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diff --git a/old/blntr10.txt b/old/blntr10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..64b0b0f --- /dev/null +++ b/old/blntr10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9389 @@ +Project Gutenberg's Etext of The Master of Ballantrae by R.L.S. +#38 in our series by Robert Louis Stevenson + + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check +the copyright laws for your country before posting these files!! + +Please take a look at the important information in this header. +We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an +electronic path open for the next readers. Do not remove this. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**Etexts Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*These Etexts Prepared By Hundreds of Volunteers and Donations* + +Information on contacting Project Gutenberg to get Etexts, and +further information is included below. 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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END* + + + + + +The Master of Ballantrae by Robert Louis Stevenson +Scanned and proofed by David Price +ccx074@coventry.ac.uk + + + + + +The Master of Ballantrae +A Winter's Tale + + + + +To Sir Percy Florence and Lady Shelley + + +Here is a tale which extends over many years and travels into many +countries. By a peculiar fitness of circumstance the writer began, +continued it, and concluded it among distant and diverse scenes. +Above all, he was much upon the sea. The character and fortune of +the fraternal enemies, the hall and shrubbery of Durrisdeer, the +problem of Mackellar's homespun and how to shape it for superior +flights; these were his company on deck in many star-reflecting +harbours, ran often in his mind at sea to the tune of slatting +canvas, and were dismissed (something of the suddenest) on the +approach of squalls. It is my hope that these surroundings of its +manufacture may to some degree find favour for my story with +seafarers and sea-lovers like yourselves. + +And at least here is a dedication from a great way off: written by +the loud shores of a subtropical island near upon ten thousand +miles from Boscombe Chine and Manor: scenes which rise before me +as I write, along with the faces and voices of my friends. + +Well, I am for the sea once more; no doubt Sir Percy also. Let us +make the signal B. R. D.! + +R. L. S. + +WAIKIKI, May 17, 1889 + + + +PREFACE + + + +Although an old, consistent exile, the editor of the following +pages revisits now and again the city of which he exults to be a +native; and there are few things more strange, more painful, or +more salutary, than such revisitations. Outside, in foreign spots, +he comes by surprise and awakens more attention than he had +expected; in his own city, the relation is reversed, and he stands +amazed to be so little recollected. Elsewhere he is refreshed to +see attractive faces, to remark possible friends; there he scouts +the long streets, with a pang at heart, for the faces and friends +that are no more. Elsewhere he is delighted with the presence of +what is new, there tormented by the absence of what is old. +Elsewhere he is content to be his present self; there he is smitten +with an equal regret for what he once was and for what he once +hoped to be. + +He was feeling all this dimly, as he drove from the station, on his +last visit; he was feeling it still as he alighted at the door of +his friend Mr. Johnstone Thomson, W.S., with whom he was to stay. +A hearty welcome, a face not altogether changed, a few words that +sounded of old days, a laugh provoked and shared, a glimpse in +passing of the snowy cloth and bright decanters and the Piranesis +on the dining-room wall, brought him to his bed-room with a +somewhat lightened cheer, and when he and Mr. Thomson sat down a +few minutes later, cheek by jowl, and pledged the past in a +preliminary bumper, he was already almost consoled, he had already +almost forgiven himself his two unpardonable errors, that he should +ever have left his native city, or ever returned to it. + +"I have something quite in your way," said Mr. Thomson. "I wished +to do honour to your arrival; because, my dear fellow, it is my own +youth that comes back along with you; in a very tattered and +withered state, to be sure, but - well! - all that's left of it." + +"A great deal better than nothing," said the editor. "But what is +this which is quite in my way?" + +"I was coming to that," said Mr. Thomson: "Fate has put it in my +power to honour your arrival with something really original by way +of dessert. A mystery." + +"A mystery?" I repeated. + +"Yes," said his friend, "a mystery. It may prove to be nothing, +and it may prove to be a great deal. But in the meanwhile it is +truly mysterious, no eye having looked on it for near a hundred +years; it is highly genteel, for it treats of a titled family; and +it ought to be melodramatic, for (according to the superscription) +it is concerned with death." + +"I think I rarely heard a more obscure or a more promising +annunciation," the other remarked. "But what is It?" + +"You remember my predecessor's, old Peter M'Brair's business?" + +"I remember him acutely; he could not look at me without a pang of +reprobation, and he could not feel the pang without betraying it. +He was to me a man of a great historical interest, but the interest +was not returned." + +"Ah well, we go beyond him," said Mr. Thomson. "I daresay old +Peter knew as little about this as I do. You see, I succeeded to a +prodigious accumulation of old law-papers and old tin boxes, some +of them of Peter's hoarding, some of his father's, John, first of +the dynasty, a great man in his day. Among other collections, were +all the papers of the Durrisdeers." + +"The Durrisdeers!" cried I. "My dear fellow, these may be of the +greatest interest. One of them was out in the '45; one had some +strange passages with the devil - you will find a note of it in +Law's MEMORIALS, I think; and there was an unexplained tragedy, I +know not what, much later, about a hundred years ago - " + +"More than a hundred years ago," said Mr. Thomson. "In 1783." + +"How do you know that? I mean some death." + +"Yes, the lamentable deaths of my Lord Durrisdeer and his brother, +the Master of Ballantrae (attainted in the troubles)," said Mr. +Thomson with something the tone of a man quoting. "Is that it?" + +"To say truth," said I, "I have only seen some dim reference to the +things in memoirs; and heard some traditions dimmer still, through +my uncle (whom I think you knew). My uncle lived when he was a boy +in the neighbourhood of St. Bride's; he has often told me of the +avenue closed up and grown over with grass, the great gates never +opened, the last lord and his old maid sister who lived in the back +parts of the house, a quiet, plain, poor, hum-drum couple it would +seem - but pathetic too, as the last of that stirring and brave +house - and, to the country folk, faintly terrible from some +deformed traditions." + +"Yes," said Mr. Thomson. "Henry Graeme Durie, the last lord, died +in 1820; his sister, the honourable Miss Katherine Durie, in '27; +so much I know; and by what I have been going over the last few +days, they were what you say, decent, quiet people and not rich. +To say truth, it was a letter of my lord's that put me on the +search for the packet we are going to open this evening. Some +papers could not be found; and he wrote to Jack M'Brair suggesting +they might be among those sealed up by a Mr. Mackellar. M'Brair +answered, that the papers in question were all in Mackellar's own +hand, all (as the writer understood) of a purely narrative +character; and besides, said he, 'I am bound not to open them +before the year 1889.' You may fancy if these words struck me: I +instituted a hunt through all the M'Brair repositories; and at last +hit upon that packet which (if you have had enough wine) I propose +to show you at once." + +In the smoking-room, to which my host now led me, was a packet, +fastened with many seals and enclosed in a single sheet of strong +paper thus endorsed: + + +Papers relating to the lives and lamentable deaths of the late Lord +Durisdeer, and his elder brother James, commonly called Master of +Ballantrae, attainted in the troubles: entrusted into the hands of +John M'Brair in the Lawnmarket of Edinburgh, W.S.; this 20th day of +September Anno Domini 1789; by him to be kept secret until the +revolution of one hundred years complete, or until the 20th day of +September 1889: the same compiled and written by me, EPHRAIM +MACKELLAR, + +For near forty years Land Steward on the estates of his Lordship. + + +As Mr. Thomson is a married man, I will not say what hour had +struck when we laid down the last of the following pages; but I +will give a few words of what ensued. + +"Here," said Mr. Thomson, "is a novel ready to your hand: all you +have to do is to work up the scenery, develop the characters, and +improve the style." + +"My dear fellow," said I, "they are just the three things that I +would rather die than set my hand to. It shall be published as it +stands." + +"But it's so bald," objected Mr. Thomson. + +"I believe there is nothing so noble as baldness," replied I, "and +I am sure there in nothing so interesting. I would have all +literature bald, and all authors (if you like) but one." + +"Well, well," add Mr. Thomson, "we shall see." + + + +CHAPTER I. - SUMMARY OF EVENTS DURING THIS MASTER'S WANDERINGS. + + + +The full truth of this odd matter is what the world has long been +looking for, and public curiosity is sure to welcome. It so befell +that I was intimately mingled with the last years and history of +the house; and there does not live one man so able as myself to +make these matters plain, or so desirous to narrate them +faithfully. I knew the Master; on many secret steps of his career +I have an authentic memoir in my hand; I sailed with him on his +last voyage almost alone; I made one upon that winter's journey of +which so many tales have gone abroad; and I was there at the man's +death. As for my late Lord Durrisdeer, I served him and loved him +near twenty years; and thought more of him the more I knew of him. +Altogether, I think it not fit that so much evidence should perish; +the truth is a debt I owe my lord's memory; and I think my old +years will flow more smoothly, and my white hair lie quieter on the +pillow, when the debt is paid. + +The Duries of Durrisdeer and Ballantrae were a strong family in the +south-west from the days of David First. A rhyme still current in +the countryside - + + +Kittle folk are the Durrisdeers, +They ride wi' over mony spears - + + +bears the mark of its antiquity; and the name appears in another, +which common report attributes to Thomas of Ercildoune himself - I +cannot say how truly, and which some have applied - I dare not say +with how much justice - to the events of this narration: + + +Twa Duries in Durrisdeer, +Ane to tie and ane to ride, +An ill day for the groom +And a waur day for the bride. + + +Authentic history besides is filled with their exploits which (to +our modern eyes) seem not very commendable: and the family +suffered its full share of those ups and downs to which the great +houses of Scotland have been ever liable. But all these I pass +over, to come to that memorable year 1745, when the foundations of +this tragedy were laid. + +At that time there dwelt a family of four persons in the house of +Durrisdeer, near St. Bride's, on the Solway shore; a chief hold of +their race since the Reformation. My old lord, eighth of the name, +was not old in years, but he suffered prematurely from the +disabilities of age; his place was at the chimney side; there he +sat reading, in a lined gown, with few words for any man, and wry +words for none: the model of an old retired housekeeper; and yet +his mind very well nourished with study, and reputed in the country +to be more cunning than he seemed. The master of Ballantrae, James +in baptism, took from his father the love of serious reading; some +of his tact perhaps as well, but that which was only policy in the +father became black dissimulation in the son. The face of his +behaviour was merely popular and wild: he sat late at wine, later +at the cards; had the name in the country of "an unco man for the +lasses;" and was ever in the front of broils. But for all he was +the first to go in, yet it was observed he was invariably the best +to come off; and his partners in mischief were usually alone to pay +the piper. This luck or dexterity got him several ill-wishers, but +with the rest of the country, enhanced his reputation; so that +great things were looked for in his future, when he should have +gained more gravity. One very black mark he had to his name; but +the matter was hushed up at the time, and so defaced by legends +before I came into those parts, that I scruple to set it down. If +it was true, it was a horrid fact in one so young; and if false, it +was a horrid calumny. I think it notable that he had always +vaunted himself quite implacable, and was taken at his word; so +that he had the addition among his neighbours of "an ill man to +cross." Here was altogether a young nobleman (not yet twenty-four +in the year '45) who had made a figure in the country beyond his +time of life. The less marvel if there were little heard of the +second son, Mr. Henry (my late Lord Durrisdeer), who was neither +very bad nor yet very able, but an honest, solid sort of lad like +many of his neighbours. Little heard, I say; but indeed it was a +case of little spoken. He was known among the salmon fishers in +the firth, for that was a sport that he assiduously followed; he +was an excellent good horse-doctor besides; and took a chief hand, +almost from a boy, in the management of the estates. How hard a +part that was, in the situation of that family, none knows better +than myself; nor yet with how little colour of justice a man may +there acquire the reputation of a tyrant and a miser. The fourth +person in the house was Miss Alison Graeme, a near kinswoman, an +orphan, and the heir to a considerable fortune which her father had +acquired in trade. This money was loudly called for by my lord's +necessities; indeed the land was deeply mortgaged; and Miss Alison +was designed accordingly to be the Master's wife, gladly enough on +her side; with how much good-will on his, is another matter. She +was a comely girl, and in those days very spirited and self-willed; +for the old lord having no daughter of his own, and my lady being +long dead, she had grown up as best she might. + +To these four came the news of Prince Charlie's landing, and set +them presently by the ears. My lord, like the chimney-keeper that +he was, was all for temporising. Miss Alison held the other side, +because it appeared romantical; and the Master (though I have heard +they did not agree often) was for this once of her opinion. The +adventure tempted him, as I conceive; he was tempted by the +opportunity to raise the fortunes of the house, and not less by the +hope of paying off his private liabilities, which were heavy beyond +all opinion. As for Mr. Henry, it appears he said little enough at +first; his part came later on. It took the three a whole day's +disputation, before they agreed to steer a middle course, one son +going forth to strike a blow for King James, my lord and the other +staying at home to keep in favour with King George. Doubtless this +was my lord's decision; and, as is well known, it was the part +played by many considerable families. But the one dispute settled, +another opened. For my lord, Miss Alison, and Mr. Henry all held +the one view: that it was the cadet's part to go out; and the +Master, what with restlessness and vanity, would at no rate consent +to stay at home. My lord pleaded, Miss Alison wept, Mr. Henry was +very plain spoken: all was of no avail. + +"It is the direct heir of Durrisdeer that should ride by his King's +bridle," says the Master. + +"If we were playing a manly part," says Mr. Henry, "there might be +sense in such talk. But what are we doing? Cheating at cards!" + +"We are saving the house of Durrisdeer, Henry," his father said. + +"And see, James," said Mr. Henry, "if I go, and the Prince has the +upper hand, it will be easy to make your peace with King James. +But if you go, and the expedition fails, we divide the right and +the title. And what shall I be then?" + +"You will be Lord Durrisdeer," said the Master. "I put all I have +upon the table." + +"I play at no such game," cries Mr. Henry. "I shall be left in +such a situation as no man of sense and honour could endure. I +shall be neither fish nor flesh!" he cried. And a little after he +had another expression, plainer perhaps than he intended. "It is +your duty to be here with my father," said he. "You know well +enough you are the favourite." + +"Ay?" said the Master. "And there spoke Envy! Would you trip up +my heels - Jacob?" said he, and dwelled upon the name maliciously. + +Mr. Henry went and walked at the low end of the hall without reply; +for he had an excellent gift of silence. Presently he came back. + +"I am the cadet and I SHOULD go," said he. "And my lord here in +the master, and he says I SHALL go. What say ye to that, my +brother?" + +"I say this, Harry," returned the Master, "that when very obstinate +folk are met, there are only two ways out: Blows - and I think +none of us could care to go so far; or the arbitrament of chance - +and here is a guinea piece. Will you stand by the toss of the +coin?" + +"I will stand and fall by it," said Mr. Henry. "Heads, I go; +shield, I stay." + +The coin was spun, and it fell shield. "So there is a lesson for +Jacob," says the Master. + +"We shall live to repent of this," says Mr. Henry, and flung out of +the hall. + +As for Miss Alison, she caught up that piece of gold which had just +sent her lover to the wars, and flung it clean through the family +shield in the great painted window. + +"If you loved me as well as I love you, you would have stayed," +cried she. + +"'I could not love you, dear, so well, loved I not honour more,'" +sang the Master. + +"Oh!" she cried, "you have no heart - I hope you may be killed!" +and she ran from the room, and in tears, to her own chamber. + +It seems the Master turned to my lord with his most comical manner, +and says he, "This looks like a devil of a wife." + +"I think you are a devil of a son to me," cried his father, "you +that have always been the favourite, to my shame be it spoken. +Never a good hour have I gotten of you, since you were born; no, +never one good hour," and repeated it again the third time. +Whether it was the Master's levity, or his insubordination, or Mr. +Henry's word about the favourite son, that had so much disturbed my +lord, I do not know; but I incline to think it was the last, for I +have it by all accounts that Mr. Henry was more made up to from +that hour. + +Altogether it was in pretty ill blood with his family that the +Master rode to the North; which was the more sorrowful for others +to remember when it seemed too late. By fear and favour he had +scraped together near upon a dozen men, principally tenants' sons; +they were all pretty full when they set forth, and rode up the hill +by the old abbey, roaring and singing, the white cockade in every +hat. It was a desperate venture for so small a company to cross +the most of Scotland unsupported; and (what made folk think so the +more) even as that poor dozen was clattering up the hill, a great +ship of the king's navy, that could have brought them under with a +single boat, lay with her broad ensign streaming in the bay. The +next afternoon, having given the Master a fair start, it was Mr. +Henry's turn; and he rode off, all by himself, to offer his sword +and carry letters from his father to King George's Government. +Miss Alison was shut in her room, and did little but weep, till +both were gone; only she stitched the cockade upon the Master's +hat, and (as John Paul told me) it was wetted with tears when he +carried it down to him. + +In all that followed, Mr. Henry and my old lord were true to their +bargain. That ever they accomplished anything is more than I could +learn; and that they were anyway strong on the king's side, more +than believe. But they kept the letter of loyalty, corresponded +with my Lord President, sat still at home, and had little or no +commerce with the Master while that business lasted. Nor was he, +on his side, more communicative. Miss Alison, indeed, was always +sending him expresses, but I do not know if she had many answers. +Macconochie rode for her once, and found the highlanders before +Carlisle, and the Master riding by the Prince's side in high +favour; he took the letter (so Macconochie tells), opened it, +glanced it through with a mouth like a man whistling, and stuck it +in his belt, whence, on his horse passageing, it fell unregarded to +the ground. It was Macconochie who picked it up; and he still kept +it, and indeed I have seen it in his hands. News came to +Durrisdeer of course, by the common report, as it goes travelling +through a country, a thing always wonderful to me. By that means +the family learned more of the Master's favour with the Prince, and +the ground it was said to stand on: for by a strange condescension +in a man so proud - only that he was a man still more ambitious - +he was said to have crept into notability by truckling to the +Irish. Sir Thomas Sullivan, Colonel Burke and the rest, were his +daily comrades, by which course he withdrew himself from his own +country-folk. All the small intrigues he had a hand in fomenting; +thwarted my Lord George upon a thousand points; was always for the +advice that seemed palatable to the Prince, no matter if it was +good or bad; and seems upon the whole (like the gambler he was all +through life) to have had less regard to the chances of the +campaign than to the greatness of favour he might aspire to, if, by +any luck, it should succeed. For the rest, he did very well in the +field; no one questioned that; for he was no coward. + +The next was the news of Culloden, which was brought to Durrisdeer +by one of the tenants' sons - the only survivor, he declared, of +all those that had gone singing up the hill. By an unfortunate +chance John Paul and Macconochie had that very morning found the +guinea piece - which was the root of all the evil - sticking in a +holly bush; they had been "up the gait," as the servants say at +Durrisdeer, to the change-house; and if they had little left of the +guinea, they had less of their wits. What must John Paul do but +burst into the hall where the family sat at dinner, and cry the +news to them that "Tam Macmorland was but new lichtit at the door, +and - wirra, wirra - there were nane to come behind him"? + +They took the word in silence like folk condemned; only Mr. Henry +carrying his palm to his face, and Miss Alison laying her head +outright upon her hands. As for my lord, he was like ashes. + +"I have still one son," says he. "And, Henry, I will do you this +justice - it is the kinder that is left." + +It was a strange thing to say in such a moment; but my lord had +never forgotten Mr. Henry's speech, and he had years of injustice +on his conscience. Still it was a strange thing, and more than +Miss Alison could let pass. She broke out and blamed my lord for +his unnatural words, and Mr. Henry because he was sitting there in +safety when his brother lay dead, and herself because she had given +her sweetheart ill words at his departure, calling him the flower +of the flock, wringing her hands, protesting her love, and crying +on him by his name - so that the servants stood astonished. + +Mr. Henry got to his feet, and stood holding his chair. It was he +that was like ashes now. + +"Oh!" he burst out suddenly, "I know you loved him." + +"The world knows that, glory be to God!" cries she; and then to Mr. +Henry: "There is none but me to know one thing - that you were a +traitor to him in your heart." + +"God knows," groans he, "it was lost love on both sides." + +Time went by in the house after that without much change; only they +were now three instead of four, which was a perpetual reminder of +their loss. Miss Alison's money, you are to bear in mind, wag +highly needful for the estates; and the one brother being dead, my +old lord soon set his heart upon her marrying the other. Day in, +day out, he would work upon her, sitting by the chimney-side with +his finger in his Latin book, and his eyes set upon her face with a +kind of pleasant intentness that became the old gentleman very +well. If she wept, he would condole with her like an ancient man +that has seen worse times and begins to think lightly even of +sorrow; if she raged, he would fall to reading again in his Latin +book, but always with some civil excuse; if she offered, as she +often did, to let them have her money in a gift, he would show her +how little it consisted with his honour, and remind her, even if he +should consent, that Mr. Henry would certainly refuse. NON VI SED +SAEPE CADENDO was a favourite word of his; and no doubt this quiet +persecution wore away much of her resolve; no doubt, besides, he +had a great influence on the girl, having stood in the place of +both her parents; and, for that matter, she was herself filled with +the spirit of the Duries, and would have gone a great way for the +glory of Durrisdeer; but not so far, I think, as to marry my poor +patron, had it not been - strangely enough - for the circumstance +of his extreme unpopularity. + +This was the work of Tam Macmorland. There was not much harm in +Tam; but he had that grievous weakness, a long tongue; and as the +only man in that country who had been out - or, rather, who had +come in again - he was sure of listeners. Those that have the +underhand in any fighting, I have observed, are ever anxious to +persuade themselves they were betrayed. By Tam's account of it, +the rebels had been betrayed at every turn and by every officer +they had; they had been betrayed at Derby, and betrayed at Falkirk; +the night march was a step of treachery of my Lord George's; and +Culloden was lost by the treachery of the Macdonalds. This habit +of imputing treason grew upon the fool, till at last he must have +in Mr. Henry also. Mr. Henry (by his account) had betrayed the +lads of Durrisdeer; he had promised to follow with more men, and +instead of that he had ridden to King George. "Ay, and the next +day!" Tam would cry. "The puir bonnie Master, and the puir, kind +lads that rade wi' him, were hardly ower the scaur, or he was aff - +the Judis! Ay, weel - he has his way o't: he's to be my lord, nae +less, and there's mony a cold corp amang the Hieland heather!" And +at this, if Tam had been drinking, he would begin to weep. + +Let anyone speak long enough, he will get believers. This view of +Mr. Henry's behaviour crept about the country by little and little; +it was talked upon by folk that knew the contrary, but were short +of topics; and it was heard and believed and given out for gospel +by the ignorant and the ill-willing. Mr. Henry began to be +shunned; yet awhile, and the commons began to murmur as he went by, +and the women (who are always the most bold because they are the +most safe) to cry out their reproaches to his face. The Master was +cried up for a saint. It was remembered how he had never any hand +in pressing the tenants; as, indeed, no more he had, except to +spend the money. He was a little wild perhaps, the folk said; but +how much better was a natural, wild lad that would soon have +settled down, than a skinflint and a sneckdraw, sitting, with his +nose in an account book, to persecute poor tenants! One trollop, +who had had a child to the Master, and by all accounts been very +badly used, yet made herself a kind of champion of his memory. She +flung a stone one day at Mr. Henry. + +"Whaur's the bonnie lad that trustit ye?" she cried. + +Mr. Henry reined in his horse and looked upon her, the blood +flowing from his lip. "Ay, Jess?" says he. "You too? And yet ye +should ken me better." For it was he who had helped her with +money. + +The woman had another stone ready, which she made as if she would +cast; and he, to ward himself, threw up the hand that held his +riding-rod. + +"What, would ye beat a lassie, ye ugly - ?" cries she, and ran away +screaming as though he had struck her. + +Next day word went about the country like wildfire that Mr. Henry +had beaten Jessie Broun within an inch of her life. I give it as +one instance of how this snowball grew, and one calumny brought +another; until my poor patron was so perished in reputation that he +began to keep the house like my lord. All this while, you may be +very sure, he uttered no complaints at home; the very ground of the +scandal was too sore a matter to be handled; and Mr. Henry was very +proud and strangely obstinate in silence. My old lord must have +heard of it, by John Paul, if by no one else; and he must at least +have remarked the altered habits of his son. Yet even he, it is +probable, knew not how high the feeling ran; and as for Miss +Alison, she was ever the last person to hear news, and the least +interested when she heard them. + +In the height of the ill-feeling (for it died away as it came, no +man could say why) there was an election forward in the town of St. +Bride's, which is the next to Durrisdeer, standing on the Water of +Swift; some grievance was fermenting, I forget what, if ever I +heard; and it was currently said there would be broken heads ere +night, and that the sheriff had sent as far as Dumfries for +soldiers. My lord moved that Mr. Henry should be present, assuring +him it was necessary to appear, for the credit of the house. "It +will soon be reported," said he, "that we do not take the lead in +our own country." + +"It is a strange lead that I can take," said Mr. Henry; and when +they had pushed him further, "I tell you the plain truth," he said, +"I dare not show my face." + +"You are the first of the house that ever said so," cries Miss +Alison. + +"We will go all three," said my lord; and sure enough he got into +his boots (the first time in four years - a sore business John Paul +had to get them on), and Miss Alison into her riding-coat, and all +three rode together to St. Bride's. + +The streets were full of the rift-raff of all the countryside, who +had no sooner clapped eyes on Mr. Henry than the hissing began, and +the hooting, and the cries of "Judas!" and "Where was the Master?" +and "Where were the poor lads that rode with him?" Even a stone +was cast; but the more part cried shame at that, for my old lord's +sake, and Miss Alison's. It took not ten minutes to persuade my +lord that Mr. Henry had been right. He said never a word, but +turned his horse about, and home again, with his chin upon his +bosom. Never a word said Miss Alison; no doubt she thought the +more; no doubt her pride was stung, for she was a bone-bred Durie; +and no doubt her heart was touched to see her cousin so unjustly +used. That night she was never in bed; I have often blamed my lady +- when I call to mind that night, I readily forgive her all; and +the first thing in the morning she came to the old lord in his +usual seat. + +"If Henry still wants me," said she, "he can have me now." To +himself she had a different speech: "I bring you no love, Henry; +but God knows, all the pity in the world." + +June the 1st, 1748, was the day of their marriage. It was December +of the same year that first saw me alighting at the doors of the +great house; and from there I take up the history of events as they +befell under my own observation, like a witness in a court. + + + +CHAPTER II. SUMMARY OF EVENTS (continued) + + + +I made the last of my journey in the cold end of December, in a +mighty dry day of frost, and who should be my guide but Patey +Macmorland, brother of Tam! For a tow-headed, bare-legged brat of +ten, he had more ill tales upon his tongue than ever I heard the +match of; having drunken betimes in his brother's cup. I was still +not so old myself; pride had not yet the upper hand of curiosity; +and indeed it would have taken any man, that cold morning, to hear +all the old clashes of the country, and be shown all the places by +the way where strange things had fallen out. I had tales of +Claverhouse as we came through the bogs, and tales of the devil, as +we came over the top of the scaur. As we came in by the abbey I +heard somewhat of the old monks, and more of the freetraders, who +use its ruins for a magazine, landing for that cause within a +cannon-shot of Durrisdeer; and along all the road the Duries and +poor Mr. Henry were in the first rank of slander. My mind was thus +highly prejudiced against the family I was about to serve, so that +I was half surprised when I beheld Durrisdeer itself, lying in a +pretty, sheltered bay, under the Abbey Hill; the house most +commodiously built in the French fashion, or perhaps Italianate, +for I have no skill in these arts; and the place the most +beautified with gardens, lawns, shrubberies, and trees I had ever +seen. The money sunk here unproductively would have quite restored +the family; but as it was, it cost a revenue to keep it up. + +Mr. Henry came himself to the door to welcome me: a tall dark +young gentleman (the Duries are all black men) of a plain and not +cheerful face, very strong in body, but not so strong in health: +taking me by the hand without any pride, and putting me at home +with plain kind speeches. He led me into the hall, booted as I +was, to present me to my lord. It was still daylight; and the +first thing I observed was a lozenge of clear glass in the midst of +the shield in the painted window, which I remember thinking a +blemish on a room otherwise so handsome, with its family portraits, +and the pargeted ceiling with pendants, and the carved chimney, in +one corner of which my old lord sat reading in his Livy. He was +like Mr. Henry, with much the same plain countenance, only more +subtle and pleasant, and his talk a thousand times more +entertaining. He had many questions to ask me, I remember, of +Edinburgh College, where I had just received my mastership of arts, +and of the various professors, with whom and their proficiency he +seemed well acquainted; and thus, talking of things that I knew, I +soon got liberty of speech in my new home. + +In the midst of this came Mrs. Henry into the room; she was very +far gone, Miss Katharine being due in about six weeks, which made +me think less of her beauty at the first sight; and she used me +with more of condescension than the rest; so that, upon all +accounts, I kept her in the third place of my esteem. + +It did not take long before all Patey Macmorland's tales were +blotted out of my belief, and I was become, what I have ever since +remained, a loving servant of the house of Durrisdeer. Mr. Henry +had the chief part of my affection. It was with him I worked; and +I found him an exacting master, keeping all his kindness for those +hours in which we were unemployed, and in the steward's office not +only loading me with work, but viewing me with a shrewd +supervision. At length one day he looked up from his paper with a +kind of timidness, and says he, "Mr. Mackellar, I think I ought to +tell you that you do very well." That was my first word of +commendation; and from that day his jealousy of my performance was +relaxed; soon it was "Mr. Mackellar" here, and "Mr. Mackellar" +there, with the whole family; and for much of my service at +Durrisdeer, I have transacted everything at my own time, and to my +own fancy, and never a farthing challenged. Even while he was +driving me, I had begun to find my heart go out to Mr. Henry; no +doubt, partly in pity, he was a man so palpably unhappy. He would +fall into a deep muse over our accounts, staring at the page or out +of the window; and at those times the look of his face, and the +sigh that would break from him, awoke in me strong feelings of +curiosity and commiseration. One day, I remember, we were late +upon some business in the steward's room. + +This room is in the top of the house, and has a view upon the bay, +and over a little wooded cape, on the long sands; and there, right +over against the sun, which was then dipping, we saw the +freetraders, with a great force of men and horses, scouring on the +beach. Mr. Henry had been staring straight west, so that I +marvelled he was not blinded by the sun; suddenly he frowns, rubs +his hand upon his brow, and turns to me with a smile. + +"You would not guess what I was thinking," says he. "I was +thinking I would be a happier man if I could ride and run the +danger of my life, with these lawless companions." + +I told him I had observed he did not enjoy good spirits; and that +it was a common fancy to envy others and think we should be the +better of some change; quoting Horace to the point, like a young +man fresh from college. + +"Why, just so," said he. "And with that we may get back to our +accounts." + +It was not long before I began to get wind of the causes that so +much depressed him. Indeed a blind man must have soon discovered +there was a shadow on that house, the shadow of the Master of +Ballantrae. Dead or alive (and he was then supposed to be dead) +that man was his brother's rival: his rival abroad, where there +was never a good word for Mr. Henry, and nothing but regret and +praise for the Master; and his rival at home, not only with his +father and his wife, but with the very servants. + +They were two old serving-men that were the leaders. John Paul, a +little, bald, solemn, stomachy man, a great professor of piety and +(take him for all in all) a pretty faithful servant, was the chief +of the Master's faction. None durst go so far as John. He took a +pleasure in disregarding Mr. Henry publicly, often with a slighting +comparison. My lord and Mrs. Henry took him up, to be sure, but +never so resolutely as they should; and he had only to pull his +weeping face and begin his lamentations for the Master - "his +laddie," as he called him - to have the whole condoned. As for +Henry, he let these things pass in silence, sometimes with a sad +and sometimes with a black look. There was no rivalling the dead, +he knew that; and how to censure an old serving-man for a fault of +loyalty, was more than he could see. His was not the tongue to do +it. + +Macconochie was chief upon the other side; an old, ill-spoken, +swearing, ranting, drunken dog; and I have often thought it an odd +circumstance in human nature that these two serving-men should each +have been the champion of his contrary, and blackened their own +faults and made light of their own virtues when they beheld them in +a master. Macconochie had soon smelled out my secret inclination, +took me much into his confidence, and would rant against the Master +by the hour, so that even my work suffered. "They're a' daft +here," he would cry, "and be damned to them! The Master - the +deil's in their thrapples that should call him sae! it's Mr. Henry +should be master now! They were nane sae fond o' the Master when +they had him, I'll can tell ye that. Sorrow on his name! Never a +guid word did I hear on his lips, nor naebody else, but just +fleering and flyting and profane cursing - deil hae him! There's +nane kent his wickedness: him a gentleman! Did ever ye hear tell, +Mr. Mackellar, o' Wully White the wabster? No? Aweel, Wully was +an unco praying kind o' man; a dreigh body, nane o' my kind, I +never could abide the sight o' him; onyway he was a great hand by +his way of it, and he up and rebukit the Master for some of his on- +goings. It was a grand thing for the Master o' Ball'ntrae to tak +up a feud wi' a' wabster, wasnae't?" Macconochie would sneer; +indeed, he never took the full name upon his lips but with a sort +of a whine of hatred. "But he did! A fine employ it was: +chapping at the man's door, and crying 'boo' in his lum, and +puttin' poother in his fire, and pee-oys (1) in his window; till +the man thocht it was auld Hornie was come seekin' him. Weel, to +mak a lang story short, Wully gaed gyte. At the hinder end, they +couldnae get him frae his knees, but he just roared and prayed and +grat straucht on, till he got his release. It was fair murder, +a'body said that. Ask John Paul - he was brawly ashamed o' that +game, him that's sic a Christian man! Grand doin's for the Master +o' Ball'ntrae!" I asked him what the Master had thought of it +himself. "How would I ken?" says he. "He never said naething." +And on again in his usual manner of banning and swearing, with +every now and again a "Master of Ballantrae" sneered through his +nose. It was in one of these confidences that he showed me the +Carlisle letter, the print of the horse-shoe still stamped in the +paper. Indeed, that was our last confidence; for he then expressed +himself so ill-naturedly of Mrs. Henry that I had to reprimand him +sharply, and must thenceforth hold him at a distance. + +My old lord was uniformly kind to Mr. Henry; he had even pretty +ways of gratitude, and would sometimes clap him on the shoulder and +say, as if to the world at large: "This is a very good son to me." +And grateful he was, no doubt, being a man of sense and justice. +But I think that was all, and I am sure Mr. Henry thought so. The +love was all for the dead son. Not that this was often given +breath to; indeed, with me but once. My lord had asked me one day +how I got on with Mr. Henry, and I had told him the truth. + +"Ay," said he, looking sideways on the burning fire, "Henry is a +good lad, a very good lad," said he. "You have heard, Mr. +Mackellar, that I had another son? I am afraid he was not so +virtuous a lad as Mr. Henry; but dear me, he's dead, Mr. Mackellar! +and while he lived we were all very proud of him, all very proud. +If he was not all he should have been in some ways, well, perhaps +we loved him better!" This last he said looking musingly in the +fire; and then to me, with a great deal of briskness, "But I am +rejoiced you do so well with Mr. Henry. You will find him a good +master." And with that he opened his book, which was the customary +signal of dismission. But it would be little that he read, and +less that he understood; Culloden field and the Master, these would +be the burthen of his thought; and the burthen of mine was an +unnatural jealousy of the dead man for Mr. Henry's sake, that had +even then begun to grow on me. + +I am keeping Mrs. Henry for the last, so that this expression of my +sentiment may seem unwarrantably strong: the reader shall judge +for himself when I have done. But I must first tell of another +matter, which was the means of bringing me more intimate. I had +not yet been six months at Durrisdeer when it chanced that John +Paul fell sick and must keep his bed; drink was the root of his +malady, in my poor thought; but he was tended, and indeed carried +himself, like an afflicted saint; and the very minister, who came +to visit him, professed himself edified when he went away. The +third morning of his sickness, Mr. Henry comes to me with something +of a hang-dog look. + +"Mackellar," says he, "I wish I could trouble you upon a little +service. There is a pension we pay; it is John's part to carry it, +and now that he is sick I know not to whom I should look unless it +was yourself. The matter is very delicate; I could not carry it +with my own hand for a sufficient reason; I dare not send +Macconochie, who is a talker, and I am - I have - I am desirous +this should not come to Mrs. Henry's ears," says he, and flushed to +his neck as he said it. + +To say truth, when I found I was to carry money to one Jessie +Broun, who was no better than she should be, I supposed it was some +trip of his own that Mr. Henry was dissembling. I was the more +impressed when the truth came out. + +It was up a wynd off a side street in St. Bride's that Jessie had +her lodging. The place was very ill inhabited, mostly by the +freetrading sort. There was a man with a broken head at the entry; +half-way up, in a tavern, fellows were roaring and singing, though +it was not yet nine in the day. Altogether, I had never seen a +worse neighbourhood, even in the great city of Edinburgh, and I was +in two minds to go back. Jessie's room was of a piece with her +surroundings, and herself no better. She would not give me the +receipt (which Mr. Henry had told me to demand, for he was very +methodical) until she had sent out for spirits, and I had pledged +her in a glass; and all the time she carried on in a light-headed, +reckless way - now aping the manners of a lady, now breaking into +unseemly mirth, now making coquettish advances that oppressed me to +the ground. Of the money she spoke more tragically. + +"It's blood money!" said she; "I take it for that: blood money for +the betrayed! See what I'm brought down to! Ah, if the bonnie lad +were back again, it would be changed days. But he's deid - he's +lyin' deid amang the Hieland hills - the bonnie lad, the bonnie +lad!" + +She had a rapt manner of crying on the bonnie lad, clasping her +hands and casting up her eyes, that I think she must have learned +of strolling players; and I thought her sorrow very much of an +affectation, and that she dwelled upon the business because her +shame was now all she had to be proud of. I will not say I did not +pity her, but it was a loathing pity at the best; and her last +change of manner wiped it out. This was when she had had enough of +me for an audience, and had set her name at last to the receipt. +"There!" says she, and taking the most unwomanly oaths upon her +tongue, bade me begone and carry it to the Judas who had sent me. +It was the first time I had heard the name applied to Mr. Henry; I +was staggered besides at her sudden vehemence of word and manner, +and got forth from the room, under this shower of curses, like a +beaten dog. But even then I was not quit, for the vixen threw up +her window, and, leaning forth, continued to revile me as I went up +the wynd; the freetraders, coming to the tavern door, joined in the +mockery, and one had even the inhumanity to set upon me a very +savage small dog, which bit me in the ankle. This was a strong +lesson, had I required one, to avoid ill company; and I rode home +in much pain from the bite and considerable indignation of mind. + +Mr. Henry was in the steward's room, affecting employment, but I +could see he was only impatient to hear of my errand. + +"Well?" says he, as soon as I came in; and when I had told him +something of what passed, and that Jessie seemed an undeserving +woman and far from grateful: "She is no friend to me," said he; +"but, indeed, Mackellar, I have few friends to boast of, and Jessie +has some cause to be unjust. I need not dissemble what all the +country knows: she was not very well used by one of our family." +This was the first time I had heard him refer to the Master even +distantly; and I think he found his tongue rebellious even for that +much, but presently he resumed - "This is why I would have nothing +said. It would give pain to Mrs. Henry . . . and to my father," he +added, with another flush. + +"Mr. Henry," said I, "if you will take a freedom at my hands, I +would tell you to let that woman be. What service is your money to +the like of her? She has no sobriety and no economy - as for +gratitude, you will as soon get milk from a whinstone; and if you +will pretermit your bounty, it will make no change at all but just +to save the ankles of your messengers." + +Mr. Henry smiled. "But I am grieved about your ankle," said he, +the next moment, with a proper gravity. + +"And observe," I continued, "I give you this advice upon +consideration; and yet my heart was touched for the woman in the +beginning." + +"Why, there it is, you see!" said Mr. Henry. "And you are to +remember that I knew her once a very decent lass. Besides which, +although I speak little of my family, I think much of its repute." + +And with that he broke up the talk, which was the first we had +together in such confidence. But the same afternoon I had the +proof that his father was perfectly acquainted with the business, +and that it was only from his wife that Mr. Henry kept it secret. + +"I fear you had a painful errand to-day," says my lord to me, "for +which, as it enters in no way among your duties, I wish to thank +you, and to remind you at the same time (in case Mr. Henry should +have neglected) how very desirable it is that no word of it should +reach my daughter. Reflections on the dead, Mr. Mackellar, are +doubly painful." + +Anger glowed in my heart; and I could have told my lord to his face +how little he had to do, bolstering up the image of the dead in +Mrs. Henry's heart, and how much better he were employed to shatter +that false idol; for by this time I saw very well how the land lay +between my patron and his wife. + +My pen is clear enough to tell a plain tale; but to render the +effect of an infinity of small things, not one great enough in +itself to be narrated; and to translate the story of looks, and the +message of voices when they are saying no great matter; and to put +in half a page the essence of near eighteen months - this is what I +despair to accomplish. The fault, to be very blunt, lay all in +Mrs. Henry. She felt it a merit to have consented to the marriage, +and she took it like a martyrdom; in which my old lord, whether he +knew it or not, fomented her. She made a merit, besides, of her +constancy to the dead, though its name, to a nicer conscience, +should have seemed rather disloyalty to the living; and here also +my lord gave her his countenance. I suppose he was glad to talk of +his loss, and ashamed to dwell on it with Mr. Henry. Certainly, at +least, he made a little coterie apart in that family of three, and +it was the husband who was shut out. It seems it was an old custom +when the family were alone in Durrisdeer, that my lord should take +his wine to the chimney-side, and Miss Alison, instead of +withdrawing, should bring a stool to his knee, and chatter to him +privately; and after she had become my patron's wife the same +manner of doing was continued. It should have been pleasant to +behold this ancient gentleman so loving with his daughter, but I +was too much a partisan of Mr. Henry's to be anything but wroth at +his exclusion. Many's the time I have seen him make an obvious +resolve, quit the table, and go and join himself to his wife and my +Lord Durrisdeer; and on their part, they were never backward to +make him welcome, turned to him smilingly as to an intruding child, +and took him into their talk with an effort so ill-concealed that +he was soon back again beside me at the table, whence (so great is +the hall of Durrisdeer) we could but hear the murmur of voices at +the chimney. There he would sit and watch, and I along with him; +and sometimes by my lord's head sorrowfully shaken, or his hand +laid on Mrs. Henry's head, or hers upon his knee as if in +consolation, or sometimes by an exchange of tearful looks, we would +draw our conclusion that the talk had gone to the old subject and +the shadow of the dead was in the hall. + +I have hours when I blame Mr. Henry for taking all too patiently; +yet we are to remember he was married in pity, and accepted his +wife upon that term. And, indeed, he had small encouragement to +make a stand. Once, I remember, he announced he had found a man to +replace the pane of the stained window, which, as it was he that +managed all the business, was a thing clearly within his +attributions. But to the Master's fancies, that pane was like a +relic; and on the first word of any change, the blood flew to Mrs. +Henry's face. + +"I wonder at you!" she cried. + +"I wonder at myself," says Mr. Henry, with more of bitterness than +I had ever heard him to express. + +Thereupon my old lord stepped in with his smooth talk, so that +before the meal was at an end all seemed forgotten; only that, +after dinner, when the pair had withdrawn as usual to the chimney- +side, we could see her weeping with her head upon his knee. Mr. +Henry kept up the talk with me upon some topic of the estates - he +could speak of little else but business, and was never the best of +company; but he kept it up that day with more continuity, his eye +straying ever and again to the chimney, and his voice changing to +another key, but without check of delivery. The pane, however, was +not replaced; and I believe he counted it a great defeat. + +Whether he was stout enough or no, God knows he was kind enough. +Mrs. Henry had a manner of condescension with him, such as (in a +wife) would have pricked my vanity into an ulcer; he took it like a +favour. She held him at the staff's end; forgot and then +remembered and unbent to him, as we do to children; burthened him +with cold kindness; reproved him with a change of colour and a +bitten lip, like one shamed by his disgrace: ordered him with a +look of the eye, when she was off her guard; when she was on the +watch, pleaded with him for the most natural attentions, as though +they were unheard-of favours. And to all this he replied with the +most unwearied service, loving, as folk say, the very ground she +trod on, and carrying that love in his eyes as bright as a lamp. +When Miss Katharine was to be born, nothing would serve but he must +stay in the room behind the head of the bed. There he sat, as +white (they tell me) as a sheet, and the sweat dropping from his +brow; and the handkerchief he had in his hand was crushed into a +little ball no bigger than a musket-bullet. Nor could he bear the +sight of Miss Katharine for many a day; indeed, I doubt if he was +ever what he should have been to my young lady; for the which want +of natural feeling he was loudly blamed. + +Such was the state of this family down to the 7th April, 1749, when +there befell the first of that series of events which were to break +so many hearts and lose so many lives. + + +On that day I was sitting in my room a little before supper, when +John Paul burst open the door with no civility of knocking, and +told me there was one below that wished to speak with the steward; +sneering at the name of my office. + +I asked what manner of man, and what his name was; and this +disclosed the cause of John's ill-humour; for it appeared the +visitor refused to name himself except to me, a sore affront to the +major-domo's consequence. + +"Well," said I, smiling a little, "I will see what he wants." + +I found in the entrance hall a big man, very plainly habited, and +wrapped in a sea-cloak, like one new landed, as indeed he was. +Not, far off Macconochie was standing, with his tongue out of his +mouth and his hand upon his chin, like a dull fellow thinking hard; +and the stranger, who had brought his cloak about his face, +appeared uneasy. He had no sooner seen me coming than he went to +meet me with an effusive manner. + +"My dear man," said he, "a thousand apologies for disturbing you, +but I'm in the most awkward position. And there's a son of a +ramrod there that I should know the looks of, and more betoken I +believe that he knows mine. Being in this family, sir, and in a +place of some responsibility (which was the cause I took the +liberty to send for you), you are doubtless of the honest party?" + +"You may be sure at least," says I, "that all of that party are +quite safe in Durrisdeer." + +"My dear man, it is my very thought," says he. "You see, I have +just been set on shore here by a very honest man, whose name I +cannot remember, and who is to stand off and on for me till +morning, at some danger to himself; and, to be clear with you, I am +a little concerned lest it should be at some to me. I have saved +my life so often, Mr. -, I forget your name, which is a very good +one - that, faith, I would be very loath to lose it after all. And +the son of a ramrod, whom I believe I saw before Carlisle . . . " + +"Oh, sir," said I, "you can trust Macconochie until to-morrow." + +"Well, and it's a delight to hear you say so," says the stranger. +"The truth is that my name is not a very suitable one in this +country of Scotland. With a gentleman like you, my dear man, I +would have no concealments of course; and by your leave I'll just +breathe it in your ear. They call me Francis Burke - Colonel +Francis Burke; and I am here, at a most damnable risk to myself, to +see your masters - if you'll excuse me, my good man, for giving +them the name, for I'm sure it's a circumstance I would never have +guessed from your appearance. And if you would just be so very +obliging as to take my name to them, you might say that I come +bearing letters which I am sure they will be very rejoiced to have +the reading of." + +Colonel Francis Burke was one of the Prince's Irishmen, that did +his cause such an infinity of hurt, and were so much distasted of +the Scots at the time of the rebellion; and it came at once into my +mind, how the Master of Ballantrae had astonished all men by going +with that party. In the same moment a strong foreboding of the +truth possessed my soul. + +"If you will step in here," said I, opening a chamber door, "I will +let my lord know." + +"And I am sure it's very good of you, Mr. What-is-your-name," says +the Colonel. + +Up to the hall I went, slow-footed. There they were, all three - +my old lord in his place, Mrs. Henry at work by the window, Mr. +Henry (as was much his custom) pacing the low end. In the midst +was the table laid for supper. I told them briefly what I had to +say. My old lord lay back in his seat. Mrs. Henry sprang up +standing with a mechanical motion, and she and her husband stared +at each other's eyes across the room; it was the strangest, +challenging look these two exchanged, and as they looked, the +colour faded in their faces. Then Mr. Henry turned to me; not to +speak, only to sign with his finger; but that was enough, and I +went down again for the Colonel. + +When we returned, these three were in much the same position I same +left them in; I believe no word had passed. + +"My Lord Durrisdeer, no doubt?" says the Colonel, bowing, and my +lord bowed in answer. "And this," continues the Colonel, "should +be the Master of Ballantrae?" + +"I have never taken that name," said Mr. Henry; "but I am Henry +Durie, at your service." + +Then the Colonel turns to Mrs. Henry, bowing with his hat upon his +heart and the most killing airs of gallantry. "There can be no +mistake about so fine a figure of a lady," says he. "I address the +seductive Miss Alison, of whom I have so often heard?" + +Once more husband and wife exchanged a look. + +"I am Mrs. Henry Durie," said she; "but before my marriage my name +was Alison Graeme." + +Then my lord spoke up. "I am an old man, Colonel Burke," said he, +"and a frail one. It will be mercy on your part to be expeditious. +Do you bring