gained."
+
+When they set out, schooled as he was by the warning and entreating looks
+of his sister, the soldier made his resolution strong to give no offence
+by evincing inattention or impatience. But our best resolutions are
+frail, when opposed to our predominant inclinations. Our Antiquary,--to
+leave nothing unexplained, had commenced with the funeral rites of the
+ancient Scandinavians, when his nephew interrupted him, in a discussion
+upon the "age of hills," to remark that a large sea-gull, which flitted
+around them, had come twice within shot. This error being acknowledged
+and pardoned, Oldbuck resumed his disquisition.
+
+"These are circumstances you ought to attend to and be familiar with, my
+dear Hector; for, in the strange contingencies of the present war which
+agitates every corner of Europe, there is no knowing where you may be
+called upon to serve. If in Norway, for example, or Denmark, or any part
+of the ancient Scania, or Scandinavia, as we term it, what could be more
+convenient than to have at your fingers' ends the history and antiquities
+of that ancient country, the _officina gentium,_ the mother of modern
+Europe, the nursery of those heroes,
+
+               Stern to inflict, and stubborn to endure,
+                         Who smiled in death?--
+
+How animating, for example, at the conclusion of a weary march, to find
+yourself in the vicinity of a Runic monument, and discover that you have
+pitched your tent beside the tomb of a hero!"
+
+"I am afraid, sir, our mess would be better supplied if it chanced to be
+in the neighbourhood of a good poultry-yard."
+
+"Alas, that you should say so! No wonder the days of Cressy and Agincourt
+are no more, when respect for ancient valour has died away in the breasts
+of the British soldiery."
+
+"By no means, sir--by no manner of means. I dare say that Edward and
+Henry, and the rest of these heroes, thought of their dinner, however,
+before they thought of examining an old tombstone. But I assure you, we
+are by no means insensible to the memoir of our fathers' fame; I used
+often of an evening to get old Rory MAlpin to sing us songs out of Ossian
+about the battles of Fingal and Lamon Mor, and Magnus and the Spirit of
+Muirartach."
+
+"And did you believe," asked the aroused Antiquary, "did you absolutely
+believe that stuff of Macpherson's to be really ancient, you simple boy?"
+
+"Believe it, sir?--how could I but believe it, when I have heard the
+songs sung from my infancy?"
+
+"But not the same as Macpherson's English Ossian--you're not absurd
+enough to say that, I hope?" said the Antiquary, his brow darkening with
+wrath.
+
+But Hector stoutly abode the storm; like many a sturdy Celt, he imagined
+the honour of his country and native language connected with the
+authenticity of these popular poems, and would have fought knee-deep, or
+forfeited life and land, rather than have given up a line of them. He
+therefore undauntedly maintained, that Rory MAlpin could repeat the whole
+book from one end to another;--and it was only upon cross-examination
+that he explained an assertion so general, by adding "At least, if he was
+allowed whisky enough, he could repeat as long as anybody would hearken
+to him."
+
+"Ay, ay," said the Antiquary; "and that, I suppose, was not very long."
+
+"Why, we had our duty, sir, to attend to, and could not sit listening all
+night to a piper."
+
+"But do you recollect, now," said Oldbuck, setting his teeth firmly
+together, and speaking without opening them, which was his custom when
+contradicted--"Do you recollect, now, any of these verses you thought so
+beautiful and interesting--being a capital judge, no doubt, of such
+things?"
+
+"I don't pretend to much skill, uncle; but it's not very reasonable to be
+angry with me for admiring the antiquities of my own country more than
+those of the Harolds, Harfagers, and Hacos you are so fond of."
+
+"Why, these, sir--these mighty and unconquered Goths--_were_ your
+ancestors! The bare-breeched Celts whom theysubdued, and suffered only to
+exist, like a fearful people, in the crevices of the rocks, were but
+their Mancipia and Serfs!"
+
+Hector's brow now grew red in his turn. "Sir," he said, "I don't
+understand the meaning of Mancipia and Serfs, but I conceive that such
+names are very improperly applied to Scotch Highlanders: no man but my
+mother's brother dared to have used such language in my presence; and I
+pray you will observe, that I consider it as neither hospitable,
+handsome, kind, nor generous usage towards your guest and your kinsman.
+My ancestors, Mr. Oldbuck"--
+
+"Were great and gallant chiefs, I dare say, Hector; and really I did not
+mean to give you such immense offence in treating a point of remote
+antiquity, a subject on which I always am myself cool, deliberate, and
+unimpassioned. But you are as hot and hasty, as if you were Hector and
+Achilles, and Agamemnon to boot."
+
+"I am sorry I expressed myself so hastily, uncle, especially to you, who
+have been so generous and good. But my ancestors"--
+
+"No more about it, lad; I meant them no affront--none."
+
+"I'm glad of it, sir; for the house of M'Intyre"--
+
+"Peace be with them all, every man of them," said the Antiquary. "But to
+return to our subject--Do you recollect, I say, any of those poems which
+afforded you such amusement?"
+
+"Very hard this," thought M'Intyre, "that he will speak with such glee of
+everything which is ancient, excepting my family. "--Then, after some
+efforts at recollection, he added aloud, "Yes, sir,--I think I do
+remember some lines; but you do not understand the Gaelic language."
+
+"And will readily excuse hearing it. But you can give me some idea of the
+sense in our own vernacular idiom?"
+
+"I shall prove a wretched interpreter," said M'Intyre, running over the
+original, well garnished with _aghes, aughs,_ and _oughs,_ and similar
+gutterals, and then coughing and hawking as if the translation stuck in
+his throat. At length, having premised that the poem was a dialogue
+between the poet Oisin, or Ossian, and Patrick, the tutelar Saint of
+Ireland, and that it was difficult, if not impossible, to render the
+exquisite felicity of the first two or three lines, he said the sense was
+to this purpose:
+
+                      "Patrick the psalm-singer,
+            Since you will not listen to one of my stories,
+                      Though you never heard it before,
+                             I am sorry to tell you
+                  You are little better than an ass"--
+
+"Good! good!" exclaimed the Antiquary; "but go on. Why, this is, after
+all, the most admirable fooling--I dare say the poet was very right. What
+says the Saint?"
+
+"He replies in character," said M'Intyre; "but you should hear MAlpin
+sing the original. The speeches of Ossian come in upon a strong deep
+bass--those of Patrick are upon a tenor key."
+
+"Like MAlpin's drone and small pipes, I suppose," said Oldbuck. "Well?
+Pray go on."
+
+"Well then, Patrick replies to Ossian:
+
+                     Upon my word, son of Fingal,
+                     While I am warbling the psalms,
+                     The clamour of your old women's tales
+                     Disturbs my devotional exercises."
+
+"Excellent!--why, this is better and better. I hope Saint Patrick sung
+better than Blattergowl's precentor, or it would be hang--choice between
+the poet and psalmist. But what I admire is the courtesy of these two
+eminent persons towards each other. It is a pity there should not be a
+word of this in Macpherson's translation."
+
+"If you are sure of that," said M'Intyre, gravely, "he must have taken
+very unwarrantable liberties with his original."
+
+"It will go near to be thought so shortly--but pray proceed."
+
+"Then," said M'Intyre, "this is the answer of Ossian:
+
+                     Dare you compare your psalms,
+                            You son of a--"
+
+"Son of a what?" exclaimed Oldbuck.
+
+"It means, I think," said the young soldier, with some reluctance, "son
+of a female dog:
+
+                           Do you compare your psalms,
+                To the tales of the bare-arm'd Fenians"
+
+"Are you sure you are translating that last epithet correctly, Hector?"
+
+"Quite sure, sir," answered Hector, doggedly.
+
+"Because I should have thought the nudity might have been quoted as
+existing in a different part of the body."
+
+Disdaining to reply to this insinuation, Hector proceeded in his
+recitation:
+
+                        "I shall think it no great harm
+             To wring your bald head from your shoulders--
+
+But what is that yonder?" exclaimed Hector, interrupting himself.
+
+"One of the herd of Proteus," said the Antiquary--"a _phoca,_ or seal,
+lying asleep on the beach."
+
+Upon which M'Intyre, with the eagerness of a young sportsman, totally
+forgot both Ossian, Patrick, his uncle, and his wound, and exclaiming--"I
+shall have her! I shall have her!" snatched the walking-stick out of the
+hand of the astonished Antiquary, at some risk of throwing him down, and
+set off at full speed to get between the animal and the sea, to which
+element, having caught the alarm, she was rapidly retreating.
+
+Not Sancho, when his master interrupted his account of the combatants of
+Pentapolin with the naked arm, to advance in person to the charge of the
+flock of sheep, stood more confounded than Oldbuck at this sudden
+escapade of his nephew.
+
+"Is the devil in him," was his first exclamation, "to go to disturb the
+brute that was never thinking of him!"--Then elevating his voice,
+"Hector--nephew--fool--let alone the _Phoca_--let alone the _Phoca_!--
+they bite, I tell you, like furies. He minds me no more than a post.
+There--there they are at it--Gad, the _Phoca_ has the best of it! I am
+glad to see it," said he, in the bitterness of his heart, though really
+alarmed for his nephew's safety--"I am glad to see it, with all my heart
+and spirit."
+
+In truth, the seal, finding her retreat intercepted by the light-footed
+soldier, confronted him manfully, and having sustained a heavy blow
+without injury, she knitted her brows, as is the fashion of the animal
+when incensed, and making use at once of her fore-paws and her unwieldy
+strength, wrenched the weapon out of the assailant's hand, overturned him
+on the sands, and scuttled away into the sea, without doing him any
+farther injury. Captain M'Intyre, a good deal out of countenance at the
+issue of his exploit, just rose in time to receive the ironical
+congratulations of his uncle, upon a single combat worthy to be
+commemorated by Ossian himself, "since," said the Antiquary, "your
+magnanimous opponent has fled, though not upon eagle's wings, from the
+foe that was low--Egad, she walloped away with all the grace of triumph,
+and has carried my stick off also, by way of _spolia opima._"
+
+M'Intyre had little to answer for himself, except that a Highlander could
+never pass a deer, a seal, or a salmon, where there was a possibility of
+having a trial of skill with them, and that he had forgot one of his arms
+was in a sling. He also made his fall an apology for returning back to
+Monkbarns, and thus escape the farther raillery of his uncle, as well as
+his lamentations for his walking-stick.
+
+"I cut it," he said, "in the classic woods of Hawthornden, when I did not
+expect always to have been a bachelor--I would not have given it for an
+ocean of seals--O Hector! Hector!--thy namesake was born to be the prop
+of Troy, and thou to be the plague of Monkbarns!"
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER TENTH.
+
+             Tell me not of it, friend--when the young weep,
+         Their tears are luke-warm brine;--from your old eyes
+             Sorrow falls down like hail-drops of the North,
+             Chilling the furrows of our withered cheeks,
+              Cold as our hopes, and hardened as our feeling--
+          Theirs, as they fall, sink sightless--ours recoil,
+             Heap the fair plain, and bleaken all before us.
+                               Old Play.
+
+The Antiquary, being now alone, hastened his pace, which had been
+retarded by these various discussions, and the rencontre which had closed
+them, and soon arrived before the half-dozen cottages at Mussel-crag.
+They had now, in addition to their usual squalid and uncomfortable
+appearance, the melancholy attributes of the house of mourning. The boats
+were all drawn up on the beach; and, though the day was fine, and the
+season favourable, the chant, which is used by the fishers when at sea,
+was silent, as well as the prattle of the children, and the shrill song
+of the mother, as she sits mending her nets by the door. A few of the
+neighbours, some in their antique and well-saved suits of black, others
+in their ordinary clothes, but all bearing an expression of mournful
+sympathy with distress so sudden and unexpected, stood gathered around
+the door of Mucklebackit's cottage, waiting till "the body was lifted."
+As the Laird of Monkbarns approached, they made way for him to enter,
+doffing their hats and bonnets as he passed, with an air of melancholy
+courtesy, and he returned their salutes in the same manner.
+
+In the inside of the cottage was a scene which our Wilkie alone could
+have painted, with that exquisite feeling of nature that characterises
+his enchanting productions,
+
+The body was laid in its coffin within the wooden bedstead which the
+young fisher had occupied while alive. At a little distance stood the
+father, whose ragged weather-beaten countenance, shaded by his grizzled
+hair, had faced many a stormy night and night-like day. He was apparently
+revolving his loss in his mind, with that strong feeling of painful grief
+peculiar to harsh and rough characters, which almost breaks forth into
+hatred against the world, and all that remain in it, after the beloved
+object is withdrawn. The old man had made the most desperate efforts to
+save his son, and had only been withheld by main force from renewing them
+at a moment when, without the possibility of assisting the sufferer, he
+must himself have perished. All this apparently was boiling in his
+recollection. His glance was directed sidelong towards the coffin, as to
+an object on which he could not stedfastly look, and yet from which he
+could not withdraw his eyes. His answers to the necessary questions which
+were occasionally put to him, were brief, harsh, and almost fierce. His
+family had not yet dared to address to him a word, either of sympathy or
+consolation. His masculine wife, virago as she was, and absolute mistress
+of the family, as she justly boasted herself, on all ordinary occasions,
+was, by this great loss, terrified into silence and submission, and
+compelled to hide from her husband's observation the bursts of her female
+sorrow. As he had rejected food ever since the disaster had happened, not
+daring herself to approach him, she had that morning, with affectionate
+artifice, employed the youngest and favourite child to present her
+husband with some nourishment. His first action was to put it from him
+with an angry violence that frightened the child; his next, to snatch up
+the boy and devour him with kisses. "Yell be a bra' fallow, an ye be
+spared, Patie,--but ye'll never--never can be--what he was to me!--He has
+sailed the coble wi' me since he was ten years auld, and there wasna the
+like o' him drew a net betwixt this and Buchan-ness.--They say folks maun
+submit--I will try."
+
+And he had been silent from that moment until compelled to answer the
+necessary questions we have already noticed. Such was the disconsolate
+state of the father.
+
+In another corner of the cottage, her face covered by her apron, which
+was flung over it, sat the mother--the nature of her grief sufficiently
+indicated by the wringing of her hands, and the convulsive agitation of
+the bosom, which the covering could not conceal. Two of her gossips,
+officiously whispering into her ear the commonplace topic of resignation
+under irremediable misfortune, seemed as if they were endeavouring to
+stun the grief which they could not console.
+
+The sorrow of the children was mingled with wonder at the preparations
+they beheld around them, and at the unusual display of wheaten bread and
+wine, which the poorest peasant, or fisher, offers to the guests on these
+mournful occasions; and thus their grief for their brother's death was
+almost already lost in admiration of the splendour of his funeral.
+
+But the figure of the old grandmother was the most remarkable of the
+sorrowing group. Seated on her accustomed chair, with her usual air of
+apathy, and want of interest in what surrounded her, she seemed every now
+and then mechanically to resume the motion of twirling her spindle; then
+to look towards her bosom for the distaff, although both had been laid
+aside. She would then cast her eyes about, as if surprised at missing the
+usual implements of her industry, and appear struck by the black colour
+of the gown in which they had dressed her, and embarrassed by the number
+of persons by whom she was surrounded. Then, finally, she would raise her
+head with a ghastly look, and fix her eyes upon the bed which contained
+the coffin of her grandson, as if she had at once, and for the first
+time, acquired sense to comprehend her inexpressible calamity. These
+alternate feelings of embarrassment, wonder, and grief, seemed to succeed
+each other more than once upon her torpid features. But she spoke not a
+word--neither had she shed a tear--nor did one of the family understand,
+either from look or expression, to what extent she comprehended the
+uncommon bustle around her. Thus she sat among the funeral assembly like
+a connecting link between the surviving mourners and the dead corpse
+which they bewailed--a being in whom the light of existence was already
+obscured by the encroaching shadows of death.
+
+When Oldbuck entered this house of mourning, he was received by a general
+and silent inclination of the head, and, according to the fashion of
+Scotland on such occasions, wine and spirits and bread were offered round
+to the guests. Elspeth, as these refreshments were presented, surprised
+and startled the whole company by motioning to the person who bore them
+to stop; then, taking a glass in her hand, she rose up, and, as the smile
+of dotage played upon her shrivelled features, she pronounced, with a
+hollow and tremulous voice, "Wishing a' your healths, sirs, and often may
+we hae such merry meetings!"
+
+All shrunk from the ominous pledge, and set down the untasted liquor with
+a degree of shuddering horror, which will not surprise those who know how
+many superstitions are still common on such occasions among the Scottish
+vulgar. But as the old woman tasted the liquor, she suddenly exclaimed
+with a sort of shriek, "What's this?--this is wine--how should there be
+wine in my son's house?--Ay," she continued with a suppressed groan, "I
+mind the sorrowful cause now," and, dropping the glass from her hand, she
+stood a moment gazing fixedly on the bed in which the coffin of her
+grandson was deposited, and then sinking gradually into her seat, she
+covered her eyes and forehead with her withered and pallid hand.
+
+At this moment the clergyman entered the cottage. Mr. Blattergowl, though
+a dreadful proser, particularly on the subject of augmentations,
+localities, teinds, and overtures in that session of the General
+Assembly, to which, unfortunately for his auditors, he chanced one year
+to act as moderator, was nevertheless a good man, in the old Scottish
+presbyterian phrase, God-ward and man-ward. No divine was more attentive
+in visiting the sick and afflicted, in catechising the youth, in
+instructing the ignorant, and in reproving the erring. And hence,
+notwithstanding impatience of his prolixity and prejudices, personal or
+professional, and notwithstanding, moreover, a certain habitual contempt
+for his understanding, especially on affairs of genius and taste, on
+which Blattergowl was apt to be diffuse, from his hope of one day
+fighting his way to a chair of rhetoric or belles lettres,--
+notwithstanding, I say, all the prejudices excited against him by these
+circumstances, our friend the Antiquary looked with great regard and
+respect on the said Blattergowl, though I own he could seldom, even by
+his sense of decency and the remonstrances of his womankind, be _hounded
+out,_ as he called it, to hear him preach. But he regularly took shame to
+himself for his absence when Blattergowl came to Monkbarns to dinner, to
+which he was always invited of a Sunday, a mode of testifying his respect
+which the proprietor probably thought fully as agreeable to the
+clergyman, and rather more congenial to his own habits.
+
+To return from a digression which can only serve to introduce the honest
+clergyman more particularly to our readers, Mr. Blattergowl had no sooner
+entered the hut, and received the mute and melancholy salutations of the
+company whom it contained, than he edged himself towards the unfortunate
+father, and seemed to endeavour to slide in a few words of condolence or
+of consolation. But the old man was incapable as yet of receiving either;
+he nodded, however, gruffly, and shook the clergyman's hand in
+acknowledgment of his good intentions, but was either unable or unwilling
+to make any verbal reply.
+
+The minister next passed to the mother, moving along the floor as slowly,
+silently, and gradually, as if he had been afraid that the ground would,
+like unsafe ice, break beneath his feet, or that the first echo of a
+footstep was to dissolve some magic spell, and plunge the hut, with all
+its inmates, into a subterranean abyss. The tenor of what he had said to
+the poor woman could only be judged by her answers, as, half-stifled by
+sobs ill-repressed, and by the covering which she still kept over her
+countenance, she faintly answered at each pause in his speech--"Yes, sir,
+yes!--Ye're very gude--ye're very gude!--Nae doubt, nae doubt!--It's our
+duty to submit!--But, oh dear! my poor Steenie! the pride o' my very
+heart, that was sae handsome and comely, and a help to his family, and a
+comfort to us a', and a pleasure to a' that lookit on him!--Oh, my bairn!
+my bairn! my bairn! what for is thou lying there!--and eh! what for am I
+left to greet for ye!"
+
+There was no contending with this burst of sorrow and natural affection.
+Oldbuck had repeated recourse to his snuff-box to conceal the tears
+which, despite his shrewd and caustic temper, were apt to start on such
+occasions. The female assistants whimpered, the men held their bonnets to
+their faces, and spoke apart with each other. The clergyman, meantime,
+addressed his ghostly consolation to the aged grandmother. At first she
+listened, or seemed to listen, to what he said, with the apathy of her
+usual unconsciousness. But as, in pressing this theme, he approached so
+near to her ear that the sense of his words became distinctly
+intelligible to her, though unheard by those who stood more distant, her
+countenance at once assumed that stern and expressive cast which
+characterized her intervals of intelligence. She drew up her head and
+body, shook her head in a manner that showed at least impatience, if not
+scorn of his counsel, and waved her hand slightly, but with a gesture so
+expressive, as to indicate to all who witnessed it a marked and
+disdainful rejection of the ghostly consolation proffered to her. The
+minister stepped back as if repulsed, and, by lifting gently and dropping
+his hand, seemed to show at once wonder, sorrow, and compassion for her
+dreadful state of mind. The rest of the company sympathized, and a
+stifled whisper went through them, indicating how much her desperate and
+determined manner impressed them with awe, and even horror.
+
+In the meantime, the funeral company was completed, by the arrival of one
+or two persons who had been expected from Fairport. The wine and spirits
+again circulated, and the dumb show of greeting was anew interchanged.
+The grandame a second time took a glass in her hand, drank its contents,
+and exclaimed, with a sort of laugh,--"Ha! ha! I hae tasted wine twice in
+ae day--Whan did I that before, think ye, cummers?--Never since"--and the
+transient glow vanishing from her countenance, she set the glass down,
+and sunk upon the settle from whence she had risen to snatch at it.
+
+As the general amazement subsided, Mr. Oldbuck, whose heart bled to
+witness what he considered as the errings of the enfeebled intellect
+struggling with the torpid chill of age and of sorrow, observed to the
+clergyman that it was time to proceed with the ceremony. The father was
+incapable of giving directions, but the nearest relation of the family
+made a sign to the carpenter, who in such cases goes through the duty of
+the undertaker, to proceed in his office. The creak of the screw-nails
+presently announced that the lid of the last mansion of mortality was in
+the act of being secured above its tenant. The last act which separates
+us for ever, even from the mortal relies of the person we assemble to
+mourn, has usually its effect upon the most indifferent, selfish, and
+hard-hearted. With a spirit of contradiction, which we may be pardoned
+for esteeming narrow-minded, the fathers of the Scottish kirk rejected,
+even on this most solemn occasion, the form of an address to the
+Divinity, lest they should be thought to give countenance to the rituals
+of Rome or of England. With much better and more liberal judgment, it is
+the present practice of most of the Scottish clergymen to seize this
+opportunity of offering a prayer, and exhortation, suitable to make an
+impression upon the living, while they are yet in the very presence of
+the relics of him whom they have but lately seen such as they themselves,
+and who now is such as they must in their time become. But this decent
+and praiseworthy practice was not adopted at the time of which I am
+treating, or at least, Mr. Blattergowl did not act upon it, and the
+ceremony proceeded without any devotional exercise.
+
+The coffin, covered with a pall, and supported upon hand-spikes by the
+nearest relatives, now only waited the father to support the head, as is
+customary. Two or three of these privileged persons spoke to him, but he
+only answered by shaking his hand and his head in token of refusal. With
+better intention than judgment, the friends, who considered this as an
+act of duty on the part of the living, and of decency towards the
+deceased, would have proceeded to enforce their request, had not Oldbuck
+interfered between the distressed father and his well-meaning tormentors,
+and informed them, that he himself, as landlord and master to the
+deceased, "would carry his head to the grave." In spite of the sorrowful
+occasion, the hearts of the relatives swelled within them at so marked a
+distinction on the part of the laird; and old Alison Breck, who was
+present among other fish-women, swore almost aloud, "His honour Monkbarns
+should never want sax warp of oysters in the season" (of which fish he
+was understood to be fond), "if she should gang to sea and dredge for
+them hersell, in the foulest wind that ever blew." And such is the temper
+of the Scottish common people, that, by this instance of compliance with
+their customs, and respect for their persons, Mr. Oldbuck gained more
+popularity than by all the sums which he had yearly distributed in the
+parish for purposes of private or general charity.
+
+The sad procession now moved slowly forward, preceded by the beadles, or
+saulies, with their batons,--miserable-looking old men, tottering as if
+on the edge of that grave to which they were marshalling another, and
+clad, according to Scottish guise, with threadbare black coats, and
+hunting-caps decorated with rusty crape. Monkbarns would probably have
+remonstrated against this superfluous expense, had he been consulted;
+but, in doing so, he would have given more offence than he gained
+popularity by condescending to perform the office of chief-mourner. Of
+this he was quite aware, and wisely withheld rebuke, where rebuke and
+advice would have been equally unavailing. In truth, the Scottish
+peasantry are still infected with that rage for funeral ceremonial, which
+once distinguished the grandees of the kingdom so much, that a sumptuary
+law was made by the Parliament of Scotland for the purpose of restraining
+it; and I have known many in the lowest stations, who have denied
+themselves not merely the comforts, but almost the necessaries of life,
+in order to save such a sum of money as might enable their surviving
+friends to bury them like Christians, as they termed it; nor could their
+faithful executors be prevailed upon, though equally necessitous, to turn
+to the use and maintenance of the living the money vainly wasted upon the
+interment of the dead.
+
+The procession to the churchyard, at about half-a-mile's distance, was
+made with the mournful solemnity usual on these occasions,--the body was
+consigned to its parent earth,--and when the labour of the gravediggers
+had filled up the trench, and covered it with fresh sod, Mr. Oldbuck,
+taking his hat off, saluted the assistants, who had stood by in
+melancholy silence, and with that adieu dispersed the mourners.
+
+The clergyman offered our Antiquary his company to walk homeward; but Mr.
+Oldbuck had been so much struck with the deportment of the fisherman and
+his mother, that, moved by compassion, and perhaps also, in some degree,
+by that curiosity which induces us to seek out even what gives us pain to
+witness, he preferred a solitary walk by the coast, for the purpose of
+again visiting the cottage as he passed.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER ELEVENTH
+
+              What is this secret sin, this untold tale,
+              That art cannot extract, nor penance cleanse?
+                    --Her muscles hold their place;
+              Nor discomposed, nor formed to steadiness,
+               No sudden flushing, and no faltering lip.--
+                                     Mysterious Mother.
+
+The coffin had been borne from the place where it rested. The mourners,
+in regular gradation, according to their rank or their relationship to
+the deceased, had filed from the cottage, while the younger male children
+were led along to totter after the bier of their brother, and to view
+with wonder a ceremonial which they could hardly comprehend. The female
+gossips next rose to depart, and, with consideration for the situation of
+the parents, carried along with them the girls of the family, to give the
+unhappy pair time and opportunity to open their hearts to each other and
+soften their grief by communicating it. But their kind intention was
+without effect. The last of them had darkened the entrance of the
+cottage, as she went out, and drawn the door softly behind her, when the
+father, first ascertaining by a hasty glance that no stranger remained,
+started up, clasped his hands wildly above his head, uttered a cry of the
+despair which he had hitherto repressed, and, in all the impotent
+impatience of grief, half rushed half staggered forward to the bed on
+which the coffin had been deposited, threw himself down upon it, and
+smothering, as it were, his head among the bed-clothes, gave vent to the
+full passion of his sorrow. It was in vain that the wretched mother,
+terrified by the vehemence of her husband's affliction--affliction still
+more fearful as agitating a man of hardened manners and a robust frame--
+suppressed her own sobs and tears, and, pulling him by the skirts of his
+coat, implored him to rise and remember, that, though one was removed, he
+had still a wife and children to comfort and support. The appeal came at
+too early a period of his anguish, and was totally unattended to; he
+continued to remain prostrate, indicating, by sobs so bitter and violent,
+that they shook the bed and partition against which it rested, by
+clenched hands which grasped the bed-clothes, and by the vehement and
+convulsive motion of his legs, how deep and how terrible was the agony of
+a father's sorrow.
+
+"O, what a day is this! what a day is this!" said the poor mother, her
+womanish affliction already exhausted by sobs and tears, and now almost
+lost in terror for the state in which she beheld her husband--"O, what an
+hour is this! and naebody to help a poor lone woman--O, gudemither, could
+ye but speak a word to him!--wad ye but bid him be comforted!"
+
+To her astonishment, and even to the increase of her fear, her husband's
+mother heard and answered the appeal. She rose and walked across the
+floor without support, and without much apparent feebleness, and standing
+by the bed on which her son had extended himself, she said, "Rise up, my
+son, and sorrow not for him that is beyond sin and sorrow and temptation.
+Sorrow is for those that remain in this vale of sorrow and darkness--I,
+wha dinna sorrow, and wha canna sorrow for ony ane, hae maist need that
+ye should a' sorrow for me."
+
+The voice of his mother, not heard for years as taking part in the active
+duties of life, or offering advice or consolation, produced its effect
+upon her son. He assumed a sitting posture on the side of the bed, and
+his appearance, attitude, and gestures, changed from those of angry
+despair to deep grief and dejection. The grandmother retired to her nook,
+the mother mechanically took in her hand her tattered Bible, and seemed
+to read, though her eyes were drowned with tears.
+
+They were thus occupied, when a loud knock was heard at the door.
+
+"Hegh, sirs!" said the poor mother, "wha is that can be coming in that
+gate e'enow?--They canna hae heard o' our misfortune, I'm sure."
+
+The knock being repeated, she rose and opened the door, saying
+querulously, "Whatna gait's that to disturb a sorrowfu' house?"
+
+A tall man in black stood before her, whom she instantly recognised to be
+Lord Glenallan. "Is there not," he said, "an old woman lodging in this or
+one of the neighbouring cottages, called Elspeth, who was long resident
+at Craigburnfoot of Glenallan?"
+
+"It's my gudemither, my lord," said Margaret; "but she canna see onybody
+e'enow--Ohon! we're dreeing a sair weird--we hae had a heavy
+dispensation!"
+
+"God forbid," said Lord Glenallan, "that I should on light occasion
+disturb your sorrow;--but my days are numbered--your mother-in-law is in
+the extremity of age, and, if I see her not to-day, we may never meet on
+this side of time."
+
+"And what," answered the desolate mother, "wad ye see at an auld woman,
+broken down wi' age and sorrow and heartbreak? Gentle or semple shall not
+darken my door the day my bairn's been carried out a corpse."
+
+While she spoke thus, indulging the natural irritability of disposition
+and profession, which began to mingle itself with her grief when its
+first uncontrolled bursts were gone by, she held the door about one-third
+part open, and placed herself in the gap, as if to render the visitor's
+entrance impossible. But the voice of her husband was heard from within--
+"Wha's that, Maggie? what for are ye steaking them out?--let them come
+in; it doesna signify an auld rope's end wha comes in or wha gaes out o'
+this house frae this time forward."
+
+The woman stood aside at her husband's command, and permitted Lord
+Glenallan to enter the hut. The dejection exhibited in his broken frame
+and emaciated countenance, formed a strong contrast with the effects of
+grief, as they were displayed in the rude and weatherbeaten visage of the
+fisherman, and the masculine features of his wife. He approached the old
+woman as she was seated on her usual settle, and asked her, in a tone as
+audible as his voice could make it, "Are you Elspeth of the Craigburnfoot
+of Glenallan?"
+
+"Wha is it that asks about the unhallowed residence of that evil woman?"
+was the answer returned to his query.
+
+"The unhappy Earl of Glenallan."
+
+"Earl!--Earl of Glenallan!"
+
+"He who was called William Lord Geraldin," said the Earl; "and whom his
+mother's death has made Earl of Glenallan."
+
+"Open the bole," said the old woman firmly and hastily to her
+daughter-in-law, "open the bole wi' speed, that I may see if this be the
+right Lord Geraldin--the son of my mistress--him that I received in my
+arms within the hour after he was born--him that has reason to curse me
+that I didna smother him before the hour was past!"
+
+The window, which had been shut in order that a gloomy twilight might add
+to the solemnity of the funeral meeting, was opened as she commanded, and
+threw a sudden and strong light through the smoky and misty atmosphere of
+the stifling cabin. Falling in a stream upon the chimney, the rays
+illuminated, in the way that Rembrandt would have chosen, the features of
+the unfortunate nobleman, and those of the old sibyl, who now, standing
+upon her feet, and holding him by one hand, peered anxiously in his
+features with her light-blue eyes, and holding her long and withered
+fore-finger within a small distance of his face, moved it slowly as if to
+trace the outlines and reconcile what she recollected with that she now
+beheld. As she finished her scrutiny, she said, with a deep sigh, "It's a
+sair--sair change; and wha's fault is it?--but that's written down where
+it will be remembered--it's written on tablets of brass with a pen of
+steel, where all is recorded that is done in the flesh.--And what," she
+said after a pause, "what is Lord Geraldin seeking from a poor auld
+creature like me, that's dead already, and only belongs sae far to the
+living that she isna yet laid in the moulds?"
+
+"Nay," answered Lord Glenallan, "in the name of Heaven, why was it that
+you requested so urgently to see me?--and why did you back your request
+by sending a token which you knew well I dared not refuse?"
+
+As he spoke thus, he took from his purse the ring which Edie Ochiltree
+had delivered to him at Glenallan House. The sight of this token produced
+a strange and instantaneous effect upon the old woman. The palsy of fear
+was immediately added to that of age, and she began instantly to search
+her pockets with the tremulous and hasty agitation of one who becomes
+first apprehensive of having lost something of great importance;--then,
+as if convinced of the reality of her fears, she turned to the Earl, and
+demanded, "And how came ye by it then?--how came ye by it? I thought I
+had kept it sae securely--what will the Countess say?"
+
+"You know," said the Earl, "at least you must have heard, that my mother
+is dead."
+
+"Dead! are ye no imposing upon me? has she left a' at last, lands and
+lordship and lineages?"
+
+"All, all," said the Earl, "as mortals must leave all human vanities."
+
+"I mind now," answered Elspeth--"I heard of it before but there has been
+sic distress in our house since, and my memory is sae muckle impaired--
+But ye are sure your mother, the Lady Countess, is gane hame?"
+
+The Earl again assured her that her former mistress was no more.
+
+"Then," said Elspeth, "it shall burden my mind nae langer!--When she
+lived, wha dared to speak what it would hae displeased her to hae had
+noised abroad? But she's gane--and I will confess all."
+
+Then turning to her son and daughter-in-law, she commanded them
+imperatively to quit the house, and leave Lord Geraldin (for so she still
+called him) alone with her. But Maggie Mucklebackit, her first burst of
+grief being over, was by no means disposed in her own house to pay
+passive obedience to the commands of her mother-in-law, an authority
+which is peculiarly obnoxious to persons in her rank of life, and which
+she was the more astonished at hearing revived, when it seemed to have
+been so long relinquished and forgotten.
+
+"It was an unco thing," she said, in a grumbling tone of voice,--for the
+rank of Lord Glenallan was somewhat imposing--"it was an unco thing to
+bid a mother leave her ain house wi' the tear in her ee, the moment her
+eldest son had been carried a corpse out at the door o't."
+
+The fisherman, in a stubborn and sullen tone, added to the same purpose.
+"This is nae day for your auld-warld stories, mother. My lord, if he be a
+lord, may ca' some other day--or he may speak out what he has gotten to
+say if he likes it; there's nane here will think it worth their while to
+listen to him or you either. But neither for laird or loon, gentle or
+semple, will I leave my ain house to pleasure onybody on the very day my
+poor"--
+
+Here his voice choked, and he could proceed no farther; but as he had
+risen when Lord Glenallan came in, and had since remained standing, he
+now threw himself doggedly upon a seat, and remained in the sullen
+posture of one who was determined to keep his word.
+
+But the old woman, whom this crisis seemed to repossess in all those
+powers of mental superiority with which she had once been eminently
+gifted, arose, and advancing towards him, said, with a solemn voice, "My
+son, as ye wad shun hearing of your mother's shame--as ye wad not
+willingly be a witness of her guilt--as ye wad deserve her blessing and
+avoid her curse, I charge ye, by the body that bore and that nursed ye,
+to leave me at freedom to speak with Lord Geraldin, what nae mortal ears
+but his ain maun listen to. Obey my words, that when ye lay the moulds on
+my head--and, oh that the day were come!--ye may remember this hour
+without the reproach of having disobeyed the last earthly command that
+ever your mother wared on you."
+
+The terms of this solemn charge revived in the fisherman's heart the
+habit of instinctive obedience in which his mother had trained him up,
+and to which he had submitted implicitly while her powers of exacting it
+remained entire. The recollection mingled also with the prevailing
+passion of the moment; for, glancing his eye at the bed on which the dead
+body had been laid, he muttered to himself, "_He_ never disobeyed _me,_
+in reason or out o' reason, and what for should I vex _her_?" Then,
+taking his reluctant spouse by the arm, he led her gently out of the
+cottage, and latched the door behind them as he left it.
+
+As the unhappy parents withdrew, Lord Glenallan, to prevent the old woman
+from relapsing into her lethargy, again pressed her on the subject of the
+communication which she proposed to make to him.
+
+"Ye will have it sune eneugh," she replied;--"my mind's clear eneugh now,
+and there is not--I think there is not--a chance of my forgetting what I
+have to say. My dwelling at Craigburnfoot is before my een, as it were
+present in reality:--the green bank, with its selvidge, just where the
+burn met wi' the sea--the twa little barks, wi' their sails furled, lying
+in the natural cove which it formed--the high cliff that joined it with
+the pleasure-grounds of the house of Glenallan, and hung right ower the
+stream--Ah! yes--I may forget that I had a husband and have lost him--
+that I hae but ane alive of our four fair sons--that misfortune upon
+misfortune has devoured our ill-gotten wealth--that they carried the
+corpse of my son's eldest-born frae the house this morning--But I never
+can forget the days I spent at bonny Craigburnfoot!"
+
+"You were a favourite of my mother," said Lord Glenallan, desirous to
+bring her back to the point, from which she was wandering.
+
+"I was, I was,--ye needna mind me o' that. She brought me up abune my
+station, and wi' knowledge mair than my fellows--but, like the tempter of
+auld, wi' the knowledge of gude she taught me the knowledge of evil."
+
+"For God's sake, Elspeth," said the astonished Earl, "proceed, if you
+can, to explain the dreadful hints you have thrown out! I well know you
+are confidant to one dreadful secret, which should split this roof even
+to hear it named--but speak on farther."
+
+"I will," she said--"I will!--just bear wi' me for a little;"--and again
+she seemed lost in recollection, but it was no longer tinged with
+imbecility or apathy. She was now entering upon the topic which had long
+loaded her mind, and which doubtless often occupied her whole soul at
+times when she seemed dead to all around her. And I may add, as a
+remarkable fact, that such was the intense operation of mental energy
+upon her physical powers and nervous system, that, notwithstanding her
+infirmity of deafness, each word that Lord Glenallan spoke during this
+remarkable conference, although in the lowest tone of horror or agony,
+fell as full and distinct upon Elspeth's ear as it could have done at any
+period of her life. She spoke also herself clearly, distinctly, and
+slowly, as if anxious that the intelligence she communicated should be
+fully understood; concisely at the same time, and with none of the
+verbiage or circumlocutory additions natural to those of her sex and
+condition. In short, her language bespoke a better education, as well as
+an uncommonly firm and resolved mind, and a character of that sort from
+which great virtues or great crimes may be naturally expected. The tenor
+of her communication is disclosed in the following chapter.
+
+
+
+                            CHAPTER TWELFTH.
+
+                    Remorse--she neer forsakes us--
+            A bloodhound staunch--she tracks our rapid step
+            Through the wild labyrinth of youthful frenzy,
+            Unheard, perchance, until old age hath tamed us
+         Then in our lair, when Time hath chilled our joints,
+             And maimed our hope of combat, or of flight,
+             We hear her deep-mouthed bay, announcing all
+             Of wrath, and wo, and punishment that bides us.
+                                            Old Play.
+
+"I need not tell you," said the old woman, addressing the Earl of
+Glenallan, "that I was the favourite and confidential attendant of
+Joscelind, Countess of Glenallan, whom God assoilzie!"--(here she crossed
+herself)--"and I think farther, ye may not have forgotten that I shared
+her regard for mony years. I returned it by the maist sincere attachment,
+but I fell into disgrace frae a trifling act of disobedience, reported to
+your mother by ane that thought, and she wasna wrang, that I was a spy
+upon her actions and yours."
+
+"I charge thee, woman," said the Earl, in a voice trembling with passion,
+"name not her name in my hearing!"
+
+"I must," returned the penitent firmly and calmly, "or how can you
+understand me?"
+
+The Earl leaned upon one of the wooden chairs of the hut, drew his hat
+over his face, clenched his hands together, set his teeth like one who
+summons up courage to undergo a painful operation, and made a signal to
+her to proceed.
+
+"I say, then," she resumed, "that my disgrace with my mistress was
+chiefly owing to Miss Eveline Neville, then bred up in Glenallan House as
+the daughter of a cousin-german and intimate friend of your father that
+was gane. There was muckle mystery in her history,--but wha dared to
+inquire farther than the Countess liked to tell?--All in Glenallan House
+loved Miss Neville--all but twa, your mother and mysell--we baith hated
+her."
+
+"God! for what reason, since a creature so mild, so gentle, so formed to
+inspire affection, never walked on this wretched world?"
+
+"It may hae been sae," rejoined Elspeth, "but your mother hated a' that
+cam of your father's family--a' but himsell. Her reasons related to
+strife which fell between them soon after her marriage; the particulars
+are naething to this purpose. But oh! doubly did she hate Eveline Neville
+when she perceived that there was a growing kindness atween you and that
+unfortunate young leddy! Ye may mind that the Countess's dislike didna
+gang farther at first than just showing o' the cauld shouther--at least
+it wasna seen farther; but at the lang run it brak out into such
+downright violence that Miss Neville was even fain to seek refuge at
+Knockwinnock Castle with Sir Arthur's leddy, wha (God sain her!) was then
+wi' the living."
+
+"You rend my heart by recalling these particulars--But go on,--and may my
+present agony be accepted as additional penance for the involuntary
+crime!"
+
+"She had been absent some months," continued Elspeth, "when I was ae
+night watching in my hut the return of my husband from fishing, and
+shedding in private those bitter tears that my proud spirit wrung frae me
+whenever I thought on my disgrace. The sneck was drawn, and the Countess
+your mother entered my dwelling. I thought I had seen a spectre, for even
+in the height of my favour, this was an honour she had never done me, and
+she looked as pale and ghastly as if she had risen from the grave. She
+sat down, and wrung the draps from her hair and cloak,--for the night was
+drizzling, and her walk had been through the plantations, that were a'
+loaded with dew. I only mention these things that you may understand how
+weel that night lives in my memory,--and weel it may. I was surprised to
+see her, but I durstna speak first, mair than if I had seen a phantom--
+Na, I durst not, my lord, I that hae seen mony sights of terror, and
+never shook at them. Sae, after a silence, she said, Elspeth Cheyne (for
+she always gave me my maiden name), are not ye the daughter of that
+Reginald Cheyne who died to save his master, Lord Glenallan, on the field
+of Sheriffmuir?' And I answered her as proudly as hersell nearly--As sure
+as you are the daughter of that Earl of Glenallan whom my father saved
+that day by his own death.'"
+
+Here she made a deep pause.
+
+"And what followed?--what followed?--For Heaven's sake, good woman--But
+why should I use that word?--Yet, good or bad, I command you to tell me."
+
+"And little I should value earthly command," answered Elspeth, "were
+there not a voice that has spoken to me sleeping and waking, that drives
+me forward to tell this sad tale. Aweel, my Lord--the Countess said to
+me, My son loves Eveline Neville--they are agreed--they are plighted:
+should they have a son, my right over Glenallan merges--I sink from that
+moment from a Countess into a miserable stipendiary dowager, I who
+brought lands and vassals, and high blood and ancient fame, to my
+husband, I must cease to be mistress when my son has an heir-male. But I
+care not for that--had he married any but one of the hated Nevilles, I
+had been patient. But for them--that they and their descendants should
+enjoy the right and honours of my ancestors, goes through my heart like a
+two-edged dirk. And this girl--I detest her!'--And I answered, for my
+heart kindled at her words, that her hate was equalled by mine."
+
+"Wretch!" exclaimed the Earl, in spite of his determination to preserve
+silence--"wretched woman! what cause of hate could have arisen from a
+being so innocent and gentle?"
+
+"I hated what my mistress hated, as was the use with the liege vassals of
+the house of Glenallan; for though, my Lord, I married under my degree,
+yet an ancestor of yours never went to the field of battle, but an
+ancestor of the frail, demented, auld, useless wretch wha now speaks with
+you, carried his shield before him. But that was not a'," continued the
+beldam, her earthly and evil passions rekindling as she became heated in
+her narration--"that was not a'; I hated Miss Eveline Neville for her ain
+sake, I brought her frae England, and, during our whole journey, she
+gecked and scorned at my northern speech and habit, as her southland
+leddies and kimmers had done at the boarding-school, as they cald it"--
+(and, strange as it may seem, she spoke of an affront offered by a
+heedless school-girl without intention, with a degree of inveteracy
+which, at such a distance of time, a mortal offence would neither have
+authorized or excited in any well-constituted mind)--"Yes, she scorned
+and jested at me--but let them that scorn the tartan fear the dirk!"
+
+She paused, and then went on--"But I deny not that I hated her mair than
+she deserved. My mistress, the Countess, persevered and said, Elspeth
+Cheyne, this unruly boy will marry with the false English blood. Were
+days as they have been, I could throw her into the Massymore* of
+Glenallan, and fetter him in the Keep of Strathbonnel.
+
+* _Massa-mora,_ an ancient name for a dungeon, derived from the Moorish
+language, perhaps as far back as the time of the Crusades.
+
+But these times are past, and the authority which the nobles of the land
+should exercise is delegated to quibbling lawyers and their baser
+dependants. Hear me, Elspeth Cheyne! if you are your father's daughter as
+I am mine, I will find means that they shall not marry. She walks often
+to that cliff that overhangs your dwelling to look for her lover's boat--
+(ye may remember the pleasure ye then took on the sea, my Lord)--let him
+find her forty fathom lower than he expects!'--Yes! ye may stare and
+frown and clench your hand; but, as sure as I am to face the only Being I
+ever feared--and, oh that I had feared him mair!--these were your
+mother's words. What avails it to me to lie to you?--But I wadna consent
+to stain my hand with blood.--Then she said, By the religion of our holy
+Church they are ower _sibb_ thegither. But I expect nothing but that both
+will become heretics as well as disobedient reprobates;'--that was her
+addition to that argument. And then, as the fiend is ever ower busy wi'
+brains like mine, that are subtle beyond their use and station, I was
+unhappily permitted to add--But they might be brought to think themselves
+sae _sibb_ as no Christian law will permit their wedlock.'"
+
+Here the Earl of Glenallan echoed her words, with a shriek so piercing as
+almost to rend the roof of the cottage.--"Ah! then Eveline Neville was
+not the--the"--
+
+"The daughter, ye would say, of your father?" continued Elspeth. "No--be
+it a torment or be it a comfort to you--ken the truth, she was nae mair a
+daughter of your father's house than I am."
+
+"Woman, deceive me not!--make me not curse the memory of the parent I
+have so lately laid in the grave, for sharing in a plot the most cruel,
+the most infernal"--
+
+"Bethink ye, my Lord Geraldin, ere ye curse the memory of a parent that's
+gane, is there none of the blood of Glenallan living, whose faults have
+led to this dreadfu' catastrophe?"
+
+"Mean you my brother?--he, too, is gone," said the Earl.
+
+"No," replied the sibyl, "I mean yoursell, Lord Geraldin. Had you not
+transgressed the obedience of a son by wedding Eveline Neville in secret
+while a guest at Knockwinnock, our plot might have separated you for a
+time, but would have left at least your sorrows without remorse to canker
+them. But your ain conduct had put poison in the weapon that we threw,
+and it pierced you with the mair force because ye cam rushing to meet it.
+Had your marriage been a proclaimed and acknowledged action, our
+stratagem to throw an obstacle into your way that couldna be got ower,
+neither wad nor could hae been practised against ye."
+
+"Great Heaven!" said the unfortunate nobleman--"it is as if a film fell
+from my obscured eyes! Yes, I now well understand the doubtful hints of
+consolation thrown out by my wretched mother, tending indirectly to
+impeach the evidence of the horrors of which her arts had led me to
+believe myself guilty."
+
+"She could not speak mair plainly," answered Elspeth, "without confessing
+her ain fraud,--and she would have submitted to be torn by wild horses,
+rather than unfold what she had done; and if she had still lived, so
+would I for her sake. They were stout hearts the race of Glenallan, male
+and female, and sae were a' that in auld times cried their gathering-word
+of _Clochnaben_--they stood shouther to shouther--nae man parted frae his
+chief for love of gold or of gain, or of right or of wrang. The times are
+changed, I hear, now."
+
+The unfortunate nobleman was too much wrapped up in his own confused and
+distracted reflections, to notice the rude expressions of savage
+fidelity, in which, even in the latest ebb of life, the unhappy author of
+his misfortunes seemed to find a stern and stubborn source of
+consolation.
+
+"Great Heaven!" he exclaimed, "I am then free from a guilt the most
+horrible with which man can be stained, and the sense of which, however
+involuntary, has wrecked my peace, destroyed my health, and bowed me down
+to an untimely grave. Accept," he fervently uttered, lifting his eyes
+upwards, "accept my humble thanks! If I live miserable, at least I shall
+not die stained with that unnatural guilt!--And thou--proceed if thou
+hast more to tell--proceed, while thou hast voice to speak it, and I have
+powers to listen."
+
+"Yes," answered the beldam, "the hour when you shall hear, and I shall
+speak, is indeed passing rapidly away. Death has crossed your brow with
+his finger, and I find his grasp turning every day coulder at my heart.
+Interrupt me nae mair with exclamations and groans and accusations, but
+hear my tale to an end! And then--if ye be indeed sic a Lord of Glenallan
+as I hae heard of in _my_ day--make your merrymen gather the thorn, and
+the brier, and the green hollin, till they heap them as high as the
+house-riggin', and burn! burn! burn! the auld witch Elspeth, and a' that
+can put ye in mind that sic a creature ever crawled upon the land!"
+
+"Go on," said the Earl, "go on--I will not again interrupt you."
+
+He spoke in a half-suffocated yet determined voice, resolved that no
+irritability on his part should deprive him of this opportunity of
+acquiring proofs of the wonderful tale he then heard. But Elspeth had
+become exhausted by a continuous narration of such unusual length; the
+subsequent part of her story was more broken, and though still distinctly
+intelligible in most parts, had no longer the lucid conciseness which the
+first part of her narrative had displayed to such an astonishing degree.
+Lord Glenallan found it necessary, when she had made some attempts to
+continue her narrative without success, to prompt her memory by
+demanding--"What proofs she could propose to bring of the truth of a
+narrative so different from that which she had originally told?"
+
+"The evidence," she replied, "of Eveline Neville's real birth was in the
+Countess's possession, with reasons for its being for some time kept
+private;--they may yet be found, if she has not destroyed them, in the
+left hand drawer of the ebony cabinet that stood in the dressing-room.
+These she meant to suppress for the time, until you went abroad again,
+when she trusted, before your return, to send Miss Neville back to her
+ain country, or to get her settled in marriage."
+
+"But did you not show me letters of my father's, which seemed to me,
+unless my senses altogether failed me in that horrible moment, to avow
+his relationship to--to the unhappy"--
+
+"We did; and, with my testimony, how could you doubt the fact, or her
+either? But we suppressed the true explanation of these letters, and that
+was, that your father thought it right the young leddy should pass for
+his daughter for a while, on account o'some family reasons that were
+amang them."
+
+"But wherefore, when you learned our union, was this dreadful artifice
+persisted in?"
+
+"It wasna," she replied, "till Lady Glenallan had communicated this fause
+tale, that she suspected ye had actually made a marriage--nor even then
+did you avow it sae as to satisfy her whether the ceremony had in verity
+passed atween ye or no--But ye remember, O ye canna but remember weel,
+what passed in that awfu' meeting!"
+
+"Woman! you swore upon the gospels to the fact which you now disavow."
+
+"I did,--and I wad hae taen a yet mair holy pledge on it, if there had
+been ane--I wad not hae spared the blood of my body, or the guilt of my
+soul, to serve the house of Glenallan."
+
+"Wretch! do you call that horrid perjury, attended with consequences yet
+more dreadful--do you esteem that a service to the house of your
+benefactors?"
+
+"I served her, wha was then the head of Glenallan, as she required me to
+serve her. The cause was between God and her conscience--the manner
+between God and mine--She is gane to her account, and I maun follow. Have
+I taulds you a'?"
+
+"No," answered Lord Glenallan--"you have yet more to tell--you have to
+tell me of the death of the angel whom your perjury drove to despair,
+stained, as she thought herself, with a crime so horrible. Speak truth--
+was that dreadful--was that horrible incident"--he could scarcely
+articulate the words--"was it as reported? or was it an act of yet
+further, though not more atrocious cruelty, inflicted by others?"
+
+"I understand you," said Elspeth. "But report spoke truth;--our false
+witness was indeed the cause, but the deed was her ain distracted act. On
+that fearfu' disclosure, when ye rushed frae the Countess's presence and
+saddled your horse, and left the castle like a fire-flaught, the Countess
+hadna yet discovered your private marriage; she hadna fund out that the
+union, which she had framed this awfu' tale to prevent, had e'en taen
+place. Ye fled from the house as if the fire o' Heaven was about to fa'
+upon it, and Miss Neville, atween reason and the want o't, was put under
+sure ward. But the ward sleep't, and the prisoner waked--the window was
+open--the way was before her--there was the cliff, and there was the
+sea!--O, when will I forget that!"
+
+"And thus died," said the Earl, "even so as was reported?"
+
+"No, my lord. I had gane out to the cove--the tide was in, and it flowed,
+as ye'll remember, to the foot o' that cliff--it was a great convenience
+that for my husband's trade--Where am I wandering?--I saw a white object
+dart frae the tap o' the cliff like a sea-maw through the mist, and then
+a heavy flash and sparkle of the waters showed me it was a human creature
+that had fa'en into the waves. I was bold and strong, and familiar with
+the tide. I rushed in and grasped her gown, and drew her out and carried
+her on my shouthers--I could hae carried twa sic then--carried her to my
+hut, and laid her on my bed. Neighbours cam and brought help; but the
+words she uttered in her ravings, when she got back the use of speech,
+were such, that I was fain to send them awa, and get up word to Glenallan
+House. The Countess sent down her Spanish servant Teresa--if ever there
+was a fiend on earth in human form, that woman was ane. She and I were to
+watch the unhappy leddy, and let no other person approach.--God knows
+what Teresa's part was to hae been--she tauld it not to me--but Heaven
+took the conclusion in its ain hand. The poor leddy! she took the pangs
+of travail before her time, bore a male child, and died in the arms of
+me--of her mortal enemy! Ay, _ye_ may weep--she was a sightly creature to
+see to--but think ye, if I didna mourn her then, that I can mourn her
+now? Na, na, I left Teresa wi' the dead corpse and new-born babe, till I
+gaed up to take the Countess's commands what was to be done. Late as it
+was, I ca'd her up, and she gar'd me ca' up your brother"--
+
+"My brother?"
+
+"Yes, Lord Geraldin, e'en your brother, that some said she aye wished to
+be her heir. At ony rate, he was the person maist concerned in the
+succession and heritance of the house of Glenallan."
+
+"And is it possible to believe, then, that my brother, out of avarice to
+grasp at my inheritance, would lend himself to such a base and dreadful
+stratagem?"
+
+"Your mother believed it," said the old beldam with a fiendish laugh--"it
+was nae plot of my making; but what they did or said I will not say,
+because I did not hear. Lang and sair they consulted in the black
+wainscot dressing-room; and when your brother passed through the room
+where I was waiting, it seemed to me (and I have often thought sae since
+syne) that the fire of hell was in his cheek and een. But he had left
+some of it with his mother, at ony rate. She entered the room like a
+woman demented, and the first words she spoke were, Elspeth Cheyne, did
+you ever pull a new-budded flower?' I answered, as ye may believe, that I
+often had. Then,' said she, ye will ken the better how to blight the
+spurious and heretical blossom that has sprung forth this night to
+disgrace my father's noble house--See here;'--(and she gave me a golden
+bodkin)--nothing but gold must shed the blood of Glenallan. This child is
+already as one of the dead, and since thou and Teresa alone ken that it
+lives, let it be dealt upon as ye will answer to me!' and she turned away
+in her fury, and left me with the bodkin in my hand.--Here it is; that
+and the ring of Miss Neville, are a' I hae preserved of my ill-gotten
+gear--for muckle was the gear I got. And weel hae I keepit the secret,
+but no for the gowd or gear either."
+
+Her long and bony hand held out to Lord Glenallan a gold bodkin, down
+which in fancy be saw the blood of his infant trickling.
+
+"Wretch! had you the heart?"
+
+"I kenna if I could hae had it or no. I returned to my cottage without
+feeling the ground that I trode on; but Teresa and the child were gane--
+a' that was alive was gane--naething left but the lifeless corpse."
+
+"And did you never learn my infant's fate?"
+
+"I could but guess. I have tauld ye your mother's purpose, and I ken
+Teresa was a fiend. She was never mair seen in Scotland, and I have heard
+that she returned to her ain land. A dark curtain has fa'en ower the
+past, and the few that witnessed ony part of it could only surmise
+something of seduction and suicide. You yourself"--
+
+"I know--I know it all," answered the Earl.
+
+"You indeed know all that I can say--And now, heir of Glenallan, can you
+forgive me?"
+
+"Ask forgiveness of God, and not of man," said the Earl, turning away.
+
+"And how shall I ask of the pure and unstained what is denied to me by a
+sinner like mysell? If I hae sinned, hae I not suffered?--Hae I had a
+day's peace or an hour's rest since these lang wet locks of hair first
+lay upon my pillow at Craigburnfoot?--Has not my house been burned, wi'
+my bairn in the cradle?--Have not my boats been wrecked, when a' others
+weather'd the gale?--Have not a' that were near and dear to me dree'd
+penance for my sin?--Has not the fire had its share o' them--the winds
+had their part--the sea had her part?--And oh!" she added, with a
+lengthened groan, looking first upwards towards Heaven, and then bending
+her eyes on the floor--"O that the earth would take her part, that's been
+lang lang wearying to be joined to it!"
+
+Lord Glenallan had reached the door of the cottage, but the generosity of
+his nature did not permit him to leave the unhappy woman in this state of
+desperate reprobation. "May God forgive thee, wretched woman," he said,
+"as sincerely as I do!--Turn for mercy to Him who can alone grant mercy,
+and may your prayers be heard as if they were mine own!--I will send a
+religious man."
+
+"Na, na--nae priest! nae priest!" she ejaculated; and the door of the
+cottage opening as she spoke, prevented her from proceeding.
+
+
+
+
+                           CHAPTER THIRTEENTH.
+
+
+          Still in his dead hand clenched remain the strings
+              That thrill his father's heart--e'en as the limb,
+          Lopped off and laid in grave, retains, they tell us,
+              Strange commerce with the mutilated stump,
+          Whose nerves are twinging still in maimed existence.
+                                           Old Play.
+
+The Antiquary, as we informed the reader in the end of the thirty-first
+chapter, [tenth] had shaken off the company of worthy Mr. Blattergowl,
+although he offered to entertain him with an abstract of the ablest
+speech he had ever known in the teind court, delivered by the procurator
+for the church in the remarkable case of the parish of Gatherem.
+Resisting this temptation, our senior preferred a solitary path, which
+again conducted him to the cottage of Mucklebackit. When he came in front
+of the fisherman's hut, he observed a man working intently, as if to
+repair a shattered boat which lay upon the beach, and going up to him was
+surprised to find it was Mucklebackit himself. "I am glad," he said in a
+tone of sympathy--"I am glad, Saunders, that you feel yourself able to
+make this exertion."
+
+"And what would ye have me to do," answered the fisher gruffly, "unless I
+wanted to see four children starve, because ane is drowned? It's weel wi'
+you gentles, that can sit in the house wi' handkerchers at your een when
+ye lose a friend; but the like o' us maun to our wark again, if our
+hearts were beating as hard as my hammer."
+
+Without taking more notice of Oldbuck, he proceeded in his labour; and
+the Antiquary, to whom the display of human nature under the influence of
+agitating passions was never indifferent, stood beside him, in silent
+attention, as if watching the progress of the work. He observed more than
+once the man's hard features, as if by the force of association, prepare
+to accompany the sound of the saw and hammer with his usual symphony of a
+rude tune, hummed or whistled,--and as often a slight twitch of
+convulsive expression showed, that ere the sound was uttered, a cause for
+suppressing it rushed upon his mind. At length, when he had patched a
+considerable rent, and was beginning to mend another, his feelings
+appeared altogether to derange the power of attention necessary for his
+work. The piece of wood which he was about to nail on was at first too
+long; then he sawed it off too short, then chose another equally ill
+adapted for the purpose. At length, throwing it down in anger, after
+wiping his dim eye with his quivering hand, he exclaimed, "There is a
+curse either on me or on this auld black bitch of a boat, that I have
+hauled up high and dry, and patched and clouted sae mony years, that she
+might drown my poor Steenie at the end of them, an' be d--d to her!" and
+he flung his hammer against the boat, as if she had been the intentional
+cause of his misfortune. Then recollecting himself, he added, "Yet what
+needs ane be angry at her, that has neither soul nor sense?--though I am
+no that muckle better mysell. She's but a rickle o' auld rotten deals
+nailed thegither, and warped wi' the wind and the sea--and I am a dour
+carle, battered by foul weather at sea and land till I am maist as
+senseless as hersell. She maun be mended though again the morning tide--
+that's a thing o' necessity."
+
+Thus speaking, he went to gather together his instruments, and attempt to
+resume his labour,--but Oldbuck took him kindly by the arm. "Come, come,"
+he said, "Saunders, there is no work for you this day--I'll send down
+Shavings the carpenter to mend the boat, and he may put the day's work
+into my account--and you had better not come out to-morrow, but stay to
+comfort your family under this dispensation, and the gardener will bring
+you some vegetables and meal from Monkbarns."
+
+"I thank ye, Monkbarns," answered the poor fisher; "I am a plain-spoken
+man, and hae little to say for mysell; I might hae learned fairer
+fashions frae my mither lang syne, but I never saw muckle gude they did
+her; however, I thank ye. Ye were aye kind and neighbourly, whatever folk
+says o' your being near and close; and I hae often said, in thae times
+when they were ganging to raise up the puir folk against the gentles--I
+hae often said, neer a man should steer a hair touching to Monkbarns
+while Steenie and I could wag a finger--and so said Steenie too. And,
+Monkbarns, when ye laid his head in the grave (and mony thanks for the
+respect), ye, saw the mouls laid on an honest lad that likit you weel,
+though he made little phrase about it."
+
+Oldbuck, beaten from the pride of his affected cynicism, would not
+willingly have had any one by on that occasion to quote to him his
+favourite maxims of the Stoic philosophy. The large drops fell fast from
+his own eyes, as he begged the father, who was now melted at recollecting
+the bravery and generous sentiments of his son, to forbear useless
+sorrow, and led him by the arm towards his own home, where another scene
+awaited our Antiquary.
+
+As he entered, the first person whom he beheld was Lord Glenallan. Mutual
+surprise was in their countenances as they saluted each other--with
+haughty reserve on the part of Mr. Oldbuck, and embarrassment on that of
+the Earl.
+
+"My Lord Glenallan, I think?" said Mr. Oldbuck.
+
+"Yes--much changed from what he was when he knew Mr. Oldbuck."
+
+"I do not mean," said the Antiquary, "to intrude upon your lordship--I
+only came to see this distressed family."
+
+"And you have found one, sir, who has still greater claims on your
+compassion."
+
+"My compassion? Lord Glenallan cannot need my compassion. If Lord
+Glenallan could need it, I think he would hardly ask it."
+
+"Our former acquaintance," said the Earl--
+
+"Is of such ancient date, my lord--was of such short duration, and was
+connected with circumstances so exquisitely painful, that I think we may
+dispense with renewing it."
+
+So saying, the Antiquary turned away, and left the hut; but Lord
+Glenallan followed him into the open air, and, in spite of a hasty "Good
+morning, my lord," requested a few minutes' conversation, and the favour
+of his advice in an important matter.
+
+"Your lordship will find many more capable to advise you, my lord, and by
+whom your intercourse will be deemed an honour. For me, I am a man
+retired from business and the world, and not very fond of raking up the
+past events of my useless life;--and forgive me if I say, I have
+particular pain in reverting to that period of it when I acted like a
+fool, and your lordship like"--He stopped short.
+
+"Like a villain, you would say," said Lord Glenallan--"for such I must
+have appeared to you."
+
+"My lord--my lord, I have no desire to hear your shrift," said the
+Antiquary.
+
+"But, sir, if I can show you that I am more sinned against than sinning--
+that I have been a man miserable beyond the power of description, and who
+looks forward at this moment to an untimely grave as to a haven of rest,
+you will not refuse the confidence which, accepting your appearance at
+this critical moment as a hint from Heaven, I venture thus to press on
+you."
+
+"Assuredly, my lord, I shall shun no longer the continuation of this
+extraordinary interview."
+
+"I must then recall to you our occasional meetings upwards of twenty
+years since at Knockwinnock Castle,--and I need not remind you of a lady
+who was then a member of that family."
+
+"The unfortunate Miss Eveline Neville, my lord; I remember it well."
+
+"Towards whom you entertained sentiments"--
+
+"Very different from those with which I before and since have regarded
+her sex. Her gentleness, her docility, her pleasure in the studies which
+I pointed out to her, attached my affections more than became my age
+though that was not then much advanced--or the solidity of my character.
+But I need not remind your lordship of the various modes in which you
+indulged your gaiety at the expense of an awkward and retired student,
+embarrassed by the expression of feelings so new to him, and I have no
+doubt that the young lady joined you in the well-deserved ridicule--it is
+the way of womankind. I have spoken at once to the painful circumstances
+of my addresses and their rejection, that your lordship may be satisfied
+everything is full in my memory, and may, so far as I am concerned, tell
+your story without scruple or needless delicacy."
+
+"I will," said Lord Glenallan. "But first let me say, you do injustice to
+the memory of the gentlest and kindest, as well as to the most unhappy of
+women, to suppose she could make a jest of the honest affection of a man
+like you. Frequently did she blame me, Mr. Oldbuck, for indulging my
+levity at your expense--may I now presume you will excuse the gay
+freedoms which then offended you?--my state of mind has never since laid
+me under the necessity of apologizing for the inadvertencies of a light
+and happy temper."
+
+"My lord, you are fully pardoned," said Mr. Oldbuck. "You should be
+aware, that, like all others, I was ignorant at the time that I placed
+myself in competition with your lordship, and understood that Miss
+Neville was in a state of dependence which might make her prefer a
+competent independence and the hand of an honest man--But I am wasting
+time--I would I could believe that the views entertained towards her by
+others were as fair and honest as mine!"
+
+"Mr. Oldbuck, you judge harshly."
+
+"Not without cause, my lord. When I only, of all the magistrates of this
+county--having neither, like some of them, the honour to be connected
+with your powerful family--nor, like others, the meanness to fear it,--
+when I made some inquiry into the manner of Miss Neville's death--I shake
+you, my lord, but I must be plain--I do own I had every reason to believe
+that she had met most unfair dealing, and had either been imposed upon by
+a counterfeit marriage, or that very strong measures had been adopted to
+stifle and destroy the evidence of a real union. And I cannot doubt in my
+own mind, that this cruelty on your lordship's part, whether coming of
+your own free will, or proceeding from the influence of the late
+Countess, hurried the unfortunate young lady to the desperate act by
+which her life was terminated."
+
+"You are deceived, Mr. Oldbuck, into conclusions which are not just,
+however naturally they flow from the circumstances. Believe me, I
+respected you even when I was most embarrassed by your active attempts to
+investigate our family misfortunes. You showed yourself more worthy of
+Miss Neville than I, by the spirit with which you persisted in
+vindicating her reputation even after her death. But the firm belief that
+your well-meant efforts could only serve to bring to light a story too
+horrible to be detailed, induced me to join my unhappy mother in schemes
+to remove or destroy all evidence of the legal union which had taken
+place between Eveline and myself. And now let us sit down on this bank,--
+for I feel unable to remain longer standing,--and have the goodness to
+listen to the extraordinary discovery which I have this day made."
+
+They sate down accordingly; and Lord Glenallan briefly narrated his
+unhappy family history--his concealed marriage--the horrible invention by
+which his mother had designed to render impossible that union which had
+already taken place. He detailed the arts by which the Countess, having
+all the documents relative to Miss Neville's birth in her hands, had
+produced those only relating to a period during which, for family
+reasons, his father had consented to own that young lady as his natural
+daughter, and showed how impossible it was that he could either suspect
+or detect the fraud put upon him by his mother, and vouched by the oaths
+of her attendants, Teresa and Elspeth. "I left my paternal mansion," he
+concluded, "as if the furies of hell had driven me forth, and travelled
+with frantic velocity I knew not whither. Nor have I the slightest
+recollection of what I did or whither I went, until I was discovered by
+my brother. I will not trouble you with an account of my sick-bed and
+recovery, or how, long afterwards, I ventured to inquire after the sharer
+of my misfortunes, and heard that her despair had found a dreadful remedy
+for all the ills of life. The first thing that roused me to thought was
+hearing of your inquiries into this cruel business; and you will hardly
+wonder, that, believing what I did believe, I should join in those
+expedients to stop your investigation, which my brother and mother had
+actively commenced. The information which I gave them concerning the
+circumstances and witnesses of our private marriage enabled them to
+baffle your zeal. The clergyman, therefore, and witnesses, as persons who
+had acted in the matter only to please the powerful heir of Glenallan,
+were accessible to his promises and threats, and were so provided for,
+that they had no objections to leave this country for another. For
+myself, Mr. Oldbuck," pursued this unhappy man, "from that moment I
+considered myself as blotted out of the book of the living, and as having
+nothing left to do with this world. My mother tried to reconcile me to
+life by every art--even by intimations which I can now interpret as
+calculated to produce a doubt of the horrible tale she herself had
+fabricated. But I construed all she said as the fictions of maternal
+affection. I will forbear all reproach. She is no more--and, as her
+wretched associate said, she knew not how the dart was poisoned, or how
+deep it must sink, when she threw it from her hand. But, Mr. Oldbuck, if
+ever, during these twenty years, there crawled upon earth a living being
+deserving of your pity, I have been that man. My food has not nourished
+me--my sleep has not refreshed me--my devotions have not comforted me--
+all that is cheering and necessary to man has been to me converted into
+poison. The rare and limited intercourse which I have held with others
+has been most odious to me. I felt as if I were bringing the
+contamination of unnatural and inexpressible guilt among the gay and the
+innocent. There have been moments when I had thoughts of another
+description--to plunge into the adventures of war, or to brave the
+dangers of the traveller in foreign and barbarous climates--to mingle in
+political intrigue, or to retire to the stern seclusion of the anchorites
+of our religion;--all these are thoughts which have alternately passed
+through my mind, but each required an energy, which was mine no longer,
+after the withering stroke I had received. I vegetated on as I could in
+the same spot--fancy, feeling, judgment, and health, gradually decaying,
+like a tree whose bark has been destroyed,--when first the blossoms fade,
+then the boughs, until its state resembles the decayed and dying trunk
+that is now before you. Do you now pity and forgive me?"
+
+"My lord," answered the Antiquary, much affected, "my pity--my
+forgiveness, you have not to ask, for your dismal story is of itself not
+only an ample excuse for whatever appeared mysterious in your conduct,
+but a narrative that might move your worst enemies (and I, my lord, was
+never of the number) to tears and to sympathy. But permit me to ask what
+you now mean to do, and why you have honoured me, whose opinion can be of
+little consequence, with your confidence on this occasion?"
+
+"Mr. Oldbuck," answered the Earl, "as I could never have foreseen the
+nature of that confession which I have heard this day, I need not say
+that I had no formed plan of consulting you, or any one, upon affairs the
+tendency of which I could not even have suspected. But I am without
+friends, unused to business, and, by long retirement, unacquainted alike
+with the laws of the land and the habits of the living generation; and
+when, most unexpectedly, I find myself immersed in the matters of which I
+know least, I catch, like a drowning man, at the first support that
+offers. You are that support, Mr. Oldbuck. I have always heard you
+mentioned as a man of wisdom and intelligence--I have known you myself as
+a man of a resolute and independent spirit;--and there is one
+circumstance," said he, "which ought to combine us in some degree--our
+having paid tribute to the same excellence of character in poor Eveline.
+You offered yourself to me in my need, and you were already acquainted
+with the beginning of my misfortunes. To you, therefore, I have recourse
+for advice, for sympathy, for support."
+
+"You shall seek none of them in vain, my lord," said Oldbuck, "so far as
+my slender ability extends;--and I am honoured by the preference, whether
+it arises from choice, or is prompted by chance. But this is a matter to
+be ripely considered. May I ask what are your principal views at
+present?"
+
+"To ascertain the fate of my child," said the Earl, "be the consequences
+what they may, and to do justice to the honour of Eveline, which I have
+only permitted to be suspected to avoid discovery of the yet more
+horrible taint to which I was made to believe it liable."
+
+"And the memory of your mother?"
+
+"Must bear its own burden," answered the Earl with a sigh: "better that
+she were justly convicted of deceit, should that be found necessary, than
+that others should be unjustly accused of crimes so much more dreadful."
+
+"Then, my lord," said Oldbuck, "our first business must be to put the
+information of the old woman, Elspeth, into a regular and authenticated
+form."
+
+"That," said Lord Glenallan, "will be at present, I fear, impossible. She
+is exhausted herself, and surrounded by her distressed family. To-morrow,
+perhaps, when she is alone--and yet I doubt, from her imperfect sense of
+right and wrong, whether she would speak out in any one's presence but my
+own. I am too sorely fatigued."
+
+"Then, my lord," said the Antiquary, whom the interest of the moment
+elevated above points of expense and convenience, which had generally
+more than enough of weight with him, "I would propose to your lordship,
+instead of returning, fatigued as you are, so far as to Glenallan House,
+or taking the more uncomfortable alternative of going to a bad inn at
+Fairport, to alarm all the busybodies of the town--I would propose, I
+say, that you should be my guest at Monkbarns for this night. By
+to-morrow these poor people will have renewed their out-of-doors
+vocation--for sorrow with them affords no respite from labour,--and we
+will visit the old woman Elspeth alone, and take down her examination."
+
+After a formal apology for the encroachment, Lord Glenallan agreed to go
+with him, and underwent with patience in their return home the whole
+history of John of the Girnel, a legend which Mr. Oldbuck was never known
+to spare any one who crossed his threshold.
+
+The arrival of a stranger of such note, with two saddle-horses and a
+servant in black, which servant had holsters on his saddle-bow, and a
+coronet upon the holsters, created a general commotion in the house of
+Monkbarns. Jenny Rintherout, scarce recovered from the hysterics which
+she had taken on hearing of poor Steenie's misfortune, chased about the
+turkeys and poultry, cackled and screamed louder than they did, and ended
+by killing one-half too many. Miss Griselda made many wise reflections on
+the hot-headed wilfulness of her brother, who had occasioned such
+devastation, by suddenly bringing in upon them a papist nobleman. And she
+ventured to transmit to Mr. Blattergowl some hint of the unusual
+slaughter which had taken place in the _basse-cour,_ which brought the
+honest clergyman to inquire how his friend Monkbarns had got home, and
+whether he was not the worse of being at the funeral, at a period so near
+the ringing of the bell for dinner, that the Antiquary had no choice left
+but to invite him to stay and bless the meat. Miss M'Intyre had on her
+part some curiosity to see this mighty peer, of whom all had heard, as an
+eastern caliph or sultan is heard of by his subjects, and felt some
+degree of timidity at the idea of encountering a person, of whose
+unsocial habits and stern manners so many stories were told, that her
+fear kept at least pace with her curiosity. The aged housekeeper was no
+less flustered and hurried in obeying the numerous and contradictory
+commands of her mistress, concerning preserves, pastry and fruit, the
+mode of marshalling and dishing the dinner, the necessity of not
+permitting the melted butter to run to oil, and the danger of allowing
+Juno--who, though formally banished from the parlour, failed not to
+maraud about the out-settlements of the family--to enter the kitchen.