me news of - " he hesitated, and then the words broke +from him with a singular change of voice - "my son?" + +"My dear lord, I will be round with you like a soldier," said the +Colonel. "I do." + +My lord held out a wavering hand; he seemed to wave a signal, but +whether it was to give him time or to speak on, was more than we +could guess. At length he got out the one word, "Good?" + +"Why, the very best in the creation!" cries the Colonel. "For my +good friend and admired comrade is at this hour in the fine city of +Paris, and as like as not, if I know anything of his habits, he +will be drawing in his chair to a piece of dinner. - Bedad, I +believe the lady's fainting." + +Mrs. Henry was indeed the colour of death, and drooped against the +window-frame. But when Mr. Henry made a movement as if to run to +her, she straightened with a sort of shiver. "I am well," she +said, with her white lips. + +Mr. Henry stopped, and his face had a strong twitch of anger. The +next moment he had turned to the Colonel. "You must not blame +yourself," says he, "for this effect on Mrs. Durie. It is only +natural; we were all brought up like brother and sister." + +Mrs. Henry looked at her husband with something like relief or even +gratitude. In my way of thinking, that speech was the first step +he made in her good graces. + +"You must try to forgive me, Mrs. Durie, for indeed and I am just +an Irish savage," said the Colonel; "and I deserve to be shot for +not breaking the matter more artistically to a lady. But here are +the Master's own letters; one for each of the three of you; and to +be sure (if I know anything of my friend's genius) he will tell his +own story with a better grace." + +He brought the three letters forth as he spoke, arranged them by +their superscriptions, presented the first to my lord, who took it +greedily, and advanced towards Mrs. Henry holding out the second. + +But the lady waved it back. "To my husband," says she, with a +choked voice. + +The Colonel was a quick man, but at this he was somewhat +nonplussed. "To be sure!" says he; "how very dull of me! To be +sure!" But he still held the letter. + +At last Mr. Henry reached forth his hand, and there was nothing to +be done but give it up. Mr. Henry took the letters (both hers and +his own), and looked upon their outside, with his brows knit hard, +as if he were thinking. He had surprised me all through by his +excellent behaviour; but he was to excel himself now. + +"Let me give you a hand to your room," said he to his wife. "This +has come something of the suddenest; and, at any rate, you will +wish to read your letter by yourself." + +Again she looked upon him with the same thought of wonder; but he +gave her no time, coming straight to where she stood. "It will be +better so, believe me," said he; "and Colonel Burke is too +considerate not to excuse you." And with that he took her hand by +the fingers, and led her from the hall. + +Mrs. Henry returned no more that night; and when Mr. Henry went to +visit her next morning, as I heard long afterwards, she gave him +the letter again, still unopened. + +"Oh, read it and be done!" he had cried. + +"Spare me that," said she. + +And by these two speeches, to my way of thinking, each undid a +great part of what they had previously done well. But the letter, +sure enough, came into my hands, and by me was burned, unopened. + + +To be very exact as to the adventures of the Master after Culloden, +I wrote not long ago to Colonel Burke, now a Chevalier of the Order +of St. Louis, begging him for some notes in writing, since I could +scarce depend upon my memory at so great an interval. To confess +the truth, I have been somewhat embarrassed by his response; for he +sent me the complete memoirs of his life, touching only in places +on the Master; running to a much greater length than my whole +story, and not everywhere (as it seems to me) designed for +edification. He begged in his letter, dated from Ettenheim, that I +would find a publisher for the whole, after I had made what use of +it I required; and I think I shall best answer my own purpose and +fulfil his wishes by printing certain parts of it in full. In this +way my readers will have a detailed, and, I believe, a very genuine +account of some essential matters; and if any publisher should take +a fancy to the Chevalier's manner of narration, he knows where to +apply for the rest, of which there is plenty at his service. I put +in my first extract here, so that it may stand in the place of what +the Chevalier told us over our wine in the hall of Durrisdeer; but +you are to suppose it was not the brutal fact, but a very varnished +version that he offered to my lord. + + + +CHAPTER III. - THE MASTER'S WANDERINGS. + + + +FROM THE MEMOIRS OF THE CHEVALIER DE BURKE. + + +. . . I left Ruthven (it's hardly necessary to remark) with much +greater satisfaction than I had come to it; but whether I missed my +way in the deserts, or whether my companions failed me, I soon +found myself alone. This was a predicament very disagreeable; for +I never understood this horrid country or savage people, and the +last stroke of the Prince's withdrawal had made us of the Irish +more unpopular than ever. I was reflecting on my poor chances, +when I saw another horseman on the hill, whom I supposed at first +to have been a phantom, the news of his death in the very front at +Culloden being current in the army generally. This was the Master +of Ballantrae, my Lord Durrisdeer's son, a young nobleman of the +rarest gallantry and parts, and equally designed by nature to adorn +a Court and to reap laurels in the field. Our meeting was the more +welcome to both, as he was one of the few Scots who had used the +Irish with consideration, and as he might now be of very high +utility in aiding my escape. Yet what founded our particular +friendship was a circumstance, by itself as romantic as any fable +of King Arthur. + +This was on the second day of our flight, after we had slept one +night in the rain upon the inclination of a mountain. There was an +Appin man, Alan Black Stewart (or some such name, (2) but I have +seen him since in France) who chanced to be passing the same way, +and had a jealousy of my companion. Very uncivil expressions were +exchanged; and Stewart calls upon the Master to alight and have it +out. + +"Why, Mr. Stewart," says the Master, "I think at the present time I +would prefer to run a race with you." And with the word claps +spurs to his horse. + +Stewart ran after us, a childish thing to do, for more than a mile; +and I could not help laughing, as I looked back at last and saw him +on a hill, holding his hand to his side, and nearly burst with +running. + +"But, all the same," I could not help saying to my companion, "I +would let no man run after me for any such proper purpose, and not +give him his desire. It was a good jest, but it smells a trifle +cowardly." + +He bent his brows at me. "I do pretty well," says he, "when I +saddle myself with the most unpopular man in Scotland, and let that +suffice for courage." + +"O, bedad," says I, "I could show you a more unpopular with the +naked eye. And if you like not my company, you can 'saddle' +yourself on some one else." + +"Colonel Burke," says he, "do not let us quarrel; and, to that +effect, let me assure you I am the least patient man in the world." + +"I am as little patient as yourself," said I. "I care not who +knows that." + +"At this rate," says he, reining in, "we shall not go very far. +And I propose we do one of two things upon the instant: either +quarrel and be done; or make a sure bargain to bear everything at +each other's hands." + +"Like a pair of brothers?" said I. + +"I said no such foolishness," he replied. "I have a brother of my +own, and I think no more of him than of a colewort. But if we are +to have our noses rubbed together in this course of flight, let us +each dare to be ourselves like savages, and each swear that he will +neither resent nor deprecate the other. I am a pretty bad fellow +at bottom, and I find the pretence of virtues very irksome." + +"O, I am as bad as yourself," said I. "There is no skim milk in +Francis Burke. But which is it to be? Fight or make friends?" + +"Why," says be, "I think it will be the best manner to spin a coin +for it." + +This proposition was too highly chivalrous not to take my fancy; +and, strange as it may seem of two well-born gentlemen of to-day, +we span a half-crown (like a pair of ancient paladins) whether we +were to cut each other's throats or be sworn friends. A more +romantic circumstance can rarely have occurred; and it is one of +those points in my memoirs, by which we may see the old tales of +Homer and the poets are equally true to-day - at least, of the +noble and genteel. The coin fell for peace, and we shook hands +upon our bargain. And then it was that my companion explained to +me his thought in running away from Mr. Stewart, which was +certainly worthy of his political intellect. The report of his +death, he said, was a great guard to him; Mr. Stewart having +recognised him, had become a danger; and he had taken the briefest +road to that gentleman's silence. "For," says he, "Alan Black is +too vain a man to narrate any such story of himself." + +Towards afternoon we came down to the shores of that loch for which +we were heading; and there was the ship, but newly come to anchor. +She was the SAINTE-MARIE-DES-ANGES, out of the port of Havre-de- +Grace. The Master, after we had signalled for a boat, asked me if +I knew the captain. I told him he was a countryman of mine, of the +most unblemished integrity, but, I was afraid, a rather timorous +man. + +"No matter," says he. "For all that, he should certainly hear the +truth." + +I asked him if he meant about the battle? for if the captain once +knew the standard was down, he would certainly put to sea again at +once. + +"And even then!" said he; "the arms are now of no sort of utility." + +"My dear man," said I, "who thinks of the arms? But, to be sure, +we must remember our friends. They will be close upon our heels, +perhaps the Prince himself, and if the ship be gone, a great number +of valuable lives may be imperilled." + +"The captain and the crew have lives also, if you come to that," +says Ballantrae. + +This I declared was but a quibble, and that I would not hear of the +captain being told; and then it was that Ballantrae made me a witty +answer, for the sake of which (and also because I have been blamed +myself in this business of the SAINTE-MARIE-DES-ANGES) I have +related the whole conversation as it passed. + +"Frank," says he, "remember our bargain. I must not object to your +holding your tongue, which I hereby even encourage you to do; but, +by the same terms, you are not to resent my telling." + +I could not help laughing at this; though I still forewarned him +what would come of it. + +"The devil may come of it for what I care," says the reckless +fellow. "I have always done exactly as I felt inclined." + +As is well known, my prediction came true. The captain had no +sooner heard the news than he cut his cable and to sea again; and +before morning broke, we were in the Great Minch. + +The ship was very old; and the skipper, although the most honest of +men (and Irish too), was one of the least capable. The wind blew +very boisterous, and the sea raged extremely. All that day we had +little heart whether to eat or drink; went early to rest in some +concern of mind; and (as if to give us a lesson) in the night the +wind chopped suddenly into the north-east, and blew a hurricane. +We were awaked by the dreadful thunder of the tempest and the +stamping of the mariners on deck; so that I supposed our last hour +was certainly come; and the terror of my mind was increased out of +all measure by Ballantrae, who mocked at my devotions. It is in +hours like these that a man of any piety appears in his true light, +and we find (what we are taught as babes) the small trust that can +be set in worldly friends. I would be unworthy of my religion if I +let this pass without particular remark. For three days we lay in +the dark in the cabin, and had but a biscuit to nibble. On the +fourth the wind fell, leaving the ship dismasted and heaving on +vast billows. The captain had not a guess of whither we were +blown; he was stark ignorant of his trade, and could do naught but +bless the Holy Virgin; a very good thing, too, but scarce the whole +of seamanship. It seemed, our one hope was to be picked up by +another vessel; and if that should prove to be an English ship, it +might be no great blessing to the Master and myself. + +The fifth and sixth days we tossed there helpless. The seventh +some sail was got on her, but she was an unwieldy vessel at the +best, and we made little but leeway. All the time, indeed, we had +been drifting to the south and west, and during the tempest must +have driven in that direction with unheard-of violence. The ninth +dawn was cold and black, with a great sea running, and every mark +of foul weather. In this situation we were overjoyed to sight a +small ship on the horizon, and to perceive her go about and head +for the SAINTE-MARIE. But our gratification did not very long +endure; for when she had laid to and lowered a boat, it was +immediately filled with disorderly fellows, who sang and shouted as +they pulled across to us, and swarmed in on our deck with bare +cutlasses, cursing loudly. Their leader was a horrible villain, +with his face blacked and his whiskers curled in ringlets; Teach, +his name; a most notorious pirate. He stamped about the deck, +raving and crying out that his name was Satan, and his ship was +called Hell. There was something about him like a wicked child or +a half-witted person, that daunted me beyond expression. I +whispered in the ear of Ballantrae that I would not be the last to +volunteer, and only prayed God they might be short of hands; he +approved my purpose with a nod. + +"Bedad," said I to Master Teach, "if you are Satan, here is a devil +for ye." + +The word pleased him; and (not to dwell upon these shocking +incidents) Ballantrae and I and two others were taken for recruits, +while the skipper and all the rest were cast into the sea by the +method of walking the plank. It was the first time I had seen this +done; my heart died within me at the spectacle; and Master Teach or +one of his acolytes (for my head was too much lost to be precise) +remarked upon my pale face in a very alarming manner. I had the +strength to cut a step or two of a jig, and cry out some ribaldry, +which saved me for that time; but my legs were like water when I +must get down into the skiff among these miscreants; and what with +my horror of my company and fear of the monstrous billows, it was +all I could do to keep an Irish tongue and break a jest or two as +we were pulled aboard. By the blessing of God, there was a fiddle +in the pirate ship, which I had no sooner seen than I fell upon; +and in my quality of crowder I had the heavenly good luck to get +favour in their eyes. CROWDING PAT was the name they dubbed me +with; and it was little I cared for a name so long as my skin was +whole. + +What kind of a pandemonium that vessel was, I cannot describe, but +she was commanded by a lunatic, and might be called a floating +Bedlam. Drinking, roaring, singing, quarrelling, dancing, they +were never all sober at one time; and there were days together +when, if a squall had supervened, it must have sent us to the +bottom; or if a king's ship had come along, it would have found us +quite helpless for defence. Once or twice we sighted a sail, and, +if we were sober enough, overhauled it, God forgive us! and if we +were all too drunk, she got away, and I would bless the saints +under my breath. Teach ruled, if you can call that rule which +brought no order, by the terror he created; and I observed the man +was very vain of his position. I have known marshals of France - +ay, and even Highland chieftains - that were less openly puffed up; +which throws a singular light on the pursuit of honour and glory. +Indeed, the longer we live, the more we perceive the sagacity of +Aristotle and the other old philosophers; and though I have all my +life been eager for legitimate distinctions, I can lay my hand upon +my heart, at the end of my career, and declare there is not one - +no, nor yet life itself - which is worth acquiring or preserving at +the slightest cost of dignity. + +It was long before I got private speech of Ballantrae; but at +length one night we crept out upon the boltsprit, when the rest +were better employed, and commiserated our position. + +"None can deliver us but the saints," said I. + +"My mind is very different," said Ballantrae; "for I am going to +deliver myself. This Teach is the poorest creature possible; we +make no profit of him, and lie continually open to capture; and," +says he, "I am not going to be a tarry pirate for nothing, nor yet +to hang in chains if I can help it." And he told me what was in +his mind to better the state of the ship in the way of discipline, +which would give us safety for the present, and a sooner hope of +deliverance when they should have gained enough and should break up +their company. + +I confessed to him ingenuously that my nerve was quite shook amid +these horrible surroundings, and I durst scarce tell him to count +upon me. + +"I am not very easy frightened," said he, "nor very easy beat." + +A few days after, there befell an accident which had nearly hanged +us all; and offers the most extraordinary picture of the folly that +ruled in our concerns. We were all pretty drunk: and some +bedlamite spying a sail, Teach put the ship about in chase without +a glance, and we began to bustle up the arms and boast of the +horrors that should follow. I observed Ballantrae stood quiet in +the bows, looking under the shade of his hand; but for my part, +true to my policy among these savages, I was at work with the +busiest and passing Irish jests for their diversion. + +"Run up the colours," cries Teach. "Show the -s the Jolly Roger!" + +It was the merest drunken braggadocio at such a stage, and might +have lost us a valuable prize; but I thought it no part of mine to +reason, and I ran up the black flag with my own hand. + +Ballantrae steps presently aft with a smile upon his face. + +"You may perhaps like to know, you drunken dog," says he, "that you +are chasing a king's ship." + +Teach roared him the lie; but he ran at the same time to the +bulwarks, and so did they all. I have never seen so many drunken +men struck suddenly sober. The cruiser had gone about, upon our +impudent display of colours; she was just then filling on the new +tack; her ensign blew out quite plain to see; and even as we +stared, there came a puff of smoke, and then a report, and a shot +plunged in the waves a good way short of us. Some ran to the +ropes, and got the SARAH round with an incredible swiftness. One +fellow fell on the rum barrel, which stood broached upon the deck, +and rolled it promptly overboard. On my part, I made for the Jolly +Roger, struck it, tossed it in the sea; and could have flung myself +after, so vexed was I with our mismanagement. As for Teach, he +grew as pale as death, and incontinently went down to his cabin. +Only twice he came on deck that afternoon; went to the taffrail; +took a long look at the king's ship, which was still on the horizon +heading after us; and then, without speech, back to his cabin. You +may say he deserted us; and if it had not been for one very capable +sailor we had on board, and for the lightness of the airs that blew +all day, we must certainly have gone to the yard-arm. + +It is to be supposed Teach was humiliated, and perhaps alarmed for +his position with the crew; and the way in which he set about +regaining what he had lost, was highly characteristic of the man. +Early next day we smelled him burning sulphur in his cabin and +crying out of "Hell, hell!" which was well understood among the +crew, and filled their minds with apprehension. Presently he comes +on deck, a perfect figure of fun, his face blacked, his hair and +whiskers curled, his belt stuck full of pistols; chewing bits of +glass so that the blood ran down his chin, and brandishing a dirk. +I do not know if he had taken these manners from the Indians of +America, where he was a native; but such was his way, and he would +always thus announce that he was wound up to horrid deeds. The +first that came near him was the fellow who had sent the rum +overboard the day before; him he stabbed to the heart, damning him +for a mutineer; and then capered about the body, raving and +swearing and daring us to come on. It was the silliest exhibition; +and yet dangerous too, for the cowardly fellow was plainly working +himself up to another murder. + +All of a sudden Ballantrae stepped forth. "Have done with this +play-acting," says he. "Do you think to frighten us with making +faces? We saw nothing of you yesterday, when you were wanted; and +we did well without you, let me tell you that." + +There was a murmur and a movement in the crew, of pleasure and +alarm, I thought, in nearly equal parts. As for Teach, he gave a +barbarous howl, and swung his dirk to fling it, an art in which +(like many seamen) he was very expert. + +"Knock that out of his hand!" says Ballantrae, so sudden and sharp +that my arm obeyed him before my mind had understood. + +Teach stood like one stupid, never thinking on his pistols. + +"Go down to your cabin," cries Ballantrae, "and come on deck again +when you are sober. Do you think we are going to hang for you, you +black-faced, half-witted, drunken brute and butcher? Go down!" +And he stamped his foot at him with such a sudden smartness that +Teach fairly ran for it to the companion. + +"And now, mates," says Ballantrae, "a word with you. I don't know +if you are gentlemen of fortune for the fun of the thing, but I am +not. I want to make money, and get ashore again, and spend it like +a man. And on one thing my mind is made up: I will not hang if I +can help it. Come: give me a hint; I'm only a beginner! Is there +no way to get a little discipline and common sense about this +business?" + +One of the men spoke up: he said by rights they should have a +quartermaster; and no sooner was the word out of his mouth than +they were all of that opinion. The thing went by acclamation, +Ballantrae was made quartermaster, the rum was put in his charge, +laws were passed in imitation of those of a pirate by the name of +Roberts, and the last proposal was to make an end of Teach. But +Ballantrae was afraid of a more efficient captain, who might be a +counterweight to himself, and he opposed this stoutly. Teach, he +said, was good enough to board ships and frighten fools with his +blacked face and swearing; we could scarce get a better man than +Teach for that; and besides, as the man was now disconsidered and +as good as deposed, we might reduce his proportion of the plunder. +This carried it; Teach's share was cut down to a mere derision, +being actually less than mine; and there remained only two points: +whether he would consent, and who was to announce to him this +resolution. + +"Do not let that stick you," says Ballantrae, "I will do that." + +And he stepped to the companion and down alone into the cabin to +face that drunken savage. + +"This is the man for us," cries one of the hands. "Three cheers +for the quartermaster!" which were given with a will, my own voice +among the loudest, and I dare say these plaudits had their effect +on Master Teach in the cabin, as we have seen of late days how +shouting in the streets may trouble even the minds of legislators. + +What passed precisely was never known, though some of the heads of +it came to the surface later on; and we were all amazed, as well as +gratified, when Ballantrae came on deck with Teach upon his arm, +and announced that all had been consented. + +I pass swiftly over those twelve or fifteen months in which we +continued to keep the sea in the North Atlantic, getting our food +and water from the ships we over-hauled, and doing on the whole a +pretty fortunate business. Sure, no one could wish to read +anything so ungenteel as the memoirs of a pirate, even an unwilling +one like me! Things went extremely better with our designs, and +Ballantrae kept his lead, to my admiration, from that day forth. I +would be tempted to suppose that a gentleman must everywhere be +first, even aboard a rover: but my birth is every whit as good as +any Scottish lord's, and I am not ashamed to confess that I stayed +Crowding Pat until the end, and was not much better than the crew's +buffoon. Indeed, it was no scene to bring out my merits. My +health suffered from a variety of reasons; I was more at home to +the last on a horse's back than a ship's deck; and, to be +ingenuous, the fear of the sea was constantly in my mind, battling +with the fear of my companions. I need not cry myself up for +courage; I have done well on many fields under the eyes of famous +generals, and earned my late advancement by an act of the most +distinguished valour before many witnesses. But when we must +proceed on one of our abordages, the heart of Francis Burke was in +his boots; the little eggshell skiff in which we must set forth, +the horrible heaving of the vast billows, the height of the ship +that we must scale, the thought of how many might be there in +garrison upon their legitimate defence, the scowling heavens which +(in that climate) so often looked darkly down upon our exploits, +and the mere crying of the wind in my ears, were all considerations +most unpalatable to my valour. Besides which, as I was always a +creature of the nicest sensibility, the scenes that must follow on +our success tempted me as little as the chances of defeat. Twice +we found women on board; and though I have seen towns sacked, and +of late days in France some very horrid public tumults, there was +something in the smallness of the numbers engaged, and the bleak +dangerous sea-surroundings, that made these acts of piracy far the +most revolting. I confess ingenuously I could never proceed unless +I was three parts drunk; it was the same even with the crew; Teach +himself was fit for no enterprise till he was full of rum; and it +was one of the most difficult parts of Ballantrae's performance, to +serve us with liquor in the proper quantities. Even this he did to +admiration; being upon the whole the most capable man I ever met +with, and the one of the most natural genius. He did not even +scrape favour with the crew, as I did, by continual buffoonery made +upon a very anxious heart; but preserved on most occasions a great +deal of gravity and distance; so that he was like a parent among a +family of young children, or a schoolmaster with his boys. What +made his part the harder to perform, the men were most inveterate +grumblers; Ballantrae's discipline, little as it was, was yet +irksome to their love of licence; and what was worse, being kept +sober they had time to think. Some of them accordingly would fall +to repenting their abominable crimes; one in particular, who was a +good Catholic, and with whom I would sometimes steal apart for +prayer; above all in bad weather, fogs, lashing rain and the like, +when we would be the less observed; and I am sure no two criminals +in the cart have ever performed their devotions with more anxious +sincerity. But the rest, having no such grounds of hope, fell to +another pastime, that of computation. All day long they would he +telling up their shares or grooming over the result. I have said +we were pretty fortunate. But an observation fails to be made: +that in this world, in no business that I have tried, do the +profits rise to a man's expectations. We found many ships and took +many; yet few of them contained much money, their goods were +usually nothing to our purpose - what did we want with a cargo of +ploughs, or even of tobacco? - and it is quite a painful reflection +how many whole crews we have made to walk the plank for no more +than a stock of biscuit or an anker or two of spirit. + +In the meanwhile our ship was growing very foul, and it was high +time we should make for our PORT DE CARRENAGE, which was in the +estuary of a river among swamps. It was openly understood that we +should then break up and go and squander our proportions of the +spoil; and this made every man greedy of a little more, so that our +decision was delayed from day to day. What finally decided +matters, was a trifling accident, such as an ignorant person might +suppose incidental to our way of life. But here I must explain: +on only one of all the ships we boarded, the first on which we +found women, did we meet with any genuine resistance. On that +occasion we had two men killed and several injured, and if it had +not been for the gallantry of Ballantrae we had surely been beat +back at last. Everywhere else the defence (where there was any at +all) was what the worst troops in Europe would have laughed at; so +that the most dangerous part of our employment was to clamber up +the side of the ship; and I have even known the poor souls on board +to cast us a line, so eager were they to volunteer instead of +walking the plank. This constant immunity had made our fellows +very soft, so that I understood how Teach had made so deep a mark +upon their minds; for indeed the company of that lunatic was the +chief danger in our way of life. The accident to which I have +referred was this:- We had sighted a little full-rigged ship very +close under our board in a haze; she sailed near as well as we did +- I should be nearer truth if I said, near as ill; and we cleared +the bow-chaser to see if we could bring a spar or two about their +ears. The swell was exceeding great; the motion of the ship beyond +description; it was little wonder if our gunners should fire thrice +and be still quite broad of what they aimed at. But in the +meanwhile the chase had cleared a stern gun, the thickness of the +air concealing them; and being better marksmen, their first shot +struck us in the bows, knocked our two gunners into mince-meat, so +that we were all sprinkled with the blood, and plunged through the +deck into the forecastle, where we slept. Ballantrae would have +held on; indeed, there was nothing in this CONTRETEMPS to affect +the mind of any soldier; but he had a quick perception of the men's +wishes, and it was plain this lucky shot had given them a sickener +of their trade. In a moment they were all of one mind: the chase +was drawing away from us, it was needless to hold on, the SARAH was +too foul to overhaul a bottle, it was mere foolery to keep the sea +with her; and on these pretended grounds her head was incontinently +put about and the course laid for the river. It was strange to see +what merriment fell on that ship's company, and how they stamped +about the deck jesting, and each computing what increase had come +to his share by the death of the two gunners. + +We were nine days making our port, so light were the airs we had to +sail on, so foul the ship's bottom; but early on the tenth, before +dawn, and in a light lifting haze, we passed the head. A little +after, the haze lifted, and fell again, showing us a cruiser very +close. This was a sore blow, happening so near our refuge. There +was a great debate of whether she had seen us, and if so whether it +was likely they had recognised the SARAH. We were very careful, by +destroying every member of those crews we overhauled, to leave no +evidence as to our own persons; but the appearance of the SARAH +herself we could not keep so private; and above all of late, since +she had been foul, and we had pursued many ships without success, +it was plain that her description had been often published. I +supposed this alert would have made us separate upon the instant. +But here again that original genius of Ballantrae's had a surprise +in store for me. He and Teach (and it was the most remarkable step +of his success) had gone hand in hand since the first day of his +appointment. I often questioned him upon the fact, and never got +an answer but once, when he told me he and Teach had an +understanding "which would very much surprise the crew if they +should hear of it, and would surprise himself a good deal if it was +carried out." Well, here again he and Teach were of a mind; and by +their joint procurement the anchor was no sooner down than the +whole crew went off upon a scene of drunkenness indescribable. By +afternoon we were a mere shipful of lunatical persons, throwing of +things overboard, howling of different songs at the same time, +quarrelling and falling together, and then forgetting our quarrels +to embrace. Ballantrae had bidden me drink nothing, and feign +drunkenness, as I valued my life; and I have never passed a day so +wearisomely, lying the best part of the time upon the forecastle +and watching the swamps and thickets by which our little basin was +entirely surrounded for the eye. A little after dusk Ballantrae +stumbled up to my side, feigned to fall, with a drunken laugh, and +before he got his feet again, whispered me to "reel down into the +cabin and seem to fall asleep upon a locker, for there would be +need of me soon." I did as I was told, and coming into the cabin, +where it was quite dark, let myself fall on the first locker. +There was a man there already; by the way he stirred and threw me +off, I could not think he was much in liquor; and yet when I had +found another place, he seemed to continue to sleep on. My heart +now beat very hard, for I saw some desperate matter was in act. +Presently down came Ballantrae, lit the lamp, looked about the +cabin, nodded as if pleased, and on deck again without a word. I +peered out from between my fingers, and saw there were three of us +slumbering, or feigning to slumber, on the lockers: myself, one +Dutton and one Grady, both resolute men. On deck the rest were got +to a pitch of revelry quite beyond the bounds of what is human; so +that no reasonable name can describe the sounds they were now +making. I have heard many a drunken bout in my time, many on board +that very SARAH, but never anything the least like this, which made +me early suppose the liquor had been tampered with. It was a long +while before these yells and howls died out into a sort of +miserable moaning, and then to silence; and it seemed a long while +after that before Ballantrae came down again, this time with Teach +upon his heels. The latter cursed at the sight of us three upon +the lockers. + +"Tut," says Ballantrae, "you might fire a pistol at their ears. +You know what stuff they have been swallowing." + +There was a hatch in the cabin floor, and under that the richest +part of the booty was stored against the day of division. It +fastened with a ring and three padlocks, the keys (for greater +security) being divided; one to Teach, one to Ballantrae, and one +to the mate, a man called Hammond. Yet I was amazed to see they +were now all in the one hand; and yet more amazed (still looking +through my fingers) to observe Ballantrae and Teach bring up +several packets, four of them in all, very carefully made up and +with a loop for carriage. + +"And now," says Teach, "let us be going." + +"One word," says Ballantrae. "I have discovered there is another +man besides yourself who knows a private path across the swamp; and +it seems it is shorter than yours." + +Teach cried out, in that case, they were undone. + +"I do not know for that," says Ballantrae. "For there are several +other circumstances with which I must acquaint you. First of all, +there is no bullet in your pistols, which (if you remember) I was +kind enough to load for both of us this morning. Secondly, as +there is someone else who knows a passage, you must think it highly +improbable I should saddle myself with a lunatic like you. +Thirdly, these gentlemen (who need no longer pretend to be asleep) +are those of my party, and will now proceed to gag and bind you to +the mast; and when your men awaken (if they ever do awake after the +drugs we have mingled in their liquor), I am sure they will be so +obliging as to deliver you, and you will have no difficulty, I +daresay, to explain the business of the keys." + +Not a word said Teach, but looked at us like a frightened baby as +we gagged and bound him. + +"Now you see, you moon-calf," says Ballantrae, "why we made four +packets. Heretofore you have been called Captain Teach, but I +think you are now rather Captain Learn." + +That was our last word on board the SARAH. We four, with our four +packets, lowered ourselves softly into a skiff, and left that ship +behind us as silent as the grave, only for the moaning of some of +the drunkards. There was a fog about breast-high on the waters; so +that Dutton, who knew the passage, must stand on his feet to direct +our rowing; and this, as it forced us to row gently, was the means +of our deliverance. We were yet but a little way from the ship, +when it began to come grey, and the birds to fly abroad upon the +water. All of a sudden Dutton clapped down upon his hams, and +whispered us to be silent for our lives, and hearken. Sure enough, +we heard a little faint creak of oars upon one hand, and then +again, and further off, a creak of oars upon the other. It was +clear we had been sighted yesterday in the morning; here were the +cruiser's boats to cut us out; here were we defenceless in their +very midst. Sure, never were poor souls more perilously placed; +and as we lay there on our oars, praying God the mist might hold, +the sweat poured from my brow. Presently we heard one of the boats +where we might have thrown a biscuit in her. "Softly, men," we +heard an officer whisper; and I marvelled they could not hear the +drumming of my heart. + +"Never mind the path," says Ballantrae; "we must get shelter +anyhow; let us pull straight ahead for the sides of the basin." + +This we did with the most anxious precaution, rowing, as best we +could, upon our hands, and steering at a venture in the fog, which +was (for all that) our only safety. But Heaven guided us; we +touched ground at a thicket; scrambled ashore with our treasure; +and having no other way of concealment, and the mist beginning +already to lighten, hove down the skiff and let her sink. We were +still but new under cover when the sun rose; and at the same time, +from the midst of the basin, a great shouting of seamen sprang up, +and we knew the SARAH was being boarded. I heard afterwards the +officer that took her got great honour; and it's true the approach +was creditably managed, but I think he had an easy capture when he +came to board. (3) + +I was still blessing the saints for my escape, when I became aware +we were in trouble of another kind. We were here landed at random +in a vast and dangerous swamp; and how to come at the path was a +concern of doubt, fatigue, and peril. Dutton, indeed, was of +opinion we should wait until the ship was gone, and fish up the +skiff; for any delay would be more wise than to go blindly ahead in +that morass. One went back accordingly to the basin-side and +(peering through the thicket) saw the fog already quite drunk up, +and English colours flying on the SARAH, but no movement made to +get her under way. Our situation was now very doubtful. The swamp +was an unhealthful place to linger in; we had been so greedy to +bring treasures that we had brought but little food; it was highly +desirable, besides, that we should get clear of the neighbourhood +and into the settlements before the news of the capture went +abroad; and against all these considerations, there was only the +peril of the passage on the other side. I think it not wonderful +we decided on the active part. + +It was already blistering hot when we set forth to pass the marsh, +or rather to strike the path, by compass. Dutton took the compass, +and one or other of us three carried his proportion of the +treasure. I promise you he kept a sharp eye to his rear, for it +was like the man's soul that he must trust us with. The thicket +was as close as a bush; the ground very treacherous, so that we +often sank in the most terrifying manner, and must go round about; +the heat, besides, was stifling, the air singularly heavy, and the +stinging insects abounded in such myriads that each of us walked +under his own cloud. It has often been commented on, how much +better gentlemen of birth endure fatigue than persons of the +rabble; so that walking officers who must tramp in the dirt beside +their men, shame them by their constancy. This was well to be +observed in the present instance; for here were Ballantrae and I, +two gentlemen of the highest breeding, on the one hand; and on the +other, Grady, a common mariner, and a man nearly a giant in +physical strength. The case of Dutton is not in point, for I +confess he did as well as any of us. (4) But as for Grady, he +began early to lament his case, tailed in the rear, refused to +carry Dutton's packet when it came his turn, clamoured continually +for rum (of which we had too little), and at last even threatened +us from behind with a cooked pistol, unless we should allow him +rest. Ballantrae would have fought it out, I believe; but I +prevailed with him the other way; and we made a stop and ate a +meal. It seemed to benefit Grady little; he was in the rear again +at once, growling and bemoaning his lot; and at last, by some +carelessness, not having followed properly in our tracks, stumbled +into a deep part of the slough where it was mostly water, gave some +very dreadful screams, and before we could come to his aid had sunk +along with his booty. His fate, and above all these screams of +his, appalled us to the soul; yet it was on the whole a fortunate +circumstance and the means of our deliverance, for it moved Dutton +to mount into a tree, whence he was able to perceive and to show +me, who had climbed after him, a high piece of the wood, which was +a landmark for the path. He went forward the more carelessly, I +must suppose; for presently we saw him sink a little down, draw up +his feet and sink again, and so twice. Then he turned his face to +us, pretty white. + +"Lend a hand," said he, "I am in a bad place." + +"I don't know about that," says Ballantrae, standing still. + +Dutton broke out into the most violent oaths, sinking a little +lower as he did, so that the mud was nearly to his waist, and +plucking a pistol from his belt, "Help me," he cries, "or die and +be damned to you!" + +"Nay," says Ballantrae, "I did but jest. I am coming." And he set +down his own packet and Dutton's, which he was then carrying. "Do +not venture near till we see if you are needed," said he to me, and +went forward alone to where the man was bogged. He was quiet now, +though he still held the pistol; and the marks of terror in his +countenance were very moving to behold. + +"For the Lord's sake," says he, "look sharp." + +Ballantrae was now got close up. "Keep still," says he, and seemed +to consider; and then, "Reach out both your hands!" + +Dutton laid down his pistol, and so watery was the top surface that +it went clear out of sight; with an oath he stooped to snatch it; +and as he did so, Ballantrae leaned forth and stabbed him between +the shoulders. Up went his hands over his head - I know not +whether with the pain or to ward himself; and the next moment he +doubled forward in the mud. + +Ballantrae was already over the ankles; but he plucked himself out, +and came back to me, where I stood with my knees smiting one +another. "The devil take you, Francis!" says he. "I believe you +are a half-hearted fellow, after all. I have only done justice on +a pirate. And here we are quite clear of the SARAH! Who shall now +say that we have dipped our hands in any irregularities?" + +I assured him he did me injustice; but my sense of humanity was so +much affected by the horridness of the fact that I could scarce +find breath to answer with. + +"Come," said he, "you must be more resolved. The need for this +fellow ceased when he had shown you where the path ran; and you +cannot deny I would have been daft to let slip so fair an +opportunity." + +I could not deny but he was right in principle; nor yet could I +refrain from shedding tears, of which I think no man of valour need +have been ashamed; and it was not until I had a share of the rum +that I was able to proceed. I repeat, I am far from ashamed of my +generous emotion; mercy is honourable in the warrior; and yet I +cannot altogether censure Ballantrae, whose step was really +fortunate, as we struck the path without further misadventure, and +the same night, about sundown, came to the edge of the morass. + +We were too weary to seek far; on some dry sands, still warm with +the day's sun, and close under a wood of pines, we lay down and +were instantly plunged in sleep. + +We awaked the next morning very early, and began with a sullen +spirit a conversation that came near to end in blows. We were now +cast on shore in the southern provinces, thousands of miles from +any French settlement; a dreadful journey and a thousand perils lay +in front of us; and sure, if there was ever need for amity, it was +in such an hour. I must suppose that Ballantrae had suffered in +his sense of what is truly polite; indeed, and there is nothing +strange in the idea, after the sea-wolves we had consorted with so +long; and as for myself, he fubbed me off unhandsomely, and any +gentleman would have resented his behaviour. + +I told him in what light I saw his conduct; he walked a little off, +I following to upbraid him; and at last he stopped me with his +hand. + +"Frank," says he, "you know what we swore; and yet there is no oath +invented would induce me to swallow such expressions, if I did not +regard you with sincere affection. It is impossible you should +doubt me there: I have given proofs. Dutton I had to take, +because he knew the pass, and Grady because Dutton would not move +without him; but what call was there to carry you along? You are a +perpetual danger to me with your cursed Irish tongue. By rights +you should now be in irons in the cruiser. And you quarrel with me +like a baby for some trinkets!" + +I considered this one of the most unhandsome speeches ever made; +and indeed to this day I can scarce reconcile it to my notion of a +gentleman that was my friend. I retorted upon him with his Scotch +accent, of which he had not so much as some, but enough to be very +barbarous and disgusting, as I told him plainly; and the affair +would have gone to a great length, but for an alarming +intervention. + +We had got some way off upon the sand. The place where we had +slept, with the packets lying undone and the money scattered +openly, was now between us and the pines; and it was out of these +the stranger must have come. There he was at least, a great +hulking fellow of the country, with a broad axe on his shoulder, +looking open-mouthed, now at the treasure, which was just at his +feet, and now at our disputation, in which we had gone far enough +to have weapons in our hands. We had no sooner observed him than +he found his legs and made off again among the pines. + +This was no scene to put our minds at rest: a couple of armed men +in sea-clothes found quarrelling over a treasure, not many miles +from where a pirate had been captured - here was enough to bring +the whole country about our ears. The quarrel was not even made +up; it was blotted from our minds; and we got our packets together +in the twinkling of an eye, and made off, running with the best +will in the world. But the trouble was, we did not know in what +direction, and must continually return upon our steps. Ballantrae +had indeed collected what he could from Dutton; but it's hard to +travel upon hearsay; and the estuary, which spreads into a vast +irregular harbour, turned us off upon every side with a new stretch +of water. + +We were near beside ourselves, and already quite spent with +running, when, coming to the top of a dune, we saw we were again +cut off by another ramification of the bay. This was a creek, +however, very different from those that had arrested us before; +being set in rocks, and so precipitously deep that a small vessel +was able to lie alongside, made fast with a hawser; and her crew +had laid a plank to the shore. Here they had lighted a fire, and +were sitting at their meal. As for the vessel herself, she was one +of those they build in the Bermudas. + +The love of gold and the great hatred that everybody has to pirates +were motives of the most influential, and would certainly raise the +country in our pursuit. Besides, it was now plain we were on some +sort of straggling peninsula, like the fingers of a hand; and the +wrist, or passage to the mainland, which we should have taken at +the first, was by this time not improbably secured. These +considerations put us on a bolder counsel. For as long as we +dared, looking every moment to hear sounds of the chase, we lay +among some bushes on the top of the dune; and having by this means +secured a little breath and recomposed our appearance, we strolled +down at last, with a great affectation of carelessness, to the +party by the fire. + +It was a trader and his negroes, belonging to Albany, in the +province of New York, and now on the way home from the Indies with +a cargo; his name I cannot recall. We were amazed to learn he had +put in here from terror of the SARAH; for we had no thought our +exploits had been so notorious. As soon as the Albanian heard she +had been taken the day before, he jumped to his feet, gave us a cup +of spirits for our good news, and sent big negroes to get sail on +the Bermudan. On our side, we profited by the dram to become more +confidential, and at last offered ourselves as passengers. He +looked askance at our tarry clothes and pistols, and replied +civilly enough that he had scarce accommodation for himself; nor +could either our prayers or our offers of money, in which we +advanced pretty far, avail to shake him. + +"I see, you think ill of us," says Ballantrae, "but I will show you +how well we think of you by telling you the truth. We are Jacobite +fugitives, and there is a price upon our heads." + +At this, the Albanian was plainly moved a little. He asked us many +questions as to the Scotch war, which Ballantrae very patiently +answered. And then, with a wink, in a vulgar manner, "I guess you +and your Prince Charlie got more than you cared about," said he. + +"Bedad, and that we did," said I. "And, my dear man, I wish you +would set a new example and give us just that much." + +This I said in the Irish way, about which there is allowed to be +something very engaging. It's a remarkable thing, and a testimony +to the love with which our nation is regarded, that this address +scarce ever fails in a handsome fellow. I cannot tell how often I +have seen a private soldier escape the horse, or a beggar wheedle +out a good alms by a touch of the brogue. And, indeed, as soon as +the Albanian had laughed at me I was pretty much at rest. Even +then, however, he made many conditions, and - for one thing - took +away our arms, before he suffered us aboard; which was the signal +to cast off; so that in a moment after, we were gliding down the +bay with a good breeze, and blessing the name of God for our +deliverance. Almost in the mouth of the estuary, we passed the +cruiser, and a little after the poor SARAH with her prize crew; and +these were both sights to make us tremble. The Bermudan seemed a +very safe place to be in, and our bold stroke to have been +fortunately played, when we were thus reminded of the case of our +companions. For all that, we had only exchanged traps, jumped out +of the frying-pan into the fire, ran from the yard-arm to the +block, and escaped the open hostility of the man-of-war to lie at +the mercy of the doubtful faith of our Albanian merchant. + +From many circumstances, it chanced we were safer than we could +have dared to hope. The town of Albany was at that time much +concerned in contraband trade across the desert with the Indians +and the French. This, as it was highly illegal, relaxed their +loyalty, and as it brought them in relation with the politest +people on the earth, divided even their sympathies. In short, they +were like all the smugglers in the world, spies and agents ready- +made for either party. Our Albanian, besides, was a very honest +man indeed, and very greedy; and, to crown our luck, he conceived a +great delight in our society. Before we had reached the town of +New York we had come to a full agreement, that he should carry us +as far as Albany upon his ship, and thence put us on a way to pass +the boundaries and join the French. For all this we were to pay at +a high rate; but beggars cannot be choosers, nor outlaws +bargainers. + +We sailed, then, up the Hudson River, which, I protest, is a very +fine stream, and put up at the "King's Arms" in Albany. The town +was full of the militia of the province, breathing slaughter +against the French. Governor Clinton was there himself, a very +busy man, and, by what I could learn, very near distracted by the +factiousness of his Assembly. The Indians on both sides were on +the war-path; we saw parties of them bringing in prisoners and +(what was much worse) scalps, both male and female, for which they +were paid at a fixed rate; and I assure you the sight was not +encouraging. Altogether, we could scarce have come at a period +more unsuitable for our designs; our position in the chief inn was +dreadfully conspicuous; our Albanian fubbed us off with a thousand +delays, and seemed upon the point of a retreat from his +engagements; nothing but peril appeared to environ the poor +fugitives, and for some time we drowned our concern in a very +irregular course of living. + +This, too, proved to be fortunate; and it's one of the remarks that +fall to be made upon our escape, how providentially our steps were +conducted to the very end. What a humiliation to the dignity of +man! My philosophy, the extraordinary genius of Ballantrae, our +valour, in which I grant that we were equal - all these might have +proved insufficient without the Divine blessing on our efforts. +And how true it is, as the Church tells us, that the Truths of +Religion are, after all, quite applicable even to daily affairs! +At least, it was in the course of our revelry that we made the +acquaintance of a spirited youth by the name of Chew. He was one +of the most daring of the Indian traders, very well acquainted with +the secret paths of the wilderness, needy, dissolute, and, by a +last good fortune, in some disgrace with his family. Him we +persuaded to come to our relief; he privately provided what was +needful for our flight, and one day we slipped out of Albany, +without a word to our former friend, and embarked, a little above, +in a canoe. + +To the toils and perils of this journey, it would require a pen +more elegant than mine to do full justice. The reader must +conceive for himself the dreadful wilderness which we had now to +thread; its thickets, swamps, precipitous rocks, impetuous rivers, +and amazing waterfalls. Among these barbarous scenes we must toil +all day, now paddling, now carrying our canoe upon our shoulders; +and at night we slept about a fire, surrounded by the howling of +wolves and other savage animals. It was our design to mount the +headwaters of the Hudson, to the neighbourhood of Crown Point, +where the French had a strong place in the woods, upon Lake +Champlain. But to have done this directly were too perilous; and +it was accordingly gone upon by such a labyrinth of rivers, lakes, +and portages as makes my head giddy to remember. These paths were +in ordinary times entirely desert; but the country was now up, the +tribes on the war-path, the woods full of Indian scouts. Again and +again we came upon these parties when we least expected, them; and +one day, in particular, I shall never forget, how, as dawn was +coming in, we were suddenly surrounded by five or six of these +painted devils, uttering a very dreary sort of cry, and brandishing +their hatchets. It passed off harmlessly, indeed, as did the rest +of our encounters; for Chew was well known and highly valued among +the different tribes. Indeed, he was a very gallant, respectable +young man; but even with the advantage of his companionship, you +must not think these meetings were without sensible peril. To +prove friendship on our part, it was needful to draw upon our stock +of rum - indeed, under whatever disguise, that is the true business +of the Indian trader, to keep a travelling public-house in the +forest; and when once the braves had got their bottle of SCAURA (as +they call this beastly liquor), it behoved us to set forth and +paddle for our scalps. Once they were a little drunk, goodbye to +any sense or decency; they had but the one thought, to get more +SCAURA. They might easily take it in their heads to give us chase, +and had we been overtaken, I had never written these memoirs. + +We were come to the most critical portion of our course, where we +might equally expect to fall into the hands of French or English, +when a terrible calamity befell us. Chew was taken suddenly sick +with symptoms like those of poison, and in the course of a few +hours expired in the bottom of the canoe. We thus lost at once our +guide, our interpreter, our boatman, and our passport, for he was +all these in one; and found ourselves reduced, at a blow, to the +most desperate and irremediable distress. Chew, who took a great +pride in his knowledge, had indeed often lectured us on the +geography; and Ballantrae, I believe, would listen. But for my +part I have always found such information highly tedious; and +beyond the fact that we were now in the country of the Adirondack +Indians, and not so distant from our destination, could we but have +found the way, I was entirely ignorant. The wisdom of my course +was soon the more apparent; for with all his pains, Ballantrae was +no further advanced than myself. He knew we must continue to go up +one stream; then, by way of a portage, down another; and then up a +third. But you are to consider, in a mountain country, how many +streams come rolling in from every hand. And how is a gentleman, +who is a perfect stranger in that part of the world, to tell any +one of them from any other? Nor was this our only trouble. We +were great novices, besides, in handling a canoe; the portages were +almost beyond our strength, so that I have seen us sit down in +despair for half an hour at a time without one word; and the +appearance of a single Indian, since we had now no means of +speaking to them, would have been in all probability the means of +our destruction. There is altogether some excuse if Ballantrae +showed something of a grooming disposition; his habit of imputing +blame to others, quite