+
+The only inmate of Monkbarns who remained entirely indifferent on this
+momentous occasion was Hector M'Intyre, who cared no more for an Earl
+than he did for a commoner, and who was only interested in the unexpected
+visit, as it might afford some protection against his uncle's
+displeasure, if he harboured any, for his not attending the funeral, and
+still more against his satire upon the subject of his gallant but
+unsuccessful single combat with the _phoca,_ or seal.
+
+To these, the inmates of his household, Oldbuck presented the Earl of
+Glenallan, who underwent, with meek and subdued civility, the prosing
+speeches of the honest divine, and the lengthened apologies of Miss
+Griselda Oldbuck, which her brother in vain endeavoured to abridge.
+Before the dinner hour, Lord Glenallan requested permission to retire a
+while to his chamber. Mr. Oldbuck accompanied his guest to the Green
+Room, which had been hastily prepared for his reception. He looked around
+with an air of painful recollection.
+
+"I think," at length he observed, "I think, Mr. Oldbuck, that I have been
+in this apartment before."
+
+"Yes, my lord," answered Oldbuck, "upon occasion of an excursion hither
+from Knockwinnock--and since we are upon a subject so melancholy, you may
+perhaps remember whose taste supplied these lines from Chaucer, which now
+form the motto of the tapestry."
+
+"I guess", said the Earl, "though I cannot recollect. She excelled me,
+indeed, in literary taste and information, as in everything else; and it
+is one of the mysterious dispensations of Providence, Mr. Oldbuck, that a
+creature so excellent in mind and body should have been cut off in so
+miserable a manner, merely from her having formed a fatal attachment to
+such a wretch as I am."
+
+Mr. Oldbuck did not attempt an answer to this burst of the grief which
+lay ever nearest to the heart of his guest, but, pressing Lord
+Glenallan's hand with one of his own, and drawing the other across his
+shaggy eyelashes, as if to brush away a mist that intercepted his sight,
+he left the Earl at liberty to arrange himself previous to dinner.
+
+
+
+
+                            CHAPTER FOURTEENTH
+
+                           --Life, with you,
+            Glows in the brain and dances in the arteries;
+           'Tis like the wine some joyous guest hath quaffed,
+                 That glads the heart and elevates the fancy:
+                 Mine is the poor residuum of the cup,
+             Vapid, and dull, and tasteless, only soiling,
+             With its base dregs, the vessel that contains it.
+                                            Old Play.
+
+"Now, only think what a man my brother is, Mr. Blattergowl, for a wise
+man and a learned man, to bring this Yerl into our house without speaking
+a word to a body! And there's the distress of thae Mucklebackits--we
+canna get a fin o' fish--and we hae nae time to send ower to Fairport for
+beef, and the mutton's but new killed--and that silly fliskmahoy, Jenny
+Rintherout, has taen the exies, and done naething but laugh and greet,
+the skirl at the tail o' the guffaw, for twa days successfully--and now
+we maun ask that strange man, that's as grand and as grave as the Yerl
+himsell, to stand at the sideboard! and I canna gang into the kitchen to
+direct onything, for he's hovering there, making some pousowdie* for my
+Lord, for he doesna eat like ither folk neither--And how to sort the
+strange servant man at dinner time--I am sure, Mr. Blattergowl,
+a'thegither, it passes my judgment."
+
+* _Pousowdie,_--Miscellaneous mess.
+
+"Truly, Miss Griselda," replied the divine, "Monkbarns was inconsiderate.
+He should have taen a day to see the invitation, as they do wi' the
+titular's condescendence in the process of valuation and sale. But the
+great man could not have come on a sudden to ony house in this parish
+where he could have been better served with _vivers_--that I must say--
+and also that the steam from the kitchen is very gratifying to my
+nostrils;--and if ye have ony household affairs to attend to, Mrs.
+Griselda, never make a stranger of me--I can amuse mysell very weel with
+the larger copy of Erskine's Institutes."
+
+And taking down from the window-seat that amusing folio, (the Scottish
+Coke upon Littleton), he opened it, as if instinctively, at the tenth
+title of Book Second, "of Teinds or Tythes," and was presently deeply
+wrapped up in an abstruse discussion concerning the temporality of
+benefices.
+
+The entertainment, about which Miss Oldbuck expressed so much anxiety,
+was at length placed upon the table; and the Earl of Glenallan, for the
+first time since the date of his calamity, sat at a stranger's board,
+surrounded by strangers. He seemed to himself like a man in a dream, or
+one whose brain was not fully recovered from the effects of an
+intoxicating potion. Relieved, as he had that morning been, from the
+image of guilt which had so long haunted his imagination, he felt his
+sorrows as a lighter and more tolerable load, but was still unable to
+take any share in the conversation that passed around him. It was,
+indeed, of a cast very different from that which he had been accustomed
+to. The bluntness of Oldbuck, the tiresome apologetic harangues of his
+sister, the pedantry of the divine, and the vivacity of the young
+soldier, which savoured much more of the camp than of the court, were all
+new to a nobleman who had lived in a retired and melancholy state for so
+many years, that the manners of the world seemed to him equally strange
+and unpleasing. Miss M'Intyre alone, from the natural politeness and
+unpretending simplicity of her manners, appeared to belong to that class
+of society to which he had been accustomed in his earlier and better
+days.
+
+Nor did Lord Glenallan's deportment less surprise the company. Though a
+plain but excellent family-dinner was provided (for, as Mr. Blattergowl
+had justly said, it was impossible to surprise Miss Griselda when her
+larder was empty), and though the Antiquary boasted his best port, and
+assimilated it to the Falernian of Horace, Lord Glenallan was proof to
+the allurements of both. His servant placed before him a small mess of
+vegetables, that very dish, the cooking of which had alarmed Miss
+Griselda, arranged with the most minute and scrupulous neatness. He ate
+sparingly of these provisions; and a glass of pure water, sparkling from
+the fountain-head, completed his repast. Such, his servant said, had been
+his lordship's diet for very many years, unless upon the high festivals
+of the Church, or when company of the first rank were entertained at
+Glenallan House, when he relaxed a little in the austerity of his diet,
+and permitted himself a glass or two of wine. But at Monkbarns, no
+anchoret could have made a more simple and scanty meal.
+
+The Antiquary was a gentleman, as we have seen, in feeling, but blunt and
+careless in expression, from the habit of living with those before whom
+he had nothing to suppress. He attacked his noble guest without scruple
+on the severity of his regimen.
+
+"A few half-cold greens and potatoes--a glass of ice-cold water to wash
+them down--antiquity gives no warrant for it, my lord. This house used to
+be accounted a _hospitium,_ a place of retreat for Christians; but your
+lordship's diet is that of a heathen Pythagorean, or Indian Bramin--nay,
+more severe than either, if you refuse these fine apples."
+
+"I am a Catholic, you are aware," said Lord Glenallan, wishing to escape
+from the discussion, "and you know that our church"----
+
+"Lays down many rules of mortification," proceeded the dauntless
+Antiquary; "but I never heard that they were quite so rigorously
+practised--Bear witness my predecessor, John of the Girnel, or the jolly
+Abbot, who gave his name to this apple, my lord."
+
+And as he pared the fruit, in spite of his sister's "O fie, Monkbarns!"
+and the prolonged cough of the minister, accompanied by a shake of his
+huge wig, the Antiquary proceeded to detail the intrigue which had given
+rise to the fame of the abbot's apple with more slyness and
+circumstantiality than was at all necessary. His jest (as may readily be
+conceived) missed fire, for this anecdote of conventual gallantry failed
+to produce the slightest smile on the visage of the Earl. Oldbuck then
+took up the subject of Ossian, Macpherson, and Mac-Cribb; but Lord
+Glenallan had never so much as heard of any of the three, so little
+conversant had he been with modern literature. The conversation was now
+in some danger of flagging, or of falling into the hands of Mr.
+Blattergowl, who had just pronounced the formidable word, "teind-free,"
+when the subject of the French Revolution was started--a political event
+on which Lord Glenallan looked with all the prejudiced horror of a
+bigoted Catholic and zealous aristocrat. Oldbuck was far from carrying
+his detestation of its principles to such a length.
+
+"There were many men in the first Constituent Assembly," he said, "who
+held sound Whiggish doctrines, and were for settling the Constitution
+with a proper provision for the liberties of the people. And if a set of
+furious madmen were now in possession of the government, it was," he
+continued, "what often happened in great revolutions, where extreme
+measures are adopted in the fury of the moment, and the State resembles
+an agitated pendulum which swings from side to side for some time ere it
+can acquire its due and perpendicular station. Or it might be likened to
+a storm or hurricane, which, passing over a region, does great damage in
+its passage, yet sweeps away stagnant and unwholesome vapours, and
+repays, in future health and fertility, its immediate desolation and
+ravage."
+
+The Earl shook his head; but having neither spirit nor inclination for
+debate, he suffered the argument to pass uncontested.
+
+This discussion served to introduce the young soldier's experiences; and
+he spoke of the actions in which he, had been engaged, with modesty, and
+at the same time with an air of spirit and zeal which delighted the Earl,
+who had been bred up, like others of his house, in the opinion that the
+trade of arms was the first duty of man, and believed that to employ them
+against the French was a sort of holy warfare.
+
+"What would I give," said he apart to Oldbuck, as they rose to join the
+ladies in the drawing-room, "what would I give to have a son of such
+spirit as that young gentleman!--He wants something of address and
+manner, something of polish, which mixing in good society would soon give
+him; but with what zeal and animation he expresses himself--how fond of
+his profession--how loud in the praise of others--how modest when
+speaking of himself!"
+
+"Hector is much obliged to you, my lord," replied his uncle, gratified,
+yet not so much so as to suppress his consciousness of his own mental
+superiority over the young soldier; "I believe in my heart nobody ever
+spoke half so much good of him before, except perhaps the sergeant of his
+company, when was wheedling a Highland recruit to enlist with him. He is
+a good lad notwithstanding, although he be not quite the hero your
+lordship supposes him, and although my commendations rather attest the
+kindness than the vivacity of his character. In fact, his high spirit is
+a sort of constitutional vehemence, which attends him in everything he
+sets about, and is often very inconvenient to his friends. I saw him
+to-day engage in an animated contest with a _phoca,_ or seal (_sealgh,_
+our people more properly call them, retaining the Gothic guttural _gh_),
+with as much vehemence as if he had fought against Dumourier--Marry, my
+lord, the _phoca_ had the better, as the said Dumourier had of some other
+folks. And he'll talk with equal if not superior rapture of the good
+behaviour of a pointer bitch, as of the plan of a campaign."
+
+"He shall have full permission to sport over my grounds," said the Earl,
+"if he is so fond of that exercise."
+
+"You will bind him to you, my lord," said Monkbarns, "body and soul: give
+him leave to crack off his birding-piece at a poor covey of partridges or
+moor-fowl, and he's yours for ever--I will enchant him by the
+intelligence. But O, my lord, that you could have seen my phoenix Lovel!
+--the very prince and chieftain of the youth of this age; and not
+destitute of spirit neither--I promise you he gave my termagant kinsman a
+_quid pro quo_--a Rowland for his Oliver, as the vulgar say, alluding to
+the two celebrated Paladins of Charlemagne."
+
+After coffee, Lord Glenallan requested a private interview with the
+Antiquary, and was ushered to his library.
+
+"I must withdraw you from your own amiable family," he said, "to involve
+you in the perplexities of an unhappy man. You are acquainted with the
+world, from which I have long been banished; for Glenallan House has been
+to me rather a prison than a dwelling, although a prison which I had
+neither fortitude nor spirit to break from."
+
+"Let me first ask your lordship," said the Antiquary, "what are your own
+wishes and designs in this matter?"
+
+"I wish most especially," answered Lord Glenallan, "to declare my
+luckless marriage, and to vindicate the reputation of the unhappy
+Eveline--that is, if you see a possibility of doing so without making
+public the conduct of my mother."
+
+"_Suum cuique tribuito,_" said the Antiquary; "do right to everyone. The
+memory of that unhappy young lady has too long suffered, and I think it
+might be cleared without further impeaching that of your mother, than by
+letting it be understood in general that she greatly disapproved and
+bitterly opposed the match. All--forgive me, my lord--all who ever heard
+of the late Countess of Glenallan, will learn that without much
+surprise."
+
+"But you forget one horrible circumstance, Mr. Oldbuck," said the Earl,
+in an agitated voice.
+
+"I am not aware of it," replied the Antiquary.
+
+"The fate of the infant--its disappearance with the confidential
+attendant of my mother, and the dreadful surmises which may be drawn from
+my conversation with Elspeth."
+
+"If you would have my free opinion, my lord," answered Mr. Oldbuck, "and
+will not catch too rapidly at it as matter of hope, I would say that it
+is very possible the child yet lives. For thus much I ascertained, by my
+former inquiries concerning the event of that deplorable evening, that a
+child and woman were carried that night from the cottage at the
+Craigburnfoot in a carriage and four by your brother Edward Geraldin
+Neville, whose journey towards England with these companions I traced for
+several stages. I believed then it was a part of the family compact to
+carry a child whom you meant to stigmatize with illegitimacy, out of that
+country where chance might have raised protectors and proofs of its
+rights. But I now think that your brother, having reason, like yourself,
+to believe the child stained with shame yet more indelible, had
+nevertheless withdrawn it, partly from regard to the honour of his house,
+partly from the risk to which it might have been exposed in the
+neighbourhood of the Lady Glenallan."
+
+As he spoke, the Earl of Glenallan grew extremely pale, and had nearly
+fallen from his chair.--The alarmed Antiquary ran hither and thither
+looking for remedies; but his museum, though sufficiently well filled
+with a vast variety of useless matters, contained nothing that could be
+serviceable on the present or any other occasion. As he posted out of the
+room to borrow his sister's salts, he could not help giving a
+constitutional growl of chagrin and wonder at the various incidents which
+had converted his mansion, first into an hospital for a wounded duellist,
+and now into the sick chamber of a dying nobleman. "And yet," said he, "I
+have always kept aloof from the soldiery and the peerage. My
+_coenobitium_ has only next to be made a lying-in hospital, and then, I
+trow, the transformation will be complete."
+
+When he returned with the remedy, Lord Glenallan was much better. The new
+and unexpected light which Mr. Oldbuck had thrown upon the melancholy
+history of his family had almost overpowered him. "You think, then, Mr.
+Oldbuck--for you are capable of thinking, which I am not--you think,
+then, that it is possible--that is, not impossible--my child may yet
+live?"
+
+"I think," said the Antiquary, "it is impossible that it could come to
+any violent harm through your brother's means. He was known to be a gay
+and dissipated man, but not cruel nor dishonourable; nor is it possible,
+that, if he had intended any foul play, he would have placed himself so
+forward in the charge of the infant, as I will prove to your lordship he
+did."
+
+So saying, Mr. Oldbuck opened a drawer of the cabinet of his ancestor
+Aldobrand, and produced a bundle of papers tied with a black ribband, and
+labelled,--Examinations, etc., taken by Jonathan Oldbuck, J. P., upon the
+18th of February, 17--; a little under was written, in a small hand,
+_Eheu Evelina_! The tears dropped fast from the Earl's eyes, as he
+endeavoured, in vain, to unfasten the knot which secured these documents.
+
+"Your lordship," said Mr. Oldbuck, "had better not read these at present.
+Agitated as you are, and having much business before you, you must not
+exhaust your strength. Your brother's succession is now, I presume, your
+own, and it will be easy for you to make inquiry among his servants and
+retainers, so as to hear where the child is, if, fortunately, it shall be
+still alive."
+
+"I dare hardly hope it," said the Earl, with a deep sigh. "Why should my
+brother have been silent to me?"
+
+"Nay, my lord, why should he have communicated to your lordship the
+existence of a being whom you must have supposed the offspring of"--
+
+"Most true--there is an obvious and a kind reason for his being silent.
+If anything, indeed, could have added to the horror of the ghastly dream
+that has poisoned my whole existence, it must have been the knowledge
+that such a child of misery existed."
+
+"Then," continued the Antiquary, "although it would be rash to conclude,
+at the distance of more than twenty years, that your son must needs be
+still alive because he was not destroyed in infancy, I own I think you
+should instantly set on foot inquiries."
+
+"It shall be done," replied Lord Glenallan, catching eagerly at the hope
+held out to him, the first he had nourished for many years;--"I will
+write to a faithful steward of my father, who acted in the same capacity
+under my brother Neville--But, Mr. Oldbuck, I am not my brother's heir."
+
+"Indeed!--I am sorry for that, my lord--it is a noble estate, and the
+ruins of the old castle of Neville's-Burgh alone, which are the most
+superb relics of Anglo-Norman architecture in that part of the country,
+are a possession much to be coveted. I thought your father had no other
+son or near relative."
+
+"He had not, Mr. Oldbuck," replied Lord Glenallan; "but my brother
+adopted views in politics, and a form of religion, alien from those which
+had been always held by our house. Our tempers had long differed, nor did
+my unhappy mother always think him sufficiently observant to her. In
+short, there was a family quarrel, and my brother, whose property was at
+his own free disposal, availed himself of the power vested in him to
+choose a stranger for his heir. It is a matter which never struck me as
+being of the least consequence--for if worldly possessions could
+alleviate misery, I have enough and to spare. But now I shall regret it,
+if it throws any difficulty in the way of our inquiries--and I bethink me
+that it may; for in case of my having a lawful son of my body, and my
+brother dying without issue, my father's possessions stood entailed upon
+my son. It is not therefore likely that this heir, be he who he may, will
+afford us assistance in making a discovery which may turn out so much to
+his own prejudice."
+
+"And in all probability the steward your lordship mentions is also in his
+service," said the Antiquary.
+
+"It is most likely; and the man being a Protestant--how far it is safe to
+entrust him"--
+
+"I should hope, my lord," said Oldbuck gravely, "that a Protestant may be
+as trustworthy as a Catholic. I am doubly interested in the Protestant
+faith, my lord. My ancestor, Aldobrand Oldenbuck, printed the celebrated
+Confession of Augsburg, as I can show by the original edition now in this
+house."
+
+"I have not the least doubt of what you say, Mr. Oldbuck," replied the
+Earl, "nor do I speak out of bigotry or intolerance; but probably the
+Protestant steward will favour the Protestant heir rather than the
+Catholic--if, indeed, my son has been bred in his father's faith--or,
+alas! if indeed he yet lives."
+
+"We must look close into this," said Oldbuck, "before committing
+ourselves. I have a literary friend at York, with whom I have long
+corresponded on the subject of the Saxon horn that is preserved in the
+Minster there; we interchanged letters for six years, and have only as
+yet been able to settle the first line of the inscription. I will write
+forthwith to this gentleman, Dr. Dryasdust, and be particular in my
+inquiries concerning the character, etc., of your brother's heir, of the
+gentleman employed in his affairs, and what else may be likely to further
+your lordship's inquiries. In the meantime your lordship will collect the
+evidence of the marriage, which I hope can still be recovered?"
+
+"Unquestionably," replied the Earl: "the witnesses, who were formerly
+withdrawn from your research, are still living. My tutor, who solemnized
+the marriage, was provided for by a living in France, and has lately
+returned to this country as an emigrant, a victim of his zeal for
+loyalty, legitimacy, and religion."
+
+"That's one lucky consequence of the French, revolution, my lord--you
+must allow that, at least," said Oldbuck: "but no offence; I will act as
+warmly in your affairs as if I were of your own faith in politics and
+religion. And take my advice--If you want an affair of consequence
+properly managed, put it into the hands of an antiquary; for as they are
+eternally exercising their genius and research upon trifles, it is
+impossible they can be baffled in affairs of importance;--use makes
+perfect--and the corps that is most frequently drilled upon the parade,
+will be most prompt in its exercise upon the day of battle. And, talking
+upon that subject, I would willingly read to your lordship, in order to
+pass away the time betwixt and supper"--
+
+"I beg I may not interfere with family arrangements," said Lord
+Glenallan, "but I never taste anything after sunset."
+
+"Nor I either, my lord," answered his host, "notwithstanding it is said
+to have been the custom of the ancients. But then I dine differently from
+your lordship, and therefore am better enabled to dispense with those
+elaborate entertainments which my womankind (that is, my sister and
+niece, my lord) are apt to place on the table, for the display rather of
+their own house-wifery than the accommodation of our wants. However, a
+broiled bone, or a smoked haddock, or an oyster, or a slice of bacon of
+our own curing, with a toast and a tankard--or something or other of that
+sort, to close the orifice of the stomach before going to bed, does not
+fall under my restriction, nor, I hope, under your lordship's."
+
+"My no-supper is literal, Mr. Oldbuck; but I will attend you at your meal
+with pleasure."
+
+"Well, my lord," replied the Antiquary, "I will endeavour to entertain
+your ears at least, since I cannot banquet your palate. What I am about
+to read to your lordship relates to the upland glens."
+
+Lord Glenallan, though he would rather have recurred to the subject of
+his own uncertainties, was compelled to make a sign of rueful civility
+and acquiescence.
+
+The Antiquary, therefore, took out his portfolio of loose sheets, and
+after premising that the topographical details here laid down were
+designed to illustrate a slight essay upon castrametation, which had been
+read with indulgence at several societies of Antiquaries, he commenced as
+follows: "The subject, my lord, is the hill-fort of Quickens-bog, with
+the site of which your lordship is doubtless familiar--it is upon your
+store-farm of Mantanner, in the barony of Clochnaben."
+
+"I think I have heard the names of these places," said the Earl, in
+answer to the Antiquary's appeal.
+
+"Heard the name? and the farm brings him six hundred a-year--O Lord!"
+
+Such was the scarce-subdued ejaculation of the Antiquary. But his
+hospitality got the better of his surprise, and he proceeded to read his
+essay with an audible voice, in great glee at having secured a patient,
+and, as he fondly hoped, an interested hearer.
+
+"Quickens-bog may at first seem to derive its name from the plant
+_Quicken,_ by which, _Scottice,_ we understand couch-grass, dog-grass, or
+the _Triticum repens_ of Linnaeus, and the common English monosyllable
+_Bog,_ by which we mean, in popular language, a marsh or morass--in
+Latin, _Palus._ But it may confound the rash adopters of the more obvious
+etymological derivations, to learn that the couch-grass or dog-grass, or,
+to speak scientifically, the _Triticum repens_ of Linnaeus, does not grow
+within a quarter of a mile of this castrum or hill-fort, whose ramparts
+are uniformly clothed with short verdant turf; and that we must seek a
+bog or _palus_ at a still greater distance, the nearest being that of
+Gird-the-mear, a full half-mile distant. The last syllable, _bog,_ is
+obviously, therefore, a mere corruption of the Saxon _Burgh,_ which we
+find in the various transmutations of _Burgh, Burrow, Brough, Bruff,
+Buff,_ and _Boff,_ which last approaches very near the sound in question
+--since, supposing the word to have been originally _borgh,_ which is the
+genuine Saxon spelling, a slight change, such as modern organs too often
+make upon ancient sounds, will produce first _Bogh,_ and then, _elisa H,_
+or compromising and sinking the guttural, agreeable to the common
+vernacular practice, you have either _Boff_ or _Bog_ as it happens. The
+word _Quickens_ requires in like manner to be altered,--decomposed, as it
+were,--and reduced to its original and genuine sound, ere we can discern
+its real meaning. By the ordinary exchange of the _Qu_ into _Wh,_
+familiar to the rudest tyro who has opened a book of old Scottish poetry,
+we gain either Whilkens, or Whichensborgh--put we may suppose, by way of
+question, as if those who imposed the name, struck with the extreme
+antiquity of the place, had expressed in it an interrogation, To whom did
+this fortress belong?'--Or, it might be _Whackens-burgh,_ from the Saxon
+_Whacken,_ to strike with the hand, as doubtless the skirmishes near a
+place of such apparent consequence must have legitimated such a
+derivation," etc. etc. etc.
+
+I will be more merciful to my readers than Oldbuck was to his guest; for,
+considering his opportunities of gaining patient attention from a person
+of such consequence as Lord Glenallan were not many, he used, or rather
+abused, the present to the uttermost.
+
+
+
+
+                           CHAPTER FIFTEENTH.
+
+                         Crabbed age and youth
+                         Cannot live together:--
+                         Youth is full of pleasance,
+                              Age is full of care;
+                         Youth like summer morn,
+                         Age like winter weather;
+                         Youth like summer brave,
+                         Age like winter bare.
+                                      Shakspeare.
+
+In the morning of the following day, the Antiquary, who was something of
+a sluggard, was summoned from his bed a full hour earlier than his custom
+by Caxon. "What's the matter now?" he exclaimed, yawning and stretching
+forth his hand to the huge gold repeater, which, bedded upon his India
+silk handkerchief, was laid safe by his pillow--"what's the matter now,
+Caxon?--it can't be eight o'clock yet."
+
+"Na, sir,--but my lord's man sought me out, for he fancies me your
+honour's valley-de-sham,--and sae I am, there's nae doubt o't, baith your
+honour's and the minister's--at least ye hae nae other that I ken o'--and
+I gie a help to Sir Arthur too, but that's mair in the way o' my
+profession."
+
+"Well, well--never mind that," said the Antiquary--"happy is he that is
+his own valley-de-sham, as you call it--But why disturb my morning's
+rest?"
+
+"Ou, sir, the great man's been up since peep o' day, and he's steered the
+town to get awa an express to fetch his carriage, and it will be here
+briefly, and he wad like to see your honour afore he gaes awa."
+
+"Gadso!" ejaculated Oldbuck, "these great men use one's house and time as
+if they were their own property. Well, it's once and away. Has Jenny come
+to her senses yet, Caxon?"
+
+"Troth, sir, but just middling," replied the barber; "she's been in a
+swither about the jocolate this morning, and was like to hae toomed it a'
+out into the slap-bason, and drank it hersell in her ecstacies--but she's
+won ower wi't, wi' the help o' Miss M'Intyre."
+
+"Then all my womankind are on foot and scrambling, and I must enjoy my
+quiet bed no longer, if I would have a well-regulated house--Lend me my
+gown. And what are the news at Fairport?"
+
+"Ou, sir, what can they be about but this grand news o' my lord,"
+answered the old man, "that hasna been ower the door-stane, they threep
+to me, for this twenty years--this grand news of his coming to visit your
+honour?"
+
+"Aha!" said Monkbarns; "and what do they say of that, Caxon?"
+
+"'Deed, sir, they hae various opinions. Thae fallows, that are the
+democraws, as they ca' them, that are again' the king and the law, and
+hairpowder and dressing o' gentlemen's wigs--a wheen blackguards--they
+say he's come doun to speak wi' your honour about bringing doun his hill
+lads and Highland tenantry to break up the meetings of the Friends o' the
+People;--and when I said your honour never meddled wi' the like o' sic
+things where there was like to be straiks and bloodshed, they said, if ye
+didna, your nevoy did, and that he was weel ken'd to be a kingsman that
+wad fight knee-deep, and that ye were the head and he was the hand, and
+that the Yerl was to bring out the men and the siller."
+
+"Come," said the Antiquary, laughing--"I am glad the war is to cost me
+nothing but counsel."
+
+"Na, na," said Caxon--"naebody thinks your honour wad either fight
+yoursell, or gie ony feck o' siller to ony side o' the question."
+
+"Umph! well, that's the opinion of the democraws, as you call them--What
+say the rest o' Fairport?"
+
+"In troth," said the candid reporter, "I canna say it's muckle better.
+Captain Coquet, of the volunteers--that's him that's to be the new
+collector,--and some of the other gentlemen of the Blue and a' Blue Club,
+are just saying it's no right to let popists, that hae sae mony French
+friends as the Yerl of Glenallan, gang through the country, and--but your
+honour will maybe be angry?"
+
+"Not I, Caxon," said Oldbuck; "fire away as if you were Captain Coquet's
+whole platoon--I can stand it."
+
+"Weel then, they say, sir, that as ye didna encourage the petition about
+the peace, and wadna petition in favour of the new tax, and as you were
+again' bringing in the yeomanry at the meal mob, but just for settling
+the folk wi' the constables--they say ye're no a gude friend to
+government; and that thae sort o' meetings between sic a powerfu' man as
+the Yerl, and sic a wise man as you,--Od they think they suld be lookit
+after; and some say ye should baith be shankit aff till Edinburgh
+Castle."
+
+"On my word," said the Antiquary, "I am infinitely obliged to my
+neighbours for their good opinion of me! And so I, that have never
+interfered with their bickerings, but to recommend quiet and moderate
+measures, am given up on both sides as a man very likely to commit high
+treason, either against King or People?--Give me my coat, Caxon--give me
+my coat;--it's lucky I live not in their report. Have you heard anything
+of Taffril and his vessel?"
+
+Caxon's countenance fell.--"Na, sir, and the winds hae been high, and
+this is a fearfu' coast to cruise on in thae eastern gales,--the
+headlands rin sae far out, that a veshel's embayed afore I could sharp a
+razor; and then there's nae harbour or city of refuge on our coast--a'
+craigs and breakers;--a veshel that rins ashore wi' us flees asunder like
+the powther when I shake the pluff--and it's as ill to gather ony o't
+again. I aye tell my daughter thae things when she grows wearied for a
+letter frae Lieutenant Taffril--It's aye an apology for him. Ye sudna
+blame him, says I, hinny, for ye little ken what may hae happened."
+
+"Ay, ay, Caxon, thou art as good a comforter as a valet-de-chambre.--Give
+me a white stock, man,--dye think I can go down with a handkerchief about
+my neck when I have company?"
+
+"Dear sir, the Captain says a three-nookit hankercher is the maist
+fashionable overlay, and that stocks belang to your honour and me that
+are auld warld folk. I beg pardon for mentioning us twa thegither, but it
+was what he said."
+
+"The Captain's a puppy, and you are a goose, Caxon."
+
+"It's very like it may be sae," replied the acquiescent barber: "I am
+sure your honour kens best."
+
+Before breakfast, Lord Glenallan, who appeared in better spirits than he
+had evinced in the former evening, went particularly through the various
+circumstances of evidence which the exertions of Oldbuck had formerly
+collected; and pointing out the means which he possessed of completing
+the proof of his marriage, expressed his resolution instantly to go
+through the painful task of collecting and restoring the evidence
+concerning the birth of Eveline Neville, which Elspeth had stated to be
+in his mother's possession.
+
+"And yet, Mr. Oldbuck," he said, "I feel like a man who receives
+important tidings ere he is yet fully awake, and doubt whether they refer
+to actual life, or are not rather a continuation of his dream. This
+woman--this Elspeth,--she is in the extremity of age, and approaching in
+many respects to dotage. Have I not--it is a hideous question--have I not
+been hasty in the admission of her present evidence, against that which
+she formerly gave me to a very--very different purpose?"
+
+Mr. Oldbuck paused a moment, and then answered with firmness--"No, my
+lord; I cannot think you have any reason to suspect the truth of what she
+has told you last, from no apparent impulse but the urgency of
+conscience. Her confession was voluntary, disinterested, distinct,
+consistent with itself, and with all the other known circumstances of the
+case. I would lose no time, however, in examining and arranging the other
+documents to which she has referred; and I also think her own statement
+should be taken down, if possible in a formal manner. We thought of
+setting about this together. But it will be a relief to your lordship,
+and moreover have a more impartial appearance, were I to attempt the
+investigation alone in the capacity of a magistrate. I will do this--at
+least I will attempt it, so soon as I shall see her in a favourable state
+of mind to undergo an examination."
+
+Lord Glenallan wrung the Antiquary's hand in token of grateful
+acquiescence. "I cannot express to you," he said, "Mr. Oldbuck, how much
+your countenance and cooperation in this dark and most melancholy
+business gives me relief and confidence. I cannot enough applaud myself
+for yielding to the sudden impulse which impelled me, as it were, to drag
+you into my confidence, and which arose from the experience I had
+formerly of your firmness in discharge of your duty as a magistrate, and
+as a friend to the memory of the unfortunate. Whatever the issue of these
+matters may prove,--and I would fain hope there is a dawn breaking on the
+fortunes of my house, though I shall not live to enjoy its light,--but
+whatsoever be the issue, you have laid my family and me under the most
+lasting obligation."
+
+"My lord," answered the Antiquary, "I must necessarily have the greatest
+respect for your lordship's family, which I am well aware is one of the
+most ancient in Scotland, being certainly derived from Aymer de Geraldin,
+who sat in parliament at Perth, in the reign of Alexander II., and who by
+the less vouched, yet plausible tradition of the country, is said to have
+been descended from the Marmor of Clochnaben. Yet, with all my veneration
+for your ancient descent, I must acknowledge that I find myself still
+more bound to give your lordship what assistance is in my limited power,
+from sincere sympathy with your sorrows, and detestation at the frauds
+which have so long been practised upon you.--But, my lord, the matin meal
+is, I see, now prepared--Permit me to show your lordship the way through
+the intricacies of my _cenobitium,_ which is rather a combination of
+cells, jostled oddly together, and piled one upon the top of the other,
+than a regular house. I trust you will make yourself some amends for the
+spare diet of yesterday."
+
+But this was no part of Lord Glenallan's system. Having saluted the
+company with the grave and melancholy politeness which distinguished his
+manners, his servant placed before him a slice of toasted bread, with a
+glass of fair water, being the fare on which he usually broke his fast.
+While the morning's meal of the young soldier and the old Antiquary was
+despatched in much more substantial manner, the noise of wheels was
+heard.
+
+"Your lordship's carriage, I believe," said Oldbuck, stepping to the
+window. "On my word, a handsome _quadriga,_--for such, according to the
+best _scholium,_ was the _vox signata_ of the Romans for a chariot which,
+like that of your lordship, was drawn by four horses."
+
+"And I will venture to say," cried Hector, eagerly gazing from the
+window, "that four handsomer or better-matched bays never were put in
+harness--What fine forehands!--what capital chargers they would make!--
+Might I ask if they are of your lordship's own breeding?"
+
+"I--I--rather believe so," said Lord Glenallan; "but I have been so
+negligent of my domestic matters, that I am ashamed to say I must apply
+to Calvert" (looking at the domestic).
+
+"They are of your lordship's own breeding," said Calvert, "got by Mad Tom
+out of Jemina and Yarico, your lordship's brood mares."
+
+"Are there more of the set?" said Lord Glenallan.
+
+"Two, my lord,--one rising four, the other five off this grass, both very
+handsome."
+
+"Then let Dawkins bring them down to Monkbarns to-morrow," said the Earl
+--"I hope Captain M'Intyre will accept them, if they are at all fit for
+service."
+
+Captain M'Intyre's eyes sparkled, and he was profuse in grateful
+acknowledgments; while Oldbuck, on the other hand, seizing the Earl's
+sleeve, endeavoured to intercept a present which boded no good to his
+corn-chest and hay-loft.
+
+"My lord--my lord--much obliged--much obliged--But Hector is a
+pedestrian, and never mounts on horseback in battle--he is a Highland
+soldier, moreover, and his dress ill adapted for cavalry service. Even
+Macpherson never mounted his ancestors on horseback, though he has the
+impudence to talk of their being car-borne--and that, my lord, is what is
+running in Hector's head--it is the vehicular, not the equestrian
+exercise, which he envies--
+
+                Sunt quos curriculo pulverem Olympicum
+                           Collegisse juvat.
+
+His noddle is running on a curricle, which he has neither money to buy,
+nor skill to drive if he had it; and I assure your lordship, that the
+possession of two such quadrupeds would prove a greater scrape than any
+of his duels, whether with human foe or with my friend the _phoca._"
+
+"You must command us all at present, Mr. Oldbuck," said the Earl
+politely; "but I trust you will not ultimately prevent my gratifying my
+young friend in some way that may afford him pleasure."
+
+"Anything useful, my lord," said Oldbuck, "but no _curriculum_--I protest
+he might as rationally propose to keep a _quadriga_ at once--And now I
+think of it, what is that old post-chaise from Fairport come jingling
+here for?--I did not send for it."
+
+"_I_ did, sir," said Hector, rather sulkily, for he was not much
+gratified by his uncle's interference to prevent the Earl's intended
+generosity, nor particularly inclined to relish either the disparagement
+which he cast upon his skill as a charioteer, or the mortifying allusion
+to his bad success in the adventures of the duel and the seal.
+
+"You did, sir?" echoed the Antiquary, in answer to his concise
+information. "And pray, what may be your business with a post-chaise? Is
+this splendid equipage--this _biga,_ as I may call it--to serve for an
+introduction to a _quadriga_ or a _curriculum_?"
+
+"Really, sir," replied the young soldier, "if it be necessary to give you
+such a specific explanation, I am going to Fairport on a little
+business."
+
+"Will you permit me to inquire into the nature of that business, Hector?"
+answered his uncle, who loved the exercise of a little brief authority
+over his relative. "I should suppose any regimental affairs might be
+transacted by your worthy deputy the sergeant--an honest gentleman, who
+is so good as to make Monkbarns his home since his arrival among us--I
+should, I say, suppose that he may transact any business of yours,
+without your spending a day's pay on two dog-horses, and such a
+combination of rotten wood, cracked glass, and leather--such a skeleton
+of a post-chaise, as that before the door."
+
+"It is not regimental business, sir, that calls me; and, since you insist
+upon knowing, I must inform you Caxon has brought word this morning that
+old Ochiltree, the beggar, is to be brought up for examination to-day,
+previous to his being committed for trial; and I'm going to see that the
+poor old fellow gets fair play--that's all."
+
+"Ay?--I heard something of this, but could not think it serious. And
+pray, Captain Hector, who are so ready to be every man's second on all
+occasions of strife, civil or military, by land, by water, or on the
+sea-beach, what is your especial concern with old Edie Ochiltree?"
+
+"He was a soldier in my father's company, sir," replied Hector; "and
+besides, when I was about to do a very foolish thing one day, he
+interfered to prevent me, and gave me almost as much good advice, sir, as
+you could have done yourself."
+
+"And with the same good effect, I dare be sworn for it--eh, Hector?--
+Come, confess it was thrown away."
+
+"Indeed it was, sir; but I see no reason that my folly should make me
+less grateful for his intended kindness."
+
+"Bravo, Hector! that's the most sensible thing I ever heard you say. But
+always tell me your plans without reserve,--why, I will go with you
+myself, man. I am sure the old fellow is not guilty, and I will assist
+him in such a scrape much more effectually than you can do. Besides, it
+will save thee half-a-guinea, my lad--a consideration which I heartily
+pray you to have more frequently before your eyes."
+
+Lord Glenallan's politeness had induced him to turn away and talk with
+the ladies, when the dispute between the uncle and nephew appeared to
+grow rather too animated to be fit for the ear of a stranger, but the
+Earl mingled again in the conversation when the placable tone of the
+Antiquary expressed amity. Having received a brief account of the
+mendicant, and of the accusation brought against him, which Oldbuck did
+not hesitate to ascribe to the malice of Dousterswivel, Lord Glenallan
+asked, whether the individual in question had not been a soldier
+formerly?--He was answered in the affirmative.
+
+"Had he not," continued his Lordship, "a coarse blue coat, or gown, with
+a badge?--was he not a tall, striking-looking old man, with grey beard
+and hair, who kept his body remarkably erect, and talked with an air of
+ease and independence, which formed a strong contrast to his profession?"
+
+"All this is an exact picture of the man," refumed Oldbuck.
+
+"Why, then," continued Lord Glenallan, "although I fear I can be of no
+use to him in his present condition, yet I owe him a debt of gratitude
+for being the first person who brought me some tidings of the utmost
+importance. I would willingly offer him a place of comfortable
+retirement, when he is extricated from his present situation."
+
+"I fear, my lord," said Oldbuck, "he would have difficulty in reconciling
+his vagrant habits to the acceptance of your bounty, at least I know the
+experiment has been tried without effect. To beg from the public at large
+he considers as independence, in comparison to drawing his whole support
+from the bounty of an individual. He is so far a true philosopher, as to
+be a contemner of all ordinary rules of hours and times. When he is
+hungry he eats; when thirsty he drinks; when weary he sleeps; and with
+such indifference with respect to the means and appliances about which we
+make a fuss, that I suppose he was never ill dined or ill lodged in his
+life. Then he is, to a certain extent, the oracle of the district through
+which he travels--their genealogist, their newsman, their master of the
+revels, their doctor at a pinch, or their divine;--I promise you he has
+too many duties, and is too zealous in performing them, to be easily
+bribed to abandon his calling. But I should be truly sorry if they sent
+the poor light-hearted old man to lie for weeks in a jail. I am convinced
+the confinement would break his heart."
+
+Thus finished the conference. Lord Glenallan, having taken leave of the
+ladies, renewed his offer to Captain M'Intyre of the freedom of his
+manors for sporting, which was joyously accepted,
+
+"I can only add," he said, "that if your spirits are not liable to be
+damped by dull company, Glenallan House is at all times open to you. On
+two days of the week, Friday and Saturday, l keep my apartment, which
+will be rather a relief to you, as you will be left to enjoy the society
+of my almoner, Mr. Gladsmoor, who is a scholar and a man of the world."
+
+Hector, his heart exulting at the thoughts of ranging through the
+preserves of Glenallan House, and over the well-protected moors of
+Clochnaben--nay, joy of joys! the deer-forest of Strath-Bonnel--made many
+acknowledgements of the honour and gratitude he felt. Mr. Oldbuck was
+sensible of the Earl's attention to his nephew; Miss M'Intyre was pleased
+because her brother was gratified; and Miss Griselda Oldbuck looked
+forward with glee to the potting of whole bags of moorfowl and
+black-game, of which Mr. Blattergowl was a professed admirer. Thus,--
+which is always the case when a man of rank leaves a private family where
+he has studied to appear obliging,--all were ready to open in praise of
+the Earl as soon as he had taken his leave, and was wheeled off in his
+chariot by the four admired bays. But the panegyric was cut short, for
+Oldbuck and his nephew deposited themselves in the Fairport hack, which,
+with one horse trotting, and the other urged to a canter, creaked,
+jingled, and hobbled towards that celebrated seaport, in a manner that
+formed a strong contrast to the rapidity and smoothness with which Lord
+Glenallan's equipage had seemed to vanish from their eyes.
+
+
+
+
+                           CHAPTER SIXTEENTH.
+
+              Yes! I love justice well--as well as you do--
+             But since the good dame's blind, she shall excuse me
+              If, time and reason fitting, I prove dumb;--
+                  The breath I utter now shall be no means
+                  To take away from me my breath in future.
+                                          Old Play.
+
+By dint of charity from the town's-people in aid of the load of
+provisions he had brought with him into durance, Edie Ochiltree had
+passed a day or two's confinement without much impatience, regretting his
+want of freedom the less, as the weather proved broken and rainy.
+
+"The prison," he said, "wasna sae dooms bad a place as it was ca'd. Ye
+had aye a good roof ower your head to fend aff the weather, and, if the
+windows werena glazed, it was the mair airy and pleasant for the summer
+season. And there were folk enow to crack wi', and he had bread eneugh to
+eat, and what need he fash himsell about the rest o't?"
+
+The courage of our philosophical mendicant began, however, to abate, when
+the sunbeams shone fair on the rusty bars of his grated dungeon, and a
+miserable linnet, whose cage some poor debtor had obtained permission to
+attach to the window, began to greet them with his whistle.
+
+"Ye're in better spirits than I am," said Edie, addressing the bird, "for
+I can neither whistle nor sing for thinking o' the bonny burnsides and
+green shaws that I should hae been dandering beside in weather like this.
+But hae--there's some crumbs t'ye, an ye are sae merry; and troth ye hae
+some reason to sing an ye kent it, for your cage comes by nae faut o'
+your ain, and I may thank mysell that I am closed up in this weary
+place."
+
+Ochiltree's soliloquy was disturbed by a peace-officer, who came to
+summon him to attend the magistrate. So he set forth in awful procession
+between two poor creatures, neither of them so stout as he was himself,
+to be conducted into the presence of inquisitorial justice. The people,
+as the aged prisoner was led along by his decrepit guards, exclaimed to
+each other, "Eh! see sic a grey-haired man as that is, to have committed
+a highway robbery, wi' ae fit in the grave!"--And the children
+congratulated the officers, objects of their alternate dread and sport,
+Puggie Orrock and Jock Ormston, on having a prisoner as old as
+themselves.
+
+Thus marshalled forward, Edie was presented (by no means for the first
+time) before the worshipful Bailie Littlejohn, who, contrary to what his
+name expressed, was a tall portly magistrate, on whom corporation crusts
+had not been conferred in vain. He was a zealous loyalist of that zealous
+time, somewhat rigorous and peremptory in the execution of his duty, and
+a good deal inflated with the sense of his own power and importance;--
+otherwise an honest, well-meaning, and useful citizen.
+
+"Bring him in! bring him in!" he exclaimed. "Upon my word these are awful
+and unnatural times! the very bedesmen and retainers of his Majesty are
+the first to break his laws. Here has been an old Blue-Gown committing
+robbery--I suppose the next will reward the royal charity which supplies
+him with his garb, pension, and begging license, by engaging in
+high-treason, or sedition at least--But bring him in."
+
+Edie made his obeisance, and then stood, as usual, firm and erect, with
+the side of his face turned a little upward, as if to catch every word
+which the magistrate might address to him. To the first general
+questions, which respected only his name and calling, the mendicant
+answered with readiness and accuracy; but when the magistrate, having
+caused his clerk to take down these particulars, began to inquire
+whereabout the mendicant was on the night when Dousterswivel met with his
+misfortune, Edie demurred to the motion. "Can ye tell me now, Bailie, you
+that understands the law, what gude will it do me to answer ony o' your
+questions?"
+
+"Good?--no good certainly, my friend, except that giving a true account
+of yourself, if you are innocent, may entitle me to set you at liberty."
+
+"But it seems mair reasonable to me now, that you, Bailie, or anybody
+that has anything to say against me, should prove my guilt, and no to be
+bidding me prove my innocence."
+
+"I don't sit here," answered the magistrate, "to dispute points of law
+with you. I ask you, if you choose to answer my question, whether you
+were at Ringan Aikwood, the forester's, upon the day I have specified?"
+
+"Really, sir, I dinna feel myself called on to remember," replied the
+cautious bedesman.
+
+"Or whether, in the course of that day or night," continued the
+magistrate, "you saw Steven, or Steenie, Mucklebackit?--you knew him, I
+suppose?"
+
+"O, brawlie did I ken Steenie, puir fallow," replied the prisoner;--"but
+I canna condeshend on ony particular time I have seen him lately."
+
+"Were you at the ruins of St. Ruth any time in the course of that
+evening?"
+
+"Bailie Littlejohn," said the mendicant, "if it be your honour's
+pleasure, we'll cut a lang tale short, and I'll just tell ye, I am no
+minded to answer ony o' thae questions--I'm ower auld a traveller to let
+my tongue bring me into trouble."
+
+"Write down," said the magistrate, "that he declines to answer all
+interrogatories, in respect that by telling the truth he might be brought
+to trouble."
+
+"Na, na," said Ochiltree, "I'll no hae that set down as ony part o' my
+answer--but I just meant to say, that in a' my memory and practice, I
+never saw ony gude come o' answering idle questions."
+
+"Write down," said the Bailie, "that, being acquainted with judicial
+interrogatories by long practice, and having sustained injury by
+answering questions put to him on such occasions, the declarant refuses"
+
+"Na, na, Bailie," reiterated Edie, "ye are no to come in on me that gait
+neither."
+
+"Dictate the answer yourself then, friend," said the magistrate, "and the
+clerk will take it down from your own mouth."
+
+"Ay, ay," said Edie--"that's what I ca' fair play; I'se do that without
+loss o' time. Sae, neighbour, ye may just write down, that Edie
+Ochiltree, the declarant, stands up for the liberty--na, I maunna say
+that neither--I am nae liberty-boy--I hae fought again' them in the riots
+in Dublin--besides, I have ate the King's bread mony a day. Stay, let me
+see. Ay--write that Edie Ochiltree, the Blue-Gown, stands up for the
+prerogative--(see that ye spell that word right--it's a lang ane)--for
+the prerogative of the subjects of the land, and winna answer a single
+word that sall be asked at him this day, unless he sees a reason fort.
+Put down that, young man."
+
+"Then, Edie," said the magistrate, "since you will give no information on
+the subject, I must send you back to prison till you shall be delivered
+in due course of law."
+
+"Aweel, sir, if it's Heaven's will and man's will, nae doubt I maun
+submit," replied the mendicant. "I hae nae great objection to the prison,
+only that a body canna win out o't; and if it wad please you as weel,
+Bailie, I wad gie you my word to appear afore the Lords at the Circuit,
+or in ony other coart ye like, on ony day ye are pleased to appoint."
+
+"I rather think, my good friend," answered Bailie Littlejohn, "your word
+might be a slender security where your neck may be in some danger. I am
+apt to think you would suffer the pledge to be forfeited. If you could
+give me sufficient security, indeed"--
+
+At this moment the Antiquary and Captain M'Intyre entered the apartment.
+--"Good morning to you, gentlemen," said the magistrate; "you find me
+toiling in my usual vocation--looking after the iniquities of the people
+--labouring for the _respublica,_ Mr. Oldbuck--serving the King our
+master, Captain M'Intyre,--for I suppose you know I have taken up the
+sword?"
+
+"It is one of the emblems of justice, doubtless," answered the
+Antiquary;--"but I should have thought the scales would have suited you
+better, Bailie, especially as you have them ready in the warehouse."
+
+"Very good, Monkbarns--excellent! But I do not take the sword up as
+justice, but as a soldier--indeed I should rather say the musket and
+bayonet--there they stand at the elbow of my gouty chair, for I am scarce
+fit for drill yet--a slight touch of our old acquaintance _podagra;_ I
+can keep my feet, however, while our sergeant puts me through the manual.
+I should like to know, Captain M'Intyre, if he follows the regulations
+correctly--he brings us but awkwardly to the _present._" And he hobbled
+towards his weapon to illustrate his doubts and display his proficiency.
+
+"I rejoice we have such zealous defenders, Bailie," replied Mr. Oldbuck;
+"and I dare say Hector will gratify you by communicating his opinion on
+your progress in this new calling. Why, you rival the Hecate' of the
+ancients, my good sir--a merchant on the Mart, a magistrate in the
+Townhouse, a soldier on the Links--_quid non pro patria?_ But my business
+is with the justice; so let commerce and war go slumber."
+
+"Well, my good sir," said the Bailie, "and what commands have you for
+me?"
+
+"Why, here's an old acquaintance of mine, called Edie Ochiltree, whom
+some of your myrmidons have mewed up in jail on account of an alleged
+assault on that fellow Dousterswivel, of whose accusation I do not
+believe one word."
+
+The magistrate here assumed a very grave countenance. "You ought to have
+been informed that he is accused of robbery, as well as assault--a very
+serious matter indeed; it is not often such criminals come under my
+cognizance."
+
+"And," replied Oldbuck, "you are tenacious of the opportunity of making
+the very most of such as occur. But is this poor old man's case really so
+very bad?"
+
+"It is rather out of rule," said the Bailie--"but as you are in the
+commission, Monkbarns, I have no hesitation to show you Dousterswivel's
+declaration, and the rest of the precognition." And he put the papers
+into the Antiquary's hands, who assumed his spectacles, and sat down in a
+corner to peruse them.
+
+The officers, in the meantime, had directions to remove their prisoner
+into another apartment; but before they could do so, M'Intyre took an
+opportunity to greet old Edie, and to slip a guinea into his hand.
+
+"Lord bless your honour!" said the old man; "it's a young soldier's gift,
+and it should surely thrive wi' an auld ane. I'se no refuse it, though
+it's beyond my rules; for if they steek me up here, my friends are like
+eneugh to forget me--out o'sight out o'mind, is a true proverb; and it
+wadna be creditable for me, that am the king's bedesman, and entitled to
+beg by word of mouth, to be fishing for bawbees out at the jail window
+wi' the fit o' a stocking, and a string." As he made this observation he
+was conducted out of the apartment.
+
+Mr. Dousterswivel's declaration contained an exaggerated account of the
+violence he had sustained, and also of his loss.
+
+"But what I should have liked to have asked him," said Monkbarns, "would
+have been his purpose in frequenting the ruins of St. Ruth, so lonely a
+place, at such an hour, and with such a companion as Edie Ochiltree.
+There is no road lies that way, and I do not conceive a mere passion for
+the picturesque would carry the German thither in such a night of storm
+and wind. Depend upon it, he has been about some roguery, and in all
+probability hath been caught in a trap of his own setting--_Nec lex
+justitior ulla._"
+
+The magistrate allowed there was something mysterious in that
+circumstance, and apologized for not pressing Dousterswivel, as his
+declaration was voluntarily emitted. But for the support of the main
+charge, he showed the declaration of the Aikwoods concerning the state in
+which Dousterswivel was found, and establishing the important fact that
+the mendicant had left the barn in which he was quartered, and did not
+return to it again. Two people belonging to the Fairport undertaker, who
+had that night been employed in attending the funeral of Lady Glenallan,
+had also given declarations, that, being sent to pursue two suspicious
+persons who left the ruins of St. Ruth as the funeral approached, and
+who, it was supposed, might have been pillaging some of the ornaments
+prepared for the ceremony, they had lost and regained sight of them more
+than once, owing to the nature of the ground, which was unfavourable for
+riding, but had at length fairly lodged them both in Mucklebackit's
+cottage. And one of the men added, that "he, the declarant, having
+dismounted from his horse, and gone close up to the window of the hut, he
+saw the old Blue-Gown and young Steenie Mucklebackit, with others, eating
+and drinking in the inside, and also observed the said Steenie
+Mucklebackit show a pocket-book to the others;--and declarant has no
+doubt that Ochiltree and Steenie Mucklebackit were the persons whom he
+and his comrade had pursued, as above mentioned." And being interrogated
+why he did not enter the said cottage, declares, "he had no warrant so to
+do; and that as Mucklebackit and his family were understood to be
+rough-handed folk, he, the declarant, had no desire to meddle or make
+with their affairs, _Causa scientiae patet._ All which he declares to be
+truth," etc.
+
+"What do you say to that body of evidence against your friend?" said the
+magistrate, when he had observed the Antiquary had turned the last leaf.
+
+"Why, were it in the case of any other person, I own I should say it
+looked, _prima facie,_ a little ugly; but I cannot allow anybody to be in
+the wrong for beating Dousterswivel--Had I been an hour younger, or had
+but one single flash of your warlike genius, Bailie, I should have done
+it myself long ago. He is _nebulo nebulonum,_ an impudent, fraudulent,
+mendacious quack, that has cost me a hundred pounds by his roguery, and
+my neighbour Sir Arthur, God knows how much. And besides, Bailie, I do
+not hold him to be a sound friend to Government."
+
+"Indeed?" said Bailie Littlejohn; "if I thought that, it would alter the
+question considerably."
+
+"Right--for, in beating him," observed Oldbuck, "the bedesman must have
+shown his gratitude to the king by thumping his enemy; and in robbing
+him, he would only have plundered an Egyptian, whose wealth it is lawful
+to spoil. Now, suppose this interview in the ruins of St. Ruth had
+relation to politics,--and this story of hidden treasure, and so forth,
+was a bribe from the other side of the water for some great man, or the
+funds destined to maintain a seditious club?"
+
+"My dear sir," said the magistrate, catching at the idea, "you hit my
+very thoughts! How fortunate should I be if I could become the humble
+means of sifting such a matter to the bottom!--Don't you think we had
+better call out the volunteers, and put them on duty?"
+
+"Not just yet, while _podagra_ deprives them of an essential member of
+their body. But will you let me examine Ochiltree?"
+
+"Certainly; but you'll make nothing of him. He gave me distinctly to
+understand he knew the danger of a judicial declaration on the part of an
+accused person, which, to say the truth, has hanged many an honester man
+than he is."
+
+"Well, but, Bailie," continued Oldbuck, "you have no objection to let me
+try him?"
+
+"None in the world, Monkbarns. I hear the sergeant below--I'll rehearse
+the manual in the meanwhile. Baby, carry my gun and bayonet down to the
+room below--it makes less noise there when we ground arms." And so exit
+the martial magistrate, with his maid behind him bearing his weapons.
+
+"A good squire that wench for a gouty champion," observed Oldbuck.--
+"Hector, my lad, hook on, hook on--Go with him, boy--keep him employed,
+man, for half-an-hour or so--butter him with some warlike terms--praise
+his dress and address."
+
+Captain M'Intyre, who, like many of his profession, looked down with
+infinite scorn on those citizen soldiers who had assumed arms without any
+professional title to bear them, rose with great reluctance, observing
+that he should not know what to say to Mr. Littlejohn; and that to see an
+old gouty shop-keeper attempting the exercise and duties of a private
+soldier, was really too ridiculous.
+
+"It may be so, Hector," said the Antiquary, who seldom agreed with any
+person in the immediate proposition which was laid down--"it may possibly
+be so in this and some other instances; but at present the country
+resembles the suitors in a small-debt court, where parties plead in
+person, for lack of cash to retain the professed heroes of the bar. I am
+sure in the one case we never regret the want of the acuteness and
+eloquence of the lawyers; and so, I hope, in the other, we may manage to
+make shift with our hearts and muskets, though we shall lack some of the
+discipline of you martinets."
+
+"I have no objection, I am sure, sir, that the whole world should fight
+if they please, if they will but allow me to be quiet," said Hector,
+rising with dogged reluctance.
+
+"Yes, you are a very quiet personage indeed," said his uncle, "whose
+ardour for quarrelling cannot pass so much as a poor _phoca_ sleeping
+upon the beach!"
+
+But Hector, who saw which way the conversation was tending, and hated all
+allusions to the foil he had sustained from the fish, made his escape
+before the Antiquary concluded the sentence.
+
+
+
+
+                          CHAPTER SEVENTEENTH.
+
+            Well, well, at worst, 'tis neither theft nor coinage,
+             Granting I knew all that you charge me with.
+            What though the tomb hath borne a second birth,
+             And given the wealth to one that knew not on't,
+                     Yet fair exchange was never robbery,
+                         Far less pure bounty--
+                                          Old Play.
+
+The Antiquary, in order to avail himself of the permission given him to
+question the accused party, chose rather to go to the apartment in which
+Ochiltree was detained, than to make the examination appear formal by
+bringing him again into the magistrate's office. He found the old man
+seated by a window which looked out on the sea; and as he gazed on that
+prospect, large tears found their way, as if unconsciously, to his eye,
+and from thence trickled down his cheeks and white beard. His features
+were, nevertheless, calm and composed, and his whole posture and mien
+indicated patience and resignation. Oldbuck had approached him without
+being observed, and roused him out of his musing by saying kindly, "I am
+sorry, Edie, to see you so much cast down about this matter."
+
+The mendicant started, dried his eyes very hastily with the sleeve of his
+gown, and endeavouring to recover his usual tone of indifference and
+jocularity, answered, but with a voice more tremulous than usual, "I
+might weel hae judged, Monkbarns, it was you, or the like o' you, was
+coming in to disturb me--for it's ae great advantage o' prisons and
+courts o' justice, that ye may greet your een out an ye like, and nane o'
+the folk that's concerned about them will ever ask you what it's for."
+
+"Well, Edie," replied Oldbuck, "I hope your present cause of distress is
+not so bad but it may be removed."
+
+"And I had hoped, Monkbarns," answered the mendicant, in a tone of
+reproach, "that ye had ken'd me better than to think that this bit
+trifling trouble o' my ain wad bring tears into my auld een, that hae
+seen far different kind o' distress.--Na, na!--But here's been the puir
+lass, Caxon's daughter, seeking comfort, and has gotten unco little--
+there's been nae speerings o' Taffril's gunbrig since the last gale; and
+folk report on the key that a king's ship had struck on the Reef of
+Rattray, and a' hands lost--God forbid! for as sure as you live,
+Monkbarns, the puir lad Lovel, that ye liked sae weel, must have
+perished."
+
+"God forbid indeed!" echoed the Antiquary, turning pale--"I would rather
+Monkbarns House were on fire. My poor dear friend and coadjutor! I will
+down to the quay instantly."
+
+"I'm sure yell learn naething mair than I hae tauld ye, sir," said
+Ochiltree, "for the officer-folk here were very civil (that is, for the
+like o' them), and lookit up ae their letters and authorities, and could
+throw nae light on't either ae way or another."
+
+"It can't be true! it shall not be true!" said the Antiquary, "And I
+won't believe it if it were!--Taffril's an excellent sea man, and Lovel
+(my poor Lovel!) has all the qualities of a safe and pleasant companion
+by land or by sea--one, Edie, whom, from the ingenuousness of his
+disposition, I would choose, did I ever go a sea-voyage (which I never
+do, unless across the ferry), _fragilem mecum solvere phaselum,_ to be
+the companion of my risk, as one against whom the elements could nourish
+no vengeance. No, Edie, it is not, and cannot be true--it is a fiction of
+the idle jade Rumour, whom I wish hanged with her trumpet about her neck,
+that serves only with its screech-owl tones to fright honest folks out of
+their senses.--Let me know how you got into this scrape of your own."
+
+"Are ye axing me as a magistrate, Monkbarns, or is it just for your ain
+satisfaction!"
+
+"For my own satisfaction solely," replied the Antiquaxy.
+
+"Put up your pocket-book and your keelyvine pen then, for I downa speak
+out an ye hae writing materials in your hands--they're a scaur to
+unlearned folk like me--Od, ane o' the clerks in the neist room will
+clink down, in black and white, as muckle as wad hang a man, before ane
+kens what he's saying."
+
+Monkbarns complied with the old man's humour, and put up his
+memorandum-book.
+
+Edie then went with great frankness through the part of the story already
+known to the reader, informing the Antiquary of the scene which he had
+witnessed between Dousterswivel and his patron in the ruins of St. Ruth,
+and frankly confessing that he could not resist the opportunity of
+decoying the adept once more to visit the tomb of Misticot, with the
+purpose of taking a comic revenge upon him for his quackery. He had
+easily persuaded Steenie, who was a bold thoughtless young fellow, to
+engage in the frolic along with him, and the jest had been inadvertently
+carried a great deal farther than was designed. Concerning the
+pocket-book, he explained that he had expressed his surprise and sorrow
+as soon as he found it had been inadvertently brought off: and that
+publicly, before all the inmates of the cottage, Steenie had undertaken
+to return it the next day, and had only been prevented by his untimely
+fate.
+
+The Antiquary pondered a moment, and then said, "Your account seems very
+probable, Edie, and I believe it from what I know of the parties. But I
+think it likely that you know a great deal more than you have thought it
+proper to tell me, about this matter of the treasure trove--I suspect you
+have acted the part of the Lar Familiaris in Plautus--a sort of Brownie,
+Edie, to speak to your comprehension, who watched over hidden treasures.
+--I do bethink me you were ten Sir Arthur made his successful attack upon
+Misticot's grave, and also that when the labourers began to flag, you,
+Edie. were again the first to leap into the trench, and to make the
+discovery of the treasure. Now you must explain an this to me, unless you
+would have me use you as ill as Euclio does Staphyla in the _Aulularia._"
+
+"Lordsake, sir," replied the mendicant, "what do I ken about your
+Howlowlaria?--it's mair like a dog's language than a man's."
+
+"You knew, however, of the box of treasure being there?" continued
+Oldbuck.
+
+"Dear sir," answered Edie, assuming a countenance of great simplicity,
+"what likelihood is there o'that? d'ye think sae puir an auld creature as
+me wad hae kend o' sic a like thing without getting some gude out o't?--
+and ye wot weel I sought nane and gat nane, like Michael Scott's man.
+What concern could I hae wi't?"
+
+"That's just what I want you to explain to me," said Oldbuck; "for I am
+positive you knew it was there."
+
+"Your honour's a positive man, Monkbarns--and, for a positive man, I must
+needs allow ye're often in the right."
+
+"You allow, then, Edie, that my belief is well founded?"
+
+Edie nodded acquiescence.
+
+"Then please to explain to me the whole affair from beginning to end,"
+said the Antiquary.
+
+"If it were a secret o' mine, Monkbarns," replied the beggar, "ye suldna
+ask twice; for I hae aye said ahint your back, that for a' the nonsense
+maggots that ye whiles take into your head, ye are the maist wise and
+discreet o' a' our country gentles. But I'se een be open-hearted wi' you,
+and tell you that this is a friend's secret, and that they suld draw me
+wi' wild horses, or saw me asunder, as they did the children of Ammon,
+sooner than I would speak a word mair about the matter, excepting this,
+that there was nae ill intended, but muckle gude, and that the purpose
+was to serve them that are worth twenty hundred o' me. But there's nae
+law, I trow, that makes it a sin to ken where ither folles siller is, if
+we didna pit hand til't oursell?"
+
+Oldbuck walked once or twice up and down the room in profound thought,
+endeavouring to find some plausible reason for transactions of a nature
+so mysterious--but his ingenuity was totally at fault. He then placed
+himself before the prisoner.
+
+"This story of yours, friend Edie, is an absolute enigma, and would
+require a second OEdipus to solve it--who OEdipus was, I will tell you
+some other time if you remind me--However, whether it be owing to the
+wisdom or to the maggots with which you compliment me, I am strongly
+disposed to believe that you have spoken the truth, the rather that you
+have not made any of those obtestations of the superior powers, which I
+observe you and your comrades always make use of when you mean to deceive
+folks. "(Here Edie could not suppress a smile.) "If, therefore, you will
+answer me one question, I will endeavour to procure your liberation."
+
+"If yell let me hear the question," said Edie, with the caution of a
+canny Scotchman, "I'll tell you whether I'll answer it or no."
+
+"It is simply," said the Antiquary, "Did Dousterswivel know anything
+about the concealment of the chest of bullion?"
+
+"He, the ill-fa'ard loon!" answered Edie, with much frankness of manner--
+"there wad hae been little speerings o't had Dustansnivel ken'd it was
+there--it wad hae been butter in the black dog's hause."
+
+"I thought as much," said Oldbuck. "Well, Edie, if I procure your
+freedom, you must keep your day, and appear to clear me of the bail-bond,
+for these are not times for prudent men to incur forfeitures, unless you
+can point out another _Aulam auri plenam quadrilibrem_--another _Search,
+No. I._"
+
+"Ah!" said the beggar, shaking his head, "I doubt the bird's flown that
+laid thae golden eggs--for I winna ca' her goose, though that's the gait
+it stands in the story-buick--But I'll keep my day, Monkbarns; ye'se no
+loss a penny by me--And troth I wad fain be out again, now the weather's
+fine--and then I hae the best chance o' hearing the first news o' my
+friends."
+
+"Well, Edie, as the bouncing and thumping beneath has somewhat ceased, I
+presume Bailie Littlejohn has dismissed his military preceptor, and has
+retired from the labours of Mars to those of Themis--I will have some
+conversation with him--But I cannot and will not believe any of those
+wretched news you were telling me."
+
+"God send your honour may be right!" said the mendicant, as Oldbuck left
+the room.
+
+The Antiquary found the magistrate, exhausted with the fatigues of the
+drill, reposing in his gouty chair, humming the air, "How merrily we live
+that soldiers be!" and between each bar comforting himself with a
+spoonful of mock-turtle soup. He ordered a similar refreshment for
+Oldbuck, who declined it, observing, that, not being a military man, he
+did not feel inclined to break his habit of keeping regular hours for
+meals--"Soldiers like you, Bailie, must snatch their food as they find
+means and time. But I am sorry to hear ill news of young Taffril's brig."
+
+"Ah, poor fellow!" said the bailie, "he was a credit to the town--much
+distinguished on the first of June."
+
+"But," said Oldbuck, "I am shocked to hear you talk of him in the
+preterite tense."
+
+"Troth, I fear there may be too much reason for it, Monkbarns;--and yet
+let us hope the best. The accident is said to have happened in the
+Rattray reef of rocks, about twenty miles to the northward, near
+Dirtenalan Bay--I have sent to inquire about it--and your nephew run out
+himself as if he had been flying to get the Gazette of a victory."
+
+Here Hector entered, exclaiming as he came in, "I believe it's all a
+damned lie--I can't find the least authority for it, but general rumour."
+
+"And pray, Mr. Hector," said his uncle, "if it had been true, whose fault
+would it have been that Lovel was on board?"
+
+"Not mine, I am sure," answered Hector; "it would have been only my
+misfortune."
+
+"Indeed!" said his uncle, "I should not have thought of that."
+
+"Why, sir, with all your inclination to find me in the wrong," replied
+the young soldier, "I suppose you will own my intention was not to blame
+in this case. I did my best to hit Lovel, and if I had been successful,
+'tis clear my scrape would have been his, and his scrape would have been
+mine."
+
+"And whom or what do you intend to hit now, that you are lugging with you
+that leathern magazine there, marked Gunpowder?"
+
+"I must be prepared for Lord Glenallan's moors on the twelfth, sir," said
+M'Intyre.
+
+"Ah, Hector! thy great _chasse,_ as the French call it, would take place
+best--
+
+                   Omne cum Proteus pecus egit altos
+                            Visere montes--
+
+Could you meet but with a martial _phoca,_ instead of an unwarlike
+heath-bird."
+
+"The devil take the seal, sir, or _phoca,_ if you choose to call it so!
+It's rather hard one can never hear the end of a little piece of folly
+like that."
+
+"Well, well," said Oldbuck, "I am glad you have the grace to be ashamed
+of it--as I detest the whole race of Nimrods, I wish them all as well
+matched. Nay, never start off at a jest, man--I have done with the
+_phoca_--though, I dare say, the Bailie could tell us the value of
+seal-skins just now."
+
+"They are up," said the magistrate, "they are well up--the fishing has
+been unsuccessful lately."
+
+"We can bear witness to that," said the tormenting Antiquary, who was
+delighted with the hank this incident had given him over the young
+sportsman: One word more, Hector, and
+
+              We'll hang a seal-skin on thy recreant limbs.
+
+Aha, my boy! Come, never mind it; I must go to business.--Bailie, a word
+with you: you must take bail--moderate bail, you understand--for old
+Ochiltree's appearance."
+
+"You don't consider what you ask," said the Bailie; "the offence is
+assault and robbery."
+
+"Hush! not a word about it," said the Antiquary. "I gave you a hint
+before--I will possess you more fully hereafter--I promise you, there is
+a secret."
+
+"But, Mr. Oldbuck, if the state is concerned, I, who do the whole
+drudgery business here, really have a title to be consulted, and until I
+am"--
+
+"Hush! hush!" said the Antiquary, winking and putting his finger to his
+nose,--"you shall have the full credit, the entire management, whenever
+matters are ripe. But this is an obstinate old fellow, who will not hear
+of two people being as yet let into his mystery, and he has not fully
+acquainted me with the clew to Dousterswivel's devices."
+
+"Aha! so we must tip that fellow the alien act, I suppose?"
+
+"To say truth, I wish you would."
+
+"Say no more," said the magistrate; "it shall forthwith be done--he shall
+be removed _tanquam suspect_--I think that's one of your own phrases,
+Monkbarns?"
+
+"It is classical, Bailie--you improve."
+
+"Why, public business has of late pressed upon me so much, that I have
+been obliged to take my foreman into partnership. I have had two several
+correspondences with the Under Secretary of State--one on the proposed
+tax on Riga hemp-seed, and the other on putting down political societies.
+So you might as well communicate to me as much as you know of this old
+fellow's discovery of a plot against the state."
+
+"I will, instantly, when I am master of it," replied Oldbuck---"I hate
+the trouble of managing such matters myself. Remember, however, I did not
+say decidedly a plot against the state I only say I hope to discover, by
+this man's means, a foul plot."
+
+"If it be a plot at all, there must be treason in it, or sedition at
+least," said the Bailie--"Will you bail him for four hundred merks?"
+
+"Four hundred merks for an old Blue-Gown! Think on the act 1701
+regulating bail-bonds!--Strike off a cipher from the sum--I am content to
+bail him for forty merks."
+
+"Well, Mr. Oldbuck, everybody in Fairport is always willing to oblige
+you--and besides, I know that you are a prudent man, and one that would
+be as unwilling to lose forty, as four hundred merks. So I will accept
+your bail, _meo periculo_--what say you to that law phrase again? I had
+it from a learned counsel. I will vouch it, my lord, he said, _meo
+periculo._"
+
+"And I will vouch for Edie Ochiltree, _meo periculo,_ in like manner,"
+said Oldbuck. "So let your clerk draw out the bail-bond, and I will sign
+it."
+
+When this ceremony had been performed, the Antiquary communicated to Edie
+the joyful tidings that he was once more at liberty, and directed him to
+make the best of his way to Monkbarns House, to which he himself returned
+with his nephew, after having perfected their good work.
+
+
+
+
+                           CHAPTER EIGHTEENTH.
+
+                Full of wise saws and modern instances.
+                                       As You Like It.
+
+"I wish to Heaven, Hector," said the Antiquary, next morning after
+breakfast, "you would spare our nerves, and not be keeping snapping that
+arquebuss of yours."
+
+"Well, sir, I'm sure I'm sorry to disturb you," said his nephew, still
+handling his fowling-piece;--"but it's a capital gun--it's a Joe Manton,
+that cost forty guineas."
+
+"A fool and his money are soon parted, nephew--there is a Joe Miller for
+your Joe Manton," answered the Antiquary; "I am glad you have so many
+guineas to throw away."
+
+"Every one has their fancy, uncle,--you are fond of books."
+
+"Ay, Hector," said the uncle, "and if my collection were yours, you would
+make it fly to the gunsmith, the horse-market, the dog-breaker,--
+_Coemptos undique nobiles libros--mutare loricis Iberis._"
+
+"I could not use your books, my dear uncle," said the young soldier,
+"that's true; and you will do well to provide for their being in better
+hands. But don't let the faults of my head fall on my heart--I would not
+part with a Cordery that belonged to an old friend, to get a set of
+horses like Lord Glenallan's."
+
+"I don't think you would, lad--I don't think you would," said his
+softening relative. "I love to tease you a little sometimes; it keeps up
+the spirit of discipline and habit of subordination--You will pass your
+time happily here having me to command you, instead of Captain, or
+Colonel, or Knight in Arms,' as Milton has it; and instead of the
+French," he continued, relapsing into his ironical humour, "you have the
+_Gens humida ponti_--for, as Virgil says,
+
+              Sternunt se somno diversae in littore phocae;
+
+which might be rendered,
+
+                   Here phocae slumber on the beach,
+                  Within our Highland Hector's reach.
+
+Nay, if you grow angry, I have done. Besides, I see old Edie in the
+court-yard, with whom I have business. Good-bye, Hector--Do you remember
+how she splashed into the sea like her master Proteus, _et se jactu dedit
+aequor in altum_?"
+
+M'Intyre,--waiting, however, till the door was shut,--then gave way to
+the natural impatience of his temper.
+
+"My uncle is the best man in the world, and in his way the kindest; but
+rather than hear any more about that cursed _phoca,_ as he is pleased to
+call it, I would exchange for the West Indies, and never see his face
+again."
+
+Miss M'Intyre, gratefully attached to her uncle, and passionately fond of
+her brother, was, on such occasions, the usual envoy of reconciliation.
+She hastened to meet her uncle on his return, before he entered the
+parlour.
+
+"Well, now, Miss Womankind, what is the meaning of that imploring
+countenance?--has Juno done any more mischief?"
+
+"No, uncle; but Juno's master is in such fear of your joking him about
+the seal--I assure you, he feels it much more than you would wish;--it's
+very silly of him, to be sure; but then you can turn everybody so sharply
+into ridicule"--
+
+"Well, my dear," answered Oldbuck, propitiated by the compliment, "I will
+rein in my satire, and, if possible, speak no more of the _phoca_--I will
+not even speak of sealing a letter, but say _umph,_ and give a nod to you
+when I want the wax-light--I am not _monitoribus asper,_ but, Heaven
+knows, the most mild, quiet, and easy of human beings, whom sister,
+niece, and nephew, guide just as best pleases them."