as capable as himself, was less tolerable, +and his language it was not always easy to accept. Indeed, he had +contracted on board the pirate ship a manner of address which was +in a high degree unusual between gentlemen; and now, when you might +say he was in a fever, it increased upon him hugely. + +The third day of these wanderings, as we were carrying the canoe +upon a rocky portage, she fell, and was entirely bilged. The +portage was between two lakes, both pretty extensive; the track, +such as it was, opened at both ends upon the water, and on both +hands was enclosed by the unbroken woods; and the sides of the +lakes were quite impassable with bog: so that we beheld ourselves +not only condemned to go without our boat and the greater part of +our provisions, but to plunge at once into impenetrable thickets +and to desert what little guidance we still had - the course of the +river. Each stuck his pistols in his belt, shouldered an axe, made +a pack of his treasure and as much food as he could stagger under; +and deserting the rest of our possessions, even to our swords, +which would have much embarrassed us among the woods, we set forth +on this deplorable adventure. The labours of Hercules, so finely +described by Homer, were a trifle to what we now underwent. Some +parts of the forest were perfectly dense down to the ground, so +that we must cut our way like mites in a cheese. In some the +bottom was full of deep swamp, and the whole wood entirely rotten. +I have leaped on a great fallen log and sunk to the knees in +touchwood; I have sought to stay myself, in falling, against what +looked to be a solid trunk, and the whole thing has whiffed away at +my touch like a sheet of paper. Stumbling, falling, bogging to the +knees, hewing our way, our eyes almost put out with twigs and +branches, our clothes plucked from our bodies, we laboured all day, +and it is doubtful if we made two miles. What was worse, as we +could rarely get a view of the country, and were perpetually +justled from our path by obstacles, it was impossible even to have +a guess in what direction we were moving. + +A little before sundown, in an open place with a stream, and set +about with barbarous mountains, Ballantrae threw down his pack. "I +will go no further," said he, and bade me light the fire, damning +my blood in terms not proper for a chairman. + +I told him to try to forget he had ever been a pirate, and to +remember he had been a gentleman. + +"Are you mad?" he cried. "Don't cross me here! And then, shaking +his fist at the hills, "To think," cries he, "that I must leave my +bones in this miserable wilderness! Would God I had died upon the +scaffold like a gentleman!" This he said ranting like an actor; +and then sat biting his fingers and staring on the ground, a most +unchristian object. + +I took a certain horror of the man, for I thought a soldier and a +gentleman should confront his end with more philosophy. I made him +no reply, therefore, in words; and presently the evening fell so +chill that I was glad, for my own sake, to kindle a fire. And yet +God knows, in such an open spot, and the country alive with +savages, the act was little short of lunacy. Ballantrae seemed +never to observe me; but at last, as I was about parching a little +corn, he looked up. + +"Have you ever a brother?" said be. + +"By the blessing of Heaven," said I, "not less than five." + +"I have the one," said he, with a strange voice; and then +presently, "He shall pay me for all this," he added. And when I +asked him what was his brother's part in our distress, "What!" he +cried, "he sits in my place, he bears my name, he courts my wife; +and I am here alone with a damned Irishman in this tooth-chattering +desert! Oh, I have been a common gull!" he cried. + +The explosion was in all ways so foreign to my friend's nature that +I was daunted out of all my just susceptibility. Sure, an +offensive expression, however vivacious, appears a wonderfully +small affair in circumstances so extreme! But here there is a +strange thing to be noted. He had only once before referred to the +lady with whom he was contracted. That was when we came in view of +the town of New York, when he had told me, if all had their rights, +he was now in sight of his own property, for Miss Graeme enjoyed a +large estate in the province. And this was certainly a natural +occasion; but now here she was named a second time; and what is +surely fit to be observed, in this very month, which was November, +'47, and I BELIEVE UPON THAT VERY DAY AS WE SAT AMONG THESE +BARBAROUS MOUNTAINS, his brother and Miss Graeme were married. I +am the least superstitious of men; but the hand of Providence is +here displayed too openly not to be remarked. (5) + +The next day, and the next, were passed in similar labours; +Ballantrae often deciding on our course by the spinning of a coin; +and once, when I expostulated on this childishness, he had an odd +remark that I have never forgotten. "I know no better way," said +he, "to express my scorn of human reason." I think it was the +third day that we found the body of a Christian, scalped and most +abominably mangled, and lying in a pudder of his blood; the birds +of the desert screaming over him, as thick as flies. I cannot +describe how dreadfully this sight affected us; but it robbed me of +all strength and all hope for this world. The same day, and only a +little after, we were scrambling over a part of the forest that had +been burned, when Ballantrae, who was a little ahead, ducked +suddenly behind a fallen trunk. I joined him in this shelter, +whence we could look abroad without being seen ourselves; and in +the bottom of the next vale, beheld a large war party of the +savages going by across our line. There might be the value of a +weak battalion present; all naked to the waist, blacked with grease +and soot, and painted with white lead and vermilion, according to +their beastly habits. They went one behind another like a string +of geese, and at a quickish trot; so that they took but a little +while to rattle by, and disappear again among the woods. Yet I +suppose we endured a greater agony of hesitation and suspense in +these few minutes than goes usually to a man's whole life. Whether +they were French or English Indians, whether they desired scalps or +prisoners, whether we should declare ourselves upon the chance, or +lie quiet and continue the heart-breaking business of our journey: +sure, I think these were questions to have puzzled the brains of +Aristotle himself. Ballantrae turned to me with a face all +wrinkled up and his teeth showing in his mouth, like what I have +read of people starving; he said no word, but his whole appearance +was a kind of dreadful question. + +"They may be of the English side," I whispered; "and think! the +best we could then hope, is to begin this over again." + +"I know - I know," he said. "Yet it must come to a plunge at +last." And he suddenly plucked out his coin, shook it in his +closed hands, looked at it, and then lay down with his face in the +dust. + +ADDITION BY MR. MACKELLAR. - I drop the Chevalier's narration at +this point because the couple quarrelled and separated the same +day; and the Chevalier's account of the quarrel seems to me (I must +confess) quite incompatible with the nature of either of the men. +Henceforth they wandered alone, undergoing extraordinary +sufferings; until first one and then the other was picked up by a +party from Fort St. Frederick. Only two things are to be noted. +And first (as most important for my purpose) that the Master, in +the course of his miseries buried his treasure, at a point never +since discovered, but of which he took a drawing in his own blood +on the lining of his hat. And second, that on his coming thus +penniless to the Fort, he was welcomed like a brother by the +Chevalier, who thence paid his way to France. The simplicity of +Mr. Burke's character leads him at this point to praise the Master +exceedingly; to an eye more worldly wise, it would seem it was the +Chevalier alone that was to be commended. I have the more pleasure +in pointing to this really very noble trait of my esteemed +correspondent, as I fear I may have wounded him immediately before. +I have refrained from comments on any of his extraordinary and (in +my eyes) immoral opinions, for I know him to be jealous of respect. +But his version of the quarrel is really more than I can reproduce; +for I knew the Master myself, and a man more insusceptible of fear +is not conceivable. I regret this oversight of the Chevalier's, +and all the more because the tenor of his narrative (set aside a +few flourishes) strikes me as highly ingenuous. + + + +CHAPTER IV. - PERSECUTIONS ENDURED BY MR. HENRY. + + + +You can guess on what part of his adventures the Colonel +principally dwelled. Indeed, if we had heard it all, it is to be +thought the current of this business had been wholly altered; but +the pirate ship was very gently touched upon. Nor did I hear the +Colonel to an end even of that which he was willing to disclose; +for Mr. Henry, having for some while been plunged in a brown study, +rose at last from his seat and (reminding the Colonel there were +matters that he must attend to) bade me follow him immediately to +the office. + +Once there, he sought no longer to dissemble his concern, walking +to and fro in the room with a contorted face, and passing his hand +repeatedly upon his brow. + +"We have some business," he began at last; and there broke off, +declared we must have wine, and sent for a magnum of the best. +This was extremely foreign to his habitudes; and what was still +more so, when the wine had come, he gulped down one glass upon +another like a man careless of appearances. But the drink steadied +him. + +"You will scarce be surprised, Mackellar," says he, "when I tell +you that my brother - whose safety we are all rejoiced to learn - +stands in some need of money." + +I told him I had misdoubted as much; but the time was not very +fortunate, as the stock was low. + +"Not mine," said he. "There is the money for the mortgage." + +I reminded him it was Mrs. Henry's. + +"I will be answerable to my wife," he cried violently. + +"And then," said I, "there is the mortgage." + +"I know," said he; "it is on that I would consult you." + +I showed him how unfortunate a time it was to divert this money +from its destination; and how, by so doing, we must lose the profit +of our past economies, and plunge back the estate into the mire. I +even took the liberty to plead with him; and when he still opposed +me with a shake of the head and a bitter dogged smile, my zeal +quite carried me beyond my place. "This is midsummer madness," +cried I; "and I for one will be no party to it." + +"You speak as though I did it for my pleasure," says he. "But I +have a child now; and, besides, I love order; and to say the honest +truth, Mackellar, I had begun to take a pride in the estates." He +gloomed for a moment. "But what would you have?" he went on. +"Nothing is mine, nothing. This day's news has knocked the bottom +out of my life. I have only the name and the shadow of things - +only the shadow; there is no substance in my rights." + +"They will prove substantial enough before a court," said I. + +He looked at me with a burning eye, and seemed to repress the word +upon his lips; and I repented what I had said, for I saw that while +he spoke of the estate he had still a side-thought to his marriage. +And then, of a sudden, he twitched the letter from his pocket, +where it lay all crumpled, smoothed it violently on the table, and +read these words to me with a trembling tongue: "'My dear Jacob' - +This is how he begins!" cries he - "'My dear Jacob, I once called +you so, you may remember; and you have now done the business, and +flung my heels as high as Criffel.' What do you think of that, +Mackellar," says he, "from an only brother? I declare to God I +liked him very well; I was always staunch to him; and this is how +he writes! But I will not sit down under the imputation" - walking +to and fro - "I am as good as he; I am a better man than he, I call +on God to prove it! I cannot give him all the monstrous sum he +asks; he knows the estate to be incompetent; but I will give him +what I have, and it in more than he expects. I have borne all this +too long. See what he writes further on; read it for yourself: 'I +know you are a niggardly dog.' A niggardly dog! I niggardly? Is +that true, Mackellar? You think it is?" I really thought he would +have struck me at that. "Oh, you all think so! Well, you shall +see, and he shall see, and God shall see. If I ruin the estate and +go barefoot, I shall stuff this bloodsucker. Let him ask all - +all, and he shall have it! It is all his by rights. Ah!" he +cried, "and I foresaw all this, and worse, when he would not let me +go." He poured out another glass of wine, and was about to carry +it to his lips, when I made so bold as to lay a finger on his arm. +He stopped a moment. "You are right," said he, and flung glass and +all in the fireplace. "Come, let us count the money." + +I durst no longer oppose him; indeed, I was very much affected by +the sight of so much disorder in a man usually so controlled; and +we sat down together, counted the money, and made it up in packets +for the greater ease of Colonel Burke, who was to be the bearer. +This done, Mr. Henry returned to the hall, where he and my old lord +sat all night through with their guest. + +A little before dawn I was called and set out with the Colonel. He +would scarce have liked a less responsible convoy, for he was a man +who valued himself; nor could we afford him one more dignified, for +Mr. Henry must not appear with the freetraders. It was a very +bitter morning of wind, and as we went down through the long +shrubbery the Colonel held himself muffled in his cloak. + +"Sir," said I, "this is a great sum of money that your friend +requires. I must suppose his necessities to be very great." + +"We must suppose so," says he, I thought drily; but perhaps it was +the cloak about his mouth. + +"I am only a servant of the family," said I. "You may deal openly +with me. I think we are likely to get little good by him?" + +"My dear man," said the Colonel, "Ballantrae is a gentleman of the +most eminent natural abilities, and a man that I admire, and that I +revere, to the very ground he treads on." And then he seemed to me +to pause like one in a difficulty. + +"But for all that," said I, "we are likely to get little good by +him?" + +"Sure, and you can have it your own way, my dear man," says the +Colonel. + +By this time we had come to the side of the creek, where the boat +awaited him. "Well," said be, "I am sure I am very much your +debtor for all your civility, Mr. Whatever-your-name-is; and just +as a last word, and since you show so much intelligent interest, I +will mention a small circumstance that may be of use to the family. +For I believe my friend omitted to mention that he has the largest +pension on the Scots Fund of any refugee in Paris; and it's the +more disgraceful, sir," cries the Colonel, warming, "because +there's not one dirty penny for myself." + +He cocked his hat at me, as if I had been to blame for this +partiality; then changed again into his usual swaggering civility, +shook me by the hand, and set off down to the boat, with the money +under his arms, and whistling as he went the pathetic air of SHULE +AROON. It was the first time I had heard that tune; I was to hear +it again, words and all, as you shall learn, but I remember how +that little stave of it ran in my head after the freetraders had +bade him "Wheesht, in the deil's name," and the grating of the oars +had taken its place, and I stood and watched the dawn creeping on +the sea, and the boat drawing away, and the lugger lying with her +foresail backed awaiting it. + + +The gap made in our money was a sore embarrassment, and, among +other consequences, it had this: that I must ride to Edinburgh, +and there raise a new loan on very questionable terms to keep the +old afloat; and was thus, for close upon three weeks, absent from +the house of Durrisdeer. + +What passed in the interval I had none to tell me, but I found Mrs. +Henry, upon my return, much changed in her demeanour. The old +talks with my lord for the most part pretermitted; a certain +deprecation visible towards her husband, to whom I thought she +addressed herself more often; and, for one thing, she was now +greatly wrapped up in Miss Katharine. You would think the change +was agreeable to Mr. Henry; no such matter! To the contrary, every +circumstance of alteration was a stab to him; he read in each the +avowal of her truant fancies. That constancy to the Master of +which she was proud while she supposed him dead, she had to blush +for now she knew he was alive, and these blushes were the hated +spring of her new conduct. I am to conceal no truth; and I will +here say plainly, I think this was the period in which Mr. Henry +showed the worst. He contained himself, indeed, in public; but +there was a deep-seated irritation visible underneath. With me, +from whom he had less concealment, he was often grossly unjust, and +even for his wife he would sometimes have a sharp retort: perhaps +when she had ruffled him with some unwonted kindness; perhaps upon +no tangible occasion, the mere habitual tenor of the man's +annoyance bursting spontaneously forth. When he would thus forget +himself (a thing so strangely out of keeping with the terms of +their relation), there went a shook through the whole company, and +the pair would look upon each other in a kind of pained amazement. + +All the time, too, while he was injuring himself by this defect of +temper, he was hurting his position by a silence, of which I scarce +know whether to say it was the child of generosity or pride. The +freetraders came again and again, bringing messengers from the +Master, and none departed empty-handed. I never durst reason with +Mr. Henry; he gave what was asked of him in a kind of noble rage. +Perhaps because he knew he was by nature inclining to the +parsimonious, he took a backforemost pleasure in the recklessness +with which he supplied his brother's exigence. Perhaps the falsity +of the position would have spurred a humbler man into the same +excess. But the estate (if I may say so) groaned under it; our +daily expenses were shorn lower and lower; the stables were +emptied, all but four roadsters; servants were discharged, which +raised a dreadful murmuring in the country, and heated up the old +disfavour upon Mr. Henry; and at last the yearly visit to Edinburgh +must be discontinued. + +This was in 1756. You are to suppose that for seven years this +bloodsucker had been drawing the life's blood from Durrisdeer, and +that all this time my patron had held his peace. It was an effect +of devilish malice in the Master that he addressed Mr. Henry alone +upon the matter of his demands, and there was never a word to my +lord. The family had looked on, wondering at our economies. They +had lamented, I have no doubt, that my patron had become so great a +miser - a fault always despicable, but in the young abhorrent, and +Mr. Henry was not yet thirty years of age. Still, he had managed +the business of Durrisdeer almost from a boy; and they bore with +these changes in a silence as proud and bitter as his own, until +the coping-stone of the Edinburgh visit. + +At this time I believe my patron and his wife were rarely together, +save at meals. Immediately on the back of Colonel Burke's +announcement Mrs. Henry made palpable advances; you might say she +had laid a sort of timid court to her husband, different, indeed, +from her former manner of unconcern and distance. I never had the +heart to blame Mr. Henry because he recoiled from these advances; +nor yet to censure the wife, when she was cut to the quick by their +rejection. But the result was an entire estrangement, so that (as +I say) they rarely spoke, except at meals. Even the matter of the +Edinburgh visit was first broached at table, and it chanced that +Mrs. Henry was that day ailing and querulous. She had no sooner +understood her husband's meaning than the red flew in her face. + +"At last," she cried, "this is too much! Heaven knows what +pleasure I have in my life, that I should be denied my only +consolation. These shameful proclivities must be trod down; we are +already a mark and an eyesore in the neighbourhood. I will not +endure this fresh insanity." + +"I cannot afford it," says Mr. Henry. + +"Afford?" she cried. "For shame! But I have money of my own." + +"That is all mine, madam, by marriage," he snarled, and instantly +left the room. + +My old lord threw up his hands to Heaven, and he and his daughter, +withdrawing to the chimney, gave me a broad hint to be gone. I +found Mr. Henry in his usual retreat, the steward's room, perched +on the end of the table, and plunging his penknife in it with a +very ugly countenance. + +"Mr. Henry," said I, "you do yourself too much injustice, and it is +time this should cease." + +"Oh!" cries he, "nobody minds here. They think it only natural. I +have shameful proclivities. I am a niggardly dog," and he drove +his knife up to the hilt. "But I will show that fellow," he cried +with an oath, "I will show him which is the more generous." + +"This is no generosity," said I; "this is only pride." + +"Do you think I want morality?" he asked. + +I thought he wanted help, and I should give it him, willy-nilly; +and no sooner was Mrs. Henry gone to her room than I presented +myself at her door and sought admittance. + +She openly showed her wonder. "What do you want with me, Mr. +Mackellar?" said she. + +"The Lord knows, madam," says I, "I have never troubled you before +with any freedoms; but this thing lies too hard upon my conscience, +and it will out. Is it possible that two people can be so blind as +you and my lord? and have lived all these years with a noble +gentleman like Mr. Henry, and understand so little of his nature?" + +"What does this mean?" she cried. + +"Do you not know where his money goes to? his - and yours - and the +money for the very wine he does not drink at table?" I went on. +"To Paris - to that man! Eight thousand pounds has he had of us in +seven years, and my patron fool enough to keep it secret!" + +"Eight thousand pounds!" she repeated. "It in impossible; the +estate is not sufficient." + +"God knows how we have sweated farthings to produce it," said I. +"But eight thousand and sixty is the sum, beside odd shillings. +And if you can think my patron miserly after that, this shall be my +last interference." + +"You need say no more, Mr. Mackellar," said she. "You have done +most properly in what you too modestly call your interference. I +am much to blame; you must think me indeed a very unobservant wife" +(looking upon me with a strange smile), "but I shall put this right +at once. The Master was always of a very thoughtless nature; but +his heart is excellent; he is the soul of generosity. I shall +write to him myself. You cannot think how you have pained me by +this communication." + +"Indeed, madam, I had hoped to have pleased you," said I, for I +raged to see her still thinking of the Master. + +"And pleased," said she, "and pleased me of course." + +That same day (I will not say but what I watched) I had the +satisfaction to see Mr. Henry come from his wife's room in a state +most unlike himself; for his face was all bloated with weeping, and +yet he seemed to me to walk upon the air. By this, I was sure his +wife had made him full amends for once. "Ah," thought I to myself, +"I have done a brave stroke this day." + +On the morrow, as I was seated at my books, Mr. Henry came in +softly behind me, took me by the shoulders, and shook me in a +manner of playfulness. "I find you are a faithless fellow after +all," says he, which was his only reference to my part; but the +tone he spoke in was more to me than any eloquence of protestation. +Nor was this all I had effected; for when the next messenger came +(as he did not long afterwards) from the Master, he got nothing +away with him but a letter. For some while back it had been I +myself who had conducted these affairs; Mr. Henry not setting pen +to paper, and I only in the dryest and most formal terms. But this +letter I did not even see; it would scarce be pleasant reading, for +Mr. Henry felt he had his wife behind him for once, and I observed, +on the day it was despatched, he had a very gratified expression. + +Things went better now in the family, though it could scarce be +pretended they went well. There was now at least no misconception; +there was kindness upon all sides; and I believe my patron and his +wife might again have drawn together if he could but have pocketed +his pride, and she forgot (what was the ground of all) her brooding +on another man. It is wonderful how a private thought leaks out; +it is wonderful to me now how we should all have followed the +current of her sentiments; and though she bore herself quietly, and +had a very even disposition, yet we should have known whenever her +fancy ran to Paris. And would not any one have thought that my +disclosure must have rooted up that idol? I think there is the +devil in women: all these years passed, never a sight of the man, +little enough kindness to remember (by all accounts) even while she +had him, the notion of his death intervening, his heartless +rapacity laid bare to her; that all should not do, and she must +still keep the best place in her heart for this accursed fellow, is +a thing to make a plain man rage. I had never much natural +sympathy for the passion of love; but this unreason in my patron's +wife disgusted me outright with the whole matter. I remember +checking a maid because she sang some bairnly kickshaw while my +mind was thus engaged; and my asperity brought about my ears the +enmity of all the petticoats about the house; of which I reeked +very little, but it amused Mr. Henry, who rallied me much upon our +joint unpopularity. It is strange enough (for my own mother was +certainly one of the salt of the earth, and my Aunt Dickson, who +paid my fees at the University, a very notable woman), but I have +never had much toleration for the female sex, possibly not much +understanding; and being far from a bold man, I have ever shunned +their company. Not only do I see no cause to regret this +diffidence in myself, but have invariably remarked the most unhappy +consequences follow those who were less wise. So much I thought +proper to set down, lest I show myself unjust to Mrs. Henry. And, +besides, the remark arose naturally, on a re-perusal of the letter +which was the next step in these affairs, and reached me, to my +sincere astonishment, by a private hand, some week or so after the +departure of the last messenger. + + +Letter from Colonel BURKE (afterwards Chevalier) to MR. MACKELLAR. +TROYES IN CHAMPAGNE, +July 12, 1756 + +My Dear Sir, - You will doubtless be surprised to receive a +communication from one so little known to you; but on the occasion +I had the good fortune to rencounter you at Durrisdeer, I remarked +you for a young man of a solid gravity of character: a +qualification which I profess I admire and revere next to natural +genius or the bold chivalrous spirit of the soldier. I was, +besides, interested in the noble family which you have the honour +to serve, or (to speak more by the book) to be the humble and +respected friend of; and a conversation I had the pleasure to have +with you very early in the morning has remained much upon my mind. + +Being the other day in Paris, on a visit from this famous city, +where I am in garrison, I took occasion to inquire your name (which +I profess I had forgot) at my friend, the Master of B.; and a fair +opportunity occurring, I write to inform you of what's new. + +The Master of B. (when we had last some talk of him together) was +in receipt, as I think I then told you, of a highly advantageous +pension on the Scots Fund. He next received a company, and was +soon after advanced to a regiment of his own. My dear sir, I do +not offer to explain this circumstance; any more than why I myself, +who have rid at the right hand of Princes, should be fubbed off +with a pair of colours and sent to rot in a hole at the bottom of +the province. Accustomed as I am to Courts, I cannot but feel it +is no atmosphere for a plain soldier; and I could never hope to +advance by similar means, even could I stoop to the endeavour. But +our friend has a particular aptitude to succeed by the means of +ladies; and if all be true that I have heard, he enjoyed a +remarkable protection. It is like this turned against him; for +when I had the honour to shake him by the hand, he was but newly +released from the Bastille, where he had been cast on a sealed +letter; and, though now released, has both lost his regiment and +his pension. My dear sir, the loyalty of a plain Irishman will +ultimately succeed in the place of craft; as I am sure a gentleman +of your probity will agree. + +Now, sir, the Master is a man whose genius I admire beyond +expression, and, besides, he is my friend; but I thought a little +word of this revolution in his fortunes would not come amiss, for, +in my opinion, the man's desperate. He spoke, when I saw him, of a +trip to India (whither I am myself in some hope of accompanying my +illustrious countryman, Mr. Lally); but for this he would require +(as I understood) more money than was readily at his command. You +may have heard a military proverb: that it is a good thing to make +a bridge of gold to a flying enemy? I trust you will take my +meaning and I subscribe myself, with proper respects to my Lord +Durrisdeer, to his son, and to the beauteous Mrs. Durie, + +My dear Sir, + +Your obedient humble servant, + +FRANCIS BURKE. + + +This missive I carried at once to Mr. Henry; and I think there was +but the one thought between the two of us: that it had come a week +too late. I made haste to send an answer to Colonel Burke, in +which I begged him, if he should see the Master, to assure him his +next messenger would be attended to. But with all my haste I was +not in time to avert what was impending; the arrow had been drawn, +it must now fly. I could almost doubt the power of Providence (and +certainly His will) to stay the issue of events; and it is a +strange thought, how many of us had been storing up the elements of +this catastrophe, for how long a time, and with how blind an +ignorance of what we did. + + +From the coming of the Colonel's letter, I had a spyglass in my +room, began to drop questions to the tenant folk, and as there was +no great secrecy observed, and the freetrade (in our part) went by +force as much as stealth, I had soon got together a knowledge of +the signals in use, and knew pretty well to an hour when any +messenger might be expected. I say, I questioned the tenants; for +with the traders themselves, desperate blades that went habitually +armed, I could never bring myself to meddle willingly. Indeed, by +what proved in the sequel an unhappy chance, I was an object of +scorn to some of these braggadocios; who had not only gratified me +with a nickname, but catching me one night upon a by-path, and +being all (as they would have said) somewhat merry, had caused me +to dance for their diversion. The method employed was that of +cruelly chipping at my toes with naked cutlasses, shouting at the +same time "Square-Toes"; and though they did me no bodily mischief, +I was none the less deplorably affected, and was indeed for several +days confined to my bed: a scandal on the state of Scotland on +which no comment is required. + +It happened on the afternoon of November 7th, in this same +unfortunate year, that I espied, during my walk, the smoke of a +beacon fire upon the Muckleross. It was drawing near time for my +return; but the uneasiness upon my spirits was that day so great +that I must burst through the thickets to the edge of what they +call the Craig Head. The sun was already down, but there was still +a broad light in the west, which showed me some of the smugglers +treading out their signal fire upon the Ross, and in the bay the +lugger lying with her sails brailed up. She was plainly but new +come to anchor, and yet the skiff was already lowered and pulling +for the landing-place at the end of the long shrubbery. And this I +knew could signify but one thing, the coming of a messenger for +Durrisdeer. + +I laid aside the remainder of my terrors, clambered down the brae - +a place I had never ventured through before, and was hid among the +shore-side thickets in time to see the boat touch. Captain Crail +himself was steering, a thing not usual; by his side there sat a +passenger; and the men gave way with difficulty, being hampered +with near upon half a dozen portmanteaus, great and small. But the +business of landing was briskly carried through; and presently the +baggage was all tumbled on shore, the boat on its return voyage to +the lugger, and the passenger standing alone upon the point of +rock, a tall slender figure of a gentleman, habited in black, with +a sword by his side and a walking-cane upon his wrist. As he so +stood, he waved the cane to Captain Crail by way of salutation, +with something both of grace and mockery that wrote the gesture +deeply on my mind. + +No sooner was the boat away with my sworn enemies than I took a +sort of half courage, came forth to the margin of the thicket, and +there halted again, my mind being greatly pulled about between +natural diffidence and a dark foreboding of the truth. Indeed, I +might have stood there swithering all night, had not the stranger +turned, spied me through the mists, which were beginning to fall, +and waved and cried on me to draw near. I did so with a heart like +lead. + +"Here, my good man," said he, in the English accent, "there are +some things for Durrisdeer." + +I was now near enough to see him, a very handsome figure and +countenance, swarthy, lean, long, with a quick, alert, black look, +as of one who was a fighter, and accustomed to command; upon one +cheek he had a mole, not unbecoming; a large diamond sparkled on +his hand; his clothes, although of the one hue, were of a French +and foppish design; his ruffles, which he wore longer than common, +of exquisite lace; and I wondered the more to see him in such a +guise when he was but newly landed from a dirty smuggling lugger. +At the same time he had a better look at me, toised me a second +time sharply, and then smiled. + +"I wager, my friend," says he, "that I know both your name and your +nickname. I divined these very clothes upon your hand of writing, +Mr. Mackellar." + +At these words I fell to shaking. + +"Oh,"' says he, "you need not be afraid of me. I bear no malice +for your tedious letters; and it is my purpose to employ you a good +deal. You may call me Mr. Bally: it is the name I have assumed; +or rather (since I am addressing so great a precision) it is so I +have curtailed my own. Come now, pick up that and that" - +indicating two of the portmanteaus. "That will be as much as you +are fit to bear, and the rest can very well wait. Come, lose no +more time, if you please." + +His tone was so cutting that I managed to do as he bid by a sort of +instinct, my mind being all the time quite lost. No sooner had I +picked up the portmanteaus than he turned his back and marched off +through the long shrubbery, where it began already to be dusk, for +the wood is thick and evergreen. I followed behind, loaded almost +to the dust, though I profess I was not conscious of the burthen; +being swallowed up in the monstrosity of this return, and my mind +flying like a weaver's shuttle. + +On a sudden I set the portmanteaus to the ground and halted. He +turned and looked back at me. + +"Well?" said he. + +"You are the Master of Ballantrae?" + +"You will do me the justice to observe," says he, "I have made no +secret with the astute Mackellar." + +"And in the name of God," cries I, "what brings you here? Go back, +while it is yet time." + +"I thank you," said he. "Your master has chosen this way, and not +I; but since he has made the choice, he (and you also) must abide +by the result. And now pick up these things of mine, which you +have set down in a very boggy place, and attend to that which I +have made your business." + +But I had no thought now of obedience; I came straight up to him. +"If nothing will move you to go back," said I; "though, sure, under +all the circumstances, any Christian or even any gentleman would +scruple to go forward . . . " + +"These are gratifying expressions," he threw in. + +"If nothing will move you to go back," I continued, "there are +still some decencies to be observed. Wait here with your baggage, +and I will go forward and prepare your family. Your father is an +old man; and . . . " I stumbled . . . "there are decencies to be +observed." + +"Truly," said he, "this Mackellar improves upon acquaintance. But +look you here, my man, and understand it once for all - you waste +your breath upon me, and I go my own way with inevitable motion." + +"Ah!" says I. "Is that so? We shall see then!" + +And I turned and took to my heels for Durrisdeer. He clutched at +me and cried out angrily, and then I believe I heard him laugh, and +then I am certain he pursued me for a step or two, and (I suppose) +desisted. One thing at least is sure, that I came but a few +minutes later to the door of the great house, nearly strangled for +the lack of breath, but quite alone. Straight up the stair I ran, +and burst into the hall, and stopped before the family without the +power of speech; but I must have carried my story in my looks, for +they rose out of their places and stared on me like changelings. + +"He has come," I panted out at last. + +"He?" said Mr. Henry. + +"Himself," said I. + +"My son?" cried my lord. "Imprudent, imprudent boy! Oh, could he +not stay where he was safe!" + +Never a word says Mrs. Henry; nor did I look at her, I scarce knew +why. + +"Well," said Mr. Henry, with a very deep breath, "and where is he?" + +"I left him in the long shrubbery," said I. + +"Take me to him," said he. + +So we went out together, he and I, without another word from any +one; and in the midst of the gravelled plot encountered the Master +strolling up, whistling as he came, and beating the air with his +cane. There was still light enough overhead to recognise, though +not to read, a countenance. + +"Ah! Jacob," says the Master. "So here is Esau back." + +"James," says Mr. Henry, "for God's sake, call me by my name. I +will not pretend that I am glad to see you; but I would fain make +you as welcome as I can in the house of our fathers." + +"Or in MY house? or YOURS?" says the Master. "Which were you about +to say? But this is an old sore, and we need not rub it. If you +would not share with me in Paris, I hope you will yet scarce deny +your elder brother a corner of the fire at Durrisdeer?" + +"That is very idle speech," replied Mr. Henry. "And you understand +the power of your position excellently well." + +"Why, I believe I do," said the other with a little laugh. And +this, though they had never touched hands, was (as we may say) the +end of the brothers' meeting; for at this the Master turned to me +and bade me fetch his baggage. + +I, on my side, turned to Mr. Henry for a confirmation; perhaps with +some defiance. + +"As long as the Master is here, Mr. Mackellar, you will very much +oblige me by regarding his wishes as you would my own," says Mr. +Henry. "We are constantly troubling you: will you be so good as +send one of the servants?" - with an accent on the word. + +If this speech were anything at all, it was surely a well-deserved +reproof upon the stranger; and yet, so devilish was his impudence, +he twisted it the other way. + +"And shall we be common enough to say 'Sneck up'?" inquires he +softly, looking upon me sideways. + +Had a kingdom depended on the act, I could not have trusted myself +in words; even to call a servant was beyond me; I had rather serve +the man myself than speak; and I turned away in silence and went +into the long shrubbery, with a heart full of anger and despair. +It was dark under the trees, and I walked before me and forgot what +business I was come upon, till I near broke my shin on the +portmanteaus. Then it was that I remarked a strange particular; +for whereas I had before carried both and scarce observed it, it +was now as much as I could do to manage one. And this, as it +forced me to make two journeys, kept me the longer from the hall. + +When I got there, the business of welcome was over long ago; the +company was already at supper; and by an oversight that cut me to +the quick, my place had been forgotten. I had seen one side of the +Master's return; now I was to see the other. It was he who first +remarked my coming in and standing back (as I did) in some +annoyance. He jumped from his seat. + +"And if I have not got the good Mackellar's place!" cries he. +"John, lay another for Mr. Bally; I protest he will disturb no one, +and your table is big enough for all." + +I could scarce credit my ears, nor yet my senses, when he took me +by the shoulders and thrust me, laughing, into my own place - such +an affectionate playfulness was in his voice. And while John laid +the fresh place for him (a thing on which he still insisted), he +went and leaned on his father's chair and looked down upon him, and +the old man turned about and looked upwards on his son, with such a +pleasant mutual tenderness that I could have carried my hand to my +head in mere amazement. + +Yet all was of a piece. Never a harsh word fell from him, never a +sneer showed upon his lip. He had laid aside even his cutting +English accent, and spoke with the kindly Scots' tongue, that set a +value on affectionate words; and though his manners had a graceful +elegance mighty foreign to our ways in Durrisdeer, it was still a +homely courtliness, that did not shame but flattered us. All that, +he did throughout the meal, indeed, drinking wine with me with a +notable respect, turning about for a pleasant word with John, +fondling his father's hand, breaking into little merry tales of his +adventures, calling up the past with happy reference - all he did +was so becoming, and himself so handsome, that I could scarce +wonder if my lord and Mrs. Henry sat about the board with radiant +faces, or if John waited behind with dropping tears. + +As soon as supper was over, Mrs. Henry rose to withdraw. + +"This was never your way, Alison," said he. + +"It is my way now," she replied: which was notoriously false, "and +I will give you a good-night, James, and a welcome - from the +dead," said she, and her voice dropped and trembled. + +Poor Mr. Henry, who had made rather a heavy figure through the +meal, was more concerned than ever; pleased to see his wife +withdraw, and yet half displeased, as he thought upon the cause of +it; and the next moment altogether dashed by the fervour of her +speech. + +On my part, I thought I was now one too many; and was stealing +after Mrs. Henry, when the Master saw me. + +"Now, Mr. Mackellar," says he, "I take this near on an +unfriendliness. I cannot have you go: this is to make a stranger +of the prodigal son; and let me remind you where - in his own +father's house! Come, sit ye down, and drink another glass with +Mr. Bally." + +"Ay, ay, Mr. Mackellar," says my lord, "we must not make a stranger +either of him or you. I have been telling my son," he added, his +voice brightening as usual on the word, "how much we valued all +your friendly service." + +So I sat there, silent, till my usual hour; and might have been +almost deceived in the man's nature but for one passage, in which +his perfidy appeared too plain. Here was the passage; of which, +after what he knows of the brothers' meeting, the reader shall +consider for himself. Mr. Henry sitting somewhat dully, in spite +of his best endeavours to carry things before my lord, up jumps the +Master, passes about the board, and claps his brother on the +shoulder. + +"Come, come, HAIRRY LAD," says he, with a broad accent such as they +must have used together when they were boys, "you must not be +downcast because your brother has come home. All's yours, that's +sure enough, and little I grudge it you. Neither must you grudge +me my place beside my father's fire." + +"And that is too true, Henry," says my old lord with a little +frown, a thing rare with him. "You have been the elder brother of +the parable in the good sense; you must be careful of the other." + +"I am easily put in the wrong," said Mr. Henry. + +"Who puts you in the wrong?" cried my lord, I thought very tartly +for so mild a man. "You have earned my gratitude and your +brother's many thousand times: you may count on its endurance; and +let that suffice." + +"Ay, Harry, that you may," said the Master; and I thought Mr. Henry +looked at him with a kind of wildness in his eye. + +On all the miserable business that now followed, I have four +questions that I asked myself often at the time and ask myself +still:- Was the man moved by a particular sentiment against Mr. +Henry? or by what he thought to be his interest? or by a mere +delight in cruelty such as cats display and theologians tell us of +the devil? or by what he would have called love? My common opinion +halts among the three first; but perhaps there lay at the spring of +his behaviour an element of all. As thus:- Animosity to Mr. Henry +would explain his hateful usage of him when they were alone; the +interests he came to serve would explain his very different +attitude before my lord; that and some spice of a design of +gallantry, his care to stand well with Mrs. Henry; and the pleasure +of malice for itself, the pains he was continually at to mingle and +oppose these lines of conduct. + +Partly because I was a very open friend to my patron, partly +because in my letters to Paris I had often given myself some +freedom of remonstrance, I was included in his diabolical +amusement. When I was alone with him, he pursued me with sneers; +before the family he used me with the extreme of friendly +condescension. This was not only painful in itself; not only did +it put me continually in the wrong; but there was in it an element +of insult indescribable. That he should thus leave me out in his +dissimulation, as though even my testimony were too despicable to +be considered, galled me to the blood. But what it was to me is +not worth notice. I make but memorandum of it here; and chiefly +for this reason, that it had one good result, and gave me the +quicker sense of Mr. Henry's martyrdom. + +It was on him the burthen fell. How was he to respond to the +public advances of one who never lost a chance of gibing him in +private? How was he to smile back on the deceiver and the +insulter? He was condemned to seem ungracious. He was condemned +to silence. Had he been less proud, had he spoken, who would have +credited the truth? The acted calumny had done its work; my lord +and Mrs. Henry were the daily witnesses of what went on; they could +have sworn in court that the Master was a model of long-suffering +good-nature, and Mr. Henry a pattern of jealousy and thanklessness. +And ugly enough as these must have appeared in any one, they seemed +tenfold uglier in Mr. Henry; for who could forget that the Master +lay in peril of his life, and that he had already lost his +mistress, his title, and his fortune? + +"Henry, will you ride with me?" asks the Master one day. + +And Mr. Henry, who had been goaded by the man all morning, raps +out: "I will not." + +"I sometimes wish you would be kinder, Henry," says the other, +wistfully. + +I give this for a specimen; but such scenes befell continually. +Small wonder if Mr. Henry was blamed; small wonder if I fretted +myself into something near upon a bilious fever; nay, and at the +mere recollection feel a bitterness in my blood. + +Sure, never in this world was a more diabolical contrivance: so +perfidious, so simple, so impossible to combat. And yet I think +again, and I think always, Mrs. Henry might have road between the +lines; she might have had more knowledge of her husband's nature; +after all these years of marriage she might have commanded or +captured his confidence. And my old lord, too - that very watchful +gentleman - where was all his observation? But, for one thing, the +deceit was practised by a master hand, and might have gulled an +angel. For another (in the case of Mrs. Henry), I have observed +there are no persons so far away as those who are both married and +estranged, so that they seem out of ear-shot or to have no common +tongue. For a third (in the case of both of these spectators), +they were blinded by old ingrained predilection. And for a fourth, +the risk the Master was supposed to stand in (supposed, I say - you +will soon hear why) made it seem the more ungenerous to criticise; +and, keeping them in a perpetual tender solicitude about his life, +blinded them the more effectually to his faults. + +It was during this time that I perceived most clearly the effect of +manner, and was led to lament most deeply the plainness of my own. +Mr. Henry had the essence of a gentleman; when he was moved, when +there was any call of circumstance, he could play his part with +dignity and spirit; but in the day's commerce (it is idle to deny +it) he fell short of the ornamental. The Master (on the other +hand) had never a movement but it commanded him. So it befell that +when the one appeared gracious and the other ungracious, every +trick of their bodies seemed to call out confirmation. Not that +alone: but the more deeply Mr. Henry floundered in his brother's +toils, the more clownish he grew; and the more the Master enjoyed +his spiteful entertainment, the more engagingly, the more +smilingly, he went! So that the plot, by its own scope and +progress, furthered and confirmed itself. + +It was one of the man's arts to use the peril in which (as I say) +he was supposed to stand. He spoke of it to those who loved him +with a gentle pleasantry, which made it the more touching. To Mr. +Henry he used it as a cruel weapon of offence. I remember his +laying his finger on the clean lozenge of the painted window one +day when we three were alone together in the hall. "Here went your +lucky guinea, Jacob," said he. And when Mr. Henry only looked upon +him darkly, "Oh!" he added, "you need not look such impotent +malice, my good fly. You can be rid of your spider when you +please. How long, O Lord? When are you to be wrought to the point +of a denunciation, scrupulous brother? It is one of my interests +in this dreary hole. I ever loved experiment." Still Mr. Henry +only stared upon him with a grooming brow, and a changed colour; +and at last the Master broke out in a laugh and clapped him on the +shoulder, calling him a sulky dog. At this my patron leaped back +with a gesture I thought very dangerous; and I must suppose the +Master thought so too, for he looked the least in the world +discountenance, and I do not remember him again to have laid hands +on Mr. Henry. + +But though he had his peril always on his lips in the one way or +the other, I thought his conduct strangely incautious, and began to +fancy the Government - who had set a price upon his head - was gone +sound asleep. I will not deny I was tempted with the wish to +denounce him; but two thoughts withheld me: one, that if he were +thus to end his life upon an honourable scaffold, the man would be +canonised for good in the minds of his father and my patron's wife; +the other, that if I was anyway mingled in the matter, Mr. Henry +himself would scarce escape some glancings of suspicion. And in +the meanwhile our enemy went in and out more than I could have +thought possible, the fact that he was home again was buzzed about +all the country-side, and yet he was never stirred. Of all these +so-many and so-different persons who were acquainted with his +presence, none had the least greed - as I used to say in my +annoyance - or the least loyalty; and the man rode here and there - +fully more welcome, considering the lees of old unpopularity, than +Mr. Henry - and considering the freetraders, far safer than myself. + +Not but what he had a trouble of his own; and this, as it brought +about the gravest consequences, I must now relate. The reader will +scarce have forgotten Jessie Broun; her way of life was much among +the smuggling party; Captain Crail himself was of her intimates; +and she had early word of Mr. Bally's presence at the house. In my +opinion, she had long ceased to care two straws for the Master's +person; but it was become her habit to connect herself continually +with the Master's name; that was the ground of all her play-acting; +and so now, when he was back, she thought she owed it to herself to +grow a haunter of the neighbourhood of Durrisdeer. The Master +could scarce go abroad but she was there in wait for him; a +scandalous figure of a woman, not often sober; hailing him wildly +as "her bonny laddie," quoting pedlar's poetry, and, as I receive +the story, even seeking to weep upon his neck. I own I rubbed my +hands over this persecution; but the Master, who laid so much upon +others, was himself the least patient of men. There were strange +scenes enacted in the policies. Some say he took his cane to her, +and Jessie fell back upon her former weapons - stones. It is +certain at least that he made a motion to Captain Crail to have the +woman trepanned, and that the Captain refused the proposition with +uncommon vehemence. And the end of the matter was victory for +Jessie. Money was got together; an interview took place, in which +my proud gentleman must consent to be kissed and wept upon; and the +woman was set up in a public of her own, somewhere on Solway side +(but I forget where), and, by the only news I ever had of it, +extremely ill-frequented. + +This is to look forward. After Jessie had been but a little while +upon his heels, the Master comes to me one day in the steward's +office, and with more civility than usual, "Mackellar," says he, +"there is a damned crazy wench comes about here. I cannot well +move in the matter myself, which brings me to you. Be so good as +to see to it: the men must have a strict injunction to drive the +wench away." + +"Sir," said I, trembling a little, "you can do your own dirty +errands for yourself." + +He said not a word to that, and left the room. + +Presently came Mr. Henry. "Here is news!" cried he. "It seems all +is not enough, and you must add to my wretchedness. It seems you +have insulted Mr. Bally." + +"Under your kind favour, Mr. Henry," said I, "it was he that +insulted me, and, as I think, grossly. But I may have been +careless of your position when I spoke; and if you think so when +you know all, my dear patron, you have but to say the word. For +you I would obey in any point whatever, even to sin, God pardon +me!" And thereupon I told him what had passed. + +Mr. Henry smiled to himself; a grimmer smile I never witnessed. +"You did exactly well," said he. "He shall drink his Jessie Broun +to the dregs." And then, spying the Master outside, he opened the +window, and crying to him by the name of Mr. Bally, asked him to +step up and have a word. + +"James," said he, when our persecutor had come in and closed the +door behind him, looking at me with a smile, as if he thought I was +to be humbled, "you brought me a complaint against Mr. Mackellar, +into which I have inquired. I need not tell you I would always +take his word against yours; for we are alone, and I am going to +use something of your own freedom. Mr. Mackellar is a gentleman I +value; and you must contrive, so long as you are under this roof, +to bring yourself into no more collisions with one whom I will +support at any possible cost to me or mine. As for the errand upon +which you came to him, you must deliver yourself from the +consequences of your own cruelty, and, none of my servants shall be +at all employed in such a case." + +"My father's servants, I believe," says the Master. + +"Go to him with this tale," said Mr. Henry. + +The Master grew very white. He pointed at me with his finger. "I +want that man discharged," he said. + +"He shall not be," said Mr. Henry. + +"You shall pay pretty dear for this," says the Master. + +"I have paid so dear already for a wicked brother," said Mr. Henry, +"that I am bankrupt even of fears. You have no place left where +you can strike me." + +"I will show you about that," says the Master, and went softly +away. + +"What will he do next, Mackellar?" cries Mr. Henry. + +"Let me go away," said I. "My dear patron, let me go away; I am +but the beginning of fresh sorrows." + +"Would you leave me quite alone?" said he. + + +We were not long in suspense as to the nature of the new assault. +Up to that hour the Master had played a very close game with Mrs. +Henry; avoiding pointedly to be alone with her, which I took at the +time for an effect of decency, but now think to be a most insidious +art; meeting her, you may say, at meal-time only; and behaving, +when he did so, like an affectionate brother. Up to that hour, you +may say he had scarce directly interfered between Mr. Henry and his +wife; except in so far as he had manoeuvred the one quite forth +from the good graces of the other. Now all that was to be changed; +but whether really in revenge, or because he was wearying of +Durrisdeer and looked about for some diversion, who but the devil +shall decide? + +From that hour, at least, began the siege of Mrs. Henry; a thing so +deftly carried on that I scarce know if she was aware of it +herself, and that her husband must look on in silence. The first +parallel was opened (as was made to appear) by accident. The talk +fell, as it did often, on the exiles in France; so it glided to the +matter of their songs. + +"There is one," says the Master, "if you are curious in these +matters, that has always seemed to me very moving. The poetry is +harsh; and yet, perhaps because of my situation, it has always +found the way to my heart. It is supposed to be sung, I should +tell you, by an exile's sweetheart; and represents perhaps, not so +much the truth of what she is thinking, as the truth of what he +hopes of her, poor soul! in these far lands." And here the Master +sighed, "I protest it is a pathetic sight when a score of rough +Irish, all common sentinels, get to this song; and you may see, by +their falling tears, how it strikes home to them. It goes thus, +father," says he, very adroitly taking my lord for his listener, +"and if I cannot get to the end of it, you must think it is a +common case with us exiles." And thereupon he struck up the same +air as I had heard the Colonel whistle; but now to words, rustic +indeed, yet most pathetically setting forth a poor girl's +aspirations for an exiled lover; of which one verse indeed (or +something like it) still sticks by me:- + + +O, I will dye my petticoat red, +With my dear boy I'll beg my bread, +Though all my friends should wish me dead, +For Willie among the rushes, O! + + +He sang it well, even as a song; but he did better yet a performer. +I have heard famous actors, when there was not a dry eye in the +Edinburgh theatre; a great wonder to behold; but no more wonderful +than how the Master played upon that little ballad, and on those +who heard him, like an instrument, and seemed now upon the point of +failing, and now to conquer his distress, so that words and music +seemed to pour out of his own heart and his own past, and to be +aimed directly at Mrs. Henry. And his art went further yet; for +all was so delicately touched, it seemed impossible to suspect him +of the least design; and so far from making a parade of emotion, +you would have sworn he was striving to be calm. When it came to +an end, we all sat silent for a time; he had chosen the dusk of the +afternoon, so that none could see his neighbour's face; but it +seemed as if we held our breathing; only my old lord cleared his +throat. The first to move was the singer, who got to his feet +suddenly and softly, and went and walked softly to and fro in the +low end of the hall, Mr. Henry's customary place. We were to +suppose that he there struggled down the last of his emotion; for +he presently returned and launched into a disquisition on the +nature of the Irish (always so much miscalled, and whom he +defended) in his natural voice; so that, before the lights were +brought, we were in the usual course of talk. But even then, +methought Mrs. Henry's face was a shade pale; and, for another +thing, she withdrew almost at once. + +The next sign was a friendship this insidious devil struck up with +innocent Miss Katharine; so that they were always together, hand in +hand, or she climbing on his knee, like a pair of children. Like +all his diabolical acts, this cut in several ways. It was the last +stroke to Mr. Henry, to see his own babe debauched against him; it +made him harsh with the poor innocent, which brought him still a +peg lower in his wife's esteem; and (to conclude) it was a bond of +union between the lady and the Master. Under this influence, their +old reserve melted by daily stages. Presently there came walks in +the long shrubbery, talks in the Belvedere, and I know not what +tender familiarity. I am sure Mrs. Henry was like many a good +woman; she had a whole conscience but perhaps by the means of a +little winking. For even to so dull an observer as myself, it was +plain her kindness was of a more moving nature than the sisterly. +The tones of her voice appeared more numerous; she had a light and +softness in her eye; she was more gentle with all of us, even with +Mr. Henry, even with myself; methought she breathed of some quiet +melancholy happiness. + +To look on at this, what a torment it was for Mr. Henry! And yet +it brought our ultimate deliverance, as I am soon to tell. + + +The purport of the Master's stay was no more noble (gild it as they +might) than to wring money out. He had some design of a fortune in +the French Indies, as the Chevalier wrote me; and it was the sum +required for this that he came seeking. For the rest of the family +it spelled ruin; but my lord, in his incredible partiality, pushed +ever for the granting. The family was now so narrowed down +(indeed, there were no more of them than just the father and the +two sons) that it was possible to break the entail and alienate a +piece of land. And to this, at first by hints, and then by open +pressure, Mr. Henry was brought to consent. He never would have +done so, I am very well assured, but for the weight of the distress +under which he laboured. But for his passionate eagerness to see +his brother gone, he would not thus have broken with his own +sentiment and the traditions of his house. And even so, he sold +them his consent at a dear rate, speaking for once openly, and +holding the business up in its own shameful colours. + +"You will observe," he said, "this is an injustice to my son, if +ever I have one." + +"But that you are not likely to have," said my lord. + +"God knows!" says Mr. Henry. "And considering the cruel falseness +of the position in which I stand to my brother, and that you, my +lord, are my father, and have the right to command me, I set my +hand to this paper. But one thing I will say first: I have been +ungenerously pushed, and when next, my lord, you are tempted to +compare your sons, I call on you to remember what I have done and +what he has done. Acts are the fair test." + +My lord was the most uneasy man I ever saw; even in his old face +the blood came up. "I think this is not a very wisely chosen +moment, Henry, for complaints," said he. "This takes away from the +merit of your generosity." + +"Do not deceive yourself, my lord," said Mr. Henry. "This +injustice is not done from generosity to him, but in obedience to +yourself." + +"Before strangers . . . " begins my lord, still more unhappily +affected. + +"There is no one but Mackellar here," said Mr. Henry; "he is my +friend. And, my lord, as you make him no stranger to your frequent +blame, it were hard if I must keep him one to a thing so rare as my +defence." + +Almost I believe my lord would have rescinded his decision; but the +Master was on the watch. + +"Ah! Henry, Henry," says he, "you are the best of us still. +Rugged and true! Ah! man, I wish I was as good." + +And at that instance of his favourite's generosity my lord desisted +from his hesitation, and the deed was signed. + +As soon as it could he brought about, the land of Ochterhall was +sold for much below its value, and the money paid over to our leech +and sent by some private carriage into France. Or so he said; +though I have suspected since it did not go so far. And now here +was all the man's business brought to a successful head, and his +pockets once more bulging with our gold; and yet the point for +which we had consented to this sacrifice was still denied us, and +the visitor still lingered on at Durrisdeer. Whether in malice, or +because the time was not yet come for his adventure to the Indies, +or because he had hopes of his design on Mrs. Henry, or from the +orders of the Government, who shall say? but linger he did, and +that for weeks. + +You will observe I say: from the orders of Government; for about +this time the man's disreputable secret trickled out. + +The first hint I had was from a tenant, who commented on the +Master's stay, and yet more on his security; for this tenant was a +Jacobitish sympathiser, and had lost a son at Culloden, which gave +him the more critical eye. "There is one thing," said he, "that I +cannot but think strange; and that is how he got to Cockermouth." + +"To Cockermouth?" said I, with a sudden memory of my first wonder +on beholding the man disembark so point-de-vice after so long a +voyage. + +"Why, yes," says the tenant, "it was there he was picked up by +Captain Crail. You thought he had come from France by sea? And so +we all did." + +I turned this news a little in my head, and then carried it to Mr. +Henry. "Here is an odd circumstance," said I, and told him. + +"What matters how he came, Mackellar, so long as he is here?" +groans Mr. Henry. + +"No, sir," said I, "but think again! Does not this smack a little +of some Government connivance? You know how much we have wondered +already at the man's security." + +"Stop," said Mr. Henry. "Let me think of this." And as he +thought, there came that grim smile upon his face that was a little +like the Master's. "Give me paper," said he. And he sat without +another word and wrote to a gentleman of his acquaintance - I will +name no unnecessary names, but he was one in a high place. This +letter I despatched by the only hand I could depend upon in such a +case - Macconochie's; and the old man rode hard, for he was back +with the reply before even my eagerness had ventured to expect him. +Again, as he read it, Mr. Henry had the same grim smile. + +"This is the best you have done for me yet, Mackellar," says he. +"With this in my hand I will give him a shog. Watch for us at +dinner." + +At dinner accordingly Mr. Henry proposed some very public +appearance for the Master; and my lord, as he had hoped, objected +to the danger of the course. + +"Oh!" says Mr. Henry, very easily, "you need no longer keep this up +with me. I am as much in the secret as yourself." + +"In the secret?" says my lord. "What do you mean, Henry? I give +you my word, I am in no secret from which you are excluded." + +The Master had changed countenance, and I saw he was struck in a +joint of his harness. + +"How?" says Mr. Henry, turning to him with a huge appearance of +surprise. "I see you serve your masters very faithfully; but I had +thought you would have been humane enough to set your father's mind +at rest." + +"What are you talking of? I refuse to have my business publicly +discussed. I order this to cease," cries the Master very foolishly +and passionately, and indeed more like a child than a man. + +"So much discretion was not looked for at your hands, I can assure +you," continued Mr. Henry. "For see what my correspondent writes" +- unfolding the paper - "'It is, of course, in the interests both +of the Government and the gentleman whom we may perhaps best +continue to call Mr. Bally, to keep this understanding secret; but +it was never meant his own family should continue to endure the +suspense you paint so feelingly; and I am pleased mine should be +the hand to set these fears at rest. Mr. Bally is as safe in Great +Britain as yourself.'" + +"Is this possible?" cries my lord, looking at his son, with a great +deal of wonder and still more of suspicion in his face. + +"My dear father," says the Master, already much recovered. "I am +overjoyed that this may be disclosed. My own instructions, direct +from London, bore a very contrary sense, and I was charged to keep +the indulgence secret from every one, yourself not excepted, and +indeed yourself expressly named - as I can show in black and white +unless I have destroyed the letter. They must have changed their +mind very swiftly, for the whole matter is still quite fresh; or +rather, Henry's correspondent must have misconceived that part, as +he seems to have misconceived the rest. To tell you the truth, +sir," he continued, getting visibly more easy, "I had supposed this +unexplained favour to a rebel was the effect of some application +from yourself; and the injunction to secrecy among my family the +result of a desire on your part to conceal your kindness. Hence I +was the more careful to obey orders. It remains now to guess by +what other channel indulgence can have flowed on so notorious an +offender as myself; for I do not think your son need defend himself +from what seems hinted at in Henry's letter. I have never yet +heard of a Durrisdeer who was a turncoat or a spy," says he, +proudly. + +And so it seemed he had swum out of this danger unharmed; but this +was to reckon without a blunder he had made, and without the +pertinacity of Mr. Henry, who was now to show he had something of +his brother's spirit. + +"You say the matter is still fresh," says Mr. Henry. + +"It is recent," says the Master, with a fair show of stoutness and +yet not without a quaver. + +"Is it so recent as that?" asks Mr. Henry, like a man a little +puzzled, and spreading his letter forth again. + +In all the letter there was no word as to the date; but how was the +Master to know that? + +"It seemed to come late enough for me," says he, with a laugh. And +at the sound of that laugh, which rang false, like a cracked bell, +my lord looked at him again across the table, and I saw his old +lips draw together close. + +"No," said Mr. Henry, still glancing on his letter, "but I remember +your expression. You said it was very fresh." + +And here we had a proof of our victory, and the strongest instance +yet of my lord's incredible indulgence; for what must he do but +interfere to save his favourite from exposure! + +"I think, Henry," says he, with a kind of pitiful eagerness, "I +think we need dispute no more. We are all rejoiced at last to find +your brother safe; we are all at one on that; and, as grateful +subjects, we can do no less than drink to the king's health and +bounty." + +Thus was the Master extricated; but at least he had been put to his +defence, he had come lamely out, and the attraction of his personal +danger was now publicly plucked away from him. My lord, in his +heart of hearts, now knew his favourite to be a Government spy; and +Mrs. Henry (however she explained the tale) was notably cold in her +behaviour to the discredited hero of romance. Thus in the best +fabric of duplicity, there is some weak point, if you can strike +it, which will loosen all; and if, by this fortunate stroke, we had +not shaken the idol, who can say how it might have gone with us at +the catastrophe? + +And yet at the time we seemed to have accomplished nothing. Before +a day or two he had wiped off the ill-results of his discomfiture, +and, to all appearance, stood as high as ever. As for my Lord +Durrisdeer, he was sunk in parental partiality; it was not so much +love, which should be an active quality, as an apathy and torpor of +his other powers; and forgiveness (so to mis-apply a noble word) +flowed from him in sheer weakness, like the tears of senility. +Mrs. Henry's was a different case; and Heaven alone knows what he +found to say to her, or how he persuaded her from her contempt. It +is one of the worst things of sentiment, that the voice grows to be +more important than the words, and the speaker than that which is +spoken. But some excuse the Master must have found, or perhaps he +had even struck upon some art to wrest this exposure to his own +advantage; for after a time of coldness, it seemed as if things +went worse than ever between him and Mrs. Henry. They were then +constantly together. I would not be thought to cut one shadow of +blame, beyond what is due to a half-wilful blindness, on that +unfortunate lady; but I do think, in these last days, she was +playing very near the fire; and whether I be wrong or not in that, +one thing is sure and quite sufficient: Mr. Henry thought so. The +poor gentleman sat for days in my room, so great a picture of +distress that I could never venture to address him; yet it is to be +thought he found some comfort even in my presence and the knowledge +of my sympathy. There were times, too, when we talked, and a +strange manner of talk it was; there was never a person named, nor +an individual circumstance referred to; yet we had the same matter +in our minds, and we were each aware of it. It is a strange art +that can thus be practised; to talk for hours of a thing, and never +name nor yet so much as hint at it. And I remember I wondered if +it was by some such natural skill that the Master made love to Mrs. +Henry all day long (as he manifestly did), yet never startled her +into reserve. + +To show how far affairs had gone with Mr. Henry, I will give some +words of his, uttered (as I have cause not to forget) upon the 26th +of February, 1757. It was unseasonable weather, a cast back into +Winter: windless, bitter cold, the world all white with rime, the +sky low and gray . the sea black and silent like a quarry-hole. +Mr. Henry sat close by the fire, and debated (as was now common +with him) whether "a man" should "do things," whether "interference +was wise," and the like general propositions, which each of us +particularly applied. I was by the window, looking out, when there +passed below me the Master, Mrs. Henry, and Miss Katharine, that +now constant trio. The child was running to and fro, delighted +with the frost; the Master spoke close in the lady's ear with what +seemed (even from so far) a devilish grace of insinuation; and she +on her part looked on the ground like a person lost in listening. +I broke out of my reserve. + +"If I were you, Mr. Henry," said I, "I would deal openly with my +lord." + +"Mackellar, Mackellar," said he, "you do not see the weakness of my +ground. I can carry no such base thoughts to any one - to my +father least of all; that would be to fall into the bottom of his +scorn. The weakness of my ground," he continued, "lies in myself, +that I am not one who engages love. I have their gratitude, they +all tell me that; I have a rich estate of it! But I am not present +in their minds; they are moved neither to think with me nor to +think for me. There is my loss!" He got to his feet, and trod +down the fire. "But some method must be found, Mackellar," said +he, looking at me suddenly over his shoulder; "some way must be +found. I am a man of a great deal of patience - far too much - far +too much. I begin to despise myself. And yet, sure, never was a +man involved in such a toil!" He fell back to his brooding. + +"Cheer up," said I. "It will burst of itself." + +"I am far past anger now," says he, which had so little coherency +with my own observation that I let both fall. + + + +CHAPTER V. - ACCOUNT OF ALL THAT PASSED ON THE NIGHT ON FEBRUARY +27TH, 1757. + + + +On the evening of the interview referred to, the Master went +abroad; he was abroad a great deal of the next day also, that fatal +27th; but where he went, or what he did, we never concerned +ourselves to ask until next day. If we had done so, and by any +chance found out, it might have changed all. But as all we did was +done in ignorance, and should be so judged, I shall so narrate +these passages as they appeared to us in the moment of their birth, +and reserve all that I since discovered for the time of its +discovery. For I have now come to one of the dark parts of my +narrative, and must engage the reader's indulgence for my patron. + +All the 27th that rigorous weather endured: a stifling cold; the +folk passing about like smoking chimneys; the wide hearth in the +hall piled high with fuel; some of the spring birds that had +already blundered north into our neighbourhood, besieging the +windows of the house or trotting on the frozen turf like things +distracted. About noon there came a blink of sunshine, showing a +very pretty, wintry, frosty landscape of white hills and woods, +with Crail's lugger waiting for a wind under the Craig Head, and +the smoke mounting straight into the air from every farm and +cottage. With the coming of night, the haze closed in overhead; it +fell dark and still and starless, and exceeding cold: a night the +most unseasonable, fit for strange events. + +Mrs. Henry withdrew, as was now her custom, very early. We had set +ourselves of late to pass the evening with a game of cards; another +mark that our visitor was wearying mightily of the life at +Durrisdeer; and we had not been long at this when my old lord +slipped from his place beside the fire, and was off without a word +to seek the warmth of bed. The three thus left together had +neither love nor courtesy to share; not one of us would have sat up +one instant to oblige another; yet from the influence of custom, +and as the cards had just been dealt, we continued the form of +playing out the round. I should say we were late sitters; and +though my lord had departed earlier than was his custom, twelve was +already gone some time upon the clock, and the servants long ago in +bed. Another thing I should say, that although I never saw the +Master anyway affected with liquor, he had been drinking freely, +and was perhaps (although he showed it not) a trifle heated. + +Anyway, he now practised one of his transitions; and so soon as the +door closed behind my lord, and without the smallest change of +voice, shifted from ordinary civil talk into a stream of insult. + +"My dear Henry, it is yours to play," he had been saying, and now +continued: "It is a very strange thing how, even in so small a +matter as a game of cards, you display your rusticity. You play, +Jacob, like a bonnet laird, or a sailor in a tavern. The same +dulness, the same petty greed, CETTE LENTEUR D'HEBETE QUI ME FAIT +RAGER; it is strange I should have such a brother. Even Square- +toes has a certain vivacity when his stake is imperilled; but the +dreariness of a game with you I positively lack language to +depict." + +Mr. Henry continued to look at his cards, as though very maturely +considering some play; but his mind was elsewhere. + +"Dear God, will this never be done?" cries the Master. "QUEL +LOURDEAU! But why do I trouble you with French expressions, which +are lost on such an ignoramus? A LOURDEAU, my dear brother, is as +we might say a bumpkin, a clown, a clodpole: a fellow without +grace, lightness, quickness; any gift of pleasing, any natural +brilliancy: such a one as you shall see, when you desire, by +looking in the mirror. I tell you these things for your good, I +assure you; and besides, Square-toes" (looking at me and stifling a +yawn), "it is one of my diversions in this very dreary spot to +toast you and your master at the fire like chestnuts. I have great +pleasure in your case, for I observe the nickname (rustic as it is) +has always the power to make you writhe. But sometimes I have more +trouble with this dear fellow here, who seems to have gone to sleep +upon his cards. Do you not see the applicability of the epithet I +have just explained, dear Henry? Let me show you. For instance, +with all those solid qualities which I delight to recognise in you, +I never knew a woman who did not prefer me - nor, I think," he +continued, with the most silken deliberation, "I think - who did +not continue to prefer me." + +Mr. Henry laid down his cards. He rose to his feet very softly, +and seemed all the while like a person in deep thought. "You +coward!" he said gently, as if to himself. And then, with neither +hurry nor any particular violence, he struck the Master in the +mouth. + +The Master sprang to his feet like one transfigured; I had never +seen the man so beautiful. "A blow!" he cried. "I would not take +a blow from God Almighty!" + +"Lower your voice," said Mr. Henry. "Do you wish my father to +interfere for you again?" + +"Gentlemen, gentlemen," I cried, and sought to come between them. + +The Master caught me by the shoulder, held me at arm's length, and +still addressing his brother: "Do you know what this means?" said +he. + +"It was the most deliberate act of my life," says Mr. Henry. + +"I must have blood, I must have blood for this," says the Master. + +"Please God it shall be yours," said Mr. Henry; and he went to the +wall and took down a pair of swords that hung there with others, +naked. These he presented to the Master by the points. "Mackellar +shall see us play fair," said Mr. Henry. "I think it very +needful." + +"You need insult me no more," said the Master, taking one of the +swords at random. "I have hated you all my life." + +"My father is but newly gone to bed," said Mr. Henry. "We must go +somewhere forth of the house." + +"There is an excellent place in the long shrubbery," said the +Master. + +"Gentlemen," said I, "shame upon you both! Sons of the same +mother, would you turn against the life she gave you?" + +"Even so, Mackellar," said Mr. Henry, with the same perfect +quietude of manner he had shown throughout. + +"It is what I will prevent," said I. + +And now here is a blot upon my life. At these words of mine the +Master turned his blade against my bosom; I saw the light run along +the steel; and I threw up my arms and fell to my knees before him +on the floor. "No, no," I cried, like a baby. + +"We shall have no more trouble with him," said the Master. "It is +a good thing to have a coward in the house." + +"We must have light," said Mr. Henry, as though there had been no +interruption. + +"This trembler can bring a pair of candles," said the Master. + +To my shame be it said, I was still so blinded with the flashing of +that bare sword that I volunteered to bring a lantern. + +"We do not need a l-l-lantern," says the Master, mocking me. +"There is no breath of air. Come, get to your feet, take a pair of +lights, and go before. I am close behind with this - " making. the +blade glitter as he spoke. + +I took up the candlesticks and went before them, steps that I would +give my hand to recall; but a coward is a slave at the best; and +even as I went, my teeth smote each other in my mouth. It was as +he had said: there was no breath stirring; a windless stricture of +frost had bound the air; and as we went forth in the shine of the +candles, the blackness was like a roof over our heads. Never a +word was said; there was never a sound but the creaking of our +steps along the frozen path. The cold of the night fell about me +like a bucket of water; I shook as I went with more than terror; +but my companions, bare-headed like myself, and fresh from the warm +ball, appeared not even conscious of the change. + +"Here is the place," said the Master. "Set down the candles." + +I did as he bid me, and presently the flames went up, as steady as +in a chamber, in the midst of the frosted trees, and I beheld these +two brothers take their places. + +"The light is something in my eyes," said the Master. + +"I will give you every advantage," replied Mr. Henry, shifting his +ground, "for I think you are about to die." He spoke rather sadly +than otherwise, yet there was a ring in his voice. + +"Henry Durie," said the Master, "two words before I begin. You are +a fencer, you can hold a foil; you little know what a change it +makes to hold a sword! And by that I know you are to fall. But +see how strong is my situation! If you fall, I shift out of this +country to where my money is before me. If I fall, where are you? +My father, your wife - who is in love with me, as you very well +know - your child even, who prefers me to yourself:- how will these +avenge me! Had you thought of that, dear Henry?" He looked at his +brother with a smile; then made a fencing-room salute. + +Never a word said Mr. Henry, but saluted too, and the swords rang +together. + +I am no judge of the play; my head, besides, was gone with cold and +fear and horror; but it seems that Mr. Henry took and kept the +upper hand from the engagement, crowding in upon his foe with a +contained and glowing fury. Nearer and nearer he crept upon the +man, till of a sudden the Master leaped back with a little sobbing +oath; and I believe the movement brought the light once more +against his eyes. To it they went again, on the fresh ground; but +now methought closer, Mr. Henry pressing more outrageously, the +Master beyond doubt with shaken confidence. For it is beyond doubt +he now recognised himself for lost, and had some taste of the cold +agony of fear; or he had never attempted the foul stroke. I cannot +say I followed it, my untrained eye was never quick enough to seize +details, but it appears he caught his brother's blade with his left +hand, a practice not permitted. Certainly Mr. Henry only saved +himself by leaping on one side; as certainly the Master, lunging in +the air, stumbled on his knee, and before he could move the sword +was through his body. + +I cried out with a stifled scream, and ran in; but the body was +already fallen to the ground, where it writhed a moment like a +trodden worm, and then lay motionless. + +"Look at his left hand." said Mr. Henry. + +"It is all bloody," said I. + +"On the inside?" said he. + +"It is cut on the inside," said I. + +"I thought so," said he, and turned his back. + +I opened the man's clothes; the heart was quite still, it gave not +a flutter. + +"God forgive us, Mr. Henry!" said I. "He is dead." + +"Dead?" he repeated, a little stupidly; and then with a rising +tone, "Dead? dead?" says he, and suddenly cast his bloody sword +upon the ground. + +"What must we do?" said I. "Be yourself, sir. It is too late now: +you must be yourself." + +He turned and stared at me. "Oh, Mackellar!" says he, and put his +face in his hands. + +I plucked him by the coat. "For God's sake, for all our sakes, be +more courageous!" said I. "What must we do?" + +He showed me his face with the same stupid stare. + +"Do?" says he. And with that his eye fell on the body, and "Oh!" +he cries out, with his hand to his brow, as if he had never +remembered; and, turning from me, made off towards the house of +Durrisdeer at a strange stumbling run. + +I stood a moment mused; then it seemed to me my duty lay most plain +on the side of the living; and I ran after him, leaving the candles +on the frosty ground and the body lying in their light under the +trees. But run as I pleased, he had the start of me, and was got +into the house, and up to the hall, where I found him standing +before the fire with his face once more in his hands, and as he so +stood he visibly shuddered. + +"Mr. Henry, Mr. Henry," I said, "this will be the ruin of us all." + +"What is this that I have done?" cries he, and then looking upon me +with a countenance that I shall never forget, "Who is to tell the +old man?" he said. + +The word knocked at my heart; but it was no time for weakness. I +went and poured him out a glass of brandy. "Drink that," said I, +"drink it down." I forced him to swallow it like a child; and, +being still perished with the cold of the night, I followed his +example. + +"It has to be told, Mackellar," said he. "It must be told." And +he fell suddenly in a seat - my old lord's seat by the chimney-side +- and was shaken with dry sobs. + +Dismay came upon my soul; it was plain there was no help in Mr. +Henry. "Well," said I, "sit there, and leave all to me." And +taking a candle in my hand, I set forth out of the room in the dark +house. There was no movement; I must suppose that all had gone +unobserved; and I was now to consider how to smuggle through the +rest with the like secrecy. It was no hour for scruples; and I +opened my lady's door without so much as a knock, and passed boldly +in. + +"There is some calamity happened," she cried, sitting up in bed. + +"Madam," said I, "I will go forth again into the passage; and do +you get as quickly as you can into your clothes. There is much to +be done." + +She troubled me with no questions, nor did she keep me waiting. +Ere I had time to prepare a word of that which I must say to her, +she was on the threshold signing me to enter. + +"Madam," said I, "if you cannot be very brave, I must go elsewhere; +for if no one helps me to-night, there is an end of the house of +Durrisdeer." + +"I am very courageous," said she; and she looked at me with a sort +of smile, very painful to see, but very brave too. + +"It has come to a duel," said I. + +"A duel?" she repeated. "A duel! Henry and - " + +"And the Master," said I. "Things have been borne so long, things +of which you know nothing, which you would not believe if I should +tell. But to-night it went too far, and when he insulted you - " + +"Stop," said she. "He? Who?" + +"Oh! madam," cried I, my bitterness breaking forth, "do you ask me +such a question? Indeed, then, I may go elsewhere for help; there +is none here!" + +"I do not know in what I have offended you," said she. "Forgive +me; put me out of this suspense." + +But I dared not tell her yet; I felt not sure of her; and at the +doubt, and under the sense of impotence it brought with it, I +turned on the poor woman with something near to anger. + +"Madam," said I, "we are speaking of two men: one of them insulted +you, and you ask me which. I will help you to the answer. With +one of these men you have spent all your hours: has the other +reproached you? To one you have been always kind; to the other, as +God sees me and judges between us two, I think not always: has his +love ever failed you? To-night one of these two men told the +other, in my hearing - the hearing of a hired stranger, - that you +were in love with him. Before I say one word, you shall answer +your own question: Which was it? Nay, madam, you shall answer me +another: If it has come to this dreadful end, whose fault is it?" + +She stared at me like one dazzled. "Good God!" she said once, in a +kind of bursting exclamation; and then a second time in a whisper +to herself: "Great God! - In the name of mercy, Mackellar, what is +wrong?" she cried. "I am made up; I can hear all." + +"You are not fit to hear," said I. "Whatever it was, you shall say +first it was your fault." + +"Oh!" she cried, with a gesture of wringing her hands, "this man +will drive me mad! Can you not put me out of your thoughts?" + +"I think not once of you," I cried. "I think of none but my dear +unhappy master." + +"Ah!" she cried, with her hand to her heart, "is Henry dead?" + +"Lower your voice," said I. "The other." + +I saw her sway like something stricken by the wind; and I know not +whether in cowardice or misery, turned aside and looked upon the +floor. "These are dreadful tidings," said I at length, when her +silence began to put me in some fear; "and you and I behove to be +the more bold if the house is to be saved." Still she answered +nothing. "There is Miss Katharine, besides," I added: "unless we +bring this matter through, her inheritance is like to be of shame." + +I do not know if it was the thought of her child or the naked word +shame, that gave her deliverance; at least, I had no sooner spoken +than a sound passed her lips, the like of it I never heard; it was +as though she had lain buried under a hill and sought to move that +burthen. And the next moment she had found a sort of voice. + +"It was a fight," she whispered. "It was not - " and she paused +upon the word. + +"It was a fair fight on my dear master's part," said I. "As for +the other, he was slain in the very act of a foul stroke." + +"Not now!" she cried. + +"Madam," said I, "hatred of that man glows in my bosom like a +burning fire; ay, even now he is dead. God knows, I would have +stopped the fighting, had I dared. It is my shame I did not. But +when I saw him fall, if I could have spared one thought from +pitying of my master, it had been to exult in that deliverance." + +I do not know if she marked; but her next words were, "My lord?" + +"That shall be my part," said I. + +"You will not speak to him as you have to me?" she asked. + +"Madam," said I, "have you not some one else to think of? Leave my +lord to me." + +"Some one else?" she repeated. + +"Your husband," said I. She looked at me with a countenance +illegible. "Are you going to turn your back on him?" I asked. + +Still she looked at me; then her hand went to her heart again. +"No," said she. + +"God bless you for that word!" I said. "Go to him now, where he +sits in the hall; speak to him - it matters not what you say; give +him your hand; say, 'I know all;' - if God gives you grace enough, +say, 'Forgive me.'" + +"God strengthen you, and make you merciful," said she. "I will go +to my husband." + +"Let me light you there," said I, taking up the candle. + +"I will find my way in the dark," she said, with a shudder, and I +think the shudder was at me. + +So we separated - she down stairs to where a little light glimmered +in the hall-door, I along the passage to my lord's room. It seems +hard to say why, but I could not burst in on the old man as I could +on the young woman; with whatever reluctance, I must knock. But +his old slumbers were light, or perhaps he slept not; and at the +first summons I was bidden enter. + +He, too, sat up in bed; very aged and bloodless he looked; and +whereas he had a certain largeness of appearance when dressed for +daylight, he now seemed frail and little, and his face (the wig +being laid aside) not bigger than a child's. This daunted me; nor +less, the haggard surmise of misfortune in his eye. Yet his voice +was even peaceful as he inquired my errand. I set my candle down +upon a chair, leaned on the bed-foot, and looked at him. + +"Lord Durrisdeer," said I, "it is very well known to you that I am +a partisan in your family." + +"I hope we are none of us partisans," said he. "That you love my +son sincerely, I have always been glad to recognise." + +"Oh! my lord, we are past the hour of these civilities," I replied. +"If we are to save anything out of the fire, we must look the fact +in its bare countenance. A partisan I am; partisans we have all +been; it is as a partisan that I am here in the middle of the night +to plead before you. Hear me; before I go, I will tell you why." + +"I would always hear you, Mr. Mackellar," said he, "and that at any +hour, whether of the day or night, for I would be always sure you +had a reason. You spoke once before to very proper purpose; I have +not forgotten that." + +"I am here to plead the cause of my master," I said. "I need not +tell you how he acts. You know how he is placed. You know with +what generosity, he has always met your other - met your wishes," I +corrected myself, stumbling at that name of son. "You know - you +must know - what he has suffered - what he has suffered about his +wife." + +"Mr. Mackellar!" cried my lord, rising in bed like a bearded lion. + +"You said you would hear me," I continued. "What you do not know, +what you should know, one of the things I am here to speak of, is +the persecution he must bear in private. Your back is not turned +before one whom I dare not name to you falls upon him with the most +unfeeling taunts; twits him - pardon me, my lord - twits him with +your partiality, calls him Jacob, calls him clown, pursues him with +ungenerous raillery, not to be borne by man. And let but one of +you appear, instantly he changes; and my master must smile and +courtesy to the man who has been feeding him with insults; I know, +for I have shared in some of it, and I tell you the life is +insupportable. All these months it has endured; it began with the +man's landing; it was by the name of Jacob that my master was +greeted the first night." + +My lord made a movement as if to throw aside the clothes and rise. +"If there be any truth in this - " said he. + +"Do I look like a man lying?" I interrupted, checking him with my +hand. + +"You should have told me at first," he odd. + +"Ah, my lord! indeed I should, and you may well hate the face of +this unfaithful servant!" I cried. + +"I will take order," said he, "at once." And again made the +movement to rise. + +Again I checked him. "I have not done," said I. "Would God I had! +All this my dear, unfortunate patron has endured without help or +countenance. Your own best word, my lord, was only gratitude. Oh, +but he was your son, too! He had no other father. He was hated in +the country, God knows how unjustly. He had a loveless marriage. +He stood on all hands without affection or support - dear, +generous, ill-fated, noble heart!" + +"Your tears do you much honour and me much shame," says my lord, +with a palsied trembling. "But you do me some injustice. Henry +has been ever dear to me, very dear. James (I do not deny it, Mr. +Mackellar), James is perhaps dearer; you have not seen my James in +quite a favourable light; he has suffered under his misfortunes; +and we can only remember how great and how unmerited these were. +And even now his is the more affectionate nature. But I will not +speak of him. All that you say of Henry is most true; I do not +wonder, I know him to be very magnanimous; you will say I trade +upon the knowledge? It is possible; there are dangerous virtues: +virtues that tempt the encroacher. Mr. Mackellar, I will make it +up to him; I will take order with all this. I have been weak; and, +what is worse, I have been dull!" + +"I must not hear you blame yourself, my lord, with that which I +have yet to tell upon my conscience," I replied. "You have not +been weak; you have been abused by a devilish dissembler. You saw +yourself how he had deceived you in the matter of his danger; he +has deceived you throughout in every step of his career. I wish to +pluck him from your heart; I wish to force your eyes upon your +other son; ah, you have a son there!" + +"No, no" said he, "two sons - I have two sons." + +I made some gesture of despair that struck him; he looked at me +with a changed face. "There is much worse behind?" he asked, his +voice dying as it rose upon the question. + +"Much worse," I answered. "This night he said these words to Mr. +Henry: 'I have never known a woman who did not prefer me to you, +and I think who did not continue to prefer me.'" + +"I will hear nothing against my daughter," he cried; and from his +readiness to stop me in this direction, I conclude his eyes were +not so dull as I had fancied, and he had looked not without anxiety +upon the siege of Mrs. Henry. + +"I think not of blaming her," cried I. "It is not that. These +words were said in my hearing to Mr. Henry; and if you find them +not yet plain enough, these others but a little after: Your wife, +who is in love with me!'" + +"They have quarrelled?" he said. + +I nodded. + +"I must fly to them," he said, beginning once again to leave his +bed. + +"No, no!" I cried, holding forth my hands. + +"You do not know," said he. "These are dangerous words." + +"Will nothing make you understand, my lord?' said I. + +His eyes besought me for the truth. + +I flung myself on my knees by the bedside. "Oh, my lord," cried I, +"think on him you have left; think of this poor sinner whom you +begot, whom your wife bore to you, whom we have none of us +strengthened as we could; think of him, not of yourself; he is the +other sufferer - think of him! That is the door for sorrow - +Christ's door, God's door: oh! it stands open. Think of him, even +as he thought of you. 'WHO IS TO TELL THE OLD MAN?' - these were +his words. It was for that I came; that is why I am here pleading +at your feet." + +"Let me get up," he cried, thrusting me aside, and was on his feet +before myself. His voice shook like a sail in the wind, yet he +spoke with a good loudness; his face was like the snow, but his +eyes were steady and dry. + +"Here is too much speech," said he. "Where was it?" + +"In the shrubbery," said I. + +"And Mr. Henry?" he asked. And when I had told him he knotted his +old face in thought. + +"And Mr. James?" says he. + +"I have left him lying," said I, "beside the candles." + +"Candles?" he cried. And with that he ran to the window, opened +it, and looked abroad. "It might be spied from the road." + +"Where none goes by at such an hour," I objected. + +"It makes no matter," he said. "One might. Hark!" cries he. +"What is that?" + +It was the sound of men very guardedly rowing in the bay; and I +told him so. + +"The freetraders," said my lord. "Run at once, Mackellar; put +these candles out. I will dress in the meanwhile; and when you +return we can debate on what is wisest." + +I groped my way downstairs, and out at the door. From quite a far +way off a sheen was visible, making points of brightness in the +shrubbery; in so black a night it might have been remarked for +miles; and I blamed myself bitterly for my incaution. How much +more sharply when I reached the place! One of the candlesticks was +overthrown, and that taper quenched. The other burned steadily by +itself, and made a broad space of light upon the frosted ground. +All within that circle seemed, by the force of contrast and the +overhanging blackness, brighter than by day. And there was the +bloodstain in the midst; and a little farther off Mr. Henry's +sword, the pommel of which was of silver; but of the body, not a +trace. My heart thumped upon my ribs, the hair stirred upon my +scalp, as I stood there staring - so strange was the sight, so dire +the fears it wakened. I looked right and left; the ground was so +hard, it told no story. I stood and listened till my ears ached, +but the night was hollow about me like an empty church; not even a +ripple stirred upon the shore; it seemed you might have heard a pin +drop in the county. + +I put the candle out, and the blackness fell about me groping dark; +it was like a crowd surrounding me; and I went back to the house of +Durrisdeer, with my chin upon my shoulder, startling, as I went, +with craven suppositions. In the door a figure moved to meet me, +and I had near screamed with terror ere I recognised Mrs. Henry. + +"Have you told him?" says she. + +"It was he who sent me," said I. "It is gone. But why are you +here?" + +"It is gone!" she repeated. "What is gone?" + +"The body," said I. "Why are you not with your husband?" + +"Gone!" said she. "You cannot have looked. Come back." + +"There is no light now," said I. "I dare not." + +"I can see in the dark. I have been standing here so long - so +long," said she. "Come, give me your hand." + +We returned to the shrubbery hand in hand, and to the fatal place. + +"Take care of the blood," said I. + +"Blood?" she cried, and started violently back. + +"I suppose it will be," said I. "I am like a blind man." + +"No!" said she, "nothing! Have you not dreamed?" + +"Ah, would to God we had!" cried I. + +She spied the sword, picked it up, and seeing the blood, let it +fall again with her hands thrown wide. "Ah!" she cried. And then, +with an instant courage, handled it the second time, and thrust it +to the hilt into the frozen ground. "I will take it back and clean +it properly," says she, and again looked about her on all sides. +"It cannot be that he was dead?" she added. + +"There was no flutter of his heart," said I, and then remembering: +"Why are you not with your husband?" + +"It is no use," said she; "he will not speak to me." + +"Not speak to you?" I repeated. "Oh! you have not tried." + +"You have a right to doubt me," she replied, with a gentle dignity. + +At this, for the first time, I was seized with sorrow for her. +"God knows, madam," I cried, "God knows I am not so hard as I +appear; on this dreadful night who can veneer his words? But I am +a friend to all who are not Henry Durie's enemies." + +"It is hard, then, you should hesitate about his wife," said she. + +I saw all at once, like the rending of a veil, how nobly she had +borne this unnatural calamity, and how generously my reproaches. + +"We must go back and tell this to my lord," said I. + +"Him I cannot face," she cried. + +"You will find him the least moved of all of us," said I. + +"And yet I cannot face him," said she. + +"Well," said I, "you can return to Mr. Henry; I will see my lord." + +As we walked back, I bearing the candlesticks, she the sword - a +strange burthen for that woman - she had another thought. "Should +we tell Henry?" she asked. + +"Let my lord decide," said I. + +My lord was nearly dressed when I came to his chamber. He heard me +with a frown. "The freetraders," said he. "But whether dead or +alive?" + +"I thought him - " said I, and paused, ashamed of the word. + +"I know; but you may very well have been in error. Why should they +remove him if not living?" he asked. "Oh! here is a great door of +hope. It must be given out that he departed - as he came - without +any note of preparation. We must save all scandal." + +I saw he had fallen, like the rest of us, to think mainly of the +house. Now that all the living members of the family were plunged +in irremediable sorrow, it was strange how we turned to that +conjoint abstraction of the family itself, and sought to bolster up +the airy nothing of its reputation: not the Duries only, but the +hired steward himself. + +"Are we to tell Mr. Henry?" I asked him. + +"I will see," said he. "I am going first to visit him; then I go +forth with you to view the shrubbery and consider." + +We went downstairs into the hall. Mr. Henry sat by the table with +his head upon his hand, like a man of stone. His wife stood a +little back from him, her hand at her mouth; it was plain she could +not move him. My old lord walked very steadily to where his son +was sitting; he had a steady countenance, too, but methought a +little cold. When he was come quite up, he held out both his hands +and said, "My son!" + +With a broken, strangled cry, Mr. Henry leaped up and fell on his +father's neck, crying and weeping, the most pitiful sight that ever +a man witnessed. "Oh! father," he cried, "you know I loved him; +you know I loved him in the beginning; I could have died for him - +you know that! I would have given my life for him and you. Oh! +say you know that. Oh! say you can forgive me. O father, father, +what have I done - what have I done? And we used to be bairns +together!" and wept and sobbed, and fondled the old man, and +clutched him about the neck, with the passion of a child in terror. + +And then he caught sight of his wife (you would have thought for +the first time), where she stood weeping to hear him, and in a +moment had fallen at her knees. "And O my lass," he cried, "you +must forgive me, too! Not your husband - I have only been the ruin +of your life. But you knew me when I was a lad; there was no harm +in Henry Durie then; he meant aye to be a friend to you. It's him +- it's the old bairn that played with you - oh, can ye never, never +forgive him?" + +Throughout all this my lord was like a cold, kind spectator with +his wits about him. At the first cry, which was indeed enough to +call the house about us, he had said to me over his shoulder, +"Close the door." And now he nodded to himself. + +"We may leave him to his wife now,"' says he. "Bring a light, Mr. +Mackellar." + +Upon my going forth again with my lord, I was aware of a strange +phenomenon; for though it was quite dark, and the night not yet +old, methought I smelt the morning. At the same time there went a +tossing through the branches of the evergreens, so that they +sounded like a quiet sea, and the air pulled at times against our +faces, and the flame of the candle shook. We made the more speed, +I believe, being surrounded by this bustle; visited the scene of +the duel, where my lord looked upon the blood with stoicism; and +passing farther on toward the landing-place, came at last upon some +evidences of the truth. For, first of all, where there was a pool +across the path, the ice had been trodden in, plainly by more than +one man's weight; next, and but a little farther, a young tree was +broken, and down by the landing-place, where the traders' boats +were usually beached, another stain of blood marked where the body +must have been infallibly set down to rest the bearers. + +This stain we set ourselves to wash away with the sea-water, +carrying it in my lord's hat; and as we were thus engaged there +came up a sudden moaning gust and left us instantly benighted. + +"It will come to snow," says my lord; "and the best thing that we +could hope. Let us go back now; we can do nothing in the dark." + +As we went houseward, the wind being again subsided, we were aware +of a strong pattering noise about us in the night; and when we +issued from the shelter of the trees, we found it raining smartly. + +Throughout the whole of this, my lord's clearness of mind, no less +than his activity of body, had not ceased to minister to my +amazement. He set the crown upon it in the council we held on our +return. The freetraders had certainly secured the Master, though +whether dead or alive we were still left to our conjectures; the +rain would, long before day, wipe out all marks of the transaction; +by this we must profit. The Master had unexpectedly come after the +fall of night; it must now he given out he had as suddenly departed +before the break of day; and, to make all this plausible, it now +only remained for me to mount into the man's chamber, and pack and +conceal his baggage. True, we still lay at the discretion of the +traders; but that was the incurable weakness of our guilt. + +I heard him, as I said, with wonder, and hastened to obey. Mr. and +Mrs. Henry were gone from the hall; my lord, for warmth's sake, +hurried to his bed; there was still no sign of stir among the +servants, and as I went up the tower stair, and entered the dead +man's room, a horror of solitude weighed upon my mind. To my +extreme surprise, it was all in the disorder of departure. Of his +three portmanteaux, two were already locked; the third lay open and +near full. At once there flashed upon me some suspicion of the +truth. The man had been going, after all; he had but waited upon +Crail, as Crail waited upon the wind; early in the night the seamen +had perceived the weather changing; the boat had come to give +notice of the change and call the passenger aboard, and the boat's +crew had stumbled on him dying in his blood. Nay, and there was +more behind. This pre-arranged departure shed some light upon his +inconceivable insult of the night before; it was a parting shot, +hatred being no longer checked by policy. And, for another thing, +the nature of that insult, and the conduct of Mrs. Henry, pointed +to one conclusion, which I have never verified, and can now never +verify until the great assize - the conclusion that he had at last +forgotten himself, had gone too far in his advances, and had been +rebuffed. It can never be verified, as I say; but as I thought of +it that morning among his baggage, the thought was sweet to me like +honey. + +Into the open portmanteau I dipped a little ere I closed it. The +most beautiful lace and linen, many suits of those fine plain +clothes in which he loved to appear; a book or two, and those of +the best, Caesar's "Commentaries," a volume of Mr. Hobbes, the +"Henriade" of M. de Voltaire, a book upon the Indies, one on the +mathematics, far beyond where I have studied: these were what I +observed with very mingled feelings. But in the open portmanteau, +no papers of any description. This set me musing. It was possible +the man was dead; but, since the traders had carried him away, not +likely. It was possible he might still die of his wound; but it +was also possible he might not. And in this latter case I was +determined to have the means of some defence. + +One after another I carried his portmanteaux to a loft in the top +of the house which we kept locked; went to my own room for my keys, +and, returning to the loft, had the gratification to find two that +fitted pretty well. In one of the portmanteaux there was a +shagreen letter-case, which I cut open with my knife; and +thenceforth (so far as any credit went) the man was at my mercy. +Here was a vast deal of gallant correspondence, chiefly of his +Paris days; and, what was more to the purpose, here were the copies +of his own reports to the English Secretary, and the originals of +the Secretary's answers: a most damning series: such as to +publish would be to wreck the Master's honour and to set a price +upon his life. I chuckled to myself as I ran through the +documents; I rubbed my hands, I sang aloud in my glee. Day found +me at the pleasing task; nor did I then remit my diligence, except +in so far as I went to the window - looked out for a moment, to see +the frost quite gone, the world turned black again, and the rain +and the wind driving in the bay - and to assure myself that the +lugger was gone from its anchorage, and the Master (whether dead or +alive) now tumbling on the Irish Sea. + +It is proper I should add in this place the very little I have +subsequently angled out upon the doings of that night. It took me +a long while to gather it; for we dared not openly ask, and the +freetraders regarded me with enmity, if not with scorn. It was +near six months before we even knew for certain that the man +survived; and it was years before I learned from one of Crail's +men, turned publican on his ill-gotten gain, some particulars which +smack to me of truth. It seems the traders found the Master +struggled on one elbow, and now staring round him, and now gazing +at the candle or at his hand which was all bloodied, like a man +stupid. Upon their coming, he would seem to have found his mind, +bade them carry him aboard, and hold their tongues; and on the +captain asking how he had come in such a pickle, replied with a +burst of passionate swearing, and incontinently fainted. They held +some debate, but they were momently looking for a wind, they were +highly paid to smuggle him to France, and did not care to delay. +Besides which, he was well enough liked by these abominable +wretches: they supposed him under capital sentence, knew not in +what mischief he might have got his wound, and judged it a piece of +good nature to remove him out of the way of danger. So he was +taken aboard, recovered on the passage over, and was set ashore a +convalescent at the Havre de Grace. What is truly notable: he +said not a word to anyone of the duel, and not a trader knows to +this day in what quarrel, or by the hand of what adversary, he +fell. With any other man I should have set this down to natural +decency; with him, to pride. He could not bear to avow, perhaps +even to himself, that he had been vanquished by one whom he had so +much insulted whom he so cruelly despised. + + + +CHAPTER VI. - SUMMARY OF EVENTS DURING THE MASTER'S SECOND ABSENCE. + + + +Of the heavy sickness which declared itself next morning I can +think with equanimity, as of the last unmingled trouble that befell +my master; and even that was perhaps a mercy in disguise; for what +pains of the body could equal the miseries of his mind? Mrs. Henry +and I had the watching by the bed. My old lord called from time to +time to take the news, but would not usually pass the door. Once, +I remember, when hope was nigh gone, he stepped to the bedside, +looked awhile in his son's face, and turned away with a gesture of +the head and hand thrown up, that remains upon my mind as something +tragic; such grief and such a scorn of sublunary things were there +expressed. But the most of the time Mrs. Henry and I had the room +to ourselves, taking turns by night, and bearing each other company +by day, for it was dreary watching. Mr. Henry, his shaven head +bound in a napkin, tossed fro without remission, beating the bed +with his hands. His tongue never lay; his voice ran continuously +like a river, so that my heart was weary with the sound of it. It +was notable, and to me inexpressibly mortifying, that he spoke all +the while on matters of no import: comings and goings, horses - +which he was ever calling to have saddled, thinking perhaps (the +poor soul!) that he might ride away from his discomfort - matters +of the garden, the salmon nets, and (what I particularly raged to +hear) continually of his affairs, cyphering figures and holding +disputation with the tenantry. Never a word of his father or his +wife, nor of the Master, save only for a day or two, when his mind +dwelled entirely in the past, and he supposed himself a boy again +and upon some innocent child's play with his brother. What made +this the more affecting: it appeared the Master had then run some +peril of his life, for there was a cry - "Oh! Jamie will be +drowned - Oh, save Jamie!" which he came over and over with a great +deal of passion. + +This, I say, was affecting, both to Mrs. Henry and myself; but the +balance of my master's wanderings did him little justice. It +seemed he had set out to justify his