+
+With this little panegyric on his own docility, Mr. Oldbuck entered the
+parlour, and proposed to his nephew a walk to the Mussel-crag. "I have
+some questions to ask of a woman at Mucklebackit's cottage," he observed,
+"and I would willingly have a sensible witness with me--so, for fault of
+a better, Hector, I must be contented with you."
+
+"There is old Edie, sir, or Caxon--could not they do better than me?"
+answered M'Intyre, feeling somewhat alarmed at the prospect of a long
+_tete-a-tete_ with his uncle.
+
+"Upon my word, young man, you turn me over to pretty companions, and I am
+quite sensible of your politeness," replied Mr. Oldbuck. "No, sir, I
+intend the old Blue-Gown shall go with me--not as a competent witness,
+for he is, at present, as our friend Bailie Littlejohn says (blessings on
+his learning!) _tanquam suspectus,_ and you are _suspicione major,_ as
+our law has it."
+
+"I wish I were a major, sir," said Hector, catching only the last, and,
+to a soldier's ear, the most impressive word in the sentence,--"but,
+without money or interest, there is little chance of getting the step."
+
+"Well, well, most doughty son of Priam," said the Antiquary, "be ruled by
+your friends, and there's no saying what may happen--Come away with me,
+and you shall see what may be useful to you should you ever sit upon a
+court-martial, sir."
+
+"I have been on many a regimental court-martial, sir," answered Captain
+M'Intyre. "But here's a new cane for you."
+
+"Much obliged, much obliged."
+
+"I bought it from our drum-major," added M'Intyre, "who came into our
+regiment from the Bengal army when it came down the Red Sea. It was cut
+on the banks of the Indus, I assure you."
+
+"Upon my word, 'tis a fine ratan, and well replaces that which the _ph_--
+Bah! what was I going to say?"
+
+The party, consisting of the Antiquary, his nephew, and the old beggar,
+now took the sands towards Mussel-crag--the former in the very highest
+mood of communicating information, and the others, under a sense of
+former obligation, and some hope for future favours, decently attentive
+to receive it. The uncle and nephew walked together, the mendicant about
+a step and a half behind, just near enough for his patron to speak to him
+by a slight inclination of his neck, and without the trouble of turning
+round. (Petrie, in his Essay on Good-breeding, dedicated to the
+magistrates of Edinburgh, recommends, upon his own experience, as tutor
+in a family of distinction, this attitude to all led captains, tutors,
+dependants, and bottle-holders of every description. ) Thus escorted, the
+Antiquary moved along full of his learning, like a lordly man of war, and
+every now and then yawing to starboard and larboard to discharge a
+broadside upon his followers.
+
+"And so it is your opinion," said he to the mendicant, "that this
+windfall--this _arca auri,_ as Plautus has it, will not greatly avail Sir
+Arthur in his necessities?"
+
+Unless he could find ten times as much," said the beggar, "and that I am
+sair doubtful of;--I heard Puggie Orrock, and the tother thief of a
+sheriff-officer, or messenger, speaking about it--and things are ill aff
+when the like o' them can speak crousely about ony gentleman's affairs. I
+doubt Sir Arthur will be in stane wa's for debt, unless there's swift
+help and certain."
+
+"You speak like a fool," said the Antiquary.--"Nephew, it is a remarkable
+thing, that in this happy country no man can be legally imprisoned for
+debt."
+
+"Indeed, sir?" said M'Intyre; "I never knew that before--that part of our
+law would suit some of our mess well."
+
+"And if they arena confined for debt," said Ochiltree, "what is't that
+tempts sae mony puir creatures to bide in the tolbooth o' Fairport
+yonder?--they a' say they were put there by their creditors--Od! they
+maun like it better than I do, if they're there o' free will."
+
+"A very natural observation, Edie, and many of your betters would make
+the same; but it is founded entirely upon ignorance of the feudal system.
+Hector, be so good as to attend, unless you are looking out for another--
+Ahem!" (Hector compelled himself to give attention at this hint. ) "And
+you, Edie, it may be useful to you _reram cognoscere causas._ The nature
+and origin of warrant for caption is a thing _haud alienum a Scaevolae
+studiis._--You must know then, once more, that nobody can be arrested in
+Scotland for debt."
+
+"I haena muckle concern wi' that, Monkbarns," said the old man, "for
+naebody wad trust a bodle to a gaberlunzie."
+
+"I pr'ythee, peace, man--As a compulsitor, therefore, of payment, that
+being a thing to which no debtor is naturally inclined, as I have too
+much reason to warrant from the experience I have had with my own,--we
+had first the letters of four forms, a sort of gentle invitation, by
+which our sovereign lord the king, interesting himself, as a monarch
+should, in the regulation of his subjects' private affairs, at first by
+mild exhortation, and afterwards by letters of more strict enjoinment and
+more hard compulsion--What do you see extraordinary about that bird,
+Hector?--it's but a seamaw."
+
+"It's a pictarnie, sir," said Edie.
+
+"Well, what an if it were--what does that signify at present?--But I see
+you're impatient; so I will waive the letters of four forms, and come to
+the modern process of diligence.--You suppose, now, a man's committed to
+prison because he cannot pay his debt? Quite otherwise: the truth is, the
+king is so good as to interfere at the request of the creditor, and to
+send the debtor his royal command to do him justice within a certain
+time--fifteen days, or six, as the case may be. Well, the man resists and
+disobeys: what follows? Why, that he be lawfully and rightfully declared
+a rebel to our gracious sovereign, whose command he has disobeyed, and
+that by three blasts of a horn at the market-place of Edinburgh, the
+metropolis of Scotland. And he is then legally imprisoned, not on account
+of any civil debt, but because of his ungrateful contempt of the royal
+mandate. What say you to that, Hector?--there's something you never knew
+before."*
+
+* The doctrine of Monkbarns on the origin of imprisonment for civil debt
+in Scotland, may appear somewhat whimsical, but was referred to, and
+admitted to be correct, by the Bench of the Supreme Scottish Court, on
+5th December 1828, in the case of Thom _v._ Black. In fact, the Scottish
+law is in this particular more jealous of the personal liberty of the
+subject than any other code in Europe.
+
+"No, uncle; but, I own, if I wanted money to pay my debts, I would rather
+thank the king to send me some, than to declare me a rebel for not doing
+what I could not do."
+
+"Your education has not led you to consider these things," replied his
+uncle; "you are incapable of estimating the elegance of the legal
+fiction, and the manner in which it reconciles that duress, which, for
+the protection of commerce, it has been found necessary to extend towards
+refractory debtors, with the most scrupulous attention to the liberty of
+the subject."
+
+"I don't know, sir," answered the unenlightened Hector; "but if a man
+must pay his debt or go to jail, it signifies but little whether he goes
+as a debtor or a rebel, I should think. But you say this command of the
+king's gives a license of so many days--Now, egad, were I in the scrape,
+I would beat a march and leave the king and the creditor to settle it
+among themselves before they came to extremities."
+
+"So wad I," said Edie; "I wad gie them leg-bail to a certainty."
+
+"True," replied Monkbarns; "but those whom the law suspects of being
+unwilling to abide her formal visit, she proceeds with by means of a
+shorter and more unceremonious call, as dealing with persons on whom
+patience and favour would be utterly thrown away."
+
+"Ay," said Ochiltree, "that will be what they ca' the fugie-warrants--I
+hae some skeel in them. There's Border-warrants too in the south country,
+unco rash uncanny things;--I was taen up on ane at Saint James's Fair,
+and keepit in the auld kirk at Kelso the haill day and night; and a cauld
+goustie place it was, I'se assure ye.--But whatna wife's this, wi' her
+creel on her back? It's puir Maggie hersell, I'm thinking."
+
+It was so. The poor woman's sense of her loss, if not diminished, was
+become at least mitigated by the inevitable necessity of attending to the
+means of supporting her family; and her salutation to Oldbuck was made in
+an odd mixture between the usual language of solicitation with which she
+plied her customers, and the tone of lamentation for her recent calamity.
+
+"How's a' wi' ye the day, Monkbarns? I havena had the grace yet to come
+down to thank your honour for the credit ye did puir Steenie, wi' laying
+his head in a rath grave, puir fallow. "--Here she whimpered and wiped
+her eyes with the corner of her blue apron--"But the fishing comes on no
+that ill, though the gudeman hasna had the heart to gang to sea himsell--
+Atweel I would fain tell him it wad do him gude to put hand to wark--but
+I'm maist fear'd to speak to him--and it's an unco thing to hear ane o'
+us speak that gate o' a man--However, I hae some dainty caller haddies,
+and they sall be but three shillings the dozen, for I hae nae pith to
+drive a bargain ennow, and maun just tak what ony Christian body will
+gie, wi' few words and nae flyting."
+
+"What shall we do, Hector?" said Oldbuck, pausing: "I got into disgrace
+with my womankind for making a bad bargain with her before. These
+maritime animals, Hector, are unlucky to our family."
+
+"Pooh, sir, what would you do?--give poor Maggie what she asks, or allow
+me to send a dish of fish up to Monkbarns."
+
+And he held out the money to her; but Maggie drew back her hand. "Na, na,
+Captain; ye're ower young and ower free o' your siller--ye should never
+tak a fish-wife's first bode; and troth I think maybe a flyte wi' the
+auld housekeeper at Monkbarns, or Miss Grizel, would do me some gude--And
+I want to see what that hellicate quean Jenny Ritherout's doing--folk
+said she wasna weel--She'll be vexing hersell about Steenie, the silly
+tawpie, as if he wad ever hae lookit ower his shouther at the like
+o'her!--Weel, Monkbarns, they're braw caller haddies, and they'll bid me
+unco little indeed at the house if ye want crappit-heads the day."
+
+And so on she paced with her burden,--grief, gratitude for the sympathy
+of her betters, and the habitual love of traffic and of gain, chasing
+each other through her thoughts.
+
+"And now that we are before the door of their hut," said Ochiltree, "I
+wad fain ken, Monkbarns, what has gar'd ye plague yoursell wi' me a' this
+length? I tell ye sincerely I hae nae pleasure in ganging in there. I
+downa bide to think how the young hae fa'en on a' sides o' me, and left
+me an useless auld stump wi' hardly a green leaf on't."
+
+"This old woman," said Oldbuck, "sent you on a message to the Earl of
+Glenallan, did she not?"
+
+"Ay!" said the surprised mendicant; "how ken ye that sae weel?"
+
+"Lord Glenallan told me himself," answered the Antiquary; "so there is no
+delation--no breach of trust on your part; and as he wishes me to take
+her evidence down on some important family matters, I chose to bring you
+with me, because in her situation, hovering between dotage and
+consciousness, it is possible that your voice and appearance may awaken
+trains of recollection which I should otherwise have no means of
+exciting. The human mind--what are you about, Hector?"
+
+"I was only whistling for the dog, sir," replied the Captain "she always
+roves too wide--I knew I should be troublesome to you."
+
+"Not at all, not at all," said Oldbuck, resuming the subject of his
+disquisition--"the human mind is to be treated like a skein of ravelled
+silk, where you must cautiously secure one free end before you can make
+any progress in disentangling it."
+
+"I ken naething about that," said the gaberlunzie; "but an my auld
+acquaintance be hersell, or anything like hersell, she may come to wind
+us a pirn. It's fearsome baith to see and hear her when she wampishes
+about her arms, and gets to her English, and speaks as if she were a
+prent book, let a-be an auld fisher's wife. But, indeed, she had a grand
+education, and was muckle taen out afore she married an unco bit beneath
+hersell. She's aulder than me by half a score years--but I mind weel
+eneugh they made as muckle wark about her making a half-merk marriage wi'
+Simon Mucklebackit, this Saunders's father, as if she had been ane o' the
+gentry. But she got into favour again, and then she lost it again, as I
+hae heard her son say, when he was a muckle chield; and then they got
+muckle siller, and left the Countess's land, and settled here. But things
+never throve wi' them. Howsomever, she's a weel-educate woman, and an she
+win to her English, as I hae heard her do at an orra time, she may come
+to fickle us a'."
+
+
+
+
+                            CHAPTER NINETEENTH
+
+           Life ebbs from such old age, unmarked and silent,
+           As the slow neap-tide leaves yon stranded galley.--
+              Late she rocked merrily at the least impulse
+              That wind or wave could give; but now her keel
+              Is settling on the sand, her mast has ta'en
+           An angle with the sky, from which it shifts not.
+              Each wave receding shakes her less and less,
+              Till, bedded on the strand, she shall remain
+                               Useless as motionless.
+                                                 Old Play.
+
+As the Antiquary lifted the latch of the hut, he was surprised to hear
+the shrill tremulous voice of Elspeth chanting forth an old ballad in a
+wild and doleful recitative.
+
+                "The herring loves the merry moonlight,
+                     The mackerel loves the wind,
+                But the oyster loves the dredging sang,
+                     For they come of a gentle kind."
+
+A diligent collector of these legendary scraps of ancient poetry, his
+foot refused to cross the threshold when his ear was thus arrested, and
+his hand instinctively took pencil and memorandum-book. From time to time
+the old woman spoke as if to the children--"Oh ay, hinnies, whisht!
+whisht! and I'll begin a bonnier ane than that--
+
+                 "Now haud your tongue, baith wife and carle,
+                      And listen, great and sma',
+                  And I will sing of Glenallan's Earl
+                     That fought on the red Harlaw.
+
+                 "The cronach's cried on Bennachie,
+                       And doun the Don and a',
+                  And hieland and lawland may mournfu' be
+                       For the sair field of Harlaw.--
+
+I dinna mind the neist verse weel--my memory's failed, and theres unco
+thoughts come ower me--God keep us frae temptation!"
+
+Here her voice sunk in indistinct muttering.
+
+"It's a historical ballad," said Oldbuck, eagerly, "a genuine and
+undoubted fragment of minstrelsy! Percy would admire its simplicity--
+Ritson could not impugn its authenticity."
+
+"Ay, but it's a sad thing," said Ochiltree, "to see human nature sae far
+owertaen as to be skirling at auld sangs on the back of a loss like
+hers."
+
+"Hush! hush!" said the Antiquary--"she has gotten the thread of the story
+again. "--And as he spoke, she sung--
+
+              "They saddled a hundred milk-white steeds,
+                   They hae bridled a hundred black,
+               With a chafron of steel on each horse's head,
+                  And a good knight upon his back. "--
+
+"Chafron!" exclaimed the Antiquary,--"equivalent, perhaps, to
+_cheveron;_--the word's worth a dollar,"--and down it went in his red
+book.
+
+                  "They hadna ridden a mile, a mile,
+                        A mile, but barely ten,
+                   When Donald came branking down the brae
+                       Wi' twenty thousand men.
+
+                 "Their tartans they were waving wide,
+                       Their glaives were glancing clear,
+                  Their pibrochs rung frae side to side,
+                       Would deafen ye to hear.
+
+                 "The great Earl in his stirrups stood
+                      That Highland host to see:
+                  Now here a knight that's stout and good
+                         May prove a jeopardie:
+
+                 "What wouldst thou do, my squire so gay,
+                       That rides beside my reyne,
+                   Were ye Glenallan's Earl the day,
+                       And I were Roland Cheyne?
+
+                 "To turn the rein were sin and shame,
+                       To fight were wondrous peril,
+                 What would ye do now, Roland Cheyne,
+                       Were ye Glenallan's Earl?'
+
+Ye maun ken, hinnies, that this Roland Cheyne, for as poor and auld as I
+sit in the chimney-neuk, was my forbear, and an awfu' man he was that
+dayin the fight, but specially after the Earl had fa'en, for he blamed
+himsell for the counsel he gave, to fight before Mar came up wi' Mearns,
+and Aberdeen, and Angus."
+
+Her voice rose and became more animated as she recited the warlike
+counsel of her ancestor--
+
+                  "Were I Glenallan's Earl this tide,
+                      And ye were Roland Cheyne,
+                  The spur should be in my horse's side,
+                     And the bridle upon his mane.
+
+                 "If they hae twenty thousand blades,
+                       And we twice ten times ten,
+                  Yet they hae but their tartan plaids,
+                       And we are mail-clad men.
+
+                 "My horse shall ride through ranks sae rude,
+                      As through the moorland fern,
+                 Then neer let the gentle Norman blude
+                      Grow cauld for Highland kerne.'"
+
+"Do you hear that, nephew?" said Oldbuck;--"you observe your Gaelic
+ancestors were not held in high repute formerly by the Lowland warriors."
+
+"I hear," said Hector, "a silly old woman sing a silly old song. I am
+surprised, sir, that you, who will not listen to Ossian's songs of Selma,
+can be pleased with such trash. I vow, I have not seen or heard a worse
+halfpenny ballad; I don't believe you could match it in any pedlar's pack
+in the country. I should be ashamed to think that the honour of the
+Highlands could be affected by such doggrel. "--And, tossing up his head,
+he snuffed the air indignantly.
+
+Apparently the old woman heard the sound of their voices; for, ceasing
+her song, she called out, "Come in, sirs, come in--good-will never halted
+at the door-stane."
+
+They entered, and found to their surprise Elspeth alone, sitting "ghastly
+on the hearth," like the personification of Old Age in the Hunter's song
+of the Owl,* "wrinkled, tattered, vile, dim-eyed, discoloured, torpid."
+
+* See Mrs. Grant on the Highland Superstitions, vol. ii. p. 260, for this
+fine translation from the Gaelic.
+
+"They're a' out," she said, as they entered; "but an ye will sit a blink,
+somebody will be in. If ye hae business wi' my gude-daughter, or my son,
+they'll be in belyve,--I never speak on business mysell. Bairns, gie them
+seats--the bairns are a' gane out, I trow,"--looking around her;--"I was
+crooning to keep them quiet a wee while since; but they hae cruppen out
+some gate. Sit down, sirs, they'll be in belyve;" and she dismissed her
+spindle from her hand to twirl upon the floor, and soon seemed
+exclusively occupied in regulating its motion, as unconscious of the
+presence of the strangers as she appeared indifferent to their rank or
+business there.
+
+"I wish," said Oldbuck, "she would resume that canticle, or legendary
+fragment. I always suspected there was a skirmish of cavalry before the
+main battle of the Harlaw. "*
+
+* Note H. Battle of Harlaw.
+
+"If your honour pleases," said Edie, "had ye not better proceed to the
+business that brought us a' here? I'se engage to get ye the sang ony
+time."
+
+"I believe you are right, Edie--_Do manus_--I submit. But how shall we
+manage? She sits there the very image of dotage. Speak to her, Edie--try
+if you can make her recollect having sent you to Glenallan House."
+
+Edie rose accordingly, and, crossing the floor, placed himself in the
+same position which he had occupied during his former conversation with
+her. "I'm fain to see ye looking sae weel, cummer; the mair, that the
+black ox has tramped on ye since I was aneath your roof-tree."
+
+"Ay," said Elspeth; but rather from a general idea of misfortune, than
+any exact recollection of what had happened,--"there has been distress
+amang us of late--I wonder how younger folk bide it--I bide it ill. I
+canna hear the wind whistle, and the sea roar, but I think I see the
+coble whombled keel up, and some o' them struggling in the waves!--Eh,
+sirs; sic weary dreams as folk hae between sleeping and waking, before
+they win to the lang sleep and the sound! I could amaist think whiles my
+son, or else Steenie, my oe, was dead, and that I had seen the burial.
+Isna that a queer dream for a daft auld carline? What for should ony o'
+them dee before me?--it's out o' the course o' nature, ye ken."
+
+"I think you'll make very little of this stupid old woman," said Hector,
+--who still nourished, perhaps, some feelings of the dislike excited by
+the disparaging mention of his countrymen in her lay--"I think you'll
+make but little of her, sir; and it's wasting our time to sit here and
+listen to her dotage."
+
+"Hector," said the Antiquary, indignantly, "if you do not respect her
+misfortunes, respect at least her old age and grey hairs: this is the
+last stage of existence, so finely treated by the Latin poet--
+
+                                --Omni
+               Membrorum damno major dementia, quae neo
+               Nomina, servorum, nec vultus agnoscit amici,
+               Cum queis preterita coenavit nocte, nec illos
+                            Quos genuit, quos ecluxit."
+
+"That's Latin!" said Elspeth, rousing herself as if she attended to the
+lines, which the Antiquary recited with great pomp of diction--"that's
+Latin!" and she cast a wild glance around her--"Has there a priest fund
+me out at last?"
+
+"You see, nephew, her comprehension is almost equal to your own of that
+fine passage."
+
+"I hope you think, sir, that I knew it to be Latin as well as she did?"
+
+"Why, as to that--But stay, she is about to speak."
+
+"I will have no priest--none," said the beldam, with impotent vehemence;
+"as I have lived I will die--none shall say that I betrayed my mistress,
+though it were to save my soul!"
+
+"That bespoke a foul conscience," said the mendicant;--"I wuss she wad
+mak a clean breast, an it were but for her sake;" and he again assailed
+her.
+
+"Weel, gudewife, I did your errand to the Yerl."
+
+"To what Earl? I ken nae Earl;--I ken'd a Countess ance--I wish to Heaven
+I had never ken'd her! for by that acquaintance, neighbour, their cam,"--
+and she counted her withered fingers as she spoke "first Pride, then
+Malice, then Revenge, then False Witness; and Murder tirl'd at the
+door-pin, if he camna ben. And werena thae pleasant guests, think ye, to
+take up their quarters in ae woman's heart? I trow there was routh o'
+company."
+
+"But, cummer," continued the beggar, "it wasna the Countess of Glenallan
+I meant, but her son, him that was Lord Geraldin."
+
+"I mind it now," she said; "I saw him no that langsyne, and we had a
+heavy speech thegither. Eh, sirs! the comely young lord is turned as auld
+and frail as I am: it's muckle that sorrow and heartbreak, and crossing
+of true love, will do wi' young blood. But suldna his mither hae lookit
+to that hersell?--we were but to do her bidding, ye ken. I am sure
+there's naebody can blame me--he wasna my son, and she was my mistress.
+Ye ken how the rhyme says--I hae maist forgotten how to sing, or else the
+tune's left my auld head--
+
+                  "He turn'd him right and round again,
+                       Said, Scorn na at my mither;
+                   Light loves I may get mony a ane,
+                       But minnie neer anither.
+
+Then he was but of the half blude, ye ken, and her's was the right
+Glenallan after a'. Na, na, I maun never maen doing and suffering for the
+Countess Joscelin--never will I maen for that."
+
+Then drawing her flax from the distaff, with the dogged air of one who is
+resolved to confess nothing, she resumed her interrupted occupation.
+
+"I hae heard," said the mendicant, taking his cue from what Oldbuck had
+told him of the family history--"I hae heard, cummer, that some ill
+tongue suld hae come between the Earl, that's Lord Geraldin, and his
+young bride."
+
+"Ill tongue?" she said in hasty alarm; "and what had she to fear frae an
+ill tongue?--she was gude and fair eneugh--at least a' body said sae. But
+had she keepit her ain tongue aff ither folk, she might hae been living
+like a leddy for a' that's come and gane yet."
+
+"But I hae heard say, gudewife," continued Ochiltree, "there was a
+clatter in the country, that her husband and her were ower sibb when they
+married."
+
+"Wha durst speak o' that?" said the old woman hastily; "wha durst say
+they were married?--wha ken'd o' that?--Not the Countess--not I. If they
+wedded in secret, they were severed in secret--They drank of the
+fountains of their ain deceit."
+
+"No, wretched beldam!" exclaimed Oldbuck, who could keep silence no
+longer, "they drank the poison that you and your wicked mistress prepared
+for them."
+
+"Ha, ha!" she replied, "I aye thought it would come to this. It's but
+sitting silent when they examine me--there's nae torture in our days; and
+if there is, let them rend me!--It's ill o' the vassal's mouth that
+betrays the bread it eats."
+
+"Speak to her, Edie," said the Antiquary; "she knows your voice, and
+answers to it most readily."
+
+"We shall mak naething mair out o' her," said Ochiltree. "When she has
+clinkit hersell down that way, and faulded her arms, she winna speak a
+word, they say, for weeks thegither. And besides, to my thinking, her
+face is sair changed since we cam in. However, I'se try her ance mair to
+satisfy your honour.--So ye canna keep in mind, cummer, that your auld
+mistress, the Countess Joscelin, has been removed?"
+
+"Removed!" she exclaimed; for that name never failed to produce its usual
+effect upon her; "then we maun a' follow--a' maun ride when she is in the
+saddle. Tell them to let Lord Geraldin ken we're on before them. Bring my
+hood and scarf--ye wadna hae me gang in the carriage wi' my leddy, and my
+hair in this fashion?"
+
+She raised her shrivelled arms, and seemed busied like a woman who puts
+on her cloak to go abroad, then dropped them slowly and stiffly; and the
+same idea of a journey still floating apparently through her head, she
+proceeded, in a hurried and interrupted manner,--"Call Miss Neville--What
+do you mean by Lady Geraldin? I said Eveline Neville, not Lady Geraldin--
+there's no Lady Geraldin; tell her that, and bid her change her wet gown,
+and no' look sae pale. Bairn! what should she do wi' a bairn?--maidens
+hae nane, I trow.--Teresa--Teresa--my lady calls us!--Bring a candle;--
+the grand staircase is as mirk as a Yule midnight--We are coming, my
+lady!"--With these words she sunk back on the settle, and from thence
+sidelong to the floor. *
+
+* Note I. Elspeth's death.
+
+ Edie ran to support her, but hardly got her in his arms, before he said,
+"It's a' ower--she has passed away even with that last word."
+
+"Impossible," said Oldbuck, hastily advancing, as did his nephew. But
+nothing was more certain. She had expired with the last hurried word that
+left her lips; and all that remained before them were the mortal relics
+of the creature who had so long struggled with an internal sense of
+concealed guilt, joined to all the distresses of age and poverty.
+
+"God grant that she be gane to a better place!" said Edie, as he looked
+on the lifeless body; "but oh! there was something lying hard and heavy
+at her heart. I have seen mony a ane dee, baith in the field o' battle,
+and a fair-strae death at hame; but I wad rather see them a' ower again,
+as sic a fearfu' flitting as hers!"
+
+"We must call in the neighbours," said Oldbuck, when he had somewhat
+recovered his horror and astonishment, "and give warning of this
+additional calamity. I wish she could have been brought to a confession.
+And, though of far less consequence, I could have wished to transcribe
+that metrical fragment. But Heaven's will must be done!"
+
+They left the hut accordingly, and gave the alarm in the hamlet, whose
+matrons instantly assembled to compose the limbs and arrange the body of
+her who might be considered as the mother of their settlement. Oldbuck
+promised his assistance for the funeral.
+
+"Your honour," said Alison Breck, who was next in age to the deceased,
+"suld send doun something to us for keeping up our hearts at the
+lykewake, for a' Saunders's gin, puir man, was drucken out at the burial
+o' Steenie, and we'll no get mony to sit dry-lipped aside the corpse.
+Elspeth was unco clever in her young days, as I can mind right weel, but
+there was aye a word o' her no being that chancy. Ane suldna speak ill o'
+the dead--mair by token, o' ane's cummer and neighbour--but there was
+queer things said about a leddy and a bairn or she left the
+Craigburnfoot. And sae, in gude troth, it will be a puir lykewake, unless
+your honour sends us something to keep us cracking."
+
+"You shall have some whisky," answered Oldbuck, "the rather that you have
+preserved the proper word for that ancient custom of watching the dead.--
+You observe, Hector, this is genuine Teutonic, from the Gothic
+_Leichnam,_ a corpse. It is quite erroneously called _Late-wake,_ though
+Brand favours that modern corruption and derivation."
+
+"I believe," said Hector to himself, "my uncle would give away Monkbarns
+to any one who would come to ask it in genuine Teutonic! Not a drop of
+whisky would the old creatures have got, had their president asked it for
+the use of the _Late-wake._"
+
+While Oldbuck was giving some farther directions, and promising
+assistance, a servant of Sir Arthur's came riding very hard along the
+sands, and stopped his horse when he saw the Antiquary. "There had
+something," he said, "very particular happened at the Castle"--(he could
+not, or would not, explain what)--"and Miss Wardour had sent him off
+express to Monkbarns, to beg that Mr. Oldbuck would come to them without
+a moment's delay."
+
+"I am afraid," said the Antiquary, "his course also is drawing to a
+close. What can I do?"
+
+"Do, sir?" exclaimed Hector, with his characteristic impatience,--"get on
+the horse, and turn his head homeward--you will be at Knockwinnock Castle
+in ten minutes."
+
+"He is quite a free goer," said the servant, dismounting to adjust the
+girths and stirrups,--"he only pulls a little if he feels a dead weight
+on him."
+
+"I should soon be a dead weight _off_ him, my friend," said the
+Antiquary.--"What the devil, nephew, are you weary of me? or do you
+suppose me weary of my life, that I should get on the back of such a
+Bucephalus as that? No, no, my friend, if I am to be at Knockwinnock
+to-day, it must be by walking quietly forward on my own feet, which I
+will do with as little delay as possible. Captain M'Intyre may ride that
+animal himself, if he pleases."
+
+"I have little hope I could be of any use, uncle, but I cannot think of
+their distress without wishing to show sympathy at least--so I will ride
+on before, and announce to them that you are coming.--I'll trouble you
+for your spurs, my friend."
+
+"You will scarce need them, sir," said the man, taking them off at the
+same time, and buckling them upon Captain Mlntyre's heels, "he's very
+frank to the road."
+
+Oldbuck stood astonished at this last act of temerity, "are you mad,
+Hector?" he cried, "or have you forgotten what is said by Quintus
+Curtius, with whom, as a soldier, you must needs be familiar,--_Nobilis
+equus umbra quidem virgae regitur; ignavus ne calcari quidem excitari
+potest;_ which plainly shows that spurs are useless in every case, and, I
+may add, dangerous in most."
+
+But Hector, who cared little for the opinion of either Quintus Curtius or
+of the Antiquary, upon such a topic, only answered with a heedless "Never
+fear--never fear, sir."
+
+              With that he gave his able horse the head,
+              And, bending forward, struck his armed heels
+              Against the panting sides of his poor jade,
+                Up to the rowel-head; and starting so,
+                He seemed in running to devour the way,
+                      Staying no longer question.
+
+"There they go, well matched," said Oldbuck, looking after them as they
+started--"a mad horse and a wild boy, the two most unruly creatures in
+Christendom! and all to get half an hour sooner to a place where nobody
+wants him; for I doubt Sir Arthur's griefs are beyond the cure of our
+light horseman. It must be the villany of Dousterswivel, for whom Sir
+Arthur has done so much; for I cannot help observing, that, with some
+natures, Tacitus's maxim holdeth good: _Beneficia eo usque laeta sunt dum
+videntur exsolvi posse; ubi multum antevenere, pro gratia odium
+redditur,_--from which a wise man might take a caution, not to oblige any
+man beyond the degree in which he may expect to be requited, lest he
+should make his debtor a bankrupt in gratitude."
+
+Murmuring to himself such scraps of cynical philosophy, our Antiquary
+paced the sands towards Knockwinnock; but it is necessary we should
+outstrip him, for the purpose of explaining the reasons of his being so
+anxiously summoned thither.
+
+
+
+
+                           CHAPTER TWENTIETH.
+
+
+             So, while the Goose, of whom the fable told,
+                Incumbent, brooded o'er her eggs of gold,
+             With hand outstretched, impatient to destroy,
+                Stole on her secret nest the cruel Boy,
+             Whose gripe rapacious changed her splendid dream,
+            --For wings vain fluttering, and for dying scream.
+                                   The Loves of the Sea-weeds.
+
+From the time that Sir Arthur Wardour had become possessor of the
+treasure found in Misticot's grave, he had been in a state of mind more
+resembling ecstasy than sober sense. Indeed, at one time his daughter had
+become seriously apprehensive for his intellect; for, as he had no doubt
+that he had the secret of possessing himself of wealth to an unbounded
+extent, his language and carriage were those of a man who had acquired
+the philosopher's stone. He talked of buying contiguous estates, that
+would have led him from one side of the island to the other, as if he
+were determined to brook no neighbour save the sea. He corresponded with
+an architect of eminence, upon a plan of renovating the castle of his
+forefathers on a style of extended magnificence that might have rivalled
+that of Windsor, and laying out the grounds on a suitable scale. Troops
+of liveried menials were already, in fancy, marshalled in his halls, and
+--for what may not unbounded wealth authorize its possessor to aspire
+to?--the coronet of a marquis, perhaps of a duke, was glittering before
+his imagination. His daughter--to what matches might she not look
+forward? Even an alliance with the blood-royal was not beyond the sphere
+of his hopes. His son was already a general--and he himself whatever
+ambition could dream of in its wildest visions.
+
+In this mood, if any one endeavoured to bring Sir Arthur down to the
+regions of common life, his replies were in the vein of Ancient Pistol--
+
+                   A fico for the world, and worldlings base
+                   I speak of Africa and golden joys!
+
+The reader may conceive the amazement of Miss Wardour, when, instead of
+undergoing an investigation concerning the addresses of Lovel, as she had
+expected from the long conference of her father with Mr. Oldbuck, upon
+the morning of the fated day when the treasure was discovered, the
+conversation of Sir Arthur announced an imagination heated with the hopes
+of possessing the most unbounded wealth. But she was seriously alarmed
+when Dousterswivel was sent for to the Castle, and was closeted with her
+father--his mishap condoled with--his part taken, and his loss
+compensated. All the suspicions which she had long entertained respecting
+this man became strengthened, by observing his pains to keep up the
+golden dreams of her father, and to secure for himself, under various
+pretexts, as much as possible out of the windfall which had so strangely
+fallen to Sir Arthur's share.
+
+Other evil symptoms began to appear, following close on each other.
+Letters arrived every post, which Sir Arthur, as soon as he had looked at
+the directions, flung into the fire without taking the trouble to open
+them. Miss Wardour could not help suspecting that these epistles, the
+contents of which seemed to be known to her father by a sort of
+intuition, came from pressing creditors. In the meanwhile, the temporary
+aid which he had received from the treasure dwindled fast away. By far
+the greater part had been swallowed up by the necessity of paying the
+bill of six hundred pounds, which had threatened Sir Arthur with instant
+distress. Of the rest, some part was given to the adept, some wasted upon
+extravagances which seemed to the poor knight fully authorized by his
+full-blown hopes,--and some went to stop for a time the mouths of such
+claimants as, being weary of fair promises, had become of opinion with
+Harpagon, that it was necessary to touch something substantial. At length
+circumstances announced but too plainly, that it was all expended within
+two or three days after its discovery; and there appeared no prospect of
+a supply. Sir Arthur, naturally impatient, now taxed Dousterswivel anew
+with breach of those promises through which he had hoped to convert all
+his lead into gold. But that worthy gentleman's turn was now served; and
+as he had grace enough to wish to avoid witnessing the fall of the house
+which he had undermined, he was at the trouble of bestowing a few learned
+terms of art upon Sir Arthur, that at least he might not be tormented
+before his time. He took leave of him, with assurances that he would
+return to Knockwinnock the next morning, with such information as would
+not fail to relieve Sir Arthur from all his distresses.
+
+"For, since I have consulted in such matters, I ave never," said Mr.
+Herman Dousterswivel, "approached so near de _arcanum,_ what you call de
+great mystery,--de Panchresta--de Polychresta--I do know as much of it as
+Pelaso de Taranta, or Basilius--and either I will bring you in two and
+tree days de No. III. of Mr. Mishdigoat, or you shall call me one knave
+myself, and never look me in de face again no more at all."
+
+The adept departed with this assurance, in the firm resolution of making
+good the latter part of the proposition, and never again appearing before
+his injured patron. Sir Arthur remained in a doubtful and anxious state
+of mind. The positive assurances of the philosopher, with the hard words
+Panchresta, Basilius, and so forth, produced some effect on his mind. But
+he had been too often deluded by such jargon, to be absolutely relieved
+of his doubt, and he retired for the evening into his library, in the
+fearful state of one who, hanging over a precipice, and without the means
+of retreat, perceives the stone on which he rests gradually parting from
+the rest of the crag, and about to give way with him.
+
+The visions of hope decayed, and there increased in proportion that
+feverish agony of anticipation with which a man, educated in a sense of
+consequence, and possessed of opulence,--the supporter of an ancient
+name, and the father of two promising children,--foresaw the hour
+approaching which should deprive him of all the splendour which time had
+made familiarly necessary to him, and send him forth into the world to
+struggle with poverty, with rapacity, and with scorn. Under these dire
+forebodings, his temper, exhausted by the sickness of delayed hope,
+became peevish and fretful, and his words and actions sometimes expressed
+a reckless desperation, which alarmed Miss Wardour extremely. We have
+seen, on a former occasion, that Sir Arthur was a man of passions lively
+and quick, in proportion to the weakness of his character in other
+respects; he was unused to contradiction, and if he had been hitherto, in
+general, good-humoured and cheerful, it was probably because the course
+of his life had afforded no such frequent provocation as to render his
+irritability habitual.
+
+On the third morning after Dousterswivel's departure, the servant, as
+usual, laid on the breakfast table the newspaper and letters of the day.
+Miss Wardour took up the former to avoid the continued ill-humour of her
+father, who had wrought himself into a violent passion, because the toast
+was over-browned.
+
+"I perceive how it is," was his concluding speech on this interesting
+subject,--"my servants, who have had their share of my fortune, begin to
+think there is little to be made of me in future. But while I _am_ the
+scoundrel's master I will be so, and permit no neglect--no, nor endure a
+hair's-breadth diminution of the respect I am entitled to exact from
+them."
+
+"I am ready to leave your honour's service this instant," said the
+domestic upon whom the fault had been charged, "as soon as you order
+payment of my wages."
+
+Sir Arthur, as if stung by a serpent, thrust his hand into his pocket,
+and instantly drew out the money which it contained, but which was short
+of the man's claim. "What money have you got, Miss Wardour?" he said, in
+a tone of affected calmness, but which concealed violent agitation.