brother's calumnies; as though +he was bent to prove himself a man of a dry nature, immersed in +money-getting. Had I been there alone, I would not have troubled +my thumb; but all the while, as I listened, I was estimating the +effect on the man's wife, and telling myself that he fell lower +every day. I was the one person on the surface of the globe that +comprehended him, and I was bound there should be yet another. +Whether he was to die there and his virtues perish: or whether he +should save his days and come back to that inheritance of sorrows, +his right memory: I was bound he should be heartily lamented in +the one case, and unaffectedly welcomed in the other, by the person +he loved the most, his wife. + +Finding no occasion of free speech, I bethought me at last of a +kind of documentary disclosure; and for some nights, when I was off +duty and should have been asleep, I gave my time to the preparation +of that which I may call my budget. But this I found to be the +easiest portion of my task, and that which remained - namely, the +presentation to my lady - almost more than I had fortitude to +overtake. Several days I went about with my papers under my arm, +spying for some juncture of talk to serve as introduction. I will +not deny but that some offered; only when they did my tongue clove +to the roof of my mouth; and I think I might have been carrying +about my packet till this day, had not a fortunate accident +delivered me from all my hesitations. This was at night, when I +was once more leaving the room, the thing not yet done, and myself +in despair at my own cowardice. + +"What do you carry about with you, Mr. Mackellar?" she asked. +"These last days, I see you always coming in and out with the same +armful." + +I returned upon my steps without a word, laid the papers before her +on the table, and left her to her reading. Of what that was, I am +now to give you some idea; and the best will be to reproduce a +letter of my own which came first in the budget and of which +(according to an excellent habitude) I have preserved the scroll. +It will show, too, the moderation of my part in these affairs, a +thing which some have called recklessly in question. + + +"Durrisdeer. +"1757. + +"HONOURED MADAM, + +"I trust I would not step out of my place without occasion; but I +see how much evil has flowed in the past to all of your noble house +from that unhappy and secretive fault of reticency, and the papers +on which I venture to call your attention are family papers, and +all highly worthy your acquaintance. + +"I append a schedule with some necessary observations, +"And am, +"Honoured Madam, +"Your ladyship's obliged, obedient servant, +"EPHRAIM MACKELLAR. + + +"Schedule of Papers. + +"A. Scroll of ten letters from Ephraim Mackellar to the Hon. James +Durie, Esq., by courtesy Master of Ballantrae during the latter's +residence in Paris: under dates . . . " (follow the dates) . . . +"Nota: to be read in connection with B. and C. + +"B. Seven original letters from the said Mr of Ballantrae to the +said E. Mackellar, under dates . . . " (follow the dates.) + +"C. Three original letters from the Mr of Ballantrae to the Hon. +Henry Durie, Esq., under dates . . . " (follow the dates) . . . +"Nota: given me by Mr. Henry to answer: copies of my answers A 4, +A 5, and A 9 of these productions. The purport of Mr. Henry's +communications, of which I can find no scroll, may be gathered from +those of his unnatural brother. + +"D. A correspondence, original and scroll, extending over a period +of three years till January of the current year, between the said +Mr of Ballantrae and - -, Under Secretary of State; twenty-seven in +all. Nota: found among the Master's papers." + + +Weary as I was with watching and distress of mind, it was +impossible for me to sleep. All night long I walked in my chamber, +revolving what should be the issue, and sometimes repenting the +temerity of my immixture in affairs so private; and with the first +peep of the morning I was at the sick-room door. Mrs. Henry had +thrown open the shutters and even the window, for the temperature +was mild. She looked steadfastly before her; where was nothing to +see, or only the blue of the morning creeping among woods. Upon +the stir of my entrance she did not so much as turn about her face: +a circumstance from which I augured very ill. + +"Madam," I began; and then again, "Madam;" but could make no more +of it. Nor yet did Mrs. Henry come to my assistance with a word. +In this pass I began gathering up the papers where they lay +scattered on the table; and the first thing that struck me, their +bulk appeared to have diminished. Once I ran them through, and +twice; but the correspondence with the Secretary of State, on which +I had reckoned so much against the future, was nowhere to be found. +I looked in the chimney; amid the smouldering embers, black ashes +of paper fluttered in the draught; and at that my timidity +vanished. + +"Good God, madam," cried I, in a voice not fitting for a sick-room, +"Good God, madam, what have you done with my papers?" + +"I have burned them," said Mrs. Henry, turning about. "It is +enough, it is too much, that you and I have seen them." + +"This is a fine night's work that you have done!" cried I. "And +all to save the reputation of a man that ate bread by the shedding +of his comrades' blood, as I do by the shedding of ink." + +"To save the reputation of that family in which you are a servant, +Mr. Mackellar," she returned, "and for which you have already done +so much." + +"It is a family I will not serve much longer," I cried, "for I am +driven desperate. You have stricken the sword out of my hands; you +have left us all defenceless. I had always these letters I could +shake over his head; and now - What is to do? We are so falsely +situate we dare not show the man the door; the country would fly on +fire against us; and I had this one hold upon him - and now it is +gone - now he may come back to-morrow, and we must all sit down +with him to dinner, go for a stroll with him on the terrace, or +take a hand at cards, of all things, to divert his leisure! No, +madam! God forgive you, if He can find it in His heart; for I +cannot find it in mine." + +"I wonder to find you so simple, Mr. Mackellar," said Mrs. Henry. +"What does this man value reputation? But he knows how high we +prize it; he knows we would rather die than make these letters +public; and do you suppose he would not trade upon the knowledge? +What you call your sword, Mr. Mackellar, and which had been one +indeed against a man of any remnant of propriety, would have been +but a sword of paper against him. He would smile in your face at +such a threat. He stands upon his degradation, he makes that his +strength; it is in vain to struggle with such characters." She +cried out this last a little desperately, and then with more quiet: +"No, Mr. Mackellar; I have thought upon this matter all night, and +there is no way out of it. Papers or no papers, the door of this +house stands open for him; he is the rightful heir, forsooth! If +we sought to exclude him, all would redound against poor Henry, and +I should see him stoned again upon the streets. Ah! if Henry dies, +it is a different matter! They have broke the entail for their own +good purposes; the estate goes to my daughter; and I shall see who +sets a foot upon it. But if Henry lives, my poor Mr. Mackellar, +and that man returns, we must suffer: only this time it will be +together." + +On the whole I was well pleased with Mrs. Henry's attitude of mind; +nor could I even deny there was some cogency in that which she +advanced about the papers. + +"Let us say no more about it," said I. "I can only be sorry I +trusted a lady with the originals, which was an unbusinesslike +proceeding at the best. As for what I said of leaving the service +of the family, it was spoken with the tongue only; and you may set +your mind at rest. I belong to Durrisdeer, Mrs. Henry, as if I had +been born there." + +I must do her the justice to say she seemed perfectly relieved; so +that we began this morning, as we were to continue for so many +years, on a proper ground of mutual indulgence and respect. + +The same day, which was certainly prededicate to joy, we observed +the first signal of recovery in Mr. Henry; and about three of the +following afternoon he found his mind again, recognising me by name +with the strongest evidences of affection. Mrs. Henry was also in +the room, at the bedfoot; but it did not appear that he observed +her. And indeed (the fever being gone) he was so weak that he made +but the one effort and sank again into lethargy. The course of his +restoration was now slow but equal; every day his appetite +improved; every week we were able to remark an increase both of +strength and flesh; and before the end of the month he was out of +bed and had even begun to be carried in his chair upon the terrace. + +It was perhaps at this time that Mrs. Henry and I were the most +uneasy in mind. Apprehension for his days was at an end; and a +worse fear succeeded. Every day we drew consciously nearer to a +day of reckoning; and the days passed on, and still there was +nothing. Mr. Henry bettered in strength, he held long talks with +us on a great diversity of subjects, his father came and sat with +him and went again; and still there was no reference to the late +tragedy or to the former troubles which had brought it on. Did he +remember, and conceal his dreadful knowledge? or was the whole +blotted from his mind? This was the problem that kept us watching +and trembling all day when we were in his company and held us awake +at night when we were in our lonely beds. We knew not even which +alternative to hope for, both appearing so unnatural and pointing +so directly to an unsound brain. Once this fear offered, I +observed his conduct with sedulous particularity. Something of the +child he exhibited: a cheerfulness quite foreign to his previous +character, an interest readily aroused, and then very tenacious, in +small matters which he had heretofore despised. When he was +stricken down, I was his only confidant, and I may say his only +friend, and he was on terms of division with his wife; upon his +recovery, all was changed, the past forgotten, the wife first and +even single in his thoughts. He turned to her with all his +emotions, like a child to its mother, and seemed secure of +sympathy; called her in all his needs with something of that +querulous familiarity that marks a certainty of indulgence; and I +must say, in justice to the woman, he was never disappointed. To +her, indeed, this changed behaviour was inexpressibly affecting; +and I think she felt it secretly as a reproach; so that I have seen +her, in early days, escape out of the room that she might indulge +herself in weeping. But to me the change appeared not natural; and +viewing it along with all the rest, I began to wonder, with many +head-shakings, whether his reason were perfectly erect. + +As this doubt stretched over many years, endured indeed until my +master's death, and clouded all our subsequent relations, I may +well consider of it more at large. When he was able to resume some +charge of his affairs, I had many opportunities to try him with +precision. There was no lack of understanding, nor yet of +authority; but the old continuous interest had quite departed; he +grew readily fatigued, and fell to yawning; and he carried into +money relations, where it is certainly out of place, a facility +that bordered upon slackness. True, since we had no longer the +exactions of the Master to contend against, there was the less +occasion to raise strictness into principle or do battle for a +farthing. True, again, there was nothing excessive in these +relaxations, or I would have been no party to them. But the whole +thing marked a change, very slight yet very perceptible; and though +no man could say my master had gone at all out of his mind, no man +could deny that he had drifted from his character. It was the same +to the end, with his manner and appearance. Some of the heat of +the fever lingered in his veins: his movements a little hurried, +his speech notably more voluble, yet neither truly amiss. His +whole mind stood open to happy impressions, welcoming these and +making much of them; but the smallest suggestion of trouble or +sorrow he received with visible impatience and dismissed again with +immediate relief. It was to this temper that he owed the felicity +of his later days; and yet here it was, if anywhere, that you could +call the man insane. A great part of this life consists in +contemplating what we cannot cure; but Mr. Henry, if he could not +dismiss solicitude by an effort of the mind, must instantly and at +whatever cost annihilate the cause of it; so that he played +alternately the ostrich and the bull. It is to this strenuous +cowardice of pain that I have to set down all the unfortunate and +excessive steps of his subsequent career. Certainly this was the +reason of his beating McManus, the groom, a thing so much out of +all his former practice, and which awakened so much comment at the +time. It is to this, again, that I must lay the total lose of near +upon two hundred pounds, more than the half of which I could have +saved if his impatience would have suffered me. But he preferred +loss or any desperate extreme to a continuance of mental suffering. + +All this has led me far from our immediate trouble: whether he +remembered or had forgotten his late dreadful act; and if he +remembered, in what light he viewed it. The truth burst upon us +suddenly, and was indeed one of the chief surprises of my life. He +had been several times abroad, and was now beginning to walk a +little with an arm, when it chanced I should be left alone with him +upon the terrace. He turned to me with a singular furtive smile, +such as schoolboys use when in fault; and says he, in a private +whisper and without the least preface: "Where have you buried +him?" + +I could not make one sound in answer. + +"Where have you buried him?" he repeated. "I want to see his +grave." + +I conceived I had best take the bull by the horns. "Mr. Henry," +said I, "I have news to give that will rejoice you exceedingly. In +all human likelihood, your hands are clear of blood. I reason from +certain indices; and by these it should appear your brother was not +dead, but was carried in a swound on board the lugger. But now he +may be perfectly recovered." + +What there was in his countenance I could not read. "James?" he +asked. + +"Your brother James," I answered. "I would not raise a hope that +may be found deceptive, but in my heart I think it very probable he +is alive." + +"Ah!" says Mr. Henry; and suddenly rising from his seat with more +alacrity than he had yet discovered, set one finger on my breast, +and cried at me in a kind of screaming whisper, "Mackellar" - these +were his words - "nothing can kill that man. He is not mortal. He +is bound upon my back to all eternity - to all eternity!" says he, +and, sitting down again, fell upon a stubborn silence. + +A day or two after, with the same secret smile, and first looking +about as if to be sure we were alone, "Mackellar," said he, "when +you have any intelligence, be sure and let me know. We must keep +an eye upon him, or he will take us when we least expect." + +"He will not show face here again," said I. + +"Oh yes he will," said Mr. Henry. "Wherever I am, there will he +be." And again he looked all about him. + +"You must not dwell upon this thought, Mr. Henry," said I. + +"No," said he, "that is a very good advice. We will never think of +it, except when you have news. And we do not know yet," he added; +"he may be dead." + +The manner of his saying this convinced me thoroughly of what I had +scarce ventured to suspect: that, so far from suffering any +penitence for the attempt, he did but lament his failure. This was +a discovery I kept to myself, fearing it might do him a prejudice +with his wife. But I might have saved myself the trouble; she had +divined it for herself, and found the sentiment quite natural. +Indeed, I could not but say that there were three of us, all of the +same mind; nor could any news have reached Durrisdeer more +generally welcome than tidings of the Master's death. + +This brings me to speak of the exception, my old lord. As soon as +my anxiety for my own master began to be relaxed, I was aware of a +change in the old gentleman, his father, that seemed to threaten +mortal consequences. + +His face was pale and swollen; as he sat in the chimney-side with +his Latin, he would drop off sleeping and the book roll in the +ashes; some days he would drag his foot, others stumble in +speaking. The amenity of his behaviour appeared more extreme; full +of excuses for the least trouble, very thoughtful for all; to +myself, of a most flattering civility. One day, that he had sent +for his lawyer and remained a long while private, he met me as he +was crossing the hall with painful footsteps, and took me kindly by +the hand. "Mr. Mackellar," said he, "I have had many occasions to +set a proper value on your services; and to-day, when I re-cast my +will, I have taken the freedom to name you for one of my executors. +I believe you bear love enough to our house to render me this +service." At that very time he passed the greater portion of his +days in clamber, from which it was often difficult to rouse him; +seemed to have losst all count of years, and had several times +(particularly on waking) called for his wife and for an old servant +whose very gravestone was now green with moss. If I had been put +to my oath, I must have declared he was incapable of testing; and +yet there was never a will drawn more sensible in every trait, or +showing a more excellent judgment both of persons and affairs. + +His dissolution, though it took not very long, proceeded by +infinitesimal gradations. His faculties decayed together steadily; +the power of his limbs was almost gone, he was extremely deaf, his +speech had sunk into mere mumblings; and yet to the end he managed +to discover something of his former courtesy and kindness, pressing +the hand of any that helped him, presenting me with one of his +Latin books, in which he had laboriously traced my name, and in a +thousand ways reminding us of the greatness of that loss which it +might almost be said we had already suffered. To the end, the +power of articulation returned to him in flashes; it seemed he had +only forgotten the art of speech as a child forgets his lesson, and +at times he would call some part of it to mind. On the last night +of his life he suddenly broke silence with these words from Virgil: +"Gnatique pratisque, alma, precor, miserere," perfectly uttered, +and with a fitting accent. At the sudden clear sound of it we +started from our several occupations; but it was in vain we turned +to him; he sat there silent, and, to all appearance, fatuous. A +little later he was had to bed with more difficulty than ever +before; and some time in the night, without any more violence, his +spirit fled. + +At a far later period I chanced to speak of these particulars with +a doctor of medicine, a man of so high a reputation that I scruple +to adduce his name. By his view of it father and son both suffered +from the affection: the father from the strain of his unnatural +sorrows - the son perhaps in the excitation of the fever; each had +ruptured a vessel on the brain, and there was probably (my doctor +added) some predisposition in the family to accidents of that +description. The father sank, the son recovered all the externals +of a healthy man; but it is like there was some destruction in +those delicate tissues where the soul resides and does her earthly +business; her heavenly, I would fain hope, cannot be thus +obstructed by material accidents. And yet, upon a more mature +opinion, it matters not one jot; for He who shall pass judgment on +the records of our life is the same that formed us in frailty. + +The death of my old lord was the occasion of a fresh surprise to us +who watched the behaviour of his successor. To any considering +mind, the two sons had between them slain their father, and he who +took the sword might be even said to have slain him with his hand, +but no such thought appeared to trouble my new lord. He was +becomingly grave; I could scarce say sorrowful, or only with a +pleasant sorrow; talking of the dead with a regretful cheerfulness, +relating old examples of his character, smiling at them with a good +conscience; and when the day of the funeral came round, doing the +honours with exact propriety. I could perceive, besides, that he +found a solid gratification in his accession to the title; the +which he was punctilious in exacting. + + +And now there came upon the scene a new character, and one that +played his part, too, in the story; I mean the present lord, +Alexander, whose birth (17th July, 1757) filled the cup of my poor +master's happiness. There was nothing then left him to wish for; +nor yet leisure to wish for it. Indeed, there never was a parent +so fond and doting as he showed himself. He was continually uneasy +in his son's absence. Was the child abroad? the father would be +watching the clouds in case it rained. Was it night? he would rise +out of his bed to observe its slumbers. His conversation grew even +wearyful to strangers, since he talked of little but his son. In +matters relating to the estate, all was designed with a particular +eye to Alexander; and it would be:- "Let us put it in hand at once, +that the wood may be grown against Alexander's majority;" or, "This +will fall in again handsomely for Alexander's marriage." Every day +this absorption of the man's nature became more observable, with +many touching and some very blameworthy particulars. Soon the +child could walk abroad with him, at first on the terrace, hand in +hand, and afterward at large about the policies; and this grew to +be my lord's chief occupation. The sound of their two voices +(audible a great way off, for they spoke loud) became familiar in +the neighbourhood; and for my part I found it more agreeable than +the sound of birds. It was pretty to see the pair returning, full +of briars, and the father as flushed and sometimes as bemuddied as +the child, for they were equal sharers in all sorts of boyish +entertainment, digging in the beach, damming of streams, and what +not; and I have seen them gaze through a fence at cattle with the +same childish contemplation. + +The mention of these rambles brings me to a strange scene of which +I was a witness. There was one walk I never followed myself +without emotion, so often had I gone there upon miserable errands, +so much had there befallen against the house of Durrisdeer. But +the path lay handy from all points beyond the Muckle Ross; and I +was driven, although much against my will, to take my use of it +perhaps once in the two months. It befell when Mr. Alexander was +of the age of seven or eight, I had some business on the far side +in the morning, and entered the shrubbery, on my homeward way, +about nine of a bright forenoon. It was that time of year when the +woods are all in their spring colours, the thorns all in flower, +and the birds in the high season of their singing. In contrast to +this merriment, the shrubbery was only the more sad, and I the more +oppressed by its associations. In this situation of spirit it +struck me disagreeably to hear voices a little way in front, and to +recognise the tones of my lord and Mr. Alexander. I pushed ahead, +and came presently into their view. They stood together in the +open space where the duel was, my lord with his hand on his son's +shoulder, and speaking with some gravity. At least, as he raised +his head upon my coming, I thought I could perceive his countenance +to lighten. + +"Ah!" says he, "here comes the good Mackellar. I have just been +telling Sandie the story of this place, and how there was a man +whom the devil tried to kill, and how near he came to kill the +devil instead." + +I had thought it strange enough he should bring the child into that +scene; that he should actually be discoursing of his act, passed +measure. But the worst was yet to come; for he added, turning to +his son - "You can ask Mackellar; he was here and saw it." + +"Is it true, Mr. Mackellar?" asked the child. "And did you really +see the devil?" + +"I have not heard the tale," I replied; "and I am in a press of +business." So far I said a little sourly, fencing with the +embarrassment of the position; and suddenly the bitterness of the +past, and the terror of that scene by candle-light, rushed in upon +my mind. I bethought me that, for a difference of a second's +quickness in parade, the child before me might have never seen the +day; and the emotion that always fluttered round my heart in that +dark shrubbery burst forth in words. "But so much is true," I +cried, "that I have met the devil in these woods, and seen him +foiled here. Blessed be God that we escaped with life - blessed be +God that one stone yet stands upon another in the walls of +Durrisdeer! And, oh! Mr. Alexander, if ever you come by this spot, +though it was a hundred years hence, and you came with the gayest +and the highest in the land, I would step aside and remember a bit +prayer." + +My lord bowed his head gravely. "Ah!" says he, "Mackellar is +always in the right. Come, Alexander, take your bonnet off." And +with that he uncovered, and held out his hand. "O Lord," said he, +"I thank Thee, and my son thanks Thee, for Thy manifold great +mercies. Let us have peace for a little; defend us from the evil +man. Smite him, O Lord, upon the lying mouth!" The last broke out +of him like a cry; and at that, whether remembered anger choked his +utterance, or whether he perceived this was a singular sort of +prayer, at least he suddenly came to a full stop; and, after a +moment, set back his hat upon his head. + +"I think you have forgot a word, my lord," said I. "'Forgive us +our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us. For +Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and +ever. Amen.'" + +"Ah! that is easy saying," said my lord. "That is very easy +saying, Mackellar. But for me to forgive! - I think I would cut a +very silly figure if I had the affectation to pretend it." + +"The bairn, my lord!" said I, with some severity, for I thought his +expressions little fitted for the care of children. + +"Why, very true," said he. "This is dull work for a bairn. Let's +go nesting." + +I forget if it was the same day, but it was soon after, my lord, +finding me alone, opened himself a little more on the same head. + +"Mackellar," he said, "I am now a very happy man." + +"I think so indeed, my lord," said I, "and the sight of it gives me +a light heart." + +"There is an obligation in happiness - do you not think so?" says +he, musingly. + +"I think so indeed," says I, "and one in sorrow, too. If we are +not here to try to do the best, in my humble opinion the sooner we +are away the better for all parties." + +"Ay, but if you were in my shoes, would you forgive him?" asks my +lord. + +The suddenness of the attack a little gravelled me. + +"It is a duty laid upon us strictly," said I. + +"Hut!" said he. "These are expressions! Do you forgive the man +yourself?" + +"Well - no!" said I. "God forgive me, I do not." + +"Shake hands upon that!" cries my lord, with a kind of joviality. + +"It is an ill sentiment to shake hands upon," said I, "for +Christian people. I think I will give you mine on some more +evangelical occasion." + +This I said, smiling a little; but as for my lord, he went from the +room laughing aloud. + + +For my lord's slavery to the child, I can find no expression +adequate. He lost himself in that continual thought: business, +friends, and wife being all alike forgotten, or only remembered +with a painful effort, like that of one struggling with a posset. +It was most notable in the matter of his wife. Since I had known +Durrisdeer, she had been the burthen of his thought and the +loadstone of his eyes; and now she was quite cast out. I have seen +him come to the door of a room, look round, and pass my lady over +as though she were a dog before the fire. It would be Alexander he +was seeking, and my lady knew it well. I have heard him speak to +her so ruggedly that I nearly found it in my heart to intervene: +the cause would still be the same, that she had in some way +thwarted Alexander. Without doubt this was in the nature of a +judgment on my lady. Without doubt she had the tables turned upon +her, as only Providence can do it; she who had been cold so many +years to every mark of tenderness, it was her part now to be +neglected: the more praise to her that she played it well. + +An odd situation resulted: that we had once more two parties in +the house, and that now I was of my lady's. Not that ever I lost +the love I bore my master. But, for one thing, he had the less use +for my society. For another, I could not but compare the case of +Mr. Alexander with that of Miss Katharine; for whom my lord had +never found the least attention. And for a third, I was wounded by +the change he discovered to his wife, which struck me in the nature +of an infidelity. I could not but admire, besides, the constancy +and kindness she displayed. Perhaps her sentiment to my lord, as +it had been founded from the first in pity, was that rather of a +mother than a wife; perhaps it pleased her - if I may so say - to +behold her two children so happy in each other; the more as one had +suffered so unjustly in the past. But, for all that, and though I +could never trace in her one spark of jealousy, she must fall back +for society on poor neglected Miss Katharine; and I, on my part, +came to pass my spare hours more and more with the mother and +daughter. It would be easy to make too much of this division, for +it was a pleasant family, as families go; still the thing existed; +whether my lord knew it or not, I am in doubt. I do not think he +did; he was bound up so entirely in his son; but the rest of us +knew it, and in a manner suffered from the knowledge. + +What troubled us most, however, was the great and growing danger to +the child. My lord was his father over again; it was to be feared +the son would prove a second Master. Time has proved these fears +to have been quite exaggerate. Certainly there is no more worthy +gentleman to-day in Scotland than the seventh Lord Durrisdeer. Of +my own exodus from his employment it does not become me to speak, +above all in a memorandum written only to justify his father. . . . + +[Editor's Note. Five pages of Mr. Mackellar's MS. are here +omitted. I have gathered from their perusal an impression that Mr. +Mackellar, in his old age, was rather an exacting servant. Against +the seventh Lord Durrisdeer (with whom, at any rate, we have no +concern) nothing material is alleged. - R. L. S.] + +. . . But our fear at the time was lest he should turn out, in the +person of his son, a second edition of his brother. My lady had +tried to interject some wholesome discipline; she had been glad to +give that up, and now looked on with secret dismay; sometimes she +even spoke of it by hints; and sometimes, when there was brought to +her knowledge some monstrous instance of my lord's indulgence, she +would betray herself in a gesture or perhaps an exclamation. As +for myself, I was haunted by the thought both day and night: not +so much for the child's sake as for the father's. The man had gone +to sleep, he was dreaming a dream, and any rough wakening must +infallibly prove mortal. That he should survive its death was +inconceivable; and the fear of its dishonour made me cover my face. + +It was this continual preoccupation that screwed me up at last to a +remonstrance: a matter worthy to be narrated in detail. My lord +and I sat one day at the same table upon some tedious business of +detail; I have said that he had lost his former interest in such +occupations; he was plainly itching to be gone, and he looked +fretful, weary, and methought older than I had ever previously +observed. I suppose it was the haggard face that put me suddenly +upon my enterprise. + +"My lord," said I, with my head down, and feigning to continue my +occupation - "or, rather, let me call you again by the name of Mr. +Henry, for I fear your anger and want you to think upon old times - +" + +"My good Mackellar!" said he; and that in tones so kindly that I +had near forsook my purpose. But I called to mind that I was +speaking for his good, and stuck to my colours. + +"Has it never come in upon your mind what you are doing?" I asked. + +"What I am doing?" he repeated; "I was never good at guessing +riddles." + +"What you are doing with your son?" said I. + +"Well," said he, with some defiance in his tone, "and what am I +doing with my son?" + +"Your father was a very good man," says I, straying from the direct +path. "But do you think he was a wise father?" + +There was a pause before he spoke, and then: "I say nothing +against him," he replied. "I had the most cause perhaps; but I say +nothing." + +"Why, there it is," said I. "You had the cause at least. And yet +your father was a good man; I never knew a better, save on the one +point, nor yet a wiser. Where he stumbled, it is highly possible +another man should fail. He had the two sons - " + +My lord rapped suddenly and violently on the table. + +"What is this?" cried he. "Speak out!" + +"I will, then," said I, my voice almost strangled with the thumping +of my heart. "If you continue to indulge Mr. Alexander, you are +following in your father's footsteps. Beware, my lord, lest (when +he grows up) your son should follow in the Master's." + +I had never meant to put the thing so crudely; but in the extreme +of fear, there comes a brutal kind of courage, the most brutal +indeed of all; and I burnt my ships with that plain word. I never +had the answer. When I lifted my head, my lord had risen to his +feet, and the next moment he fell heavily on the floor. The fit or +seizure endured not very long; he came to himself vacantly, put his +hand to his head, which I was then supporting, and says he, in a +broken voice: "I have been ill," and a little after: "Help me." +I got him to his feet, and he stood pretty well, though he kept +hold of the table. "I have been ill, Mackellar," he said again. +"Something broke, Mackellar - or was going to break, and then all +swam away. I think I was very angry. Never you mind, Mackellar; +never you mind, my man. I wouldnae hurt a hair upon your head. +Too much has come and gone. It's a certain thing between us two. +But I think, Mackellar, I will go to Mrs. Henry - I think I will go +to Mrs. Henry," said he, and got pretty steadily from the room, +leaving me overcome with penitence. + +Presently the door flew open, and my lady swept in with flashing +eyes. "What is all this?" she cried. "What have you done to my +husband? Will nothing teach you your position in this house? Will +you never cease from making and meddling?" + +"My lady," said I, "since I have been in this house I have had +plenty of hard words. For a while they were my daily diet, and I +swallowed them all. As for to-day, you may call me what you +please; you will never find the name hard enough for such a +blunder. And yet I meant it for the best." + +I told her all with ingenuity, even as it is written here; and when +she had heard me out, she pondered, and I could see her animosity +fall. "Yes," she said, "you meant well indeed. I have had the +same thought myself, or the same temptation rather, which makes me +pardon you. But, dear God, can you not understand that he can bear +no more? He can bear no more!" she cried. "The cord is stretched +to snapping. What matters the future if he have one or two good +days?" + +"Amen," said I. "I will meddle no more. I am pleased enough that +you should recognise the kindness of my meaning." + +"Yes," said my lady; "but when it came to the point, I have to +suppose your courage failed you; for what you said was said +cruelly." She paused, looking at me; then suddenly smiled a +little, and said a singular thing: "Do you know what you are, Mr. +Mackellar? You are an old maid." + + +No more incident of any note occurred in the family until the +return of that ill-starred man the Master. But I have to place +here a second extract from the memoirs of Chevalier Burke, +interesting in itself, and highly necessary for my purpose. It is +our only sight of the Master on his Indian travels; and the first +word in these pages of Secundra Dass. One fact, it is to observe, +appears here very clearly, which if we had known some twenty years +ago, how many calamities and sorrows had been spared! - that +Secundra Dass spoke English. + + + +CHAPTER VII. - ADVENTURE OF CHEVALIER BURKE IN INDIA. + + + +Extracted from his Memoirs. + +. . . Here was I, therefore, on the streets of that city, the name +of which I cannot call to mind, while even then I was so ill- +acquainted with its situation that I knew not whether to go south +or north. The alert being sudden, I had run forth without shoes or +stockings; my hat had been struck from my head in the mellay; my +kit was in the hands of the English; I had no companion but the +cipaye, no weapon but my sword, and the devil a coin in my pocket. +In short, I was for all the world like one of those calendars with +whom Mr. Galland has made us acquainted in his elegant tales. +These gentlemen, you will remember, were for ever falling in with +extraordinary incidents; and I was myself upon the brink of one so +astonishing that I protest I cannot explain it to this day. + +The cipaye was a very honest man; he had served many years with the +French colours, and would have let himself be cut to pieces for any +of the brave countrymen of Mr. Lally. It is the same fellow (his +name has quite escaped me) of whom I have narrated already a +surprising instance of generosity of mind - when he found Mr. de +Fessac and myself upon the ramparts, entirely overcome with liquor, +and covered us with straw while the commandant was passing by. I +consulted him, therefore, with perfect freedom. It was a fine +question what to do; but we decided at last to escalade a garden +wall, where we could certainly sleep in the shadow of the trees, +and might perhaps find an occasion to get hold of a pair of +slippers and a turban. In that part of the city we had only the +difficulty of the choice, for it was a quarter consisting entirely +of walled gardens, and the lanes which divided them were at that +hour of the night deserted. I gave the cipaye a back, and we had +soon dropped into a large enclosure full of trees. The place was +soaking with the dew, which, in that country, is exceedingly +unwholesome, above all to whites; yet my fatigue was so extreme +that I was already half asleep, when the cipaye recalled me to my +senses. In the far end of the enclosure a bright light had +suddenly shone out, and continued to burn steadily among the +leaves. It was a circumstance highly unusual in such a place and +hour; and, in our situation, it behoved us to proceed with some +timidity. The cipaye was sent to reconnoitre, and pretty soon +returned with the intelligence that we had fallen extremely amiss, +for the house belonged to a white man, who was in all likelihood +English. + +"Faith," says I, "if there is a white man to be seen, I will have a +look at him; for, the Lord be praised! there are more sorts than +the one!" + +The cipaye led me forward accordingly to a place from which I had a +clear view upon the house. It was surrounded with a wide verandah; +a lamp, very well trimmed, stood upon the floor of it, and on +either side of the lamp there sat a man, cross-legged, after the +Oriental manner. Both, besides, were bundled up in muslin like two +natives; and yet one of them was not only a white man, but a man +very well known to me and the reader, being indeed that very Master +of Ballantrae of whose gallantry and genius I have had to speak so +often. Word had reached me that he was come to the Indies, though +we had never met at least, and I heard little of his occupations. +But, sure, I had no sooner recognised him, and found myself in the +arms of so old a comrade, than I supposed my tribulations were +quite done. I stepped plainly forth into the light of the moon, +which shone exceeding strong, and hailing Ballantrae by name, made +him in a few words master of my grievous situation. He turned, +started the least thing in the world, looked me fair in the face +while I was speaking, and when I had done addressed himself to his +companion in the barbarous native dialect. The second person, who +was of an extraordinary delicate appearance, with legs like walking +canes and fingers like the stalk of a tobacco pipe, (6) now rose to +his feet. + +"The Sahib," says he, "understands no English language. I +understand it myself, and I see you make some small mistake - oh! +which may happen very often. But the Sahib would be glad to know +how you come in a garden." + +"Ballantrae!" I cried, "have you the damned impudence to deny me to +my face?" + +Ballantrae never moved a muscle, staring at me like an image in a +pagoda. + +"The Sahib understands no English language," says the native, as +glib as before. "He be glad to know how you come in a garden." + +"Oh! the divil fetch him," says I. "He would be glad to know how I +come in a garden, would he? Well, now, my dear man, just have the +civility to tell the Sahib, with my kind love, that we are two +soldiers here whom he never met and never heard of, but the cipaye +is a broth of a boy, and I am a broth of a boy myself; and if we +don't get a full meal of meat, and a turban, and slippers, and the +value of a gold mohur in small change as a matter of convenience, +bedad, my friend, I could lay my finger on a garden where there is +going to be trouble." + +They carried their comedy so far as to converse awhile in +Hindustanee; and then says the Hindu, with the same smile, but +sighing as if he were tired of the repetition, "The Sahib would be +glad to know how you come in a garden." + +"Is that the way of it?" says I, and laying my hand on my sword- +hilt I bade the cipaye draw. + +Ballantrae's Hindu, still smiling, pulled out a pistol from his +bosom, and though Ballantrae himself never moved a muscle I knew +him well enough to be sure he was prepared. + +"The Sahib thinks you better go away," says the Hindu. + +Well, to be plain, it was what I was thinking myself; for the +report of a pistol would have been, under Providence, the means of +hanging the pair of us. + +"Tell the Sahib I consider him no gentleman," says I, and turned +away with a gesture of contempt. + +I was not gone three steps when the voice of the Hindu called me +back. "The Sahib would be glad to know if you are a dam low +Irishman," says he; and at the words Ballantrae smiled and bowed +very low. + +"What is that?" says I. + +"The Sahib say you ask your friend Mackellar," says the Hindu. +"The Sahib he cry quits." + +"Tell the Sahib I will give him a cure for the Scots fiddle when +next we meet," cried I. + +The pair were still smiling as I left. + +There is little doubt some flaws may be picked in my own behaviour; +and when a man, however gallant, appeals to posterity with an +account of his exploits, he must almost certainly expect to share +the fate of Caesar and Alexander, and to meet with some detractors. +But there is one thing that can never be laid at the door of +Francis Burke: he never turned his back on a friend. . . . + +(Here follows a passage which the Chevalier Burke has been at the +pains to delete before sending me his manuscript. Doubtless it was +some very natural complaint of what he supposed to be an +indiscretion on my part; though, indeed, I can call none to mind. +Perhaps Mr. Henry was less guarded; or it is just possible the +Master found the means to examine my correspondence, and himself +read the letter from Troyes: in revenge for which this cruel jest +was perpetrated on Mr. Burke in his extreme necessity. The Master, +for all his wickedness, was not without some natural affection; I +believe he was sincerely attached to Mr. Burke in the beginning; +but the thought of treachery dried up the springs of his very +shallow friendship, and his detestable nature appeared naked. - E. +McK.) + + + +CHAPTER VIII. - THE ENEMY IN THE HOUSE. + + + +It is a strange thing that I should be at a stick for a date - the +date, besides, of an incident that changed the very nature of my +life, and sent us all into foreign lands. But the truth is, I was +stricken out of all my habitudes, and find my journals very ill +redd-up, (7) the day not indicated sometimes for a week or two +together, and the whole fashion of the thing like that of a man +near desperate. It was late in March at least, or early in April, +1764. I had slept heavily, and wakened with a premonition of some +evil to befall. So strong was this upon my spirit that I hurried +downstairs in my shirt and breeches, and my hand (I remember) shook +upon the rail. It was a cold, sunny morning, with a thick white +frost; the blackbirds sang exceeding sweet and loud about the house +of Durrisdeer, and there was a noise of the sea in all the +chambers. As I came by the doors of the hall, another sound +arrested me - of voices talking. I drew nearer, and stood like a +man dreaming. Here was certainly a human voice, and that in my own +master's house, and yet I knew it not; certainly human speech, and +that in my native land; and yet, listen as I pleased, I could not +catch one syllable. An old tale started up in my mind of a fairy +wife (or perhaps only a wandering stranger), that came to the place +of my fathers some generations back, and stayed the matter of a +week, talking often in a tongue that signified nothing to the +hearers; and went again, as she had come, under cloud of night, +leaving not so much as a name behind her. A little fear I had, but +more curiosity; and I opened the hall-door, and entered. + +The supper-things still lay upon the table; the shutters were still +closed, although day peeped in the divisions; and the great room +was lighted only with a single taper and some lurching +reverberation of the fire. Close in the chimney sat two men. The +one that was wrapped in a cloak and wore boots, I knew at once: it +was the bird of ill omen back again. Of the other, who was set +close to the red embers, and made up into a bundle like a mummy, I +could but see that he was an alien, of a darker hue than any man of +Europe, very frailly built, with a singular tall forehead, and a +secret eye. Several bundles and a small valise were on the floor; +and to judge by the smallness of this luggage, and by the condition +of the Master's boots, grossly patched by some unscrupulous country +cobbler, evil had not prospered. + +He rose upon my entrance; our eyes crossed; and I know not why it +should have been, but my courage rose like a lark on a May morning. + +"Ha!" said I, "is this you?" - and I was pleased with the unconcern +of my own voice. + +"It is even myself, worthy Mackellar," says the Master. + +"This time you have brought the black dog visibly upon your back," +I continued. + +"Referring to Secundra Dass?" asked the Master. "Let me present +you. He is a native gentleman of India." + +"Hum!" said I. "I am no great lover either of you or your friends, +Mr. Bally. But I will let a little daylight in, and have a look at +you." And so saying, I undid the shutters of the eastern window. + +By the light of the morning I could perceive the man was changed. +Later, when we were all together, I was more struck to see how +lightly time had dealt with him; but the first glance was +otherwise. + +"You are getting an old man," said I. + +A shade came upon his face. "If you could see yourself," said he, +"you would perhaps not dwell upon the topic." + +"Hut!" I returned, "old age is nothing to me. I think I have been +always old; and I am now, I thank God, better known and more +respected. It is not every one that can say that, Mr. Bally! The +lines in your brow are calamities; your life begins to close in +upon you like a prison; death will soon be rapping at the door; and +I see not from what source you are to draw your consolations." + +Here the Master addressed himself to Secundra Dass in Hindustanee, +from which I gathered (I freely confess, with a high degree of +pleasure) that my remarks annoyed him. All this while, you may be +sure, my mind had been busy upon other matters, even while I +rallied my enemy; and chiefly as to how I should communicate +secretly and quickly with my lord. To this, in the breathing-space +now given me, I turned all the forces of my mind; when, suddenly +shifting my eyes, I was aware of the man himself standing in the +doorway, and, to all appearance, quite composed. He had no sooner +met my looks than he stepped across the threshold. The Master +heard him coming, and advanced upon the other side; about four feet +apart, these brothers came to a full pause, and stood exchanging +steady looks, and then my lord smiled, bowed a little forward, and +turned briskly away. + +"Mackellar," says he, "we must see to breakfast for these +travellers." + +It was plain the Master was a trifle disconcerted; but he assumed +the more impudence of speech and manner. "I am as hungry as a +hawk," says he. "Let it be something good, Henry." + +My lord turned to him with the same hard smile. + +"Lord Durrisdeer," says he. + +"Oh! never in the family," returned the Master. + +"Every one in this house renders me my proper title," says my lord. +"If it please you to make an exception, I will leave you to +consider what appearance it will bear to strangers, and whether it +may not be translated as an effect of impotent jealousy." + +I could have clapped my hands together with delight: the more so +as my lord left no time for any answer, but, bidding me with a sign +to follow him, went straight out of the hall. + +"Come quick," says he; "we have to sweep vermin from the house." +And he sped through the passages, with so swift a step that I could +scarce keep up with him, straight to the door of John Paul, the +which he opened without summons and walked in. John was, to all +appearance, sound asleep, but my lord made no pretence of waking +him. + +"John Paul," said he, speaking as quietly as ever I heard him, "you +served my father long, or I would pack you from the house like a +dog. If in half an hour's time I find you gone, you shall continue +to receive your wages in Edinburgh. If you linger here or in St. +Bride's - old man, old servant, and altogether - I shall find some +very astonishing way to make you smart for your disloyalty. Up and +begone. The door you let them in by will serve for your departure. +I do not choose my son shall see your face again." + +"I am rejoiced to find you bear the thing so quietly," said I, when +we were forth again by ourselves. + +"Quietly!" cries he, and put my hand suddenly against his heart, +which struck upon his bosom like a sledge. + +At this revelation I was filled with wonder and fear. There was no +constitution could bear so violent a strain - his least of all, +that was unhinged already; and I decided in my mind that we must +bring this monstrous situation to an end. + +"It would be well, I think, if I took word to my lady," said I. +Indeed, he should have gone himself, but I counted - not in vain - +on his indifference. + +"Aye," says he, "do. I will hurry breakfast: we must all appear +at the table, even Alexander; it must appear we are untroubled." + +I ran to my lady's room, and with no preparatory cruelty disclosed +my news. + +"My mind was long ago made up," said she. "We must make our +packets secretly to-day, and leave secretly to-night. Thank +Heaven, we have another house! The first ship that sails shall +bear us to New York." + +"And what of him?" I asked. + +"We leave him Durrisdeer," she cried. "Let him work his pleasure +upon that." + +"Not so, by your leave," said I. "There shall be a dog at his +heels that can hold fast. Bed he shall have, and board, and a +horse to ride upon, if he behave himself; but the keys - if you +think well of it, my lady - shall be left in the hands of one +Mackellar. There will be good care taken; trust him for that." + +"Mr. Mackellar," she cried, "I thank you for that thought. All +shall be left in your hands. If we must go into a savage country, +I bequeath it to you to take our vengeance. Send Macconochie to +St. Bride's, to arrange privately for horses and to call the +lawyer. My lord must leave procuration." + +At that moment my lord came to the door, and we opened our plan to +him. + +"I will never hear of it," he cried; "he would think I feared him. +I will stay in my own house, please God, until I die. There lives +not the man can beard me out of it. Once and for all, here I am, +and here I stay in spite of all the devils in hell." I can give no +idea of the vehemency of his words and utterance; but we both stood +aghast, and I in particular, who had been a witness of his former +self-restraint. + +My lady looked at me with an appeal that went to my heart and +recalled me to my wits. I made her a private sign to go, and when +my lord and I were alone, went up to him where he was racing to and +fro in one end of the room like a half-lunatic, and set my hand +firmly on his shoulder. + +"My lord," says I, "I am going to be the plain-dealer once more; if +for the last time, so much the better, for I am grown weary of the +part." + +"Nothing will change me," he answered. "God forbid I should refuse +to hear you; but nothing will change me." This he said firmly, +with no signal of the former violence, which already raised my +hopes. + +"Very well," said I "I can afford to waste my breath." I pointed +to a chair, and he sat down and looked at me. "I can remember a +time when my lady very much neglected you," said I. + +"I never spoke of it while it lasted," returned my lord, with a +high flush of colour; "and it is all changed now."' + +"Do you know how much?" I said. "Do you know how much it is all +changed? The tables are turned, my lord! It is my lady that now +courts you for a word, a look - ay, and courts you in vain. Do you +know with whom she passes her days while you are out gallivanting +in the policies? My lord, she is glad to pass them with a certain +dry old grieve (8) of the name of Ephraim Mackellar; and I think +you may be able to remember what that means, for I am the more in a +mistake or you were once driven to the same company yourself." + +"Mackellar!" cries my lord, getting to his feet. "O my God, +Mackellar!" + +"It is neither the name of Mackellar nor the name of God that can +change the truth," said I; "and I am telling you the fact. Now for +you, that suffered so much, to deal out the same suffering to +another, is that the part of any Christian? But you are so +swallowed up in your new friend that the old are all forgotten. +They are all clean vanished from your memory. And yet they stood +by you at the darkest; my lady not the least. And does my lady +ever cross your mind? Does it ever cross your mind what she went +through that night? - or what manner of a wife she has been to you +thenceforward? - or in what kind of a position she finds herself +to-day? Never. It is your pride to stay and face him out, and she +must stay along with you. Oh! my lord's pride - that's the great +affair! And yet she is the woman, and you are a great hulking man! +She is the woman that you swore to protect; and, more betoken, the +own mother of that son of yours!" + +"You are speaking very bitterly, Mackellar," said he; "but, the +Lord knows, I fear you are speaking very true. I have not proved +worthy of my happiness. Bring my lady back." + +My lady was waiting near at hand to learn the issue. When I +brought her in, my lord took a hand of each of us, and laid them +both upon his bosom. "I have had two friends in my life," said he. +"All the comfort ever I had, it came from one or other. When you +two are in a mind, I think I would be an ungrateful dog - " He +shut his mouth very hard, and looked on us with swimming eyes. "Do +what ye like with me," says he, "only don't think - " He stopped +again. "Do what ye please with me: God knows I love and honour +you." And dropping our two hands, he turned his back and went and +gazed out of the window. But my lady ran after, calling his name, +and threw herself upon his neck in a passion of weeping. + +I went out and shut the door behind me, and stood and thanked God +from the bottom of my heart. + + +At the breakfast board, according to my lord's design, we were all +met. The Master had by that time plucked off his patched boots and +made a toilet suitable to the hour; Secundra Dass was no longer +bundled up in wrappers, but wore a decent plain black suit, which +misbecame him strangely; and the pair were at the great window, +looking forth, when the family entered. They turned; and the black +man (as they had already named him in the house) bowed almost to +his knees, but the Master was for running forward like one of the +family. My lady stopped him, curtseying low from the far end of +the hall, and keeping her children at her back. My lord was a +little in front: so there were the three cousins of Durrisdeer +face to face. The hand of time was very legible on all; I seemed +to read in their changed faces a MEMENTO MORI; and what affected me +still more, it was the wicked man that bore his years the +handsomest. My lady was quite transfigured into the matron, a +becoming woman for the head of a great tableful of children and +dependents. My lord was grown slack in his limbs; he stooped; he +walked with a running motion, as though he had learned again from +Mr. Alexander; his face was drawn; it seemed a trifle longer than +of old; and it wore at times a smile very singularly mingled, and +which (in my eyes) appeared both bitter and pathetic. But the +Master still bore himself erect, although perhaps with effort; his +brow barred about the centre with imperious lines, his mouth set as +for command. He had all the gravity and something of the splendour +of Satan in the "Paradise Lost." I could not help but see the man +with admiration, and was only surprised that I saw him with so +little fear. + +But indeed (as long as we were at the table) it seemed as if his +authority were quite vanished and his teeth all drawn. We had +known him a magician that controlled the elements; and here he was, +transformed into an ordinary gentleman, chatting like his +neighbours at the breakfast-board. For now the father was dead, +and my lord and lady reconciled, in what ear was he to pour his +calumnies? It came upon me in a kind of vision how hugely I had +overrated the man's subtlety. He had his malice still; he was +false as ever; and, the occasion being gone that made his strength, +he sat there impotent; he was still the viper, but now spent his +venom on a file. Two more thoughts occurred to me while yet we sat +at breakfast: the first, that he was abashed - I had almost said, +distressed - to find his wickedness quite unavailing; the second, +that perhaps my lord was in the right, and we did amiss to fly from +our dismasted enemy. But my poor man's leaping heart came in my +mind, and I remembered it was for his life we played the coward. + +When the meal was over, the Master followed me to my room, and, +taking a chair (which I had never offered him), asked me what was +to be done with him. + +"Why, Mr. Bally," said I, "the house will still be open to you for +a time." + +"For a time?" says he. "I do not know if I quite take your +meaning." + +"It is plain enough," said I. "We keep you for our reputation; as +soon as you shall have publicly disgraced yourself by some of your +misconduct, we shall pack you forth again." + +"You are become an impudent rogue," said the Master, bending his +brows at me dangerously. + +"I learned in a good school," I returned. "And you must have +perceived yourself that with my old lord's death your power is +quite departed. I do not fear you now, Mr. Bally; I think even - +God forgive me - that I take a certain pleasure in your company." + +He broke out in a burst of laughter, which I clearly saw to be +assumed. + +"I have come with empty pockets," says he, after a pause. + +"I do not think there will be any money going," I replied. "I +would advise you not to build on that." + +"I shall have something to say on the point," he returned. + +"Indeed?" said I. "I have not a guess what it will be, then." + +"Oh! you affect confidence," said the Master. "I have still one +strong position - that you people fear a scandal, and I enjoy it." + +"Pardon me, Mr. Bally," says I. "We do not in the least fear a +scandal against you." + +He laughed again. "You have been studying repartee," he said. +"But speech is very easy, and sometimes very deceptive. I warn you +fairly: you will find me vitriol in the house. You would do wiser +to pay money down and see my back." And with that he waved his +hand to me and left the room. + +A little after, my lord came with the lawyer, Mr. Carlyle; a bottle +of old wine was brought, and we all had a glass before we fell to +business. The necessary deeds were then prepared and executed, and +the Scotch estates made over in trust to Mr. Carlyle and myself. + +"There is one point, Mr. Carlyle," said my lord, when these affairs +had been adjusted, "on which I wish that you would do us justice. +This sudden departure coinciding with my brother's return will be +certainly commented on. I wish you would discourage any +conjunction of the two." + +"I will make a point of it, my lord," said Mr. Carlyle. "The Mas- +Bally does not, then, accompany you?" + +"It is a point I must approach," said my lord. "Mr. Bally remains +at Durrisdeer, under the care of Mr. Mackellar; and I do not mean +that he shall even know our destination." + +"Common report, however - " began the lawyer. + +"Ah! but, Mr. Carlyle, this is to be a secret quite among +ourselves," interrupted my lord. "None but you and Mackellar are +to be made acquainted with my movements." + +"And Mr. Bally stays here? Quite so," said Mr. Carlyle. "The +powers you leave - " Then he broke off again. "Mr. Mackellar, we +have a rather heavy weight upon us." + +"No doubt," said I. + +"No doubt," said he. "Mr. Bally will have no voice?" + +"He will have no voice," said my lord; "and, I hope, no influence. +Mr. Bally is not a good adviser." + +"I see," said the lawyer. "By the way, has Mr. Bally means?" + +"I understand him to have nothing," replied my lord. "I give him +table, fire, and candle in this house." + +"And in the matter of an allowance? If I am to share the +responsibility, you will see how highly desirable it is that I +should understand your views," said the lawyer. "On the question +of an allowance?" + +"There will be no allowance," said my lord. "I wish Mr. Bally to +live very private. We have not always been gratified with his +behaviour." + +"And in the matter of money," I added, "he has shown himself an +infamous bad husband. Glance your eye upon that docket, Mr. +Carlyle, where I have brought together the different sums the man +has drawn from the estate in the last fifteen or twenty years. The +total is pretty." + +Mr. Carlyle made the motion of whistling. "I had no guess of +this," said he. "Excuse me once more, my lord, if I appear to push +you; but it is really desirable I should penetrate your intentions. +Mr. Mackellar might die, when I should find myself alone upon this +trust. Would it not be rather your lordship's preference that Mr. +Bally should - ahem - should leave the country?" + +My lord looked at Mr. Carlyle. "Why do you ask that?" said he. + +"I gather, my lord, that Mr. Bally is not a comfort to his family," +says the lawyer with a smile. + +My lord's face became suddenly knotted. "I wish he was in hell!" +cried he, and filled himself a glass of wine, but with a hand so +tottering that he spilled the half into his bosom. This was the +second time that, in the midst of the most regular and wise +behaviour, his animosity had spirted out. It startled Mr. Carlyle, +who observed my lord thenceforth with covert curiosity; and to me +it restored the certainty that we were acting for the best in view +of my lord's health and reason. + +Except for this explosion the interview was very successfully +conducted. No doubt Mr. Carlyle would talk, as lawyers do, little +by little. We could thus feel we had laid the foundations of a +better feeling in the country, and the man's own misconduct would +certainly complete what we had begun. Indeed, before his +departure, the lawyer showed us there had already gone abroad some +glimmerings of the truth. + +"I should perhaps explain to you, my lord," said he, pausing, with +his hat in his hand, "that I have not been altogether surprised +with your lordship's dispositions in the case of Mr. Bally. +Something of this nature oozed out when he was last in Durrisdeer. +There was some talk of a woman at St. Bride's, to whom you had +behaved extremely handsome, and Mr. Bally with no small degree of +cruelty. There was the entail, again, which was much controverted. +In short, there was no want of talk, back and forward; and some of +our wise-acres took up a strong opinion. I remained in suspense, +as became one of my cloth; but Mr. Mackellar's docket here has +finally opened my eyes. I do not think, Mr. Mackellar, that you +and I will give him that much rope." + + +The rest of that important day passed prosperously through. It was +our policy to keep the enemy in view, and I took my turn to be his +watchman with the rest. I think his spirits rose as he perceived +us to be so attentive, and I know that mine insensibly declined. +What chiefly daunted me was the man's singular dexterity to worm +himself into our troubles. You may have felt (after a horse +accident) the hand of a bone-setter artfully divide and interrogate +the muscles, and settle strongly on the injured place? It was so +with the Master's tongue, that was so cunning to question; and his +eyes, that were so quick to observe. I seemed to have said +nothing, and yet to have let all out. Before I knew where I was +the man was condoling with me on my lord's neglect of my lady and +myself, and his hurtful indulgence to his son. On this last point +I perceived him (with panic fear) to return repeatedly. The boy +had displayed a certain shrinking from his uncle; it was strong in +my mind his father had been fool enough to indoctrinate the same, +which was no wise beginning: and when I looked upon the man before +me, still so handsome, so apt a speaker, with so great a variety of +fortunes to relate, I saw he was the very personage to captivate a +boyish fancy. John Paul had left only that morning; it was not to +be supposed he had been altogether dumb upon his favourite subject: +so that here would be Mr. Alexander in the part of Dido, with a +curiosity inflamed to hear; and there would be the Master, like a +diabolical AEneas, full of matter the most pleasing in the world to +any youthful ear, such as battles, sea-disasters, flights, the +forests of the West, and (since his later voyage) the ancient +cities of the Indies. How cunningly these baits might be employed, +and what an empire might be so founded, little by little, in the +mind of any boy, stood obviously clear to me. There was no +inhibition, so long as the man was in the house, that would be +strong enough to hold these two apart; for if it be hard to charm +serpents, it is no very difficult thing to cast a glamour on a +little chip of manhood not very long in breeches. I recalled an +ancient sailor-man who dwelt in a lone house beyond the Figgate +Whins (I believe, he called it after Portobello), and how the boys +would troop out of Leith on a Saturday, and sit and listen to his +swearing tales, as thick as crows about a carrion: a thing I often +remarked as I went by, a young student, on my own more meditative +holiday diversion. Many of these boys went, no doubt, in the face +of an express command; many feared and even hated the old brute of +whom they made their hero; and I have seen them flee from him when +he was tipsy, and stone him when he was drunk. And yet there they +came each Saturday! How much more easily would a boy like Mr. +Alexander fall under the influence of a high-looking, high-spoken +gentleman-adventurer, who should conceive the fancy to entrap him; +and, the influence gained, how easy to employ it for the child's +perversion! + +I doubt if our enemy had named Mr. Alexander three times before I +perceived which way his mind was aiming - all this train of thought +and memory passed in one pulsation through my own - and you may say +I started back as though an open hole had gaped across a pathway. +Mr. Alexander: there was the weak point, there was the Eve in our +perishable paradise; and the serpent was already hissing on the +trail. + +I promise you, I went the more heartily about the preparations; my +last scruple gone, the danger of delay written before me in huge +characters. From that moment forth I seem not to have sat down or +breathed. Now I would be at my post with the Master and his +Indian; now in the garret, buckling a valise; now sending forth +Macconochie by the side postern and the wood-path to bear it to the +trysting-place; and, again, snatching some words of counsel with my +lady. This was the VERSO of our life in Durrisdeer that day; but +on the RECTO all appeared quite settled, as of a family at home in +its paternal seat; and what perturbation may have been observable, +the Master would set down to the blow of his unlooked-for coming, +and the fear he was accustomed to inspire. + +Supper went creditably off, cold salutations passed and the company +trooped to their respective chambers. I attended the Master to the +last. We had put him next door to his Indian, in the north wing; +because that was the most distant and could be severed from the +body of the house with doors. I saw he was a kind friend or a good +master (whichever it was) to his Secundra Dass - seeing to his +comfort; mending the fire with his own hand, for the Indian +complained of cold; inquiring as to the rice on which the stranger +made his diet; talking with him pleasantly in the Hindustanee, +while I stood by, my candle in my hand, and affected to be overcome +with slumber. At length the Master observed my signals of +distress. "I perceive," says he, "that you have all your ancient +habits: early to bed and early to rise. Yawn yourself away!" + +Once in my own room, I made the customary motions of undressing, so +that I might time myself; and when the cycle was complete, set my +tinder-box ready, and blew out my taper. The matter of an hour +afterward I made a light again, put on my shoes of list that I had +worn by my lord's sick-bed, and set forth into the house to call +the voyagers. All were dressed and waiting - my lord, my lady, +Miss Katharine, Mr. Alexander, my lady's woman Christie; and I +observed the effect of secrecy even upon quite innocent persons, +that one after another showed in the chink of the door a face as +white as paper. We slipped out of the side postern into a night of +darkness, scarce broken by a star or two; so that at first we +groped and stumbled and fell among the bushes. A few hundred yards +up the wood-path Macconochie was waiting us with a great lantern; +so the rest of the way we went easy enough, but still in a kind of +guilty silence. A little beyond the abbey the path debauched on +the main road and some quarter of a mile farther, at the place +called Eagles, where the moors begin, we saw the lights of the two +carriages stand shining by the wayside. Scarce a word or two was +uttered at our parting, and these regarded business: a silent +grasping of hands, a turning of faces aside, and the thing was +over; the horses broke into a trot, the lamplight sped like Will- +o'-the-Wisp upon the broken moorland, it dipped beyond Stony Brae; +and there were Macconochie and I alone with our lantern on the +road. There was one thing more to wait for, and that was the +reappearance of the coach upon Cartmore. It seems they must have +pulled up upon the summit, looked back for a last time, and seen +our lantern not yet moved away from the place of separation. For a +lamp was taken from a carriage, and waved three times up and down +by way of a farewell. And then they were gone indeed, having +looked their last on the kind roof of Durrisdeer, their faces +toward a barbarous country. I never knew before, the greatness of +that vault of night in which we two poor serving-men - the one old, +and the one elderly - stood for the first time deserted; I had +never felt before my own dependency upon the countenance of others. +The sense of isolation burned in my bowels like a fire. It seemed +that we who remained at home were the true exiles, and that +Durrisdeer and Solwayside, and all that made my country native, its +air good to me, and its language welcome, had gone forth and was +far over the sea with my old masters. + +The remainder of that night I paced to and fro on the smooth +highway, reflecting on the future and the past. My thoughts, which +at first dwelled tenderly on those who were just gone, took a more +manly temper as I considered what remained for me to do. Day came +upon the inland mountain-tops, and the fowls began to cry, and the +smoke of homesteads to arise in the brown bosom of the moors, +before I turned my face homeward, and went down the path to where +the roof of Durrisdeer shone in the morning by the sea. + + +At the customary hour I had the Master called, and awaited his +coming in the hall with a quiet mind. He looked about him at the +empty room and the three covers set. + +"We are a small party," said he. "How comes?" + +"This is the party to which we must grow accustomed," I replied. + +He looked at me with a sudden sharpness. "What is all this?" said +he. + +"You and I and your friend Mr. Dass are now all the company," I +replied. "My lord, my lady, and the children, are gone upon a +voyage." + +"Upon my word!" said he. "Can this be possible? I have indeed +fluttered your Volscians in Corioli! But this is no reason why our +breakfast should go cold. Sit down, Mr. Mackellar, if you please" +- taking, as he spoke, the head of the table, which I had designed +to occupy myself - "and as we eat, you can give me the details of +this evasion." + +I could see he was more affected than his language carried, and I +determined to equal him in coolness. "I was about to ask you to +take the head of the table," said I; "for though I am now thrust +into the position of your host, I could never forget that you were, +after all, a member of the family." + +For a while he played the part of entertainer, giving directions to +Macconochie, who received them with an evil grace, and attending +specially upon Secundra. "And where has my good family withdrawn +to?" he asked carelessly. + +"Ah! Mr. Bally, that is another point," said I. "I have no orders +to communicate their destination." + +"To me," he corrected. + +"To any one," said I. + +"It is the less pointed," said the master; "C'EST DE BON TON: my +brother improves as he continues. And I, dear Mr. Mackellar?" + +"You will have bed and board, Mr. Bally," said I. "I am permitted +to give you the run of the cellar, which is pretty reasonably +stocked. You have only to keep well with me, which is no very +difficult matter, and you shall want neither for wine nor a saddle- +horse." + +He made an excuse to send Macconochie from the room. + +"And for money?" he inquired. "Have I to keep well with my good +friend Mackellar for my pocket-money also? This is a pleasing +return to the principles of boyhood." + +"There was no allowance made," said I; "but I will take it on +myself to see you are supplied in moderation." + +"In moderation?" he repeated. "And you will take it on yourself?" +He drew himself up, and looked about the hall at the dark rows of +portraits. "In the name of my ancestors, I thank you," says he; +and then, with a return to irony, "But there must certainly be an +allowance for Secundra Dass?" he said. "It in not possible they +have omitted that?" + +"I will make a note of it, and ask instructions when I write," said +I. + +And he, with a sudden change of manner, and leaning forward with an +elbow on the table - "Do you think this entirely wise?" + +"I execute my orders, Mr. Bally," said I. + +"Profoundly modest," said the Master; "perhaps not equally +ingenuous. You told me yesterday my power was fallen with my +father's death. How comes it, then, that a peer of the realm flees +under cloud of night out of a house in which his fathers have stood +several sieges? that he conceals his address, which must be a +matter of concern to his Gracious Majesty and to the whole +republic? and that he should leave me in possession, and under the +paternal charge of his invaluable Mackellar? This smacks to me of +a very considerable and genuine apprehension." + +I sought to interrupt him with some not very truthful denegation; +but he waved me down, and pursued his speech. + +"I say, it smacks of it," he said; "but I will go beyond that, for +I think the apprehension grounded. I came to this house with some +reluctancy. In view of the manner of my last departure, nothing +but necessity could have induced me to return. Money, however, is +that which I must have. You will not give with a good grace; well, +I have the power to force it from you. Inside of a week, without +leaving Durrisdeer, I will find out where these fools are fled to. +I will follow; and when I have run my quarry down, I will drive a +wedge into that family that shall once more burst it into shivers. +I shall see then whether my Lord Durrisdeer" (said with +indescribable scorn and rage) "will choose to buy my absence; and +you will all see whether, by that time, I decide for profit or +revenge." + +I was amazed to hear the man so open. The truth is, he was +consumed with anger at my lord's successful flight, felt himself to +figure as a dupe, and was in no humour to weigh language. + +"Do you consider THIS entirely wise?" said I, copying his words. + +"These twenty years I have lived by my poor wisdom," he answered +with a smile that seemed almost foolish in its vanity. + +"And come out a beggar in the end," said I, "if beggar be a strong +enough word for it." + +"I would have you to observe, Mr. Mackellar," cried he, with a +sudden imperious heat, in which I could not but admire him, "that I +am scrupulously civil: copy me in that, and we shall be the better +friends." + +Throughout this dialogue I had been incommoded by the observation +of Secundra Dass. Not one of us, since the first word, had made a +feint of eating: our eyes were in each other's faces - you might +say, in each other's bosoms; and those of the Indian troubled me +with a certain changing brightness, as of comprehension. But I +brushed the fancy aside, telling myself once more he understood no +English; only, from the gravity of both voices, and the occasional +scorn and anger in the Master's, smelled out there was something of +import in the wind. + + +For the matter of three weeks we continued to live together in the +house of Durrisdeer: the beginning of that most singular chapter +of my life - what I must call my intimacy with the Master. At +first he was somewhat changeable in his behaviour: now civil, now +returning to his old manner of flouting me to my face; and in both +I met him half-way. Thanks be to Providence, I had now no measure +to keep with the man; and I was never afraid of black brows, only +of naked swords. So that I found a certain entertainment in these +bouts of incivility, and was not always ill-inspired in my +rejoinders. At last (it was at supper) I had a droll expression +that entirely vanquished him. He laughed again and again; and "Who +would have guessed," he cried, "that this old wife had any wit +under his petticoats?" + +"It is no wit, Mr. Bally," said I: "a dry Scot's humour, and +something of the driest." And, indeed, I never had the least +pretension to be thought a wit. + +From that hour he was never rude with me, but all passed between us +in a manner of pleasantry. One of our chief times of daffing (9) +was when he required a horse, another bottle, or some money. He +would approach me then after the manner of a schoolboy, and I would +carry it on by way of being his father: on both sides, with an +infinity of mirth. I could not but perceive that he thought more +of me, which tickled that poor part of mankind, the vanity. He +dropped, besides (I must suppose unconsciously), into a manner that +was not only familiar, but even friendly; and this, on the part of +one who had so long detested me, I found the more insidious. He +went little abroad; sometimes even refusing invitations. "No," he +would say, "what do I care for these thick-headed bonnet-lairds? I +will stay at home, Mackellar; and we shall share a bottle quietly, +and have one of our good talks." And, indeed, meal-time at +Durrisdeer must have been a delight to any one, by reason of the +brilliancy of the discourse. He would often express wonder at his +former indifference to my society. "But, you see," he would add, +"we were upon opposite sides. And so we are to-day; but let us +never speak of that. I would think much less of you if you were +not staunch to your employer." You are to consider he seemed to me +quite impotent for any evil; and how it is a most engaging form of +flattery when (after many years) tardy justice is done to a man's +character and parts. But I have no thought to excuse myself. I +was to blame; I let him cajole me, and, in short, I think the +watch-dog was going sound asleep, when he was suddenly aroused. + +I should say the Indian was continually travelling to and fro in +the house. He never spoke, save in his own dialect and with the +Master; walked without sound; and was always turning up where you +would least expect him, fallen into a deep abstraction, from which +he would start (upon your coming) to mock you with one of his +grovelling obeisances. He seemed so quiet, so frail, and so +wrapped in his own fancies, that I came to pass him over without +much regard, or even to pity him for a harmless exile from his +country. And yet without doubt the creature was still +eavesdropping; and without doubt it was through his stealth and my +security that our secret reached the Master. + +It was one very wild night, after supper, and when we had been +making more than usually merry, that the blow fell on me. + +"This is all very fine," says the Master, "but we should do better +to be buckling our valise." + +"Why so?" I cried. "Are you leaving?" + +"We are all leaving to-morrow in the morning," said he. "For the +port of Glascow first, thence for the province of New York." + +I suppose I must have groaned aloud. + +"Yes," he continued, "I boasted; I said a week, and it has taken me +near twenty days. But never mind; I shall make it up; I will go +the faster." + +"Have you the money for this voyage?" I asked. + +"Dear and ingenuous personage, I have," said he. "Blame me, if you +choose, for my duplicity; but while I have been wringing shillings +from my daddy, I had a stock of my own put by against a rainy day. +You will pay for your own passage, if you choose to accompany us on +our flank march; I have enough for Secundra and myself, but not +more - enough to be dangerous, not enough to be generous. There +is, however, an outside seat upon the chaise which I will let you +have upon a moderate commutation; so that the whole menagerie can +go together - the house-dog, the monkey, and the tiger." + +"I go with you," said I. + +"I count upon it," said the Master. "You have seen me foiled; I +mean you shall see me victorious. To gain that I will risk wetting +you like a sop in this wild weather." + +"And at least," I added, "you know very well you could not throw me +off." + +"Not easily," said he. "You put your finger on the point with your +usual excellent good sense. I never fight with the inevitable." + +"I suppose it is useless to appeal to you?" said I. + +"Believe me, perfectly," said he. + +"And yet, if you would give me time, I could write - " I began. + +"And what would be my Lord Durrisdeer's answer?" asks he. + +"Aye," said I, "that is the rub." + +"And, at any rate, how much more expeditions that I should go +myself!" says he. "But all this is quite a waste of breath. At +seven to-morrow the chaise will be at the door. For I start from +the door, Mackellar; I do not skulk through woods and take my +chaise upon the wayside - shall we say, at Eagles?" + +My mind was now thoroughly made up. "Can you spare me quarter of +an hour at St. Bride's?" said I. "I have a little necessary +business with Carlyle." + +"An hour, if you prefer," said he. "I do not seek to deny that the +money for your seat is an object to me; and you could always get +the first to Glascow with saddle-horses." + +"Well," said I, "I never thought to leave old Scotland." + +"It will brisken you up," says he. + +"This will be an ill journey for some one," I said. "I think, sir, +for you. Something speaks in my bosom; and so much it says plain - +that this is an ill-omened journey." + +"If you take to prophecy," says he, "listen to that." + +There came up a violent squall off the open Solway, and the rain +was dashed on the great windows. + +"Do ye ken what that bodes, warlock?" said he, in a broad accent: +"that there'll be a man Mackellar unco' sick at sea." + +When I got to my chamber, I sat there under a painful excitation, +hearkening to the turmoil of the gale, which struck full upon that +gable of the house. What with the pressure on my spirits, the +eldritch cries of the wind among the turret-tops, and the perpetual +trepidation of the masoned house, sleep fled my eyelids utterly. I +sat by my taper, looking on the black panes of the window, where +the storm appeared continually on the point of bursting in its +entrance; and upon that empty field I beheld a perspective of +consequences that made the hair to rise upon my scalp. The child +corrupted, the home broken up, my master dead or worse than dead, +my mistress plunged in desolation - all these I saw before me +painted brightly on the darkness; and the outcry of the wind +appeared to mock at my inaction. + + + +CHAPTER IX. - MR. MACKELLAR'S JOURNEY WITH THE MASTER. + + + +The chaise came to the door in a strong drenching mist. We took +our leave in silence: the house of Durrisdeer standing with +dropping gutters and windows closed, like a place dedicate to +melancholy. I observed the Master kept his head out, looking back +on these splashed walls and glimmering roofs, till they were +suddenly swallowed in the mist; and I must suppose some natural +sadness fell upon the man at this departure; or was it some +provision of the end? At least, upon our mounting the long brae +from Durrisdeer, as we walked side by side in the wet, he began +first to whistle and then to sing the saddest of our country tunes, +which sets folk weeping in a tavern, WANDERING WILLIE. The set of +words he used with it I have not heard elsewhere, and could never +come by any copy; but some of them which were the most appropriate +to our departure linger in my memory. One verse began - + + +Home was home then, my dear, full of kindly faces, +Home was home then, my dear, happy for the child. + + +And ended somewhat thus - + + +Now, when day dawns on the brow of the moorland, +Lone stands the house, and the chimney-stone is cold. +Lone let it stand, now the folks are all departed, +The kind hearts, the true hearts, that loved the place of old. + + +I could never be a judge of the merit of these verses; they were so +hallowed by the melancholy of the air, and were sung (or rather +"soothed") to me by a master-singer at a time so fitting. He +looked in my face when he had done, and saw that my eyes watered. + +"Ah! Mackellar," said he, "do you think I have never a regret?" + +"I do not think you could be so bad a man," said I, "if you had not +all the machinery to be a good one." + +"No, not all," says he: "not all. You are there in error. The +malady of not wanting, my evangelist." But methought he sighed as +he mounted again into the chaise. + +All day long we journeyed in the same miserable weather: the mist +besetting us closely, the heavens incessantly weeping on my head. +The road lay over moorish hills, where was no sound but the crying +of moor-fowl in the wet heather and the pouring of the swollen +burns. Sometimes I would doze off in slumber, when I would find +myself plunged at once in some foul and ominous nightmare, from the +which I would awake strangling. Sometimes, if the way was steep +and the wheels turning slowly, I would overhear the voices from +within, talking in that tropical tongue which was to me as +inarticulate as the piping of the fowls. Sometimes, at a longer +ascent, the Master would set foot to ground and walk by my side, +mostly without speech. And all the time, sleeping or waking, I +beheld the same black perspective of approaching ruin; and the same +pictures rose in my view, only they were now painted upon hillside +mist. One, I remember, stood before me with the colours of a true +illusion. It showed me my lord seated at a table in a small room; +his head, which was at first buried in his hands, he slowly raised, +and turned upon me a countenance from which hope had fled. I saw +it first on the black window-panes, my last night in Durrisdeer; it +haunted and returned upon me half the voyage through; and yet it +was no effect of lunacy, for I have come to a ripe old age with no +decay of my intelligence; nor yet (as I was then tempted to +suppose) a heaven-sent warning of the future, for all manner of +calamities befell, not that calamity - and I saw many pitiful +sights, but never that one. + +It was decided we should travel on all night; and it was singular, +once the dusk had fallen, my spirits somewhat rose. The bright +lamps, shining forth into the mist and on the smoking horses and +the hodding post-boy, gave me perhaps an outlook intrinsically more +cheerful than what day had shown; or perhaps my mind had become +wearied of its melancholy. At least, I spent some waking hours, +not without satisfaction in my thoughts, although wet and weary in +my body; and fell at last into a natural slumber without dreams. +Yet I must have been at work even in the deepest of my sleep; and +at work with at least a measure of intelligence. For I started +broad awake, in the very act of crying out to myself + + +Home was home then, my dear, happy for the child, + + +stricken to find in it an appropriateness, which I had not +yesterday observed, to the Master's detestable purpose in the +present journey. + +We were then close upon the city of Glascow, where we were soon +breakfasting together at an inn, and where (as the devil would have +it) we found a ship in the very article of sailing. We took our +places in the cabin; and, two days after, carried our effects on +board. Her name was the NONESUCH, a very ancient ship and very +happily named. By all accounts this should be her last voyage; +people shook their heads upon the quays, and I had several warnings +offered me by strangers in the street to the effect that she was +rotten as a cheese, too deeply loaden, and must infallibly founder +if we met a gale. From this it fell out we were the only +passengers; the Captain, McMurtrie, was a silent, absorbed man, +with the Glascow or Gaelic accent; the mates ignorant rough +seafarers, come in through the hawsehole; and the Master and I were +cast upon each other's company. + +THE NONESUCH carried a fair wind out of the Clyde, and for near +upon a week we enjoyed bright weather and a sense of progress. I +found myself (to my wonder) a born seaman, in so far at least as I +was never sick; yet I was far from tasting the usual serenity of my +health. Whether it was the motion of the ship on the billows, the +confinement, the salted food, or all of these together, I suffered +from a blackness of spirit and a painful strain upon my temper. +The nature of my errand on that ship perhaps contributed; I think +it did no more; the malady (whatever it was) sprang from my +environment; and if the ship were not to blame, then it was the +Master. Hatred and fear are ill bedfellows; but (to my shame be it +spoken) I have tasted those in other places, lain down and got up +with them, and eaten and drunk with them, and yet never before, nor +after, have I been so poisoned through and through, in soul and +body, as I was on board the NONESUCH. I freely confess my enemy +set me a fair example of forbearance; in our worst days displayed +the most patient geniality, holding me in conversation as long as I +would suffer, and when I had rebuffed his civility, stretching +himself on deck to read. The book he had on board with him was Mr. +Richardson's famous CLARISSA! and among other small attentions he +would read me passages aloud; nor could any elocutionist have given +with greater potency the pathetic portions of that work. I would +retort upon him with passages out of the Bible, which was all my +library - and very fresh to me, my religious duties (I grieve to +say it) being always and even to this day extremely neglected. He +tasted the merits of the word like the connoisseur he was; and +would sometimes take it from my hand, turn the leaves over like a +man that knew his way, and give me, with his fine declamation, a +Roland for my Oliver. But it was singular how little he applied +his reading to himself; it passed high above his head like summer +thunder: Lovelace and Clarissa, the tales of David's generosity, +the psalms of his penitence, the solemn questions of the book of +Job, the touching poetry of Isaiah - they were to him a source of +entertainment only, like the scraping of a fiddle in a change- +house. This outer sensibility and inner toughness set me against +him; it seemed of a piece with that impudent grossness which I knew +to underlie the veneer of his fine manners; and sometimes my gorge +rose against him as though he were deformed - and sometimes I would +draw away as though from something partly spectral. I had moments +when I thought of him as of a man of pasteboard - as though, if one +should strike smartly through the buckram of his countenance, there +would be found a mere vacuity within. This horror (not merely +fanciful, I think) vastly increased my detestation of his +neighbourhood; I began to feel something shiver within me on his +drawing near; I had at times a longing to cry out; there were days +when I thought I could have struck him. This frame of mind was +doubtless helped by shame, because I had dropped during our last +days at Durrisdeer into a certain toleration of the man; and if any +one had then told me I should drop into it again, I must have +laughed in his face. It is possible he remained unconscious of +this extreme fever of my resentment; yet I think he was too quick; +and rather that he had fallen, in a long life of idleness, into a +positive need of company, which obliged him to confront and +tolerate my unconcealed aversion. Certain, at least, that he loved +the note of his own tongue, as, indeed, he entirely loved all the +parts and properties of himself; a sort of imbecility which almost +necessarily attends on wickedness. I have seen him driven, when I +proved recalcitrant, to long discourses with the skipper; and this, +although the man plainly testified his weariness, fiddling +miserably with both hand and foot, and replying only with a grunt. + +After the first week out we fell in with foul winds and heavy +weather. The sea was high. The NONESUCH, being an old-fashioned +ship and badly loaden, rolled beyond belief; so that the skipper +trembled for his masts, and I for my life. We made no progress on +our course. An unbearable ill-humour settled on the ship: men, +mates, and master, girding at one another all day long. A saucy +word on the one hand, and a blow on the other, made a daily +incident. There were times when the whole crew refused their duty; +and we of the afterguard were twice got under arms - being the +first time that ever I bore weapons - in the fear of mutiny. + +In the midst of our evil season sprang up a hurricane of wind; so +that all supposed she must go down. I was shut in the cabin from +noon of one day till sundown of the next; the Master was somewhere +lashed on deck. Secundra had eaten of some drug and lay +insensible; so you may say I passed these hours in an unbroken +solitude. At first I was terrified beyond motion, and almost +beyond thought, my mind appearing to be frozen. Presently there +stole in on me a ray of comfort. If the NONESUCH foundered, she +would carry down with her into the deeps of that unsounded sea the +creature whom we all so feared and hated; there would be no more +Master of Ballantrae, the fish would sport among his ribs; his +schemes all brought to nothing, his harmless enemies at peace. At +first, I have said, it was but a ray of comfort; but it had soon +grown to be broad sunshine. The thought of the man's death, of his +deletion from this world, which he embittered for so many, took +possession of my mind. I hugged it, I found it sweet in my belly. +I conceived the ship's last plunge, the sea bursting upon all sides +into the cabin, the brief mortal conflict there, all by myself, in +that closed place; I numbered the horrors, I had almost said with +satisfaction; I felt I could bear all and more, if the NONESUCH +carried down with her, overtook by the same ruin, the enemy of my +poor master's house. Towards noon of the second day the screaming +of the wind abated; the ship lay not so perilously over, and it +began to be clear to me that we were past the height of the +tempest. As I hope for mercy, I was singly disappointed. In the +selfishness of that vile, absorbing passion of hatred, I forgot the +case of our innocent shipmates, and thought but of myself and my +enemy. For myself, I was already old; I had never been young, I +was not formed for the world's pleasures, I had few affections; it +mattered not the toss of a silver tester whether I was drowned +there and then in the Atlantic, or dribbled out a few more years, +to die, perhaps no less terribly, in a deserted sick-bed. Down I +went upon my knees - holding on by the locker, or else I had been +instantly dashed across the tossing cabin - and, lifting up my +voice in the midst of that clamour of the abating hurricane, +impiously prayed for my own death. "O God!" I cried, "I would be +liker a man if I rose and struck this creature down; but Thou +madest me a coward from my mother's womb. O Lord, Thou madest me +so, Thou knowest my weakness, Thou knowest that any face of death +will set me shaking in my shoes. But, lo! here is Thy servant +ready, his mortal weakness laid aside. Let me give my life for +this creature's; take the two of them, Lord! take the two, and have +mercy on the innocent!" In some such words as these, only yet more +irreverent and with more sacred adjurations, I continued to pour +forth my spirit. God heard me not, I must suppose in mercy; and I +was still absorbed in my agony of supplication when some one, +removing the tarpaulin cover, let the light of the sunset pour into +the cabin. I stumbled to my feet ashamed, and was seized with +surprise to find myself totter and ache like one that had been +stretched upon the rack. Secundra Dass, who had slept off the +effects of his drug, stood in a corner not far off, gazing at me +with wild eyes; and from the open skylight the captain thanked me +for my supplications. + +"It's you that saved the ship, Mr. Mackellar," says he. "There is +no craft of seamanship that could have kept her floating: well may +we say, 'Except the Lord the city keep, the watchmen watch in +vain!'" + +I was abashed by the captain's error; abashed, also, by the +surprise and fear with which the Indian regarded me at first, and +the obsequious civilities with which he soon began to cumber me. I +know now that he must have overheard and comprehended the peculiar +nature of my prayers. It is certain, of course, that he at once +disclosed the matter to his patron; and looking back with greater +knowledge, I can now understand what so much puzzled me at the +moment, those singular and (so to speak) approving smiles with +which the Master honoured me. Similarly, I can understand a word +that I remember to have fallen from him in conversation that same +night; when, holding up his hand and smiling, "Ah! Mackellar," said +he, "not every man is so great a coward as he thinks he is - nor +yet so good a Christian." He did not guess how true he spoke! For +the fact is, the thoughts which had come to me in the violence of +the storm retained their hold upon my spirit; and the words that +rose to my lips unbidden in the instancy of prayer continued to +sound in my ears: with what shameful consequences, it is fitting I +should honestly relate; for I could not support a part of such +disloyalty as to describe the sins of others and conceal my own. + +The wind fell, but the sea hove ever the higher. All night the +NONESUCH rolled outrageously; the next day dawned, and the next, +and brought no change. To cross the cabin was scarce possible; old +experienced seamen were cast down upon the deck, and one cruelly +mauled in the concussion; every board and block in the old ship +cried out aloud; and the great bell by the anchor-bitts continually +and dolefully rang. One of these days the Master and I sate alone +together at the break of the poop. I should say the NONESUCH +carried a high, raised poop. About the top of it ran considerable +bulwarks, which made the ship unweatherly; and these, as they +approached the front on each side, ran down in a fine, old- +fashioned, carven scroll to join the bulwarks of the waist. From +this disposition, which seems designed rather for ornament than +use, it followed there was a discontinuance of protection: and +that, besides, at the very margin of the elevated part where (in +certain movements of the ship) it might be the most needful. It +was here we were sitting: our feet hanging down, the Master +betwixt me and the side, and I holding on with both hands to the +grating of the cabin skylight; for it struck me it was a dangerous +position, the more so as I had continually before my eyes a measure +of our evolutions in the person of the Master, which stood out in +the break of the bulwarks against the sun. Now his head would be +in the zenith and his shadow fall quite beyond the NONESUCH on the +farther side; and now he would swing down till he was underneath my +feet, and the line of the sea leaped high above him like the +ceiling of a room. I looked on upon this with a growing +fascination, as birds are said to look on snakes. My mind, +besides, was troubled with an astonishing diversity of noises; for +now that we had all sails spread in the vain hope to bring her to +the sea, the ship sounded like a factory with their reverberations. +We spoke first of the mutiny with which we had been threatened; +this led us on to the topic of assassination; and that offered a +temptation to the Master more strong than he was able to resist. +He must tell me a tale, and show me at the same time how clever he +was and how wicked. It was a thing he did always with affectation +and display; generally with a good effect. But this tale, told in +a high key in the midst of so great a tumult, and by a narrator who +was one moment looking down at me from the skies and the next up +from under the soles of my feet - this particular tale, I say, took +hold upon me in a degree quite singular. + +"My friend the count," it was thus that he began his story, "had +for an enemy a certain German baron, a stranger in Rome. It +matters not what was the ground of the count's enmity; but as he +had a firm design to be revenged, and that with safety to himself, +he kept it secret even from the baron. Indeed, that is the first +principle of vengeance; and hatred betrayed is hatred impotent. +The count was a man of a curious, searching mind; he had something +of the artist; if anything fell for him to do, it must always be +done with an exact perfection, not only as to the result, but in +the very means and instruments, or he thought the thing miscarried. +It chanced he was one day riding in the outer suburbs, when he came +to a disused by-road branching off into the moor which lies about +Rome. On the one hand was an ancient Roman tomb; on the other a +deserted house in a garden of evergreen trees. This road brought +him presently into a field of ruins, in the midst of which, in the +side of a hill, he saw an open door, and, not far off, a single +stunted pine no greater than a currant-bush. The place was desert +and very secret; a voice spoke in the count's bosom that there was +something here to his advantage. He tied his horse to the pine- +tree, took his flint and steel in his hand to make a light, and +entered into the hill. The doorway opened on a passage of old +Roman masonry, which shortly after branched in two. The count took +the turning to the right, and followed it, groping forward in the +dark, till he was brought up by a kind of fence, about elbow-high, +which extended quite across the passage. Sounding forward with his +foot, he found an edge of polished stone, and then vacancy. All +his curiosity was now awakened, and, getting some rotten sticks +that lay about the floor, he made a fire. In front of him was a +profound well; doubtless some neighbouring peasant had once used it +for his water, and it was he that had set up the fence. A long +while the count stood leaning on the rail and looking down into the +pit. It was of Roman foundation, and, like all that nation set +their hands to, built as for eternity; the sides were still +straight, and the joints smooth; to a man who should fall in, no +escape was possible. 'Now,' the count was thinking, 'a strong +impulsion brought me to this place. What for? what have I gained? +why should I be sent to gaze into this well?' when the rail of the +fence gave suddenly under his weight, and he came within an ace of +falling headlong in. Leaping back to save himself, he trod out the +last flicker of his fire, which gave him thenceforward no more +light, only an incommoding smoke. 'Was I sent here to my death?' +says he, and shook from head to foot. And then a thought flashed +in his mind. He crept forth on hands and knees to the brink of the +pit, and felt above him in the air. The rail had been fast to a +pair of uprights; it had only broken from the one, and still +depended from the other. The count set it back again as he had +found it, so that the place meant death to the first comer, and +groped out of the catacomb like a sick man. The next day, riding +in the Corso with the baron, he purposely betrayed a strong +preoccupation. The other (as he had designed) inquired into the +cause; and he, after some fencing, admitted that his spirits had +been dashed by an unusual dream. This was calculated to draw on +the baron - a superstitious man, who affected the scorn of +superstition. Some rallying followed, and then the count, as if +suddenly carried away, called on his friend to beware, for it was +of him that he had dreamed. You know enough of human nature, my +excellent Mackellar, to be certain of one thing: I mean that the +baron did not rest till he had heard the dream. The count, sure +that he would never desist, kept him in play till his curiosity was +highly inflamed, and then suffered himself, with seeming +reluctance, to be overborne. 'I warn you,' says he, 'evil will +come of it; something tells me so. But since there is to be no +peace either for you or me except on this condition, the blame be +on your own head! This was the dream:- I beheld you riding, I know +not where, yet I think it must have been near Rome, for on your one +hand was an ancient tomb, and on the other a garden of evergreen +trees. Methought I cried and cried upon you to come back in a very +agony of terror; whether you heard me I know not, but you went +doggedly on. The road brought you to a desert place among ruins, +where was a door in a hillside, and hard by the door a misbegotten +pine. Here you dismounted (I still crying on you to beware), tied +your horse to the pine-tree, and entered resolutely in by the door. +Within, it was dark; but in my dream I could still see you, and +still besought you to hold back. You felt your way along the +right-hand wall, took a branching passage to the right, and came to +a little chamber, where was a well with a railing. At this - I +know not why - my alarm for you increased a thousandfold, so that I +seemed to scream myself hoarse with warnings, crying it was still +time, and bidding you begone at once from that vestibule. Such was +the word I used in my dream, and it seemed then to have a clear +significancy; but to-day, and awake, I profess I know not what it +means. To all my outcry you rendered not the least attention, +leaning the while upon the rail and looking down intently in the +water. And then there was made to you a communication; I do not +think I even gathered what it was, but the fear of it plucked me +clean out of my slumber, and I awoke shaking and sobbing. And +now,' continues the count, 'I thank you from my heart for your +insistency. This dream lay on me like a load; and now I have told +it in plain words and in the broad daylight, it seems no great +matter.' - 'I do not know,' says the baron. 'It is in some points +strange. A communication, did you say? Oh! it is an odd dream. +It will make a story to amuse our friends.' - 'I am not so sure,' +says the count. 'I am sensible of some reluctancy. Let us rather +forget it.' - 'By all means,' says the baron. And (in fact) the +dream was not again referred to. Some days after, the count +proposed a ride in the fields, which the baron (since they were +daily growing faster friends) very readily accepted. On the way +back to Rome, the count led them insensibly by a particular route. +Presently he reined in his horse, clapped his hand before his eyes, +and cried out aloud. Then he showed his face again (which was now +quite white, for he was a consummate actor), and stared upon the +baron. 'What ails you?' cries the baron. 'What is wrong with +you?' - 'Nothing,' cries the count. 'It is nothing. A seizure, I +know not what. Let us hurry back to Rome.' But in the meanwhile +the baron had looked about him; and there, on the left-hand side of +the way as they went back to Rome, he saw a dusty by-road with a +tomb upon the one hand and a garden of evergreen trees upon the +other. - 'Yes,' says he, with a changed voice. 