+
+Miss Wardour gave him her purse; he attempted to count the bank notes
+which it contained, but could not reckon them. After twice miscounting
+the sum, he threw the whole to his daughter, and saying, in a stern
+voice, "Pay the rascal, and let him leave the house instantly!" he strode
+out of the room.
+
+The mistress and servant stood alike astonished at the agitation and
+vehemence of his manner.
+
+"I am sure, ma'am, if I had thought I was particularly wrang, I wadna hae
+made ony answer when Sir Arthur challenged me. I hae been lang in his
+service, and he has been a kind master, and you a kind mistress, and I
+wad like ill ye should think I wad start for a hasty word. I am sure it
+was very wrang o' me to speak about wages to his honour, when maybe he
+has something to vex him. I had nae thoughts o' leaving the family in
+this way."
+
+"Go down stair, Robert," said his mistress--"something has happened to
+fret my father--go down stairs, and let Alick answer the bell."
+
+When the man left the room, Sir Arthur re-entered, as if he had been
+watching his departure. "What's the meaning of this?" he said hastily, as
+he observed the notes lying still on the table--"Is he not gone? Am I
+neither to be obeyed as a master or a father?"
+
+"He is gone to give up his charge to the housekeeper, sir,--I thought
+there was not such instant haste."
+
+"There _is_ haste, Miss Wardour," answered her father, interrupting her;
+--"What I do henceforth in the house of my forefathers, must be done
+speedily, or never."
+
+He then sate down, and took up with a trembling hand the basin of tea
+prepared for him, protracting the swallowing of it, as if to delay the
+necessity of opening the post-letters which lay on the table, and which
+he eyed from time to time, as if they had been a nest of adders ready to
+start into life and spring upon him.
+
+"You will be happy to hear," said Miss Wardour, willing to withdraw her
+father's mind from the gloomy reflections in which he appeared to be
+plunged, "you will be happy to hear, sir, that Lieutenant Taffril's
+gun-brig has got safe into Leith Roads--I observe there had been
+apprehensions for his safety--I am glad we did not hear them till they
+were contradicted."
+
+"And what is Taffril and his gun-brig to me?"
+
+"Sir!" said Miss Wardour in astonishment; for Sir Arthur, in his ordinary
+state of mind, took a fidgety sort of interest in all the gossip of the
+day and country.
+
+"I say," he repeated in a higher and still more impatient key, "what do I
+care who is saved or lost? It's nothing to me, I suppose?"
+
+"I did not know you were busy, Sir Arthur; and thought, as Mr. Taffril is
+a brave man, and from our own country, you would be happy to hear"--
+
+"Oh, I am happy--as happy as possible--and, to make you happy too, you
+shall have some of my good news in return." And he caught up a letter.
+"It does not signify which I open first--they are all to the same tune."
+
+He broke the seal hastily, ran the letter over, and then threw it to his
+daughter. "Ay--I could not have lighted more happily!--this places the
+copestone."
+
+Miss Wardour, in silent terror, took up the letter. "Read it--read it
+aloud!" said her father; "it cannot be read too often; it will serve to
+break you in for other good news of the same kind."
+
+She began to read with a faltering voice, "Dear Sir."
+
+"He _dears_ me too, you see, this impudent drudge of a writer's office,
+who, a twelvemonth since, was not fit company for my second table--I
+suppose I shall be dear Knight' with him by and by."
+
+"Dear Sir," resumed Miss Wardour; but, interrupting herself, "I see the
+contents are unpleasant, sir--it will only vex you my reading them
+aloud."
+
+"If you will allow me to know my own pleasure, Miss Wardour, I entreat
+you to go on--I presume, if it were unnecessary, I should not ask you to
+take the trouble."
+
+"Having been of late taken into copartnery," continued Miss Wardour,
+reading the letter, "by Mr. Gilbert Greenhorn, son of your late
+correspondent and man of business, Girnigo Greenhorn, Esq., writer to the
+signet, whose business I conducted as parliament-house clerk for many
+years, which business will in future be carried on under the firm of
+Greenhorn and Grinderson (which I memorandum for the sake of accuracy in
+addressing your future letters), and having had of late favours of yours,
+directed to my aforesaid partner, Gilbert Greenhorn, in consequence of
+his absence at the Lamberton races, have the honour to reply to your said
+favours."
+
+"You see my friend is methodical, and commences by explaining the causes
+which have procured me so modest and elegant a correspondent. Go on--I
+can bear it."
+
+And he laughed that bitter laugh which is perhaps the most fearful
+expression of mental misery. Trembling to proceed, and yet afraid to
+disobey, Miss Wardour continued to read--"I am for myself and partner,
+sorry we cannot oblige you by looking out for the sums you mention, or
+applying for a suspension in the case of Goldiebirds' bond, which would
+be more inconsistent, as we have been employed to act as the said
+Goldiebirds' procurators and attorneys, in which capacity we have taken
+out a charge of horning against you, as you must be aware by the schedule
+left by the messenger, for the sum of four thousand seven hundred and
+fifty-six pounds five shillings and sixpence one-fourth of a penny
+sterling, which, with annual-rent and expenses effeiring, we presume will
+be settled during the currency of the charge, to prevent further trouble.
+Same time, I am under the necessity to observe our own account, amounting
+to seven hundred and sixty-nine pounds ten shillings and sixpence, is
+also due, and settlement would be agreeable; but as we hold your rights,
+title-deeds, and documents in hypothec, shall have no objection to give
+reasonable time--say till the next money term. I am, for myself and
+partner, concerned to add, that Messrs. Goldiebirds' instructions to us
+are to proceed _peremptorie_ and _sine mora,_ of which I have the
+pleasure to advise you, to prevent future mistakes, reserving to
+ourselves otherwise to age' as accords. I am, for self and partner, dear
+sir, your obliged humble servant, Gabriel Grinderson, for Greenhorn and
+Grinderson."
+
+"Ungrateful villain!" said Miss Wardour.
+
+"Why, no--it's in the usual rule, I suppose; the blow could not have been
+perfect if dealt by another hand--it's all just as it should be,"
+answered the poor Baronet, his affected composure sorely belied by his
+quivering lip and rolling eye--"But here's a postscript I did not notice
+--come, finish the epistle."
+
+"I have to add (not for self but partner) that Mr. Greenhorn will
+accommodate you by taking your service of plate, or the bay horses, if
+sound in wind and limb, at a fair appreciation, in part payment of your
+accompt."
+
+"G--d confound him!" said Sir Arthur, losing all command of himself at
+this condescending proposal: "his grandfather shod my father's horses,
+and this descendant of a scoundrelly blacksmith proposes to swindle me
+out of mine! But I will write him a proper answer."
+
+And he sate down and began to write with great vehemence, then stopped
+and read aloud:--"Mr. Gilbert Greenhorn,--in answer to two letters of a
+late date, I received a letter from a person calling himself Grinderson,
+and designing himself as your partner. When I address any one, I do not
+usually expect to be answered by deputy--I think I have been useful to
+your father, and friendly and civil to yourself, and therefore am now
+surprised--And yet," said he, stopping short, "why should I be surprised
+at that or anything else? or why should I take up my time in writing to
+such a scoundrel?--I shan't be always kept in prison, I suppose; and to
+break that puppy's bones when I get out, shall be my first employment."
+
+"In prison, sir?" said Miss Wardour, faintly.
+
+"Ay, in prison to be sure. Do you make any question about that? Why, Mr.
+what's his name's fine letter for self and partner seems to be thrown
+away on you, or else you have got four thousand so many hundred pounds,
+with the due proportion of shillings, pence, and half-pence, to pay that
+aforesaid demand, as he calls it."
+
+"I, sir? O if I had the means!--But where's my brother?--why does he not
+come, and so long in Scotland? He might do something to assist us."
+
+"Who, Reginald?--I suppose he's gone with Mr. Gilbert Greenhorn, or some
+such respectable person, to the Lamberton races--I have expected him this
+week past; but I cannot wonder that my children should neglect me as well
+as every other person. But I should beg your pardon, my love, who never
+either neglected or offended me in your life."
+
+And kissing her cheek as she threw her arms round his neck, he
+experienced that consolation which a parent feels, even in the most
+distressed state, in the assurance that he possesses the affection of a
+child.
+
+Miss Wardour took the advantage of this revulsion of feeling, to
+endeavour to soothe her father's mind to composure. She reminded him that
+he had many friends.
+
+"I had many once," said Sir Arthur; "but of some I have exhausted their
+kindness with my frantic projects; others are unable to assist me--others
+are unwilling. It is all over with me. I only hope Reginald will take
+example by my folly."
+
+"Should I not send to Monkbarns, sir?" said his daughter.
+
+"To what purpose? He cannot lend me such a sum, and would not if he
+could, for he knows I am otherwise drowned in debt; and he would only
+give me scraps of misanthropy and quaint ends of Latin."
+
+"But he is shrewd and sensible, and was bred to business, and, I am sure,
+always loved this family."
+
+"Yes, I believe he did. It is a fine pass we are come to, when the
+affection of an Oldbuck is of consequence to a Wardour! But when matters
+come to extremity, as I suppose they presently will--it may be as well to
+send for him. And now go take your walk, my dear--my mind is more
+composed than when I had this cursed disclosure to make. You know the
+worst, and may daily or hourly expect it. Go take your walk--I would
+willingly be alone for a little while."
+
+When Miss Wardour left the apartment, her first occupation was to avail
+herself of the half permission granted by her father, by despatching to
+Monkbarns the messenger, who, as we have already seen, met the Antiquary
+and his nephew on the sea-beach.
+
+Little recking, and indeed scarce knowing, where she was wandering,
+chance directed her into the walk beneath the Briery Bank, as it was
+called. A brook, which in former days had supplied the castle-moat with
+water, here descended through a narrow dell, up which Miss Wardour's
+taste had directed a natural path, which was rendered neat and easy of
+ascent, without the air of being formally made and preserved. It suited
+well the character of the little glen, which was overhung with thickets
+and underwood, chiefly of larch and hazel, intermixed with the usual
+varieties of the thorn and brier. In this walk had passed that scene of
+explanation between Miss Wardour and Lovel which was overheard by old
+Edie Ochiltree. With a heart softened by the distress which approached
+her family, Miss Wardour now recalled every word and argument which Lovel
+had urged in support of his suit, and could not help confessing to
+herself, it was no small subject of pride to have inspired a young man of
+his talents with a passion so strong and disinterested. That he should
+have left the pursuit of a profession in which he was said to be rapidly
+rising, to bury himself in a disagreeable place like Fairport, and brood
+over an unrequited passion, might be ridiculed by others as romantic, but
+was naturally forgiven as an excess of affection by the person who was
+the object of his attachment. Had he possessed an independence, however
+moderate, or ascertained a clear and undisputed claim to the rank in
+society he was well qualified to adorn, she might now have had it in her
+power to offer her father, during his misfortunes, an asylum in an
+establishment of her own. These thoughts, so favourable to the absent
+lover, crowded in, one after the other, with such a minute recapitulation
+of his words, looks, and actions, as plainly intimated that his former
+repulse had been dictated rather by duty than inclination. Isabella was
+musing alternately upon this subject, and upon that of her father's
+misfortunes, when, as the path winded round a little hillock covered with
+brushwood, the old Blue-Gown suddenly met her.
+
+With an air as if he had something important and mysterious to
+communicate, he doffed his bonnet, and assumed the cautious step and
+voice of one who would not willingly be overheard. "I hae been wishing
+muckle to meet wi' your leddyship--for ye ken I darena come to the house
+for Dousterswivel."
+
+"I heard indeed," said Miss Wardour, dropping an alms into the bonnet--"I
+heard that you had done a very foolish, if not a very bad thing, Edie--
+and I was sorry to hear it."
+
+"Hout, my bonny leddy--fulish? A' the world's fules--and how should auld
+Edie Ochiltree be aye wise?--And for the evil--let them wha deal wi'
+Dousterswivel tell whether he gat a grain mair than his deserts."
+
+"That may be true, Edie, and yet," said Miss Wardour, "you may have been
+very wrong."
+
+"Weel, weel, we'se no dispute that e'ennow--it's about yoursell I'm gaun
+to speak. Div ye ken what's hanging ower the house of Knockwinnock?"
+
+"Great distress, I fear, Edie," answered Miss Wardour; "but I am
+surprised it is already so public."
+
+"Public!--Sweepclean, the messenger, will be there the day wi' a' his
+tackle. I ken it frae ane o' his concurrents, as they ca' them, that's
+warned to meet him; and they'll be about their wark belyve; whare they
+clip, there needs nae kame--they shear close eneugh."
+
+"Are you sure this bad hour, Edie, is so very near?--come, I know, it
+will."
+
+"It's e'en as I tell you, leddy. But dinna be cast down--there's a heaven
+ower your head here, as weel as in that fearful night atween the
+Ballyburghness and the Halket-head. D'ye think He, wha rebuked the
+waters, canna protect you against the wrath of men, though they be armed
+with human authority?"
+
+"It is indeed all we have to trust to."
+
+"Ye dinna ken--ye dinna ken: when the night's darkest, the dawn's
+nearest. If I had a gude horse, or could ride him when I had him, I
+reckon there wad be help yet. I trusted to hae gotten a cast wi' the
+Royal Charlotte, but she's coupit yonder, it's like, at Kittlebrig. There
+was a young gentleman on the box, and he behuved to drive; and Tam Sang,
+that suld hae mair sense, he behuved to let him, and the daft callant
+couldna tak the turn at the corner o' the brig; and od! he took the
+curbstane, and he's whomled her as I wad whomle a toom bicker--it was a
+luck I hadna gotten on the tap o' her. Sae I came down atween hope and
+despair, to see if ye wad send me on."
+
+"And, Edie--where would ye go?" said the young lady.
+
+"To Tannonburgh, my leddy" (which was the first stage from Fairport, but
+a good deal nearer to Knockwinnock), "and that without delay--it's a' on
+your ain business."
+
+"Our business, Edie? Alas! I give you all credit for your good meaning;
+but"--
+
+"There's nae _buts_ about it, my leddy, for gang I maun," said the
+persevering Blue-Gown.
+
+"But what is it that you would do at Tannonburgh?--or how can your going
+there benefit my father's affairs?"
+
+"Indeed, my sweet leddy," said the gaberlunzie, "ye maun just trust that
+bit secret to auld Edie's grey pow, and ask nae questions about it.
+Certainly if I wad hae wared my life for you yon night, I can hae nae
+reason to play an ill pliskie t'ye in the day o' your distress."
+
+"Well, Edie, follow me then," said Miss Wardour, "and I will try to get
+you sent to Tannonburgh."
+
+"Mak haste then, my bonny leddy--mak haste, for the love o' goodness!"--
+and he continued to exhort her to expedition until they reached the
+Castle.
+
+
+
+
+                          CHAPTER TWENTY-FIRST.
+
+               Let those go see who will--I like it not--
+               For, say he was a slave to rank and pomp,
+               And all the nothings he is now divorced from
+                 By the hard doom of stern necessity:
+                 Yet it is sad to mark his altered brow,
+                 Where Vanity adjusts her flimsy veil
+               O'er the deep wrinkles of repentant anguish.
+                                         Old Play.
+
+When Miss Wardour arrived in the court of the Castle, she was apprized by
+the first glance that the visit of the officers of the law had already
+taken place. There was confusion, and gloom and sorrow, and curiosity
+among the domestics, while the retainers of the law went from place to
+place, making an inventory of the goods and chattels falling under their
+warrant of distress, or poinding, as it is called in the law of Scotland.
+Captain M'Intyre flew to her, as, struck dumb with the melancholy
+conviction of her father's ruin, she paused upon the threshold of the
+gateway.
+
+"Dear Miss Wardour," he said, "do not make yourself uneasy; my uncle is
+coming immediately, and I am sure he will find some way to clear the
+house of these rascals."
+
+"Alas! Captain M'Intyre, I fear it will be too late."
+
+"No," answered Edie, impatiently--"could I but get to Tannonburgh. In the
+name of Heaven, Captain, contrive some way to get me on, and ye'll do
+this poor ruined family the best day's doing that has been done them
+since Redhand's days--for as sure as e'er an auld saw came true,
+Knockwinnock house and land will be lost and won this day."
+
+"Why, what good can you do, old man?" said Hector.
+
+But Robert, the domestic with whom Sir Arthur had been so much displeased
+in the morning, as if he had been watching for an opportunity to display
+his zeal, stepped hastily forward and said to his mistress, "If you
+please, ma'am, this auld man, Ochiltree, is very skeely and auld-farrant
+about mony things, as the diseases of cows and horse, and sic like, and I
+am sure be disna want to be at Tannonburgh the day for naething, since he
+insists on't this gate; and, if your leddyship pleases, I'll drive him
+there in the taxed-cart in an hour's time. I wad fain be of some use--I
+could bite my very tongue out when I think on this morning."
+
+"I am obliged to you, Robert," said Miss Wardour; "and if you really
+think it has the least chance of being useful"---
+
+"In the name of God," said the old man, "yoke the cart, Robie, and if I
+am no o' some use, less or mair, I'll gie ye leave to fling me ower
+Kittlebrig as ye come back again. But, O man, haste ye, for time's
+precious this day."
+
+Robert looked at his mistress as she retired into the house, and seeing
+he was not prohibited, flew to the stable-yard, which was adjacent to the
+court, in order to yoke the, carriage; for, though an old beggar was the
+personage least likely to render effectual assistance in a case of
+pecuniary distress, yet there was among the common people of Edie's
+circle, a general idea of his prudence and sagacity, which authorized
+Robert's conclusion that he would not so earnestly have urged the
+necessity of this expedition had he not been convinced of its utility.
+But so soon as the servant took hold of a horse to harness him for the
+taxed-cart, an officer touched him on the shoulder--"My friend, you must
+let that beast alone--he's down in the schedule."
+
+"What!" said Robert, "am I not to take my master's horse to go my young
+leddy's errand?"
+
+"You must remove nothing here," said the man of office, "or you will be
+liable for all consequences."
+
+"What the devil, sir," said Hector, who having followed to examine
+Ochiltree more closely on the nature of his hopes and expectations,
+already began to bristle like one of the terriers of his own native
+mountains, and sought but a decent pretext for venting his displeasure,
+"have you the impudence to prevent the young lady's servant from obeying
+her orders?"
+
+There was something in the air and tone of the young soldier, which
+seemed to argue that his interference was not likely to be confined to
+mere expostulation; and which, if it promised finally the advantages of a
+process of battery and deforcement, would certainly commence with the
+unpleasant circumstances necessary for founding such a complaint. The
+legal officer, confronted with him of the military, grasped with one
+doubtful hand the greasy bludgeon which was to enforce his authority, and
+with the other produced his short official baton, tipped with silver, and
+having a movable ring upon it--"Captain M'Intyre,--Sir, I have no quarrel
+with you,--but if you interrupt me in my duty, I will break the wand of
+peace, and declare myself deforced."
+
+"And who the devil cares," said Hector, totally ignorant of the words of
+judicial action, "whether you declare yourself divorced or married? And
+as to breaking your wand, or breaking the peace, or whatever you call it,
+all I know is, that I will break your bones if you prevent the lad from
+harnessing the horses to obey his mistress's orders."
+
+"I take all who stand here to witness," said the messenger, "that I
+showed him my blazon, and explained my character. He that will to Cupar
+maun to Cupar,"--and he slid his enigmatical ring from one end of the
+baton to the other, being the appropriate symbol of his having been
+forcibly interrupted in the discharge of his duty.
+
+Honest Hector, better accustomed to the artillery of the field than to
+that of the law, saw this mystical ceremony with great indifference; and
+with like unconcern beheld the messenger sit down to write out an
+execution of deforcement. But at this moment, to prevent the well-meaning
+hot-headed Highlander from running the risk of a severe penalty, the
+Antiquary arrived puffing and blowing, with his handkerchief crammed
+under his hat, and his wig upon the end of his stick.
+
+"What the deuce is the matter here?" he exclaimed, hastily adjusting his
+head-gear; "I have been following you in fear of finding your idle
+loggerhead knocked against one rock or other, and here I find you parted
+with your Bucephalus, and quarrelling with Sweepclean. A messenger,
+Hector, is a worse foe than a _phoca,_ whether it be the _phoca barbata,_
+or the _phoca vitulina_ of your late conflict."
+
+"D--n the _phoca,_ sir," said Hector, "whether it be the one or the
+other--I say d--n them both particularly! I think you would not have me
+stand quietly by and see a scoundrel like this, because he calls himself
+a king's messenger, forsooth--(I hope the king has many better for his
+meanest errands)--insult a young lady of family and fashion like Miss
+Wardour?"
+
+"Rightly argued, Hector," said the Antiquary; "but the king, like other
+people, has now and then shabby errands, and, in your ear, must have
+shabby fellows to do them. But even supposing you unacquainted with the
+statutes of William the Lion, in which _capite quarto versu quinto,_ this
+crime of deforcement is termed _despectus Domini Regis_--a contempt, to
+wit, of the king himself, in whose name all legal diligence issues,--
+could you not have inferred, from the information I took so much pains to
+give you to-day, that those who interrupt officers who come to execute
+letters of caption, are _tanquam participes criminis rebellionis?_ seeing
+that he who aids a rebel, is himself, _quodammodo,_ an accessory to
+rebellion--But I'll bring you out of this scrape."
+
+He then spoke to the messenger, who, upon his arrival, had laid aside all
+thoughts of making a good by-job out of the deforcement, and accepted Mr.
+Oldbuck's assurances that the horse and taxed-cart should be safely
+returned in the course of two or three hours.
+
+"Very well, sir," said the Antiquary, "since you are disposed to be so
+civil, you shall have another job in your own best way--a little cast of
+state politics--a crime punishable _per Legem Juliam,_ Mr. Sweepclean--
+Hark thee hither."
+
+And after a whisper of five minutes, he gave him a slip of paper, on
+receiving which, the messenger mounted his horse, and, with one of his
+assistants, rode away pretty sharply. The fellow who remained seemed to
+delay his operations purposely, proceeded in the rest of his duty very
+slowly, and with the caution and precision of one who feels himself
+overlooked by a skilful and severe inspector.
+
+In the meantime, Oldbuck, taking his nephew by the arm, led him into the
+house, and they were ushered into the presence of Sir Arthur Wardour,
+who, in a flutter between wounded pride, agonized apprehension, and vain
+attempts to disguise both under a show of indifference, exhibited a
+spectacle of painful interest.
+
+"Happy to see you, Mr. Oldbuck--always happy to see my friends in fair
+weather or foul," said the poor Baronet, struggling not for composure,
+but for gaiety--an affectation which was strongly contrasted by the
+nervous and protracted grasp of his hand, and the agitation of his whole
+demeanour--"I am happy to see you. You are riding, I see--I hope in this
+confusion your horses are taken good care of--I always like to have my
+friend's horses looked after--Egad! they will have all my care now, for
+you see they are like to leave me none of my own--he! he! he! eh, Mr.
+Oldbuck?"
+
+This attempt at a jest was attended by a hysterical giggle, which poor
+Sir Arthur intended should sound as an indifferent laugh.
+
+"You know I never ride, Sir Arthur," said the Antiquary.
+
+"I beg your pardon; but sure I saw your nephew arrive on horseback a
+short time since. We must look after officers' horses, and his was as
+handsome a grey charger as I have seen."
+
+Sir Arthur was about to ring the bell, when Mr. Oldbuck said, "My nephew
+came on your own grey horse, Sir Arthur."
+
+"Mine!" said the poor Baronet; "mine was it? then the sun had been in my
+eyes. Well, I'm not worthy having a horse any longer, since I don't know
+my own when I see him."
+
+"Good Heaven!" thought Oldbuck, "how is this man altered from the formal
+stolidity of his usual manner!--he grows wanton under adversity--_Sed
+pereunti mille figurae._"--He then proceeded aloud--"Sir Arthur, we must
+necessarily speak a little on business."
+
+"To be sure," said Sir Arthur; "but it was so good that I should not know
+the horse I have ridden these five years--ha! ha! ha!"
+
+"Sir Arthur," said the Antiquary, "don't let us waste time which is
+precious; we shall have, I hope, many better seasons for jesting--
+_desipere in loco_ is the maxim of Horace. I more than suspect this has
+been brought on by the villany of Dousterswivel."
+
+"Don't mention his name, sir!" said Sir Arthur; and his manner entirely
+changed from a fluttered affectation of gaiety to all the agitation of
+fury; his eyes sparkled, his mouth foamed, his hands were clenched--
+"don't mention his name, sir," he vociferated, "unless you would see me
+go mad in your presence! That I should have been such a miserable dolt--
+such an infatuated idiot--such a beast endowed with thrice a beast's
+stupidity, to be led and driven and spur-galled by such a rascal, and
+under such ridiculous pretences!--Mr. Oldbuck, I could tear myself when I
+think of it."
+
+"I only meant to say," answered the Antiquary, "that this fellow is like
+to meet his reward; and I cannot but think we shall frighten something
+out of him that may be of service to you. He has certainly had some
+unlawful correspondence on the other side of the water."
+
+"Has he?--has he?--has he indeed?--then d--n the house-hold goods,
+horses, and so forth--I will go to prison a happy man, Mr. Oldbuck. I
+hope in heaven there's a reasonable chance of his being hanged?"
+
+"Why, pretty fair," said Oldbuck, willing to encourage this diversion, in
+hopes it might mitigate the feelings which seemed like to overset the
+poor man's understanding; "honester men have stretched a rope, or the law
+has been sadly cheated--But this unhappy business of yours--can nothing
+be done? Let me see the charge."
+
+He took the papers; and, as he read them, his countenance grew hopelessly
+dark and disconsolate. Miss Wardour had by this time entered the
+apartment, and fixing her eyes on Mr. Oldbuck, as if she meant to read
+her fate in his looks, easily perceived, from the change in his eye, and
+the dropping of his nether-jaw, how little was to be hoped.
+
+"We are then irremediably ruined, Mr. Oldbuck?" said the young lady.
+
+"Irremediably?--I hope not--but the instant demand is very large, and
+others will, doubtless, pour in."
+
+"Ay, never doubt that, Monkbarns," said Sir Arthur; "where the slaughter
+is, the eagles will be gathered together. I am like a sheep which I have
+seen fall down a precipice, or drop down from sickness--if you had not
+seen a single raven or hooded crow for a fortnight before, he will not
+lie on the heather ten minutes before half-a-dozen will be picking out
+his eyes (and he drew his hand over his own), and tearing at his
+heartstrings before the poor devil has time to die. But that d--d
+long-scented vulture that dogged me so long--you have got him fast, I
+hope?"
+
+"Fast enough," said the Antiquary; "the gentleman wished to take the
+wings of the morning, and bolt in the what d'ye call it,--the coach and
+four there. But he would have found twigs limed for him at Edinburgh. As
+it is, he never got so far, for the coach being overturned--as how could
+it go safe with such a Jonah?--he has had an infernal tumble, is carried
+into a cottage near Kittlebrig, and to prevent all possibility of escape,
+I have sent your friend Sweepclean to bring him back to Fairport _in
+nomine regis,_ or to act as his sick-nurse at Kittlebrig, as is most
+fitting. And now, Sir Arthur, permit me to have some conversation with
+you on the present unpleasant state of your affairs, that we may see what
+can be done for their extrication;" and the Antiquary led the way into
+the library, followed by the unfortunate gentleman.
+
+They had been shut up together for about two hours, when Miss Wardour
+interrupted them with her cloak on as if prepared for a journey. Her
+countenance was very pale, yet expressive of the composure which
+characterized her disposition.
+
+"The messenger is returned, Mr. Oldbuck."
+
+"Returned?--What the devil! he has not let the fellow go?"
+
+"No--I understand he has carried him to confinement; and now he is
+returned to attend my father, and says he can wait no longer."
+
+A loud wrangling was now heard on the staircase, in which the voice of
+Hector predominated. "You an officer, sir, and these ragamuffins a party!
+a parcel of beggarly tailor fellows--tell yourselves off by nine, and we
+shall know your effective strength."
+
+The grumbling voice of the man of law was then heard indistinctly
+muttering a reply, to which Hector retorted--"Come, come, sir, this won't
+do;--march your party, as you call them, out of this house directly, or
+I'll send you and them to the right about presently."
+
+"The devil take Hector," said the Antiquary, hastening to the scene of
+action; "his Highland blood is up again, and we shall have him fighting a
+duel with the bailiff. Come, Mr. Sweepclean, you must give us a little
+time--I know you would not wish to hurry Sir Arthur."
+
+"By no means, sir," said the messenger, putting his hat off, which he had
+thrown on to testify defiance of Captain M'Intyre's threats; "but your
+nephew, sir, holds very uncivil language, and I have borne too much of it
+already; and I am not justified in leaving my prisoner any longer after
+the instructions I received, unless I am to get payment of the sums
+contained in my diligence." And he held out the caption, pointing with
+the awful truncheon, which he held in his right hand, to the formidable
+line of figures jotted upon the back thereof.
+
+Hector, on the other hand, though silent from respect to his uncle,
+answered this gesture by shaking his clenched fist at the messenger with
+a frown of Highland wrath.
+
+"Foolish boy, be quiet," said Oldbuck, "and come with me into the room--
+the man is doing his miserable duty, and you will only make matters worse
+by opposing him.--I fear, Sir Arthur, you must accompany this man to
+Fairport; there is no help for it in the first instance--I will accompany
+you, to consult what further can be done--My nephew will escort Miss
+Wardour to Monkbarns, which I hope she will make her residence until
+these unpleasant matters are settled."
+
+"I go with my father, Mr. Oldbuck," said Miss Wardour firmly--"I have
+prepared his clothes and my own--I suppose we shall have the use of the
+carriage?"
+
+"Anything in reason, madam," said the messenger; "I have ordered it out,
+and it's at the door--I will go on the box with the coachman--I have no
+desire to intrude--but two of the concurrents must attend on horseback."
+
+"I will attend too," said Hector, and he ran down to secure a horse for
+himself.
+
+"We must go then," said the Antiquary.
+
+"To jail," said the Baronet, sighing involuntarily. "And what of that?"
+he resumed, in a tone affectedly cheerful--"it is only a house we can't
+get out of, after all--Suppose a fit of the gout, and Knockwinnock would
+be the same--Ay, ay, Monkbarns--we'll call it a fit of the gout without
+the d--d pain."
+
+But his eyes swelled with tears as he spoke, and his faltering accent
+marked how much this assumed gaiety cost him. The Antiquary wrung his
+hand, and, like the Indian Banians, who drive the real terms of an
+important bargain by signs, while they are apparently talking of
+indifferent matters, the hand of Sir Arthur, by its convulsive return of
+the grasp, expressed his sense of gratitude to his friend, and the real
+state of his internal agony.--They stepped slowly down the magnificent
+staircase--every well-known object seeming to the unfortunate father and
+daughter to assume a more prominent and distinct appearance than usual,
+as if to press themselves on their notice for the last time.
+
+At the first landing-place, Sir Arthur made an agonized pause; and as he
+observed the Antiquary look at him anxiously, he said with assumed
+dignity--"Yes, Mr. Oldbuck, the descendant of an ancient line--the
+representative of Richard Redhand and Gamelyn de Guardover, may be
+pardoned a sigh when he leaves the castle of his fathers thus poorly
+escorted. When I was sent to the Tower with my late father, in the year
+1745, it was upon a charge becoming our birth--upon an accusation of high
+treason, Mr. Oldbuck;--we were escorted from Highgate by a troop of
+life-guards, and committed upon a secretary of state's warrant; and now,
+here I am, in my old age, dragged from my household by a miserable
+creature like that" (pointing to the messenger), "and for a paltry
+concern of pounds, shillings, and pence."
+
+"At least," said Oldbuck, "you have now the company of a dutiful
+daughter, and a sincere friend, if you will permit me to say so, and that
+may be some consolation, even without the certainty that there can be no
+hanging, drawing, or quartering, on the present occasion. But I hear that
+choleric boy as loud as ever. I hope to God he has got into no new
+broil!--it was an accursed chance that brought him here at all."
+
+In fact, a sudden clamour, in which the loud voice and somewhat northern
+accent of Hector was again preeminently distinguished, broke off this
+conversation. The cause we must refer to the next chapter.
+
+
+
+                         CHAPTER TWENTY-SECOND.
+
+           Fortune, you say, flies from us--She but circles,
+           Like the fleet sea-bird round the fowler's skiff,--
+               Lost in the mist one moment, and the next
+               Brushing the white sail with her whiter wing,
+               As if to court the aim.--Experience watches,
+                                And has her on the wheel--
+                                               Old Play.
+
+The shout of triumph in Hector's warlike tones was not easily
+distinguished from that of battle. But as he rushed up stairs with a
+packet in his hand, exclaiming, "Long life to an old soldier! here comes
+Edie with a whole budget of good news!" it became obvious that his
+present cause of clamour was of an agreeable nature. He delivered the
+letter to Oldbuck, shook Sir Arthur heartily by the hand, and wished Miss
+Wardour joy, with all the frankness of Highland congratulation. The
+messenger, who had a kind of instinctive terror for Captain M'Intyre,
+drew towards his prisoner, keeping an eye of caution on the soldier's
+motions.
+
+"Don't suppose I shall trouble myself about you, you dirty fellow," said
+the soldier; "there's a guinea for the fright I have given you; and here
+comes an old _forty-two_ man, who is a fitter match for you than I am."
+
+The messenger (one of those dogs who are not too scornful to eat dirty
+puddings) caught in his hand the guinea which Hector chucked at his face;
+and abode warily and carefully the turn which matters were now to take.
+All voices meanwhile were loud in inquiries, which no one was in a hurry
+to answer.
+
+"What is the matter, Captain M'Intyre?" said Sir Arthur.
+
+"Ask old Edie," said Hector;--"I only know all's safe and well."
+
+"What is all this, Edie?" said Miss Wardour to the mendicant.
+
+"Your leddyship maun ask Monkbarns, for he has gotten the yepistolary
+correspondensh."
+
+"God save the king!" exclaimed the Antiquary at the first glance at the
+contents of his packet, and, surprised at once out of decorum,
+philosophy, and phlegm, he skimmed his cocked hat in the air, from which
+it descended not again, being caught in its fall by a branch of the
+chandelier. He next, looking joyously round, laid a grasp on his wig,
+which he perhaps would have sent after the beaver, had not Edie stopped
+his hand, exclaiming "Lordsake! he's gaun gyte!--mind Caxon's no here to
+repair the damage."
+
+Every person now assailed the Antiquary, clamouring to know the cause of
+so sudden a transport, when, somewhat ashamed of his rapture, he fairly
+turned tail, like a fox at the cry of a pack of hounds, and ascending the
+stair by two steps at a time, gained the upper landing-place, where,
+turning round, he addressed the astonished audience as follows:--
+
+"My good friends, _favete linguis_--To give you information, I must
+first, according to logicians, be possessed of it myself; and, therefore,
+with your leaves, I will retire into the library to examine these papers
+--Sir Arthur and Miss Wardour will have the goodness to step into the
+parlour--Mr. Sweepclean, _secede paulisper,_ or, in your own language,
+grant us a supersedere of diligence for five minutes--Hector, draw off
+your forces, and make your bear-garden flourish elsewhere--and, finally,
+be all of good cheer till my return, which will be _instanter._"
+
+The contents of the packet were indeed so little expected, that the
+Antiquary might be pardoned, first his ecstasy, and next his desire of
+delaying to communicate the intelligence they conveyed, until it was
+arranged and digested in his own mind.
+
+Within the envelope was a letter addressed to Jonathan Oldbuck, Esq. of
+Monkbarns, of the following purport:--
+
+"Dear Sir,--To you, as my father's proved and valued friend, I venture to
+address myself, being detained here by military duty of a very pressing
+nature. You must by this time be acquainted with the entangled state of
+our affairs; and I know it will give you great pleasure to learn, that I
+am as fortunately as unexpectedly placed in a situation to give effectual
+assistance for extricating them. I understand Sir Arthur is threatened
+with severe measures by persons who acted formerly as his agents; and, by
+advice of a creditable man of business here, I have procured the enclosed
+writing, which I understand will stop their proceedings until their claim
+shall be legally discussed, and brought down to its proper amount. I also
+enclose bills to the amount of one thousand pounds to pay any other
+pressing demands, and request of your friendship to apply them according
+to your discretion. You will be surprised I give you this trouble, when
+it would seem more natural to address my father directly in his own
+affairs. But I have yet had no assurance that his eyes are opened to the
+character of a person against whom you have often, I know, warned him,
+and whose baneful influence has been the occasion of these distresses.
+And as I owe the means of relieving Sir Arthur to the generosity of a
+matchless friend, it is my duty to take the most certain measures for the
+supplies being devoted to the purpose for which they were destined,--and
+I know your wisdom and kindness will see that it is done. My friend, as
+he claims an interest in your regard, will explain some views of his own
+in the enclosed letter. The state of the post-office at Fairport being
+rather notorious, I must send this letter to Tannonburgh; but the old man
+Ochiltree, whom particular circumstances have recommended as trustworthy,
+has information when the packet is likely to reach that place, and will
+take care to forward it. I expect to have soon an opportunity to
+apologize in person for the trouble I now give, and have the honour to be
+your very faithful servant,
+
+"Reginald Gamelyn Wardour."
+"Edinburgh, 6th August, 179-."
+
+
+The Antiquary hastily broke the seal of the enclosure, the contents of
+which gave him equal surprise and pleasure. When he had in some measure
+composed himself after such unexpected tidings, he inspected the other
+papers carefully, which all related to business--put the bills into his
+pocket-book, and wrote a short acknowledgment to be despatched by that
+day's post, for he was extremely methodical in money matters--and lastly,
+fraught with all the importance of disclosure, he descended to the
+parlour.
+
+"Sweepclean," said he, as he entered, to the officer who stood
+respectfully at the door, "you must sweep yourself clean out of
+Knockwinnock Castle, with all your followers, tag-rag and bob-tail. Seest
+thou this paper, man?"
+
+"A sist on a bill o' suspension," said the messenger, with a disappointed
+look;--"I thought it would be a queer thing if ultimate diligence was to
+be done against sic a gentleman as Sir Arthur--Weel, sir, I'se go my ways
+with my party--And who's to pay my charges?"