'Let us by all +means hurry back to Rome. I fear you are not well in health.' - +'Oh, for God's sake!' cries the count, shuddering, 'back to Rome +and let me get to bed.' They made their return with scarce a word; +and the count, who should by rights have gone into society, took to +his bed and gave out he had a touch of country fever. The next day +the baron's horse was found tied to the pine, but himself was never +heard of from that hour. - And, now, was that a murder?" says the +Master, breaking sharply off. + +"Are you sure he was a count?" I asked. + +"I am not certain of the title," said he, "but he was a gentleman +of family: and the Lord deliver you, Mackellar, from an enemy so +subtile!" + +These last words he spoke down at me, smiling, from high above; the +next, he was under my feet. I continued to follow his evolutions +with a childish fixity; they made me giddy and vacant, and I spoke +as in a dream. + +"He hated the baron with a great hatred?" I asked. + +His belly moved when the man came near him," said the Master. + +"I have felt that same," said I. + +"Verily!" cries the Master. "Here is news indeed! I wonder - do I +flatter myself? or am I the cause of these ventral perturbations?" + +He was quite capable of choosing out a graceful posture, even with +no one to behold him but myself, and all the more if there were any +element of peril. He sat now with one knee flung across the other, +his arms on his bosom, fitting the swing of the ship with an +exquisite balance, such as a featherweight might overthrow. All at +once I had the vision of my lord at the table, with his head upon +his hands; only now, when he showed me his countenance, it was +heavy with reproach. The words of my own prayer - I WERE LIKER A +MAN IF I STRUCK THIS CREATURE DOWN - shot at the same time into my +memory. I called my energies together, and (the ship then heeling +downward toward my enemy) thrust at him swiftly with my foot. It +was written I should have the guilt of this attempt without the +profit. Whether from my own uncertainty or his incredible +quickness, he escaped the thrust, leaping to his feet and catching +hold at the same moment of a stay. + +I do not know how long a time passed by. I lying where I was upon +the deck, overcome with terror and remorse and shame: he standing +with the stay in his hand, backed against the bulwarks, and +regarding me with an expression singularly mingled. At last he +spoke. + +"Mackellar," said he, "I make no reproaches, but I offer you a +bargain. On your side, I do not suppose you desire to have this +exploit made public; on mine, I own to you freely I do not care to +draw my breath in a perpetual terror of assassination by the man I +sit at meat with. Promise me - but no," says he, breaking off, +"you are not yet in the quiet possession of your mind; you might +think I had extorted the promise from your weakness; and I would +leave no door open for casuistry to come in - that dishonesty of +the conscientious. Take time to meditate." + +With that he made off up the sliding deck like a squirrel, and +plunged into the cabin. About half an hour later he returned - I +still lying as he had left me. + +"Now,' says be, "will you give me your troth as a Christian, and a +faithful servant of my brother's, that I shall have no more to fear +from your attempts?" + +"I give it you," said I. + +"I shall require your hand upon it," says he. + +"You have the right to make conditions," I replied, and we shook +hands. + +He sat down at once in the same place and the old perilous +attitude. + +"Hold on!" cried I, covering my eyes. "I cannot bear to see you in +that posture. The least irregularity of the sea might plunge you +overboard." + +"You are highly inconsistent," he replied, smiling, but doing as I +asked. "For all that, Mackellar, I would have you to know you have +risen forty feet in my esteem. You think I cannot set a price upon +fidelity? But why do you suppose I carry that Secundra Dass about +the world with me? Because he would die or do murder for me to- +morrow; and I love him for it. Well, you may think it odd, but I +like you the better for this afternoon's performance. I thought +you were magnetised with the Ten Commandments; but no - God damn my +soul!" - he cries, "the old wife has blood in his body after all! +Which does not change the fact," he continued, smiling again, "that +you have done well to give your promise; for I doubt if you would +ever shine in your new trade." + +"I suppose," said I, "I should ask your pardon and God's for my +attempt. At any rate, I have passed my word, which I will keep +faithfully. But when I think of those you persecute - " I paused. + +"Life is a singular thing," said he, "and mankind a very singular +people. You suppose yourself to love my brother. I assure you, it +is merely custom. Interrogate your memory; and when first you came +to Durrisdeer, you will find you considered him a dull, ordinary +youth. He is as dull and ordinary now, though not so young. Had +you instead fallen in with me, you would to-day be as strong upon +my side." + +"I would never say you were ordinary, Mr. Bally," I returned; "but +here you prove yourself dull. You have just shown your reliance on +my word. In other terms, that is my conscience - the same which +starts instinctively back from you, like the eye from a strong +light." + +"Ah!" says he, "but I mean otherwise. I mean, had I met you in my +youth. You are to consider I was not always as I am to-day; nor +(had I met in with a friend of your description) should I have ever +been so." + +"Hut, Mr. Bally," says I, "you would have made a mock of me; you +would never have spent ten civil words on such a Square-toes." + +But he was now fairly started on his new course of justification, +with which he wearied me throughout the remainder of the passage. +No doubt in the past he had taken pleasure to paint himself +unnecessarily black, and made a vaunt of his wickedness, bearing it +for a coat-of-arms. Nor was he so illogical as to abate one item +of his old confessions. "But now that I know you are a human +being," he would say, "I can take the trouble to explain myself. +For I assure you I am human, too, and have my virtues, like my +neighbours." I say, he wearied me, for I had only the one word to +say in answer: twenty times I must have said it: "Give up your +present purpose and return with me to Durrisdeer; then I will +believe you." + +Thereupon he would shake his head at me. "Ah! Mackellar, you might +live a thousand years and never understand my nature," he would +say. "This battle is now committed, the hour of reflection quite +past, the hour for mercy not yet come. It began between us when we +span a coin in the hall of Durrisdeer, now twenty years ago; we +have had our ups and downs, but never either of us dreamed of +giving in; and as for me, when my glove is cast, life and honour go +with it." + +"A fig for your honour!" I would say. "And by your leave, these +warlike similitudes are something too high-sounding for the matter +in hand. You want some dirty money; there is the bottom of your +contention; and as for your means, what are they? to stir up sorrow +in a family that never harmed you, to debauch (if you can) your own +nephew, and to wring the heart of your born brother! A footpad +that kills an old granny in a woollen mutch with a dirty bludgeon, +and that for a shilling-piece and a paper of snuff - there is all +the warrior that you are." + +When I would attack him thus (or somewhat thus) he would smile, and +sigh like a man misunderstood. Once, I remember, he defended +himself more at large, and had some curious sophistries, worth +repeating, for a light upon his character. + +"You are very like a civilian to think war consists in drums and +banners," said he. "War (as the ancients said very wisely) is +ULTIMA RATIO. When we take our advantage unrelentingly, then we +make war. Ah! Mackellar, you are a devil of a soldier in the +steward's room at Durrisdeer, or the tenants do you sad injustice!" + +"I think little of what war is or is not," I replied. "But you +weary me with claiming my respect. Your brother is a good man, and +you are a bad one - neither more nor less." + +"Had I been Alexander - " he began. + +"It is so we all dupe ourselves," I cried. "Had I been St. Paul, +it would have been all one; I would have made the same hash of that +career that you now see me making of my own." + +"I tell you," he cried, bearing down my interruption, "had I been +the least petty chieftain in the Highlands, had I been the least +king of naked negroes in the African desert, my people would have +adored me. A bad man, am I? Ah! but I was born for a good tyrant! +Ask Secundra Dass; he will tell you I treat him like a son. Cast +in your lot with me to-morrow, become my slave, my chattel, a thing +I can command as I command the powers of my own limbs and spirit - +you will see no more that dark side that I turn upon the world in +anger. I must have all or none. But where all is given, I give it +back with usury. I have a kingly nature: there is my loss!" + +"It has been hitherto rather the loss of others," I remarked, +"which seems a little on the hither side of royalty." + +"Tilly-vally!" cried he. "Even now, I tell you, I would spare that +family in which you take so great an interest: yes, even now - to- +morrow I would leave them to their petty welfare, and disappear in +that forest of cut-throats and thimble-riggers that we call the +world. I would do it to-morrow!" says he. "Only - only - " + +"Only what?" I asked. + +"Only they must beg it on their bended knees. I think in public, +too," he added, smiling. "Indeed, Mackellar, I doubt if there be a +hall big enough to serve my purpose for that act of reparation." + +"Vanity, vanity!" I moralised. "To think that this great force for +evil should be swayed by the same sentiment that sets a lassie +mincing to her glass!" + +"Oh! there are double words for everything: the word that swells, +the word that belittles; you cannot fight me with a word!" said he. +"You said the other day that I relied on your conscience: were I +in your humour of detraction, I might say I built upon your vanity. +It is your pretension to be UN HOMME DE PAROLE; 'tis mine not to +accept defeat. Call it vanity, call it virtue, call it greatness +of soul - what signifies the expression? But recognise in each of +us a common strain: that we both live for an idea." + +It will be gathered from so much familiar talk, and so much +patience on both sides, that we now lived together upon excellent +terms. Such was again the fact, and this time more seriously than +before. Apart from disputations such as that which I have tried to +reproduce, not only consideration reigned, but, I am tempted to +say, even kindness. When I fell sick (as I did shortly after our +great storm), he sat by my berth to entertain me with his +conversation, and treated me with excellent remedies, which I +accepted with security. Himself commented on the circumstance. +"You see," says he, "you begin to know me better. A very little +while ago, upon this lonely ship, where no one but myself has any +smattering of science, you would have made sure I had designs upon +your life. And, observe, it is since I found you had designs upon +my own, that I have shown you most respect. You will tell me if +this speaks of a small mind." I found little to reply. In so far +as regarded myself, I believed him to mean well; I am, perhaps, the +more a dupe of his dissimulation, but I believed (and I still +believe) that he regarded me with genuine kindness. Singular and +sad fact! so soon as this change began, my animosity abated, and +these haunting visions of my master passed utterly away. So that, +perhaps, there was truth in the man's last vaunting word to me, +uttered on the second day of July, when our long voyage was at last +brought almost to an end, and we lay becalmed at the sea end of the +vast harbour of New York, in a gasping heat, which was presently +exchanged for a surprising waterfall of rain. I stood on the poop, +regarding the green shores near at hand, and now and then the light +smoke of the little town, our destination. And as I was even then +devising how to steal a march on my familiar enemy, I was conscious +of a shade of embarrassment when he approached me with his hand +extended. + +"I am now to bid you farewell," said he, "and that for ever. For +now you go among my enemies, where all your former prejudices will +revive. I never yet failed to charm a person when I wanted; even +you, my good friend - to call you so for once - even you have now a +very different portrait of me in your memory, and one that you will +never quite forget. The voyage has not lasted long enough, or I +should have wrote the impression deeper. But now all is at an end, +and we are again at war. Judge by this little interlude how +dangerous I am; and tell those fools" - pointing with his finger to +the town - "to think twice and thrice before they set me at +defiance." + + + +CHAPTER X. - PASSAGES AT NEW YORK. + + + +I have mentioned I was resolved to steal a march upon the Master; +and this, with the complicity of Captain McMurtrie, was mighty +easily effected: a boat being partly loaded on the one side of our +ship and the Master placed on board of it, the while a skiff put +off from the other, carrying me alone. I had no more trouble in +finding a direction to my lord's house, whither I went at top +speed, and which I found to be on the outskirts of the place, a +very suitable mansion, in a fine garden, with an extraordinary +large barn, byre, and stable, all in one. It was here my lord was +walking when I arrived; indeed, it had become his chief place of +frequentation, and his mind was now filled with farming. I burst +in upon him breathless, and gave him my news: which was indeed no +news at all, several ships having outsailed the NONESUCH in the +interval. + +"We have been expecting you long," said my lord; "and indeed, of +late days, ceased to expect you any more. I am glad to take your +hand again, Mackellar. I thought you had been at the bottom of the +sea." + +"Ah! my lord, would God I had!" cried I. "Things would have been +better for yourself." + +"Not in the least," says he, grimly. "I could not ask better. +There is a long score to pay, and now - at last - I can begin to +pay it." + +I cried out against his security. + +"Oh!" says he, "this is not Durrisdeer, and I have taken my +precautions. His reputation awaits him; I have prepared a welcome +for my brother. Indeed, fortune has served me; for I found here a +merchant of Albany who knew him after the '45 and had mighty +convenient suspicions of a murder: some one of the name of Chew it +was, another Albanian. No one here will be surprised if I deny him +my door; he will not be suffered to address my children, nor even +to salute my wife: as for myself, I make so much exception for a +brother that he may speak to me. I should lose my pleasure else," +says my lord, rubbing his palms. + +Presently he bethought himself, and set men off running, with +billets, to summon the magnates of the province. I cannot recall +what pretext he employed; at least, it was successful; and when our +ancient enemy appeared upon the scene, he found my lord pacing in +front of his house under some trees of shade, with the Governor +upon one hand and various notables upon the other. My lady, who +was seated in the verandah, rose with a very pinched expression and +carried her children into the house. + +The Master, well dressed and with an elegant walking-sword, bowed +to the company in a handsome manner and nodded to my lord with +familiarity. My lord did not accept the salutation, but looked +upon his brother with bended brows. + +"Well, sir," says he, at last, "what ill wind brings you hither of +all places, where (to our common disgrace) your reputation has +preceded you?" + +"Your lordship is pleased to be civil," said the Master, with a +fine start. + +"I am pleased to be very plain," returned my lord; "because it is +needful you should clearly understand your situation. At home, +where you were so little known, it was still possible to keep +appearances; that would be quite vain in this province; and I have +to tell you that I am quite resolved to wash my hands of you. You +have already ruined me almost to the door, as you ruined my father +before me; - whose heart you also broke. Your crimes escape the +law; but my friend the Governor has promised protection to my +family. Have a care, sir!" cries my lord, shaking his cane at him: +"if you are observed to utter two words to any of my innocent +household, the law shall be stretched to make you smart for it." + +"Ah!" says the Master, very slowly. "And so this is the advantage +of a foreign land! These gentlemen are unacquainted with our +story, I perceive. They do not know that I am the Lord Durrisdeer; +they do not know you are my younger brother, sitting in my place +under a sworn family compact; they do not know (or they would not +be seen with you in familiar correspondence) that every acre is +mine before God Almighty - and every doit of the money you withhold +from me, you do it as a thief, a perjurer, and a disloyal brother!" + +"General Clinton," I cried, "do not listen to his lies. I am the +steward of the estate, and there is not one word of truth in it. +The man is a forfeited rebel turned into a hired spy: there is his +story in two words." + +It was thus that (in the heat of the moment) I let slip his infamy. + +"Fellow," said the Governor, turning his face sternly on the +Master, "I know more of you than you think for. We have some +broken ends of your adventures in the provinces, which you will do +very well not to drive me to investigate. There is the +disappearance of Mr. Jacob Chew with all his merchandise; there is +the matter of where you came ashore from with so much money and +jewels, when you were picked up by a Bermudan out of Albany. +Believe me, if I let these matters lie, it is in commiseration for +your family and out of respect for my valued friend, Lord +Durrisdeer." + +There was a murmur of applause from the provincials. + +"I should have remembered how a title would shine out in such a +hole as this," says the Master, white as a sheet: "no matter how +unjustly come by. It remains for me, then, to die at my lord's +door, where my dead body will form a very cheerful ornament." + +"Away with your affectations!" cries my lord. "You know very well +I have no such meaning; only to protect myself from calumny, and my +home from your intrusion. I offer you a choice. Either I shall +pay your passage home on the first ship, when you may perhaps be +able to resume your occupations under Government, although God +knows I would rather see you on the highway! Or, if that likes you +not, stay here and welcome! I have inquired the least sum on which +body and soul can be decently kept together in New York; so much +you shall have, paid weekly; and if you cannot labour with your +hands to better it, high time you should betake yourself to learn. +The condition is - that you speak with no member of my family +except myself," he added. + +I do not think I have ever seen any man so pale as was the Master; +but he was erect and his mouth firm. + +"I have been met here with some very unmerited insults," said he, +"from which I have certainly no idea to take refuge by flight. +Give me your pittance; I take it without shame, for it is mine +already - like the shirt upon your back; and I choose to stay until +these gentlemen shall understand me better. Already they must spy +the cloven hoof, since with all your pretended eagerness for the +family honour, you take a pleasure to degrade it in my person." + +"This is all very fine," says my lord; "but to us who know you of +old, you must be sure it signifies nothing. You take that +alternative out of which you think that you can make the most. +Take it, if you can, in silence; it will serve you better in the +long run, you may believe me, than this ostentation of +ingratitude." + +"Oh, gratitude, my lord!" cries the Master, with a mounting +intonation and his forefinger very conspicuously lifted up. "Be at +rest: it will not fail you. It now remains that I should salute +these gentlemen whom we have wearied with our family affairs." + +And he bowed to each in succession, settled his walking-sword, and +took himself off, leaving every one amazed at his behaviour, and me +not less so at my lord's. + + +We were now to enter on a changed phase of this family division. +The Master was by no manner of means so helpless as my lord +supposed, having at his hand, and entirely devoted to his service, +an excellent artist in all sorts of goldsmith work. With my lord's +allowance, which was not so scanty as he had described it, the pair +could support life; and all the earnings of Secundra Dass might be +laid upon one side for any future purpose. That this was done, I +have no doubt. It was in all likelihood the Master's design to +gather a sufficiency, and then proceed in quest of that treasure +which he had buried long before among the mountains; to which, if +he had confined himself, he would have been more happily inspired. +But unfortunately for himself and all of us, he took counsel of his +anger. The public disgrace of his arrival - which I sometimes +wonder he could manage to survive - rankled in his bones; he was in +that humour when a man - in the words of the old adage - will cut +off his nose to spite his face; and he must make himself a public +spectacle in the hopes that some of the disgrace might spatter on +my lord. + +He chose, in a poor quarter of the town, a lonely, small house of +boards, overhung with some acacias. It was furnished in front with +a sort of hutch opening, like that of a dog's kennel, but about as +high as a table from the ground, in which the poor man that built +it had formerly displayed some wares; and it was this which took +the Master's fancy and possibly suggested his proceedings. It +appears, on board the pirate ship he had acquired some quickness +with the needle - enough, at least, to play the part of tailor in +the public eye; which was all that was required by the nature of +his vengeance. A placard was hung above the hutch, bearing these +words in something of the following disposition: + + +JAMES DURIE, +FORMERLY MASTER OF BALLANTRAE. +CLOTHES NEATLY CLOUTED. +* * * * * +SECUNDRA DASS, +DECAYED GENTLEMAN OF INDIA. +FINE GOLDSMITH WORK. + + +Underneath this, when he had a job, my gentleman sat withinside +tailor-wise and busily stitching. I say, when he had a job; but +such customers as came were rather for Secundra, and the Master's +sewing would be more in the manner of Penelope's. He could never +have designed to gain even butter to his bread by such a means of +livelihood: enough for him that there was the name of Durie +dragged in the dirt on the placard, and the sometime heir of that +proud family set up cross-legged in public for a reproach upon his +brother's meanness. And in so far his device succeeded that there +was murmuring in the town and a party formed highly inimical to my +lord. My lord's favour with the Governor laid him more open on the +other side; my lady (who was never so well received in the colony) +met with painful innuendoes; in a party of women, where it would be +the topic most natural to introduce, she was almost debarred from +the naming of needle-work; and I have seen her return with a +flushed countenance and vow that she would go abroad no more. + +In the meanwhile my lord dwelled in his decent mansion, immersed in +farming; a popular man with his intimates, and careless or +unconscious of the rest. He laid on flesh; had a bright, busy +face; even the heat seemed to prosper with him; and my lady - in +despite of her own annoyances - daily blessed Heaven her father +should have left her such a paradise. She had looked on from a +window upon the Master's humiliation; and from that hour appeared +to feel at ease. I was not so sure myself; as time went on, there +seemed to me a something not quite wholesome in my lord's +condition. Happy he was, beyond a doubt, but the grounds of this +felicity were wont; even in the bosom of his family he brooded with +manifest delight upon some private thought; and I conceived at last +the suspicion (quite unworthy of us both) that he kept a mistress +somewhere in the town. Yet he went little abroad, and his day was +very fully occupied; indeed, there was but a single period, and +that pretty early in the morning, while Mr. Alexander was at his +lesson-book, of which I was not certain of the disposition. It +should be borne in mind, in the defence of that which I now did, +that I was always in some fear my lord was not quite justly in his +reason; and with our enemy sitting so still in the same town with +us, I did well to be upon my guard. Accordingly I made a pretext, +had the hour changed at which I taught Mr. Alexander the foundation +of cyphering and the mathematic, and set myself instead to dog my +master's footsteps. + +Every morning, fair or foul, he took his gold-headed cane, set his +hat on the back of his head - a recent habitude, which I thought to +indicate a burning brow - and betook himself to make a certain +circuit. At the first his way was among pleasant trees and beside +a graveyard, where he would sit awhile, if the day were fine, in +meditation. Presently the path turned down to the waterside, and +came back along the harbour-front and past the Master's booth. As +he approached this second part of his circuit, my Lord Durrisdeer +began to pace more leisurely, like a man delighted with the air and +scene; and before the booth, half-way between that and the water's +edge, would pause a little, leaning on his staff. It was the hour +when the Master sate within upon his board and plied his needle. +So these two brothers would gaze upon each other with hard faces; +and then my lord move on again, smiling to himself. + +It was but twice that I must stoop to that ungrateful necessity of +playing spy. I was then certain of my lord's purpose in his +rambles and of the secret source of his delight. Here was his +mistress: it was hatred and not love that gave him healthful +colours. Some moralists might have been relieved by the discovery; +I confess that I was dismayed. I found this situation of two +brethren not only odious in itself, but big with possibilities of +further evil; and I made it my practice, in so far as many +occupations would allow, to go by a shorter path and be secretly +present at their meeting. Coming down one day a little late, after +I had been near a week prevented, I was struck with surprise to +find a new development. I should say there was a bench against the +Master's house, where customers might sit to parley with the +shopman; and here I found my lord seated, nursing his cane and +looking pleasantly forth upon the bay. Not three feet from him +sate the Master, stitching. Neither spoke; nor (in this new +situation) did my lord so much as cut a glance upon his enemy. He +tasted his neighbourhood, I must suppose, less indirectly in the +bare proximity of person; and, without doubt, drank deep of hateful +pleasures. + +He had no sooner come away than I openly joined him. "My lord, my +lord," said I, "this is no manner of behaviour." + +"I grow fat upon it," he replied; and not merely the words, which +were strange enough, but the whole character of his expression, +shocked me. + +"I warn you, my lord, against this indulgency of evil feeling," +said I. "I know not to which it is more perilous, the soul or the +reason; but you go the way to murder both." + +"You cannot understand," said he. "You had never such mountains of +bitterness upon your heart." + +"And if it were no more," I added, "you will surely goad the man to +some extremity." + +"To the contrary; I am breaking his spirit," says my lord. + + +Every morning for hard upon a week my lord took his same place upon +the bench. It was a pleasant place, under the green acacias, with +a sight upon the bay and shipping, and a sound (from some way off) +of marines singing at their employ. Here the two sate without +speech or any external movement, beyond that of the needle or the +Master biting off a thread, for he still clung to his pretence of +industry; and here I made a point to join them, wondering at myself +and my companions. If any of my lord's friends went by, he would +hail them cheerfully, and cry out he was there to give some good +advice to his brother, who was now (to his delight) grown quite +industrious. And even this the Master accepted with a steady +countenance; what was in his mind, God knows, or perhaps Satan +only. + +All of a sudden, on a still day of what they call the Indian +Summer, when the woods were changed into gold and pink and scarlet, +the Master laid down his needle and burst into a fit of merriment. +I think he must have been preparing it a long while in silence, for +the note in itself was pretty naturally pitched; but breaking +suddenly from so extreme a silence, and in circumstances so averse +from mirth, it sounded ominously on my ear. + +"Henry," said he, "I have for once made a false step, and for once +you have had the wit to profit by it. The farce of the cobbler +ends to-day; and I confess to you (with my compliments) that you +have had the best of it. Blood will out; and you have certainly a +choice idea of how to make yourself unpleasant." + +Never a word said my lord; it was just as though the Master had not +broken silence. + +"Come," resumed the Master, "do not be sulky; it will spoil your +attitude. You can now afford (believe me) to be a little gracious; +for I have not merely a defeat to accept. I had meant to continue +this performance till I had gathered enough money for a certain +purpose; I confess ingenuously, I have not the courage. You +naturally desire my absence from this town; I have come round by +another way to the same idea. And I have a proposition to make; +or, if your lordship prefers, a favour to ask." + +"Ask it," says my lord. + +"You may have heard that I had once in this country a considerable +treasure," returned the Master; "it matters not whether or no - +such is the fact; and I was obliged to bury it in a spot of which I +have sufficient indications. To the recovery of this, has my +ambition now come down; and, as it is my own, you will not grudge +it me." + +"Go and get it," says my lord. "I make no opposition." + +"Yes," said the Master; "but to do so, I must find men and +carriage. The way is long and rough, and the country infested with +wild Indians. Advance me only so much as shall be needful: either +as a lump sum, in lieu of my allowance; or, if you prefer it, as a +loan, which I shall repay on my return. And then, if you so +decide, you may have seen the last of me." + +My lord stared him steadily in the eyes; there was a hard smile +upon his face, but he uttered nothing. + +"Henry," said the Master, with a formidable quietness, and drawing +at the same time somewhat back - "Henry, I had the honour to +address you." + +"Let us be stepping homeward," says my lord to me, who was plucking +at his sleeve; and with that he rose, stretched himself, settled +his hat, and still without a syllable of response, began to walk +steadily along the shore. + +I hesitated awhile between the two brothers, so serious a climax +did we seem to have reached. But the Master had resumed his +occupation, his eyes lowered, his hand seemingly as deft as ever; +and I decided to pursue my lord. + +"Are you mad?" I cried, so soon as I had overtook him. "Would you +cast away so fair an opportunity?" + +"Is it possible you should still believe in him?" inquired my lord, +almost with a sneer. + +"I wish him forth of this town!" I cried. "I wish him anywhere and +anyhow but as he is." + +"I have said my say," returned my lord, "and you have said yours. +There let it rest." + +But I was bent on dislodging the Master. That sight of him +patiently returning to his needlework was more than my imagination +could digest. There was never a man made, and the Master the least +of any, that could accept so long a series of insults. The air +smelt blood to me. And I vowed there should be no neglect of mine +if, through any chink of possibility, crime could be yet turned +aside. That same day, therefore, I came to my lord in his business +room, where he sat upon some trivial occupation. + +"My lord," said I, "I have found a suitable investment for my small +economies. But these are unhappily in Scotland; it will take some +time to lift them, and the affair presses. Could your lordship see +his way to advance me the amount against my note?" + +He read me awhile with keen eyes. "I have never inquired into the +state of your affairs, Mackellar," says he. "Beyond the amount of +your caution, you may not be worth a farthing, for what I know." + +"I have been a long while in your service, and never told a lie, +nor yet asked a favour for myself," said I, "until to-day." + +"A favour for the Master," he returned, quietly. "Do you take me +for a fool, Mackellar? Understand it once and for all, I treat +this beast in my own way; fear nor favour shall not move me; and +before I am hoodwinked, it will require a trickster less +transparent than yourself. I ask service, loyal service; not that +you should make and mar behind my back, and steal my own money to +defeat me." + +"My lord," said I, "these are very unpardonable expressions." + +"Think once more, Mackellar," he replied; "and you will see they +fit the fact. It is your own subterfuge that is unpardonable. +Deny (if you can) that you designed this money to evade my orders +with, and I will ask your pardon freely. If you cannot, you must +have the resolution to hear your conduct go by its own name." + +"If you think I had any design but to save you - " I began. + +"Oh! my old friend," said he, "you know very well what I think! +Here is my hand to you with all my heart; but of money, not one +rap." + +Defeated upon this side, I went straight to my room, wrote a +letter, ran with it to the harbour, for I knew a ship was on the +point of sailing; and came to the Master's door a little before +dusk. Entering without the form of any knock, I found him sitting +with his Indian at a simple meal of maize porridge with some milk. +The house within was clean and poor; only a few books upon a shelf +distinguished it, and (in one corner) Secundra's little bench. + +"Mr. Bally," said I, "I have near five hundred pounds laid by in +Scotland, the economies of a hard life. A letter goes by yon ship +to have it lifted. Have so much patience till the return ship +comes in, and it is all yours, upon the same condition you offered +to my lord this morning." + +He rose from the table, came forward, took me by the shoulders, and +looked me in the face, smiling. + +"And yet you are very fond of money!" said he. "And yet you love +money beyond all things else, except my brother!" + +"I fear old age and poverty," said I, "which is another matter." + +"I will never quarrel for a name. Call it so," he replied. "Ah! +Mackellar, Mackellar, if this were done from any love to me, how +gladly would I close upon your offer!" + +"And yet," I eagerly answered - "I say it to my shame, but I cannot +see you in this poor place without compunction. It is not my +single thought, nor my first; and yet it's there! I would gladly +see you delivered. I do not offer it in love, and far from that; +but, as God judges me - and I wonder at it too! - quite without +enmity." + +"Ah!" says he, still holding my shoulders, and now gently shaking +me, "you think of me more than you suppose. 'And I wonder at it +too,'" he added, repeating my expression and, I suppose, something +of my voice. "You are an honest man, and for that cause I spare +you." + +"Spare me?" I cried. + +"Spare you," he repeated, letting me go and turning away. And +then, fronting me once more. "You little know what I would do with +it, Mackellar! Did you think I had swallowed my defeat indeed? +Listen: my life has been a series of unmerited cast-backs. That +fool, Prince Charlie, mismanaged a most promising affair: there +fell my first fortune. In Paris I had my foot once more high upon +the ladder: that time it was an accident; a letter came to the +wrong hand, and I was bare again. A third time, I found my +opportunity; I built up a place for myself in India with an +infinite patience; and then Clive came, my rajah was swallowed up, +and I escaped out of the convulsion, like another AEneas, with +Secundra Dass upon my back. Three times I have had my hand upon +the highest station: and I am not yet three-and-forty. I know the +world as few men know it when they come to die - Court and camp, +the East and the West; I know where to go, I see a thousand +openings. I am now at the height of my resources, sound of health, +of inordinate ambition. Well, all this I resign; I care not if I +die, and the world never hear of me; I care only for one thing, and +that I will have. Mind yourself; lest, when the roof falls, you, +too, should be crushed under the ruins." + + +As I came out of his house, all hope of intervention quite +destroyed, I was aware of a stir on the harbour-side, and, raising +my eyes, there was a great ship newly come to anchor. It seems +strange I could have looked upon her with so much indifference, for +she brought death to the brothers of Durrisdeer. After all the +desperate episodes of this contention, the insults, the opposing +interests, the fraternal duel in the shrubbery, it was reserved for +some poor devil in Grub Street, scribbling for his dinner, and not +caring what he scribbled, to cast a spell across four thousand +miles of the salt sea, and send forth both these brothers into +savage and wintry deserts, there to die. But such a thought was +distant from my mind; and while all the provincials were fluttered +about me by the unusual animation of their port, I passed +throughout their midst on my return homeward, quite absorbed in the +recollection of my visit and the Master's speech. + +The same night there was brought to us from the ship a little +packet of pamphlets. The next day my lord was under engagement to +go with the Governor upon some party of pleasure; the time was +nearly due, and I left him for a moment alone in his room and +skimming through the pamphlets. When I returned, his head had +fallen upon the table, his arms lying abroad amongst the crumpled +papers. + +"My lord, my lord!" I cried as I ran forward, for I supposed he was +in some fit. + +He sprang up like a figure upon wires, his countenance deformed +with fury, so that in a strange place I should scarce have known +him. His hand at the same time flew above his head, as though to +strike me down. "Leave me alone!" he screeched, and I fled, as +fast as my shaking legs would bear me, for my lady. She, too, lost +no time; but when we returned, he had the door locked within, and +only cried to us from the other side to leave him be. We looked in +each other's faces, very white - each supposing the blow had come +at last. + +"I will write to the Governor to excuse him," says she. "We must +keep our strong friends." But when she took up the pen, it flew +out of her fingers. "I cannot write," said she. "Can you?" + +"I will make a shift, my lady," said I. + +She looked over me as I wrote. "That will do," she said, when I +had done. "Thank God, Mackellar, I have you to lean upon! But +what can it be now? What, what can it be?" + +In my own mind, I believed there was no explanation possible, and +none required; it was my fear that the man's madness had now simply +burst forth its way, like the long-smothered flames of a volcano; +but to this (in mere mercy to my lady) I durst not give expression. + +"It is more to the purpose to consider our own behaviour," said I. +"Must we leave him there alone?" + +"I do not dare disturb him," she replied. "Nature may know best; +it may be Nature that cries to be alone; and we grope in the dark. +Oh yes, I would leave him as he is." + +"I will, then, despatch this letter, my lady, and return here, if +you please, to sit with you," said I. + +"Pray do," cries my lady. + +All afternoon we sat together, mostly in silence, watching my +lord's door. My own mind was busy with the scene that had just +passed, and its singular resemblance to my vision. I must say a +word upon this, for the story has gone abroad with great +exaggeration, and I have even seen it printed, and my own name +referred to for particulars. So much was the same: here was my +lord in a room, with his head upon the table, and when he raised +his face, it wore such an expression as distressed me to the soul. +But the room was different, my lord's attitude at the table not at +all the same, and his face, when he disclosed it, expressed a +painful degree of fury instead of that haunting despair which had +always (except once, already referred to) characterised it in the +vision. There is the whole truth at last before the public; and if +the differences be great, the coincidence was yet enough to fill me +with uneasiness. All afternoon, as I say, I sat and pondered upon +this quite to myself; for my lady had trouble of her own, and it +was my last thought to vex her with fancies. About the midst of +our time of waiting, she conceived an ingenious scheme, had Mr. +Alexander fetched, and bid him knock at his father's door. My lord +sent the boy about his business, but without the least violence, +whether of manner or expression; so that I began to entertain a +hope the fit was over. + +At last, as the night fell and I was lighting a lamp that stood +there trimmed, the door opened and my lord stood within upon the +threshold. The light was not so strong that we could read his +countenance; when he spoke, methought his voice a little altered +but yet perfectly steady. + +"Mackellar," said he, "carry this note to its destination with your +own hand. It is highly private. Find the person alone when you +deliver it." + +"Henry," says my lady, "you are not ill?" + +"No, no," says be, querulously, "I am occupied. Not at all; I am +only occupied. It is a singular thing a man must be supposed to be +ill when he has any business! Send me supper to this room, and a +basket of wine: I expect the visit of a friend. Otherwise I am +not to be disturbed." + +And with that he once more shut himself in. + +The note was addressed to one Captain Harris, at a tavern on the +portside. I knew Harris (by reputation) for a dangerous +adventurer, highly suspected of piracy in the past, and now +following the rude business of an Indian trader. What my lord +should have to say to him, or he to my lord, it passed my +imagination to conceive: or yet how my lord had heard of him, +unless by a disgraceful trial from which the man was recently +escaped. Altogether I went upon the errand with reluctance, and +from the little I saw of the captain, returned from it with sorrow. +I found him in a foul-smelling chamber, sitting by a guttering +candle and an empty bottle; he had the remains of a military +carriage, or rather perhaps it was an affectation, for his manners +were low. + +"Tell my lord, with my service, that I will wait upon his lordship +in the inside of half an hour," says he, when he had read the note; +and then had the servility, pointing to his empty bottle, to +propose that I should buy him liquor. + +Although I returned with my best speed, the Captain followed close +upon my heels, and he stayed late into the night. The cock was +crowing a second time when I saw (from my chamber window) my lord +lighting him to the gate, both men very much affected with their +potations, and sometimes leaning one upon the other to confabulate. +Yet the next morning my lord was abroad again early with a hundred +pounds of money in his pocket. I never supposed that he returned +with it; and yet I was quite sure it did not find its way to the +Master, for I lingered all morning within view of the booth. That +was the last time my Lord Durrisdeer passed his own enclosure till +we left New York; he walked in his barn, or sat and talked with his +family, all much as usual; but the town saw nothing of him, and his +daily visits to the Master seemed forgotten. Nor yet did Harris +reappear; or not until the end. + +I was now much oppressed with a sense of the mysteries in which we +had begun to move. It was plain, if only from his change of +habitude, my lord had something on his mind of a grave nature; but +what it was, whence it sprang, or why he should now keep the house +and garden, I could make no guess at. It was clear, even to +probation, the pamphlets had some share in this revolution; I read +all I could find, and they were all extremely insignificant, and of +the usual kind of party scurrility; even to a high politician, I +could spy out no particular matter of offence, and my lord was a +man rather indifferent on public questions. The truth is, the +pamphlet which was the spring of this affair, lay all the time on +my lord's bosom. There it was that I found it at last, after he +was dead, in the midst of the north wilderness: in such a place, +in such dismal circumstances, I was to read for the first time +these idle, lying words of a Whig pamphleteer declaiming against +indulgency to Jacobites:- "Another notorious Rebel, the M-r of B-e, +is to have his Title restored," the passage ran. "This Business +has been long in hand, since he rendered some very disgraceful +Services in Scotland and France. His Brother, L-D D-R, is known to +be no better than himself in Inclination; and the supposed Heir, +who is now to be set aside, was bred up in the most detestable +Principles. In the old Phrase, it is SIX OF THE ONE AND HALF A +DOZEN OF THE OTHER; but the Favour of such a Reposition is too +extreme to be passed over." A man in his right wits could not have +cared two straws for a tale so manifestly false; that Government +should ever entertain the notion, was inconceivable to any +reasoning creature, unless possibly the fool that penned it; and my +lord, though never brilliant, was ever remarkable for sense. That +he should credit such a rodomontade, and carry the pamphlet on his +bosom and the words in his heart, is the clear proof of the man's +lunacy. Doubtless the mere mention of Mr. Alexander, and the +threat directly held out against the child's succession, +precipitated that which had so long impended. Or else my master +had been truly mad for a long time, and we were too dull or too +much used to him, and did not perceive the extent of his infirmity. + +About a week after the day of the pamphlets I was late upon the +harbour-side, and took a turn towards the Master's, as I often did. +The door opened, a flood of light came forth upon the road, and I +beheld a man taking his departure with friendly salutations. I +cannot say how singularly I was shaken to recognise the adventurer +Harris. I could not but conclude it was the hand of my lord that +had brought him there; and prolonged my walk in very serious and +apprehensive thought. It was late when I came home, and there was +my lord making up his portmanteau for a voyage. + +"Why do you come so late?" he cried. "We leave to-morrow for +Albany, you and I together; and it is high time you were about your +preparations." + +"For Albany, my lord?" I cried. "And for what earthly purpose?" + +"Change of scene," said he. + +And my lady, who appeared to have been weeping, gave me the signal +to obey without more parley. She told me a little later (when we +found occasion to exchange some words) that he had suddenly +announced his intention after a visit from Captain Harris, and her +best endeavours, whether to dissuade him from the journey, or to +elicit some explanation of its purpose, had alike proved +unavailing. + + + +CHAPTER XI. - THE JOURNEY IN THE WILDERNESS. + + + +We made a prosperous voyage up that fine river of the Hudson, the +weather grateful, the hills singularly beautified with the colours +of the autumn. At Albany we had our residence at an inn, where I +was not so blind and my lord not so cunning but what I could see he +had some design to hold me prisoner. The work he found for me to +do was not so pressing that we should transact it apart from +necessary papers in the chamber of an inn; nor was it of such +importance that I should be set upon as many as four or five +scrolls of the same document. I submitted in appearance; but I +took private measures on my own side, and had the news of the town +communicated to me daily by the politeness of our host. In this +way I received at last a piece of intelligence for which, I may +say, I had been waiting. Captain Harris (I was told) with "Mr. +Mountain, the trader," had gone by up the river in a boat. I would +have feared the landlord's eye, so strong the sense of some +complicity upon my master's part oppressed me. But I made out to +say I had some knowledge of the Captain, although none of Mr. +Mountain, and to inquire who else was of the party. My informant +knew not; Mr. Mountain had come ashore upon some needful purchases; +had gone round the town buying, drinking, and prating; and it +seemed the party went upon some likely venture, for he had spoken +much of great things he would do when he returned. No more was +known, for none of the rest had come ashore, and it seemed they +were pressed for time to reach a certain spot before the snow +should fall. + +And sure enough, the next day, there fell a sprinkle even in +Albany; but it passed as it came, and was but a reminder of what +lay before us. I thought of it lightly then, knowing so little as +I did of that inclement province: the retrospect is different; and +I wonder at times if some of the horror of there events which I +must now rehearse flowed not from the foul skies and savage winds +to which we were exposed, and the agony of cold that we must +suffer. + +The boat having passed by, I thought at first we should have left +the town. But no such matter. My lord continued his stay in +Albany where he had no ostensible affairs, and kept me by him, far +from my due employment, and making a pretence of occupation. It is +upon this passage I expect, and perhaps deserve, censure. I was +not so dull but what I had my own thoughts. I could not see the +Master entrust himself into the hands of Harris, and not suspect +some underhand contrivance. Harris bore a villainous reputation, +and he had been tampered with in private by my lord; Mountain, the +trader, proved, upon inquiry, to be another of the same kidney; the +errand they were all gone upon being the recovery of ill-gotten +treasures, offered in itself a very strong incentive to foul play; +and the character of the country where they journeyed promised +impunity to deeds of blood. Well: it is true I had all these +thoughts and fears, and guesses of the Master's fate. But you are +to consider I was the same man that sought to dash him from the +bulwarks of a ship in the mid-sea; the same that, a little before, +very impiously but sincerely offered God a bargain, seeking to hire +God to be my bravo. It is true again that I had a good deal melted +towards our enemy. But this I always thought of as a weakness of +the flesh and even culpable; my mind remaining steady and quite +bent against him. True, yet again, that it was one thing to assume +on my own shoulders the guilt and danger of a criminal attempt, and +another to stand by and see my lord imperil and besmirch himself. +But this was the very ground of my inaction. For (should I anyway +stir in the business) I might fail indeed to save the Master, but I +could not miss to make a byword of my lord. + +Thus it was that I did nothing; and upon the same reasons, I am +still strong to justify my course. We lived meanwhile in Albany, +but though alone together in a strange place, had little traffic +beyond formal salutations. My lord had carried with him several +introductions to chief people of the town and neighbourhood; others +he had before encountered in New York: with this consequence, that +he went much abroad, and I am sorry to say was altogether too +convivial in his habits. I was often in bed, but never asleep, +when he returned; and there was scarce a night when he did not +betray the influence of liquor. By day he would still lay upon me +endless tasks, which he showed considerable ingenuity to fish up +and renew, in the manner of Penelope's web. I never refused, as I +say, for I was hired to do his bidding; but I took no pains to keep +my penetration under a bushel, and would sometimes smile in his +face. + +"I think I must be the devil and you Michael Scott," I said to him +one day. "I have bridged Tweed and split the Eildons; and now you +set me to the rope of sand." + +He looked at me with shining eyes, and looked away again, his jaw +chewing, but without words. + +"Well, well, my lord," said I, "your will is my pleasure. I will +do this thing for the fourth time; but I would beg of you to invent +another task against to-morrow, for by my troth, I am weary of this +one." + +"You do not know what you are saying," returned my lord, putting on +his hat and turning his back to me. "It is a strange thing you +should take a pleasure to annoy me. A friend - but that is a +different affair. It is a strange thing. I am a man that has had +ill-fortune all my life through. I am still surrounded by +contrivances. I am always treading in plots," he burst out. "The +whole world is banded against me." + +"I would not talk wicked nonsense if I were you," said I; "but I +will tell you what I WOULD do - I would put my head in cold water, +for you had more last night than you could carry." + +"Do ye think that?" said he, with a manner of interest highly +awakened. "Would that be good for me? It's a thing I never +tried." + +"I mind the days when you had no call to try, and I wish, my lord, +that they were back again," said I. "But the plain truth is, if +you continue to exceed, you will do yourself a mischief." + +"I don't appear to carry drink the way I used to," said my lord. +"I get overtaken, Mackellar. But I will be more upon my guard." + +"That is what I would ask of you," I replied. "You are to bear in +mind that you are Mr. Alexander's father: give the bairn a chance +to carry his name with some responsibility." + +"Ay, ay," said he. "Ye're a very sensible man, Mackellar, and have +been long in my employ. But I think, if you have nothing more to +say to me I will be stepping. If you have nothing more to say?" he +added, with that burning, childish eagerness that was now so common +with the man. + +"No, my lord, I have nothing more," said I, dryly enough. + +"Then I think I will be stepping," says my lord, and stood and +looked at me fidgeting with his hat, which he had taken off again. +"I suppose you will have no errands? No? I am to meet Sir William +Johnson, but I will be more upon my guard." He was silent for a +time, and then, smiling: "Do you call to mind a place, Mackellar - +it's a little below Engles - where the burn runs very deep under a +wood of rowans. I mind being there when I was a lad - dear, it +comes over me like an old song! - I was after the fishing, and I +made a bonny cast. Eh, but I was happy. I wonder, Mackellar, why +I am never happy now?" + +"My lord," said I, "if you would drink with more moderation you +would have the better chance. It is an old byword that the bottle +is a false consoler." + +"No doubt," said he, "no doubt. Well, I think I will be going." + +"Good-morning, my lord," said I. + +"Good-morning, good-morning," said he, and so got himself at last +from the apartment. + +I give that for a fair specimen of my lord in the morning; and I +must have described my patron very ill if the reader does not +perceive a notable falling off. To behold the man thus fallen: to +know him accepted among his companions for a poor, muddled toper, +welcome (if he were welcome at all) for the bare consideration of +his title; and to recall the virtues he had once displayed against +such odds of fortune; was not this a thing at once to rage and to +be humbled at? + +In his cups, he was more expensive. I will give but the one scene, +close upon the end, which is strongly marked upon my memory to this +day, and at the time affected me almost with horror + +I was in bed, lying there awake, when I heard him stumbling on the +stair and singing. My lord had no gift of music, his brother had +all the graces of the family, so that when I say singing, you are +to understand a manner of high, carolling utterance, which was +truly neither speech nor song. Something not unlike is to be heard +upon the lips of children, ere they learn shame; from those of a +man grown elderly, it had a strange effect. He opened the door +with noisy precaution; peered in, shading his candle; conceived me +to slumber; entered, set his light upon the table, and took off his +hat. I saw him very plain; a high, feverish exultation appeared to +boil in his veins, and he stood and smiled and smirked upon the +candle. Presently he lifted up his arm, snapped his fingers, and +fell to undress. As he did so, having once more forgot my +presence, he took back to his singing; and now I could hear the +words, which were those from the old song of the TWA CORBIES +endlessly repeated: + + +"And over his banes when they are bare +The wind sall blaw for evermair!" + + +I have said there was no music in the man. His strains had no +logical succession except in so far as they inclined a little to +the minor mode; but they exercised a rude potency upon the +feelings, and followed the words, and signified the feelings of the +singer with barbaric fitness. He took it first in the time and +manner of a rant; presently this ill-favoured gleefulness abated, +he began to dwell upon the notes more feelingly, and sank at last +into a degree of maudlin pathos that was to me scarce bearable. By +equal steps, the original briskness of his acts declined; and when +he was stripped to his breeches, he sat on the bedside and fell to +whimpering. I know nothing less respectable than the tears of +drunkenness, and turned my back impatiently on this poor sight. + +But he had started himself (I am to suppose) on that slippery +descent of self-pity; on the which, to a man unstrung by old +sorrows and recent potations there is no arrest except exhaustion. +His tears continued to flow, and the man to sit there, three parts +naked, in the cold air of the chamber. I twitted myself +alternately with inhumanity and sentimental weakness, now half +rising in my bed to interfere, now reading myself lessons of +indifference and courting slumber, until, upon a sudden, the +QUANTUM MUTATUS AB ILLO shot into my mind; and calling to +remembrance his old wisdom, constancy, and patience, I was +overborne with a pity almost approaching the passionate, not for my +master alone but for the sons of man. + +At this I leaped from my place, went over to his side and laid a +hand on his bare shoulder, which was cold as stone. He uncovered +his face and showed it me all swollen and begrutten (10) like a +child's; and at the sight my impatience partially revived. + +"Think shame to yourself," said I. "This is bairnly conduct. I +might have been snivelling myself, if I had cared to swill my belly +with wine. But I went to my bed sober like a man. Come: get into +yours, and have done with this pitiable exhibition." + +"Oh, Mackellar," said he, "my heart is wae!" + +"Wae?" cried I. "For a good cause, I think. What words were these +you sang as you came in? Show pity to others, we then can talk of +pity to yourself. You can be the one thing or the other, but I +will be no party to half-way houses. If you're a striker, strike, +and if you're a bleater, bleat!" + +"Cry!" cries he, with a burst, "that's it - strike! that's talking! +Man, I've stood it all too long. But when they laid a hand upon +the child, when the child's threatened" - his momentary vigour +whimpering off - "my child, my Alexander!" - and he was at his +tears again. + +I took him by the shoulders and shook him. "Alexander!" said I. +"Do you even think of him? Not you! Look yourself in the face +like a brave man, and you'll find you're but a self-deceiver. The +wife, the friend, the child, they're all equally forgot, and you +sunk in a mere log of selfishness." + +"Mackellar," said he, with a wonderful return to his old manner and +appearance, "you may say what you will of me, but one thing I never +was - I was never selfish." + +"I will open your eyes in your despite," said I. "How long have we +been here? and how often have you written to your family? I think +this is the first time you were ever separate: have you written at +all? Do they know if you are dead or living?" + +I had caught him here too openly; it braced his better nature; +there was no more weeping, he thanked me very penitently, got to +bed and was soon fast asleep; and the first thing he did the next +morning was to sit down and begin a letter to my lady: a very +tender letter it was too, though it was never finished. Indeed all +communication with New York was transacted by myself; and it will +be judged I had a thankless task of it. What to tell my lady and +in what words, and how far to be false and how far cruel, was a +thing that kept me often from my slumber. + +All this while, no doubt, my lord waited with growing impatiency +for news of his accomplices. Harris, it is to be thought, had +promised a high degree of expedition; the time was already overpast +when word was to be looked for; and suspense was a very evil +counsellor to a man of an impaired intelligence. My lord's mind +throughout this interval dwelled almost wholly in the Wilderness, +following that party with whose deeds he had so much concern. He +continually conjured up their camps and progresses, the fashion of +the country, the perpetration in a thousand different manners of +the same horrid fact, and that consequent spectacle of the Master's +bones lying scattered in the wind. These private, guilty +considerations I would continually observe to peep forth in the +man's talk, like rabbits from a hill. And it is the less wonder if +the scene of his meditations began to draw him bodily. + + +It is well known what pretext he took. Sir William Johnson had a +diplomatic errand in these parts; and my lord and I (from +curiosity, as was given out) went in his company. Sir William was +well attended and liberally supplied. Hunters brought us venison, +fish was taken for us daily in the streams, and brandy ran like +water. We proceeded by day and encamped by night in the military +style; sentinels were set and changed; every man had his named +duty; and Sir William was the spring of all. There was much in +this that might at times have entertained me; but for our +misfortune, the weather was extremely harsh, the days were in the +beginning open, but the nights frosty from the first. A painful +keen wind blew most of the time, so that we sat in the boat with +blue fingers, and at night, as we scorched our faces at the fire, +the clothes upon our back appeared to be of paper. A dreadful +solitude surrounded our steps; the land was quite dispeopled, there +was no smoke of fires, and save for a single boat of merchants on +the second day, we met no travellers. The season was indeed late, +but this desertion of the waterways impressed Sir William himself; +and I have heard him more than once express a sense of +intimidation. "I have come too late, I fear; they must have dug up +the hatchet;" he said; and the future proved how justly he had +reasoned. + +I could never depict the blackness of my soul upon this journey. I +have none of those minds that are in love with the unusual: to see +the winter coming and to lie in the field so far from any house, +oppressed me like a nightmare; it seemed, indeed, a kind of awful +braving of God's power; and this thought, which I daresay only +writes me down a coward, was greatly exaggerated by my private +knowledge of the errand we were come upon. I was besides +encumbered by my duties to Sir William, whom it fell upon me to +entertain; for my lord was quite sunk into a state bordering on +PERVIGILIUM, watching the woods with a rapt eye, sleeping scarce at +all, and speaking sometimes not twenty words in a whole day. That +which he said was still coherent; but it turned almost invariably +upon the party for whom he kept his crazy lookout. He would tell +Sir William often, and always as if it were a new communication, +that he had "a brother somewhere in the woods," and beg that the +sentinels should be directed "to inquire for him." "I am anxious +for news of my brother," he would say. And sometimes, when we were +under way, he would fancy he spied a canoe far off upon the water +or a camp on the shore, and exhibit painful agitation. It was +impossible but Sir William should be struck with these +singularities; and at last he led me aside, and hinted his +uneasiness. I touched my head and shook it; quite rejoiced to +prepare a little testimony against possible disclosures. + +"But in that case," cries Sir William, "is it wise to let him go at +large?" + +"Those that know him best," said I, "are persuaded that he should +be humoured." + +"Well, well," replied Sir William, "it is none of my affairs. But +if I had understood, you would never have been here." + +Our advance into this savage country had thus uneventfully +proceeded for about a week, when we encamped for a night at a place +where the river ran among considerable mountains clothed in wood. +The fires were lighted on a level space at the water's edge; and we +supped and lay down to sleep in the customary fashion. It chanced +the night fell murderously cold; the stringency of the frost seized +and bit me through my coverings so that pain kept me wakeful; and I +was afoot again