+
+"They who employed thee," replied Oldbuck, "as thou full well dost know.
+--But here comes another express: this is a day of news, I think."
+
+This was Mr. Mailsetter on his mare from Fairport, with a letter for Sir
+Arthur, another to the messenger, both of which, he said, he was directed
+to forward instantly. The messenger opened his, observing that Greenhorn
+and Grinderson were good enough men for his expenses, and here was a
+letter from them desiring him to stop the diligence. Accordingly, he
+immediately left the apartment, and staying no longer than to gather his
+posse together, he did then, in the phrase of Hector, who watched his
+departure as a jealous mastiff eyes the retreat of a repulsed beggar,
+evacuate Flanders.
+
+Sir Arthur's letter was from Mr. Greenhorn, and a curiosity in its way.
+We give it, with the worthy Baronet's comments.
+
+"Sir--[Oh! I am _dear_ sir no longer; folks are only dear to Messrs.
+Greenhorn and Grinderson when they are in adversity]--Sir, I am much
+concerned to learn, on my return from the country, where I was called on
+particular business [a bet on the sweepstakes, I suppose], that my
+partner had the impropriety, in my absence, to undertake the concerns of
+Messrs. Goldiebirds in preference to yours, and had written to you in an
+unbecoming manner. I beg to make my most humble apology, as well as Mr.
+Grindersons--[come, I see he can write for himself and partner too]--and
+trust it is impossible you can think me forgetful of, or ungrateful for,
+the constant patronage which my family [_his_ family! curse him for a
+puppy!] have uniformly experienced from that of Knockwinnock. I am sorry
+to find, from an interview I had this day with Mr. Wardour, that he is
+much irritated, and, I must own, with apparent reason. But in order to
+remedy as much as in me lies the mistake of which he complains [pretty
+mistake, indeed! to clap his patron into jail], I have sent this express
+to discharge all proceedings against your person or property; and at the
+same time to transmit my respectful apology. I have only to add, that Mr.
+Grinderson is of opinion, that if restored to your confidence, he could
+point out circumstances connected with Messrs. Goldiebirds' present claim
+which would greatly reduce its amount [so, so, willing to play the rogue
+on either side]; and that there is not the slightest hurry in settling
+the balance of your accompt with us; and that I am, for Mr. G. as well as
+myself, Dear Sir [O ay, he has written himself into an approach to
+familiarity], your much obliged and most humble servant,
+
+"Gilbert Greenhorn."
+
+
+"Well said, Mr. Gilbert Greenhorn," said Monkbarns; "I see now there is
+some use in having two attorneys in one firm. Their movements resemble
+those of the man and woman in a Dutch baby-house. When it is fair weather
+with the client, out comes the gentleman partner to fawn like a spaniel;
+when it is foul, forth bolts the operative brother to pin like a
+bull-dog. Well, I thank God that my man of business still wears an
+equilateral cocked hat, has a house in the Old Town, is as much afraid of
+a horse as I am myself, plays at golf of a Saturday, goes to the kirk of
+a Sunday, and, in respect he has no partner, hath only his own folly to
+apologize for."
+
+"There are some writers very honest fellows," said Hector; "I should like
+to hear any one say that my cousin, Donald M'Intyre, Strathtudlem's
+seventh son (the other six are in the army), is not as honest a fellow"--
+
+"No doubt, no doubt, Hector, all the M'Intyres are so; they have it by
+patent, man--But I was going to say, that in a profession where unbounded
+trust is necessarily reposed, there is nothing surprising that fools
+should neglect it in their idleness, and tricksters abuse it in their
+knavery. But it is the more to the honour of those (and I will vouch for
+many) who unite integrity with skill and attention, and walk honourably
+upright where there are so many pitfalls and stumbling-blocks for those
+of a different character. To such men their fellow citizens may safely
+entrust the care of protecting their patrimonial rights, and their
+country the more sacred charge of her laws and privileges."
+
+"They are best aff, however, that hae least to do with them," said
+Ochiltree, who had stretched his neck into the parlour door; for the
+general confusion of the family not having yet subsided, the domestics,
+like waves after the fall of a hurricane, had not yet exactly regained
+their due limits, but were roaming wildly through the house.
+
+"Aha, old Truepenny, art thou there?" said the Antiquary. "Sir Arthur,
+let me bring in the messenger of good luck, though he is but a lame one.
+You talked of the raven that scented out the slaughter from afar; but
+here's a blue pigeon (somewhat of the oldest and toughest, I grant) who
+smelled the good news six or seven miles off, flew thither in the
+taxed-cart, and returned with the olive branch."
+
+"Ye owe it o' to puir Robie that drave me;--puir fallow," said the
+beggar, "he doubts he's in disgrace wi' my leddy and Sir Arthur."
+
+Robert's repentant and bashful face was seen over the mendicant's
+shoulder.
+
+"In disgrace with me?" said Sir Arthur--"how so?"--for the irritation
+into which he had worked himself on occasion of the toast had been long
+forgotten. "O, I recollect--Robert, I was angry, and you were wrong;--go
+about your work, and never answer a master that speaks to you in a
+passion."
+
+"Nor any one else," said the Antiquary; "for a soft answer turneth away
+wrath."
+
+"And tell your mother, who is so ill with the rheumatism, to come down to
+the housekeeper to-morrow," said Miss Wardour, "and we will see what can
+be of service to her."
+
+"God bless your leddyship," said poor Robert, "and his honour Sir Arthur,
+and the young laird, and the house of Knockwinnock in a' its branches,
+far and near!--it's been a kind and gude house to the puir this mony
+hundred years."
+
+"There"--said the Antiquary to Sir Arthur--"we won't dispute--but there
+you see the gratitude of the poor people naturally turns to the civil
+virtues of your family. You don't hear them talk of Redhand, or
+Hell-in-Harness. For me, I must say, _Odi accipitrem qui semper vivit in
+armis_--so let us eat and drink in peace, and be joyful, Sir Knight."
+
+A table was quickly covered in the parlour, where the party sat joyously
+down to some refreshment. At the request of Oldbuck, Edie Ochiltree was
+permitted to sit by the sideboard in a great leathern chair, which was
+placed in some measure behind a screen.
+
+"I accede to this the more readily," said Sir Arthur, "because I remember
+in my fathers days that chair was occupied by Ailshie Gourlay, who, for
+aught I know, was the last privileged fool, or jester, maintained by any
+family of distinction in Scotland."
+
+"Aweel, Sir Arthur," replied the beggar, who never hesitated an instant
+between his friend and his jest, "mony a wise man sits in a fule's seat,
+and mony a fule in a wise man's, especially in families o' distinction."
+
+Miss Wardour, fearing the effect of this speech (however worthy of
+Ailsbie Gourlay, or any other privileged jester) upon the nerves of her
+father, hastened to inquire whether ale and beef should not be
+distributed to the servants and people whom the news had assembled round
+the Castle.
+
+"Surely, my love," said her father; "when was it ever otherwise in our
+families when a siege had been raised?"
+
+"Ay, a siege laid by Saunders Sweepclean the bailiff, and raised by Edie
+Ochiltree the gaberlunzie, _par nobile fratrum,_" said Oldbuck, "and well
+pitted against each other in respectability. But never mind, Sir Arthur--
+these are such sieges and such reliefs as our time of day admits of--and
+our escape is not less worth commemorating in a glass of this excellent
+wine--Upon my credit, it is Burgundy, I think."
+
+"Were there anything better in the cellar," said Miss Wardour, "it would
+be all too little to regale you after your friendly exertions."
+
+"Say you so?" said the Antiquary: "why, then, a cup of thanks to you, my
+fair enemy, and soon may you be besieged as ladies love best to be, and
+sign terms of capitulation in the chapel of Saint Winnox!"
+
+Miss Wardour blushed--Hector coloured, and then grew pale.
+
+Sir Arthur answered, "My daughter is much obliged to you, Monkbarns; but
+unless you'll accept of her yourself, I really do not know where a poor
+knight's daughter is to seek for an alliance in these mercenary times."
+
+"Me, mean ye, Sir Arthur? No, not I! I will claim privilege of the
+duello, and, as being unable to encounter my fair enemy myself, I will
+appear by my champion--But of this matter hereafter. What do you find in
+the papers there, Hector, that you hold your head down over them as if
+your nose were bleeding?"
+
+"Nothing particular, sir; but only that, as my arm is now almost quite
+well, I think I shall relieve you of my company in a day or two, and go
+to Edinburgh. I see Major Neville is arrived there. I should like to see
+him."
+
+"Major whom?" said his uncle.
+
+"Major Neville, sir," answered the young soldier.
+
+"And who the devil is Major Neville?" demanded the Antiquary.
+
+"O, Mr. Oldbuck," said Sir Arthur, "you must remember his name frequently
+in the newspapers--a very distinguished young officer indeed. But I am
+happy to say that Mr. M'Intyre need not leave Monkbarns to see him, for
+my son writes that the Major is to come with him to Knockwinnock, and I
+need not say how happy I shall be to make the young gentlemen
+acquainted,--unless, indeed, they are known to each other already."
+
+"No, not personally," answered Hector, "but I have had occasion to hear a
+good deal of him, and we have several mutual friends--your son being one
+of them. But I must go to Edinburgh; for I see my uncle is beginning to
+grow tired of me, and I am afraid"--
+
+"That you will grow tired of him?" interrupted Oldbuck,--"I fear that's
+past praying for. But you have forgotten that the ecstatic twelfth of
+August approaches, and that you are engaged to meet one of Lord
+Glenallan's gamekeepers, God knows where, to persecute the peaceful
+feathered creation."
+
+"True, true, uncle--I had forgot that," exclaimed the volatile Hector;
+"but you said something just now that put everything out of my head."
+
+"An it like your honours," said old Edie, thrusting his white bead from
+behind the screen, where he had been plentifully regaling himself with
+ale and cold meat--"an it like your honours, I can tell ye something that
+will keep the Captain wi' us amaist as weel as the pouting--Hear ye na
+the French are coming?"
+
+"The French, you blockhead?" answered Oldbuck--"Bah!"
+
+"I have not had time," said Sir Arthur Wardour, "to look over my
+lieutenancy correspondence for the week--indeed, I generally make a rule
+to read it only on Wednesdays, except in pressing cases,--for I do
+everything by method; but from the glance I took of my letters, I
+observed some alarm was entertained."
+
+"Alarm?" said Edie, "troth there's alarm, for the provost's gar'd the
+beacon light on the Halket-head be sorted up (that suld hae been sorted
+half a year syne) in an unco hurry, and the council hae named nae less a
+man than auld Caxon himsell to watch the light. Some say it was out o'
+compliment to Lieutenant Taffril,--for it's neist to certain that he'll
+marry Jenny Caxon,--some say it's to please your honour and Monkbarns
+that wear wigs--and some say there's some auld story about a periwig that
+ane o' the bailies got and neer paid for--Onyway, there he is, sitting
+cockit up like a skart upon the tap o' the craig, to skirl when foul
+weather comes."
+
+"On mine honour, a pretty warder," said Monkbarns; "and what's my wig to
+do all the while?"
+
+"I asked Caxon that very question," answered Ochiltree, "and he said he
+could look in ilka morning, and gie't a touch afore he gaed to his bed,
+for there's another man to watch in the day-time, and Caxon says he'll
+friz your honour's wig as weel sleeping as wauking."
+
+This news gave a different turn to the conversation, which ran upon
+national defence, and the duty of fighting for the land we live in, until
+it was time to part. The Antiquary and his nephew resumed their walk
+homeward, after parting from Knockwinnock with the warmest expressions of
+mutual regard, and an agreement to meet again as soon as possible.
+
+
+
+
+                          CHAPTER TWENTY-THIRD.
+
+              Nay, if she love me not, I care not for her:
+              Shall I look pale because the maiden blooms
+              Or sigh because she smiles, and smiles on others
+              Not I, by Heaven!--I hold my peace too dear,
+                    To let it, like the plume upon her cap,
+             Shake at each nod that her caprice shall dictate.
+                                          Old Play.
+
+"Hector," said his uncle to Captain M'Intyre, in the course of their walk
+homeward, "I am sometimes inclined to suspect that, in one respect, you
+are a fool."
+
+"If you only think me so in _one_ respect, sir, I am sure you do me more
+grace than I expected or deserve."
+
+"I mean in one particular _par excellence,_" answered the Antiquary. "I
+have sometimes thought that you have cast your eyes upon Miss Wardour."
+
+"Well, sir," said M'Intyre, with much composure.
+
+"Well, sir," echoed his uncle--"Deuce take the fellow! he answers me as
+if it were the most reasonable thing in the world, that he, a captain in
+the array, and nothing at all besides, should marry the daughter of a
+baronet."
+
+"I presume to think, sir," said the young Highlander, "there would be no
+degradation on Miss Wardour's part in point of family."
+
+"O, Heaven forbid we should come on that topic!--No, no, equal both--both
+on the table-land of gentility, and qualified to look down on every
+_roturier_ in Scotland."
+
+"And in point of fortune we are pretty even, since neither of us have got
+any," continued Hector. "There may be an error, but I cannot plead guilty
+to presumption."
+
+"But here lies the error, then, if you call it so," replied his uncle:
+"she won't have you, Hector."
+
+"Indeed, sir?"
+
+"It is very sure, Hector; and to make it double sure, I must inform you
+that she likes another man. She misunderstood some words I once said to
+her, and I have since been able to guess at the interpretation she put on
+them. At the time I was unable to account for her hesitation and
+blushing; but, my poor Hector, I now understand them as a death-signal to
+your hopes and pretensions. So I advise you to beat your retreat and draw
+off your forces as well as you can, for the fort is too well garrisoned
+for you to storm it."
+
+"I have no occasion to beat any retreat, uncle," said Hector, holding
+himself very upright, and marching with a sort of dogged and offended
+solemnity; "no man needs to retreat that has never advanced. There are
+women in Scotland besides Miss Wardour, of as good family"--
+
+"And better taste," said his uncle; "doubtless there are, Hector; and
+though I cannot say but that she is one of the most accomplished as well
+as sensible girls I have seen, yet I doubt, much of her merit would be
+cast away on you. A showy figure, now, with two cross feathers above her
+noddle--one green, one blue; who would wear a riding-habit of the
+regimental complexion, drive a gig one day, and the next review the
+regiment on the grey trotting pony which dragged that vehicle, _hoc erat
+in votis;_--these are the qualities that would subdue you, especially if
+she had a taste for natural history, and loved a specimen of a _phoca._"
+
+"It's a little hard, sir," said Hector, "I must have that cursed seal
+thrown into my face on all occasions--but I care little about it--and I
+shall not break my heart for Miss Wardour. She is free to choose for
+herself, and I wish her all happiness."
+
+"Magnanimously resolved, thou prop of Troy! Why, Hector, I was afraid of
+a scene. Your sister told me you were desperately in love with Miss
+Wardour."
+
+"Sir," answered the young man, "you would not have me desperately in love
+with a woman that does not care about me?"
+
+"Well, nephew," said the Antiquary, more seriously, "there is doubtless
+much sense in what you say; yet I would have given a great deal, some
+twenty or twenty-five years since, to have been able to think as you do."
+
+"Anybody, I suppose, may think as they please on such subjects," said
+Hector.
+
+"Not according to the old school," said Oldbuck; "but, as I said before,
+the practice of the modern seems in this case the most prudential,
+though, I think, scarcely the most interesting. But tell me your ideas
+now on this prevailing subject of an invasion. The cry is still, They
+come."
+
+Hector, swallowing his mortification, which he was peculiarly anxious to
+conceal from his uncle's satirical observation, readily entered into a
+conversation which was to turn the Antiquary's thoughts from Miss Wardour
+and the seal. When they reached Monkbarns, the communicating to the
+ladies the events which had taken place at the castle, with the
+counter-information of how long dinner had waited before the womankind
+had ventured to eat it in the Antiquary's absence, averted these delicate
+topics of discussion.
+
+The next morning the Antiquary arose early, and, as Caxon had not yet
+made his appearance, he began mentally to feel the absence of the petty
+news and small talk of which the ex-peruquier was a faithful reporter,
+and which habit had made as necessary to the Antiquary as his occasional
+pinch of snuff, although he held, or affected to hold, both to be of the
+same intrinsic value. The feeling of vacuity peculiar to such a
+deprivation, was alleviated by the appearance of old Ochiltree,
+sauntering beside the clipped yew and holly hedges, with the air of a
+person quite at home. Indeed, so familiar had he been of late, that even
+Juno did not bark at him, but contented herself with watching him with a
+close and vigilant eye. Our Antiquary stepped out in his night-gown, and
+instantly received and returned his greeting.
+
+"They are coming now, in good earnest, Monkbarns. I just cam frae
+Fairport to bring ye the news, and then I'll step away back again. The
+Search has just come into the bay, and they say she's been chased by a
+French fleet.
+
+"The Search?" said Oldbuck, reflecting a moment. "Oho!"
+
+"Ay, ay, Captain Taffril's gun-brig, the Search."
+
+"What? any relation to _Search, No. II. ?_" said Oldbuck, catching at the
+light which the name of the vessel seemed to throw on the mysterious
+chest of treasure.
+
+The mendicant, like a man detected in a frolic, put his bonnet before his
+face, yet could not help laughing heartily.--"The deil's in you,
+Monkbarns, for garring odds and evens meet. Wha thought ye wad hae laid
+that and that thegither? Od, I am clean catch'd now."
+
+"I see it all," said Oldbuck, "as plain as the legend on a medal of high
+preservation--the box in which the' bullion was found belonged to the
+gun-brig, and the treasure to my phoenix?"--(Edie nodded assent),--"and
+was buried there that Sir Arthur might receive relief in his
+difficulties?"
+
+"By me," said Edie, "and twa o' the brig's men--but they didna ken its
+contents, and thought it some bit smuggling concern o' the Captain's. I
+watched day and night till I saw it in the right hand; and then, when
+that German deevil was glowering at the lid o' the kist (they liked
+mutton weel that licked where the yowe lay), I think some Scottish deevil
+put it into my head to play him yon ither cantrip. Now, ye see, if I had
+said mair or less to Bailie Littlejohn, I behoved till hae come out wi'
+a' this story; and vexed would Mr. Lovel hae been to have it brought to
+light--sae I thought I would stand to onything rather than that."
+
+"I must say he has chosen his confidant well," said Oldbuck, "though
+somewhat strangely."
+
+"I'll say this for mysell, Monkbarns," answered the mendicant, "that I am
+the fittest man in the haill country to trust wi' siller, for I neither
+want it, nor wish for it, nor could use it if I had it. But the lad hadna
+muckle choice in the matter, for he thought he was leaving the country
+for ever (I trust he's mistaen in that though); and the night was set in
+when we learned, by a strange chance, Sir Arthur's sair distress, and
+Lovel was obliged to be on board as the day dawned. But five nights
+afterwards the brig stood into the bay, and I met the boat by
+appointment, and we buried the treasure where ye fand it."
+
+"This was a very romantic, foolish exploit," said Oldbuck: "why not trust
+me, or any other friend?"
+
+"The blood o' your sister's son," replied Edie, "was on his hands, and
+him maybe dead outright--what time had he to take counsel?--or how could
+he ask it of you, by onybody?"
+
+"You are right. But what if Dousterswivel had come before you?"
+
+"There was little fear o' his coming there without Sir Arthur: he had
+gotten a sair gliff the night afore, and never intended to look near the
+place again, unless he had been brought there sting and ling. He ken'd
+weel the first pose was o' his ain hiding, and how could he expect a
+second? He just havered on about it to make the mair o' Sir Arthur."
+
+"Then how," said Oldbuck, "should Sir Arthur have come there unless the
+German had brought him?"
+
+"Umph!" answered Edie drily. "I had a story about Misticot wad hae
+brought him forty miles, or you either. Besides, it was to be thought he
+would be for visiting the place he fand the first siller in--he ken'd na
+the secret o' that job. In short, the siller being in this shape, Sir
+Arthur in utter difficulties, and Lovel determined he should never ken
+the hand that helped him,--for that was what he insisted maist upon,--we
+couldna think o' a better way to fling the gear in his gate, though we
+simmered it and wintered it e'er sae lang. And if by ony queer mischance
+Doustercivil had got his claws on't, I was instantly to hae informed you
+or the Sheriff o' the haill story."
+
+"Well, notwithstanding all these wise precautions, I think your
+contrivance succeeded better than such a clumsy one deserved, Edie. But
+how the deuce came Lovel by such a mass of silver ingots?"
+
+"That's just what I canna tell ye--But they were put on board wi' his
+things at Fairport, it's like, and we stowed them into ane o' the
+ammunition-boxes o' the brig, baith for concealment and convenience of
+carriage."
+
+"Lord!" said Oldbuck, his recollection recurring to the earlier part of
+his acquaintance with Lovel; "and this young fellow, who was putting
+hundreds on so strange a hazard, I must be recommending a subscription to
+him, and paying his bill at the Ferry! I never will pay any person's bill
+again, that's certain.--And you kept up a constant correspondence with
+Lovel, I suppose?"
+
+"I just gat ae bit scrape o' a pen frae him, to say there wad, as
+yesterday fell, be a packet at Tannonburgh, wi' letters o' great
+consequence to the Knockwinnock folk; for they jaloused the opening of
+our letters at Fairport--And that's a's true; I hear Mrs. Mailsetter is
+to lose her office for looking after other folk's business and neglecting
+her ain."
+
+"And what do you expect now, Edie, for being the adviser, and messenger,
+and guard, and confidential person in all these matters?"
+
+"Deil haet do I expect--excepting that a' the gentles will come to the
+gaberlunzie's burial; and maybe ye'll carry the head yoursell, as ye did
+puir Steenie Mucklebackit's.--What trouble was't to me? I was ganging
+about at ony rate--Oh, but I was blythe when I got out of Prison, though;
+for I thought, what if that weary letter should come when I am closed up
+here like an oyster, and a' should gang wrang for want o't? and whiles I
+thought I maun mak a clean breast and tell you a' about it; but then I
+couldna weel do that without contravening Mr. Lovel's positive orders;
+and I reckon he had to see somebody at Edinburgh afore he could do what
+he wussed to do for Sir Arthur and his family."
+
+"Well, and to your public news, Edie--So they are still coming are they?"
+
+"Troth they say sae, sir; and there's come down strict orders for the
+forces and volunteers to be alert; and there's a clever young officer to
+come here forthwith, to look at our means o' defence--I saw the Bailies
+lass cleaning his belts and white breeks--I gae her a hand, for ye maun
+think she wasna ower clever at it, and sae I gat a' the news for my
+pains."
+
+"And what think you, as an old soldier?"
+
+"Troth I kenna--an they come so mony as they speak o', they'll be odds
+against us. But there's mony yauld chields amang thae volunteers; and I
+mauna say muckle about them that's no weel and no very able, because I am
+something that gate mysell--But we'se do our best."
+
+"What! so your martial spirit is rising again, Edie?
+
+                Even in our ashes glow their wonted fires!
+
+I would not have thought you, Edie, had so much to fight for?"
+
+"_Me_ no muckle to fight for, sir?--isna there the country to fight for,
+and the burnsides that I gang daundering beside, and the hearths o'the
+gudewives that gie me my bit bread, and the bits o' weans that come
+toddling to play wi' me when I come about a landward town?--Deil!" he
+continued, grasping his pike-staff with great emphasis, "an I had as gude
+pith as I hae gude-will, and a gude cause, I should gie some o' them a
+day's kemping."
+
+"Bravo, bravo, Edie! The country's in little ultimate danger, when the
+beggar's as ready to fight for his dish as the laird for his land."
+
+Their further conversation reverted to the particulars of the night
+passed by the mendicant and Lovel in the ruins of St. Ruth; by the
+details of which the Antiquary was highly amused.
+
+"I would have given a guinea," he said, "to have seen the scoundrelly
+German under the agonies of those terrors, which it is part of his own
+quackery to inspire into others; and trembling alternately for the fury
+of his patron, and the apparition of some hobgoblin."
+
+"Troth," said the beggar, "there was time for him to be cowed; for ye wad
+hae thought the very spirit of Hell-in-Harness had taken possession o'
+the body o' Sir Arthur. But what will come o' the land-louper?"
+
+"I have had a letter this morning, from which I understand he has
+acquitted you of the charge he brought against you, and offers to make
+such discoveries as will render the settlement of Sir Arthur's affairs a
+more easy task than we apprehended--So writes the Sheriff; and adds, that
+he has given some private information of importance to Government, in
+consideration of which, I understand he will be sent back to play the
+knave in his own country."
+
+"And a' the bonny engines, and wheels, and the coves, and sheughs, doun
+at Glenwithershins yonder, what's to come o' them?" said Edie.
+
+"I hope the men, before they are dispersed, will make a bonfire of their
+gimcracks, as an army destroy their artillery when forced to raise a
+siege. And as for the holes, Edie, I abandon them as rat-traps, for the
+benefit of the next wise men who may choose to drop the substance to
+snatch at a shadow."
+
+"Hech, sirs! guide us a'! to burn the engines? that's a great waste--Had
+ye na better try to get back part o' your hundred pounds wi' the sale o'
+the materials?" he continued, with a tone of affected condolence.
+
+"Not a farthing," said the Antiquary, peevishly, taking a turn from him,
+and making a step or two away. Then returning, half-smiling at his own
+pettishness, he said, "Get thee into the house, Edie, and remember my
+counsel, never speak to me about a mine, nor to my nephew Hector about a
+_phoca,_ that is a sealgh, as you call it."
+
+"I maun be ganging my ways back to Fairport," said the wanderer; "I want
+to see what they're saying there about the invasion;--but I'll mind what
+your honour says, no to speak to you about a sealgh, or to the Captain
+about the hundred pounds that you gied to Douster"--
+
+"Confound thee!--I desired thee not to mention that to me."
+
+"Dear me!" said Edie, with affected surprise; "weel, I thought there was
+naething but what your honour could hae studden in the way o' agreeable
+conversation, unless it was about the Praetorian yonder, or the bodle
+that the packman sauld to ye for an auld coin."
+
+"Pshaw! pshaw!" said the Antiquary, turning from him hastily, and
+retreating into the house.
+
+The mendicant looked after him a moment, and with a chuckling laugh, such
+as that with which a magpie or parrot applauds a successful exploit of
+mischief, he resumed once more the road to Fairport. His habits had given
+him a sort of restlessness, much increased by the pleasure he took in
+gathering news; and in a short time he had regained the town which he
+left in the morning, for no reason that he knew himself, unless just to
+"hae a bit crack wi' Monkbarns."
+
+
+
+
+                         CHAPTER TWENTY-FOURTH.
+
+                    Red glared the beacon on Pownell
+                        On Skiddaw there were three;
+                    The bugle horn on moor and fell
+                        Was heard continually.
+                                     James Hogg.
+
+The watch who kept his watch on the hill, and looked towards Birnam,
+probably conceived himself dreaming when he first beheld the fated grove
+put itself into motion for its march to Dunsinane. Even so old Caxon, as
+perched in his hut, he qualified his thoughts upon the approaching
+marriage of his daughter, and the dignity of being father-in-law to
+Lieutenant Taffril, with an occasional peep towards the signal-post with
+which his own corresponded, was not a little surprised by observing a
+light in that direction. He rubbed his eyes, looked again, adjusting his
+observation by a cross-staff which had been placed so as to bear upon the
+point. And behold, the light increased, like a comet to the eye of the
+astronomer, "with fear of change perplexing nations."
+
+"The Lord preserve us!" said Caxon, "what's to be done now? But there
+will be wiser heads than mine to look to that, sae I'se e'en fire the
+beacon."
+
+And he lighted the beacon accordingly, which threw up to the sky a long
+wavering train of light, startling the sea-fowl from their nests, and
+reflected far beneath by the reddening billows of the sea. The brother
+warders of Caxon being equally diligent, caught, and repeated his signal.
+The lights glanced on headlands and capes and inland hills, and the whole
+district was alarmed by the signal of invasion. *
+
+* Note J. Alarms of Invasion.
+
+Our Antiquary, his head wrapped warm in two double night-caps, was
+quietly enjoying his repose, when it was suddenly broken by the screams
+of his sister, his niece, and two maid-servants.
+
+"What the devil is the matter?" said he, starting up in his bed--
+"womankind in my room at this hour of night!--are ye all mad?"
+
+"The beacon, uncle!" said Miss M'Intyre.
+
+"The French coming to murder us!" screamed Miss Griselda.
+
+"The beacon! the beacon!--the French! the French!--murder! murder! and
+waur than murder!"--cried the two handmaidens, like the chorus of an
+opera.
+
+"The French?" said Oldbuck, starting up--"get out of the room, womankind
+that you are, till I get my things on--And hark ye, bring me my sword."
+
+"Whilk o' them, Monkbarns?" cried his sister, offering a Roman falchion
+of brass with the one hand, and with the other an Andrea Ferrara without
+a handle.
+
+"The langest, the langest," cried Jenny Rintherout, dragging in a
+two-handed sword of the twelfth century.
+
+"Womankind," said Oldbuck in great agitation, "be composed, and do not
+give way to vain terror--Are you sure they are come?"
+
+"Sure, sure!" exclaimed Jenny--"ower sure!--a' the sea fencibles, and the
+land fencibles, and the volunteers and yeomanry, are on fit, and driving
+to Fairport as hard as horse and man can gang--and auld Mucklebackit's
+gane wi' the lave--muckle gude he'll do!--Hech, sirs!--_he'll_ be missed
+the morn wha wad hae served king and country weel!"
+
+"Give me," said Oldbuck, "the sword which my father wore in the year
+forty-five--it hath no belt or baldrick--but we'll make shift."
+
+So saying he thrust the weapon through the cover of his breeches pocket.
+At this moment Hector entered, who had been to a neighbouring height to
+ascertain whether the alarm was actual.
+
+"Where are your arms, nephew?" exclaimed Oldbuck--"where is your
+double-barrelled gun, that was never out of your hand when there was no
+occasion for such vanities?"
+
+"Pooh! pooh! sir," said Hector, "who ever took a fowling-piece on action?
+I have got my uniform on, you see--I hope I shall be of more use if they
+will give me a command than I could be with ten double-barrels. And you,
+sir, must get to Fairport, to give directions for quartering and
+maintaining the men and horses, and preventing confusion."
+
+"You are right, Hector,--l believe I shall do as much with my head as my
+hand too. But here comes Sir Arthur Wardour, who, between ourselves, is
+not fit to accomplish much either one way or the other."
+
+Sir Arthur was probably of a different opinion; for, dressed in his
+lieutenancy uniform, he was also on the road to Fairport, and called in
+his way to take Mr. Oldbuck with him, having had his original opinion of
+his sagacity much confirmed by late events. And in spite of all the
+entreaties of the womankind that the Antiquary would stay to garrison
+Monkbarns, Mr. Oldbuck, with his nephew, instantly accepted Sir Arthur's
+offer.
+
+Those who have witnessed such a scene can alone conceive the state of
+bustle in Fairport. The windows were glancing with a hundred lights,
+which, appearing and disappearing rapidly, indicated the confusion within
+doors. The women of lower rank assembled and clamoured in the
+market-place. The yeomanry, pouring from their different glens, galloped
+through the streets, some individually, some in parties of five or six,
+as they had met on the road. The drums and fifes of the volunteers
+beating to arms, were blended with the voice of the officers, the sound
+of the bugles, and the tolling of the bells from the steeple. The ships
+in the harbour were lit up, and boats from the armed vessels added to the
+bustle, by landing men and guns destined to assist in the defence of the
+place. This part of the preparations was superintended by Taffril with
+much activity. Two or three light vessels had already slipped their
+cables and stood out to sea, in order to discover the supposed enemy.
+
+Such was the scene of general confusion, when Sir Arthur Wardour,
+Oldbuck, and Hector, made their way with difficulty into the principal
+square, where the town-house is situated. It was lighted up, and the
+magistracy, with many of the neighbouring gentlemen, were assembled. And
+here, as upon other occasions of the like kind in Scotland, it was
+remarkable how the good sense and firmness of the people supplied almost
+all the deficiencies of inexperience.
+
+The magistrates were beset by the quarter-masters of the different corps
+for billets for men and horses. "Let us," said Bailie Littlejohn, "take
+the horses into our warehouses, and the men into our parlours--share our
+supper with the one, and our forage with the other. We have made
+ourselves wealthy under a free and paternal government, and now is the
+time to show we know its value."
+
+A loud and cheerful acquiescence was given by all present, and the
+substance of the wealthy, with the persons of those of all ranks, were
+unanimously devoted to the defence of the country.
+
+Captain M'Intyre acted on this occasion as military adviser and
+aide-de-camp to the principal magistrate, and displayed a degree of
+presence of mind, and knowledge of his profession, totally unexpected by
+his uncle, who, recollecting his usual _insouciance_ and impetuosity,
+gazed at him with astonishment from time to time, as he remarked the calm
+and steady manner in which he explained the various measures of
+precaution that his experience suggested, and gave directions for
+executing them. He found the different corps in good order, considering
+the irregular materials of which they were composed, in great force of
+numbers and high confidence and spirits. And so much did military
+experience at that moment overbalance all other claims to consequence,
+that even old Edie, instead of being left, like Diogenes at Sinope, to
+roll his tub when all around were preparing for defence, had the duty
+assigned him of superintending the serving out of the ammunition, which
+he executed with much discretion.
+
+Two things were still anxiously expected--the presence of the Glenallan
+volunteers, who, in consideration of the importance of that family, had
+been formed into a separate corps, and the arrival of the officer before
+announced, to whom the measures of defence on that coast had been
+committed by the commander-in-chief, and whose commission would entitle
+him to take upon himself the full disposal of the military force.
+
+At length the bugles of the Glenallan yeomanry were heard, and the Earl
+himself, to the surprise of all who knew his habits and state of health,
+appeared at their head in uniform. They formed a very handsome and
+well-mounted squadron, formed entirely out of the Earl's Lowland tenants,
+and were followed by a regiment of five hundred men, completely equipped
+in the Highland dress, whom he had brought down from the upland glens,
+with their pipes playing in the van. The clean and serviceable appearance
+of this band of feudal dependants called forth the admiration of Captain
+M'Intyre; but his uncle was still more struck by the manner in which,
+upon this crisis, the ancient military spirit of his house seemed to
+animate and invigorate the decayed frame of the Earl, their leader. He
+claimed, and obtained for himself and his followers, the post most likely
+to be that of danger, displayed great alacrity in making the necessary
+dispositions, and showed equal acuteness in discussing their propriety.
+Morning broke in upon the military councils of Fairport, while all
+concerned were still eagerly engaged in taking precautions for their
+defence.
+
+At length a cry among the people announced, "There's the brave Major
+Neville come at last, with another officer;" and their post-chaise and
+four drove into the square, amidst the huzzas of the volunteers and
+inhabitants. The magistrates, with their assessors of the lieutenancy,
+hastened to the door of their town-house to receive him; but what was the
+surprise of all present, but most especially that of the Antiquary, when
+they became aware, that the handsome uniform and military cap disclosed
+the person and features of the pacific Lovel! A warm embrace, and a
+hearty shake of the hand, were necessary to assure him that his eyes were
+doing him justice. Sir Arthur was no less surprised to recognise his son,
+Captain Wardour, in Lovel's, or rather Major Neville's company. The first
+words of the young officers were a positive assurance to all present,
+that the courage and zeal which they had displayed were entirely thrown
+away, unless in so far as they afforded an acceptable proof of their
+spirit and promptitude.
+
+"The watchman at Halket-head," said Major Neville, "as we discovered by
+an investigation which we made in our route hither, was most naturally
+misled by a bonfire which some idle people had made on the hill above
+Glenwithershins, just in the line of the beacon with which his
+corresponded."
+
+Oldbuck gave a conscious look to Sir Arthur, who returned it with one
+equally sheepish, and a shrug of the shoulders,
+
+"It must have been the machinery which we condemned to the flames in our
+wrath," said the Antiquary, plucking up heart, though not a little
+ashamed of having been the cause of so much disturbance--"The devil take
+Dousterswivel with all my heart!--I think he has bequeathed us a legacy
+of blunders and mischief, as if he had lighted some train of fireworks at
+his departure. I wonder what cracker will go off next among our shins.
+But yonder comes the prudent Caxon.--Hold up your head, you ass--your
+betters must bear the blame for you--And here, take this what-d'ye-call
+it"--(giving him his sword)--"I wonder what I would have said yesterday
+to any man that would have told me I was to stick such an appendage to my
+tail."
+
+Here he found his arm gently pressed by Lord Glenallan, who dragged him
+into a separate apartment. "For God's sake, who is that young gentleman
+who is so strikingly like"--
+
+"Like the unfortunate Eveline," interrupted Oldbuck. "I felt my heart
+warm to him from the first, and your lordship has suggested the very
+cause."
+
+"But who--who is he?" continued Lord Glenallan, holding the Antiquary
+with a convulsive grasp.
+
+"Formerly I would have called him Lovel, but now he turns out to be Major
+Neville."
+
+"Whom my brother brought up as his natural son--whom he made his heir--
+Gracious Heaven! the child of my Eveline!"
+
+"Hold, my lord--hold!" said Oldbuck, "do not give too hasty way to such a
+presumption;--what probability is there?"
+
+"Probability? none! There is certainty! absolute certainty! The agent I
+mentioned to you wrote me the whole story--I received it yesterday, not
+sooner. Bring him, for God's sake, that a father's eyes may bless him
+before he departs."
+
+"I will; but for your own sake and his, give him a few moments for
+preparation."
+
+And, determined to make still farther investigation before yielding his
+entire conviction to so strange a tale, he sought out Major Neville, and
+found him expediting the necessary measures for dispersing the force
+which had been assembled.
+
+"Pray, Major Neville, leave this business for a moment to Captain Wardour
+and to Hector, with whom, I hope, you are thoroughly reconciled" (Neville
+laughed, and shook hands with Hector across the table), "and grant me a
+moment's audience."