before the peep of day, crouching by the fires or +trotting to and for at the stream's edge, to combat the aching of +my limbs. At last dawn began to break upon hoar woods and +mountains, the sleepers rolled in their robes, and the boisterous +river dashing among spears of ice. I stood looking about me, +swaddled in my stiff coat of a bull's fur, and the breath smoking +from my scorched nostrils, when, upon a sudden, a singular, eager +cry rang from the borders of the wood. The sentries answered it, +the sleepers sprang to their feet; one pointed, the rest followed +his direction with their eyes, and there, upon the edge of the +forest and betwixt two trees, we beheld the figure of a man +reaching forth his hands like one in ecstasy. The next moment he +ran forward, fell on his knees at the side of the camp, and burst +in tears. + +This was John Mountain, the trader, escaped from the most horrid +perils; and his fist word, when he got speech, was to ask if we had +seen Secundra Dass. + +"Seen what?" cries Sir William. + +"No," said I, "we have seen nothing of him. Why?" + +"Nothing?" says Mountain. "Then I was right after all." With that +he struck his palm upon his brow. "But what takes him back?" he +cried. "What takes the man back among dead bodies. There is some +damned mystery here." + +This was a word which highly aroused our curiosity, but I shall be +more perspicacious, if I narrate these incidents in their true +order. Here follows a narrative which I have compiled out of three +sources, not very consistent in all points: + +FIRST, a written statement by Mountain, in which everything +criminal is cleverly smuggled out of view; + +SECOND, two conversations with Secundra Dass; and + +THIRD, many conversations with Mountain himself, in which he was +pleased to be entirely plain; for the truth is he regarded me as an +accomplice. + + +NARRATIVE OF THE TRADER, MOUNTAIN. + + +The crew that went up the river under the joint command of Captain +Harris and the Master numbered in all nine persons, of whom (if I +except Secundra Dass) there was not one that had not merited the +gallows. From Harris downward the voyagers were notorious in that +colony for desperate, bloody-minded miscreants; some were reputed +pirates, the most hawkers of rum; all ranters and drinkers; all fit +associates, embarking together without remorse, upon this +treacherous and murderous design. I could not hear there was much +discipline or any set captain in the gang; but Harris and four +others, Mountain himself, two Scotchmen - Pinkerton and Hastie - +and a man of the name of Hicks, a drunken shoemaker, put their +heads together and agreed upon the course. In a material sense, +they were well enough provided; and the Master in particular +brought with him a tent where he might enjoy some privacy and +shelter. + +Even this small indulgence told against him in the minds of his +companions. But indeed he was in a position so entirely false (and +even ridiculous) that all his habit of command and arts of pleasing +were here thrown away. In the eyes of all, except Secundra Dass, +he figured as a common gull and designated victim; going +unconsciously to death; yet he could not but suppose himself the +contriver and the leader of the expedition; he could scarce help +but so conduct himself and at the least hint of authority or +condescension, his deceivers would be laughing in their sleeves. I +was so used to see and to conceive him in a high, authoritative +attitude, that when I had conceived his position on this journey, I +was pained and could have blushed. How soon he may have +entertained a first surmise, we cannot know; but it was long, and +the party had advanced into the Wilderness beyond the reach of any +help, ere he was fully awakened to the truth. + +It fell thus. Harris and some others had drawn apart into the +woods for consultation, when they were startled by a rustling in +the brush. They were all accustomed to the arts of Indian warfare, +and Mountain had not only lived and hunted, but fought and earned +some reputation, with the savages. He could move in the woods +without noise, and follow a trail like a hound; and upon the +emergence of this alert, he was deputed by the rest to plunge into +the thicket for intelligence. He was soon convinced there was a +man in his close neighbourhood, moving with precaution but without +art among the leaves and branches; and coming shortly to a place of +advantage, he was able to observe Secundra Dass crawling briskly +off with many backward glances. At this he knew not whether to +laugh or cry; and his accomplices, when he had returned and +reported, were in much the same dubiety. There was now no danger +of an Indian onslaught; but on the other hand, since Secundra Dass +was at the pains to spy upon them, it was highly probable he knew +English, and if he knew English it was certain the whole of their +design was in the Master's knowledge. There was one singularity in +the position. If Secundra Dass knew and concealed his knowledge of +English, Harris was a proficient in several of the tongues of +India, and as his career in that part of the world had been a great +deal worse than profligate, he had not thought proper to remark +upon the circumstance. Each side had thus a spy-hole on the +counsels of the other. The plotters, so soon as this advantage was +explained, returned to camp; Harris, hearing the Hindustani was +once more closeted with his master, crept to the side of the tent; +and the rest, sitting about the fire with their tobacco, awaited +his report with impatience. When he came at last, his face was +very black. He had overheard enough to confirm the worst of his +suspicions. Secundra Dass was a good English scholar; he had been +some days creeping and listening, the Master was now fully informed +of the conspiracy, and the pair proposed on the morrow to fall out +of line at a carrying place and plunge at a venture in the woods: +preferring the full risk of famine, savage beasts, and savage men +to their position in the midst of traitors. + +What, then, was to be done? Some were for killing the Master on +the spot; but Harris assured them that would be a crime without +profit, since the secret of the treasure must die along with him +that buried it. Others were for desisting at once from the whole +enterprise and making for New York; but the appetising name of +treasure, and the thought of the long way they had already +travelled dissuaded the majority. I imagine they were dull fellows +for the most part. Harris, indeed, had some acquirements, Mountain +was no fool, Hastie was an educated man; but even these had +manifestly failed in life, and the rest were the dregs of colonial +rascality. The conclusion they reached, at least, was more the +offspring of greed and hope, than reason. It was to temporise, to +be wary and watch the Master, to be silent and supply no further +aliment to his suspicions, and to depend entirely (as well as I +make out) on the chance that their victim was as greedy, hopeful, +and irrational as themselves, and might, after all, betray his life +and treasure. + +Twice in the course of the next day Secundra and the Master must +have appeared to themselves to have escaped; and twice they were +circumvented. The Master, save that the second time he grew a +little pale, displayed no sign of disappointment, apologised for +the stupidity with which he had fallen aside, thanked his +recapturers as for a service, and rejoined the caravan with all his +usual gallantry and cheerfulness of mien and bearing. But it is +certain he had smelled a rat; for from thenceforth he and Secundra +spoke only in each other's ear, and Harris listened and shivered by +the tent in vain. The same night it was announced they were to +leave the boats and proceed by foot, a circumstance which (as it +put an end to the confusion of the portages) greatly lessened the +chances of escape. + +And now there began between the two sides a silent contest, for +life on the one hand, for riches on the other. They were now near +that quarter of the desert in which the Master himself must begin +to play the part of guide; and using this for a pretext of +persecution, Harris and his men sat with him every night about the +fire, and laboured to entrap him into some admission. If he let +slip his secret, he knew well it was the warrant for his death; on +the other hand, he durst not refuse their questions, and must +appear to help them to the best of his capacity, or he practically +published his mistrust. And yet Mountain assures me the man's brow +was never ruffled. He sat in the midst of these jackals, his life +depending by a thread, like some easy, witty householder at home by +his own fire; an answer he had for everything - as often as not, a +jesting answer; avoided threats, evaded insults; talked, laughed, +and listened with an open countenance; and, in short, conducted +himself in such a manner as must have disarmed suspicion, and went +near to stagger knowledge. Indeed, Mountain confessed to me they +would soon have disbelieved the Captain's story, and supposed their +designated victim still quite innocent of their designs; but for +the fact that he continued (however ingeniously) to give the slip +to questions, and the yet stronger confirmation of his repeated +efforts to escape. The last of these, which brought things to a +head, I am now to relate. And first I should say that by this time +the temper of Harris's companions was utterly worn out; civility +was scarce pretended; and for one very significant circumstance, +the Master and Secundra had been (on some pretext) deprived of +weapons. On their side, however, the threatened pair kept up the +parade of friendship handsomely; Secundra was all bows, the Master +all smiles; and on the last night of the truce he had even gone so +far as to sing for the diversion of the company. It was observed +that he had also eaten with unusual heartiness, and drank deep, +doubtless from design. + +At least, about three in the morning, he came out of the tent into +the open air, audibly mourning and complaining, with all the manner +of a sufferer from surfeit. For some while, Secundra publicly +attended on his patron, who at last became more easy, and fell +asleep on the frosty ground behind the tent, the Indian returning +within. Some time after, the sentry was changed; had the Master +pointed out to him, where he lay in what is called a robe of +buffalo: and thenceforth kept an eye upon him (he declared) +without remission. With the first of the dawn, a draught of wind +came suddenly and blew open one side the corner of the robe; and +with the same puff, the Master's hat whirled in the air and fell +some yards away. The sentry thinking it remarkable the sleeper +should not awaken, thereupon drew near; and the next moment, with a +great shout, informed the camp their prisoner was escaped. He had +left behind his Indian, who (in the first vivacity of the surprise) +came near to pay the forfeit of his life, and was, in fact, +inhumanly mishandled; but Secundra, in the midst of threats and +cruelties, stuck to it with extraordinary loyalty, that he was +quite ignorant of his master's plans, which might indeed be true, +and of the manner of his escape, which was demonstrably false. +Nothing was therefore left to the conspirators but to rely entirely +on the skill of Mountain. The night had been frosty, the ground +quite hard; and the sun was no sooner up than a strong thaw set in. +It was Mountain's boast that few men could have followed that +trail, and still fewer (even of the native Indians) found it. The +Master had thus a long start before his pursuers had the scent, and +he must have travelled with surprising energy for a pedestrian so +unused, since it was near noon before Mountain had a view of him. +At this conjuncture the trader was alone, all his companions +following, at his own request, several hundred yards in the rear; +he knew the Master was unarmed; his heart was besides heated with +the exercise and lust of hunting; and seeing the quarry so close, +so defenceless, and seeming so fatigued, he vain-gloriously +determined to effect the capture with his single hand. A step or +two farther brought him to one margin of a little clearing; on the +other, with his arms folded and his back to a huge stone, the +Master sat. It is possible Mountain may have made a rustle, it is +certain, at least, the Master raised his head and gazed directly at +that quarter of the thicket where his hunter lay; "I could not be +sure he saw me," Mountain said; "he just looked my way like a man +with his mind made up, and all the courage ran out of me like rum +out of a bottle." And presently, when the Master looked away +again, and appeared to resume those meditations in which he had sat +immersed before the trader's coming, Mountain slunk stealthily back +and returned to seek the help of his companions. + +And now began the chapter of surprises, for the scout had scarce +informed the others of his discovery, and they were yet preparing +their weapons for a rush upon the fugitive, when the man himself +appeared in their midst, walking openly and quietly, with his hands +behind his back. + +"Ah, men!" says he, on his beholding them. "Here is a fortunate +encounter. Let us get back to camp." + +Mountain had not mentioned his own weakness or the Master's +disconcerting gaze upon the thicket, so that (with all the rest) +his return appeared spontaneous. For all that, a hubbub arose; +oaths flew, fists were shaken, and guns pointed. + +"Let us get back to camp," said the Master. "I have an explanation +to make, but it must be laid before you all. And in the meanwhile +I would put up these weapons, one of which might very easily go off +and blow away your hopes of treasure. I would not kill," says he, +smiling, "the goose with the golden eggs." + +The charm of his superiority once more triumphed; and the party, in +no particular order, set off on their return. By the way, he found +occasion to get a word or two apart with Mountain. + +"You are a clever fellow and a bold," says he, "but I am not so +sure that you are doing yourself justice. I would have you to +consider whether you would not do better, ay, and safer, to serve +me instead of serving so commonplace a rascal as Mr. Harris. +Consider of it," he concluded, dealing the man a gentle tap upon +the shoulder, "and don't be in haste. Dead or alive, you will find +me an ill man to quarrel with." + +When they were come back to the camp, where Harris and Pinkerton +stood guard over Secundra, these two ran upon the Master like +viragoes, and were amazed out of measure when they were bidden by +their comrades to "stand back and hear what the gentleman had to +say." The Master had not flinched before their onslaught; nor, at +this proof of the ground he had gained, did he betray the least +sufficiency. + +"Do not let us be in haste," says he. "Meat first and public +speaking after." + +With that they made a hasty meal: and as soon as it was done, the +Master, leaning on one elbow, began his speech. He spoke long, +addressing himself to each except Harris, finding for each (with +the same exception) some particular flattery. He called them +"bold, honest blades," declared he had never seen a more jovial +company, work better done, or pains more merrily supported. "Well, +then," says he, "some one asks me, Why the devil I ran away? But +that is scarce worth answer, for I think you all know pretty well. +But you know only pretty well: that is a point I shall arrive at +presently, and be you ready to remark it when it comes. There is a +traitor here: a double traitor: I will give you his name before I +am done; and let that suffice for now. But here comes some other +gentleman and asks me, 'Why, in the devil, I came back?' Well, +before I answer that question, I have one to put to you. It was +this cur here, this Harris, that speaks Hindustani?" cries he, +rising on one knee and pointing fair at the man's face, with a +gesture indescribably menacing; and when he had been answered in +the affirmative, "Ah!" says he, "then are all my suspicions +verified, and I did rightly to come back. Now, men, hear the truth +for the first time." Thereupon he launched forth in a long story, +told with extraordinary skill, how he had all along suspected +Harris, how he had found the confirmation of his fears, and how +Harris must have misrepresented what passed between Secundra and +himself. At this point he made a bold stroke with excellent +effect. "I suppose," says he, "you think you are going shares with +Harris; I suppose you think you will see to that yourselves; you +would naturally not think so flat a rogue could cozen you. But +have a care! These half idiots have a sort of cunning, as the +skunk has its stench; and it may be news to you that Harris has +taken care of himself already. Yes, for him the treasure is all +money in the bargain. You must find it or go starve. But he has +been paid beforehand; my brother paid him to destroy me; look at +him, if you doubt - look at him, grinning and gulping, a detected +thief!" Thence, having made this happy impression, he explained +how he had escaped, and thought better of it, and at last concluded +to come back, lay the truth before the company, and take his chance +with them once more: persuaded as he was, they would instantly +depose Harris and elect some other leader. "There is the whole +truth," said he: "and with one exception, I put myself entirely in +your hands. What is the exception? There he sits," he cried, +pointing once more to Harris; "a man that has to die! Weapons and +conditions are all one to me; put me face to face with him, and if +you give me nothing but a stick, in five minutes I will show you a +sop of broken carrion, fit for dogs to roll in." + +It was dark night when he made an end; they had listened in almost +perfect silence; but the firelight scarce permitted any one to +judge, from the look of his neighbours, with what result of +persuasion or conviction. Indeed, the Master had set himself in +the brightest place, and kept his face there, to be the centre of +men's eyes: doubtless on a profound calculation. Silence followed +for awhile, and presently the whole party became involved in +disputation: the Master lying on his back, with his hands knit +under his head and one knee flung across the other, like a person +unconcerned in the result. And here, I daresay, his bravado +carried him too far and prejudiced his case. At least, after a +cast or two back and forward, opinion settled finally against him. +It's possible he hoped to repeat the business of the pirate ship, +and be himself, perhaps, on hard enough conditions, elected leader; +and things went so far that way, that Mountain actually threw out +the proposition. But the rock he split upon was Hastie. This +fellow was not well liked, being sour and slow, with an ugly, +glowering disposition, but he had studied some time for the church +at Edinburgh College, before ill conduct had destroyed his +prospects, and he now remembered and applied what he had learned. +Indeed he had not proceeded very far, when the Master rolled +carelessly upon one side, which was done (in Mountain's opinion) to +conceal the beginnings of despair upon his countenance. Hastie +dismissed the most of what they had heard as nothing to the matter: +what they wanted was the treasure. All that was said of Harris +might be true, and they would have to see to that in time. But +what had that to do with the treasure? They had heard a vast of +words; but the truth was just this, that Mr. Durie was damnably +frightened and had several times run off. Here he was - whether +caught or come back was all one to Hastie: the point was to make +an end of the business. As for the talk of deposing and electing +captains, he hoped they were all free men and could attend their +own affairs. That was dust flung in their eyes, and so was the +proposal to fight Harris. "He shall fight no one in this camp, I +can tell him that," said Hastie. "We had trouble enough to get his +arms away from him, and we should look pretty fools to give them +back again. But if it's excitement the gentleman is after, I can +supply him with more than perhaps he cares about. For I have no +intention to spend the remainder of my life in these mountains; +already I have been too long; and I propose that he should +immediately tell us where that treasure is, or else immediately be +shot. And there," says he, producing his weapon, "there is the +pistol that I mean to use." + +"Come, I call you a man," cries the Master, sitting up and looking +at the speaker with an air of admiration. + +"I didn't ask you to call me anything," returned Hastie; "which is +it to be?" + +"That's an idle question," said the Master. "Needs must when the +devil drives. The truth is we are within easy walk of the place, +and I will show it you to-morrow." + +With that, as if all were quite settled, and settled exactly to his +mind, he walked off to his tent, whither Secundra had preceded him. + +I cannot think of these last turns and wriggles of my old enemy +except with admiration; scarce even pity is mingled with the +sentiment, so strongly the man supported, so boldly resisted his +misfortunes. Even at that hour, when he perceived himself quite +lost, when he saw he had but effected an exchange of enemies, and +overthrown Harris to set Hastie up, no sign of weakness appeared in +his behaviour, and he withdrew to his tent, already determined (I +must suppose) upon affronting the incredible hazard of his last +expedient, with the same easy, assured, genteel expression and +demeanour as he might have left a theatre withal to join a supper +of the wits. But doubtless within, if we could see there, his soul +trembled. + +Early in the night, word went about the camp that he was sick; and +the first thing the next morning he called Hastie to his side, and +inquired most anxiously if he had any skill in medicine. As a +matter of fact, this was a vanity of that fallen divinity +student's, to which he had cunningly addressed himself. Hastie +examined him; and being flattered, ignorant, and highly auspicious, +knew not in the least whether the man was sick or malingering. In +this state he went forth again to his companions; and (as the thing +which would give himself most consequence either way) announced +that the patient was in a fair way to die. + +"For all that," he added with an oath, "and if he bursts by the +wayside, he must bring us this morning to the treasure." + +But there were several in the camp (Mountain among the number) whom +this brutality revolted. They would have seen the Master +pistolled, or pistolled him themselves, without the smallest +sentiment of pity; but they seemed to have been touched by his +gallant fight and unequivocal defeat the night before; perhaps, +too, they were even already beginning to oppose themselves to their +new leader: at least, they now declared that (if the man was sick) +he should have a day's rest in spite of Hastie's teeth. + +The next morning he was manifestly worse, and Hastie himself began +to display something of humane concern, so easily does even the +pretence of doctoring awaken sympathy. The third the Master called +Mountain and Hastie to the tent, announced himself to be dying, +gave them full particulars as to the position of the cache, and +begged them to set out incontinently on the quest, so that they +might see if he deceived them, and (if they were at first +unsuccessful) he should be able to correct their error. + +But here arose a difficulty on which he doubtless counted. None of +these men would trust another, none would consent to stay behind. +On the other hand, although the Master seemed extremely low, spoke +scarce above a whisper, and lay much of the time insensible, it was +still possible it was a fraudulent sickness; and if all went +treasure-hunting, it might prove they had gone upon a wild-goose +chase, and return to find their prisoner flown. They concluded, +therefore, to hang idling round the camp, alleging sympathy to +their reason; and certainly, so mingled are our dispositions, +several were sincerely (if not very deeply) affected by the natural +peril of the man whom they callously designed to murder. In the +afternoon, Hastie was called to the bedside to pray: the which +(incredible as it must appear) he did with unction; about eight at +night, the wailing of Secundra announced that all was over; and +before ten, the Indian, with a link stuck in the ground, was +toiling at the grave. Sunrise of next day beheld the Master's +burial, all hands attending with great decency of demeanour; and +the body was laid in the earth, wrapped in a fur robe, with only +the face uncovered; which last was of a waxy whiteness, and had the +nostrils plugged according to some Oriental habit of Secundra's. +No sooner was the grave filled than the lamentations of the Indian +once more struck concern to every heart; and it appears this gang +of murderers, so far from resenting his outcries, although both +distressful and (in such a country) perilous to their own safety, +roughly but kindly endeavoured to console him. + +But if human nature is even in the worst of men occasionally kind, +it is still, and before all things, greedy; and they soon turned +from the mourner to their own concerns. The cache of the treasure +being hard by, although yet unidentified, it was concluded not to +break camp; and the day passed, on the part of the voyagers, in +unavailing exploration of the woods, Secundra the while lying on +his master's grave. That night they placed no sentinel, but lay +altogether about the fire, in the customary woodman fashion, the +heads outward, like the spokes of a wheel. Morning found them in +the same disposition; only Pinkerton, who lay on Mountain's right, +between him and Hastie, had (in the hours of darkness) been +secretly butchered, and there lay, still wrapped as to his body in +his mantle, but offering above that ungodly and horrific spectacle +of the scalped head. The gang were that morning as pale as a +company of phantoms, for the pertinacity of Indian war (or to speak +more correctly, Indian murder) was well known to all. But they +laid the chief blame on their unsentinelled posture; and fired with +the neighbourhood of the treasure, determined to continue where +they were. Pinkerton was buried hard by the Master; the survivors +again passed the day in exploration, and returned in a mingled +humour of anxiety and hope, being partly certain they were now +close on the discovery of what they sought, and on the other hand +(with the return of darkness) were infected with the fear of +Indians. Mountain was the first sentry; he declares he neither +slept nor yet sat down, but kept his watch with a perpetual and +straining vigilance, and it was even with unconcern that (when he +saw by the stars his time was up) he drew near the fire to awaken +his successor. This man (it was Hicks the shoemaker) slept on the +lee side of the circle, something farther off in consequence than +those to windward, and in a place darkened by the blowing smoke. +Mountain stooped and took him by the shoulder; his hand was at once +smeared by some adhesive wetness; and (the wind at the moment +veering) the firelight shone upon the sleeper, and showed him, like +Pinkerton, dead and scalped. + +It was clear they had fallen in the hands of one of those matchless +Indian bravos, that will sometimes follow a party for days, and in +spite of indefatigable travel, and unsleeping watch, continue to +keep up with their advance, and steal a scalp at every resting- +place. Upon this discovery, the treasure-seekers, already reduced +to a poor half dozen, fell into mere dismay, seized a few +necessaries, and deserting the remainder of their goods, fled +outright into the forest. Their fire they left still burning, and +their dead comrade unburied. All day they ceased not to flee, +eating by the way, from hand to mouth; and since they feared to +sleep, continued to advance at random even in the hours of +darkness. But the limit of man's endurance is soon reached; when +they rested at last it was to sleep profoundly; and when they woke, +it was to find that the enemy was still upon their heels, and death +and mutilation had once more lessened and deformed their company. + +By this they had become light-headed, they had quite missed their +path in the wilderness, their stores were already running low. +With the further horrors, it is superfluous that I should swell +this narrative, already too prolonged. Suffice it to say that when +at length a night passed by innocuous, and they might breathe again +in the hope that the murderer had at last desisted from pursuit, +Mountain and Secundra were alone. The trader is firmly persuaded +their unseen enemy was some warrior of his own acquaintance, and +that he himself was spared by favour. The mercy extended to +Secundra he explains on the ground that the East Indian was thought +to be insane; partly from the fact that, through all the horrors of +the flight and while others were casting away their very food and +weapons, Secundra continued to stagger forward with a mattock on +his shoulder, and partly because, in the last days and with a great +degree of heat and fluency, he perpetually spoke with himself in +his own language. But he was sane enough when it came to English. + +"You think he will be gone quite away?" he asked, upon their blest +awakening in safety. + +"I pray God so, I believe so, I dare to believe so," Mountain had +replied almost with incoherence, as he described the scene to me. + +And indeed he was so much distempered that until he met us, the +next morning, he could scarce be certain whether he had dreamed, or +whether it was a fact, that Secundra had thereupon turned directly +about and returned without a word upon their footprints, setting +his face for these wintry and hungry solitudes, along a path whose +every stage was mile-stoned with a mutilated corpse. + + + +CHAPTER XII. - THE JOURNEY IN THE WILDERNESS (continued). + + + +Mountain's story, as it was laid before Sir William Johnson and my +lord, was shorn, of course, of all the earlier particulars, and the +expedition described to have proceeded uneventfully, until the +Master sickened. But the latter part was very forcibly related, +the speaker visibly thrilling to his recollections; and our then +situation, on the fringe of the same desert, and the private +interests of each, gave him an audience prepared to share in his +emotions. For Mountain's intelligence not only changed the world +for my Lord Durrisdeer, but materially affected the designs of Sir +William Johnson. + +These I find I must lay more at length before the reader. Word had +reached Albany of dubious import; it had been rumoured some +hostility was to be put in act; and the Indian diplomatist had, +thereupon, sped into the wilderness, even at the approach of +winter, to nip that mischief in the bud. Here, on the borders, he +learned that he was come too late; and a difficult choice was thus +presented to a man (upon the whole) not any more bold than prudent. +His standing with the painted braves may be compared to that of my +Lord President Culloden among the chiefs of our own Highlanders at +the 'forty-five; that is as much as to say, he was, to these men, +reason's only speaking trumpet, and counsels of peace and +moderation, if they were to prevail at all, must prevail singly +through his influence. If, then, he should return, the province +must lie open to all the abominable tragedies of Indian war - the +houses blaze, the wayfarer be cut off, and the men of the woods +collect their usual disgusting spoil of human scalps. On the other +side, to go farther forth, to risk so small a party deeper in the +desert, to carry words of peace among warlike savages already +rejoicing to return to war: here was an extremity from which it +was easy to perceive his mind revolted. + +"I have come too late," he said more than once, and would fall into +a deep consideration, his head bowed in his hands, his foot patting +the ground. + +At length he raised his face and looked upon us, that is to say +upon my lord, Mountain, and myself, sitting close round a small +fire, which had been made for privacy in one corner of the camp. + +"My lord, to be quite frank with you, I find myself in two minds," +said he. "I think it very needful I should go on, but not at all +proper I should any longer enjoy the pleasure of your company. We +are here still upon the water side; and I think the risk to +southward no great matter. Will not yourself and Mr. Mackellar +take a single boat's crew and return to Albany?" + +My lord, I should say, had listened to Mountain's narrative, +regarding him throughout with a painful intensity of gaze; and +since the tale concluded, had sat as in a dream. There was +something very daunting in his look; something to my eyes not +rightly human; the face, lean, and dark, and aged, the mouth +painful, the teeth disclosed in a perpetual rictus; the eyeball +swimming clear of the lids upon a field of blood-shot white. I +could not behold him myself without a jarring irritation, such as, +I believe, is too frequently the uppermost feeling on the sickness +of those dear to us. Others, I could not but remark. were scarce +able to support his neighbourhood - Sir William eviting to be near +him, Mountain dodging his eye, and, when he met it, blenching and +halting in his story. At this appeal, however, my lord appeared to +recover his command upon himself. + +"To Albany?" said he, with a good voice. + +"Not short of it, at least," replied Sir William. "There is no +safety nearer hand." + +"I would be very sweir (11) to return," says my lord. "I am not +afraid - of Indians," he added, with a jerk. + +"I wish that I could say so much," returned Sir William, smiling; +"although, if any man durst say it, it should be myself. But you +are to keep in view my responsibility, and that as the voyage has +now become highly dangerous, and your business - if you ever had +any," says he, "brought quite to a conclusion by the distressing +family intelligence you have received, I should be hardly justified +if I even suffered you to proceed, and run the risk of some obloquy +if anything regrettable should follow." + +My lord turned to Mountain. "What did he pretend he died of?" he +asked. + +"I don't think I understand your honour," said the trader, pausing +like a man very much affected, in the dressing of some cruel frost- +bites. + +For a moment my lord seemed at a full stop; and then, with some +irritation, "I ask you what he died of. Surely that's a plain +question," said he. + +"Oh! I don't know," said Mountain. "Hastie even never knew. He +seemed to sicken natural, and just pass away." + +"There it is, you see!" concluded my lord, turning to Sir William. + +"Your lordship is too deep for me," replied Sir William. + +"Why," says my lord, "this in a matter of succession; my son's +title may be called in doubt; and the man being supposed to be dead +of nobody can tell what, a great deal of suspicion would be +naturally roused." + +"But, God damn me, the man's buried!" cried Sir William. + +"I will never believe that," returned my lord, painfully trembling. +"I'll never believe it!" he cried again, and jumped to his feet. +"Did he LOOK dead?" he asked of Mountain. + +"Look dead?" repeated the trader. "He looked white. Why, what +would he be at? I tell you, I put the sods upon him." + +My lord caught Sir William by the coat with a hooked hand. "This +man has the name of my brother," says he, "but it's well understood +that he was never canny." + +"Canny?" says Sir William. "What is that?" + +"He's not of this world," whispered my lord, "neither him nor the +black deil that serves him. I have struck my sword throughout his +vitals," he cried; "I have felt the hilt dirl (12) on his +breastbone, and the hot blood spirt in my very face, time and +again, time and again!" he repeated, with a gesture indescribable. +"But he was never dead for that," said he, and I sighed aloud. +"Why should I think he was dead now? No, not till I see him +rotting," says he. + +Sir William looked across at me with a long face. Mountain forgot +his wounds, staring and gaping. + +"My lord," said I, "I wish you would collect your spirits." But my +throat was so dry, and my own wits so scattered, I could add no +more. + +"No," says my lord, "it's not to be supposed that he would +understand me. Mackellar does, for he kens all, and has seen him +buried before now. This is a very good servant to me, Sir William, +this man Mackellar; he buried him with his own hands - he and my +father - by the light of two siller candlesticks. The other man is +a familiar spirit; he brought him from Coromandel. I would have +told ye this long syne, Sir William, only it was in the family." +These last remarks he made with a kind of a melancholy composure, +and his time of aberration seemed to pass away. "You can ask +yourself what it all means," he proceeded. "My brother falls sick, +and dies, and is buried, as so they say; and all seems very plain. +But why did the familiar go back? I think ye must see for yourself +it's a point that wants some clearing." + +"I will be at your service, my lord, in half a minute," said Sir +William, rising. "Mr. Mackellar, two words with you;" and he led +me without the camp, the frost crunching in our steps, the trees +standing at our elbow, hoar with frost, even as on that night in +the Long Shrubbery. "Of course, this is midsummer madness," said +Sir William, as soon as we were gotten out of bearing. + +"Why, certainly," said I. "The man is mad. I think that +manifest." + +"Shall I seize and bind him?" asked Sir William. "I will upon your +authority. If these are all ravings, that should certainly be +done." + +I looked down upon the ground, back at the camp, with its bright +fires and the folk watching us, and about me on the woods and +mountains; there was just the one way that I could not look, and +that was in Sir William's face. + +"Sir William," said I at last, "I think my lord not sane, and have +long thought him so. But there are degrees in madness; and whether +he should be brought under restraint - Sir William, I am no fit +judge," I concluded. + +"I will be the judge," said he. "I ask for facts. Was there, in +all that jargon, any word of truth or sanity? Do you hesitate?" he +asked. "Am I to understand you have buried this gentleman before?" + +"Not buried," said I; and then, taking up courage at last, "Sir +William," said I, "unless I were to tell you a long story, which +much concerns a noble family (and myself not in the least), it +would be impossible to make this matter clear to you. Say the +word, and I will do it, right or wrong. And, at any rate, I will +say so much, that my lord is not so crazy as he seems. This is a +strange matter, into the tail of which you are unhappily drifted." + +"I desire none of your secrets," replied Sir William; "but I will +be plain, at the risk of incivility, and confess that I take little +pleasure in my present company." + +"I would be the last to blame you," said I, "for that." + +"I have not asked either for your censure or your praise, sir," +returned Sir William. "I desire simply to be quit of you; and to +that effect, I put a boat and complement of men at your disposal." + +"This is fairly offered," said I, after reflection. "But you must +suffer me to say a word upon the other side. We have a natural +curiosity to learn the truth of this affair; I have some of it +myself; my lord (it is very plain) has but too much. The matter of +the Indian's return is enigmatical." + +"I think so myself," Sir William interrupted, "and I propose (since +I go in that direction) to probe it to the bottom. Whether or not +the man has gone like a dog to die upon his master's grave, his +life, at least, is in great danger, and I propose, if I can, to +save it. There is nothing against his character?" + +"Nothing, Sir William," I replied. + +"And the other?" he said. "I have heard my lord, of course; but, +from the circumstances of his servant's loyalty, I must suppose he +had some noble qualities." + +"You must not ask me that!" I cried. "Hell may have noble flames. +I have known him a score of years, and always hated, and always +admired, and always slavishly feared him." + +"I appear to intrude again upon your secrets," said Sir William, +"believe me, inadvertently. Enough that I will see the grave, and +(if possible) rescue the Indian. Upon these terms, can you +persuade your master to return to Albany?" + +"Sir William," said I, "I will tell you how it is. You do not see +my lord to advantage; it will seem even strange to you that I +should love him; but I do, and I am not alone. If he goes back to +Albany, it must be by force, and it will be the death-warrant of +his reason, and perhaps his life. That is my sincere belief; but I +am in your hands, and ready to obey, if you will assume so much +responsibility as to command." + +"I will have no shred of responsibility; it is my single endeavour +to avoid the same," cried Sir William. "You insist upon following +this journey up; and be it so! I wash my hands of the whole +matter." + +With which word, he turned upon his heel and gave the order to +break camp; and my lord, who had been hovering near by, came +instantly to my side. + +"Which is it to be?" said he. + +"You are to have your way," I answered. "You shall see the grave." + + +The situation of the Master's grave was, between guides, easily +described; it lay, indeed, beside a chief landmark of the +wilderness, a certain range of peaks, conspicuous by their design +and altitude, and the source of many brawling tributaries to that +inland sea, Lake Champlain. It was therefore possible to strike +for it direct, instead of following back the blood-stained trail of +the fugitives, and to cover, in some sixteen hours of march, a +distance which their perturbed wanderings had extended over more +than sixty. Our boats we left under a guard upon the river; it +was, indeed, probable we should return to find them frozen fast; +and the small equipment with which we set forth upon the +expedition, included not only an infinity of furs to protect us +from the cold, but an arsenal of snow-shoes to render travel +possible, when the inevitable snow should fall. Considerable alarm +was manifested at our departure; the march was conducted with +soldierly precaution, the camp at night sedulously chosen and +patrolled; and it was a consideration of this sort that arrested +us, the second day, within not many hundred yards of our +destination - the night being already imminent, the spot in which +we stood well qualified to be a strong camp for a party of our +numbers; and Sir William, therefore, on a sudden thought, arresting +our advance. + +Before us was the high range of mountains toward which we had been +all day deviously drawing near. From the first light of the dawn, +their silver peaks had been the goal of our advance across a +tumbled lowland forest, thrid with rough streams, and strewn with +monstrous boulders; the peaks (as I say) silver, for already at the +higher altitudes the snow fell nightly; but the woods and the low +ground only breathed upon with frost. All day heaven had been +charged with ugly vapours, in the which the sun swam and glimmered +like a shilling piece; all day the wind blew on our left cheek +barbarous cold, but very pure to breathe. With the end of the +afternoon, however, the wind fell; the clouds, being no longer +reinforced, were scattered or drunk up; the sun set behind us with +some wintry splendour, and the white brow of the mountains shared +its dying glow. + +It was dark ere we had supper; we ate in silence, and the meal was +scarce despatched before my lord slunk from the fireside to the +margin of the camp; whither I made haste to follow him. The camp +was on high ground, overlooking a frozen lake, perhaps a mile in +its longest measurement; all about us, the forest lay in heights +and hollows; above rose the white mountains; and higher yet, the +moon rode in a fair sky. There was no breath of air; nowhere a +twig creaked; and the sounds of our own camp were hushed and +swallowed up in the surrounding stillness. Now that the sun and +the wind were both gone down, it appeared almost warm, like a night +of July: a singular illusion of the sense, when earth, air, and +water were strained to bursting with the extremity of frost. + +My lord (or what I still continued to call by his loved name) stood +with his elbow in one hand, and his chin sunk in the other, gazing +before him on the surface of the wood. My eyes followed his, and +rested almost pleasantly upon the frosted contexture of the pines, +rising in moonlit hillocks, or sinking in the shadow of small +glens. Hard by, I told myself, was the grave of our enemy, now +gone where the wicked cease from troubling, the earth heaped for +ever on his once so active limbs. I could not but think of him as +somehow fortunate to be thus done with man's anxiety and weariness, +the daily expense of spirit, and that daily river of circumstance +to be swum through, at any hazard, under the penalty of shame or +death. I could not but think how good was the end of that long +travel; and with that, my mind swung at a tangent to my lord. For +was not my lord dead also? a maimed soldier, looking vainly for +discharge, lingering derided in the line of battle? A kind man, I +remembered him; wise, with a decent pride, a son perhaps too +dutiful, a husband only too loving, one that could suffer and be +silent, one whose hand I loved to press. Of a sudden, pity caught +in my windpipe with a sob; I could have wept aloud to remember and +behold him; and standing thus by his elbow, under the broad moon, I +prayed fervently either that he should be released, or I +strengthened to persist in my affection. + +"Oh God," said I, "this was the best man to me and to himself, and +now I shrink from him. He did no wrong, or not till he was broke +with sorrows; these are but his honourable wounds that we begin to +shrink from. Oh, cover them up, oh, take him away, before we hate +him!" + +I was still so engaged in my own bosom, when a sound broke suddenly +upon the night. It was neither very loud, nor very near; yet, +bursting as it did from so profound and so prolonged a silence, it +startled the camp like an alarm of trumpets. Ere I had taken +breath, Sir William was beside me, the main part of the voyagers +clustered at his back, intently giving ear. Methought, as I +glanced at them across my shoulder, there was a whiteness, other +than moonlight, on their cheeks; and the rays of the moon reflected +with a sparkle on the eyes of some, and the shadows lying black +under the brows of others (according as they raised or bowed the +head to listen) gave to the group a strange air of animation and +anxiety. My lord was to the front, crouching a little forth, his +hand raised as for silence: a man turned to stone. And still the +sounds continued, breathlessly renewed with a precipitate rhythm. + +Suddenly Mountain spoke in a loud, broken whisper, as of a man +relieved. "I have it now," he said; and, as we all turned to hear +him, "the Indian must have known the cache," he added. "That is he +- he is digging out the treasure." + +"Why, to be sure!" exclaimed Sir William. "We were geese not to +have supposed so much." + +"The only thing is," Mountain resumed, "the sound is very close to +our old camp. And, again, I do not see how he is there before us, +unless the man had wings!" + +"Greed and fear are wings," remarked Sir William. "But this rogue +has given us an alert, and I have a notion to return the +compliment. What say you, gentlemen, shall we have a moonlight +hunt?" + +It was so agreed; dispositions were made to surround Secundra at +his task; some of Sir William's Indians hastened in advance; and a +strong guard being left at our headquarters, we set forth along the +uneven bottom of the forest; frost crackling, ice sometimes loudly +splitting under foot; and overhead the blackness of pine-woods, and +the broken brightness of the moon. Our way led down into a hollow +of the land; and as we descended, the sounds diminished and had +almost died away. Upon the other slope it was more open, only +dotted with a few pines, and several vast and scattered rocks that +made inky shadows in the moonlight. Here the sounds began to reach +us more distinctly; we could now perceive the ring of iron, and +more exactly estimate the furious degree of haste with which the +digger plied his instrument. As we neared the top of the ascent, a +bird or two winged aloft and hovered darkly in the moonlight; and +the next moment we were gazing through a fringe of trees upon a +singular picture. + +A narrow plateau, overlooked by the white mountains, and +encompassed nearer hand by woods, lay bare to the strong radiance +of the moon. Rough goods, such as make the wealth of foresters, +were sprinkled here and there upon the ground in meaningless +disarray. About the midst, a tent stood, silvered with frost: the +door open, gaping on the black interior. At the one end of this +small stage lay what seemed the tattered remnants of a man. +Without doubt we had arrived upon the scene of Harris's encampment; +there were the goods scattered in the panic of flight; it was in +yon tent the Master breathed his last; and the frozen carrion that +lay before us was the body of the drunken shoemaker. It was always +moving to come upon the theatre of any tragic incident; to come +upon it after so many days, and to find it (in the seclusion of a +desert) still unchanged, must have impressed the mind of the most +careless. And yet it was not that which struck us into pillars of +stone; but the sight (which yet we had been half expecting) of +Secundra ankle deep in the grave of his late master. He had cast +the main part of his raiment by, yet his frail arms and shoulders +glistered in the moonlight with a copious sweat; his face was +contracted with anxiety and expectation; his blows resounded on the +grave, as thick as sobs; and behind him, strangely deformed and +ink-black upon the frosty ground, the creature's shadow repeated +and parodied his swift gesticulations. Some night birds arose from +the boughs upon our coming, and then settled back; but Secundra, +absorbed in his toil; heard or heeded not at all. + +I heard Mountain whisper to Sir William, "Good God! it's the grave! +He's digging him up!" It was what we had all guessed, and yet to +hear it put in language thrilled me. Sir William violently +started. + +"You damned sacrilegious hound!" he cried. "What's this?" + +Secundra leaped in the air, a little breathless cry escaped him, +the tool flew from his grasp, and he stood one instant staring at +the speaker. The next, swift as an arrow, he sped for the woods +upon the farther side; and the next again, throwing up his hands +with a violent gesture of resolution, he had begun already to +retrace his steps. + +"Well, then, you come, you help - " he was saying. But by now my +lord had stepped beside Sir William; the moon shone fair upon his +face, and the words were still upon Secundra's lips, when he beheld +and recognised his master's enemy. "Him!" he screamed, clasping +his hands, and shrinking on himself. + +"Come, come!" said Sir William. "There is none here to do you +harm, if you be innocent; and if you be guilty, your escape is +quite cut off. Speak, what do you here among the graves of the +dead and the remains of the unburied?" + +"You no murderer?" inquired Secundra. "You true man? you see me +safe?" + +"I will see you safe, if you be innocent," returned Sir William. +"I have said the thing, and I see not wherefore you should doubt +it." + +"There all murderers," cried Secundra, "that is why! He kill - +murderer," pointing to Mountain; "there two hire-murderers," +pointing to my lord and myself - "all gallows - murderers! Ah! I +see you all swing in a rope. Now I go save the sahib; he see you +swing in a rope. The sahib," he continued, pointing to the grave, +"he not dead. He bury, he not dead." + +My lord uttered a little noise, moved nearer to the grave, and +stood and stared in it. + +"Buried and not dead?" exclaimed Sir William. "What kind of rant +is this?" + +"See, sahib," said Secundra. "The sahib and I alone with +murderers; try all way to escape, no way good. Then try this way: +good way in warm climate, good way in India; here, in this dam cold +place, who can tell? I tell you pretty good hurry: you help, you +light a fire, help rub." + +"What is the creature talking of?" cried Sir William. "My head +goes round." + +"I tell you I bury him alive," said Secundra. "I teach him swallow +his tongue. Now dig him up pretty good hurry, and he not much +worse. You light a fire." + +Sir William turned to the nearest of his men. "Light a fire," said +he. "My lot seems to be cast with the insane." + +"You good man," returned Secundra. "Now I go dig the sahib up." + +He returned as he spoke to the grave, and resumed his former toil. +My lord stood rooted, and I at my lord's side, fearing I knew not +what. + +The frost was not yet very deep, and presently the Indian threw +aside his tool, and began to scoop the dirt by handfuls. Then he +disengaged a corner of a buffalo robe; and then I saw hair catch +among his fingers: yet, a moment more, and the moon shone on +something white. Awhile Secundra crouched upon his knees, scraping +with delicate fingers, breathing with puffed lips; and when he +moved aside, I beheld the face of the Master wholly disengaged. It +was deadly white, the eyes closed, the ears and nostrils plugged, +the cheeks fallen, the nose sharp as if in death; but for all he +had lain so many days under the sod, corruption had not approached +him, and (what strangely affected all of us) his lips and chin were +mantled with a swarthy beard. + +"My God!" cried Mountain, "he was as smooth as a baby when we laid +him there!" + +"They say hair grows upon the dead," observed Sir William; but his +voice was thick and weak. + +Secundra paid no heed to our remarks, digging swift as a terrier in +the loose earth. Every moment the form of the Master, swathed in +his buffalo robe, grew more distinct in the bottom of that shallow +trough; the moon shining strong, and the shadows of the standers- +by, as they drew forward and back, falling and flitting over his +emergent countenance. The sight held us with a horror not before +experienced. I dared not look my lord in the face; but for as long +as it lasted, I never observed him to draw breath; and a little in +the background one of the men (I know not whom) burst into a kind +of sobbing. + +"Now," said Secundra, "you help me lift him out." + +Of the flight of time, I have no idea; it may have been three +hours, and it may have been five, that the Indian laboured to +reanimate his master's body. One thing only I know, that it was +still night, and the moon was not yet set, although it had sunk +low, and now barred the plateau with long shadows, when Secundra +uttered a small cry of satisfaction; and, leaning swiftly forth, I +thought I could myself perceive a change upon that icy countenance +of the unburied. The next moment I beheld his eyelids flutter; the +next they rose entirely, and the week-old corpse looked me for a +moment in the face. + +So much display of life I can myself swear to. I have heard from +others that he visibly strove to speak, that his teeth showed in +his beard, and that his brow was contorted as with an agony of pain +and effort. And this may have been; I know not, I was otherwise +engaged. For at that first disclosure of the dead man's eyes, my +Lord Durrisdeer fell to the ground, and when I raised him up, he +was a corpse. + +Day came, and still Secundra could not be persuaded to desist from +his unavailing efforts. Sir William, leaving a small party under +my command, proceeded on his embassy with the first light; and +still the Indian rubbed the limbs and breathed in the mouth of the +dead body. You would think such labours might have vitalised a +stone; but, except for that one moment (which was my lord's death), +the black spirit of the Master held aloof from its discarded clay; +and by about the hour of noon, even the faithful servant was at +length convinced. He took it with unshaken quietude. + +"Too cold," said he, "good way in India, no good here." And, +asking for some food, which he ravenously devoured as soon as it +was set before him, he drew near to the fire and took his place at +my elbow. In the same spot, as soon as he had eaten, he stretched +himself out, and fell into a childlike slumber, from which I must +arouse him, some hours afterwards, to take his part as one of the +mourners at the double funeral. It was the same throughout; he +seemed to have outlived at once and with the same effort, his grief +for his master and his terror of myself and Mountain. + +One of the men left with me was skilled in stone-cutting; and +before Sir William returned to pick us up, I had chiselled on a +boulder this inscription, with a copy of which I may fitly bring my +narrative to a close: + + +J. D., + +HEIR TO A SCOTTISH TITLE, + +A MASTER OF THE ARTS AND GRACES, + +ADMIRED IN EUROPE, ASIA, AMERICA, + +IN WAR AND PEACE, + +IN THE TENTS OF SAVAGE HUNTERS AND THE + +CITADELS OF KINGS, AFTER SO MUCH + +ACQUIRED, ACCOMPLISHED, AND + +ENDURED, LIES HERE FORGOTTEN. + +* * * * * + +H. D., + +HIS BROTHER, + +AFTER A LIFE OF UNMERITED DISTRESS, + +BRAVELY SUPPORTED, + +DIED ALMOST IN THE SAME HOUR, + +AND SLEEPS IN THE SAME GRAVE + +WITH HIS FRATERNAL ENEMY. + +* * * * * + +THE PIETY OF HIS WIFE AND ONE OLD + +SERVANT RAISED THIS STONE + +TO BOTH. + + + + +Footnotes: + +(1) A kind of firework made with damp powder. + +(2) "NOTE BY MR. MACKELLAR. Should not this be Alan BRECK Stewart, +afterwards notorious as the Appin murderer? The Chevalier is +sometimes very weak on names. + +(3) NOTE BY MR. MACKELLAR. This Teach of the SARAH must not be +confused with the celebrated Blackbeard. The dates and facts by no +means tally. It is possible the second Teach may have at once +borrowed the name and imitated the more excessive part of his +manners from the first. Even the Master of Ballantrae could make +admirers. + +(4) NOTE BY MR. MACKELLAR. And is not this the whole explanation? +since this Dutton, exactly like the officers, enjoyed the stimulus +of some responsibility. + +(5) NOTE BY MR. MACKELLAR: A complete blunder: there was at this +date no word of the marriage: see above in my own narration. + +(6) Note by Mr. Mackellar. - Plainly Secundra Dass. - E. McK. + +(7) Ordered. + +(8) Land steward. + +(9) Fooling. + +(10) Tear-marked. + +(11) Unwilling. + +(12) Ring. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg eText The Master of Ballantrae + |