+
+"You have a claim on me, Mr. Oldbuck, were my business more urgent," said
+Neville, "for having passed myself upon you under a false name, and
+rewarding your hospitality by injuring your nephew."
+
+"You served him as he deserved," said Oldbuck--"though, by the way, he
+showed as much good sense as spirit to-day--Egad! if he would rub up his
+learning, and read Caesar and Polybus, and the _Stratagemata Polyaeni,_ I
+think he would rise in the army--and I will certainly lend him a lift."
+
+"He is heartily deserving of it," said Neville; "and I am glad you excuse
+me, which you may do the more frankly, when you know that I am so
+unfortunate as to have no better right to the name of Neville, by which I
+have been generally distinguished, than to that of Lovel, under which you
+knew me."
+
+"Indeed! then, I trust, we shall find out one for you to which you shall
+have a firm and legal title."
+
+"Sir!--I trust you do not think the misfortune of my birth a fit
+subject"--
+
+"By no means, young man," answered the Antiquary, interrupting him;--"I
+believe I know more of your birth than you do yourself--and, to convince
+you of it, you were educated and known as a natural son of Geraldin
+Neville of Neville's-Burgh, in Yorkshire, and I presume, as his destined
+heir?"
+
+"Pardon me--no such views were held out to me. I was liberally educated,
+and pushed forward in the army by money and interest; but I believe my
+supposed father long entertained some ideas of marriage, though he never
+carried them into effect."
+
+"You say your _supposed_ father?--What leads you to suppose Mr. Geraldin
+Neville was not your real father?"
+
+"I know, Mr. Oldbuck, that you would not ask these questions on a point
+of such delicacy for the gratification of idle curiosity. I will
+therefore tell you candidly, that last year, while we occupied a small
+town in French Flanders, I found in a convent, near which I was
+quartered, a woman who spoke remarkably good English--She was a Spaniard
+--her name Teresa D'Acunha. In the process of our acquaintance, she
+discovered who I was, and made herself known to me as the person who had
+charge of my infancy. She dropped more than one hint of rank to which I
+was entitled, and of injustice done to me, promising a more full
+disclosure in case of the death of a lady in Scotland, during whose
+lifetime she was determined to keep the secret. She also intimated that
+Mr. Geraldin Neville was not my father. We were attacked by the enemy,
+and driven from the town, which was pillaged with savage ferocity by the
+republicans. The religious orders were the particular objects of their
+hate and cruelty. The convent was burned, and several nuns perished--
+among others Teresa; and with her all chance of knowing the story of my
+birth: tragic by all accounts it must have been."
+
+"_Raro antecedentem scelestum,_ or, as I may here say, _scelestam,_" said
+Oldbuck, "_deseruit poena_--even Epicureans admitted that. And what did
+you do upon this?"
+
+"I remonstrated with Mr. Neville by letter, and to no purpose. I then
+obtained leave of absence, and threw myself at his feet, conjuring him to
+complete the disclosure which Teresa had begun. He refused, and, on my
+importunity, indignantly upbraided me with the favours he had already
+conferred. I thought he abused the power of a benefactor, as he was
+compelled to admit he had no title to that of a father, and we parted in
+mutual displeasure. I renounced the name of Neville, and assumed that
+under which you knew me. It was at this time, when residing with a friend
+in the north of England who favoured my disguise, that I became
+acquainted with Miss Wardour, and was romantic enough to follow her to
+Scotland. My mind wavered on various plans of life, when I resolved to
+apply once more to Mr. Neville for an explanation of the mystery of my
+birth. It was long ere I received an answer; you were present when it was
+put into my hands. He informed me of his bad state of health, and
+conjured me, for my own sake, to inquire no farther into the nature of
+his connection with me, but to rest satisfied with his declaring it to be
+such and so intimate, that he designed to constitute me his heir. When I
+was preparing to leave Fairport to join him, a second express brought me
+word that he was no more. The possession of great wealth was unable to
+suppress the remorseful feelings with which I now regarded my conduct to
+my benefactor, and some hints in his letter appearing to intimate there
+was on my birth a deeper stain than that of ordinary illegitimacy, I
+remembered certain prejudices of Sir Arthur."
+
+"And you brooded over these melancholy ideas until you were ill, instead
+of coming to me for advice, and telling me the whole story?" said
+Oldbuck.
+
+"Exactly; then came my quarrel with Captain M'Intyre, and my compelled
+departure from Fairport and its vicinity."
+
+"From love and from poetry--Miss Wardour and the Caledoniad?"
+
+"Most true."
+
+"And since that time you have been occupied, I suppose, with plans for
+Sir Arthur's relief?"
+
+"Yes, sir; with the assistance of Captain Wardour at Edinburgh."
+
+"And Edie Ochiltree here--you see I know the whole story. But how came
+you by the treasure?"
+
+"It was a quantity of plate which had belonged to my uncle, and was left
+in the custody of a person at Fairport. Some time before his death he had
+sent orders that it should be melted down. He perhaps did not wish me to
+see the Glenallan arms upon it."
+
+"Well, Major Neville--or let me say, Lovel, being the name in which I
+rather delight--you must, I believe, exchange both of your _alias's_ for
+the style and title of the Honourable William Geraldin, commonly called
+Lord Geraldin."
+
+The Antiquary then went through the strange and melancholy circumstances
+concerning his mother's death.
+
+"I have no doubt," he said, "that your uncle wished the report to be
+believed, that the child of this unhappy marriage was no more--perhaps he
+might himself have an eye to the inheritance of his brother--he was then
+a gay wild young man--But of all intentions against your person, however
+much the evil conscience of Elspeth might lead her to inspect him from
+the agitation in which he appeared, Teresa's story and your own fully
+acquit him. And now, my dear sir, let me have the pleasure of introducing
+a son to a father."
+
+We will not attempt to describe such a meeting. The proofs on all sides
+were found to be complete, for Mr. Neville had left a distinct account of
+the whole transaction with his confidential steward in a sealed packet,
+which was not to be opened until the death of the old Countess; his
+motive for preserving secrecy so long appearing to have been an
+apprehension of the effect which the discovery, fraught with so much
+disgrace, must necessarily produce upon her haughty and violent temper.
+
+In the evening of that day, the yeomanry and volunteers of Glenallan
+drank prosperity to their young master. In a month afterwards Lord
+Geraldin was married to Miss Wardour, the Antiquary making the lady a
+present of the wedding ring--a massy circle of antique chasing, bearing
+the motto of Aldobrand Oldenbuck, _Kunst macht gunst._
+
+Old Edie, the most important man that ever wore a blue gown, bowls away
+easily from one friend's house to another, and boasts that he never
+travels unless on a sunny day. Latterly, indeed, he has given some
+symptoms of becoming stationary, being frequently found in the corner of
+a snug cottage between Monkbarns and Knockwinnock, to which Caxon
+retreated upon his daughter's marriage, in order to be in the
+neighbourhood of the three parochial wigs, which he continues to keep in
+repair, though only for amusement. Edie has been heard to say, "This is a
+gey bein place, and it's a comfort to hae sic a corner to sit in in a bad
+day." It is thought, as he grows stiffer in the joints, he will finally
+settle there.
+
+The bounty of such wealthy patrons as Lord and Lady Geraldin flowed
+copiously upon Mrs. Hadoway and upon the Mucklebackits. By the former it
+was well employed, by the latter wasted. They continue, however, to
+receive it, but under the administration of Edie Ochiltree; and they do
+not accept it without grumbling at the channel through which it is
+conveyed.
+
+Hector is rising rapidly in the army, and has been more than once
+mentioned in the Gazette, and rises proportionally high in his uncle's
+favour; and what scarcely pleases the young soldier less, he has also
+shot two seals, and thus put an end to the Antiquary's perpetual harping
+upon the story of the _phoca._People talk of a marriage between Miss
+M'Intyre and Captain Wardour; but this wants confirmation.
+
+The Antiquary is a frequent visitor at Knockwinnock and Glenallan House,
+ostensibly for the sake of completing two essays, one on the mail-shirt
+of the Great Earl, and the other on the left-hand gauntlet of
+Hell-in-Harness. He regularly inquires whether Lord Geraldin has
+commenced the Caledoniad, and shakes his head at the answers he
+receives._En attendant,_ however, he has completed his notes, which, we
+believe, will be at the service of any one who chooses to make them
+public without risk or expense to THE ANTIQUARY.
+
+
+
+
+
+                         NOTES TO THE ANTIQUARY.
+
+
+
+Note A, p. #.--Mottoes.
+
+["It was in correcting the proof-sheets of this novel that Scott first
+took to equipping his chapters with mottoes of his own fabrication. On
+one occasion he happened to ask John Ballantyne, who was sitting by him,
+to hunt for a particular passage in Beaumont and Fletcher. John did as he
+was bid, but did not succeed in discovering the lines. 'Hang it,
+Johnnie,' cried Scott, 'I believe I can make a motto sooner than you will
+find one.' He did so accordingly; and from that hour, whenever memory
+failed to suggest an appropriate epigraph, he had recourse to the
+inexhaustible mines of "old play" or "old ballad," to which we owe some
+of the most exquisite verses that ever flowed from his pen."--_J. G.
+Lockhart._
+
+See also the Introduction to "Chronicles of the Canongate," vol. xix.]
+
+
+
+Note B, p. #.--Sandy Gordon's Itinerarium.
+
+[This well-known work, the "Itinerarium Septentrionale, or a Journey
+thro' most of the Counties of Scotland, and those in the North of
+England," was published at London in 1727, folio. The author states, that
+in prosecuting his work he "made a pretty laborious progress through
+almost every part of Scotland for three years successively." Gordon was
+a native of Aberdeenshire, and had previously spent some years in
+travelling abroad, probably as a tutor. He became Secretary to the London
+Society of Antiquaries in 1736. This office be resigned in 1741, and soon
+after went out to South Carolina with Governor Glen, where he obtained a
+considerable grant of land. On his death, about the year 1753, he is said
+to have left "a handsome estate to his family."--See _Literary Anecdotes
+of Bowyer,_ by John Nichols, vol. v., p. 329, etc.]
+
+
+
+Note C, p. #.--Praetorium.
+
+It may be worth while to mention that the incident of the supposed
+Praetorium actually happened to an antiquary of great learning and
+acuteness, Sir John Clerk of Penicuik, one of the Barons of the Scottish
+Court of Exchequer, and a parliamentary commissioner for arrangement of
+the Union between England and Scotland. As many of his writings show, Sir
+John was much attached to the study of Scottish antiquities. He had a
+small property in Dumfriesshire, near the Roman station on the hill
+called Burrenswark. Here he received the distinguished English
+antiquarian Roger Gale, and of course conducted him to see this
+remarkable spot, where the lords of the world have left such decisive
+marks of their martial labours.
+
+An aged shepherd whom they had used as a guide, or who had approached
+them from curiosity, listened with mouth agape to the dissertations on
+foss and vellum, ports _dextra, sinistra,_ and _decumana,_ which Sir John
+Clerk delivered _ex cathedra,_ and his learned visitor listened with the
+deference to the dignity of a connoisseur on his own ground. But when the
+cicerone proceeded to point out a small hillock near the centre of the
+enclosure as the Praetorium, Corydon's patience could hold no longer,
+and, like Edie Ochiltree, he forgot all reverence, and broke in with
+nearly the same words--"Praetorium here, Praetorium there, I made the
+bourock mysell with a flaughter-spade." The effect of this undeniable
+evidence on the two lettered sages may be left to the reader's
+imagination.
+
+The late excellent and venerable John Clerk of Eldin, the celebrated
+author of _Naval Tactics,_ used to tell this story with glee, and being a
+younger son of Sir John's was perhaps present on the occasion.
+
+
+
+Note D, p. #.--Mr. Rutherfurd's Dream
+
+The legend of Mrs. Grizel Oldbuck was partly taken from an extraordinary
+story which happened about seventy years since, in the South of Scotland,
+so peculiar in its circumstances that it merits being mentioned in this
+place. Mr. Rutherfurd of Bowland, a gentleman of landed property in the
+vale of Gala, was prosecuted for a very considerable sum, the accumulated
+arrears of teind (or tithe) for which he was said to be indebted to a
+noble family, the titulars (lay impropriators of the tithes). Mr.
+Rutherfurd was strongly impressed with the belief that his father had, by
+a form of process peculiar to the law of Scotland, purchased these lands
+from the titular, and therefore that the present prosecution was
+groundless. But, after an industrious search among his father's papers,
+an investigation of the public records, and a careful inquiry among all
+persons who had transacted law business for his father, no evidence could
+be recovered to support his defence. The period was now near at hand when
+he conceived the loss of his lawsuit to be inevitable, and he had formed
+his determination to ride to Edinburgh next day, and make the best
+bargain he could in the way of compromise. He went to bed with this
+resolution and, with all the circumstances of the case floating upon his
+mind, had a dream to the following purpose:--His father, who had been
+many years dead, appeared to him, he thought, and asked him why he was
+disturbed in his mind. In dreams men are not surprised at such
+apparitions. Mr. Rutherfurd thought that he informed his father of the
+cause of his distress, adding that the payment of a considerable sum of
+money was the more unpleasant to him, because he had a strong
+consciousness that it was not due, though he was unable to recover any
+evidence in support of his belief, "You are right, my son," replied the
+paternal shade; "I did acquire right to these teinds, for payment of
+which you are now prosecuted. The papers relating to the transaction are
+in the hands of Mr.--, a writer (or attorney), who is now retired from
+professional business, and resides at Inveresk, near Edinburgh. He was a
+person whom I employed on that occasion for a particular reason, but who
+never on any other occasion transacted business on my account. It is very
+possible," pursued the vision, "that Mr.--may have forgotten a matter
+which is now of a very old date; but you may call it to his recollection
+by this token, that when I came to pay his account, there was difficulty
+in getting change for a Portugal piece of gold, and that we were forced
+to drink out the balance at a tavern."
+
+Mr. Rutherfurd awakened in the morning with all the words of the vision
+imprinted on his mind, and thought it worth while to ride across the
+country to Inveresk, instead of going straight to Edinburgh. When he came
+there he waited on the gentleman mentioned in the dream, a very old man;
+without saying anything of the vision, he inquired whether he remembered
+having conducted such a matter for his deceased father. The old gentleman
+could not at first bring the circumstance to his recollection, but on
+mention of the Portugal piece of gold, the whole returned upon his
+memory; he made an immediate search for the papers, and recovered them,--
+so that Mr. Rutherfurd carried to Edinburgh the documents necessary to
+gain the cause which he was on the verge of losing.
+
+The author has often heard this story told by persons who had the best
+access to know the facts, who were not likely themselves to be deceived,
+and were certainly incapable of deception. He cannot therefore refuse to
+give it credit, however extraordinary the circumstances may appear. The
+circumstantial character of the information given in the dream, takes it
+out of the general class of impressions of the kind which are occasioned
+by the fortuitous coincidence of actual events with our sleeping
+thoughts. On the other hand, few will suppose that the laws of nature
+were suspended, and a special communication from the dead to the living
+permitted, for the purpose of saving Mr. Rutherfurd a certain number of
+hundred pounds. The author's theory is, that the dream was only the
+recapitulation of information which Mr. Rutherfurd had really received
+from his father while in life, but which at first he merely recalled as a
+general impression that the claim was settled. It is not uncommon for
+persons to recover, during sleep, the thread of ideas which they have
+lost during their waking hours.
+
+It may be added, that this remarkable circumstance was attended with bad
+consequences to Mr. Rutherfurd; whose health and spirits were afterwards
+impaired by the attention which he thought himself obliged to pay to the
+visions of the night.
+
+
+
+Note E, p. #.--Nick-sticks.
+
+A sort of tally generally used by bakers of the olden time in settling
+with their customers. Each family had its own nick-stick, and for each
+loaf as delivered a notch was made on the stick. Accounts in Exchequer,
+kept by the same kind of check, may have occasioned the Antiquary's
+partiality. In Prior's time the English bakers had the same sort of
+reckoning.
+
+                   Have you not seen a baker's maid,
+                   Between two equal panniers sway'd?
+                   Her tallies useless lie and idle,
+                     If placed exactly in the middle.
+
+
+
+Note F, p. #.--Witchcraft.
+
+A great deal of stuff to the same purpose with that placed in the mouth
+of the German adept, may be found in Reginald Scott's _Discovery of
+Witchcraft,_ Third Edition, folio, London, 1665. The Appendix is
+entitled, "An Excellent Discourse of the Nature and Substances of Devils
+and Spirits, in two Books; the first by the aforesaid author (Reginald
+Scott), the Second now added in this Third Edition as succedaneous to the
+former, and conducing to the completing of the whole work." This Second
+Book, though stated as succedaneous to the first, is, in fact, entirely
+at variance with it; for the work of Reginald Scott is a compilation of
+the absurd and superstitious ideas concerning witches so generally
+entertained at the time, and the pretended conclusion is a serious
+treatise on the various means of conjuring astral spirits.
+
+[Scott's _Discovery of Witchcraft_ was first published in the reign of
+Queen Elizabeth, London, 1584.]
+
+
+
+Note G, p. #.--Gyneocracy.
+
+In the fishing villages on the Firths of Forth and Tay, as well as
+elsewhere in Scotland, the government is gyneocracy, as described in the
+text. In the course of the late war, and during the alarm of invasion, a
+fleet of transports entered the Firth of Forth under the convoy of some
+ships of war, which would reply to no signals. A general alarm was
+excited, in consequence of which, all the fishers, who were enrolled as
+sea-fencibles, got on board the gun-boats which they were to man as
+occasion should require, and sailed to oppose the supposed enemy. The
+foreigners proved to be Russians, with whom we were then at peace. The
+county gentlemen of Mid-Lothian, pleased with the zeal displayed by the
+sea-fencibles at a critical moment, passed a vote for presenting the
+community of fishers with a silver punch-bowl, to be used on occasions of
+festivity. But the fisher-women, on hearing what was intended, put in
+their claim to have some separate share in the intended honorary reward.
+The men, they said, were their husbands; it was they who would have been
+sufferers if their husbands had been killed, and it was by their
+permission and injunctions that they embarked on board the gun-boats for
+the public service. They therefore claimed to share the reward in some
+manner which should distinguish the female patriotism which they had
+shown on the occasion. The gentlemen of the county willingly admitted the
+claim; and without diminishing the value of their compliment to the men,
+they made the females a present of a valuable broach, to fasten the plaid
+of the queen of the fisher-women for the time.
+
+It may be further remarked, that these Nereids are punctilious among
+themselves, and observe different ranks according to the commodities they
+deal in. One experienced dame was heard to characterise a younger damsel
+as "a puir silly thing, who had no ambition, and would never," she
+prophesied, "rise above the _mussel-line_ of business."
+
+
+
+Note H, p. #.--Battle of Harlaw.
+
+The great battle of Harlaw, here and formerly referred to, might be said
+to determine whether the Gaelic or the Saxon race should be predominant
+in Scotland. Donald, Lord of the Isles, who had at that period the power
+of an independent sovereign, laid claim to the Earldom of Ross during the
+Regency of Robert, Duke of Albany. To enforce his supposed right, he
+ravaged the north with a large army of Highlanders and Islesmen. He was
+encountered at Harlaw, in the Garioch, by Alexander, Earl of Mar, at the
+head of the northern nobility and gentry of Saxon and Norman descent. The
+battle was bloody and indecisive; but the invader was obliged to retire
+in consequence of the loss he sustained, and afterwards was compelled to
+make submission to the Regent, and renounce his pretensions to Ross; so
+that all the advantages of the field were gained by the Saxons. The
+battle of Harlaw was fought 24th July 1411.
+
+
+
+Note I, p. #.--Elspeth's death.
+
+The concluding circumstance of Elspeth's death is taken from an incident
+said to have happened at the funeral of John, Duke of Roxburghe. All who
+were acquainted with that accomplished nobleman must remember that he was
+not more remarkable for creating and possessing a most curious and
+splendid library, than for his acquaintance with the literary treasures
+it contained. In arranging his books, fetching and replacing the volumes
+which he wanted, and carrying on all the necessary intercourse which a
+man of letters holds with his library, it was the Duke's custom to
+employ, not a secretary or librarian, but a livery servant, called
+Archie, whom habit had made so perfectly acquainted with the library,
+that he knew every book, as a shepherd does the individuals of his flock,
+by what is called head-mark, and could bring his master whatever volume
+he wanted, and afford all the mechanical aid the Duke required in his
+literary researches. To secure the attendance of Archie, there was a bell
+hung in his room, which was used on no occasion except to call him
+individually to the Duke's study.
+
+His Grace died in Saint James's Square, London, in the year 1804; the
+body was to be conveyed to Scotland, to lie in state at his mansion of
+Fleurs, and to be removed from thence to the family burial-place at
+Bowden.
+
+At this time, Archie, who had been long attacked by a liver-complaint,
+was in the very last stage of that disease. Yet he prepared himself to
+accompany the body of the master whom he had so long and so faithfully
+waited upon. The medical persons assured him he could not survive the
+journey. It signified nothing, he said, whether he died in England or
+Scotland; he was resolved to assist in rendering the last honours to the
+kind master from whom he had been inseparable for so many years, even if
+he should expire in the attempt. The poor invalid was permitted to attend
+the Duke's body to Scotland; but when they reached Fleurs he was totally
+exhausted, and obliged to keep his bed, in a sort of stupor which
+announced speedy dissolution. On the morning of the day fixed for
+removing the dead body of the Duke to the place of burial, the private
+bell by which he was wont to summon his attendant to his study was rung
+violently. This might easily happen in the confusion of such a scene,
+although the people of the neighbourhood prefer believing that the bell
+sounded of its own accord. Ring, however, it did; and Archie, roused by
+the well-known summons, rose up in his bed, and faltered, in broken
+accents, "Yes, my Lord Duke--yes--I will wait on your Grace instantly;"
+and with these words on his lips he is said to have fallen back and
+expired.
+
+
+
+Note J, p. #.--Alarm of invasion.
+
+The story of the false alarm at Fairport, and the consequences, are taken
+from a real incident. Those who witnessed the state of Britain, and of
+Scotland in particular, from the period that succeeded the war which
+commenced in 1803 to the battle of Trafalgar, must recollect those times
+with feelings which we can hardly hope to make the rising generation
+comprehend. Almost every individual was enrolled either in a military or
+civil capacity, for the purpose of contributing to resist the
+long-suspended threats of invasion, which were echoed from every quarter.
+Beacons were erected along the coast, and all through the country, to
+give the signal for every one to repair to the post where his peculiar
+duty called him, and men of every description fit to serve held
+themselves in readiness on the shortest summons. During this agitating
+period, and on the evening of the 2d February 1804, the person who kept
+watch on the commanding station of Home Castle, being deceived by some
+accidental fire in the county of Northumberland, which he took for the
+corresponding signal-light in that county with which his orders were to
+communicate, lighted up his own beacon. The signal was immediately
+repeated through all the valleys on the English Border. If the beacon at
+Saint Abb's Head had been fired, the alarm would have run northward, and
+roused all Scotland. But the watch at this important point judiciously
+considered, that if there had been an actual or threatened descent on our
+eastern sea-coast, the alarm would have come along the coast and not from
+the interior of the country.
+
+Through the Border counties the alarm spread with rapidity, and on no
+occasion when that country was the scene of perpetual and unceasing war,
+was the summons to arms more readily obeyed. In Berwickshire,
+Roxburghshire, and Selkirkshire, the volunteers and militia got under
+arms with a degree of rapidity and alacrity which, considering the
+distance individuals lived from each other, had something in it very
+surprising--they poured to the alarm-posts on the sea-coast in a state so
+well armed and so completely appointed, with baggage, provisions, etc.,
+as was accounted by the best military judges to render them fit for
+instant and effectual service.
+
+There were some particulars in the general alarm which are curious and
+interesting. The men of Liddesdale, the most remote point to the westward
+which the alarm reached, were so much afraid of being late in the field,
+that they put in requisition all the horses they could find, and when
+they had thus made a forced march out of their own country, they turned
+their borrowed steeds loose to find their way back through the hills, and
+they all got back safe to their own stables. Another remarkable
+circumstance was, the general cry of the inhabitants of the smaller towns
+for arms, that they might go along with their companions. The
+Selkirkshire Yeomanry made a remarkable march, for although some of the
+individuals lived at twenty and thirty miles' distance from the place
+where they mustered, they were nevertheless embodied and in order in so
+short a period, that they were at Dalkeith, which was their alarm-post,
+about one o'clock on the day succeeding the first signal, with men and
+horses in good order, though the roads were in a bad state, and many of
+the troopers must have ridden forty or fifty miles without drawing
+bridle. Two members of the corps chanced to be absent from their homes,
+and in Edinburgh on private business. The lately married wife of one of
+these gentlemen, and the widowed mother of the other, sent the arms,
+uniforms, and chargers of the two troopers, that they might join their
+companions at Dalkeith. The author was very much struck by the answer
+made to him by the last-mentioned lady, when he paid her some compliment
+on the readiness which she showed in equipping her son with the means of
+meeting danger, when she might have left him a fair excuse for remaining
+absent. "Sir," she replied, with the spirit of a Roman matron, "none can
+know better than you that my son is the only prop by which, since his
+father's death, our family is supported. But I would rather see him dead
+on that hearth, than hear that he had been a horse's length behind his
+companions in the defence of his king and country." The author mentions
+what was immediately under his own eye, and within his own knowledge; but
+the spirit was universal, wherever the alarm reached, both in Scotland
+and England.
+
+The account of the ready patriotism displayed by the country on this
+occasion, warmed the hearts of Scottishmen in every corner of the world.
+It reached the ears of the well-known Dr. Leyden, whose enthusiastic love
+of Scotland, and of his own district of Teviotdale, formed a
+distinguished part of his character. The account which was read to him
+when on a sick-bed, stated (very truly) that the different corps, on
+arriving at their alarm-posts, announced themselves by their music
+playing the tunes peculiar to their own districts, many of which have
+been gathering-signals for centuries. It was particularly remembered,
+that the Liddesdale men, before mentioned, entered Kelso playing the
+lively tune--
+
+                       O wha dare meddle wi' me,
+                       And wha dare meddle wi' me!
+                       My name it is little Jock Elliot,
+                       And wha dare meddle wi' me!
+
+The patient was so delighted with this display of ancient Border spirit,
+that he sprung up in his bed, and began to sing the old song with such
+vehemence of action and voice, that his attendants, ignorant of the cause
+of excitation, concluded that the fever had taken possession of his
+brain; and it was only the entry of another Borderer, Sir John Malcolm,
+and the explanation which he was well qualified to give, that prevented
+them from resorting to means of medical coercion.
+
+The circumstances of this false alarm and its consequences may be now
+held of too little importance even for a note upon a work of fiction;
+but, at the period when it happened, it was hailed by the country as a
+propitious omen, that the national force, to which much must naturally
+have been trusted, had the spirit to look in the face the danger which
+they had taken arms to repel; and every one was convinced, that on
+whichever side God might bestow the victory, the invaders would meet with
+the most determined opposition from the children of the soil.
+
+
+
+
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ANTIQUARY, BY SCOTT, V2 ***
+
+******* This file should be named ant2w10.txt or ant2w10.zip *********
+
+Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, ant2w11.txt
+VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, ant2w10a.txt
+
+This eBook was produced by David Widger  [widger@cecomet.net]
+
+Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed
+editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US
+unless a copyright notice is included.  Thus, we usually do not
+keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.
+
+We are now trying to release all our eBooks one year in advance
+of the official release dates, leaving time for better editing.
+Please be encouraged to tell us about any error or corrections,
+even years after the official publication date.
+
+Please note neither this listing nor its contents are final til
+midnight of the last day of the month of any such announcement.
+The official release date of all Project Gutenberg eBooks is at
+Midnight, Central Time, of the last day of the stated month.  A
+preliminary version may often be posted for suggestion, comment
+and editing by those who wish to do so.
+
+Most people start at our Web sites at:
+http://gutenberg.net or
+http://promo.net/pg
+
+These Web sites include award-winning information about Project
+Gutenberg, including how to donate, how to help produce our new
+eBooks, and how to subscribe to our email newsletter (free!).
+
+
+Those of you who want to download any eBook before announcement
+can get to them as follows, and just download by date.  This is
+also a good way to get them instantly upon announcement, as the
+indexes our cataloguers produce obviously take a while after an
+announcement goes out in the Project Gutenberg Newsletter.
+
+http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/etext03 or
+ftp://ftp.ibiblio.org/pub/docs/books/gutenberg/etext03
+
+Or /etext02, 01, 00, 99, 98, 97, 96, 95, 94, 93, 92, 92, 91 or 90
+
+Just search by the first five letters of the filename you want,
+as it appears in our Newsletters.
+
+
+Information about Project Gutenberg (one page)
+
+We produce about two million dollars for each hour we work.  The
+time it takes us, a rather conservative estimate, is fifty hours
+to get any eBook selected, entered, proofread, edited, copyright
+searched and analyzed, the copyright letters written, etc.   Our
+projected audience is one hundred million readers.  If the value
+per text is nominally estimated at one dollar then we produce $2
+million dollars per hour in 2002 as we release over 100 new text
+files per month:  1240 more eBooks in 2001 for a total of 4000+
+We are already on our way to trying for 2000 more eBooks in 2002
+If they reach just 1-2% of the world's population then the total
+will reach over half a trillion eBooks given away by year's end.
+
+The Goal of Project Gutenberg is to Give Away 1 Trillion eBooks!
+This is ten thousand titles each to one hundred million readers,
+which is only about 4% of the present number of computer users.
+
+Here is the briefest record of our progress (* means estimated):
+
+eBooks Year Month
+
+    1  1971 July
+   10  1991 January
+  100  1994 January
+ 1000  1997 August
+ 1500  1998 October
+ 2000  1999 December
+ 2500  2000 December
+ 3000  2001 November
+ 4000  2001 October/November
+ 6000  2002 December*
+ 9000  2003 November*
+10000  2004 January*
+
+
+The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation has been created
+to secure a future for Project Gutenberg into the next millennium.
+
+We need your donations more than ever!
+
+As of February, 2002, contributions are being solicited from people
+and organizations in: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut,
+Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois,
+Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts,
+Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New
+Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio,
+Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South
+Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West
+Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
+
+We have filed in all 50 states now, but these are the only ones
+that have responded.
+
+As the requirements for other states are met, additions to this list
+will be made and fund raising will begin in the additional states.
+Please feel free to ask to check the status of your state.
+
+In answer to various questions we have received on this:
+
+We are constantly working on finishing the paperwork to legally
+request donations in all 50 states.  If your state is not listed and
+you would like to know if we have added it since the list you have,
+just ask.
+
+While we cannot solicit donations from people in states where we are
+not yet registered, we know of no prohibition against accepting
+donations from donors in these states who approach us with an offer to
+donate.
+
+International donations are accepted, but we don't know ANYTHING about
+how to make them tax-deductible, or even if they CAN be made
+deductible, and don't have the staff to handle it even if there are
+ways.
+
+Donations by check or money order may be sent to:
+
+Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
+PMB 113
+1739 University Ave.
+Oxford, MS 38655-4109
+
+Contact us if you want to arrange for a wire transfer or payment
+method other than by check or money order.
+
+The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation has been approved by
+the US Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)(3) organization with EIN
+[Employee Identification Number] 64-622154.  Donations are
+tax-deductible to the maximum extent permitted by law.  As fund-raising
+requirements for other states are met, additions to this list will be
+made and fund-raising will begin in the additional states.
+
+We need your donations more than ever!
+
+You can get up to date donation information online at:
+
+http://www.gutenberg.net/donation.html
+
+
+***
+
+If you can't reach Project Gutenberg,
+you can always email directly to:
+
+Michael S. Hart <hart@pobox.com>
+
+Prof. Hart will answer or forward your message.
+
+We would prefer to send you information by email.
+
+
+**The Legal Small Print**
+
+
+(Three Pages)
+
+***START**THE SMALL PRINT!**FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN EBOOKS**START***
+Why is this "Small Print!" statement here? You know: lawyers.
+They tell us you might sue us if there is something wrong with
+your copy of this eBook, even if you got it for free from
+someone other than us, and even if what's wrong is not our
+fault. So, among other things, this "Small Print!" statement
+disclaims most of our liability to you. It also tells you how
+you may distribute copies of this eBook if you want to.
+
+*BEFORE!* YOU USE OR READ THIS EBOOK
+By using or reading any part of this PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm
+eBook, you indicate that you understand, agree to and accept
+this "Small Print!" statement. If you do not, you can receive
+a refund of the money (if any) you paid for this eBook by
+sending a request within 30 days of receiving it to the person
+you got it from. If you received this eBook on a physical
+medium (such as a disk), you must return it with your request.
+
+ABOUT PROJECT GUTENBERG-TM EBOOKS
+This PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm eBook, like most PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm eBooks,
+is a "public domain" work distributed by Professor Michael S. Hart
+through the Project Gutenberg Association (the "Project").
+Among other things, this means that no one owns a United States copyright
+on or for this work, so the Project (and you!) can copy and
+distribute it in the United States without permission and
+without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, set forth
+below, apply if you wish to copy and distribute this eBook
+under the "PROJECT GUTENBERG" trademark.
+
+Please do not use the "PROJECT GUTENBERG" trademark to market
+any commercial products without permission.
+
+To create these eBooks, the Project expends considerable
+efforts to identify, transcribe and proofread public domain
+works. Despite these efforts, the Project's eBooks and any
+medium they may be on may contain "Defects". Among other
+things, Defects may take the form of incomplete, inaccurate or
+corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other
+intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged
+disk or other eBook medium, a computer virus, or computer
+codes that damage or cannot be read by your equipment.
+
+LIMITED WARRANTY; DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES
+But for the "Right of Replacement or Refund" described below,
+[1] Michael Hart and the Foundation (and any other party you may
+receive this eBook from as a PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm eBook) disclaims
+all liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including
+legal fees, and [2] YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE OR
+UNDER STRICT LIABILITY, OR FOR BREACH OF WARRANTY OR CONTRACT,
+INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE
+OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE
+POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.
+
+If you discover a Defect in this eBook within 90 days of
+receiving it, you can receive a refund of the money (if any)
+you paid for it by sending an explanatory note within that
+time to the person you received it from. If you received it
+on a physical medium, you must return it with your note, and
+such person may choose to alternatively give you a replacement
+copy. If you received it electronically, such person may
+choose to alternatively give you a second opportunity to
+receive it electronically.
+
+THIS EBOOK IS OTHERWISE PROVIDED TO YOU "AS-IS". NO OTHER
+WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, ARE MADE TO YOU AS
+TO THE EBOOK OR ANY MEDIUM IT MAY BE ON, INCLUDING BUT NOT
+LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A
+PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
+
+Some states do not allow disclaimers of implied warranties or
+the exclusion or limitation of consequential damages, so the
+above disclaimers and exclusions may not apply to you, and you
+may have other legal rights.
+
+INDEMNITY
+You will indemnify and hold Michael Hart, the Foundation,
+and its trustees and agents, and any volunteers associated
+with the production and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm
+texts harmless, from all liability, cost and expense, including
+legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of the
+following that you do or cause:  [1] distribution of this eBook,
+[2] alteration, modification, or addition to the eBook,
+or [3] any Defect.
+
+DISTRIBUTION UNDER "PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm"
+You may distribute copies of this eBook electronically, or by
+disk, book or any other medium if you either delete this
+"Small Print!" and all other references to Project Gutenberg,
+or:
+
+[1]  Only give exact copies of it.  Among other things, this
+     requires that you do not remove, alter or modify the
+     eBook or this "small print!" statement.  You may however,
+     if you wish, distribute this eBook in machine readable
+     binary, compressed, mark-up, or proprietary form,
+     including any form resulting from conversion by word
+     processing or hypertext software, but only so long as
+     *EITHER*:
+
+     [*]  The eBook, when displayed, is clearly readable, and
+          does *not* contain characters other than those
+          intended by the author of the work, although tilde
+          (~), asterisk (*) and underline (_) characters may
+          be used to convey punctuation intended by the
+          author, and additional characters may be used to
+          indicate hypertext links; OR
+
+     [*]  The eBook may be readily converted by the reader at
+          no expense into plain ASCII, EBCDIC or equivalent
+          form by the program that displays the eBook (as is
+          the case, for instance, with most word processors);
+          OR
+
+     [*]  You provide, or agree to also provide on request at
+          no additional cost, fee or expense, a copy of the
+          eBook in its original plain ASCII form (or in EBCDIC
+          or other equivalent proprietary form).
+
+[2]  Honor the eBook refund and replacement provisions of this
+     "Small Print!" statement.
+
+[3]  Pay a trademark license fee to the Foundation of 20% of the
+     gross profits you derive calculated using the method you
+     already use to calculate your applicable taxes.  If you
+     don't derive profits, no royalty is due.  Royalties are
+     payable to "Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation"
+     the 60 days following each date you prepare (or were
+     legally required to prepare) your annual (or equivalent
+     periodic) tax return.  Please contact us beforehand to
+     let us know your plans and to work out the details.
+
+WHAT IF YOU *WANT* TO SEND MONEY EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO?
+Project Gutenberg is dedicated to increasing the number of
+public domain and licensed works that can be freely distributed
+in machine readable form.
+
+The Project gratefully accepts contributions of money, time,
+public domain materials, or royalty free copyright licenses.
+Money should be paid to the:
+"Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."
+
+If you are interested in contributing scanning equipment or
+software or other items, please contact Michael Hart at:
+hart@pobox.com
+
+[Portions of this eBook's header and trailer may be reprinted only
+when distributed free of all fees.  Copyright (C) 2001, 2002 by
+Michael S. Hart.  Project Gutenberg is a TradeMark and may not be
+used in any sales of Project Gutenberg eBooks or other materials be
+they hardware or software or any other related product without
+express permission.]
+
+*END THE SMALL PRINT! FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN EBOOKS*Ver.02/11/02*END*
+
diff --git a/old/ant2w10.zip b/old/ant2w10.zip
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fdc67fc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/ant2w10.zip
diff --git a/old/ant2w10h.zip b/old/ant2w10h.zip
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3bba497
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/ant2w10h.zip